The Quick Verdict
Brevo and Mailchimp’s most important difference is how they charge: Brevo by emails sent per month; Mailchimp by contacts stored. For businesses with large lists but infrequent sends — monthly newsletters to 50,000 people — Mailchimp can be very expensive while Brevo is cheap. For businesses with small lists but frequent sends — daily promotional emails to 5,000 people — Brevo’s pricing also wins. The comparison requires calculating your specific send frequency against both pricing models.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Per emails sent per month | Per contacts stored |
| Free Plan | 9,000 emails/mo, unlimited contacts | 1,000 emails/mo, 500 contacts |
| Automation | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| SMS Marketing | Yes (included) | Yes (add-on) |
| Transactional Email | Yes (included) | Limited |
| Landing Pages | Yes | Yes (Standard+) |
| Integrations | 150+ | 300+ |
| EU Data Residency | Yes (GDPR-native) | Limited |
| Best For | Large lists, transactional email, EU businesses | SMBs wanting broad integrations |
| Our Score | 8.9 / 10 | 8.4 / 10 |
Pricing Comparison
Brevo’s free plan includes 300 emails/day (9,000/mo) to unlimited contacts. Mailchimp’s free plan includes 1,000 sends/mo to 500 contacts. Completely different models.
| Scenario | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly newsletter — 50K list | $25/mo (65K emails plan) | $350/mo (50K contacts) |
| Weekly email — 10K list | $25/mo (50K sends) | $135/mo (10K contacts Standard) |
| Daily email — 5K list | $65/mo (150K sends) | $75/mo (5K contacts Standard) |
| Transactional + marketing | One plan covers both | Separate tools needed |
When Brevo's pricing model wins
Brevo’s send-based pricing shines for businesses with large contact databases that don’t email frequently. A nonprofit with 100,000 contacts that sends one monthly newsletter pays a fraction of what Mailchimp would charge. Similarly, businesses that want to keep their full contact database (including inactive contacts for suppression purposes) without paying per contact benefit from Brevo’s model.
The transactional email advantage
Brevo handles both marketing and transactional email (order confirmations, password resets, account notifications) from the same account and pricing plan. Mailchimp’s transactional email is a separate Mandrill add-on with additional fees. For businesses that need both marketing and transactional email, Brevo’s consolidated approach is simpler and often cheaper.
GDPR and EU data considerations
Brevo is headquartered in Paris with EU data centers and is designed from the ground up for GDPR compliance. For EU businesses with data residency requirements, Brevo is a natural choice. Mailchimp is US-headquartered — GDPR compliance is available but requires more configuration and vendor assessment than Brevo’s native approach.
Who Should Choose Which?
- Your list is large but you email infrequently — Brevo's per-send pricing is much cheaper
- You need marketing and transactional email from one account and pricing plan
- You're an EU business and want native GDPR compliance from a European-headquartered vendor
- You want SMS and email from the same platform at lower cost than adding Mailchimp's SMS add-on
- You need the widest possible native integration library (300+ vs Brevo's 150+)
- Your send-to-list ratio is high (daily emails to a small list) where contact-based pricing wins
- You need Mailchimp's more established e-commerce integration with Shopify or WooCommerce
- Your team wants the most recognized and documented email platform for onboarding new members