Switch from Mailchimp to GetResponse and keep your proof of consent

What actually transfers

GetResponse has no direct Mailchimp connector in its self-serve import: you export a CSV from Mailchimp and import it from a file, one list at a time. During the import you choose whether to add new contacts, update existing ones or both, assign each column to a GetResponse custom field, and optionally drop contacts into an autoresponder cycle on a chosen day. Every import is single opt-in, and you tick a box confirming you hold permission for the addresses before it runs.

Tags come across too, with one catch. Mailchimp exports all of a contact's tags in a single column, while GetResponse reads one column per tag, with 1 for the contacts who carry it. Split that column in a spreadsheet first, or use the option that applies up to ten tags to an entire import when a whole file shares the same labels.

What breaks along the way

Consent is the trap on this route. The Mailchimp export does hold your opt-in evidence, with opt-in and confirmation timestamps and IP addresses, plus marketing permissions when the audience uses GDPR fields. GetResponse, however, states plainly that its consent fields cannot be imported or exported with contacts. That evidence has no field to land in, so archive the original export: it remains your proof of permission after the move.

Unsubscribed and cleaned contacts need their own route. Do not import them as contacts; upload them as a GetResponse suppression list, which accepts a CSV or TXT file, and add a blocklist rule for any address that must never rejoin. Suppression lists are documented at the recipient step of a newsletter, so check that every automation also excludes them. Segments, automations, forms, landing pages and templates are rebuilt, and opens, clicks and purchase history are not in the Mailchimp export at all.

Object by object: what comes across

Read from each provider's own export and import documentation, listed under the table. We have not run this migration on a paid pair of accounts, so nothing here is a test result. Anything a provider does not document, we leave out rather than guess.

How the objects map

A Mailchimp audience maps to a GetResponse list. If you ran several audiences for one brand, consider merging them into a single list and keeping the old audience as a tag, so one person is one contact; the GetResponse plan ladder shows what each list size costs. Mailchimp tags become GetResponse tags once the column is split. Merge fields become custom fields: create them in GetResponse first and match their type so dates stay dates. Segments become saved searches rebuilt on those fields and tags. Automations become GetResponse workflows or, for a plain timed sequence, an autoresponder cycle; the GetResponse review explains how its per-list billing counts a contact held on two lists.

Test before you cut over

Import the subscribed file into a test list and hold it against the export: totals, tags populated, custom fields filled, role addresses dropped. Load the suppression list and confirm a suppressed address is excluded from a test newsletter. Rebuild one workflow, walk a real signup through a new form with a consent field, and check the contact lands in the right list with the right tag. On cost, price the same list on both: free plan, paid from $13/mo against from €16/mo, then run your own volume through the email cost calculator. Keep the Mailchimp account read-only for a billing cycle as your rollback. Coming from ActiveCampaign instead, with lead scores to carry, follow the ActiveCampaign to GetResponse migration inventory.

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