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Mailchimp vs Brevo Pricing 2026:
Is Brevo Worth Switching To?

Mailchimp charges $20/month for 500 contacts. Brevo charges $9/month for 5,000 contacts. That's the same price for 10× the list size. Here's the complete comparison.

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Mailchimp price shock: Since Intuit acquired Mailchimp in 2021, prices have risen 100%+. The Essentials plan for 500 contacts went from $9.99/month to $20/month. The free plan was cut from 2,000 to 500 contacts. Thousands of SMBs have switched to Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) as a result.

Quick Verdict: Who Should Switch?

Stay on Mailchimp if you...

  • Have complex e-commerce automations relying on Mailchimp's Shopify/WooCommerce depth
  • Use Mailchimp's website builder or landing pages actively
  • Need Mailchimp's advanced predictive analytics (Customer Lifetime Value)
  • Have years of audience data and segment history you can't afford to recreate
  • Have a large team relying on Mailchimp's interface and don't want retraining cost

Switch to Brevo if you...

  • Send transactional emails + newsletters (Brevo charges by emails sent, not contacts stored)
  • Have a large list with low send frequency (Brevo's model rewards this)
  • Need SMS + email + WhatsApp marketing in one tool
  • Want a free CRM built in (Brevo includes one)
  • Have a limited budget and need more contacts for less

Cost Comparison by Contact List Size

This is the key table. Brevo charges based on emails sent per month; Mailchimp charges based on contacts stored. This means Brevo heavily favors businesses with large lists but low send frequency.

Contacts / Monthly Volume Mailchimp (Essentials) Brevo (Starter) You Save
500 contacts / ~5K emails/mo $20/month Free $240/yr
1,500 contacts / ~15K emails/mo $35/month $9/month $312/yr (74% cheaper)
2,500 contacts / ~25K emails/mo $50/month $18/month $384/yr (64% cheaper)
5,000 contacts / ~50K emails/mo $75/month $25/month $600/yr (67% cheaper)
10,000 contacts / ~100K emails/mo $110/month $65/month $540/yr (41% cheaper)
25,000 contacts / ~250K emails/mo $230/month $173/month $684/yr (25% cheaper)
50,000 contacts / ~500K emails/mo $350/month $349/month Roughly equal at this scale

Brevo pricing assumes emails sent = contacts × 10 sends/month. Mailchimp Essentials shown. At 50K+ contacts, the pricing gap narrows significantly and Mailchimp's e-commerce features may justify the cost for high-volume senders.

Current Plan Pricing Side-by-Side

Mailchimp Plans (May 2026)

PlanPriceContacts / EmailsKey Features
Free $0 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo 1 audience, basic templates, limited automation (1-step), no scheduling, Mailchimp branding
Essentials $13–$350/month 500–50K contacts 3 audiences, A/B testing, custom branding, basic automation, 24/7 email+chat support
Standard $20–$599/month 500–100K contacts 5 audiences, advanced automation, send time optimization, Customer Lifetime Value, retargeting ads
Premium $350+/month 150K+ contacts Unlimited audiences, advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, custom domains, phone support

Brevo Plans (May 2026)

PlanPriceContacts / EmailsKey Features
Free $0 Unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day Basic email campaigns, transactional emails, email + SMS templates, basic automation, Brevo branding
Starter $9–$199/month Unlimited contacts, 20K–2M emails/mo No daily limit, no branding, basic reporting, email support
Business $18–$499/month Unlimited contacts, 20K–5M emails/mo Marketing automation, A/B testing, advanced stats, multi-user access, phone support, landing pages
BrevoPlus (Enterprise) Custom Unlimited contacts and emails Dedicated IP, SLA, advanced SSO, tailored onboarding, dedicated CSM

Key structural difference: Brevo stores unlimited contacts and charges only for emails sent. Mailchimp charges for contacts stored, regardless of whether you email them. If you have a 10,000-contact list but only email 3,000 active subscribers monthly, Mailchimp still charges you for all 10,000.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Feature Mailchimp Brevo
Email campaigns ✓ Strong ✓ Strong
Automation workflows ✓ Advanced (Customer Journey builder) ✓ Advanced (Business plan)
Transactional emails ⚡ Mandrill add-on ($20+/mo extra) ✓ Built-in, no extra cost
SMS marketing ⚡ Available but limited ✓ First-class feature, pay-per-SMS
WhatsApp campaigns ✗ Not available ✓ Available (Business+)
Built-in CRM ⚡ Basic contact management ✓ Full CRM included free
Landing pages ✓ Included in paid plans ✓ Business plan
E-commerce integrations ✓ Deep Shopify/WooCommerce/Magento ⚡ Good but less depth than Mailchimp
Predictive analytics ✓ CLV, purchase likelihood, churn risk ⚡ Basic analytics only
A/B testing ✓ Essentials+ ✓ Business plan
Dedicated IP ⚡ Available as add-on ✓ Enterprise plan
GDPR compliance ✓ EU data residency available ✓ EU-headquartered, strong GDPR tooling
Customer support quality ⚡ Mixed reviews post-Intuit acquisition ⚡ Good, improving — email + phone
Contact storage billing ✗ Charged per contact stored ✓ Unlimited contacts, pay for sends

Monitor Mailchimp and Brevo for Price Changes

Mailchimp has raised prices 100%+ since 2021. Brevo is growing fast and will face its own pricing pressure. Know before the next increase hits your account.

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Migration Reality Check: What It Takes to Switch

Brevo's pricing advantage is real, but migration isn't free. Here's what you're actually signing up for:

What migrates easily

  • Contact lists (CSV export/import)
  • Basic email templates (HTML can be copied)
  • Segments/tags (manual recreation, usually 2–4 hours)

What doesn't migrate automatically

  • Automation workflows — Must be rebuilt from scratch in Brevo. If you have complex Mailchimp automations (abandoned cart, win-back, lifecycle sequences), budget 1–3 days for recreation
  • Historical analytics — Open rate history, click data, and campaign performance stays in Mailchimp
  • Send reputation — Your IP warming starts over on Brevo. Start with smaller sends for the first 2–4 weeks
  • API integrations — Any app sending to Mailchimp's API needs to be updated to Brevo's API (different spec)

Migration time estimate: Simple lists with basic campaigns: 4–8 hours. Complex automation-heavy setups: 2–5 days. For most SMBs, the migration cost pays back in 1–3 months of Brevo savings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Brevo (Sendinblue) really as good as Mailchimp?
For standard email marketing (campaigns, automations, A/B testing), yes — Brevo is competitive with Mailchimp. Where Mailchimp still leads: deep e-commerce analytics, the audience segmentation interface, and brand recognition among non-technical stakeholders. Brevo leads on multi-channel (SMS + WhatsApp + CRM), pricing model, and GDPR tooling (EU-based). The quality gap has narrowed dramatically since 2022.
Why is Brevo so much cheaper than Mailchimp?
Primarily because of the pricing model difference. Brevo charges for emails sent; Mailchimp charges for contacts stored. If you have 10,000 contacts but only email them twice a month, Mailchimp charges you for 10,000 contacts ($110+/month). Brevo charges for 20,000 emails (~$30/month on Business). Additionally, Brevo is a French company (launched as Sendinblue) with lower customer acquisition costs in Europe, and is not under Intuit's growth pressure.
What happened when Intuit bought Mailchimp?
Intuit acquired Mailchimp in 2021 for $12 billion. Since then: the free plan was cut from 2,000 to 500 contacts (2022), prices increased ~100% across paid tiers (2022–2024), and several power features moved up-tier. Customer support quality has also declined in community reviews. The acquisitor has been monetizing the user base aggressively — consistent with Intuit's QuickBooks and TurboTax pricing strategy.
Can I run Mailchimp and Brevo simultaneously during migration?
Yes, and this is the recommended migration approach. Run Brevo for new campaigns while keeping Mailchimp for existing automations. Over 4–6 weeks, migrate automations one by one, compare deliverability, then cancel Mailchimp. Brevo's free tier makes the parallel run zero extra cost while you transition.
Will Brevo raise prices too?
It's likely as Brevo grows. They've rebranded (from Sendinblue to Brevo) and are expanding internationally, with VC and private equity funding pressure for growth. The pricing model (by sends, not contacts) is sustainable at current rates but may change. PricePulse monitors Brevo's pricing page — sign up free to get alerted when rates change.

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