Low Pricing (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
$15/month
for 0-1,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
$25/month
for 1,001-2,500 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
$45/month
for 2501-5,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
$65/month
for 5,001-10,000 subscribers,unlimited emails, access to all features
$145/month
for 10,001-25,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
$250/month
for 25,001-50,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
$450/month
for 50,001-100,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, access to all features
You'll have to get a custom quote for more than 100,000 subscribers.
As you can see, GetResponse has access to all of its features out of the gate. GetResponse also has a 30-day free trial, so you can try it out first to see if it fits your needs. They have unlimited image hosting for all of their plans as well.
AWeber
$19/month
for 0-500 subscribers
$29/month
for 501-2,500 subscribers,
$49/month
for 2501-5,000 subscribers
$69/month
for 5,001-10,000 subscribers,
$149/month
for 10,001-25,000 subscribers,
For more than 25,000 subscribers AWeber offer an enterprise package.
All of these pricing plans include unlimited emails and unlimited image hosting. They also have a 30 day free trial so you can check it out to see if it meets your needs.
It seems that AWeber also charges for unsubscribers when they calculate your monthly number of subscribers. This seems completely counter-intuitive, but it is their policy. If you don't want to get charged for unsubscribers, they say you should delete your unsubscriber list.
That can mess up all kinds of data that you may need to streamline your email marketing campaign. This is a pretty shady policy that is buried deep in AWeber's help section, so many people don't realize until they've already signed up.
Be careful when getting close to those subscriber limits. If you exceed the limit on subscribers, AWeber will go ahead and bill you for the next plan up.
Design (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
If you want to create a new campaign with GetResponse, you’ll get a choice between a drag and drop email editor and a HTML source editor.
GetResponse has more than 500 templates available to get you started.
There is an HTML editor for anyone who knows how to do some coding.
An extremely useful feature is the mobile device preview, which shows how the custom email will look on a mobile device, complete with interactive scrolling and landscape/portrait toggle. AWeber doesn't have anything like that.
The template selection is very good; templates are arranged into a wide range of categories.
The editor offers drag and drop design elements, and there are a lot of templates to choose from. However, the customization is pretty limited.
AWeber
AWeber offers 3 email editors: a drag and drop email builder, a plain text editor, and an HTML source editor if you have the skills to code the emails from scratch.
The drag and drop editor is pretty easy to use and allows for a fair degree of customization. There are more than 700 templates to choose from.
If you need more assistance the AWeber team can help you modify an existing template (for an extra $29) or even design a new template based on your needs (for a whopping $229).
Once you link AWeber with your Facebook and Twitter account you can generate the “social share” buttons very easy.
Frontend Features (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
GetResponse includes a great selection of features for all customers like email creator, landing page creator, inbox preview, A/B split testing, autoresponders, form builder, and email analytics.
The iOS and Android apps have a useful number of features to help you mange your email marketing campaigns directly from your mobile device.
GetResponse has a better mobile app, but other than that they don't have any features that trump AWeber.
AWeber
AWeber has a very nice landing page creator. This makes it so that your visitors fall on an attractive page that can convert them into subscribers.
The AWeber form templates are easy to navigate and you customers should have no trouble with the form's flow. There is no danger of frustrating a potential subscriber.
AWeber has a mobile stats app, for iOS and Android, that will help you view important stats for your list, broadcasts, and subscribers while on the move. They app only measures your stats though, so it is useful as a monitoring tool, but you won't be able to react to that information until you're back at a computer.
Backend Features (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
GetResponse's menu is pretty straight forward:
- Contacts - This tab lets you manage your lists. (import contacts, edit custom fields)
- Messages - Create and test newsletters, setup autoresponders, and manage your RSS to email automation.
- Statistics - This is where GetResponse has all of its analytics.
- Surveys - Here you can create and manage your customer surveys. The statistics gathered from your surveys will be found under the Statistics menu.
- Forms - GetResponse has a bunch of different form templates to suit your needs. They also have blank forms if you don't find what you're looking for in their templates.
- Landing Pages - These are great for converting visitors quickly. They provide you with a visually appealing front page that lets visitors opt-in to whatever it is you need them to opt-in to.
GetResponse has a nice set of features.
AWeber
AWeber 's interface is engaging and well designed.
At the top of Page, the current list you are viewing is displayed. You can toggle to other lists by tapping on the list name. Next you fill find links: Manage Lists, My Apps (where you can add your favorite integrations), and Help and My Account (where you can mange your account information).
Let's check out the main menu:
- Home - which gives you access to the dashboard where Subscriber Stats, Scheduled and Recently Sent Broadcasts, and List Stats will be displayed
- Messages - This gives you all the tools necessary for creating your newsletters, follow up, or broadcast messages.
- Subscribers - manage, add new subscribers, and view you import history here.
- Sign Up Forms - This is where you can edit all of your sign up forms that convert visitors into subscribers.
- Reports - Here is where AWeber deals with all of its analytics.
- List Options - This lets you access your basic list settings, personalize your list by adding and removing custom fields, and setup automation rules like subscribe or unsubscribe users when they subscribe or unsubscribe to another list.
AWeber's backend is very nice to use. They make it easy and simple to set up all the common tasks associated with email marketing.
Reports & Statistics (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
GetResponse’s reporting section covers both the basics and a number of advanced statistics. The basic reports appear directly on the dashboard via a pie chart and raw numbers.
You can access the Email Analytics page for information on opens, clicks, unsubscribes, bounces, and complaints.
You can view which members within your email list performed any given action and compare desktop versus mobile activity, list growth compared to prior campaigns, and find autoresponder statistics.
GetResponse's reporting tool is definitely one of the most advanced and fully featured out there.
Both of these apps have very good analytics. It is hard to choose between them.
AWeber
AWeber shows you exactly what users clicked on so you can build a picture of your customer's preferences. It’s also really easy to see who has unsubscribed (and it better be if they're charging you for it), and you can use this information to monitor what emails are causing unsubscribes.
It also has all of the more basic analytics. You can track your sales to see which of your campaigns are the most successful. The same basic analytics and reporting options (clicks, opens, unsubscribes, revenue) are available.
AWeber gives you access to standard and more advanced analytics. They give you a wealth of data on clicks, opens, unsubscribes, revenue over time, subscriber growth, stats by location, area code, and market area.
Flexibility (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
With GetResponse you can import your contacts from a CSV, TXT, XSL, XLSX, VCF, or ODS file (the file cannot be bigger than 10 MB) , from other web services like SalesForce, Google, Magento and many others. The option to manually add your contacts is also available.
All imports will add your subscribers to your list without sending them a confirmation email or asking them to click a link to verify their subscription. Before the list is imported GetResponse will estimate the list quality and depending on the results, the list can be approved or rejected.
If you decide to cancel your membership, keep in mind GetResponse won't refund you any of the fees you paid in advance.
AWeber
With AWeber you have only two importing options: a manual text-based upload and a spreadsheet upload from XLS, XLSX, TSV, CSV and TXT files.
It is hard to switch to AWeber from any other email marketing service. You have to export the contacts from the other service first and then use the spreadsheet upload feature.
You may cancel your account at any time, and the backup data feature allows you to export your list of subscribers as you leave.
AWeber is much harder to switch to than GetResponse.
Automation (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
With GetResponse you have the power to schedule either time-based or action-based messages to reach your subscribers at the perfect moment.
Time-based autoresponders are sent automatically to every new subscriber who joins your list.
Action-based autoresponders are “trigger messages” sent to your subscribers when they perform a specific action - like clicking a link or opening a message.
AWeber
Autoresponder emails are very easy to setup and each subscriber is tagged with a message number which indicates which followup emails they have received.
To prevent a subscriber from receiving a specific followup email, you must set the subscriber’s message number to be higher than the email sequence number. This is a little byzantine.
GetResponse deals with automation much better. They don't have any weird rules for if a subscriber gets an autoresponse or not.
Extensibility (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
There are just 112 add-ons and integrations available for GetResponse. This is not nearly as many as you can find for Campaign Monitor, but all the major programs are available.
They've got about the same number of integrations as AWeber.
AWeber
AWeber has more than 120 integrations with other apps. Both AWeber and GetResponse have roughly the same number of integrations.
You can connect your AWeber account to social media, landing pages, shopping carts and many more integrations like WordPress, RavenTools, PayPal, Shopify and many more. They have most of the major apps you are likely to use.
The AWeber team does allow you to create your own integrations if you have the coding chops.
Support (weighted 11%)
GetResponse
GetResponse has a live chat service that is 24hours a day on weekdays. They also have a phone line that is open 9 - 5 EST. Of course, they also offer email support.
They also offer a FAQ section, video tutorials, and live and pre-recorded webinars, but navigating the FAQ section can be a little frustrating.
They are active on Social Media and will quickly respond to user comments and questions on Facebook and Twitter.
Besides the FAQ, GetResponse's support is quick and reliable. They offer a lot of options to fix whatever problem you may be having.
AWeber
Aweber has live telephone support. Their live chat and email hours are 8AM-8PM EasternTime Mon-Fri and 9AM-5PM ET Sat-Sun
There is a huge knowledgebase available including FAQ’s, video tutorials and live free webinars.
They also respond to user comments and questions on Social Media, especially on Facebook and Twitter as you might expect.
A searchable collection of hundreds of articles on the software, including walkthroughs, troubleshooting, and explanations of software features is at your disposal to help you get started.
These apps have almost the same support options. The only differences are in their hours of operation. GetResponse has more live chat hours, and AWeber has longer hours for phone lines.