Aweber VS GetResponse

When it comes to building and using a mailing list, there are certain tools that can help and certain tools that are an absolute must.

Key among that second category are autoresponders. Autoresponders are tools that you use to manage your list and that allow your members to sign up and unsubscribe while giving you a convenient place to store your email addresses, to send out e-mails, to create autoresponder sequences and to build your opt-in forms.

The question is: which autoresponder do you spring for?

There are two big options here: Aweber and GetResponse. Read on and we’ll look at how they differ and which is ultimately the best for your goals. And yes, there are other autoresponder services out there, including self hosted autoresponder system, but the two big names in autoresponder services are Aweber and GetResponse

For instance I have two self hosted autoresponder systems on two separate domains. The self hosted autoresponder system I use is Maian Responder.

What I do like about the self hosted autoresponders systems is the control I have over my lists and no recurring monthly fees.  You do, however, have to have your own website.  But after paying £39.95 (as they are based in the UK) for a single version I don’t have any other costs as I have already payed for my web hosting for my website.

Cost

When it comes to cost, there is no clear winner as they both use somewhat ‘non-linear’ pricing structures.

An Aweber subscription fee will set you back $19 a month, $49 a quarter or $194 a year. You can save money by paying up-front though but either way you’ll have to pay an additional fee depending on how many users you have. If you have under 500 there’s no additional fee but for accounts with 500+ there’s an additional $10 charge. This goes all the way up to $149 if you have 10,000+ and there’s an ‘unlisted’ fee for accounts with over 25,000 addresses.

GetResponse meanwhile only has a monthly pricing plan which starts at $15 for 1,000 members and goes all the way up to $165 for up to 10,000 members. 100,000+ members will cost you $799.
So the ‘winner’ here really depends on how many subscribers you have. Ultimately though, GetResponse will be a little cheaper in most scenarios which gives it an edge. In the long term, the winner will also depend on what the ‘unlisted’ fee for Aweber is for 25,000+ members. It just says to ‘contact Aweber‘ which is worrying.

Features

In terms of features, who wins? Both have all the tools and options you might want but according to the majority of feedback on the web, Aweber is slightly easier and more intuitive to navigate and use. Aweber also claims it has the best delivery rates with little to no of their emails ending up in spam. They also have very highly rated customer service.

GetResponse might lose a few points in these regards though but is certainly serviceable. And they do have some useful tools of their own too – such as a squeeze page builder. Overall, the two tools are both very capable but Aweber might give you a little extra clout for a slightly higher fee.

Resources

Maian Responder – Free Self Hosted PHP Autoresponder System;  You can download the free version of this self-hosted autoresponder system, buy single licenses or white label licenses.

GetResponse – GetResponse has a Free 30-day trial if you want to test their system

Aweber – Aweber also has a Free 30-day trial if you want to test their system

To your Success,

Alain