beehiiv vs GetResponse: newsletter platform or email marketing suite?

How are beehiiv and GetResponse really different?

What will beehiiv or GetResponse cost for your setup?

The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.

beehiiv vs GetResponse side by side

I compare email/CRM platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything; Team seats included, and the seat price past that; List segmentation depth; Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits; Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window); CRM and ecommerce integration depth; What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade).

Who should pick beehiiv, and who should pick GetResponse?

beehiiv

Desk research

• Best for solo marketers and small businesses

beehiiv is a newsletter platform with a free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, but that plan is a starter kit: no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations. Lite, from $59/month billed monthly, adds all three, and beehiiv takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue on top of Stripe's fees. It suits a creator who wants to grow and charge readers without running their own site.

Best for: Creators who want growth and monetization tools beyond a plain newsletter, and expect to pay for Lite once they charge readers or want their own domain.

Strengths

• A permanent free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, enough to test the editor and grow a first list.
• 0% take rate on paid subscriptions on every paid plan; only Stripe's processing fee applies.
• Lite ($59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually) already includes paid subscriptions, a custom domain, automations and 3 publications.

Limits

• Free stops at 2,500 subscribers, 1 seat and 1 publication, with no paid subscriptions, no custom domain and no automations.
• Lite includes 2 seats and caps live automations; a team of three or unlimited automations means Pro, from $109/month billed monthly.
• Lite and Pro are priced by subscriber count, so the entry price only covers the smallest list band and the bill rises in steps as the list grows.

Skip it if you want to charge readers or use your own domain without paying anything; beehiiv's Free plan allows neither, so Substack's free model fits better.

beehiiv reviewbeehiiv pricingbeehiiv alternatives

GetResponse

Desk research

• Best for growing lists sending regularly
• Best for small teams sharing one account

GetResponse is a list-size-priced email platform. Plans start at $19/month billed monthly on the entry Starter tier at its smallest list size, and cost rises as the list grows. Starter, Marketer and Creator add more automation and team seats, and a 14-day trial needs no credit card. After the trial the account drops to a limited free version, but GetResponse doesn't publish its contact limit on the pricing page, so treat the paid plans as the real product.

Best for: Email marketers who outgrow free tiers and want automations and team seats on a pay-as-you-grow model. Starter includes 3 seats, and Marketer and Creator include 5.

Strengths

• 14-day trial with no credit card required, and the account falls back to a limited free version afterwards instead of closing.
• Marketer and Creator include unlimited automations, where Starter allows a single automation workflow.
• 3 team seats on Starter, 5 on Marketer and 5 on Creator, unlimited on Enterprise.

Limits

• The free version left after the 14-day trial adds a GetResponse badge to every message, drops dynamic segments, switches off published automation workflows, and caps you at 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month. Anything serious needs a paid plan.
• Pricing scales with list size, from $19/month billed monthly at the smallest list size. Subscriber-count tiered. Prices are published at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 contacts; the slider's last step, "100,000+", shows the 100,000 price.
• Starter allows a single automation workflow, so businesses running several automations move up to Marketer.

Skip it if you want a clearly defined free plan to grow on before paying (GetResponse's post-trial free version carries its badge on every email and caps the list at 500 contacts), or you prefer flat-rate pricing over subscriber-count scaling.

GetResponse reviewGetResponse pricingGetResponse alternatives

Neither beehiiv nor GetResponse? Try these

• 

  MailerLite

  From $10.80/mo billed annually

  Pick it if you want marketing email with automation and a free plan, so a small list costs nothing and you still get workflows.

  MailerLite reviewMailerLite alternatives

• 

  Kit

  From $33/mo billed annually

  Pick it if you're a creator who wants newsletter-first tooling and paid subscriptions, closer to beehiiv's model than GetResponse's.

  Kit reviewKit alternatives

• 

  Brevo

  From $8.08/mo billed annually

  Pick it if you want marketing email, SMS and transactional email in one account, with a free plan to start.

  Brevo reviewBrevo alternatives

beehiiv vs GetResponse: questions people ask

Which is cheaper, beehiiv or GetResponse?

It depends on list size. Under 2,500 subscribers beehiiv is free; GetResponse's post-trial free version stops at 500 contacts and sends newsletters only. Past that, GetResponse Starter is cheaper: at 5,000 contacts Starter costs $54/month billed monthly, and beehiiv Lite costs $109/month billed monthly.

Does GetResponse have a free plan like beehiiv?

Only a limited one. GetResponse sells Starter, Marketer, Creator and Enterprise, with a 14-day trial that needs no card. After the trial the account becomes a free version capped at 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month, with a GetResponse badge on every message and no autoresponders or automation. beehiiv's Free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers, without automations, paid subscriptions or a custom domain.

Which is better for a small business email list?

GetResponse. It's built for marketing email, with automation, landing pages and ecommerce tools, and Starter is cheaper than beehiiv Lite on both billing bases at 1,000 and 5,000 contacts. If your list is under 2,500 and you only send a newsletter, beehiiv's Free plan is enough.

Which is better for a team of three?

GetResponse. Starter includes 3 seats and costs $19/month billed monthly for a 1,000-contact list. beehiiv Lite includes 2 seats, so three people need Pro at $109/month billed monthly.

Can I charge readers for a newsletter on GetResponse?

Yes, but only on Creator and Enterprise. Creator costs $69/month billed monthly at its entry band. beehiiv includes paid subscriptions from Lite, at $59/month billed monthly at its entry band, with a 0% take rate.

How much automation does each cheapest paid plan include?

GetResponse Starter includes a single automation workflow, and Marketer and Creator have unlimited workflows. beehiiv has no automations on Free, a capped number of live automations on Lite, and unlimited automations on Pro.