Mailchimp vs Brevo
Mailchimp charges per contact. Brevo charges per email sent. That one structural difference changes the entire pricing equation as your list grows.
Key takeaways
The core difference: Mailchimp bills by contact count regardless of send frequency. Brevo bills by email volume regardless of contact count. A 50k-contact list emailed four times a month costs $339/month on Mailchimp Standard — and roughly $65/month on Brevo.
- Brevo free plan: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day. Mailchimp free plan: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month.
- Brevo Starter: $9/month for 5k emails, $29/month for 20k, $69/month for 100k.
- Brevo includes SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and transactional email on all plans. Mailchimp requires integrations or add-ons for all of these.
- Mailchimp reportedly doubles its pricing after year one across all tiers.
Mailchimp vs Brevo: Quick Comparison
| Features | Mailchimp | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per contact | Per email sent |
| Free plan | 250 contacts, 500/month | Unlimited contacts, 9k/month |
| 50k list, 4x/month | $339/month | ~$65/month |
| SMS marketing | Via integration | Built-in |
| WhatsApp campaigns | No | Yes |
| Transactional email | Mandrill (paid add-on) | Built-in all plans |
| Live chat | Via integration | Built-in |
| Social ad management | Yes | No |
| 300+ integrations | Yes | Fewer |
| A/B testing | ✓ Standard+ | ✓ Business plan |
What Are Mailchimp and Brevo?
Mailchimp
The most recognised email marketing platform — 300+ integrations, social ad management, and a broad feature stack for businesses doing multi-channel marketing.
- Free plan: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month (cut January 2026). Ghost billing on unsubscribed contacts.
- Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts. Standard: $20/month (500 contacts), $339/month (50k contacts).
- 300+ native integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, and HubSpot
- Social ad management (Facebook, Instagram, Google) — no Brevo equivalent
- Transactional email via Mandrill — a separate paid add-on, not included in base plans
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 daily send limit on paid plans.
- Starter: $9/month (5k emails), $29/month (20k emails), $69/month (100k emails)
- Business: $18/month (5k emails), $65/month (20k emails), $129/month (100k emails) — adds automation, A/B testing
- Built-in SMS, WhatsApp campaigns, live chat, and transactional email (SMTP/API) — no add-on required
- Volume pricing means a 50k-contact list emailed 4x/month (~200k sends) costs ~$65/month on Starter
Pricing Models: Mailchimp, Brevo, and mailtani
Mailchimp: contact-based, ghost billing, doubles after year one
- Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month (cut January 2026)
- Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts, $55/month for 5,000
- Standard: $20/month for 500 contacts, $100/month for 5,000, $339/month for 50,000
- Ghost billing: unsubscribed and inactive contacts count until manually archived
- Pricing reportedly doubles across all tiers after the first 12 months
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
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
Mailchimp vs Brevo: The Full Breakdown
The pricing model difference is structural, not marginal. Mailchimp charges per contact regardless of send frequency. Brevo charges per email sent regardless of contact count. For a 50,000-contact list emailed four times a month (200,000 sends), Mailchimp Standard costs $339/month and Brevo Starter costs roughly $65/month — a $3,288/year difference for identical volume. At 100k contacts, the gap doubles.
Brevo's multi-channel bundle eliminates a hidden stack cost. SMS campaigns, WhatsApp Business messages, live chat, and transactional email are all built into Brevo plans. In Mailchimp, SMS requires a paid third-party integration, WhatsApp is unsupported, and transactional email (Mandrill) is a separate paid product. For a founder running a multi-channel lifecycle flow, Brevo consolidates what Mailchimp splits across multiple tools.
Mailchimp wins on integrations and social marketing. With 300+ native connections to CRMs, e-commerce platforms, and marketing tools, Mailchimp's integration library is significantly larger than Brevo's. The social media ad management (Facebook, Instagram, Google) is a Mailchimp-only feature. For teams that run ad retargeting alongside email, Mailchimp saves integration overhead.
Automation depth favours Mailchimp at higher tiers. Brevo's automation covers core use cases — welcome sequences, drip campaigns, behavioural triggers — on the Business plan. Mailchimp's Standard and Premium automation is more mature, with predictive send time, deeper segmentation, and broader trigger types. For sophisticated multi-branch automations, Mailchimp Standard is still ahead.
How Mailchimp, Brevo, and mailtani Compare, Feature by Feature
| Feature | Mailchimp | Brevo | mailtani |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume-based pricing | |||
| Unlimited contacts (free) | |||
| SMS marketing (built-in) | |||
| WhatsApp campaigns | |||
| Live chat (built-in) | |||
| Transactional email (built-in) | |||
| Social ad management | |||
| 300+ integrations | |||
| Multi-step automation | ✓ Standard+ | ✓ Business | |
| A/B testing | ✓ Standard+ | ✓ Business | |
| Landing pages | |||
| Built-in CRM | ✓ lightweight | ✓ basic | |
| Bring your own SMTP | |||
| Email warmup | |||
| Inbox rotation | |||
| Flat one-time pricing | |||
| Push notifications | |||
| Web forms | |||
| Ghost billing prevention | |||
| Dedicated IP option | ✓ Premium | ✓ Enterprise |
The Third Option: Why Founders Pick mailtani
- One-time €89 payment with no monthly fees, no per-contact charges, and no billing surprises at scale
- Bring your own AWS SES or Resend key: full deliverability control on your own dedicated sending infrastructure
- Email sequences, broadcasts, and drip campaigns included — no Business plan upgrade required
- Unlimited contacts and sends: your tool cost stays completely flat as your list and volume grow
What Each Tool Is Built For
Mailchimp
Optimised for multi-channel marketers with broad integration needs.
Social ad management, 300+ integrations, predictive analytics, and a mature e-commerce layer make Mailchimp the better choice for teams running coordinated campaigns across email, Facebook, and Google. It is overpriced for businesses that primarily send email to a large list.
Brevo
Optimised for cost-conscious businesses with large contact lists.
Volume-based pricing, unlimited contacts, and built-in SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email make Brevo the most cost-efficient option for businesses that have grown a large list and email moderately. The multi-channel bundle means no extra tool cost for SMS or chat.
Mailchimp vs Brevo: Who Should Choose Which?
Choose Mailchimp if...
- You run social media ad campaigns alongside email (Facebook, Google)
- You rely on specific integrations not available in Brevo (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
- You have a small, frequently-emailed list where contact pricing is competitive
- You need Mailchimp's advanced e-commerce features and predictive CLV analytics
Choose Brevo if...
- You have a large list and email moderately — volume pricing saves significant money
- You want SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat included without extra tool cost
- You want unlimited contacts on the free plan and no ghost billing
- You want transactional email built-in without paying for Mandrill
- You want a predictable, volume-based bill instead of a contact-count bill that grows with your list
Mailchimp vs Brevo: Pros & Cons
Mailchimp
Pros
- 300+ native integrations — Shopify, Salesforce, WooCommerce, HubSpot
- Social ad management — Facebook, Instagram, and Google ads in one tool
- More mature automation — deeper segmentation and predictive send time on Standard+
- Mandrill transactional email — developer API for triggered sends (paid add-on)
- Stronger brand recognition — widely supported by agencies and third-party tools
Cons
- Contact-based pricing — costs scale with list size regardless of send frequency
- Ghost billing — unsubscribed contacts inflate your count until manually archived
- Free plan gutted — cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends/month in January 2026
- Transactional email is a paid add-on — Mandrill priced separately
- Reportedly doubles in price after year one across all tiers
Brevo
Pros
- Volume-based pricing — large list, moderate sends = dramatic savings
- Unlimited contacts on free plan — 300 emails/day 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
- No ghost billing — only pay for contacts you actually email
Cons
- No social ad management — no Facebook, Instagram, or Google ad integration
- Fewer integrations — significantly smaller native library than Mailchimp
- Automation locked to Business plan — Starter has no automation workflows
- Less mature automation — fewer triggers and branching options than Mailchimp Standard
- No BYOS — no option to bring your own SMTP key at any tier
Neither Mailchimp nor Brevo 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
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