Mailchimp vs Brevo
Mailchimp is email marketing platform with campaigns, automation, landing pages, and audience management, while Brevo is all-in-one marketing platform for email, SMS, chat, and CRM at accessible pricing. The biggest difference up front: Brevo is free, while Mailchimp starts at $13/mo. Mailchimp is built for small businesses getting started with email marketing, whereas Brevo targets small businesses wanting email, sms, and chat in one.
At a glance
|
Mailchimp
|
Brevo
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Small businesses getting started with email marketing | Small businesses wanting email, SMS, and chat in one |
| Starting price | $13/mo | Free |
| Free tier | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | — |
| Free tier available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | — | — |
| Automations | ✓ | — |
| CRM | — | ✓ |
| Campaigns | ✓ | — |
| Chat | — | ✓ |
| — | ✓ | |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | — |
| SMS | — | ✓ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | — |
| Templates | ✓ | — |
Mailchimp
Strengths
- Easy to use for beginners
- Good template library and drag-and-drop editor
- Built-in landing pages and basic CRM
- Brand recognition — customers trust Mailchimp emails
Weaknesses
- Pricing has increased significantly
- Free tier now limited to 500 contacts
- Automation is basic compared to dedicated tools
- Charges for unsubscribed contacts on some plans
Brevo
Strengths
- Includes Email as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
- Includes SMS as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
- Free for 300 emails/day — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
- Established product with 14+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem
Weaknesses
- Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
- Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
- Deliverability depends on your sender reputation, which takes time to build
- Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up
The bottom line
Pricing: Brevo is completely free (Free for 300 emails/day), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Mailchimp starts at $13/mo, but Free for up to 500 contacts. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.
Feature gaps: Mailchimp offers Automations, Campaigns and Landing Pages that Brevo lacks. Brevo brings CRM, Chat and Email that Mailchimp does not have.
Team fit: Mailchimp is geared toward any size teams, while Brevo is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.
Where each tool shines: Mailchimp's biggest strengths are: easy to use for beginners. good template library and drag-and-drop editor. Brevo's biggest strengths are: includes email as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows. includes sms as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows.
Watch out for: With Mailchimp, users commonly note that pricing has increased significantly. With Brevo, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.
Choose Mailchimp if...
- You need a tool built for small businesses getting started with email marketing
- You specifically need Automations and Campaigns
- You care about good template library and drag-and-drop editor
- Your team size fits the any size profile Mailchimp is designed for
- The free tier works for you: free for up to 500 contacts
Choose Brevo if...
- You need a tool built for small businesses wanting email, sms, and chat in one
- Budget is a hard constraint — Brevo is free, Mailchimp is not
- You specifically need CRM and Chat
- You care about includes sms as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
- Your team size fits the small teams profile Brevo is designed for
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