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Brevo vs Mailchimp

Deciding between Brevo and Mailchimp often comes down to how you prefer to pay for your marketing. While Mailchimp is a household name known for its polished design and robust reporting, Brevo offers a unique pricing model based on email volume rather than list size, making it a favorite for businesses with large audiences.

Highlights

  • Brevo allows unlimited contact storage across all pricing tiers.
  • Mailchimp offers superior third-party integrations with e-commerce platforms like Shopify.
  • Transactional email (SMTP) is a core feature in Brevo but an extra cost for Mailchimp users.
  • Mailchimp's reporting provides deeper insights into audience behavior and predicted demographics.

What is Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)?

A versatile marketing hub that focuses on affordability by charging per email sent rather than per contact stored.

  • Headquartered in Paris, France, and rebranded from Sendinblue in 2023.
  • Provides a built-in CRM and SMS marketing tools even on its free tier.
  • Uses a unique pricing model based solely on monthly email volume.
  • Offers transactional email services via a robust SMTP relay for developers.
  • Includes WhatsApp marketing and a unified shared inbox for customer chats.

What is Mailchimp?

An industry-leading marketing platform famous for its user-friendly interface and advanced automated customer journeys.

  • Acquired by Intuit in 2021 for approximately $12 billion.
  • Utilizes a contact-based pricing structure where costs rise as your list grows.
  • Features an AI-powered Creative Assistant to help design branded graphics.
  • Integrates with over 300 different apps, from e-commerce to social media.
  • Provides highly detailed predictive analytics to estimate customer lifetime value.

Comparison Table

Feature Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) Mailchimp
Pricing Basis Email volume sent Number of contacts
Free Plan Limit 300 emails per day 500 contacts (1,000 monthly sends)
Marketing Automation Available on all plans Limited on lower tiers
Transactional Emails Included natively Paid add-on (Mandrill)
SMS Marketing Native worldwide support Limited availability by region
Customer Support Email and Phone (on higher tiers) 24/7 Chat and Email (paid tiers)
CRM Capabilities Unlimited contacts included Audience management focused
Landing Pages Available on Business plan+ Available on all plans

Detailed Comparison

Cost and Scalability

The biggest differentiator lies in how these platforms bill you. Brevo doesn't care if you have 100,000 contacts; you only pay for the specific number of emails you send, which is a lifesaver for companies with huge but occasionally active lists. Mailchimp, conversely, charges based on your total contact count, meaning you pay for every person on your list even if you don't email them that month.

Ease of Use and Design

Mailchimp has spent years perfecting a sleek, intuitive interface that feels modern and approachable for beginners. Their drag-and-drop editor is exceptionally smooth, and the Creative Assistant helps keep branding consistent across campaigns. Brevo is functional and clean, but it feels more like a utility tool than a design-centric platform, though its recent rebranding has significantly improved the overall user experience.

Automation and Intelligence

When it comes to complex 'if-this-then-that' scenarios, Mailchimp often takes the lead with its Customer Journey Builder, which offers more visual clarity and pre-built templates for e-commerce. Brevo's automation is surprisingly powerful for the price—offering workflow tracking on its free plan—but it requires a bit more manual setup to get those advanced sequences running perfectly.

Multichannel Marketing

Brevo has a slight edge for businesses looking for an all-in-one communication suite, as it integrates SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional emails into a single dashboard very effectively. Mailchimp is expanding in this direction, but many of its multichannel features feel like extensions rather than core components. If your strategy relies heavily on direct chat or transactional notifications, Brevo’s unified approach is hard to beat.

Pros & Cons

Brevo

Pros

  • + Very affordable pricing
  • + Built-in CRM
  • + Excellent transactional emails
  • + Generous free plan

Cons

  • Daily send limits on free tier
  • Fewer third-party integrations
  • Landing page builder restricted
  • Interface can feel basic

Mailchimp

Pros

  • + Top-tier design templates
  • + Extensive integration library
  • + Powerful automation tools
  • + Advanced data analytics

Cons

  • Expensive as lists grow
  • Charges for unsubscribed contacts
  • Steep learning curve recently
  • Support limited for free users

Common Misconceptions

Myth

Brevo is just a budget version of Mailchimp.

Reality

While it is often cheaper, Brevo includes high-end features like built-in SMS marketing and a dedicated transactional SMTP server that Mailchimp treats as separate or advanced add-ons.

Myth

Mailchimp's free plan is the best for small businesses.

Reality

Mailchimp has recently tightened its free plan limits significantly. For many startups, Brevo's 300-email-per-day limit is actually more sustainable than Mailchimp's low contact cap.

Myth

You don't pay for unsubscribed contacts in Mailchimp.

Reality

Actually, Mailchimp counts 'unsubscribed' individuals toward your total contact limit until you manually archive them, which can lead to unexpected bill increases.

Myth

Automation is only for experts on these platforms.

Reality

Both platforms now offer 'Recipes' or templates that allow you to set up basic welcome sequences or abandoned cart reminders with just a few clicks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I switch from Mailchimp to Brevo easily?
Yes, Brevo provides a dedicated migration tool that allows you to import your contacts directly from Mailchimp. You will need to export your lists as CSV files or use their API integration to sync your data, though you'll need to rebuild your automation workflows manually in the new system.
Does Mailchimp charge for duplicate contacts?
Yes, if the same email address exists in two different 'Audiences' within your Mailchimp account, you are billed for it twice. To avoid this, it is better to use 'Tags' and 'Segments' within a single Audience rather than creating multiple separate lists.
Which platform is better for e-commerce stores?
Mailchimp generally holds the crown for e-commerce due to its deep, one-click integrations with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. It can track individual purchase data and trigger very specific product recommendations, whereas Brevo requires a bit more technical setup to achieve the same level of retail detail.
Is Brevo actually GDPR compliant?
Absolutely. Since Brevo is based in the European Union (France), it was built with GDPR as a founding principle. They offer data processing agreements and have servers located within the EU, making it a very safe bet for businesses worried about strict data privacy regulations.
Does Brevo have a daily sending limit?
Only on the free plan, which restricts you to 300 emails per day. Once you move to any paid tier, that daily cap is removed entirely, and you are only limited by the total number of emails you purchased for the month.
Which tool has better email deliverability?
Both platforms have excellent reputations and maintain massive server clusters to ensure high delivery rates. However, Brevo’s roots as a transactional email provider mean their infrastructure is particularly robust for ensuring time-sensitive emails, like password resets, hit the inbox immediately.
Can I send SMS messages with Mailchimp?
Mailchimp has added SMS marketing capabilities, but it is currently focused on specific markets like the US and UK and requires a separate credit purchase. Brevo has offered global SMS marketing for much longer and typically has a simpler setup for international campaigns.
Is there a mobile app for managing campaigns?
Mailchimp has a very highly-rated mobile app that allows you to track reports, edit emails, and even start campaigns on the go. Brevo also offers a mobile app, but it focuses more on their CRM features and chat functions rather than full-scale email design.

Verdict

Choose Brevo if you have a large contact list and want to keep costs predictable by paying only for what you send. Pick Mailchimp if you prioritize high-end design tools, advanced automation templates, and have the budget to support a growing subscriber base.

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