Brevo vs Mailchimp: Which One Is Better for Your Business?

You’ve got a growing email list. Maybe a few hundred subscribers. Perhaps a couple thousand. And now you’re stuck staring at two options on your screen — Brevo and Mailchimp. Both promise to help you send emails, grow your audience, and make money. But which one actually fits your needs?

Here’s the thing. Picking the wrong email tool can cost you real money. It can also waste hours of your time. So before you pull out your credit card, let’s break down Brevo vs Mailchimp in plain English. No confusing jargon. No fluff. Just the facts you need to make a smart choice.

This guide helps beginners, small business owners, and anyone tired of overpaying for email marketing. By the end, you’ll know exactly which platform deserves your business.

The Short Answer — Brevo or Mailchimp?

Brevo works better for most small businesses and beginners. It costs less when your contact list grows. It includes SMS and CRM features in one place. And it doesn’t charge you based on how many people you store in your account.

Mailchimp, on the other hand, fits users who care deeply about design. If you want beautiful templates and advanced ecommerce analytics, Mailchimp delivers. But that polish comes with a higher price tag.

So what’s the real difference? Brevo charges you for emails sent. Mailchimp charges you for contacts stored. This single difference changes everything about how much you’ll pay as your business grows.

For someone just starting out, Brevo makes more financial sense. For a design-focused brand with a small list, Mailchimp might work. But for the majority of readers comparing Brevo vs Mailchimp, Brevo offers more value per dollar.

Let’s dig into the details so you can see exactly why.

What Is Brevo and Why Does It Matter?

Brevo is an all-in-one email and SMS marketing platform that lets users send campaigns, run automation, and manage customer data without paying for contacts. That last part matters a lot.

Most email tools charge you based on your subscriber count. Got 10,000 contacts? You pay for 10,000 contacts. But Brevo flips that model. You pay based on how many emails you actually send each month. Your contact list can grow to 100,000 people, and Brevo won’t charge you extra for storing them.

The free plan gives you 300 emails per day. That’s roughly 9,000 emails per month. And you can store up to 100,000 contacts at no cost. Pretty generous, right?

When you’re ready to upgrade, the Starter plan begins at just $9 per month for 5,000 emails. Need to send 20,000 emails monthly? That costs around $29. Sending 100,000 emails? About $69 per month. The math works out to less than a penny per email at higher volumes.

Now, what can you actually do with Brevo? The platform includes a drag-and-drop email editor with about 40 starter templates. Nothing fancy, but functional. You also get automation workflows that trigger based on user actions. Someone signs up? Send a welcome email automatically. Someone abandons their cart? Hit them with a reminder.

But Brevo goes beyond email. It includes native SMS and WhatsApp marketing on higher plans. This means you can reach customers on their phones without buying separate software. The built-in CRM lets you track deals, manage pipelines, and score contacts based on engagement.

Here’s where Brevo shines brightest. It gives you multichannel marketing in one dashboard. Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and CRM — all connected. For small business owners who hate juggling multiple tools, this setup saves serious headaches.

The downsides? Brevo’s design tools feel simpler than Mailchimp’s. And landing pages only unlock on the Standard plan and above. If you need gorgeous templates out of the box, you might feel limited.

Still, for budget-conscious marketers who want room to grow, Brevo delivers real value.

What Is Mailchimp and How Does It Compare?

Mailchimp is an email marketing platform known for polished templates, advanced automation, and strong ecommerce integrations. It’s been around since 2001, and millions of businesses use it worldwide.

But here’s what you need to understand first. Mailchimp charges based on your contact count. Store more subscribers? Pay more money. This pricing model works fine when your list stays small. It gets expensive fast when your audience grows.

The free plan currently allows 250 to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month. That’s much tighter than Brevo’s free offering. Once you hit those limits, sending pauses until you upgrade.

Paid plans start with Essentials at about $13 per month for 500 contacts. The Standard plan costs around $20 per month for the same 500 contacts but adds better features. Premium jumps to $350 per month and targets larger businesses with 10,000+ contacts.

Here’s where Mailchimp really stands out. The email builder looks beautiful. You get access to 100+ modern templates. The Creative Assistant tool auto-brands your designs using your website colors and logos. Stock image libraries come included. These features help non-designers create professional-looking emails quickly.

Mailchimp also offers strong automation. Their “Marketing Automation Flows” feature supports complex branching with up to 200 steps on higher plans. Prebuilt templates for ecommerce workflows — like welcome sequences and abandoned cart emails — save setup time.

The analytics go deep too. You get predictive segmentation, customer lifetime value tracking, and detailed revenue attribution. For ecommerce stores wanting data-driven decisions, these tools prove valuable.

On the downside, Mailchimp costs rise quickly as contacts increase. Reaching 10,000 contacts pushes your bill to $100 or more monthly. SMS marketing exists only as a paid add-on in select countries. And there’s no native WhatsApp channel yet.

For design-focused brands with smaller lists, Mailchimp works well. For everyone else? The pricing becomes a problem.

How Do Brevo and Mailchimp Compare on Pricing?

Brevo charges based on emails sent while Mailchimp charges based on contacts stored, making Brevo significantly cheaper for larger lists.

Let’s look at real numbers. These prices reflect November 2025 data, though you should always check current rates before purchasing.

Brevo’s free plan costs nothing and includes 300 emails daily with storage for 100,000 contacts. The Starter plan begins at $9 per month for 5,000 emails. Sending 20,000 emails monthly runs about $29. And 100,000 monthly emails costs roughly $69.

At that 100,000 email tier, you’re paying about $0.00069 per email. Less than a tenth of a penny. That’s remarkably cheap for email marketing.

Mailchimp’s free plan also costs nothing but caps you at 250-500 contacts and just 1,000 emails monthly. Essentials starts at $13 per month for 500 contacts with up to 5,000 sends. Standard costs $20 per month for the same contact count.

Here’s where things get interesting. Once you hit 10,000 contacts on Mailchimp, your bill jumps to $100-135 per month depending on your plan. At that same scale, Brevo might cost you $29-69 monthly — depending on how many emails you actually send.

Let’s paint a picture. Say you have 5,000 contacts and send two emails per month. That’s 10,000 emails total. With Brevo Starter, you’d pay around $9-15 per month. With Mailchimp Essentials, you’d pay around $59 per month just for storing those contacts.

The gap widens as your list grows. At 10,000 contacts, the Brevo vs Mailchimp pricing difference becomes even more dramatic. Brevo saves you money because it doesn’t punish you for having a big audience.

One more thing worth noting. Brevo lets you keep inactive subscribers without extra cost. Mailchimp charges you for everyone on your list, even people who never open emails. Over time, this adds up.

For growing businesses watching their budgets, Brevo’s pricing model makes more sense.

Which Platform Has Better Features?

Both platforms offer solid features, but they excel in different areas. Let’s break this down by category.

Automation Capabilities

Brevo offers multichannel automation mixing email, SMS, and WhatsApp in one workflow. You can trigger messages based on email actions, website events, and transactional behaviors. The visual workflow builder makes setup straightforward. For ecommerce stores, this means welcome emails, cart reminders, and order confirmations all live in one system.

Mailchimp provides Marketing Automation Flows with more complex branching options. Higher tiers support up to 200 steps per flow. Prebuilt templates for common ecommerce scenarios speed up the process. If you need highly sophisticated sequences with lots of conditions, Mailchimp gives you more flexibility.

Winner for automation? It depends. Brevo wins for multichannel simplicity. Mailchimp wins for complex branching.

Design Tools and Templates

Mailchimp clearly wins the design game. Their editor includes 100+ modern templates. The Creative Assistant reads your website and auto-generates on-brand designs. Stock image libraries and reusable content blocks round out the package.

Brevo offers around 40 starter templates. The drag-and-drop editor works fine. An AI content generator helps with copy. But the designs feel more functional than flashy.

If beautiful emails matter most, Mailchimp delivers better tools.

SMS and Multichannel Marketing

Brevo includes native SMS and WhatsApp marketing on higher plans. Everything connects in one dashboard. You can build automations that send an email, wait two days, then follow up with a text message. For businesses wanting true multichannel campaigns, this integration saves time and money.

Mailchimp offers SMS only as a paid add-on available in select countries. There’s no WhatsApp support yet. If texting your customers matters, Brevo provides a much smoother experience.

CRM Features

Brevo includes a built-in CRM with contact profiles, deals, pipelines, and contact scoring on higher plans. You can track sales opportunities alongside your marketing efforts.

Mailchimp’s “Audience” feature works like a basic CRM. You get contact activity tracking, tags, and purchase behavior data. But it’s not a full sales CRM.

For businesses wanting marketing and sales in one platform, Brevo offers more.

Which Tool Should You Pick?

Pick Brevo when budget matters, you have a large contact list, or you want SMS and email in one place. Here are specific scenarios where Brevo makes the most sense.

You’re a beginner who wants simple setup without confusing options. Brevo’s dashboard stays clean and organized. You won’t feel overwhelmed.

You run a small business watching every dollar. Brevo’s pricing model rewards growth instead of punishing it. Your costs stay manageable as subscribers increase.

You need transactional emails for your online store. Order confirmations, shipping updates, and password resets all work through Brevo’s system.

You want CRM features without buying separate software. Tracking deals and managing customer relationships happens inside the same platform.

You’re based in Europe and need WhatsApp marketing. Brevo supports this channel natively on higher plans.

Pick Mailchimp when you need polished templates, advanced analytics, or deep ecommerce integrations. These scenarios favor Mailchimp.

You prioritize beautiful email design above everything else. Mailchimp’s templates and Creative Assistant make gorgeous emails easy.

You need predictive segmentation and customer lifetime value analytics. These advanced features help data-driven marketers optimize campaigns.

You use Shopify or WooCommerce heavily. Mailchimp’s ecommerce integrations run deep with product recommendations and revenue tracking.

You want access to 300+ app integrations. Mailchimp’s ecosystem connects with almost every business tool out there.

Your contact list stays small and you don’t plan aggressive growth. Mailchimp’s pricing works fine when subscriber counts remain low.

The final verdict? For most beginners and budget-focused small businesses comparing Brevo vs Mailchimp, Brevo wins. It costs less, grows with you, and packs multichannel features into one platform. Mailchimp wins for design-heavy brands with advanced ecommerce needs and smaller lists.

FAQs About Brevo vs Mailchimp