// PROS
- Significantly cheaper than Mailchimp at comparable contact tiers
- Free plan includes unlimited contacts and automation
- Native SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email built in
- Cleaner UI with a gentler learning curve
- Phone support available at Business tier, not Premium-only
- Built-in basic CRM and dedicated IP option included
// CONS
- Smaller template library (~40 vs Mailchimp's 100+)
- Fewer integrations (150+ vs 300+)
- Less polished design customization in the editor
- Lacks the deep niche-tool ecosystem Mailchimp has built over 20 years
- Hits a ceiling for very advanced behavioral segmentation
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The short version: Brevo wins on price and value for most small businesses. Mailchimp wins on ecosystem depth and template variety. If you’re a budget-conscious SMB sending regular email to under 50K contacts, Brevo is almost certainly the better pick. If you’re a larger organization already embedded in Mailchimp’s integrations and audience management tools, switching is harder to justify.
The longer version is below.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan contacts | Unlimited | 250 max |
| Free plan sends | 300/day (~9,000/mo) | 500/month |
| Automation on free | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Limited |
| Starting paid price | $9/month | $13/month |
| 5K contacts cost | $9/month | $100/month (Standard) |
| Email templates | ~40 | 100+ |
| Deliverability | 95%+ | 95%+ |
| SMS marketing | ✅ Built in | ⚠️ Add-on only |
| WhatsApp campaigns | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Built-in CRM | ✅ Basic | ⚠️ Audience mgmt only |
| Transactional email | ✅ Native SMTP/API | ⚠️ Mandrill add-on |
| Integrations | 150+ | 300+ |
| Phone support | Business tier | Premium tier only |
| Best for | SMBs, budget-conscious, multi-channel | Established teams, ecosystem, design flexibility |
Pricing: It’s Not Even Close
This is where the comparison ends for a lot of people.
Brevo pricing:
- Free: Unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day, automation included
- Starter: $9/month for 5K contacts (no daily cap, removes Brevo branding)
- Business: $18/month for 5K contacts (full automation, A/B testing, heat maps, dedicated IP option)
Mailchimp pricing:
- Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month, limited features (limits reduced January 2026)
- Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts
- Standard: $20/month for 500 contacts — but Standard at 5,000 contacts runs $100/month
- Premium: $350/month for 10,000 contacts
At 5,000 contacts: Brevo costs $9/month. Mailchimp Standard costs $100/month. That’s over $1,100/year difference for a comparable feature set.
Mailchimp restructured its pricing a few years back in a way that shocked a lot of small business customers who’d been on legacy plans. List-based pricing means costs climb fast as you grow. Brevo’s pricing doesn’t punch you in the wallet the same way.
For anyone currently paying Mailchimp $40–$100/month with a list under 10K contacts, this is the calculation worth running. Try Brevo free before you renew.
Automation: Brevo Wins on Free, Comparable on Paid
Automation is where the free tier gap is most stark.
Brevo’s free plan includes automation. Welcome sequences, post-purchase flows, re-engagement campaigns — you can build basic multi-step workflows without paying anything. The visual workflow editor uses drag-and-drop trigger/condition/action blocks that are intuitive enough for a first-timer.
Mailchimp’s free plan includes only basic automations — a simple welcome email or a birthday message. For branching logic or multi-email sequences, you need Standard ($20/month minimum, scaling fast with list size).
On paid tiers, the gap narrows. Brevo Business has conditional multi-step automation with behavioral triggers, lead scoring, and A/B testing within workflows. Mailchimp Standard has similar depth and arguably better pre-built Customer Journey templates for common use cases (abandoned cart, win-back campaigns, new subscriber series).
Both platforms handle the automation needs of most small businesses competently on their respective paid tiers. The meaningful difference is at the free tier, where Brevo includes what Mailchimp charges for.
For very advanced automation with complex behavioral segmentation, both platforms have ceilings. ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo (for ecommerce) are the step up from either.
Email Templates: Mailchimp Wins
Not close. Mailchimp has 100+ email templates across more categories. The designs are modern, the drag-and-drop editor is polished, and the level of design customization available is genuinely better than Brevo’s.
Brevo’s template library runs about 40 options. They’re clean and professional, and every template is responsive by default — but selection is noticeably limited compared to Mailchimp. If brand aesthetics and template variety drive your platform decision, Mailchimp is the right call.
For most small business emails — a weekly newsletter, a product announcement, a re-engagement campaign — Brevo’s templates are more than sufficient. But if your email design is a competitive differentiator, Mailchimp’s editor gives you more to work with.
Deliverability: Essentially a Tie
Both platforms score 95%+ inbox placement in third-party deliverability tests. Both use reputable infrastructure. Both handle bounce and unsubscribe management automatically.
Brevo has a stronger native story for transactional email — receipts, password resets, notifications — with built-in SMTP relay and API. Mailchimp handles transactional email through a separate Mandrill add-on that costs extra.
For straightforward marketing email, neither platform has a meaningful deliverability advantage. Your sender reputation, list hygiene, and email content matter far more than which of these two platforms you’re on.
One practical note: Brevo offers a dedicated IP option on Business tier (included in the plan price). Mailchimp charges extra for dedicated IPs at lower tiers. If you’re sending to 50K+ contacts and want full IP control, Brevo’s path there is cheaper.
Integrations: Mailchimp Wins
Mailchimp has been around since 2001. Its integration ecosystem reflects that.
300+ native integrations, including deep connections to Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, Zapier, and dozens of specialized marketing tools. If you’re running a complex marketing stack, there’s almost certainly a native Mailchimp integration for whatever else you’re using.
Brevo has 150+ integrations — solid coverage for the essentials (Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Zapier, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Hubspot). But the long tail of specialized tool connections that Mailchimp has built over 20 years doesn’t exist yet in Brevo’s library.
For most small businesses, both integration libraries cover what you need. If your stack includes niche tools or you’re a developer who wants API-first flexibility across a complex setup, Mailchimp’s ecosystem depth is a real advantage.
Multi-Channel: Brevo Wins Clearly
This is the most underrated difference.
Brevo includes SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email natively. From the same dashboard. Under the same billing relationship.
Mailchimp is primarily an email tool. SMS exists only through third-party integrations. WhatsApp is not supported. Transactional email requires Mandrill, a separate paid product.
For a local business that does email newsletters AND sends SMS offers AND needs transactional confirmations, Brevo consolidates tools that Mailchimp requires you to build separately. If you’re paying for Mailchimp + Twilio for SMS + Mandrill for transactional, a single Brevo Business subscription probably does all three for less.
Ease of Use: Slight Edge to Brevo
Both platforms are accessible to non-technical users. Neither requires coding knowledge to send a campaign.
Brevo’s current UI — post-rebrand from Sendinblue — is clean and logically organized. The learning curve is gentle. Campaign setup flows don’t require reading documentation.
Mailchimp is also user-friendly, but its sheer feature depth means there’s more to navigate. Finding specific settings, understanding audience segmentation, or configuring advanced automations takes longer to learn. Not a dealbreaker — just more surface area.
For a first-time email marketer, either platform works. Brevo gets you to a sent campaign faster on day one.
Support: Comparable, with Nuances
Brevo includes email support on free, adds chat on Starter, and adds phone support on Business. Response times are generally solid in my experience — email support within 24 hours, chat typically under an hour during business hours.
Mailchimp includes email and chat support on paid tiers. Phone support is locked to Premium ($350/month), which is a real pain point if you’re on Standard and hit a blocking issue. Their help documentation is extensive and usually the fastest path to answers.
Neither platform has exceptional support at lower tiers. The advantage here goes to Brevo for including phone access at a much lower price point.
Who Wins Each Category
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Brevo — not close |
| Free plan | Brevo — more contacts, more features |
| Automation | Brevo on free; tie on paid |
| Email templates | Mailchimp |
| Deliverability | Tie |
| Integrations | Mailchimp |
| Multi-channel (SMS, WhatsApp) | Brevo |
| Transactional email | Brevo |
| Ease of use | Brevo (slight edge) |
| Support at low tiers | Brevo |
| Enterprise ecosystem | Mailchimp |
The Verdict
For SMBs, solo creators, and budget-conscious businesses: Brevo is the better pick. The price advantage is real and significant. The free plan is genuinely functional. And the multi-channel capabilities mean you’re getting more platform for less money than Mailchimp charges.
For larger organizations, established teams in the Mailchimp ecosystem, or anyone where template design and integrations are the primary decision criteria: Mailchimp still earns its place. The migration cost and ecosystem disruption aren’t worth it if you’re already running complex Mailchimp workflows at scale.
The honest case for switching: if you’re currently paying Mailchimp $40–$100/month for a list under 10K contacts, there’s no technical reason Brevo can’t replace it. The only real switching cost is the time to migrate — and that’s usually a day or two of actual work.
Try Brevo free and see if it fits
For a deeper look at Brevo’s features and pricing, read our full Brevo Review 2026. And if you’re still weighing your options across the broader email marketing category, the Best AI Tools for Marketers 2026 roundup covers the competitive landscape.
Maya Torres spent eight years running email and content programs before writing about the tools she used every day. Her reviews are ROI-first.