Mailchimp vs Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): pricing, transactional email and which to choose

Mailchimp and Brevo are both all-round email marketing platforms for small and mid-sized businesses. If Brevo's name is new to you, you may know it by its old one: the company was Sendinblue until May 2023, when it announced its rebrand as Brevo. Its original strength, sending both marketing and transactional email from one account, is still a big part of why people compare the two.

The most important difference is what you pay for. Mailchimp charges by how many contacts you store. Brevo charges mainly by how many emails you send. That one choice changes which tool is cheaper for your list, and it is worth understanding before you look at features.

Every fact below comes from Mailchimp's and Brevo's own pricing pages and help centers, read in October 2026. Both change their plans and offers often, so check them with your own numbers before you commit.

Mailchimp vs Brevo at a glance

The short version: Brevo is usually the better fit if you have a large list that you email occasionally, or if you also need transactional email. Mailchimp is usually the better fit if you want a polished, well-known marketing tool with more seats on mid-tier plans and strong ecommerce connections.

Pricing: by contacts vs by emails sent

How Mailchimp bills

Mailchimp has four plans: Free, Essentials, Standard and Premium. You pick a contact tier, and each plan's send limit is a multiple of it. As of October 2026:

• Free: up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day).
• Essentials: sends up to 10x your contact limit.
• Standard: sends up to 12x your contact limit.
• Premium: sends up to 15x your contact limit.

Two rules from Mailchimp's help center matter for your bill. First, subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact total; only archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't. Second, you are billed on your peak contact total during the billing period.

Mailchimp's pricing page currently shows first-year introductory prices, with the regular price depending on your contact tier, so we don't quote a paid price here. There is also a Pay As You Go option that sells email credits instead of a monthly plan, aimed at infrequent senders.

How Brevo bills

Brevo prices its marketing plans by monthly email volume. You choose how many emails you plan to send each month, and the price steps up with volume. As of October 2026, from Brevo's pricing page and its published pricing data:

• Free: up to 300 emails a day, no credit card needed.
• Starter: from $9/month, starting at 5,000 emails a month. One user.
• Standard: from $18/month, starting at 5,000 emails a month. Up to three users.
• Professional: from $499/month, which includes up to 150,000 emails a month. Ten seats.
• Enterprise: custom pricing, for companies with 1M+ contacts.

Paying yearly saves 10%. Brevo also sells pay-as-you-go email credits that don't expire, at one credit per email, which suits occasional senders.

One detail many comparisons miss: Brevo's contact limit is tied to the email tier on the lower volumes. Brevo's published pricing data lists 500 contacts at 5,000 emails a month, 1,500 contacts at 10,000, and 2,500 contacts at 15,000. From 20,000 emails a month up, the contact limit on Starter and Standard is 500,000. So "billed by emails sent" is accurate, but a small plan still has a contact cap.

Which is cheaper for you?

Work it out from two numbers: how many contacts you keep, and how many emails you send each month.

Example: you have 2,000 contacts and send a newsletter once a week, so about 8,000 emails a month.

• On Mailchimp, you pay for the 2,000-contact tier. Essentials would let you send up to 10x that, far more than you need.
• On Brevo, you pay for your send volume. At 8,000 emails, the 10,000-email tier covers your sends, but its contact limit is 1,500, so your 2,000 contacts push you to the 15,000-email tier.

Now change the pattern: 20,000 contacts, emailed twice a month (40,000 emails). Mailchimp prices the full 20,000 contacts, including unsubscribed ones you haven't archived. Brevo prices 40,000 emails a month, and that tier allows up to 500,000 contacts. Large lists that you email rarely are where Brevo's model tends to win. Small lists that you email often are closer, and you should price both.

Free plans compared

Mailchimp Free gives you 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. You get one seat, one audience, limited pre-built templates, and email support for the first 30 days. There is no automation flow, no scheduling, and Mailchimp branding stays in your emails.

Brevo Free gives you up to 300 emails a day once Brevo approves your account for sending. Over a 30-day month that is up to about 9,000 emails, and your list can be much larger than Mailchimp's 250. Removing the "Sent with Brevo" footer is a paid option: an add-on on Starter, included from Standard.

For a growing list on zero budget, Brevo's free plan goes further. For a very small list where you mainly want to learn email marketing, both are fine.

If you'd rather test a paid plan, Mailchimp offers a 14-day free trial of Essentials or Standard; a card is required, and you aren't charged if you cancel during the trial.

Editor, templates and AI

Both have a drag-and-drop editor and a template library.

• Mailchimp: pre-built templates are limited on Free and included on paid plans. Dynamic content starts on Standard. Generative AI features are included at no extra cost on Standard and Premium, and not included on Free or Essentials.
• Brevo: the drag-and-drop editor, responsive templates and an AI content generator (for subject lines and copy) are on Starter. Standard adds AI send-time optimization. Professional adds Aura AI segmentation and an AI data analyst you can ask questions in plain language. Brevo also lists an MCP connection so you can manage campaigns and contacts from ChatGPT, Claude and other AI tools, starting on Starter.

Two subject lines you could compare in an A/B test, written for this guide:

Automation and segmentation

Mailchimp

• Free: no automation flows.
• Essentials: flows of up to 4 steps.
• Standard and Premium: up to 200 flows, with enhanced automations, predictive segmentation for connected stores, and dynamic content.

Brevo

• Starter: advanced segmentation with filters for demographics, website activity, campaign engagement and custom events, with as many segments as you need. Brevo lists marketing automation from Standard, not on Starter.
• Standard: unlimited multi-step automated workflows, A/B testing, web and event tracking to trigger messages, and advanced reporting with click heatmaps.
• Professional: contact scoring (including RFM and CLV) and advanced ecommerce features such as AI product recommendations, back-in-stock alerts and coupons.

The practical takeaway: on both platforms, real automation starts on the middle plan, Mailchimp Standard or Brevo Standard. Brevo's Starter includes advanced segmentation, but Brevo lists marketing automation from Standard.

Transactional email

This is Brevo's clearest advantage, and the reason many developers and SaaS teams pick it.

Transactional email means one-to-one messages triggered by something a user does: an order confirmation, a password reset, a receipt. These are different from marketing campaigns, and they have different rules. Our guide to transactional vs marketing email explains the difference.

Brevo

Brevo says all of its plans, including Free, give you access to its transactional email features: a REST API with official SDKs, SMTP relay, outbound webhooks and unlimited log retention. Its API can send up to 1,000 emails per request, and real-time webhooks report opens, clicks, bounces and deliveries.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp's transactional service (formerly Mandrill) is an add-on, available on Standard and Premium or the legacy Monthly plan. As of October 2026 it is sold in blocks of 25,000 emails: $20 per block for 1 to 20 blocks, falling to $10 per block above 160 blocks. A dedicated IP is an optional $29.95 a month. New users can try a free demo with limits.

Mailchimp's help center also notes that transactional emails count toward your monthly sending limit.

What this means

If your app or store needs order confirmations and password resets from the same provider as your newsletters, Brevo includes it from the free plan. With Mailchimp, plan for Standard plus transactional blocks, or use a separate transactional provider.

Ecommerce, SMS and other channels

• Shopify: Mailchimp lists Shopify among its most popular integrations, and its automation flows and predictive segments can run from a connected store. Brevo lists Shopify among 150+ integrations.
• SMS: Mailchimp sells SMS as an add-on to paid plans in select markets. Brevo sells SMS credits separately on its plans and adds WhatsApp, popups, and mobile and web push on Professional.
• Sales CRM: Brevo also sells sales seats (Sales Essentials and Sales Advanced) alongside marketing plans, for teams that want pipeline tools in the same platform.

Users and support

If several people need to log in on a small budget, Mailchimp's Essentials and Standard seats go further.

Deliverability basics

Whichever you choose, authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, send from your own domain, include one-click unsubscribe, and keep complaints low. Our email deliverability guide covers each step.

Which should you choose?

Choose Brevo if

• You have a large list but don't email everyone every week.
• You need transactional email (order confirmations, password resets) from the same provider.
• You want a usable free plan for a list bigger than 250 people.
• You want a sales CRM or WhatsApp in the same platform.

Choose Mailchimp if

• You want a familiar marketing tool with more seats on mid-tier plans.
• You sell on Shopify and want predictive segments from your store data on Standard.
• You email a smaller list often, where contact-based pricing can be competitive.
• You value 24/7 chat support from the first paid plan.

If you're also considering Constant Contact, see Mailchimp vs Constant Contact. For other options, see our Brevo alternatives.

A third option: EterMail

EterMail is our product, so weigh this section accordingly. Like Brevo, it charges per email rather than per contact, but it is built around AI drafting for online stores, SaaS products and apps.

• Per-email pricing. 1,000 credits cost $1. A marketing email is 2 credits, about $2 per 1,000 emails. Plans: Free ($0, 1,000 credits, up to 1,000 contacts, no card), Starter $19, Growth $49, Pro $149 and Ultra $299. See pricing.
• AI drafts, people approve. AI learns your brand from your site and drafts campaigns and flows; by default, every send waits for approval. AI can also make the pictures: on-brand banners, or scenes built from your real product photo, with an optional short greeting.
• Data in from Shopify (read-only custom app), Stripe, a server API, hosted signup forms and CSV import.

Where it doesn't fit: EterMail is for marketing email, cold outreach and replies. It is not a transactional email API, and it has no SMS. If transactional email is your main need, Brevo is the better pick.

FAQ

Is Brevo better than Mailchimp?

It depends on how you send. Brevo is often better value for large lists you email occasionally, and it includes transactional email on every plan. Mailchimp offers more seats on mid-tier plans, a familiar interface and strong ecommerce integrations. Price both with your own contact count and monthly send volume.

Is Brevo the same as Sendinblue?

Yes. Sendinblue announced its rebrand as Brevo in May 2023, to reflect a broader platform that now includes a sales CRM and more channels. It is the same company and platform under a new name.

Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp?

Often, for large lists that you email a few times a month, because Brevo prices mainly by emails sent. As of October 2026, Brevo's Starter starts at $9/month for 5,000 emails. But Brevo's lower volume tiers also cap contacts (500 contacts at 5,000 emails), so small lists emailed often can come out close. Compare both with your real numbers.

Does Brevo have a free plan?

Yes. Brevo's free plan lets you send up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved for sending, with no credit card. It includes transactional email features. Removing the Brevo footer needs a paid option.

Can Mailchimp send transactional emails?

Yes, through Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill), a paid add-on for Standard and Premium plans. As of October 2026 it's sold in blocks of 25,000 emails, starting at $20 per block. Brevo includes transactional email on all its plans.