Brevo vs MailerLite
Brevo charges by emails sent. MailerLite charges by subscriber count. That one structural difference determines which is cheaper for your list.
Key takeaways
The core difference: Brevo prices on email volume — unlimited contacts, pay per send. MailerLite prices on subscriber count — unlimited emails, pay per contact. A 50k list emailed four times a month costs roughly $65/month on Brevo Starter and $289/month on MailerLite Growing Business.
- Brevo free plan: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day. MailerLite free plan: 500 subscribers (cut from 1,000 in September 2025), 12,000 emails/month.
- At 10k subscribers: Brevo Starter ~$29/month vs MailerLite Growing Business $73/month.
- At 50k subscribers emailing 4x/month: Brevo ~$65/month vs MailerLite $289/month.
- Brevo includes SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and transactional email on all plans. MailerLite is email only.
Brevo vs MailerLite: Quick Comparison
| Features | Brevo | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per email sent | Per subscriber |
| Free plan | Unlimited contacts, 9k/month | 500 subscribers, 12k/month |
| At 10k subscribers | ~$29/month | $73/month |
| At 50k list, 4x/month | ~$65/month | $289/month |
| Unlimited sends | Yes (flat volume tier) | Yes (all paid plans) |
| SMS marketing | Built-in | No |
| WhatsApp campaigns | Yes | No |
| Live chat | Built-in | No |
| Built-in CRM | Yes | No |
| A/B testing | ✓ Business plan | ✓ Both plans |
What Are Brevo and MailerLite?
Brevo
A multi-channel marketing platform priced by email volume — unlimited contacts on every plan, with SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and transactional email included by default.
- Free plan: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day (9,000/month). No automation on free.
- Starter: $9/month (5k emails), $29/month (20k emails), $69/month (100k emails)
- Business: $18/month (5k), $65/month (20k), $129/month (100k) — adds automation, A/B testing, landing pages
- Built-in SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and transactional email (SMTP/API) — no add-on required
- Volume pricing: a 50k-contact list emailed 4x/month (~200k sends) costs ~$65/month on Starter
MailerLite
A clean, affordable email platform priced by subscriber count with unlimited sends on all paid plans — the better option when you email your list frequently.
- Free plan: 500 subscribers (reduced from 1,000 in September 2025), 12,000 emails/month
- Growing Business: $15/month (1k subs), $39/month (5k), $73/month (10k), $289/month (50k)
- Advanced: $30/month (1k subs), $50/month (5k), $110/month (10k), $340/month (50k) — adds AI writing, unlimited users, Facebook sync
- Unlimited emails on all paid plans — no per-send charges regardless of send frequency
- Consistently rated one of the cleanest, easiest UIs in email marketing
Pricing Models: Brevo, MailerLite, and mailtani
Brevo: volume-based, unlimited contacts, multi-channel bundled
- Free: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day (9,000/month). No automation.
- Starter: $9/month (5k emails), $29/month (20k), $69/month (100k)
- Business: $18/month (5k), $65/month (20k), $129/month (100k) — automation, A/B testing, landing pages
- SMS charged per message on top of plan cost (varies by country)
- Volume pricing: a 50k-contact list emailed 4x/month (200k sends) costs ~$65/month on Starter
MailerLite: subscriber-based, unlimited sends, clean value
- Free: 500 subscribers, 12,000 emails/month (reduced from 1,000 subs in Sept 2025)
- Growing Business: $15/month (1k), $39/month (5k), $73/month (10k), $289/month (50k)
- Advanced: $30/month (1k), $50/month (5k), $110/month (10k), $340/month (50k)
- Unlimited emails on all paid plans — no send caps or volume charges
- Annual billing saves approximately 10%
mailtani: €89 once, then near-zero sending costs
- One-time €89 payment — no monthly fee ever
- Unlimited contacts and sends — your cost never grows with your list
- AWS SES: ~$0.10 per 1,000 emails — a 10k-subscriber send costs about $1
- Full deliverability control on your own dedicated sending infrastructure
Brevo vs MailerLite: The Full Breakdown
The pricing model difference is structural, not marginal. Brevo charges by email volume; MailerLite charges by subscriber count. For a 50,000-contact list emailed four times a month (200,000 sends), Brevo Starter costs roughly $65/month and MailerLite Growing Business costs $289/month — a $2,688/year difference for identical volume. Flip the scenario: if you have 5,000 subscribers and email them every day (150,000 sends/month), MailerLite costs $39/month and Brevo Business costs $129/month.
Brevo's deliverability has slipped in recent benchmarks. Third-party inbox placement testing showed Brevo's inbox rate dropped from 30.4% in Q1 2024 to 24.9% in Q1 2025 — below the industry average. GlockApps and Email Tool Tester tests put Brevo behind MailerLite, SendGrid, and Mailchimp on average inbox placement in 2025. For businesses where deliverability is critical, this is a meaningful concern. MailerLite enforces strict list quality at sign-up and consistently scores higher in deliverability benchmarks.
Brevo's multi-channel bundle eliminates a hidden stack cost. SMS campaigns, WhatsApp Business messages, and live chat are all built into Brevo plans at no extra charge. MailerLite is email-only — no SMS, no WhatsApp, no chat. For a founder running a multi-channel lifecycle flow that touches SMS and email, Brevo consolidates what would otherwise require two or three separate tools.
MailerLite wins clearly on interface quality and support. The drag-and-drop editor, automation builder, and overall UX in MailerLite are noticeably cleaner and faster than Brevo's more complex platform. MailerLite also has a significantly better support reputation — consistently praised across G2 and Capterra for fast, helpful responses. Brevo's support is frequently criticised for slow ticket resolution and difficult-to-reach phone support.
MailerLite cut its free plan in 2025. In September 2025, MailerLite reduced its free plan from 1,000 to 500 subscribers — a notable change that forces earlier-stage users to upgrade. Brevo's free plan remains more generous: unlimited contacts, 9,000 emails/month. For businesses just starting out, Brevo is a better place to stay free longer.
How Brevo, MailerLite, and mailtani Compare, Feature by Feature
| Feature | Brevo | MailerLite | mailtani |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume-based pricing | |||
| Unlimited contacts (free) | |||
| SMS marketing (built-in) | |||
| WhatsApp campaigns | |||
| Live chat (built-in) | |||
| Transactional email (built-in) | |||
| Built-in CRM | ✓ basic | ||
| Clean beginner-friendly UI | |||
| Unlimited sends (paid) | |||
| A/B testing | ✓ Business | ||
| Multi-step automation | ✓ Business | ||
| Landing pages | |||
| Web forms | |||
| AI writing assistant | ✓ Advanced | ||
| Facebook audience sync | ✓ Advanced | ||
| Bring your own SMTP | |||
| Email warmup | |||
| Inbox rotation | |||
| Flat one-time pricing | |||
| No ghost billing |
The Third Option: Why Founders Pick mailtani
- One-time €89 payment with no monthly fees, no per-contact charges, and no billing surprises as your list scales
- Bring your own AWS SES or Resend key: full deliverability control on dedicated sending infrastructure at ~$0.10 per 1,000 emails
- Email sequences, broadcasts, inbox rotation, and warmup all included — no plan upgrade required
- Unlimited contacts and unlimited sends: your tool cost stays completely flat no matter how fast you grow
What Each Tool Is Built For
Brevo
Optimised for businesses with large contact lists and moderate send frequency.
Volume-based pricing, unlimited contacts, and a multi-channel bundle (SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, transactional email) make Brevo the most cost-efficient option for businesses that have grown a large audience but do not email it daily. The multi-channel bundle eliminates extra tool cost for SMS or chat campaigns.
MailerLite
Optimised for small businesses and creators who email their list frequently.
Unlimited sends on all paid plans, a genuinely clean interface, and strong automation even at the Growing Business tier make MailerLite the better option for businesses that email frequently. If you have under 10k subscribers and send weekly or more, MailerLite's per-subscriber pricing is hard to beat.
Brevo vs MailerLite: Who Should Choose Which?
Choose Brevo if...
- You have a large list (10k+) and email it infrequently — volume pricing is dramatically cheaper
- You want SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat alongside email in one platform
- You want unlimited contacts on the free plan without upgrading
- You run transactional email and marketing email from a single tool
- You need a basic CRM for contact and deal management without a separate tool
Choose MailerLite if...
- You have a smaller list and email it frequently — subscriber pricing is cheaper at high send frequency
- You want the cleanest, most beginner-friendly email marketing interface
- Deliverability benchmarks matter — MailerLite consistently outperforms Brevo in inbox placement tests
- You want strong automation and A/B testing without upgrading to the top plan
- You want genuinely responsive customer support
Brevo vs MailerLite: Pros & Cons
Brevo
Pros
- Volume-based pricing — large list, moderate sends = dramatic savings over subscriber-count tools
- Unlimited contacts on free plan — 9,000 emails/month with no contact limit
- SMS, WhatsApp, live chat built-in — multi-channel without extra tool cost
- Transactional email included — SMTP/API on all plans, no add-on required
- Built-in CRM — basic contact and deal management without a separate tool
Cons
- Deliverability declining — inbox placement rates below industry average in 2025 benchmarks
- Account suspensions — aggressive spam detection suspends campaigns even with high open rates
- Buggy drag-and-drop editor — text disappears, blocks fail to delete; multiple G2 complaints
- Poor customer support — tickets unanswered for days; phone support difficult to reach
- Automation locked to Business plan — Starter tier has no automation workflows
MailerLite
Pros
- Cleanest interface — consistently rated the easiest email platform to learn and use
- Unlimited sends on all paid plans — no per-send charges or volume caps
- Strong deliverability — higher inbox placement scores than Brevo in 2025 benchmarks
- Excellent customer support — fast, helpful responses praised across G2 and Capterra
- A/B testing included — available on both Growing Business and Advanced plans
Cons
- Free plan cut in half — reduced from 1,000 to 500 subscribers in September 2025
- Email-only — no SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, or multi-channel capabilities
- Account approval friction — strict list-quality enforcement causes unexpected suspensions for older lists
- No built-in CRM — contact management only, no deal pipelines
- Smaller integrations library — fewer native connections than Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign
Neither Brevo nor MailerLite right for you?
Both platforms charge monthly. mailtani is €89 once: connect your own AWS SES or Resend key and send unlimited emails with sequences, broadcasts, warmup, and inbox rotation included. No monthly fees, no contact or volume limits.
Before You Decide: Common Questions Answered
More Comparisons
What mailtani Brings to the Table
Who Uses These Tools
Start Your Free Trial
Bring your own SMTP key. Unlimited contacts, sequences, warmup, and inbox rotation for €89 once.
€89 lifetime No monthly fees