Brevo vs Mailchimp

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) and Mailchimp are two of the most-used email platforms for small business. Brevo prices by emails sent per month; Mailchimp prices by contact count. That single difference makes each a better fit for opposite kinds of lists.

This comparison walks through pricing math, deliverability, automation depth, SMS capability, and where each one wins for a small business.

Brevo vs. Mailchimp: Side-by-Side

Quick verdict

Choose Brevo when your list is big but you send infrequently — an association, a lead-gen list you nurture quarterly, or a customer base you email a few times a month. Its send-based pricing wins on this shape.

Choose Mailchimp when your list is smaller but you send frequently — a weekly newsletter, campaign-heavy marketing, or a small ecomm store. Its contact-based pricing wins on this shape.

For most typical small businesses (a few thousand contacts, weekly or semi-monthly sends), the two land within a few dollars of each other. The tiebreaker is usually feature fit — Brevo for SMS + transactional, Mailchimp for ecomm + templates.

• Big list, low send frequency → Brevo.
• Smaller list, frequent send → Mailchimp.
• Need SMS or transactional email → Brevo.
• Ecommerce and templates → Mailchimp.

The pricing math — where Brevo wins

Brevo's emails-sent model favors big-list-low-send businesses. A 50,000-contact list you email twice a month (100k sends) can cost dramatically less on Brevo than on Mailchimp, where you pay for those 50k contacts every month regardless of send frequency.

Mailchimp's contact model favors small-list-high-send businesses. A 3,000-contact list you email three times a week (36k sends/month) is often cheaper on Mailchimp than the equivalent send volume on Brevo.

Run the math on your actual list size and send cadence before choosing. Both offer free tiers to test.

• Brevo — priced by sends: big list + low frequency wins.
• Mailchimp — priced by contacts: small list + high frequency wins.
• Do the math on YOUR list, not headline pricing.

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Automations and workflows

Both platforms have mature automation builders. Mailchimp's Customer Journeys is the more polished tool for SMB marketing — clean visual builder, deep ecomm triggers (abandoned cart, product recommendations, purchase behavior), and templated flows.

Brevo's automation is strong and includes SMS and WhatsApp as native channels, which Mailchimp handles only through integrations. For businesses running multi-channel drips, Brevo's unified builder is a real advantage.

On raw depth, they are close. Pick on channel fit and pricing, not on automation features alone.

• Mailchimp — best-in-class ecomm automation triggers.
• Brevo — SMS and WhatsApp native in the workflow builder.
• Both cover typical SMB drip and welcome flows well.

SMS and transactional email

Brevo's biggest structural advantage is native SMS and transactional email in one platform. You can send marketing email, transactional email (receipts, password resets), and SMS all from one account with one contact database.

Mailchimp is email-first. Transactional email is available via Mandrill (a Mailchimp add-on) but priced separately, and SMS requires third-party integration.

For a business running receipts, appointment reminders, and marketing email out of one system, Brevo is meaningfully simpler.

• Brevo — email + SMS + transactional in one platform.
• Mailchimp — email-first; Mandrill for transactional, integrations for SMS.
• One-platform simplicity matters if you send transactional or SMS.

Deliverability

Both platforms deliver competitive deliverability rates when used correctly. Neither wins on raw deliverability metrics in independent tests.

The bigger deliverability lever is your own list hygiene, sender reputation, and content — not the platform choice.

• Deliverability rates are comparable in independent testing.
• Your practices matter more than the platform.
• Both offer DKIM, SPF, and dedicated IP options for high-volume senders.

Integration considerations before you commit

Whatever you pick, integration depth matters more than headline features. Ask every vendor the same questions before signing.

• Does it integrate natively with your ecommerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce)?
• Does it connect to your CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive)?
• What is the true monthly cost at your actual list size AND your actual send frequency?
• Does it handle GDPR consent and preference management for your regions?
• Can you export list data cleanly if you switch tools later?

The Verdict

For SMBs whose real question is "we send occasionally to a large list plus we need SMS and transactional," Brevo is the more economical and structurally simpler choice.

For SMBs whose real question is "we send weekly newsletters or run an ecomm store with abandoned cart and campaigns," Mailchimp's contact-based pricing and mature ecomm automation win.

Neither is universally better — but the pricing model difference is significant enough that doing the math on YOUR list matters.