GetResponse Free Plan vs Starter: What Free Limits, What Starter Adds, and What It Costs at 500 to 5,000 Contacts

The short answer: GetResponse's free plan is usable for a list under 500 contacts if you only send occasional newsletters by hand. It allows 2,500 emails a month, carries a GetResponse badge you can't remove, and loses autoresponders and automation after a 14-day trial. Upgrade to Starter when you need a welcome email series, more than 500 contacts, or no badge. Starter is $19/month billed monthly for 1,000 contacts, or $15.58/month billed annually. But Starter includes only one custom automation workflow and no website builder. If you just want a free newsletter, Kit's free plan covers far more subscribers.

Prices and plan details are as of November 2026, from GetResponse's pricing page and help center. We haven't used GetResponse ourselves, and we could read its pages only through search-engine excerpts, so confirm everything on the live pricing page before you pay. Where a number comes from a third-party site instead of GetResponse, we say so.

What GetResponse's free plan includes

GetResponse's free plan page and help center list these features:

• Up to 500 contacts. Inactive contacts count toward the limit (help center).
• Up to 2,500 emails a month. The cap covers every message type: newsletters, autoresponders, A/B tests, and automation messages.
• A drag-and-drop email editor, plus signup and contact forms.
• Landing pages, with limits we explain below.
• No credit card and no time limit (help center).

For the first 14 days, a new free account also gets premium features. After that, the account stays on the free plan and those features switch off (help center).

What the free plan limits, one by one

Sends: 2,500 a month means 5 newsletters to a full list

The math is simple: 2,500 divided by your list size is how many newsletters you can send a month.

So a weekly newsletter fits up to 500 contacts, though in a month with five send days you'd use the whole allowance, with nothing left for a test or a resend. A daily email doesn't fit. Unlike Brevo's free plan, which caps you at 300 emails a day, GetResponse's limit is monthly, so one newsletter can reach all 500 people on the same day.

Contacts: what happens at 501

Once you reach 500, new contacts go into a Contact queue instead of your list. They wait there for 32 days. If you don't upgrade by then, they're deleted, and GetResponse says it notifies you before that happens (help center). New signups aren't lost the moment you hit the cap, but you have about a month to decide.

Autoresponders and automation: trial only

This is the limit that matters most. GetResponse's own autoresponder roundup says the free-forever plan doesn't include autoresponders, and the pricing page lists the welcome email series under Starter. Marketing automation is one of the premium features you get only during the 14-day trial.

In practice: you can send newsletters by hand on Free, but a new subscriber won't automatically get a welcome email after the trial ends.

Landing pages: GetResponse's pages disagree

The pricing page says Free lets you build and publish one landing page. The help center says you can publish as many as you want, but all of them together are limited to 1,000 unique visits, after which they go offline. We couldn't tell which one is current. Either way, plan on a single signup page with modest traffic, not a campaign that sends thousands of visitors.

Website builder: GetResponse's pages disagree here too

GetResponse markets a website builder. Its help center says you can't create and publish websites on the free plan, but some older feature pages say Free includes it. We couldn't confirm which is current, so don't count on it. Starter doesn't include it either. The pricing page's comparison table lists the website builder only on Creator and Enterprise. If a website is the reason you're looking at GetResponse, price the Creator plan, not Starter.

Branding and other limits

• Badge: Every email from a free account carries a GetResponse badge, and you can't turn it off until you upgrade (help center).
• A/B testing: Not available on free accounts (pricing help article).
• No way back: Once you move to a paid plan, you can't downgrade to Free again. If you might want to drop back to $0 later, keep that in mind before you upgrade.

What Starter adds

Starter is GetResponse's cheapest paid plan. The pricing page lists:

• Unlimited monthly sends, so the 2,500 cap goes away.
• A welcome email series (autoresponders) and one custom automation workflow, per the pricing page and the pricing help article. We saw this limit only in search excerpts, so confirm it on the live page.
• A landing page builder (the comparison table lists landing pages as unlimited on Starter) and signup forms.
• AI content tools. One pricing excerpt mentions a limit of 3 uses, which we couldn't confirm.
• The option to turn off the GetResponse badge.

What Starter doesn't include: the website builder, conversion funnels, tagging, and paid ads, per the pricing help article. Unlimited automation workflows start on Marketer, listed at $48.38/month billed annually for 1,000 contacts.

The pricing page lists the welcome series separately from the custom workflow, so it looks like you get one flow beyond your welcome emails. If you already know you need a separate sequence for each lead magnet, Starter will feel tight quickly.

What Starter costs at 500, 1,000, 2,500 and 5,000 contacts

GetResponse's pricing page offers list sizes of 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000 and up. We didn't find a 500-contact Starter tier, so if you have 500 contacts and want Starter, you'd pay the 1,000-contact price.

Notes on this table:

• The $19 and $15.58 figures come from GetResponse's own pricing page and trial page, which says annual billing saves "up to $41 a year." That matches the 18% discount for paying 12 months up front.
• The 2,500 and 5,000 prices come from third-party price trackers, not GetResponse. One GetResponse blog post gives "$77.90/mo" for 5,000 contacts without naming the plan, which doesn't match. Treat both rows as unconfirmed and move the slider on the pricing page.
• The annual figures for 2,500 and 5,000 are our estimates: the third-party monthly price minus 18%.

How GetResponse compares with Kit, Brevo and Moosend

The comparison hinges on one question: do you need emails to go out on their own, like a welcome series? If not, a free plan is cheaper. If you do, GetResponse Starter sits in the middle on price.

Kit, Brevo and Moosend figures come from our earlier guides, checked in late October 2026: Kit Free vs Creator, Brevo free plan limits, and Moosend Pro. Brevo's "4 days per send" is 1,000 divided by its 300-a-day limit, rounded up.

• Newsletter only: Kit's free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers at $0, 20 times GetResponse Free's 500. Kit Free has no sequences, but neither does GetResponse Free after the trial.
• Automation on $0: Brevo's free plan keeps automation for up to 2,000 contacts, but each newsletter over 300 people takes several days to send.
• Cheapest paid automation: Moosend Pro is $16/month at 1,000 subscribers versus $19 for GetResponse Starter, and its pricing page doesn't show a one-workflow cap. Kit Creator is $39/month at 1,000.
• Email plus landing pages in one place: GetResponse is a reasonable fit here, and Starter is cheaper than Kit Creator at 1,000 contacts.

Is GetResponse right for you?

Not for you if: you only send a newsletter (Kit Free covers far more people for $0), you need several automation sequences on a small budget, or you want a website builder without paying for the Creator plan.

See GetResponse's plans

Pick it if / skip it if

Pick GetResponse Free if:

• Your list is comfortably under 500 contacts, so the 32-day contact queue won't force a decision soon, and you send one newsletter a week or less.
• You want a landing page and signup form for free and don't mind the badge.

Pick GetResponse Starter if:

• You have up to about 1,000 contacts and need a welcome series plus one more automation.
• You want email and landing pages in one tool and Kit Creator's $39/month is too much.

Skip GetResponse if:

• You only send newsletters. Start with Kit's free plan.
• Your list is tiny and you want automation for $0. Brevo's free plan includes it.
• You need several workflows cheaply. Look at Moosend Pro.
• You're leaving Mailchimp and want the full field, including migration steps. See our Mailchimp alternatives for small lists.

FAQ

Is GetResponse really free?

Yes, for up to 500 contacts and 2,500 emails a month, with no credit card and no time limit (free plan page). The first 14 days include premium features; after that, autoresponders and automation switch off.

Does the free plan include autoresponders?

Not after the 14-day trial, according to GetResponse's autoresponder roundup. The welcome email series is listed under Starter on the pricing page.

What happens when I pass 500 contacts on Free?

New contacts go into a Contact queue for 32 days. Upgrade within that time and they join your list; otherwise they're deleted (help center).

Can I remove the GetResponse badge?

Not on Free. On a paid plan, you can switch it off in your account settings (help center).

Can I go back to the free plan after upgrading?

No. GetResponse's help center says a paid plan can't be downgraded to Free.

How much is Starter for 2,500 or 5,000 contacts?

We don't know for sure. Third-party price trackers list $29/month at 2,500 and $54/month at 5,000, billed monthly, but a GetResponse blog post gives $77.90/month for 5,000 contacts without naming the plan. Neither is confirmed on GetResponse's own pricing page, so check the slider on the pricing page.

Bottom line

GetResponse Free works for a list under 500 that gets a hand-sent newsletter, with a landing page on the side. It's not a free way to run a welcome sequence. Starter, at $19/month for 1,000 contacts, is a fair price for one welcome series, landing pages, and no badge, but its single automation workflow and missing website builder are real limits.

What we'd pick: Kit Free if you only send a newsletter. GetResponse Starter if a welcome series is all the automation you need and you want landing pages in the same account. Moosend Pro if you already need more than one workflow.

Compare GetResponse plans