Mailchimp vs Brevo (2026): Pricing, Features, and Fit

Brevo is cheaper in almost every case, because it prices by emails sent while Mailchimp prices by contacts. At 5,000 contacts and four campaigns a month, Brevo Starter costs $32 a month against $75 for Mailchimp Essentials. Mailchimp is the easier, more polished tool, with 24/7 chat support from $13 a month. Pick Brevo for cost and for SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email in one account. Pick Mailchimp for ease of use and a large template library.

Mailchimp vs Brevo at a glance

Last validated: September 2026 against both vendors' pricing pages and help centers (linked in References). Prices are USD with monthly billing.

Pricing compared

Paid Plan Entry Price: Mailchimp vs Brevo

• Mailchimp
• Brevo

Paid Plan Entry Price: Mailchimp vs Brevo

Item	Mailchimp	Brevo
Entry (Essentials / Starter)	$13	$9
Mid (Standard / Standard)	$20	$18

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Brevo?

Brevo, in every scenario we priced. The starting prices look close ($13 vs $9), but the two tools scale on different things.

Mailchimp charges by how many contacts you have, and counts subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts. Archive unsubscribes or you pay for people you can't email. Each plan also limits monthly sends to 10x (Essentials), 12x (Standard), or 15x (Premium) your contact limit.

Brevo charges by how many emails you send each month. The catch that older comparisons miss: its smaller tiers cap how many contacts you can store. The 5,000-email tier stores 500 contacts, the 10,000-email tier 1,500, and the 15,000-email tier 2,500. From 20,000 emails a month, Starter and Standard store up to 500,000 contacts.

Here's what each costs per month in a few common setups:

Pricing compared

Monthly cost at 5,000 contacts, 4 campaigns a month

• Mailchimp
• Brevo

Monthly cost at 5,000 contacts, 4 campaigns a month

Item	Mailchimp	Brevo
Entry (Essentials / Starter)	$75	$32
Mid (Standard / Standard)	$100	$69

The gap is smallest for small lists and largest for big lists you email rarely. Brevo's advantage shrinks the more often you email, because sending more pushes you into a higher email-volume tier, though Mailchimp also caps sends at 10 to 15 times your contact limit. Premium ($350/month at 10,000 contacts) and Professional ($499/month for 150,000 emails) are for larger teams and aren't compared here.

Which has the better free plan?

Brevo's, by a wide margin.

One Brevo catch: the 300-a-day limit applies to campaigns. Send a campaign to 3,000 contacts and only 300 get it that day; you requeue the rest manually, 300 a day. So the free plan is generous on storage and automation but slow for campaigns to large lists.

Ease of use

Mailchimp is easier to learn. The editor is polished and the template library is large. That's still its main advantage.

Brevo's editor is capable, with templates and reusable sections, but the interface is busier. Email sits next to SMS, WhatsApp, chat, push notifications, and a sales CRM, so there's more to find your way around. Teams comfortable with software will manage; a solo owner sending a monthly newsletter may prefer Mailchimp.

Automation

Brevo gives you more automation for less money.

• Mailchimp: No automation flows on Free. Essentials allows flows of up to 4 steps. Standard and Premium allow up to 200 steps per flow, with up to 3 triggers and branching.
• Brevo: Free and Starter run automations for up to 2,000 contacts. Standard ($18/month and up) removes that limit and adds A/B testing and send-time optimization. Automations can mix email and SMS steps.

For a welcome series or a re-engagement flow, Brevo Starter or Standard does the job at a lower price than Mailchimp Standard. For ideas on what to put in those flows, see our welcome email examples and drip campaign guide.

Transactional email

Brevo includes transactional email on every plan; Mailchimp sells it as an add-on.

Brevo sends password resets, receipts, and order confirmations over a REST API or SMTP relay on every plan, including Free, from the same account as your marketing email. Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) is a paid add-on that requires Standard or Premium and costs $20 per block of 25,000 emails, dropping to as little as $10 per block at high volume.

If your app sends transactional email, Brevo is the simpler setup. Our guide to transactional email services compares dedicated options.

SMS, WhatsApp, and other channels

• Brevo: SMS credits sold separately and priced by destination, available in 180+ countries. WhatsApp campaigns on Professional. Web push from Starter, plus live chat and free sales-CRM features (50 open deals, 1 pipeline) on every plan.
• Mailchimp: SMS as a paid add-on on Essentials and higher in selected countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. MMS on Standard and Premium in the US and Canada.

If you want email, SMS, and WhatsApp in one account, Brevo covers more.

Integrations

Mailchimp advertises 300+ integrations and Brevo 150+ connected tools, and each counts differently. Both connect to Shopify and Zapier. Count the three or four you actually need and check each tool's directory rather than comparing totals.

Support

Mailchimp gives you a live person for less money. Mailchimp's $13 Essentials plan includes 24/7 email and chat support; Premium adds phone support. Brevo offers email support on Free and Starter, priority email on Standard, and phone support only from Professional ($499/month).

Deliverability

We haven't found a recent, reliable test that separates the two, so don't choose on deliverability. Both send from shared IPs by default and support SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Brevo sells a dedicated IP as a Professional add-on and includes one on Enterprise.

Your own setup matters more than the vendor: authenticated domain, clean opt-in list, steady volume. Our email deliverability guide walks through it.

Which should you choose?

• Choose Mailchimp if you want the easiest tool, a large template library, and live chat support on a small budget, and you'll archive unsubscribes to keep the bill down. See our Mailchimp review.
• Choose Brevo if cost matters, your list is large relative to how often you email, or you want transactional email, SMS, or WhatsApp in the same account. See our Brevo review.
• Consider neither if you're a creator who needs a big free plan (Kit is free up to 10,000 subscribers) or want a simpler newsletter tool. MailerLite vs Mailchimp covers that option.

Where Dreamlit fits

Mailchimp and Brevo are both do-it-yourself tools: you still decide what to send, build the automations, and check the results. For most small businesses, one of them is the right answer.

Dreamlit, the company behind this blog, runs activation email for you, start to finish. Our experts spot where new users stall, send the emails that move them forward, and are accountable for the numbers.

Running a product with 500+ signups a month? Get a free activation audit.

References

• Mailchimp marketing pricing⁠
• About Mailchimp pricing plans⁠
• About your Mailchimp contacts⁠
• Mailchimp Transactional pricing⁠
• About Mailchimp SMS marketing⁠
• Brevo pricing⁠
• About Brevo's pricing plans⁠
• Brevo Free plan limits⁠
• Brevo features by plan⁠

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Frequently asked questions

Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp?

In every scenario we priced, yes. At 5,000 contacts and four campaigns a month, Brevo Starter costs $32 a month against $75 for Mailchimp Essentials, and Brevo Standard costs $69 against $100 for Mailchimp Standard. The gap is widest for big lists you email rarely (checked September 2026).

How is Brevo's pricing different from Mailchimp's?

Mailchimp charges by contacts, and counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts unless you archive them. Brevo charges mainly by monthly email volume, but its smaller tiers cap stored contacts: 500 at 5,000 emails, 1,500 at 10,000, and 2,500 at 15,000. From 20,000 emails a month, you can store up to 500,000 contacts.

Which free plan is better, Mailchimp or Brevo?

Brevo's. It stores up to 100,000 contacts and sends 300 emails a day, with automation and transactional email included. Mailchimp's free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with no automation or scheduling. Both add their branding to your emails.

Is Mailchimp or Brevo easier to use?

Mailchimp. Its editor and setup flow are more polished, and it has a larger template library. Brevo's interface is busier because it bundles email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, and a sales CRM in one account.

Can Mailchimp and Brevo send transactional emails?

Brevo includes transactional email over API and SMTP on every plan, including Free. Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) is a paid add-on that requires the Standard or Premium plan and costs $20 per block of 25,000 emails for up to 20 blocks, with lower per-block rates at higher volumes.

Do Mailchimp and Brevo support SMS?

Both do. Brevo sells SMS credits priced by destination country on every plan and adds WhatsApp campaigns on Professional. Mailchimp sells SMS as a paid add-on on Essentials and higher, in selected countries.