Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links for AWeber and GetResponse. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Brevo is linked without any affiliate relationship. My comparisons are based on published pricing and features, not on who pays me.
Picking an email tool as a one-person business feels harder than it should. Every platform claims to be the easiest, the cheapest, and the most powerful — and most comparison articles are just whoever pays the highest commission dressed up as advice.
So here is the honest version. I compared AWeber, GetResponse, and Brevo on the things that actually matter when it is just you: what the free tier really gives you, what the cheapest paid plan costs, how automation works, how easy each one is to live with, and who each one is actually best for. Prices below were checked on the vendors’ own sites in October 2026.
The short answer
If you want my two-sentence take before the details: start free, upgrade only when your list earns its keep. All three have a usable free tier, and the “best” pick depends almost entirely on how many subscribers you have and whether you need automation yet. There is no universal winner — here is how they split:
- AWeber — best if you want the simplest tool that still does real automation on a budget.
- GetResponse — best if you want the most features per dollar once you start paying.
- Brevo — best if you have a big list but send infrequently, thanks to send-based pricing.
Pricing: free tier vs cheapest paid plan
This is where the three diverge most, because they charge in completely different ways. AWeber and GetResponse charge by subscriber count. Brevo charges by emails sent. That single difference decides which one is cheapest for you.
AWeber pricing
- Free: $0 — up to 500 subscribers, up to 3,000 emails per month, 1 email list, 1 landing page, 1 automation, basic support.
- Lite: from $15/month ($12.50/month billed annually) for up to 500 subscribers — unlimited email sends, 3 automations, 3 landing pages, 3 users.
- Plus: from $30/month ($20/month billed annually) — unlimited automations, lists, and landing pages.
AWeber’s free tier is genuinely usable: 500 subscribers with 3,000 monthly sends covers a new newsletter for months. The catch is that prices climb with your list — at 5,000 subscribers, Lite runs about $60/month.
GetResponse pricing
- Free: $0 — up to 500 contacts. The first 14 days include premium features; after that, the free tier has real limits (GetResponse branding on messages, limited landing page visits, restricted automation).
- Starter: $19/month ($15.58/month billed annually) for up to 1,000 contacts — unlimited monthly sends, 1 custom automation workflow, landing page builder, signup forms.
- Marketer: $59/month ($48.38/month billed annually) — unlimited automation workflows, advanced segmentation, abandoned cart recovery, sales funnels.
- Creator: $69/month ($56.58/month billed annually) — adds webinars, course builder, and paid newsletters.
GetResponse’s paid plans all include unlimited sends, which is generous. But note the automation gate: Starter gives you exactly one automation workflow. If you need a welcome series and anything else automated, you are looking at Marketer.
Brevo pricing
- Free: $0 — 300 emails per day (roughly 9,000/month), unlimited contacts (up to 100,000), Brevo branding on emails. No automation on the free tier.
- Starter: from $9/month — 5,000 emails per month, no daily cap. Still no automation.
- Standard: from $18/month — 5,000 emails per month with marketing automation, A/B testing, and landing pages.
Brevo is the cheapest paid entry at $9/month, but read the fine print: Starter has no automation at all. The cheapest Brevo plan with automation is Standard at $18/month. And because pricing is send-based, a 10,000-subscriber list that you email twice a month costs far less on Brevo than on subscriber-priced competitors.
Pricing head-to-head (small list, ~500 subscribers)
| Free tier | Cheapest paid | Cheapest paid with automation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWeber | $0 (500 subs, 3,000 sends/mo) | $15/mo (Lite) | $15/mo (Lite, 3 automations) |
| GetResponse | $0 (500 contacts, limited) | $19/mo (Starter) | $19/mo (Starter, 1 workflow) |
| Brevo | $0 (300 sends/day) | $9/mo (Starter) | $18/mo (Standard) |
For a one-person business starting out, the honest math: you should be on a free tier until you have at least a few hundred engaged subscribers. All three let you do that.
Automation features compared
Automation is the feature that separates a newsletter tool from a business asset. Here is what each one actually gives you.
AWeber
Drag-and-drop automation builder. The free plan includes 1 automation — enough for a basic welcome sequence. Lite bumps that to 3, and Plus is unlimited. AWeber also includes RSS-to-email (blog posts sent automatically as newsletters), abandoned cart emails via Shopify/WooCommerce integrations, and an AI email writer. For a solo operator, 3 automations on the $15 Lite plan covers a welcome series, a simple nurture sequence, and one behavioural trigger. That is a fair deal.
GetResponse
The most automation-heavy of the three once you pay. Even Starter includes a visual workflow builder, though you are limited to one custom workflow — plan around that carefully. Marketer unlocks unlimited workflows plus ecommerce triggers like abandoned cart recovery, contact scoring, and sales funnels. If your business will live or die on automated sequences, GetResponse gives you the most sophisticated builder at the mid tier. The free tier’s automation is heavily restricted after the 14-day trial window.
Brevo
The automation story here is simple: there is none until Standard ($18/month). Free and Starter are broadcast-only tools. Once you reach Standard, you get a solid visual automation builder, which is fine — but it means Brevo is not the pick if automation on a shoestring budget is your priority. Where Brevo shines instead is transactional email and multi-channel (SMS, WhatsApp, live chat) from the same account.
Automation verdict: AWeber gives you the most automation at the lowest paid price ($15/month for 3 workflows). GetResponse gives you the most sophisticated automation but gates it behind higher tiers. Brevo makes you pay $18/month before automation exists at all.
Ease of use
AWeber is the simplest of the three to pick up. The interface is plain, the template library is large, signup forms and landing pages take minutes, and support includes 24/7 live chat even on lower tiers. If you have never run an email list before, AWeber has the gentlest learning curve.
GetResponse packs in the most features — website builder, webinars, course creator, funnels — which means more menus to learn. It is not difficult, exactly, but it is a bigger tool. Solo users who only need email may find half the dashboard irrelevant to them, at least at first.
Brevo has a clean, modern interface, but its send-based pricing model confuses newcomers. People routinely misjudge which tier they need because they think in subscribers while Brevo thinks in sends. Once you understand the model, the tool itself is straightforward.
Ease-of-use verdict: AWeber for pure simplicity, Brevo for a clean modern feel once you grasp the pricing, GetResponse for breadth at the cost of a busier interface.
Deliverability reputation
I am not going to quote you inbox-placement percentages — those numbers come from vendors’ own labs or tiny samples, and they change constantly. What I can tell you honestly:
- AWeber has been around since 1998 and stakes its brand on deliverability. Longevity and a conservative approach to new senders count for something here.
- GetResponse is equally established in the email world with dedicated deliverability infrastructure on higher tiers.
- Brevo is a major European sender with a deliverability centre in the product. I can add one real data point: after a false-positive account suspension earlier this year, my Brevo domain authentication and branded sending were validated through their deliverability centre without issues.
All three are legitimate senders. Deliverability problems in 2026 come far more often from bad list hygiene and spammy content than from which of these three you pick.
Best-for verdicts (no forced winner)
- Pick AWeber if: you are starting your first list, want the easiest tool, and want real automation (3 workflows) at the lowest paid price. The free tier is genuinely enough to validate an idea. Try AWeber free.
- Pick GetResponse if: you know you will need serious automation, funnels, or webinars within the next year, and you would rather grow into one platform than migrate later. Starter at $19/month is reasonable for what it includes. Try GetResponse.
- Pick Brevo if: you have (or expect) a large list but send infrequently, or you want transactional email, SMS, and CRM in one account. Just know automation starts at $18/month. brevo.com (plain link — no affiliate).
And the verdict nobody wants to hear: if you have under 500 subscribers, the differences barely matter. Pick the free tier of whichever interface you liked best in the trial, and revisit the decision when your list starts paying for itself.
The bottom line
There is no bad choice among these three — only a wrong choice for your specific situation. Match the tool to your list size and your automation needs, start free, and let revenue decide when you upgrade. That is the entire strategy.
Prices checked October 2026 on aweber.com, getresponse.com, and brevo.com. Vendors change pricing — verify current figures before you buy.
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