Brevo starts at $0 per month for up to 300 emails per day, with paid plans beginning around $25/month for 20,000 emails. That pricing sits comfortably below Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and most enterprise tools — but the question isn’t whether it’s cheap. It’s whether the feature set justifies choosing it over free alternatives like Mailchimp’s starter tier or MailerLite.
I’ve used Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) across three different client projects over the past eighteen months. The short answer: if you need email marketing plus transactional email and basic CRM in one place, Brevo delivers more value per dollar than almost anything else at this price point. If you only send newsletters, you’re paying for tools you won’t use.
What You Actually Get for the Money
Brevo bundles three things most platforms charge separately for: marketing emails, transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets), and a lightweight CRM. The transactional email piece is what sets it apart. Most businesses end up paying for SendGrid or Postmark to handle receipts and notifications, then paying again for Mailchimp to send newsletters. Brevo handles both from the same dashboard, using the same contact list, for one price.
The CRM isn’t Salesforce, but it tracks deal stages, lets you log notes, and connects email activity to individual contacts. For a small business that isn’t ready to pay for HubSpot or Pipedrive, it’s enough to keep your sales process organized without adding another subscription.
The email builder is solid but not exceptional. Drag-and-drop works fine, templates are clean, and A/B testing is included on the $25/month tier. Automation workflows are straightforward — welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, re-engagement campaigns. You won’t get the advanced conditional logic of ActiveCampaign, but you also won’t spend two hours figuring out how to set up a simple drip campaign.
Where It Falls Short
Deliverability is good, not great. I’ve seen open rates in the 18-22% range on cold lists, which is average. If you’re running high-stakes campaigns where a 2% deliverability difference matters, you’ll want to test this yourself or stick with a specialist like Mailgun.
Reporting is basic. You get opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and bounce rates, but not the depth of analytics you’d find in ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign. If you need heatmaps, advanced segmentation reporting, or detailed revenue attribution, look elsewhere.
The interface feels functional rather than polished. It’s not clunky, but it’s not delightful either. This matters if you’re in the platform daily — less so if you’re just scheduling a weekly newsletter.
Who Should Pay for Brevo
| Best For | Skip If |
|---|---|
| E-commerce stores needing transactional + marketing emails | You only send newsletters (use MailerLite free tier) |
| Service businesses wanting CRM + email in one tool | You need advanced automation (use ActiveCampaign) |
| Growing lists (10K-50K contacts) on a budget | Deliverability is your top priority (test first) |
The $25/month tier makes sense if you’re sending at least 15,000 emails per month and need transactional email or CRM features. Below that volume, the free plan works fine for testing. Above 50,000 contacts, you’ll likely want more sophisticated segmentation and analytics than Brevo offers at any price.
Brevo isn’t the most powerful email tool, but it’s one of the few that genuinely consolidates three separate bills into one without compromising on the basics. If that matches your workflow, it’s worth the money. If you’re just replacing Mailchimp’s newsletter tool, save your $25 and stick with a free option.
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Key takeaways
- Brevo combines marketing emails, transactional emails, and basic CRM for one price starting at $25/month for 20,000 emails
- Best for e-commerce or service businesses that need order confirmations and customer tracking in the same platform as newsletters
- Skip it if you only send marketing emails — MailerLite or Mailchimp’s free tiers handle that without the extra features you won’t use
StackSmall – June 2026