# Brevo vs Mailchimp (2026)

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified September 14, 2026.

> **Verdict:** Choose Brevo if you have a large, mostly-inactive contact list and want to be billed by emails sent rather than contacts stored. Choose Mailchimp if you run e-commerce and want AI content tools, abandoned-cart automation, and 300+ integrations bundled into a mid-tier plan. The deciding factor is the billing metric: every Brevo paid plan includes unlimited contacts because it charges by monthly email volume, while Mailchimp's pricing scales directly with contacts stored, climbing from $13 to $20 to $350/month as lists grow.

**Choose Brevo if:** You have a large contact list but send relatively few campaigns, so paying by email volume beats paying by contacts stored; You want SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM bundled with email in one account; You want transactional email and SMS APIs on the same account as your marketing campaigns; You want a free plan with unlimited stored contacts, not just a small contact cap

**Choose Mailchimp if:** You run an e-commerce store and want abandoned-cart and order-follow-up automation via Shopify or WooCommerce; You want AI content generation tools bundled with marketing automation from a mid-tier plan; You want native iOS and Android apps for managing campaigns, not just a web dashboard; You want the larger integration marketplace (300+ tools) for connecting your existing stack

## At a glance

|  | Brevo | Mailchimp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | Free tier · paid from $9/mo | Free tier · paid from $13/mo |
| License | Paid | Freemium |
| Best for | small businesses and marketers with large but mostly-inactive contact lists who want to be billed by emails sent rather than penalized for contacts stored | small businesses and e-commerce brands that want to run email and SMS campaigns with built-in automation and AI content tools without a separate marketing stack |
| Ratings | Capterra 4.6/5 (3,512 reviews) | Capterra 4.5/5 (17,674 reviews) |

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Brevo | Mailchimp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting price | Yes (from $9/mo (Starter, 5,000 emails)) | Yes (from $13/mo (Essentials)) |
| Free tier | Yes (up to 300 emails/day, unlimited contacts) | Yes (up to 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo) |
| Platforms | No (web only) | Yes (web, iOS, Android) |
| Pricing metric | Yes (billed by email volume, unlimited contacts on every paid plan) | No (billed by contact-list size) |
| Hosting / license | No (closed-source, proprietary) | No (closed-source, proprietary) |
| Marketing automation | Yes (from $18/mo (Business)) | Yes (from $20/mo (Standard), up to 200 flows) |
| Landing pages | Yes (from $18/mo (Business)) | Unknown (not described in the data) |
| AI content tools | Unknown (not described in the data) | Yes (from $20/mo (Standard)) |
| E-commerce automation triggers (abandoned cart, etc.) | Unknown (not described in the data) | Yes (via Shopify and WooCommerce integrations) |
| Built-in CRM | Yes (lightweight CRM bundled) | Yes (lightweight CRM for tracking contacts) |
| Third-party integrations | Unknown (not quantified in the data) | Yes (300+ integrations) |
| Top listed tier price | Yes (from $499/mo (Enterprise)) | Yes ($350/mo (Premium)) |
| Free-plan support | Unknown (not described in the data) | No (email support only, ends after the first 30 days) |
| External rating (Capterra) | Yes (4.6/5 from 3,512 reviews) | Yes (4.5/5 from 17,674 reviews) |

## Brevo vs Mailchimp pricing: which costs less?

It depends on your contact-list size relative to email volume: Brevo charges by emails sent so a large, mostly-inactive list stays cheap, while Mailchimp charges by contacts stored, climbing from $13 to $20 to $350/month as lists grow.

A sender with 50,000 stored contacts but light sending volume pays Brevo based on emails sent (from $9/month for 5,000 emails, scaling to about $69/month for 100,000 emails) regardless of list size. The same list on Mailchimp would push the account well past Essentials ($13/month) and Standard ($20/month) tiers, since Mailchimp explicitly prices by contact count and its own listed weakness notes pricing climbs steeply and disproportionately at scale.

## Which is easier to use, Brevo or Mailchimp?

Both carry a low learning-curve rating in the data, so ease of use is comparable for beginners getting started with either platform.

## Which has better e-commerce integrations, Brevo or Mailchimp?

Mailchimp has more explicit e-commerce integrations, connecting to Shopify and WooCommerce to trigger automated abandoned-cart and order-confirmation emails, a capability not described in Brevo's data.

## Can Mailchimp replace Brevo?

Yes for businesses without large, mostly-inactive contact lists, but Mailchimp's contact-based pricing would cost more than Brevo's email-volume pricing for exactly the accounts Brevo is built for.

Mailchimp covers campaign design, automation, and e-commerce triggers with a larger integration marketplace than Brevo's listed feature set. Businesses that specifically carry a large stored-contact list with relatively light sending activity will pay more on Mailchimp's contact-based tiers than on Brevo's email-volume tiers, since Brevo bundles unlimited contacts into every paid plan.

## Strengths and weaknesses

### Brevo

- Pro: Every paid plan includes unlimited stored contacts, since pricing is based on email volume instead.
- Pro: Free plan requires no credit card and includes core email marketing functionality.
- Pro: Bundles SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM alongside email in one platform.
- Pro: Transactional email and SMS APIs are available on the same account as marketing campaigns.
- Con: Free plan's 300 emails/day cap is restrictive for anything beyond very small lists.
- Con: Marketing automation and landing pages require the Business tier, a larger jump than Starter alone provides.
- Con: Some users report unclear account policy and compliance enforcement that can affect sending reliability.
- Con: Higher-volume Starter pricing (up to ~$69/month for 100,000 emails) scales quickly compared to flat-rate competitors.

### Mailchimp

- Pro: Free tier is genuinely usable for small lists up to 250 contacts.
- Pro: Drag-and-drop builder and template library make campaign creation fast for beginners.
- Pro: Deep e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce) enable automated triggers like abandoned-cart emails.
- Pro: AI content and automation tools are included starting at the Standard tier.
- Con: Pricing climbs steeply as contact count grows, with users calling the cost disproportionate at scale.
- Con: Advanced automation flows and predictive segmentation are gated behind Standard and Premium tiers.
- Con: Free plan email support ends after the first 30 days.
- Con: Premium tier jumps to $350/month, a large gap from Standard's $20/month.

## Which fits your use case?

| Use case | Pick | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Marketer with a large but mostly-inactive contact list | Brevo | Brevo bills by email volume with unlimited contacts on every paid plan; Mailchimp bills by contact count, which would cost more for the same list. |
| E-commerce store wanting abandoned-cart and order-follow-up automation | Mailchimp | Mailchimp integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce for these triggers; Brevo's data doesn't describe an equivalent. |
| Small business wanting AI content generation tools | Mailchimp | Mailchimp includes AI content tools from its Standard tier; Brevo's data doesn't mention AI content generation. |
| Budget-conscious sender who wants unlimited contacts on a free plan | Brevo | Brevo's free plan has no contact cap, just an email-volume cap of 300/day; Mailchimp's free plan caps out at 250 contacts. |
| Team that wants native mobile apps to manage campaigns | Mailchimp | Mailchimp ships iOS and Android apps; Brevo is web only. |
| Business needing SMS, live chat, and CRM bundled in one account | Brevo | Brevo explicitly bundles SMS, live chat, and a lightweight CRM alongside email in one platform. |

## Migration FAQ

### Should I use Brevo or Mailchimp?

Use Brevo if you have a large, mostly-inactive contact list and want to pay by email volume; use Mailchimp if you run e-commerce and want AI tools and abandoned-cart automation.

### Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp?

It depends on your list size — Brevo is cheaper for large, mostly-inactive contact lists because it charges by email volume, while Mailchimp's contact-based pricing climbs steeply from $13 to $350/month as lists grow.

### Can Mailchimp replace Brevo?

Yes for businesses without large, mostly-inactive contact lists, but Mailchimp's contact-based pricing would cost more than Brevo's email-volume pricing for the exact accounts Brevo is designed for.

### Does Brevo have a free tier?

Yes — Brevo's free plan allows up to 300 emails per day with unlimited stored contacts and one user seat.

### Which has AI content tools, Brevo or Mailchimp?

Mailchimp does — it includes AI-assisted content tools starting on its $20/month Standard tier, a feature not described in Brevo's data.

## Neither a match?

- 5 alternatives to Brevo: https://findalternative.to/brevo
- 5 alternatives to Mailchimp: https://findalternative.to/mailchimp

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Markdown mirror of https://findalternative.to/compare/brevo-vs-mailchimp — findalternative.to, honestly ranked software alternatives. AI info: https://findalternative.to/ai