Feature Set:  

With GetResponse you can manage huge email campaigns. They offer a low monthly price of $17.95 for the ability to send out up to 10,000 emails at once and you can have unlimited email campaigns. They also offer lower prices for paying quarterly, every six months or yearly. And if you need to manage over 10,000 contacts you can add increments of 5,000 for only $4.50 per month.

With this service you can import email lists from a CSV file or you can add them one by one. They also offer subscriber capturing tools that can collect opt-in subscribers through a web form or pop-up form.

To ensure delivery, they test your emails with the newest version of SpamAssassin to test to see if your email will likely be blocked by your subscriber or not.

Though you can have an unlimited number of campaigns, we found the subscriber organizing tools limited. For example, when you add a subscriber it only asks for name and email address, it does not include things like location, age range, or any other sorting type criteria.

Ease of Use:  

We tested the trial version of this program which does not have all of the features that the Pro version offers, but even the basic free version was not as easy to use as some other products. We found the email creation tool easy to use, but had a bit of trouble figuring out how to send out a test email and look at stats. But it could be because the free version has many limitations.

For example, the email creation tool in the pro version includes an easy to use WYSIWYG editor and more comprehensive support, but the free version can only send plain text emails. It is kind of unfortunate that the free trial version does not reflect the full power of the pro version and it includes ads at the beginning of the emails. It would be nice if you could test the pro version to see what it really looks like and investigate what it is capable of doing.

Email Campaign Creation:  

The free version includes an easy to use plain text email creator and the pro version has a WYSIWYG editor that can create plain text or HTML emails. GetResponse offers over 150 templates for quick email creation and postcard templates.

Creating a new campaign is simple, you just name it, set the time intervals you want it sent out at, select the message type (plain/HTML), create the message and select your options. You can track click-thrus and sales and you can check (or validate) the HTML code and include a permission reminder.

In terms of the actual email, you can add images, templates, HTML code, video or audio and links. You can also include attachments and spreadsheets, Word files and Excel files. This service can also support non-English language text and can help you create auto-responders and web forms.

You can also customize your emails to add in customer names and other information and you can tie your blog to your service, so it will automatically send out a notice when you add a new blog post. They also offer a list building service called GetSubscribers, which for a fee will collect opt-in subscribers for you.

Campaign Reporting:  

This seems to be a bit of a weak spot in this service, though it offers some reports that many others do not, like conversion tracking. It can track new subscribers and domains, and can track click-thrus. GetResponse also keeps tracks of sent emails and delivered/undeliverable and opened emails. However, we did not see very many filter options, such as by region or other demographic and it does not offer easy Google Analytics compatibility. We would also like to see it track email forwards and bounced emails.

Help/Support:  

GetResponse offers excellent support to its subscribers. They also offer a free limited version that does not come with support. But subscribed or paid members can access email, chat and toll-free phone support, seven days a week. They also host online FAQs, a searchable knowledgebase, a complete user guide, a support forum and a blog. They also post tips and other helpful email marketing information such as how to increase email responsiveness, list building tips and more.

Overall we think this is a great service for those that need bulk email sending abilities; GetResponse can support a large list of contacts and unlimited email campaigns for a low monthly price. However, if you need more reporting options or a service that can track more customer details you may want to check out a service that scored high in this area, such as Bronto. Or for high-touch customer relations, try Pinpointe.