GetResponse

GetResponse is the most course-and-webinar-integrated email marketing platform available to indie authors. Where competitors like Kit or MailerLite handle email and leave course hosting to Teachable or Kajabi, GetResponse bundles email automation, landing pages, webinar rooms, paid subscriptions, and an AI course builder under one subscription. For non-fiction authors, writing coaches, and authors who monetize their expertise through online education, that consolidation is the core value proposition.

Plans and Pricing#

All prices are per month, billed monthly, at the listed subscriber count. Annual billing saves 18%.

• Free — $0/month: Up to 500 subscribers, 2,500 emails per month. One landing page (capped at 1,000 unique visitors/month). GetResponse branding badge on all outgoing emails. No automation workflows, no webinars, no course selling. Functional as a starter list-builder but not a professional tool.
• Starter — $19/month (1k): Unlimited sends, basic autoresponders, 1 custom automation workflow, unlimited landing pages, 3 user seats, 24/7 chat support. No webinars, no course builder. Scales: $29/mo at 2.5k, $54/mo at 5k, $79/mo at 10k, $174/mo at 25k.
• Marketer — $59/month (1k): Everything in Starter plus unlimited automation workflows, contact scoring, abandoned cart recovery, live chat widget, and sales funnels. Still no webinars or courses. Scales: $69/mo at 2.5k, $95/mo at 5k, $114/mo at 10k, $215/mo at 25k.
• Creator — $69/month (1k): The minimum viable plan for course sellers and workshop hosts. Adds: AI course builder, webinars (up to 100 attendees), paid newsletter subscriptions, up to 500 enrolled course students, and course certificates and quizzes. Scales: $79/mo at 2.5k, $109/mo at 5k, $134/mo at 10k, $249/mo at 25k.
• Enterprise (MAX) — from $1,099/month: Up to 500 webinar attendees, SMS marketing, dedicated account management, and advanced integrations. Requires sales contact.

Billing gotcha: GetResponse auto-upgrades accounts when subscriber limits are exceeded, even temporarily. Duplicate contacts across separate lists count separately toward the limit. No refunds are issued — cancellation terminates access immediately on prepaid annual plans without pro-rated returns.

AI Features#

GetResponse has invested substantially in AI tooling since 2024:

• AI Course Wizard (launched November 2025): Transforms existing content — newsletters, webinar recordings, PDFs — into a structured, multi-module course in approximately 30 minutes. Input a prompt describing your course topic and the wizard generates a 7-module outline with lessons. The output can then be refined in the full course editor, with support for video, audio, text, and interactive elements.
• AI Email Generator: Writes complete email campaigns from a text prompt. Includes subject line suggestions and send-time optimization based on subscriber behavior.
• AI Website Builder: Free on all plans. Generates landing pages and websites from a prompt.
• AI Content Generator: Rewrites, reformats, and expands copy across emails and landing pages.
• Bot Activity Filtering (December 2025): Strips artificial email opens and clicks caused by corporate firewalls from automation triggers, improving accuracy of behavioral sequences.

Webinar Hosting#

GetResponse webinar hosting is included on Creator plan and above:

• Creator plan: Up to 100 attendees per session. Unlimited events. Built-in registration pages, replay hosting, and attendee follow-up automation. Paid webinars supported.
• Enterprise: Up to 500–1,000 attendees depending on configuration.
• January 2026: A new Webinar Block for emails pulls event title, date, time, and registration link directly into campaign emails — reducing the manual work of promoting upcoming sessions.
• Limitations: Webinar attendee caps are firm. Authors hosting large virtual events (100+ attendees) need the enterprise tier or a dedicated platform like Zoom Webinars or Demio.

Course Builder#

The Creator plan course builder is a genuine all-in-one alternative to standalone platforms for authors launching their first course:

• Content formats supported: Video (hosted or linked), audio, text lessons, PDFs, quizzes with auto-grading, and completion certificates.
• Monetization: One-time purchases, subscription tiers, or free enrollment. Integrates with the email automation engine so purchase events trigger welcome sequences automatically.
• Student capacity: Up to 500 enrolled students on Creator plan.
• AI Course Wizard: Enter a topic or paste existing content; AI structures the full course outline across 7 modules with lessons pre-populated. Saves significant setup time for authors repurposing existing material.
• Limitations: Course creator is functional but less polished than dedicated platforms like Kajabi, Thinkific, or Teachable. Community features (forums, cohorts) are absent. It suits authors launching a first or second course, not those building professional online schools.

Who It's For#

• Non-fiction authors who teach: Writing coaches, craft instructors, business-book authors, and authors with consulting practices who want to launch email-based courses without paying for Kajabi ($119+/month) or Teachable on top of an email platform.
• Workshop and webinar hosts: Authors running live virtual sessions, author events, or recurring masterclasses who need integrated registration, follow-up automation, and replay hosting in one tool.
• Authors replacing multiple paid tools: GetResponse's Creator plan ($69+/month) replaces what would cost $49+ (email platform) + $79+ (Kajabi/Teachable) + $49+ (webinar tool) if purchased separately.

Limitations#

• Course builder depth: The AI Course Wizard is genuinely useful, but the overall course interface lacks community features, drip-by-completion scheduling, and the polish of dedicated platforms. Authors building a serious online school should evaluate Kajabi or Thinkific instead.
• Webinar cap: 100 attendees on Creator is workable for small-group workshops but insufficient for promotional webinars targeting new audiences.
• Single automation workflow on Starter: Authors on the entry-level plan cannot run multiple simultaneous sequences — a significant limitation for anyone with even modest segmentation needs.
• Billing policies: No refunds. Peak subscriber counts (not averages) determine tier. Accounts are auto-upgraded without confirmation when limits are breached.
• Overkill for fiction authors: Fiction authors needing only list management and reader newsletters will pay for features they never use. Kit (free to 10,000 subscribers) or MailerLite ($10/month) are more cost-efficient choices.
• Trustpilot concerns: 4.3/5 from 945 reviews, but 27% are one-star. Recurring complaints focus on sudden account suspensions and no-refund cancellation policies.

Deliverability#

EmailToolTester testing (January 2024) recorded a 90.9% overall deliverability rate, with 100% inbox placement at Gmail, Outlook/Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL on shared IPs. This is a solid result — above MailerLite (89.8%) in the same test period. GetResponse has its own spam-checking tool and supports DKIM/DMARC authentication.

Recent Updates (2024-2025)#

• AI Course Wizard — November 2025: Generates full course outlines from existing content in 30 minutes
• Webinar Block for Emails — January 2026: Pulls live event data directly into email campaigns
• Bot Activity Filtering — December 2025: Strips false automation triggers from security scanner clicks
• Web Automation — August 2025: Converts website visitors via popups and push notifications using behavior triggers
• Gmail Annotations — October 2025: Displays logos and promo codes in Gmail's Promotions tab
• Engagement Events tracking — October 2025: Scroll and click tracking feeding into automation workflows

Alternatives#

Kajabi ($119+/month): Stronger course builder with community features, podcasts, and coaching modules. Significantly more expensive. Better for authors with established online schools.

Teachable ($59+/month): Dedicated course platform with cleaner student experience. Charges 5–10% transaction fees on lower plans. No email marketing — you still need a separate ESP.

Kit ($0–$25+/month): Better email automation depth, more generous free tier (up to 10,000 subscribers), stronger integration ecosystem. No course or webinar tools — requires pairing with a separate platform.

Systeme.io (free–$97/month): All-in-one alternative with a more generous free tier (2,000 contacts, 3 courses, unlimited students). Less polished email editor but more feature-complete free plan.

GetResponse sits at the intersection of email marketing and course creation. It's the right choice when the goal is consolidating both into one bill and one workflow — not when course quality or email sophistication individually needs to be best-in-class.