Migrate from Mailchimp to GetResponse Without Losing Your Automations

Most teams decide to leave Mailchimp the moment they hit the pricing wall. You upgrade to remove the Mailchimp badge, watch the invoice jump from $20 to $135 overnight because a list cleanup stalled and you crossed a contact tier, and suddenly a tool you picked for simplicity costs more than a proper marketing automation platform. That is the moment. If you are in it right now, this guide walks you through every step of moving to GetResponse without torching your automations, tanking your deliverability, or starting from scratch on audience segmentation.

Before You Migrate

Rushing the export step is the most common failure in any platform switch. Spend 30 minutes here and you will save hours of cleanup on the other side. I’d argue this pre-work matters more than anything you do inside GetResponse on day one.

Here is what to pull out of Mailchimp before you touch GetResponse:

• All lists as CSV, including merge fields and tags. Mailchimp lets you export per-audience under Audience > All Contacts > Export Audience.
• Automation screenshots or flowchart exports for every active sequence. There is no native export format that GetResponse can read, so a visual record is your rebuild spec.
• Campaign performance reports (open rate, click rate, revenue attribution if you have e-commerce connected). Go to Mailchimp > Reports > Export as CSV. Once you cancel, this data is gone.
• Suppression lists and unsubscribes. Export these separately. You must import your unsubscribes into GetResponse as a suppression list before sending a single email, or you will re-mail people who opted out. That is a CAN-SPAM and GDPR liability, not just a deliverability problem.
• Connected integrations list. Any Zapier workflows, CRM syncs (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce), or e-commerce connectors pointing at Mailchimp need to be re-pointed after you migrate.
• Sending domain records. Note your current SPF and DKIM setup. You will need to add GetResponse’s authentication records to your DNS before anything goes out.

Pause any active Mailchimp automations during the cutover window. Running sequences on both platforms simultaneously means contacts get double-mailed.

What Breaks and What Does Not Transfer

Knowing the gaps upfront beats discovering them mid-campaign.

MAILCHIMP > GETRESPONSE FIELD MAP

First Name       → First Name (auto-mapped)
Last Name        → Last Name (auto-mapped)
Email Address    → Email (auto-mapped)
Phone            → Phone (custom field)
Birthday         → Custom date field
Tags             → Tags (auto-mapped on import)
Groups           → Tags (manual re-map)
MERGE1..MERGE9   → Custom fields (create first,
                   then map during import)

NOT TRANSFERABLE:
- Open/click history
- Purchase data
- Engagement ratings
- Campaign send history
- A/B test results

The first thing I’d check after every import batch is the contact count. GetResponse shows a running import count with errors flagged inline. If your Mailchimp export had 8,400 contacts and GetResponse shows 7,900 imported with 500 errors, those errors are almost always malformed email addresses or duplicate records. Fix the CSV and re-import the error rows. Do not ignore the gap.

Verify It Worked

Do not declare victory until you have checked all four of these:

1. DNS authentication confirmed: In GetResponse under Profile > Email Addresses, your sending domain should show a green “Verified” status for both SPF and DKIM. If either is yellow or red, no amount of great copy will save your deliverability.
2. Suppression list active: Send a test email to an address you know is on your Mailchimp unsubscribe export. It should not arrive. If it does, your suppression import failed.
3. Automation triggers firing: Manually trigger each rebuilt workflow by subscribing a test contact via your signup form. Walk through each sequence step by step and confirm the emails arrive, the delays apply, and the branching conditions route correctly.
4. Integrations reconnected: If you use a CRM sync (say, a HubSpot or Pipedrive native integration or a Zapier bridge), trigger a test contact creation in the source system and confirm the contact appears in GetResponse within the expected sync window.

For teams with a more complex marketing automation stack, the HubSpot Workflows to n8n migration playbook covers the same verify-and-cutover pattern in the context of workflow automation more broadly.

Who Should Switch and Who Should Stay

Mailchimp vs. GetResponse: Who Should Move?

Choose GetResponse if

• You are hitting Mailchimp's pricing tiers hard and want more contacts for less money
• You need a visual marketing automation builder with conditions and branching, not just linear drip sequences
• You want webinar hosting, landing pages, and email in a single platform without extra tools

From $19/mo (1,000 contacts) Try GetResponse →

Choose Mailchimp if

• Your team is non-technical and the Mailchimp UI is already embedded in your workflow with no complaints
• You rely heavily on Mailchimp's native Shopify or WooCommerce e-commerce analytics and do not want to rebuild that integration
• You are on the free plan under 500 contacts and have no immediate growth pressure

Free to 500 contacts, then from $13/mo Stay on Mailchimp →

Choose ActiveCampaign if

• You need deeper CRM functionality natively attached to your email automation, not a separate integration
• Your sequences involve lead scoring, site tracking, and sales pipeline triggers that Mailchimp and GetResponse both handle poorly
• You are a B2B SaaS team and want automation logic closer to what Marketo does at a fraction of the cost

From $15/mo (1,000 contacts) Try ActiveCampaign →

Choose Brevo if

• You send transactional email alongside marketing campaigns and want both in one platform
• You are price-sensitive and send high volume: Brevo prices by sends per month, not contact count
• You need SMS and WhatsApp alongside email without bolting on a third-party tool

Free to 300 emails/day, then from $9/mo Try Brevo →

My read is that ActiveCampaign is the right answer for B2B SaaS teams building complex lifecycle automation, while GetResponse hits the sweet spot for SMBs and content creators who want a solid automation builder without CRM complexity. If pricing is the primary pain and your list is large but infrequently mailed, Brevo deserves a serious look. Brevo prices on sends rather than contacts, which is a structurally better model for that situation. I compared all three alongside Kit in the Kit vs Beehiiv vs Brevo newsletter comparison if you want the full breakdown before committing.

For teams currently on Brevo who are also evaluating a switch, the migrate from Brevo to Smartlead playbook covers the same export-rebuild-verify pattern for cold outreach contexts.

The Migration Is a Forcing Function

A platform migration is uncomfortable. It is also the best audit opportunity you will get. Every sequence you rebuild in GetResponse is a sequence you are forced to re-examine. I’d use the rebuild step as an intentional pruning exercise: if a Mailchimp automation has not driven meaningful engagement in six months, do not migrate it. Kill it and start clean. Your new platform will perform better with five sharp sequences than fifteen inherited ones nobody has touched in two years. The rebuild is not overhead. It is the actual work.