Quick signals
Complexity
Low
Clean UI with straightforward setup; send-based pricing model is simple but automation depth is limited.
Common upgrade trigger
Need marketing automation (workflows, lead scoring basics)—requires Business tier ($65/mo)
When it gets expensive
Daily sending limit on Free tier (300/day) means you can't batch-send to a large list in one day
What this product actually is
Multi-channel marketing platform (formerly Sendinblue) with send-based pricing, unlimited contacts, and email + SMS + WhatsApp + chat. Free: 300 emails/day; Starter at $25/mo for 20,000 emails.
Pricing behavior (not a price list)
These points describe when users typically pay more, what actions trigger upgrades, and the mechanics of how costs escalate.
Actions that trigger upgrades
- Need marketing automation (workflows, lead scoring basics)—requires Business tier ($65/mo)
- Need A/B testing and send time optimization—Business tier
- Need advanced segmentation with AND/OR logic—Business tier
- Email volume exceeds 20,000/mo—higher volume plans or Enterprise custom pricing
- Need dedicated IP for deliverability—Enterprise tier
When costs usually spike
- Daily sending limit on Free tier (300/day) means you can't batch-send to a large list in one day
- SMS and WhatsApp credits purchased separately—per-message pricing varies by country
- Shared IP deliverability on lower tiers can be affected by other senders on the same pool
- Advanced automation features (e.g., predictive send time) limited compared to competitors
- Brevo Sales Platform (CRM, pipeline) is a separate product with separate pricing
- Contact attribute storage is less structured than HubSpot's custom properties—workarounds needed for complex data models
Plans and variants (structural only)
Grouped by type to show structure, not to rank or recommend specific SKUs.
Free
- Free - $0 for unlimited contacts - 300 emails/day, basic campaigns
Plans
- Starter - $25/mo for 20,000 emails - No daily limit, basic analytics
- Business - $65/mo for 20,000 emails - Automation, A/B testing, advanced segmentation
Enterprise
- Enterprise - Custom pricing - Dedicated IP, priority support, SSO
Costs and limitations
Common limits
- Automation depth is shallower than ActiveCampaign—fewer conditional triggers and branching options
- Email template design quality behind Mailchimp—functional but less visually refined
- Deliverability has historically lagged Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign in third-party tests
- No native e-commerce revenue attribution—Klaviyo and Omnisend are better for Shopify ROI tracking
- Advanced segmentation and reporting require Business tier ($65/mo)—limited on Starter
- No built-in CRM for sales pipelines; basic contact management only (Sales platform is separate product)
What breaks first
- Automation ceiling: teams needing conditional branching hit Brevo's limits within 6 months
- Deliverability on shared IPs: high-volume senders may need to upgrade to dedicated IP (Enterprise)
- Reporting depth: teams wanting attribution beyond basic campaign metrics need Business tier or external tools
- SMS cost surprises: usage-based messaging costs are hard to predict and can spike during campaigns
- Design limitations: creative teams find email templates less customizable than Mailchimp or HubSpot
Decision checklist
Use these checks to validate fit for Brevo before you commit to an architecture or contract.
- Email Simplicity vs Automation Depth: Map your current automation needs: simple drip sequences vs multi-branch conditional flows
- Contact-Based vs Send-Based Pricing: Calculate total contacts vs average monthly sends to model cost on both pricing models
- E-commerce Native vs General Purpose: Determine if revenue-per-email and order-level attribution are must-have metrics
- Upgrade trigger: Need marketing automation (workflows, lead scoring basics)—requires Business tier ($65/mo)
- What breaks first: Automation ceiling: teams needing conditional branching hit Brevo's limits within 6 months
Implementation & evaluation notes
These are the practical "gotchas" and questions that usually decide whether Brevo fits your team and workflow.
Implementation timeline
1–3 days for basic email campaigns; 1–2 weeks for automation, SMS, and multi-channel configuration.
Switching cost
Low — contact lists export easily; automation workflows are simple enough to rebuild; no deep CRM lock-in.
Implementation gotchas
- Contact attribute storage is less structured than HubSpot's custom properties—workarounds needed for complex data models
- GDPR-first with EU hosting → Smaller integration ecosystem than Mailchimp or HubSpot
Questions to ask before you buy
- Which actions or usage metrics trigger an upgrade (e.g., Need marketing automation (workflows, lead scoring basics)—requires Business tier ($65/mo))?
- Under what usage shape do costs or limits show up first (e.g., Daily sending limit on Free tier (300/day) means you can't batch-send to a large list in one day)?
- What breaks first in production (e.g., Automation ceiling: teams needing conditional branching hit Brevo's limits within 6 months) — and what is the workaround?
- Validate: Email Simplicity vs Automation Depth: Map your current automation needs: simple drip sequences vs multi-branch conditional flows
- Validate: Contact-Based vs Send-Based Pricing: Calculate total contacts vs average monthly sends to model cost on both pricing models
Fit assessment
Good fit if…
- Businesses with large contact lists (50,000+) but moderate send frequency—send-based pricing saves 3-10x
- European companies needing GDPR compliance with EU data hosting
- Teams wanting email + SMS + WhatsApp + chat in one platform without per-channel fees
- Budget-conscious businesses that need transactional and marketing email in one platform
- Non-profits and education organizations with large donor/alumni lists and infrequent campaigns
- Teams migrating from Mailchimp to cut costs without losing core functionality
Poor fit if…
- Need advanced conditional automation—ActiveCampaign's workflow builder is significantly more capable
- Email template design quality is a top priority—Mailchimp's builder is more polished
- E-commerce brand needing revenue attribution per email—Klaviyo or Omnisend are purpose-built
- Need CRM with sales pipelines and deal tracking—Brevo's CRM is basic; HubSpot or ActiveCampaign are better
- Deliverability is mission-critical—test carefully; historical deliverability rankings are mixed
- Need enterprise B2B features like ABM, lead scoring models, and multi-touch attribution
Trade-offs
Every design choice has a cost. Here are the explicit trade-offs:
- Send-based pricing (cheapest at scale) → Automation depth is shallower than ActiveCampaign
- Multi-channel in one platform → Each channel adds usage-based cost complexity
- Unlimited contacts on all plans → Deliverability requires careful list hygiene
- GDPR-first with EU hosting → Smaller integration ecosystem than Mailchimp or HubSpot
- Transactional email included → Shared infrastructure means less control than dedicated tools like SendGrid
Common alternatives people evaluate next
These are common “next shortlists” — same tier, step-down, step-sideways, or step-up — with a quick reason why.
-
Mailchimp — same tierBetter email templates and design quality, but contact-based pricing makes it 3-10x more expensive at scale.
-
ActiveCampaign — step-upWhen automation depth matters more than pricing model—significantly more capable workflows and CRM.
-
Omnisend — step-sidewaysE-commerce-focused with pre-built Shopify flows; better for DTC brands than Brevo's general approach.
-
Klaviyo — step-upWhen e-commerce revenue attribution and predictive analytics justify the 5-10x cost premium.
Sources & verification
Pricing and behavioral information comes from public documentation and structured research. When information is incomplete or volatile, we prefer to say so rather than guess.