Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) starts at free and scales to approximately $18/month for 20,000 emails. Premium plans with marketing automation run $65–$100+ per month depending on contact volume. That’s middle-of-the-road pricing for an email platform — not budget-bin cheap, not enterprise expensive. The question isn’t whether it’s affordable. It’s whether you’re getting enough capability to justify moving past Mailchimp or sticking with it instead of jumping to something pricier like ActiveCampaign.
I’ve used Brevo across two different client accounts over the past year. One was a product launch for a SaaS tool with about 8,000 contacts. The other was a service business doing weekly newsletters and occasional promos. In both cases, Brevo handled the job without drama. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t have the design polish of Flodesk or the depth of HubSpot. But it gets emails out reliably, automations work as expected, and the SMS feature — included in most paid plans — is legitimately useful if you’re running promotions or appointment reminders.
What You Actually Get for the Money
Brevo’s core strength is bundling. You’re not just paying for email. You get transactional email capability (critical if you’re sending order confirmations or password resets), SMS credits, a basic CRM, landing page builder, and Facebook Ads integration. For a small business that’s duct-taping together three or four tools, this consolidation has real value. I’ve seen clients cut $40–$60/month in subscriptions just by moving SMS and transactional email into Brevo.
The automation builder is visual and intuitive. It’s not as powerful as ActiveCampaign’s branching logic, but it covers 80% of what most businesses actually need: welcome sequences, abandoned cart follow-ups, re-engagement campaigns. The email editor is drag-and-drop, mobile-responsive by default, and fast. No lag, no buggy previews. You can also code custom HTML if you want full control.
Deliverability has been solid in my experience. I’m seeing inbox rates in the 92–96% range across campaigns, which is on par with Mailchimp and better than some cheaper alternatives. Brevo has a decent sender reputation, and they enforce list hygiene standards that help keep you out of spam folders.
Where It Falls Short
The reporting dashboard is functional but not impressive. You get opens, clicks, unsubscribes — the basics. If you want deep segmentation analytics or revenue attribution, you’ll need to export data and work with it elsewhere. The CRM is bare-bones. It’s fine for tracking a few hundred leads, but if you’re managing a real sales pipeline, you’ll outgrow it fast.
Customer support is hit-or-miss. Email support is included on all paid plans, but response times can stretch to 24–48 hours. Phone support requires the higher-tier plans. If you need hand-holding or frequent troubleshooting, that’s a gap.
Brevo vs. Alternatives
| Platform | Starting Price (20k emails/month) | Includes SMS | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | ~$18/month | Yes | Businesses consolidating tools |
| Mailchimp | ~$20/month | No (separate cost) | Beginners, strong templates |
| ActiveCampaign | ~$49/month | Via add-on | Advanced automation users |
| ConvertKit | ~$29/month | No | Creators, simple workflows |
Who Should Pay for Brevo
Brevo makes the most sense if you’re currently paying for email, SMS, and transactional email separately. A Shopify store doing 50+ orders a week will see real savings. A service business sending appointment reminders via Twilio and emails via Mailchimp can collapse that into one bill.
It’s also a smart pick if you’re scaling past 10,000 contacts but don’t need enterprise-grade automation. Brevo’s pricing stays reasonable as your list grows, unlike Mailchimp, which gets expensive fast. If you’re disciplined about segmentation and know what sequences to build, Brevo gives you the tools without overcharging for features you won’t use.
Skip it if you need deep CRM functionality or white-glove support. Go with ActiveCampaign or HubSpot instead. Also skip it if you’re a creator focused purely on newsletters — ConvertKit or Beehiiv will serve you better.
[CTA: Try Brevo]
Brevo isn’t the cheapest option, but it’s one of the few platforms that actually delivers more than email for the price. For businesses tired of juggling subscriptions, it’s a consolidation play that pencils out.
Key takeaways
- Brevo includes SMS credits and transactional email on paid plans, eliminating the need for separate tools like Twilio or SendGrid
- Deliverability holds steady in the 92–96% range, matching Mailchimp’s performance without the price creep as your list grows
- The CRM and reporting tools are basic — fine for small operations, but you’ll outgrow them if you need pipeline management or deep analytics
StackSmall – July 2026