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Email marketing software review

MailerLite Review 2026: Pricing, Features, Pros & Cons

MailerLite is a popular option for email marketing, but is it the right fit for your business? Here's a detailed look at what it offers, where it falls short, and how it compares with alternatives like GetResponse.

On this page
  1. Our verdict
  2. What is MailerLite?
  3. Features explained
  4. Pricing
  5. Pros and cons
  6. GetResponse alternative
  7. Side-by-side comparison
  8. Which should you choose?
  9. How we evaluate
  10. FAQ
  11. Final verdict

Quick verdict

Our Verdict: Is MailerLite Worth It?

MailerLite is worth it if you want email marketing that stays out of your way. Its editors are approachable, its visual automation builder is available on every plan, and the Comfort plan starts at $12 a month while including the tools most small senders actually use: newsletters, automations, landing pages, signup forms, multivariate testing, AI writing help and a website builder. For a blogger, creator or small business that mainly sends newsletters and a handful of automated sequences, that's a strong, efficient package.

It's a less natural fit when your marketing reaches beyond email. MailerLite's June 2026 plan changes shrank the free plan to 250 subscribers and added usage caps to Comfort, and its plan pages don't list native webinar hosting or a dedicated funnel builder. If you plan to run webinars, build multi-step sales funnels, sell courses, or add web push and live chat in the same platform, GetResponse is worth comparing. Its higher plans bundle those tools with email and automation, though they cost more than MailerLite's core email features.

Simplicity first

Consider MailerLite if…

  • You prioritize an approachable email marketing interface.
  • You mainly need newsletters and straightforward campaigns.
  • You prefer a focused feature set over an all-in-one suite.
  • Its current pricing and plan limits fit your list size and sending frequency.
Explore MailerLite Official site · not an affiliate link

Broader marketing toolkit

Consider GetResponse if…

  • You need more integrated marketing workflows in one account.
  • You want contact scoring, event triggers and unlimited workflows (Marketer plan and up).
  • You need sales funnels or webinars, which sit in its Marketer and Creator plans.
  • You want to consolidate email, pages, webinars and courses into one platform.
Explore GetResponse Affiliate link Opens getresponse.com

The basics

What Is MailerLite?

MailerLite is an email marketing platform for collecting subscribers, sending newsletters and campaigns, and automating follow-up emails. Around that core it adds tools small businesses often buy separately: a website and blog builder, landing pages, signup forms and pop-ups, a way to sell digital products, bookings and paid newsletter subscriptions, and integrations with stores like Shopify and WooCommerce. The company says more than one million creators and businesses use it.

The product is built around restraint. MailerLite describes its "Lite" philosophy as making complex things simple, and you can see it in the plan structure: a focused set of tools rather than a sprawling suite, with the price driven mainly by how many subscribers you have and how much you send.

Typical ways people use it:

  • A newsletter writer sends a weekly issue, with an automated welcome sequence for new subscribers and an RSS campaign that turns blog posts into emails.
  • A coach runs a landing page with a lead magnet, nurtures signups through an automation, and sells 1:1 sessions with MailerLite's booking feature.
  • A small online store connects Shopify or WooCommerce, then sends product announcements and ecommerce-triggered emails.

In a marketing workflow, MailerLite usually sits at the center of your owned audience. Traffic arrives from your website, social media or ads; forms and landing pages capture the email address; automations and campaigns turn subscribers into readers and customers. Transactional messages such as receipts and password resets aren't part of MailerLite's marketing plans. Those go through MailerSend, a separate product from the same company.

One practical note: MailerLite's terms say the service is meant for business and professional use, not personal use, and its content rules exclude several industries. We cover those rules in the use-case section.

Feature by feature

MailerLite Features Explained

For each feature: what it does, who benefits, what to watch for, and which plans include it. Plan limits come from MailerLite's official pricing table as of October 20, 2026.

Email campaign builder

All plans

MailerLite gives you three ways to build an email: a drag & drop editor with content blocks, a simpler rich-text editor for letter-style emails, and a custom HTML editor for coded templates. All three are available on the Free plan, along with a free stock image library and test sends. That matters because you can pick the editor that fits the email rather than the plan: a designed promotion in drag & drop, a personal note in the simple editor, an agency template in HTML.

Who benefits
Beginners (drag & drop), writers who prefer plain emails, and developers or agencies with their own HTML.
Watch for
Free has a limited template selection and keeps MailerLite branding; sending caps apply on Free (2,500/month) and Comfort (10× your tier).

Newsletter creation

Core on all · extras Comfort+

For recurring publishers, MailerLite adds RSS campaigns that turn new blog posts into emails, auto-resend to people who didn't open, dynamic content blocks that change per subscriber, the ability to edit links in a campaign after it's sent, and paid newsletter subscriptions for creators who charge for issues. Those tools cut down the repetitive work of a weekly send and give creators a direct revenue option without another platform.

Who benefits
Bloggers, independent publishers and creators who send on a schedule or want to monetize a newsletter.
Watch for
MailerLite lists dynamic emails, auto-resend and multivariate testing as Comfort features, so they aren't part of Free.

Marketing automation

All plans · limits vary

The visual automation builder lets you chain emails, delays and conditions into workflows such as welcome series, lead-magnet delivery and post-purchase follow-ups, with ready-made templates to start from and ecommerce triggers for connected stores. Automations do the follow-up you'd otherwise forget, which is often where email earns its keep. The limits are the thing to plan around: Free allows 3 active automations of up to 5 steps, Comfort allows 50 active automations of up to 100 steps, and Power removes the automation cap and adds multiple triggers per workflow.

Who benefits
Anyone with a lead magnet, an onboarding sequence or a store that sends post-purchase emails.
Watch for
MailerLite's plan table doesn't list lead scoring, and multiple triggers in one workflow require Power. Complex, scoring-based funnels are better served elsewhere.

Landing pages

Free 1 · Comfort 10 · Power unlimited

The landing page builder comes with templates and an AI landing page builder, and the plan table also lists A/B split testing for pages, SEO settings, password protection, custom domains and custom code injection. Landing pages give a lead magnet, launch or event its own focused URL, which usually converts better than a form buried on a homepage. On Comfort, the 10-page allowance is shared with websites, so a site plus a few campaign pages can use it up quickly.

Who benefits
Course creators, coaches, authors and small businesses running lead magnets or launches.
Watch for
Free includes 1 website and 1 landing page, with the AI builder usable once. Check the plan table for which page features apply on Free.

Signup forms

Free 3 · Comfort 10 · Power unlimited

You can build embedded forms, pop-ups and promotion pop-ups, A/B test your forms, and collect subscribers offline at events with MailerLite's iPad app. Forms are the front door to your list, so being able to test a pop-up's offer or timing is useful even for small sites. The active-form limits are generous for most single-site owners but can pinch if you run many lead magnets at once.

Who benefits
Every list builder, especially content sites with several opt-in offers and businesses that collect signups in person.
Watch for
Count your active forms before choosing Comfort: each embedded form and pop-up counts toward the 10-form limit.

Subscriber segmentation

All plans · preference center Comfort+

Every plan, including Free, gets unlimited dynamic segments (groups that update automatically based on rules) and unlimited interest groups, which work as tags. Custom fields, surveys and quizzes add data you can segment on, and from Comfort up a subscriber preference center lets people choose which topics they hear about. Sending relevant emails to smaller groups tends to reduce unsubscribes, so getting this on every plan is a real plus.

Who benefits
Senders with several topics, products or audience types who want to avoid one-size-fits-all campaigns.
Watch for
Segmentation is rule-based; there's no contact scoring listed. Marketers who route leads by engagement score need a platform that offers it.

Email analytics

All plans · depth varies

Reporting covers campaign opens and clicks, email click maps, comparative reports across campaigns, list growth, individual subscriber profiles, ecommerce sales tracking, real-time automation reports, and custom date ranges with exports. That's enough to see which emails drive clicks and revenue. As with any platform, treat open rates with caution: privacy features in some email apps inflate them, so clicks and conversions are the more reliable signals.

Who benefits
Anyone optimizing subject lines and content, plus stores tracking revenue per campaign.
Watch for
MailerLite's comparison table splits some reporting features by plan. Confirm the reports you need on the plan you're pricing.

Integrations

100+ · API limited on Free

MailerLite connects with 100+ apps, including Shopify, WooCommerce and Stripe, and offers an API, webhooks, and an MCP server that lets AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT work with your account. Integrations keep subscriber data flowing in from your store or site without manual imports, and the API makes custom setups possible.

Who benefits
Store owners, developers, and teams that automate across several tools.
Watch for
On Free, API, MCP and webhook access is limited and doesn't include sending emails through the API. Transactional email requires MailerSend.

Ecommerce marketing

Integrations · products Free 1 / Comfort 5

For stores, MailerLite offers Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, ecommerce automation triggers, sales tracking in reports, promotion pop-ups, and Facebook Custom Audiences sync. It can also sell directly: digital products, bookings and recurring subscriptions, with 1 active product or booking on Free, 5 on Comfort and unlimited on Power. For a small shop or a creator selling downloads, that covers the essentials without a separate checkout tool.

Who benefits
Small Shopify and WooCommerce stores, and creators selling ebooks, templates or sessions.
Watch for
MailerLite's marketing plans don't list SMS or web push, so stores running multichannel promotions will need other tools alongside it.

Templates and customization

Limited on Free · unlimited paid

Templates cover newsletters, websites, landing pages and pop-ups, and you can save your own email templates. Paid plans unlock the full template library, an unsubscribe page builder, logo removal and a customizable favicon for your sites. A consistent, branded look across emails and pages makes a small business look established, and saved templates speed up every future send.

Who benefits
Brands that want consistent design without hiring a designer for every campaign.
Watch for
The MailerLite logo stays on Free plan emails, which some businesses find unprofessional for customer-facing sends.

Plans and costs

MailerLite Pricing (October 2026)

MailerLite prices its plans by active subscribers and, on Comfort, by sending volume. Unsubscribed and bounced contacts don't count, but any address that was active at any point in a billing cycle does, even if you delete it later. Paying yearly saves 10%, verified nonprofits get 30% off, and every new account gets a 14-day trial of premium features with no credit card required.

mailerlite.com/pricing · checked Oct 20, 2026 · USD, excl. tax

Free

Starting out

$0 /month

No time limit

Subscribers
250
Emails / mo
2,500
Seats
2
Support
Community

Includes

  • Campaigns with all three email editors
  • 3 active automations (5 steps each), 3 active forms
  • 1 website, 1 landing page, 1 digital product or booking

Restrictions

  • MailerLite logo on emails; limited templates
  • Sending locks if you exceed 250 active subscribers
  • No email sending via API or MCP

Best for: testing the platform or a very small list.

Comfort

Formerly Growing Business

$12 /month

Starting price at the smallest tier · $10.80/mo billed yearly

Subscribers
Priced by tier
Emails / mo
10× tier ceiling
Seats
3
Support
Email

Includes

  • 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 sites, 5 products or bookings
  • Dynamic emails, auto-resend, multivariate testing, preference center
  • AI writing assistant, smart sending, logo removal, full API

Restrictions

  • Monthly sends capped (10,000 on the 1,000-subscriber tier)
  • No live chat; single trigger per automation

Best for: solopreneurs and small teams sending regular newsletters.

Power

Formerly Advanced

$25 /month

Starting price at the smallest tier · $22.50/mo billed yearly

Subscribers
Priced by tier
Emails / mo
Unlimited*
Seats
Unlimited
Support
24/7 chat

Includes

  • Everything in Comfort
  • Unlimited automations, forms, sites, products and bookings
  • Multiple automation triggers, partner discounts, priority email

Restrictions

  • *Unlimited sending is subject to a fair use policy
  • Roughly double Comfort's price at the entry tier

Best for: frequent senders, teams, and businesses with several revenue streams.

Enterprise

200K+ subscribers

Custom

Quoted by MailerLite's sales team

Subscribers
200,000+
Emails / mo
Custom
Seats
Unlimited
Support
Priority

Includes

  • Everything in Power
  • Dedicated success manager, onboarding and account audits
  • Deliverability support; dedicated IP as an add-on

Restrictions

  • No public price; depends on list size and add-ons

Best for: large senders that need hands-on support.

Price at your list size. The starting prices above apply only at the smallest subscriber tier and rise as your list grows. MailerLite's calculator gives the exact figure. At 1,000 subscribers, several 2026 pricing reviews report Comfort at $19/month and Power at $39/month; confirm on MailerLite's site before you budget. third-party reporting

What changed on June 16, 2026

as reported by multiple 2026 pricing reviews
ItemBeforeNow
Plan namesGrowing Business / AdvancedComfort / Power
Free plan500 subscribers, 12,000 emails250 subscribers, 2,500 emails
Mid-tier limitsMostly unlimited usageCaps on automations, forms, sites, sends
PricesLower across tiersHigher across subscriber tiers

Many reviews written before mid-2026 still quote the old free plan and old plan names. Existing paid accounts move to the new plans at renewal. Prices and features can change at any time, so check MailerLite's pricing page before you buy.

Strengths and trade-offs

MailerLite Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Approachable editors on every plan

    Drag & drop, simple and HTML editors are all included on Free, so the learning curve stays low and you aren't forced into one way of working.

  • A capable entry paid plan

    Comfort includes automations, multivariate testing, AI writing, smart sending and a preference center. Most small senders won't need Power.

  • Websites, pages and selling built in

    Landing pages, a website and blog builder, digital products, bookings and paid newsletters reduce the number of separate tools you pay for.

  • Segmentation without upsells

    Unlimited dynamic segments and interest groups on every plan, including Free, make targeted sends possible from day one.

  • Straightforward setup and billing

    Usage-based pricing, no charge for unsubscribed or bounced contacts, and a 14-day premium trial without a card make it easy to start.

Cons

  • A much smaller free plan

    At 250 subscribers, Free now works best as a trial. A growing list will hit the cap and lock sending until you upgrade or remove contacts.

  • Comfort's caps affect frequent senders

    Sends are capped at 10× your tier ceiling. A daily email to a 1,000-subscriber list needs about 30,000 sends a month, three times Comfort's 10,000, which pushes daily senders to Power.

  • No native webinars or funnel builder listed

    Educators who sell through webinars, or marketers who want a visual funnel view, will need another tool alongside MailerLite.

  • Live chat only on Power

    Free relies on community support after the trial, and Comfort gets email support. Teams that want real-time help need the higher plan.

  • Content rules exclude some businesses

    MailerLite's help center lists affiliate marketing, MLM, gambling and several other categories as content not permitted under its terms.

The alternative

When Might GetResponse Be a Better Alternative?

MailerLite can be a practical choice for straightforward email marketing. However, businesses with broader marketing requirements may also benefit from evaluating GetResponse.

GetResponse is an email marketing and automation platform that bundles a wider set of channels and tools: landing pages, conversion funnels, webinars, a website builder, a course creator, web push notifications and live chat, plus SMS and transactional email on its Enterprise plan. The key thing to understand is that GetResponse tiers its plans by features as much as by list size. The tools that set it apart live in the Marketer, Creator and Enterprise plans, not in Starter.

Email marketing

All paid plans

Unlimited monthly sends on every paid plan, AI email and subject line generators (3 uses on Starter), RSS-to-email and custom HTML. Marketer adds A/B testing, Perfect Timing and Time Travel, which delivers a campaign at the same local hour in each subscriber's time zone.

A newsletter with readers across several continents can use Time Travel so every issue lands at 8 a.m. local time instead of overnight.

Marketing automation

Marketer+ for unlimited

Starter includes a welcome series and one custom workflow. Marketer and above unlock unlimited workflows with contact tagging and scoring, event-based and visited-URL triggers, purchase automations and abandoned-cart flows.

A B2B service can score leads by email clicks and page visits, then send high scorers a booking invitation automatically.

Landing pages

All paid plans

Unlimited landing pages and visitors on paid plans, with templates, an AI creator, countdown timers, and Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel support. The free plan caps landing page traffic at 1,000 unique visitors a month.

A marketer running paid ads to several offers can spin up a page per campaign without worrying about page limits.

Conversion funnels

Marketer+ · webinar funnels Creator+

Lead funnels, lead-magnet funnels and sales funnels on Marketer and above, with webinar funnels on Creator. Funnels connect pages, emails and offers in one view, which is the main structural difference from MailerLite.

A course creator can link an ebook download page, a nurture sequence and a sales page, and see where people drop off.

Webinars

Creator+

Creator includes live, on-demand and paid webinars for up to 100 attendees, with 3 hours of recording storage and up to 3 presenters. Enterprise raises attendance to 1,000.

An online educator who needs email campaigns, automated follow-ups, and webinar-related workflows may find value in evaluating GetResponse's available tools and plans.

Segmentation

All plans Marketer+ advanced

All plans segment by contact details, actions and geolocation. Marketer adds segments based on tags, scores, ecommerce activity, funnel stage, events and lead magnets.

A store can target customers who bought once but haven't returned in 90 days with a tailored offer.

Ecommerce

Integrations all Tools Marketer+

Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and PrestaShop integrations on every plan. Marketer adds abandoned-cart recovery, product recommendations in emails, unique and synced promo codes, revenue tracking, and Stripe and PayPal connections.

A promotion-heavy store can send unique discount codes that sync with the shop and track the revenue each email generates.

Analytics

All plans Marketer+ ecommerce

Reports, exports and Google Analytics integration on all plans, with ecommerce, custom and recommendation reports from Marketer.

A team reporting to management can build custom reports instead of exporting raw campaign data.

Other channels

Marketer, Creator, Enterprise

Web push notifications and GetResponse Chats (live chat for your pages) from Marketer; website builder, course creator and premium newsletters on Creator; SMS marketing, transactional email, dedicated IP, SSO and phone support on Enterprise.

A business that wants email, live chat and web push managed by one team, in one account, can consolidate tools.

GetResponse planFrom (monthly)What it adds
Free$0500 contacts, 2,500 messages/month; GetResponse badge on emails; premium features for the first 14 days only
Starter$19 · 1,000 contactsUnlimited sends, 1 custom workflow, landing pages, forms and pop-ups, 3 users
Marketer$59* · 1,000 contactsUnlimited automation, A/B testing, sales funnels, abandoned cart, web push, 5 users
Creator$69* · 1,000 contactsWebinars (100 attendees), website builder, course creator, premium newsletters
EnterpriseCustomSMS, transactional email, dedicated IP, SSO, phone support

Yearly billing saves 18%. Starter's $19 is from GetResponse's help center. *Marketer and Creator USD prices as widely reported in 2026; GetResponse's EUR pricing page lists €54 and €62. Prices exclude tax. getresponse.com/pricing · checked Oct 20, 2026

Where GetResponse is weaker. Starter includes just one custom automation workflow and no A/B testing, so its distinctive features effectively start at Marketer. If you mainly need email automation, MailerLite reaches unlimited automations at a lower price: about $39 a month for Power at 1,000 subscribers (as reported) versus a reported $59 for GetResponse Marketer.

Side by side

MailerLite vs GetResponse: Side-by-Side Comparison

Blue tags show the plan where a feature starts. A feature missing from an entry plan is marked that way, not as absent from the product.

Criterion MailerLiteFree · Comfort · Power · Enterprise GetResponseFree · Starter · Marketer · Creator · Enterprise
Ease of useBuilt around simplicity, with a focused set of tools and three editors on every plan.More modules to learn because the suite is broader; visual drag & drop editor on all plans.
Email editorDrag & drop, simple rich-text and custom HTML editors on all plans. AI writing assistant from Comfort.Visual editor, HTML editor and custom HTML on all plans. AI email generator: 3 uses on Starter, unlimited from Marketer.
Free plan250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats; MailerLite logo; core features with low caps.500 contacts, 2,500 messages/month; GetResponse badge; premium features for the first 14 days only.
Starting priceComfort from $12/mo at the smallest tier; Power from $25/mo.Starter from $19/mo (1,000 contacts); Marketer and Creator higher.
AutomationVisual builder on all plans. Active automations: 3 (Free), 50 (Comfort), unlimited (Power). Multiple triggers on Power.Welcome series + 1 custom workflow on Starter. Unlimited workflows with tagging, scoring and event triggers Marketer+
Landing pages1 (Free), 10 shared with websites (Comfort), unlimited (Power). Templates, AI builder, A/B tests.Unlimited pages and visitors on paid plans. Free capped at 1,000 unique visitors/month.
Signup formsEmbedded forms, pop-ups, promo pop-ups, iPad app. Active forms: 3 / 10 / unlimited.Signup forms and pop-ups with unlimited active pop-ups on paid plans. Contact forms Marketer+
SegmentationUnlimited dynamic segments and interest groups on all plans. Preference center from Comfort.Contact data, actions and geolocation on all plans. Tags, scores, ecommerce and event segments Marketer+
EcommerceShopify, WooCommerce and Stripe integrations, ecommerce triggers, sales tracking; sells digital products, bookings and subscriptions.Store integrations on all plans. Abandoned cart, product recommendations, synced promo codes, revenue tracking Marketer+
WebinarsNo native webinar hosting listed on MailerLite's plans.Live, on-demand and paid webinars for 100 attendees Creator; 1,000 on Enterprise.
Funnel toolsNo dedicated funnel builder listed; funnel-style flows can be assembled from pages, forms, automations and products.Lead, lead-magnet and sales funnels Marketer+; webinar funnels Creator+
AnalyticsClick maps, comparative and list growth reports, subscriber profiles, ecommerce sales tracking, exports.Reports and exports on all plans. Ecommerce and custom reports Marketer+
Integrations100+ integrations, API, webhooks, MCP server (limited on Free; no API sending on Free).170+ integrations and API on all plans. Stripe and PayPal Marketer+
Customer supportCommunity (Free, after trial), email (Comfort), 24/7 live chat and priority email (Power), dedicated manager (Enterprise).24/7 email in seven languages, live chat in English during set daytime hours (CET), 24/7 chatbot. Phone and Slack support on Enterprise.
For beginnersStrong fit. Low learning curve and an inexpensive paid entry point.Good fit if you'll grow into its extra tools; more to learn up front.
For growing teamsPower adds unlimited seats, automations and sends. Comfort is limited to 3 seats.5 users with role management on Marketer and Creator; unlimited users and SSO on Enterprise.

How to read this comparison

The pattern is consistent across the rows. MailerLite gives you more room in its lower plans for the core jobs of email marketing: automations, segments, testing and pages. GetResponse puts its distinctive tools, such as funnels, webinars, scoring, abandoned-cart recovery, web push and chat, in higher plans, and those plans cost more.

So the deciding question isn't which product is better. It's whether you'll use what GetResponse adds. If your plan is newsletters plus a few automations, MailerLite usually delivers more for the money. If webinars, funnels or promotion-heavy ecommerce are central to how you sell, GetResponse's Marketer or Creator plan can replace several separate tools, which changes the cost comparison.

Recommendations by audience

Which Email Marketing Platform Should You Choose?

Beginners and newsletter creators

Leans MailerLite

You get three editors on every plan, a visual automation builder, RSS campaigns and paid newsletter subscriptions, with Comfort starting at $12 a month. That covers a weekly newsletter with a welcome sequence comfortably.

Recommendation: start on MailerLite Free to learn the tools, and budget for Comfort once you pass 250 subscribers. Move to Power only if you send daily or need more than 3 seats.

Coaches and online educators

Leans GetResponse if webinars matter

GetResponse Creator combines live and paid webinars, webinar funnels, a course creator and a website builder with email and automation. MailerLite offers bookings and digital products but no native webinar hosting on its listed plans.

Recommendation: if webinars or courses are how you sell, trial GetResponse Creator. If you sell 1:1 sessions and a few downloads, MailerLite's bookings and products may be enough at a lower cost.

Ecommerce businesses

Depends on promotion volume

Both connect to Shopify and WooCommerce. MailerLite adds ecommerce triggers, sales tracking and promo pop-ups at a lower price. GetResponse Marketer adds abandoned-cart recovery, product recommendations, synced unique promo codes, web push and revenue reports, and also integrates with Magento and PrestaShop.

Recommendation: a small store with occasional campaigns fits MailerLite. A store running frequent promotions and cart recovery should compare GetResponse Marketer.

Affiliate marketers

Check policies first

MailerLite's help center lists affiliate marketing among content not permitted under its terms, so it isn't a fit for promoting affiliate offers by email. GetResponse's anti-spam policy requires that promotional messages are clearly disclosed as advertising and bans content prohibited by its terms. We didn't find a blanket ban on affiliate links in the GetResponse documents we reviewed, but providers can restrict specific offers, niches or list sources.

Recommendation: read each platform's current terms and anti-spam policy, confirm your niche with support before importing a list, and only mail subscribers who opted in to hear from you.

Growing businesses

Choose by what's growing

If your list and send frequency are what's growing, MailerLite Power gives unlimited sends, seats and automations without changing platforms. If your channels are growing, such as webinars, funnels, live chat, web push or eventually SMS, GetResponse's Marketer, Creator and Enterprise plans keep those in one account.

Recommendation: map the channels you expect to use in 12 months, then price the plan that covers all of them on each platform.

Trust and transparency

How We Evaluate Email Marketing Software

We look at the same seven areas for every email platform, using the vendor's own plan tables and documentation as the primary source.

  • Features and functionalityWhat each plan actually includes, taken from official plan comparison tables rather than marketing pages alone.
  • Ease of useHow many tools and editors there are, how the product is organized, and how much setup common tasks need. Without hands-on testing, this is a qualitative judgment.
  • Pricing and valueEntry prices, how prices scale with list size, sending limits, and which plan a given feature requires.
  • Automation capabilitiesWorkflow limits, trigger types, segmentation and scoring.
  • IntegrationsNative integrations, API access, and restrictions by plan.
  • Support optionsSupport channels and hours available on each plan.
  • SuitabilityHow well each plan maps to specific users, from newsletter writers to ecommerce teams.

What we did

Desk research: we read each vendor's pricing page, plan comparison table, help-center articles and terms, checked on October 20, 2026. Where we rely on third-party reporting, such as MailerLite's June 2026 price changes, we label it.

What we didn't do

We didn't run hands-on tests for this article, so we don't report deliverability, speed or support response times, and we don't assign star ratings or scores.

This article may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through certain links, at no additional cost to you. Our comparisons aim to reflect product capabilities and suitability for different users.

Specifically, links marked "Affiliate link" go to GetResponse with our referral code. We have no affiliate relationship with MailerLite, and links to MailerLite are ordinary links. Because we can earn from one product and not the other, we've tried to state plainly where MailerLite is the better choice. Full affiliate disclosure · Editorial policy

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MailerLite good for beginners?
Yes, for most beginners it's one of the more approachable options. Every plan includes a drag & drop editor, a simpler rich-text editor and a custom HTML editor, the automation builder is visual, and new accounts get a 14-day trial of premium features without a credit card. The main thing beginners should know in 2026 is that the free plan now stops at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, so plan on moving to Comfort (from $12/month) once your list starts growing.
Does MailerLite have a free plan?
Yes. As of October 2026 it covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month and 2 user seats, with campaigns, 3 active automations, 3 active forms, one website, one landing page and one digital product or booking. MailerLite branding stays on your emails, support is community-based after the trial, and sending pauses if you exceed 250 active subscribers. Articles that mention 500 or 1,000 free subscribers are out of date.
What are MailerLite's main limitations?
Mostly scope and caps. Comfort limits you to 50 active automations, 10 forms, 10 websites and landing pages combined, 3 seats, and a monthly send allowance of 10× your tier ceiling. Unlimited usage and live chat support require Power. MailerLite's plan pages don't list native webinar hosting or a dedicated funnel builder, transactional emails need its separate MailerSend product, and its content rules don't permit affiliate marketing emails.
Is GetResponse better than MailerLite?
It depends on what you need. GetResponse offers more built-in tools: conversion funnels, webinars, a course creator, web push, live chat and, on Enterprise, SMS and transactional email. MailerLite is simpler and generally less expensive for core email and automation; its Comfort plan allows up to 50 automations, while GetResponse Starter includes one custom workflow. If you won't use GetResponse's extra tools, MailerLite is usually the more efficient choice.
Which platform offers better automation features?
For advanced automation, GetResponse Marketer and above offer more: contact tagging and scoring, event-based and visited-URL triggers, purchase automations and abandoned-cart flows, with unlimited workflows. MailerLite's visual builder handles the common cases well, includes ecommerce triggers, adds multiple triggers per workflow on Power, and is available on every plan. At the entry level, MailerLite Comfort gives you more automation room than GetResponse Starter.
Can I use MailerLite for ecommerce?
Yes, for many small stores. MailerLite integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce and Stripe, offers ecommerce automation triggers and sales tracking, and can sell digital products, bookings and recurring subscriptions directly. Stores that rely heavily on promotions may want to compare GetResponse Marketer, which adds abandoned-cart recovery, product recommendations in emails, synced promo codes, web push and revenue reports.
Does GetResponse offer landing pages?
Yes. Every paid GetResponse plan includes the landing page builder with unlimited pages and visitors, templates, an AI creator (3 uses on Starter), countdown timers, and Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel support. On the free plan, landing page traffic is capped at 1,000 unique visitors a month and A/B testing isn't included.
Which platform is better for small businesses?
For a small business whose marketing is mostly newsletters, announcements and a few automated sequences, MailerLite typically covers what you need for less. GetResponse makes more sense when you'll use its broader toolkit, such as webinars for lead generation, sales funnels, abandoned-cart recovery or live chat on your pages. List your must-have features first, then compare the plan that covers all of them on each platform.
Is it difficult to migrate between email marketing platforms?
Moving contacts is usually the easy part: export a CSV that includes consent and tag information, then import it. The real work is rebuilding automations, forms, templates and landing pages, which don't transfer between platforms, and protecting deliverability by authenticating your sending domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) and ramping up sending gradually. Only import subscribers who opted in, and check the new provider's content rules before you move.
What should I check before choosing an email marketing tool?
Check the price at the list size you expect in 12 months, not just the entry price; monthly sending limits; how many automations, forms and users your plan allows; the integrations you rely on; support channels on your plan; the provider's acceptable-use rules for your industry; and whether every feature you need is in the plan you're pricing. Use the free trial to build one real automation before you commit. Our platform selection guide walks through this step by step.

Bottom line

Final Verdict: MailerLite or GetResponse?

For most people asking whether MailerLite is worth it, the answer is yes, with conditions. MailerLite is an excellent choice if you prioritize simplicity and straightforward newsletter marketing. Its editors are approachable, its visual automation builder is on every plan, and the Comfort plan packs automations, testing, AI writing help, websites and landing pages into a price that starts at $12 a month. Go in knowing the 2026 changes: the free plan is now a 250-subscriber starting point, Comfort has real usage caps, and live chat support starts at Power.

GetResponse deserves serious consideration when its broader capabilities match what you're building. If webinars are part of how you sell, Creator bundles live and paid webinars with a course creator and website builder. If you run promotion-heavy ecommerce or lead-scoring funnels, Marketer adds abandoned-cart recovery, contact scoring, sales funnels and web push. Those tools cost more than MailerLite's core email features, so they're worth paying for only if you'll use them.

Our recommendation: start with your must-have list. If it's email, automations and a few landing pages, choose MailerLite. If it includes webinars, funnels or multichannel campaigns, trial GetResponse and build one real workflow before you decide.

Explore GetResponse

For funnels, webinars, scoring and multichannel marketing. 14-day free trial of premium features, no credit card required. Affiliate link

Explore MailerLite

For simple, affordable newsletters and automations. Official site, not an affiliate link.