Brevo Free Plan: How to Use the Free Plan to Get Up to 9,000 Emails Per Month

Most email marketing tools want your credit card before you send a single message. Free trials that expire in 14 days. Hidden limits that kick in right when you’re getting started. It’s frustrating when you just want to test the waters.

The Brevo free plan changes that equation by giving you 300 emails per day—which adds up to roughly 9,000 emails per month—without asking for payment details. You also get storage for up to 100,000 contacts, access to the drag-and-drop editor, basic automation, and CRM tools. This guide shows you exactly how to make the most of these free features while staying inside the limits.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this post. First, you’ll understand what the Brevo free plan actually includes and who it works best for. Then, you’ll see how the daily sending limits function and what happens when you hit them. After that, you’ll get step-by-step instructions for setting up your account and creating your first campaign. You’ll also discover what features you won’t get on the free tier, smart strategies for staying under the limits, and clear signs that tell you it’s time to upgrade.

What Is the Brevo Free Plan?

The Brevo free plan gives you 300 emails per day with unlimited contacts up to 100,000, making it one of the most generous free tiers in email marketing.

Let’s break down what that means in practical terms. You can send up to 300 emails every 24 hours. The counter resets at midnight, and unused sends don’t roll over to the next day. So if you only send 100 emails on Monday, you can’t bank those extra 200 for Tuesday.

Now, here’s where the 9,000 number comes from. If you send your full 300 emails every single day of a 30-day month, that’s 9,000 total emails. Most users won’t hit that exact number because they don’t send daily. But the capacity exists if you need it.

The terms of use are straightforward. You sign up with your email address and basic business details. No credit card required. Brevo will verify your email and may review your account before approving full sending access. This review process protects their email servers and your deliverability.

One limitation catches some users off guard. The 300 daily limit applies to both marketing emails and transactional emails combined. If you’re running an online store that sends order confirmations, those count against your daily cap too.

The sending queue works simply. When you schedule a campaign to a list larger than 300 contacts, Brevo sends to the first 300 that day. The remaining contacts wait in the queue. They don’t get lost—they just don’t go out until the next day when your limit resets.

Verification rules help protect everyone. Brevo asks you to confirm your sender email address and recommends setting up domain authentication. This process involves adding SPF and DKIM records to your domain. It sounds technical, but Brevo provides clear instructions. These steps improve your chances of landing in inboxes instead of spam folders.

What You Get on the Brevo Free Plan

The free plan gives you email campaigns, basic templates, simple automation, CRM tools, and contact storage for up to 100,000 people—all without paying a cent.

Let’s start with the drag-and-drop editor. You get the same builder that paid users access. Pick from responsive templates, drag content blocks into place, and customize colors, fonts, and images. The editor also includes an AI content assistant that helps you write subject lines and body copy.

Email templates come included too. Brevo offers a gallery of pre-built designs sorted by purpose—newsletters, promotions, welcome messages, and more. You can also build your own templates from scratch and save them for future campaigns.

Basic automation workflows open up real possibilities. You can create automated sequences that trigger when someone joins your list, clicks a link, or takes other actions. However, there’s a cap here. Free plan automation works for up to 2,000 contacts entering workflows. Beyond that, you’ll need a paid tier.

Contact storage is surprisingly generous. While other tools limit free users to a few hundred contacts, Brevo lets you store up to 100,000. That’s a massive list for anyone just starting out. You can import contacts from spreadsheets, add them through signup forms, or sync them from other platforms.

Speaking of signup forms, you can build and embed them for free. Create pop-ups, embedded forms, or landing page forms that collect email addresses. Plugins exist for WordPress, WooCommerce, and Shopify even on the free tier.

Tracking tools give you visibility into campaign performance. You’ll see opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and basic engagement data. These reports help you understand what’s working and what needs adjustment.

CRM features round out the package. Free accounts include contact profiles, pipeline management for deals, and meeting scheduling tools. For solopreneurs and small teams, this built-in CRM eliminates the need for a separate tool.

SMS messaging is available but works differently. There are no free SMS credits. You purchase credits as needed and pay per message. It’s a pay-as-you-go system layered on top of your free email plan.

Transactional email access exists but shares your daily limit. Order confirmations, password resets, and shipping notifications all count against those 300 daily sends. Keep this in mind if you run an ecommerce store.

What You Do NOT Get on the Free Plan

The free plan does not include advanced automation beyond 2,000 contacts, A/B testing, landing pages, or the option to remove Brevo branding from your emails.

Let’s be clear about what’s missing. Understanding these gaps helps you decide if the free tier meets your needs or if you’ll outgrow it quickly.

Advanced automation workflows require a paid subscription. While you can create basic sequences on the free plan, they only work for up to 2,000 contacts entering those workflows. Larger lists need the Business or higher tier where automation scales without limits.

A/B testing stays locked behind the paywall. You can’t test different subject lines against each other. You can’t compare two versions of email content. This feature lives on the Business plan and above. For beginners, this might not matter much. But as your list grows, testing becomes essential for improving performance.

Custom reporting and advanced analytics aren’t available either. You get basic opens and clicks, but deeper insights require an upgrade. If you need detailed ecommerce tracking, revenue attribution, or multi-campaign comparisons, expect to pay for those reports.

Landing pages don’t exist on the free tier. Brevo offers a landing page builder, but it only appears starting from the Business plan. Free users need to host signup forms on their own websites or use third-party landing page tools.

Here’s the big one for some users—branding restrictions. Every email you send on the free plan includes “Sent with Brevo” branding at the bottom. You cannot remove this logo. It’s not available as a free option, period. Logo removal only comes with paid plans, starting as an add-on on Starter.

The daily send ceiling creates friction for larger campaigns. If you have 1,000 subscribers and want to email everyone the same day, you can’t. You’ll need to split the send across multiple days or upgrade to a paid plan with higher limits.

Dedicated sending IPs aren’t part of the free package. Your emails go through shared IP addresses along with other Brevo users. For most small senders, this works fine. But if you need complete control over your sender reputation, you’ll need an enterprise-level plan.

Support options are limited too. Free users access the help center and basic email support. Response times can run slower than paid accounts receive. If you need fast answers or phone support, that’s another reason to consider upgrading eventually.

Multi-user and team features mostly live on higher tiers. The free plan works for individuals and solopreneurs. If you need multiple team members accessing the same account with different permission levels, look at Professional or Enterprise plans.

How to Set Up a Free Brevo Account Step-by-Step

You set up your free account by starting from our homepage, entering your details on Brevo’s signup page, verifying your email, and configuring your sending identity.

The process takes about 15 minutes if you complete everything in one sitting. Here’s exactly how it works.

First, head to the SendSmartly homepage and click the “Start For Free” button. This takes you directly to Brevo’s signup page where you’ll enter your name, email address, and create a password. Then you’ll add basic business information—your company name, website, and what industry you’re in. No credit card required at any point during registration.

After submitting the form, check your inbox. Brevo sends a verification email immediately. Click the confirmation link inside that message. This step proves you own the email address and activates your account.

Next comes setting your sending identity. This means telling Brevo which email address your campaigns will come from. You can use a personal email or a business email. Business emails with custom domains look more professional and typically get better deliverability.

Adding your domain is the next smart move. While not strictly required on day one, connecting your own domain improves how email providers treat your messages. You’ll go into the settings area and follow the prompts to link your domain to your Brevo account.

Domain authentication involves adding SPF and DKIM records. These are small text entries you add to your domain’s DNS settings. They tell email providers that Brevo has permission to send on your behalf. Without them, your emails might land in spam folders more often. Brevo provides the exact records you need to copy and paste. If you need help understanding authentication, check our email deliverability guide for detailed instructions.

Basic security steps protect your account. Enable two-factor authentication if you want extra protection. Use a strong password. These precautions prevent unauthorized access to your contact lists and campaigns.

Finally, complete your profile for approval. Brevo reviews new accounts to maintain their sending reputation. They may ask for additional details about your business, your email practices, or where your contacts come from. Answer honestly. This review usually completes within a day or two, sometimes faster.

Once approved, you’re ready to create campaigns. The dashboard opens up with full access to the email builder, contact management, automation tools, and everything else included on the free tier. If you haven’t started yet, get your free Brevo account through SendSmartly and follow along with this guide.

How to Create Your First Campaign on the Free Plan

You create your first campaign by choosing a template, adding your content, selecting your audience, and scheduling the send.

Let’s walk through each step so you know exactly what to expect inside the Brevo dashboard.

Start by clicking “Create a campaign” from your main menu. You’ll choose email as your campaign type. Give your campaign a name—something that helps you identify it later, like “May Newsletter” or “Welcome Series Email 1.”

The email builder opens next. You’ll pick either a pre-built template from the gallery or start with a blank layout. For your first campaign, choosing a template saves time. Pick something simple that matches your goal—newsletter, promotion, announcement, or welcome message.

Now you customize the content. Click any text block to edit the words. Click image blocks to upload your own photos or choose from the stock library. The drag-and-drop system makes rearranging sections easy. Move things up or down until the layout feels right.

Adding images works smoothly. Upload files from your computer, or use Brevo’s built-in image library. Compress large images before uploading to keep your email loading fast. Add alt text to every image for accessibility and spam filter compliance.

Keep text sections short and scannable. Break long paragraphs into smaller chunks. Use headlines to separate different topics. Remember that most people skim emails—they don’t read every word carefully.

Your call-to-action button needs clear language. Instead of “Click Here,” write something specific like “Shop the Sale” or “Read the Full Post.” Make the button color stand out from the background. Place it where readers naturally land after reading your main message.

Subject line planning deserves real thought. Your subject line determines whether people open the email at all. Keep it under 50 characters for mobile compatibility. Make it specific and benefit-focused. Avoid spammy words that trigger filters.

Use the preview and test options before sending. Send a test email to yourself. Check how it looks on desktop and mobile. Click every link to confirm they work. Spot typos before your subscribers do.

Timing matters for open rates. Most email marketing data suggests Tuesday through Thursday mornings perform well. But your audience might differ. Test different days and times over several campaigns to find what works for your specific subscribers.

Select your recipients from your contact list. You can send to everyone or create a segment of specific contacts. On the free plan, remember that lists over 300 contacts will be split across multiple days.

Finally, schedule your campaign or send it immediately. Review everything one more time. Then click send and watch your first campaign go out.

How the Daily 300 Email Limit Works

The daily limit means you can send only 300 emails per day even if your list is larger—the remaining contacts queue up for the following days.

This is probably the most important thing to understand about the Brevo free plan. Let’s break down exactly how it functions.

The 300-email cap resets at midnight each day. Whatever timezone your account is set to determines when that reset happens. Once the new day begins, you get a fresh 300 sends.

Here’s what catches people off guard. You don’t get to accumulate unused sends. If you send zero emails on Monday, you don’t get 600 on Tuesday. Every day starts fresh at 300, no exceptions.

The sending queue handles larger campaigns automatically. Suppose you have 900 contacts and you schedule a campaign to all of them. Brevo sends to the first 300 today. Tomorrow, it sends to the next 300. The day after, the final 300 go out. Your campaign spreads across three days.

This queue logic works in the background without extra effort from you. You don’t need to manually split your list or schedule three separate campaigns. Just create one campaign, target your full list, and Brevo handles the distribution based on your daily limit.

What happens if you try to exceed limits intentionally? Brevo simply stops sending after 300. No penalty, no extra charges. The remaining emails wait until the next day’s reset.

Scheduling becomes important for larger lists. If you’re promoting a time-sensitive offer, spreading it across three days might hurt your results. Flash sales and limited-time deals work poorly when some subscribers receive the message two days late.

For time-sensitive campaigns, consider segmenting your list. Send to your most engaged subscribers first. They’re more likely to act quickly anyway. Less engaged contacts can receive the message on following days.

Here are some practical examples. A blogger with 200 subscribers can email everyone same-day without hitting the limit. A small business with 500 subscribers needs two days to reach everyone. An organization with 2,000 contacts spreads their campaign across a full week.

The 300 limit includes all email types. Marketing campaigns, automated sequences, and transactional messages all share the same daily cap. If your online store sends 100 order confirmations, you only have 200 marketing emails left for that day.

How to Stay Inside the 9,000 Monthly Email Limit

You stay inside the monthly limit by planning your sends carefully, segmenting your audience, and avoiding unnecessary campaigns.

The math works like this. At 300 emails per day for 30 days, you can send 9,000 emails monthly. But hitting that number requires sending every single day. Most businesses don’t need that frequency.

Let’s look at a weekly schedule example. Say you have 600 subscribers and want to send a weekly newsletter. That’s 600 emails per week, which takes two days to complete. Over four weeks, you send 2,400 emails—well under the 9,000 capacity.

A monthly schedule uses even fewer sends. One email to 600 subscribers each month totals only 600 emails. You’d have massive headroom remaining.

Segmenting active users helps optimize your limit. Not every subscriber needs every email. Create segments based on engagement—people who opened emails in the last 30 days, for example. Send your campaigns to active readers first. They’re more likely to click anyway.

Avoid emailing cold contacts repeatedly. Subscribers who haven’t opened anything in six months probably won’t start now. Continuing to email them wastes your daily limit and hurts your sender reputation. Consider running a re-engagement campaign, then removing people who still don’t respond.

Send only essential emails. Before creating a campaign, ask yourself if this message provides real value. Every email should have a clear purpose and benefit for the reader. Skip the “just checking in” messages that don’t say anything meaningful.

Adjusting content frequency keeps you under limits comfortably. Maybe you don’t need weekly newsletters. Maybe biweekly works just as well. Maybe monthly roundups serve your audience better than frequent smaller updates. Test different frequencies and track whether engagement changes.

Combine related updates into single emails. Instead of three separate campaigns about three different topics, create one email with three sections. Your subscribers get all the news, and you use one send slot instead of three.

Track your usage in the Brevo dashboard. You can see how many emails you’ve sent today and this month. Watching these numbers helps you predict when you might approach your limits.

Smart Ways to Use the Free Plan Without Upgrading Too Soon

You can delay upgrading by using lighter workflows, focusing on engaged subscribers, and maximizing the value of each send.

The free plan offers more than most people realize. With smart strategies, you can run effective email marketing for months or even years without paying.

Using lightweight automation extends your capabilities. The free plan allows automation for up to 2,000 contacts entering workflows. That’s plenty for welcome sequences, onboarding emails, and simple follow-up campaigns. Focus your automation on high-value moments—when someone subscribes, makes a first purchase, or clicks a specific link.

Reducing content volume sounds counterintuitive but works well. Fewer, better emails often outperform frequent mediocre ones. Instead of sending four newsletters per month, try two really good ones. Your open rates may improve, and you’ll stay well under your limits.

Focus on high-intent segments for best results. Not all subscribers deserve equal attention. Some people signed up last week and engaged with every email. Others joined two years ago and haven’t clicked anything since. Prioritize the engaged group when your daily limits feel tight.

Reusing templates saves time and keeps branding consistent. Build three or four solid templates during your first month. Use them repeatedly with new content. You don’t need a fresh design for every campaign.

Cleaning your list regularly protects your limits and your reputation. Remove bounced addresses immediately—they waste sends and hurt deliverability. Run re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers, then delete those who don’t respond. A smaller, active list beats a large, dead one every time.

Monitor which campaigns actually drive results. Track clicks, conversions, and engagement. Double down on what works. Cut what doesn’t. Every email should earn its place in your sending schedule.

Batch your content creation for efficiency. Instead of writing one email at a time, draft several at once. Schedule them in advance. This approach helps you maintain consistency without feeling rushed.

Take advantage of the CRM features. Since Brevo includes basic CRM tools for free, use them to track leads and manage your sales pipeline. These features would cost money elsewhere.

When You Should Consider Upgrading

You should upgrade when your sends are blocked by the daily limit frequently, you need A/B testing, or you want to remove Brevo branding.

The free plan works great—until it doesn’t. Here are clear signals that you’ve outgrown the free tier.

Your contact count exceeds what the free plan handles efficiently. While you can store 100,000 contacts, emailing them all takes forever at 300 per day. If reaching your full list quickly matters, a paid plan with higher sending limits makes sense.

You need advanced automation triggers and workflows. The 2,000-contact cap on automation limits what you can build. Growing businesses with larger lists need automation that scales. The Business plan removes this restriction.

A/B testing has become necessary for optimization. Guessing which subject lines work gets old. Testing proves what actually performs better. If you’re serious about improving your email marketing, you need the testing tools that come with paid tiers.

Faster sending speeds matter for time-sensitive campaigns. Flash sales, product launches, and deadline-driven offers suffer when they take days to reach everyone. Paid plans let you blast your entire list at once.

Reporting requirements have grown beyond basics. Simple open and click data might have been enough early on. But now you need deeper insights—revenue attribution, conversion tracking, detailed segment analysis. Advanced reporting lives on higher plans.

Deliverability needs dedicated attention. Shared IP addresses work fine for small senders. But as your volume grows, your results become affected by other senders sharing those IPs. Dedicated IPs, available on enterprise tiers, give you complete control over your sender reputation.

The Brevo branding bothers you or your clients. Every free email includes that “Sent with Brevo” footer. Some users don’t care. Others find it unprofessional. If seeing another company’s logo on your emails feels wrong, the Starter plan offers logo removal.

Marketing studies show that email generates roughly $36 for every $1 spent. At that return rate, investing in paid tools often makes financial sense once you’ve proven your email strategy works.

Here’s the typical upgrade path. Starter works when you just need more volume and logo removal. Business adds unlimited automation, A/B testing, landing pages, and better reporting. Enterprise handles complex needs like multiple users, dedicated IPs, and priority support.

Frequently Asked Questions