Brevo: What It Actually Does, What It Costs, and Who It Fits
An all-in-one messaging platform bundling email, SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional sends into one account, priced by how many emails you send rather than how many contacts you store.
Brevo is a strong fit if you send email frequently to a smaller, well-targeted list and want SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email bundled into the same platform, since it charges by emails sent rather than contacts stored. Its free tier is genuinely usable, not just a trial, but marketing automation is not available on the Free or Starter tiers, and cost climbs fast once you're sending high volume. A business with a large list it emails rarely will usually find a contact-based platform cheaper.
What Brevo Is For
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a multi-channel marketing platform built around email, SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email in a single account, along with a lightweight built-in CRM. Its defining difference from most competitors is the pricing model: Brevo charges based on how many emails you actually send per month, not how many contacts you store, so a large list you rarely email costs far less here than on a contact-based platform.
It's built for businesses that want one platform for marketing sends and transactional or conversational messaging (order confirmations, SMS alerts, WhatsApp notifications) rather than stitching together separate tools, and for anyone who sends often enough to a smaller, well-targeted list that send-based pricing works in their favor.
Key Features
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email support inside one platform and one account
- Built-in lightweight CRM included at no extra cost
- Marketing automation workflows, available from the Standard tier upward
- Genuinely usable free tier: up to 300 emails/day and up to 100,000 stored contacts
- Landing page builder included from the Standard tier upward
- Send-based pricing, so list size alone does not drive cost the way it does on contact-based platforms
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✔ All-in-one platform: email, SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, and a built-in CRM without separate tools or connectors
- ✔ Free tier is genuinely usable, with up to 100,000 stored contacts, not just a capped trial
- ✔ Send-based pricing rewards a smaller, well-targeted list that is emailed frequently
Cons
- ✕ Marketing automation is not available on the Free or Starter tiers, only from Standard upward
- ✕ Cost scales up quickly for a small list that gets emailed very frequently
- ✕ Professional-tier pricing (roughly $499/month) gets expensive fast at real send volume
Pricing
Brevo has a genuinely usable free tier.
| Tier | Price (approx, billed monthly) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 300 emails/day, up to 100,000 stored contacts, one user seat, basic templates and transactional email; no marketing automation |
| Starter | From roughly $9/month for 5,000 emails/month, scaling to about $18 at 20,000, $29 at 40,000, and $65 at 100,000 emails/month | Removes Brevo branding and raises daily send limits; still no marketing automation |
| Standard | From roughly $18/month for 5,000 emails/month, scaling with volume | Adds marketing automation workflows, A/B testing, advanced statistics, landing pages, and send-time optimization |
| Professional / Enterprise | Professional from roughly $499/month for 150,000+ emails/month; Enterprise on custom pricing | Adds phone support, advanced integrations, multi-user access, and (on Enterprise) a dedicated account manager and SLA |
Brevo retired its former Business plan tier in late 2025; current plans run Free, Starter, Standard, Professional, and Enterprise. SMS and WhatsApp messaging are billed separately based on usage, on top of the email plan.
Pricing checked as of mid-2026 and hedged as approximate - Brevo prices by monthly email volume and adjusts tiers periodically, so confirm current figures directly on their pricing page before budgeting.
Related Tools & Comparisons
Common questions
Emails sent per month, not contacts stored. This is the opposite of many competitors, and it means a large list you email infrequently can cost far less on Brevo than on a contact-based platform, while a small list emailed very often can cost more.
It's a genuinely usable free plan, not a time-limited trial - up to 300 emails per day and up to 100,000 stored contacts, with basic templates and transactional email included. Marketing automation is not included at this tier, though.
No. Automation workflows are only available from the Standard tier upward - the Free and Starter tiers cover campaign sends and basic transactional email, but not automated multi-step flows.
It depends on your list size and send frequency, since the two price on opposite models: Brevo by emails sent, Zoho Campaigns by contacts stored. Brevo tends to be cheaper for frequent sends to a smaller list; Zoho Campaigns tends to be cheaper for a large list you email rarely. See our full Zoho Campaigns vs Brevo comparison for the detailed breakdown.
Not sure if Brevo is the right fit for your send volume?
We'll look at your actual list size and how often you send before recommending a platform - sometimes a contact-based tool is the cheaper answer.
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