Mailchimp vs Brevo (2026) Pricing, Features, and Which One Fits Your Business

Mailchimp vs Brevo comes down to one question: do you want to pay for the size of your list or for the number of emails you send? Mailchimp, launched in 2001 and now part of Intuit, charges by contacts. Brevo, founded in 2012 and known as Sendinblue until its 2023 rebrand, charges by emails sent.

That single difference shapes your bill, your automation options, and even how you clean your list.

This guide compares both platforms on pricing, free plans, email design, automation, SMS and WhatsApp, deliverability, integrations, and support, using pricing pages and independent tests published in 2026.

Mailchimp vs Brevo at a Glance

A September 2026 hands-on comparison by SendPulse scored Brevo 8.5 out of 10 and Mailchimp 8.4, which is close to a tie.

The category scores tell the real story.

Category

Brevo

Mailchimp

Edge

Pricing model

Pay by emails sent

Pay by contacts

Depends on your list and send pattern

Free plan

300 emails per day

250 contacts, 500 emails per month

Brevo

Email design and templates

Simpler builder, 53 templates

More design control, 382 templates

Mailchimp

Automation

16 triggers, 18 actions, multichannel

Email and SMS, plan-gated steps

Brevo

SMS

Available on every plan

Paid plans only, application required

Brevo

Built-in CRM

Yes

Brevo

Integrations

150+

300+

Mailchimp

Mobile app

Separate tools for chat and phone

Full iOS and Android app

Mailchimp

Deliverability tools

Real-time score, one-click DKIM and DMARC

No visible score, no dedicated IP for marketing email

Brevo

G2 / Capterra rating

4.5 / 4.6

4.4 / 4.5

Brevo, slightly

Sources: SendPulse comparison, published September 22, 2026. Ratings and template counts come from that test, so treat them as one reviewer's snapshot.

How Brevo and Mailchimp Charge You

Comparing prices is tricky because the two billing models don't line up.

Brevo counts emails sent each month, and every plan includes transactional email, unlimited log retention, SMTP, and API access.

If you rarely send to a big list, that model is friendly.

Brevo also sells pay-as-you-go credits that don't expire, which suits occasional senders.

You can see the current tiers on the Brevo pricing page. The figures below come from the SendPulse test, which checked them against Brevo's official pricing on September 22, 2026.

Emails per month

Brevo Starter

Brevo Standard

5,000

$9/mo

$18/mo

15,000

$25/mo

$49/mo

30,000

$39/mo

$79/mo

100,000

$82/mo

$139/mo

500,000

Not offered

$429/mo

The Professional plan begins at 150,000 emails per month and may need a chat with Brevo's sales team.

Brevo's own pricing page lists 10 seats on Professional, and yearly billing takes 10% off.

Here is the practical takeaway. A store with 20,000 contacts that emails each segment a few times a month can stay on a low Brevo tier.

A newsletter that goes to a small list five days a week will burn through and send volume faster, and the gap between the two platforms narrows.

Mailchimp Pricing and the Costs People Miss

Mailchimp's tiers scale with your contact count. On its official pricing page, the entry prices for the smallest contact band are $13 a month for Essentials, $20 for Standard, and $350 for Premium.

The page also advertises 15% off for the first 12 months on plans with 10,000 or more contacts, plus a 14-day free trial of Standard and Essentials.

What each paid tier gives you, per Mailchimp's page:

Feature

Essentials

Standard

Premium

Monthly email sends

10x contacts

12x contacts

15x contacts

Users

3 seats

5 seats

Unlimited

Automation flows

Up to 4 steps

Up to 200 flows

Generative AI features

Not included

Included at no extra cost

Dynamic content and custom reports

Not included

Included

Support

24/7 email and chat

Phone and priority

Three details can raise your bill:

Unsubscribed contacts can count. Mailchimp counts more than active subscribers toward your limit, and the same person sitting in two audiences can count twice.
Overages are automatic. If you pass your contact or send limit after the trial, Mailchimp bills the overage.
Transactional email costs extra. Mailchimp Transactional, the former Mandrill, is an add-on sold in 25,000-email blocks starting at $20 per block. Brevo includes transactional sending on every plan.

One thing to confirm before you buy: the SendPulse test lists a 50% first-year discount that roughly doubles Mailchimp's price in month 13.

The official page I read shows the 15% offer for larger lists instead. Check the checkout screen for the exact promotion you get.

Free Plans Compared

Both free plans are tighter than they used to be, but Brevo still gives you more room to work.

Brevo's free plan lets you send up to 300 emails a day, which works out to roughly 9,000 a month, and it includes automation (with a 2,000-contact cap on contacts inside active automations) plus transactional email.

Mailchimp's free plan now stops at 250 contacts and a maximum of 500 emails per month or 250 per day.

It has one seat, one audience, no scheduling, no automation flows, and Mailchimp branding on your emails.

The change is recent. EmailToolTester's Brevo vs Mailchimp review logged the reduced Mailchimp free allowances in its January 2026 update, and Mailchimp had already removed multi-step automation from free accounts.

If you are testing email marketing on a zero budget, Brevo is the more usable starting point.

Email Builder, Templates, and Design Control

Mailchimp wins on design. In the SendPulse test it offered 382 templates against Brevo's 53, and its editor has separate product and product recommendation blocks, flexible column layouts, and stronger tools for send-time optimization.

If your emails lean on polished layouts or an online store, this matters.

Brevo keeps the editor leaner, with 13 blocks. Its clever move is treating conditional content as a normal drag-and-drop block, so showing different offers to different subscribers takes no special setup.

Brevo's editor also supports optional HTML and CSS, version history, and live product blocks from Shopify, Shopware, and PrestaShop.

For newsletters and straightforward promotions, either editor does the job.

Marketing Automation

Brevo is stronger here, and the gap is easy to see.

Its builder uses a consistent Trigger, Rule, Action structure with 16 triggers and 18 actions across email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, website activity, and CRM events.

It can start a workflow from a new deal, an incoming WhatsApp reply, or a customer anniversary. AI can also draft a complete workflow from a text prompt.

Mailchimp's Marketing Automation Flows (the renamed Customer Journey Builder) cover the common lifecycle emails well: welcome series, abandoned carts, and post-purchase follow-ups.

Its 103 prebuilt templates beat Brevo's 14, and it is the only one of the two with native survey automation, where a survey response can trigger the next message.

The catch is plan gating. Essentials caps flows at 4 steps, so even a simple sequence with a trigger, delay, email, and tag uses them all. Brevo makes automation available on every plan and marks its premium features upfront.

SMS, WhatsApp, and Multichannel Marketing

Brevo treats messaging as a core feature.

SMS can be added to any plan, including free, credits are prepaid and never expire, and WhatsApp campaigns and push notifications are part of the platform, with WhatsApp and web push on higher tiers.

Two-way SMS conversations run through dedicated numbers in the US, Canada, and France, and you can read the full plan details on Brevo's pricing page.

Mailchimp offers SMS only on paid plans, and you must submit an application and get approved first.

Unused monthly credits expire, and MMS works only on Standard and Premium for US and Canadian contacts.

Its edge is custom keyword triggers, which let you run "text JOIN to subscribe" campaigns. If you don't need keywords, Brevo's SMS setup is cheaper and more flexible.

CRM, Contact Management, and Segmentation

Brevo includes a sales CRM, so deals, pipelines, and email conversations live next to your campaigns.

It also syncs both ways with Salesforce. Segments update in real time and can use up to 100 AND/OR conditions on every plan.

Mailchimp has no built-in CRM, and basic segments are limited to 10 conditions, with unlimited nesting only on higher tiers.

It updates segments more slowly, sometimes taking up to two hours.

Mailchimp does have one thing Brevo lacks: freeform contact tags. Teams that sort audiences by hand often prefer them, while Brevo uses structured contact attributes instead.

Deliverability and Sender Tools

Deliverability depends heavily on your list quality and sending habits, so no platform can promise inbox placement. Still, the tools differ.

Brevo sets up DKIM and DMARC in one click, supports BIMI, shows a real-time deliverability score, and offers a dedicated IP as an upgrade.

Mailchimp supports DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI too, but it has no visible deliverability score and no dedicated IP for marketing email.

SendPulse gave Brevo a 10 out of 10 and Mailchimp 8.5, partly because many Mailchimp reviewers on Capterra described deliverability problems.

That is a reviewer's judgment, not a lab test, so run your own warm-up and keep your list clean either way.

Integrations, Support, and Ratings

Mailchimp connects to more tools, with 300+ integrations against Brevo's 150+.

It supports a wider set of store platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento, and Squarespace Commerce.

Brevo covers Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce and makes up for a shorter list with its built-in CRM.

Support runs in opposite directions. Mailchimp offers 24/7 email and chat on Essentials and Standard, and phone support on Premium.

Brevo relies on tickets, with phone support on higher tiers and no live chat. Even so, Brevo's support sub-rating on Capterra is 4.5 out of 5 against 4.2 for Mailchimp.

Overall, Brevo holds 4.5 on G2 and 4.6 on Capterra, while Mailchimp holds 4.4 and 4.5.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose Brevo if:

Your list is large but you email it occasionally
You want automation, SMS, WhatsApp, and CRM without jumping to a premium tier
You need transactional and marketing email in one account
You want a free plan you can actually use

Choose Mailchimp if:

You run an online store and want richer templates and product blocks
You email a smaller list often and prefer predictable contact-based pricing
You value a full mobile app, 300+ integrations, and live chat support
You want native survey automation

If Brevo looks like the better match, take a look at the current Brevo coupon code before you pick a paid plan.

Mailchimp vs Brevo FAQs

Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp?

Often, but not always. Brevo is cheaper for large lists that get few emails.

Mailchimp can win for a small, highly engaged list that gets frequent emails. Run the numbers with your own list size and send schedule.

Which has the better free plan?

Brevo. It allows 300 emails a day and includes automation, while Mailchimp's free plan is limited to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month with no automation.

Does Brevo have a CRM?

Yes. A sales CRM is built into the platform. Mailchimp has no native CRM.

Can I move from Mailchimp to Brevo?

Yes. Brevo offers a Mailchimp integration for importing and updating contacts, and its help center walks through the migration.

Which is better for ecommerce?

Mailchimp has the edge on templates, product recommendation blocks, and store integrations.

Brevo works well for stores that want SMS, WhatsApp, and CRM in the same tool.

Do both platforms offer SMS?

Yes. Brevo offers it on every plan with non-expiring credits, and Mailchimp offers it as a paid-plan add-on after an approval process.