Best Brevo Alternative in 2026
Brevo charges by email volume, not contact count — smarter than Mailchimp. But it's still a subscription that never stops. mailtani is €89 once: your own SMTP key, warmup, and inbox rotation included.
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Key takeaway
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is an affordable email marketing platform with send-volume pricing and a generous free tier. mailtani is a focused email tool built for founders and indie hackers who want to own their infrastructure and pay once.
- Pricing model: monthly per send volume vs mailtani's €89 one-time
- At 500k sends/month: €828/year on Brevo Business vs €89 total, forever
- Brevo includes SMS marketing and a landing page builder — mailtani does email only, but better
- mailtani suits founders and small SaaS teams; Brevo suits small businesses who also want SMS and multi-channel
Brevo's send-volume pricing is fairer than Mailchimp's contact-count model, but the meter still runs every month. And at any volume above casual sending, the subscription cost outpaces mailtani's one-time price within weeks.
- Monthly subscription — costs grow with send volume and never stop
- Free plan capped at 300 emails/day — breaks any real campaign to a list over 1k
- No BYOS: locked to Brevo's shared sending infrastructure at every plan tier
- Marketing automation requires the Business plan — a tier jump just for sequences
- Brevo branding shown on free and Starter plans
Brevo vs mailtani: At a Glance
| Features | Brevo | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly per send volume | One-time €89 |
| Free plan | 300 emails/day cap | 14-day trial, full features |
| At 20k sends/month | €9/mo (Starter) | €89 one-time |
| At 100k sends/month | €18/mo (Business) | €89 one-time |
| Bring your own SMTP | No | Yes (SES, Resend, Mailtrap) |
| Email warmup | No | Yes |
| Inbox rotation | No | Yes |
| Marketing automation | Business plan only | Yes (included) |
What Is Brevo?
Formerly Sendinblue — send-volume pricing is smarter than Mailchimp, but you're still paying every month.
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, rebranded in 2023 and positioned itself as the affordable Mailchimp alternative — send-volume pricing rather than contact-count pricing. That makes it genuinely cheaper for large lists with infrequent sends, and the feature set is broad: email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and a basic CRM all under one roof.
The free plan allows 300 emails per day — roughly 9,000/month. That sounds reasonable until you try to run a campaign to a list of even 2,000 people. Spread over three days, you lose timing, hurt deliverability, and frustrate subscribers who get emails out of context. Paid plans remove the daily cap, but start the subscription meter running.
What Is mailtani?
A one-time purchase email platform for founders, indie hackers, and small SaaS teams.
Marketing automation — sequences, welcome flows, drip campaigns — is locked to the Business plan. That's a meaningful tier jump. Starter gets you broadcasts; Business gets you automation. If sequences are core to your email strategy, you're committing to the higher plan from day one.
Brevo also doesn't offer BYOS. You're sending through shared infrastructure — your reputation is partially dependent on other senders on the same IP pool. mailtani routes email through your own AWS SES or Resend account. Combined with built-in warmup and inbox rotation, you have deliverability controls that Brevo doesn't offer at any price.
14-day free trial
Why Users Switch from Brevo
The common reasons teams move on.
- The free plan is a daily-cap trap: Brevo's free tier allows 300 emails per day. Any list over 1,000 contacts means your "campaign" takes days to send. That kills time-sensitive sequences, hurts open rates, and makes the free plan feel less like a starting point and more like a constraint you're constantly working around.
- Sequences locked behind the Business plan: Marketing automation — the flows and sequences that make email actually work — are only available on Business plan and above. On Starter you get broadcasts. If you want a welcome sequence or onboarding drip, you're paying Business prices from day one, even if you're a small team.
- No bring-your-own SMTP at any tier: Brevo sends through its own shared sending infrastructure regardless of plan. You cannot connect AWS SES or Resend. Your deliverability depends on the IP reputation of other Brevo customers, with no way to isolate yourself or build your own sender reputation.
- The subscription compounds over years: Brevo's pricing looks reasonable month-to-month. But €18/month on Business compounds to €216/year, then €648 over three years, then €1,080 over five — all before any volume increases. Each year you renew is another year you're paying for infrastructure you could own outright.
- No warmup or inbox rotation: Brevo has no email warmup or inbox rotation features. If you're launching a new sending domain or recovering from deliverability issues, you're doing it outside the platform with separate tools at additional cost — something mailtani solves out of the box.
14-day free trial
Brevo vs mailtani: Pricing
Brevo charges more as your list grows. mailtani charges once, regardless of list size.
| Plan / Scenario | Brevo | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 300 emails/day cap | 14-day trial, full features |
| Starter (20k sends/mo) | €9/mo (€108/yr) | €89 one-time |
| Business (100k sends/mo) | €18/mo (€216/yr) | €89 one-time |
| Business (500k sends/mo) | €69/mo (€828/yr) | €89 one-time |
| Year 1 cost (500k sends/mo) | €828 | €89 |
| Year 3 cost (500k sends/mo) | €2,484 | €89 |
| Bring your own SMTP | Not available | Included |
Prefer a lower start? Try the Yearly plan from €79/year — 14-day free trial included.
14-day free trial
Brevo vs mailtani: Feature Breakdown
See all mailtani features →| Feature | Brevo | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited contacts | ||
| Unlimited email sends | ||
| Bring your own SMTP (SES, Resend, Mailtrap) | ||
| Email warmup | ||
| Inbox rotation | ||
| One-time payment, no subscription | ||
| Full deliverability control (own IPs) | ||
| Marketing automation (sequences) | ✓ Business+ | |
| Flat cost regardless of send volume | ||
| Broadcast campaigns | ||
| Contact tagging and segmentation | ||
| Signup forms | ||
| Open and click tracking | ||
| Unsubscribe handling | ||
| CSV contact import / export | ||
| No Brevo branding in emails | ✓ paid only | |
| SMS marketing | ||
| WhatsApp campaigns | ||
| Landing page builder | ||
| Transactional email API | ||
| Built-in CRM (basic) | ||
| A/B testing | ✓ Business+ | |
| Free ongoing plan | ✓ 300 emails/day | |
| Live chat support | ✓ Business+ |
What You Get With mailtani
The features founders and indie hackers actually use — on your own infrastructure, for a one-time payment.
Bring Your Own SMTP
Connect your own AWS SES, Resend, or Mailtrap account and send at infrastructure cost. Your sending reputation is entirely yours — not pooled with other users on shared IPs.
Email Warmup
Automatically ramps up your sending volume over 3–6 weeks, building genuine sender reputation with Gmail and Outlook. Set it once — mailtani handles the daily schedule without a separate tool.
Inbox Rotation
Distribute sends across multiple inboxes automatically to protect deliverability and scale volume without burning a single sending address. No manual scheduling required.
Sequences and Drip Campaigns
Build multi-step email sequences with conditions, delays, and branching logic. Welcome flows, onboarding drips, and re-engagement campaigns all run on the same builder.
One-Time Flat Pricing
Pay €89 once. No monthly fees, no per-contact tiers, no price increases as your list grows. Whether you have 500 or 500,000 subscribers, the cost is the same: done.
Full Deliverability Control
Sending reputation, IP addresses, authentication records, and SMTP credentials all belong to you. Diagnose and fix deliverability issues directly rather than waiting on platform support.
14-day free trial
Brevo vs mailtani: Pros & Cons
Brevo
Pros
- Send-volume pricing — fairer than contact-count for large lists with infrequent sends
- Multi-channel: email, SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat in one platform
- Free plan with no contact limit (300 emails/day cap)
- Transactional email API alongside marketing campaigns
- Basic built-in CRM for contact and deal management
Cons
- Marketing automation locked to Business plan — Starter is broadcast-only
- Free plan's 300 emails/day cap breaks any campaign to a list over 1k
- No bring-your-own SMTP at any tier — shared infrastructure only
- No email warmup or inbox rotation at any plan
- Monthly subscription that compounds indefinitely as you scale sends
mailtani
Pros
- One-time €89 payment — no recurring fees regardless of send volume
- Bring your own AWS SES, Resend, or Mailtrap key (~€0.10/1,000 emails)
- Built-in email warmup and inbox rotation on every plan
- Full automation (sequences and drips) included from the base plan
- Full deliverability control on your own dedicated sending infrastructure
Cons
- No SMS or WhatsApp marketing: Brevo supports multi-channel campaigns; mailtani is email only
- No transactional email API: for system emails (password resets, receipts), you'd use SES or Resend directly
- No built-in CRM: Brevo includes a basic CRM; mailtani focuses purely on email
- No landing page builder: you'll need a separate tool (Carrd, Framer, etc.) for signup pages
- No free ongoing plan: Brevo has a free tier (300 emails/day); mailtani is a 14-day trial then paid
- No live chat support: Brevo includes chat support on Business plan; mailtani uses email support
Who Should Use Brevo vs mailtani?
What each product is built for and who it suits.
Optimised for small businesses that want multi-channel marketing in one place.
Choose Brevo if...
- You need SMS or WhatsApp campaigns alongside email in the same platform
- You need a transactional email API for password resets, receipts, and system emails
- You want a free plan with no time limit (even with the 300/day cap)
- You need live chat support on your plan
Optimised for founders, indie hackers, and small SaaS teams.
Choose mailtani if...
- You want flat email costs that don't scale with your send volume
- You need marketing automation (sequences) without paying Business plan prices
- You want to own your sending infrastructure with SES, Resend, or Mailtrap
- You want email warmup and inbox rotation built in
- The subscription compounding over years is no longer worth it
14-day free trial
See How mailtani Compares
Brevo vs the Competition
What You Get with mailtani
How Founders Use mailtani
Ready to Switch from Brevo?
14-day free trial. No charge until the trial ends — cancel anytime. Connect your SES key and send your first campaign today.
€89 lifetime No monthly fees