Brevo vs Mailchimp: The Real Comparison You Need

Here's the core difference: Brevo charges based on how many emails you send. Mailchimp charges based on how many contacts you have. This fundamental pricing model difference determines which platform makes sense for your business.

If you have a large list but don't email them frequently, Brevo will save you serious money. If you have a smaller list but send constantly, Mailchimp might work out better. Let's break down everything else.

Pricing Comparison: The Numbers That Matter

This is where things get interesting. Brevo's pricing structure is genuinely different from most email marketing tools.

Brevo Pricing

Key detail: Brevo offers unlimited contacts on all plans. You pay based on email volume, not list size. This is huge for businesses with large but infrequently-contacted lists.

Mailchimp Pricing

Here's the catch with Mailchimp: you pay for every contact in your system, including unsubscribed contacts unless you archive them. The Essentials plan caps you at 50,000 contacts, and Standard maxes out at 100,000.

Real Cost Comparison at Scale

ScenarioBrevo CostMailchimp Cost
5,000 contacts, 20,000 emails/month$25/month (Business)$75/month (Essentials)
10,000 contacts, 40,000 emails/month$35/month (Business)~$100/month (Standard)
25,000 contacts, 100,000 emails/month$69/month (Business)~$270/month (Standard)

The savings with Brevo become dramatic as your list grows. At 25,000 contacts, you're looking at roughly 4x the cost with Mailchimp.

For more details on Brevo's cost structure, check out our Brevo pricing breakdown.

Free Plan Face-Off

Brevo wins the free tier comparison, and it's not close.

Brevo Free: 300 emails/day (about 9,000/month), unlimited contacts, marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts, transactional emails included, CRM features.

Mailchimp Free: 250 contacts only, 500 emails/month total (with a 250 daily limit), extremely basic features, no automation whatsoever.

Mailchimp gutted their free plan over the past few years. It used to offer 2,000 contacts and 12,000 emails monthly. Now it's essentially a trial, not a usable free tier.

If you're just starting out and need a genuinely free email marketing solution, Brevo is the obvious choice.

Email Automation: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

This is where your choice actually impacts your marketing effectiveness.

Brevo Automation

Brevo includes marketing automation on the free plan for up to 2,000 contacts. You get a visual workflow builder with triggers based on email opens, clicks, website visits (with their tracking code), and ecommerce activity.

The automation builder is clean and intuitive. You can create welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, re-engagement campaigns, and lead scoring workflows without paying a dime (within the contact limit).

On paid plans, automation contacts become unlimited on the Business tier ($18/month starting). You also get SMS and WhatsApp integration in your workflows—multi-channel automation at a fraction of competitor pricing.

Mailchimp Automation

Mailchimp removed automation from their free plan entirely. You now need a paid plan just to send a basic automated welcome email.

The Essentials plan ($13/month) only gives you single-step automations. For multi-step customer journeys with branching logic, you need Standard ($20/month for 500 contacts).

Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder is more polished visually and offers more pre-built journey templates. But you're paying significantly more for access to these features, especially as your list grows.

Winner: Brevo for value, Mailchimp for complexity. If you need sophisticated branching logic and predictive analytics, Mailchimp Standard/Premium delivers. If you want solid automation without breaking the bank, Brevo wins.

Email Design and Templates

Mailchimp has better templates. There, I said it.

Mailchimp's email templates are more modern and polished. Their drag-and-drop editor is more refined, and the creative assistant (AI-powered) on Standard and Premium plans can help generate designs.

Brevo's templates work fine, but they look a bit dated. The editor is functional but not as smooth as Mailchimp's. Brevo offers around 40+ templates compared to Mailchimp's larger library.

That said, most businesses customize templates heavily anyway. If you're using custom HTML or have a designer, this difference matters less.

Contact Management and Segmentation

Brevo's list management is simpler and more straightforward. You can create segments based on contact fields, email engagement, and website behavior. Adding conditions is intuitive, and you can automate list assignment when subscribers sign up.

Mailchimp has more segmentation options on paper, but their system is confusing. You have audiences, segments, tags, and groups—all slightly different concepts. Many users find it overwhelming.

Mailchimp charges you for contacts across all audiences. If someone is on two lists, you pay twice. Brevo's unlimited contacts model avoids this problem entirely.

For advanced predictive segmentation (like purchase likelihood), Mailchimp has an edge on Premium plans. But for straightforward segmentation that actually gets used, Brevo is cleaner.

Reporting and Analytics

Mailchimp offers better native reporting and analytics. You get customizable dashboards, comparative reports, geolocation data, and social/ecommerce tracking built-in.

Brevo's reporting covers the essentials—opens, clicks, bounces, automation performance. But for advanced insights, you'll likely need to integrate with Google Analytics.

If data-driven decision making is central to your email strategy, Mailchimp gives you more without third-party tools.

Integrations

Mailchimp has over 300 native integrations. Brevo has around 65.

For most popular tools (Shopify, WordPress, Salesforce, etc.), both platforms integrate fine. But if you're using niche software or need deep CRM connectivity, Mailchimp's integration library is larger.

Both work with Zapier, which fills most integration gaps anyway.

Transactional Email

This is a Brevo strength. Transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets, etc.) are included on all Brevo plans, even free.

Mailchimp requires Mandrill (now called Mailchimp Transactional) as a separate add-on, only available on Standard and Premium plans. It's designed for developers and costs extra.

If you need marketing and transactional emails in one platform without extra fees, Brevo is the clear choice.

SMS and Multi-Channel

Brevo was built as a multi-channel platform from the start. SMS, WhatsApp, and web push are integrated directly into the platform and automation workflows.

Mailchimp added SMS later, and it's only available as an add-on on paid plans in select countries. WhatsApp isn't integrated the same way.

For true omnichannel marketing from one platform, Brevo is ahead.

Customer Support

Mailchimp provides faster, more responsive support. Live chat response times are quicker, and Premium plan users get phone support.

Brevo's support is email-only on lower tiers and can be slower. This is a genuine weakness if you need quick answers.

Who Should Choose Brevo?

Who Should Choose Mailchimp?

The Bottom Line

For most small to medium businesses, Brevo is the smarter choice. You get more features at lower prices, especially as your list grows. The free plan actually works for real use cases, and the unlimited contacts model means you're never penalized for growing your audience.

Mailchimp makes sense if you specifically need their advanced automation features, polished design tools, or extensive integration library—and you're willing to pay significantly more for them.

The pricing difference becomes extreme at scale. A business with 25,000 contacts could easily save $200+/month by choosing Brevo. That's over $2,400/year—real money that can go toward actually growing your business.

For more email marketing comparisons, check out our best email marketing software guide.