Best for
Best for businesses that want email marketing, automation, landing pages and ecommerce tools, along with webinars and a website builder, in one platform.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Email Marketing Comparison
GetResponse vs. Ghost
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for independent publishers and creators who want a website, newsletter and paid subscriptions in one platform they can host themselves.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | GetResponse | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $19 / month Starter plan billed monthly; annual billing lowers it to $15.58 / month, and the price scales with list size. | lower value Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month Ghost(Pro) Starter is $18 per month billed yearly for up to 1,000 members. Self-hosting the open source application carries no licence cost, but the server and email delivery are your own. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial | Not stated |
| API | Yes, an API and more than 170 integrations | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence |
| Campaign types | Yes, email newsletters and autoresponders, with landing pages, signup forms and popups; webinars on the Creator plan and SMS on Enterprise | Newsletters published to a website and sent by email in the same step, with free and paid membership tiers |
| Automation and journeys | Yes, a visual drag-and-drop automation builder; 1 workflow on Starter and unlimited workflows from the Marketer plan | Yes, in public beta since June 2026. An Automations tab opens a drag-and-drop canvas with two flows ready to go, one for new free members and one for new paid ones, built from two actions: send an email and wait a set amount of time. Existing welcome emails move into it automatically, and more triggers and actions are announced as coming |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, data-based audience segmentation, with advanced segmentation from the Marketer plan | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers |
| Templates and editor | Yes, a drag-and-drop email editor with templates, plus a landing page builder and a website builder on the Creator plan | Yes, an editor built for long-form work with galleries, video, audio and dynamic content cards; custom themes from the Publisher plan |
| Deliverability and testing | Yes, A/B testing and send-time optimisation (Perfect Timing) | Preview shows the post as it will look on the web, on mobile, in an email and on social, and a test email can be sent to your own inbox with a custom subject line before publishing. On Ghost(Pro) email delivery is included and configured for you; a self-hosted install has to supply Mailgun API keys, which is the only supported bulk email provider |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Yes, abandoned cart recovery, sales funnels, promo codes and revenue reports for connected stores | Yes, native paid subscriptions through Stripe on monthly and yearly tiers, with signup forms and promotional offers. Ghost takes 0% of subscription revenue on Publisher and above, though payment processor fees still apply |
| Integrations and API | Yes, an API and more than 170 integrations | Yes, REST APIs for content in and out, plus more than 8,000 integrations through Zapier and similar from the Publisher plan |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Not stated | Community forum |
| Onboarding | Not stated | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Not stated | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier |
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Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price GetResponse From $19 / month Ghost Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month
- Deployment GetResponse Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Company size GetResponse Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Ghost Freelancers, Small and mid-sized
- Hosting GetResponse Cloud (SaaS) Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence
- AI features GetResponse Yes Ghost No
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
GetResponse
Strengths
- Combines email, automation, landing pages and ecommerce tools in one platform
- AI email and content generators on paid plans
- Creator plan adds a website builder, course creator and webinars
- API with more than 170 integrations
Limitations
- Pricing scales with list size
- SMS marketing and mobile push are reserved for the Enterprise plan
- No permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial
Ghost
Strengths
- Open source under the MIT licence and self-hostable, so the whole platform can run on your own infrastructure
- Ghost takes 0% of paid subscription revenue on Publisher and above; only payment processor fees apply
- Website, newsletter and paid memberships in one product, with no separate email tool to wire up
- Run by a non-profit foundation funded by its users, with no outside investors
- Unlimited email sends on every Ghost(Pro) tier
Limitations
- The Starter plan has no paid subscriptions, no custom themes and only limited integrations
- Member count drives the price: Starter and Publisher both stop at 1,000 members, Business at 10,000
- Self-hosting means providing and maintaining your own server and email delivery
- Built for publishing rather than campaign marketing, so there is no multi-channel journey builder
Plans
Pricing
GetResponse
- Starter From $19 / month Unlimited email sends, 1 automation workflow, landing pages, forms and AI content generators. Billed monthly; $15.58 / month billed annually. Scales with list size.
- Marketer From $59 / month Adds unlimited automation workflows, advanced segmentation, abandoned cart recovery, sales funnels and revenue reports. $48.38 / month billed annually.
- Creator From $69 / month Adds a website builder, a course creator for up to 500 students, premium newsletter subscriptions and webinars for up to 100 attendees. $56.58 / month billed annually.
- Enterprise Not stated Custom pricing. Adds SMS marketing, mobile push notifications, a dedicated IP address, single sign-on, unlimited users and a dedicated customer experience manager.
Ghost
- Self-hosted $0 The open source Ghost application under the MIT licence. No licence cost; you provide the server and email delivery.
- Starter $18 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 1,000 members, one staff user, website, newsletter, free custom domain and unlimited email sends. No paid subscriptions or custom themes.
- Publisher $29 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 1,000 members, three staff users, custom themes, paid subscriptions, advanced analytics and more than 8,000 integrations.
- Business $199 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 10,000 members, 15 staff users, priority support, higher usage limits and early access to new features.
- Custom Not stated Unlimited members and staff users, advanced configuration, dedicated IP and a 99.9% uptime SLA.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
GetResponse
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Ghost
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
GetResponse https://www.getresponse.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-20
Ghost https://ghost.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.