Mailchimp charges by contacts stored ($13–$350+/month); Brevo charges by emails sent ($9–$499/month). A large list emailed rarely is dramatically cheaper on Brevo; a small list emailed daily favors Mailchimp. This 2026 comparison runs the pricing math at every list size, then compares features with an honest verdict.
In this comparison
- The pricing models, in one paragraph
- Price comparison at every list size
- Free plans compared
- Automation and workflows
- Templates and email builder
- SMS, CRM, and multichannel
- Support and deliverability
- The honest verdict by use case
- Key takeaways
- FAQs
The pricing models, in one paragraph
Mailchimp bills on contacts stored: subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed all count (only archived, cleaned, or deleted contacts are excluded). Each plan includes a send multiplier — 10x your contact count on Essentials, 12x on Standard, 15x on Premium. You pay for audience size; sending frequency is nearly free within the multiplier.
Brevo bills on monthly email volume: you pick a send tier (5,000 to 10,000,000 emails/month), and contacts are stored up to that tier’s cap — 500,000 on Starter/Standard at higher volumes, effectively unlimited for most users. You pay for sending; audience size is nearly free.
The rule of thumb from a 2026 comparison of the two: large list with infrequent sends goes to Brevo; small list sent to frequently goes to Mailchimp (https://www.omnisend.com/blog/brevo-vs-mailchimp/). Everything below quantifies exactly where the crossover sits. For individual deep dives, see our Mailchimp review and Brevo review.
Price comparison at every list size
Pricing as of Sept 2026 (Brevo figures per Aug–Sept 2026 guides; Mailchimp per 2026 verified pricing). Check both vendors’ current pricing pages before buying — both adjust regularly.
Scenario A: monthly newsletter (1 email/month to the full list)
| List size | Mailchimp (cheapest fitting plan) | Brevo (cheapest fitting plan) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | Essentials $13/mo | Starter $9/mo (5,000 sends) | Brevo |
| 2,500 | Essentials $45/mo | Starter $9/mo | Brevo |
| 5,000 | Essentials $75/mo | Starter $9/mo | Brevo |
| 10,000 | Essentials $110/mo | Starter $17/mo (10,000 sends) | Brevo |
| 25,000 | Essentials $270/mo | Starter $39/mo (30,000 sends) | Brevo |
| 50,000 | Essentials $385/mo | Starter $56/mo (50,000 sends) | Brevo |
For monthly senders, Brevo wins at every size — often by 5–8x. A 50,000-contact monthly newsletter costs $385/month on Mailchimp versus $56/month on Brevo Starter.
Scenario B: weekly emails (4 emails/month to the full list)
| List size | Mailchimp | Brevo | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 (2,000 sends) | Essentials $13/mo | Starter $9/mo | Brevo |
| 2,500 (10,000 sends) | Essentials $45/mo | Starter $17/mo | Brevo |
| 5,000 (20,000 sends) | Essentials $75/mo | Starter $32/mo | Brevo |
| 10,000 (40,000 sends) | Essentials $110/mo | Starter $46/mo | Brevo |
| 25,000 (100,000 sends) | Essentials $270/mo | Starter $82/mo | Brevo |
Brevo still wins comfortably — send-based pricing with a monthly cadence stays well under contact-based pricing.
Scenario C: daily emails (30 emails/month to the full list)
| List size | Mailchimp | Brevo | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 (15,000 sends) | Essentials $13/mo | Starter $25/mo | Mailchimp |
| 2,500 (75,000 sends) | Essentials $45/mo | Starter $74/mo | Mailchimp |
| 5,000 (150,000 sends) | Essentials $75/mo | Standard $179/mo | Mailchimp |
Here’s the crossover: at daily frequency, Mailchimp’s 10x send multiplier absorbs the volume while Brevo’s send-meter keeps climbing. A daily sender with 5,000 contacts pays $75/month on Mailchimp versus $179/month on Brevo Standard.
The honest summary: unless you email near-daily, Brevo is cheaper — often dramatically. Mailchimp’s model only wins for high-frequency senders to modest lists. Most small businesses email weekly or less, which is why Brevo wins the price comparison for the majority. If you want the full pricing-model education, read our email marketing pricing explained guide.
Free plans compared
| Mailchimp free | Brevo free | |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 250 | Up to 100,000 |
| Sends | 500/month (250/day cap) | 300/day (~9,000/month) |
| Automation | None | Yes (capped at 2,000 contacts/month) |
| Branding | Mailchimp branding | Brevo branding |
| Support | Email, first 30 days |
Brevo’s free plan is in a different league: 100,000 contacts, ~9,000 monthly sends, transactional email included, and working automation. Mailchimp’s free plan — cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends in early 2026 with all automation stripped — is an interface demo. For anyone starting out, Brevo free is genuinely usable; Mailchimp free is a two-week evaluation. Our best free email marketing software guide ranks the full field.
Automation and workflows
Brevo offers automation on every plan including free — welcome series, abandoned carts, and follow-ups exist from day one. The catch is the 2,000-contact/month automation cap on Free and Starter; Standard ($18/mo) lifts it to unlimited. All plans support real-time event triggers and multiple workflow entry points, and Aura AI can generate automations from a prompt. Fifteen pre-built templates cover the standard flows.
Mailchimp gates automation by plan: none on free, max 4 steps per flow on Essentials, and the full journey builder (up to 200 steps, branching, 100+ templates) only on Standard ($20/mo+). Where Mailchimp pulls ahead is ecommerce depth — Shopify triggers (abandoned checkout, browse/search behavior), predictive triggers like churn risk, and behavioral segmentation are more sophisticated than Brevo’s.
The trade: Brevo gives you automation sooner and cheaper; Mailchimp gives you deeper automation at a higher entry price. A store running basic welcome + cart flows does fine on Brevo Standard at $18/month; a store running predictive, behavior-driven lifecycle marketing needs Mailchimp Standard at $20+/month.
Templates and email builder
This is Mailchimp’s clearest product advantage: a 380+ template library with search, industry and style filters, and goal-based browsing, against Brevo’s ~50 templates (five basic on free). Both editors are drag-and-drop and capable — Brevo’s has 13 blocks including a product block for connected stores; Mailchimp’s has 15 blocks plus an Optimize feature and AI-assisted editing (Refine with AI) on Standard+.
If your marketing is template-driven — seasonal campaigns, launches, varied newsletter formats — Mailchimp saves meaningful production time. If you mostly send one consistent newsletter format, Brevo’s smaller library won’t hold you back.
SMS, CRM, and multichannel
Brevo is the multichannel platform: email, SMS (180+ countries), WhatsApp (Professional+), web push, and a built-in sales CRM free on all plans (paid upgrades for advanced sales features). SMS credits come in 100-message bundles from about $1.09, never expire, and don’t require a paid email plan. For a service business running email + SMS + a deal pipeline, Brevo is one account instead of three tools.
Mailchimp covers email and SMS (37 countries) with MMS in the US and Canada. SMS requires a paid marketing plan plus monthly credit bundles starting at $20/month for 1,000 credits — credits auto-renew and don’t roll over, so low-volume SMS senders overpay. There’s no sales CRM; Mailchimp’s “CRM” is audience management for marketing.
For SMS-heavy strategies, Brevo’s pricing (small bundles, no expiry, no paid-plan requirement) is structurally friendlier. The 2026 comparison documents Brevo SMS from $1.09 per 100 credits versus Mailchimp’s $20/month minimum (https://www.omnisend.com/blog/brevo-vs-mailchimp/).
Support and deliverability
Support: Brevo offers email support on all plans, with phone support on Professional and Enterprise. Mailchimp offers 24/7 email and chat on all paid plans, phone and priority support on Premium, and 30 days of email support on free. Mailchimp’s support is broader at the low end (24/7 chat on a $13 plan); Brevo reserves phone support for the $499 tier.
Deliverability: Both platforms document solid practices. Mailchimp advertises delivery rates above 99%; Brevo provides a sending-health score and guided authentication setup. Independent ratings are close (G2: Brevo 4.5/5, Mailchimp 4.4/5, per the 2026 comparison). In practice, sender behavior — list hygiene, authentication, engagement — moves the needle more than platform choice. Our email deliverability basics guide covers what actually controls inbox placement.
Ecosystem: Mailchimp lists 200+ integrations; Brevo 100+. Both cover the essentials (Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Zapier). Mailchimp’s edge matters if you run an unusual stack.
The honest verdict by use case
Choose Brevo if: you email weekly or less; your list is large relative to your sending frequency; you’re starting out and want a usable free plan; you need SMS in small volumes or a built-in CRM; or budget is the primary constraint. For most small businesses, Brevo is the rational choice — the price gap at typical sending patterns is too large to ignore.
Choose Mailchimp if: you email daily or near-daily to a modest list; you run a Shopify store that will use predictive segmentation and behavior-triggered flows; template breadth materially speeds up your production; or you need 24/7 chat support at the entry tier. Mailchimp’s product is genuinely stronger — you’re paying for depth, not just the brand.
Choose neither if: you’re a creator (look at Kit or newsletter-native tools), you need the deepest automation in the industry (look at ActiveCampaign), or your budget is minimal (compare the full field in our cheapest email marketing software roundup).
- Pricing models are opposites: Mailchimp bills contacts stored ($13–$350+/mo); Brevo bills emails sent ($9–$499/mo).
- For monthly or weekly senders, Brevo wins at every list size — often by 5–8x (e.g., 50,000 contacts emailed monthly: $56 Brevo vs $385 Mailchimp).
- Mailchimp only wins on price for near-daily senders to modest lists, where its 10–12x send multiplier absorbs the volume.
- Brevo’s free plan (100,000 contacts, ~9,000 sends, working automation) vastly outclasses Mailchimp’s (250 contacts, 500 sends, no automation).
- Mailchimp leads on templates (380+ vs ~50), ecommerce automation depth, and entry-tier support (24/7 chat).
- Brevo leads on multichannel (SMS/WhatsApp/CRM included) and honest low-volume SMS pricing.
- All pricing as of Sept 2026; check both vendors’ current pricing pages before buying.
FAQs
Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp in 2026?
For most sending patterns, yes — significantly. Brevo’s send-based pricing undercuts Mailchimp’s contact-based pricing for anyone emailing weekly or less, at every list size. Mailchimp only becomes cheaper for near-daily senders to modest lists.
Can I migrate from Mailchimp to Brevo?
Yes — both platforms support list imports via CSV and common integrations, and Brevo offers migration assistance. Clean your list before importing (Mailchimp bills unsubscribed contacts; Brevo’s send-based model doesn’t penalize stored contacts the same way). See our how to switch email platforms guide for the full process.
Which is better for ecommerce, Mailchimp or Brevo?
Mailchimp, for stores that will use its depth: predictive segmentation, 100+ flow templates, and deep Shopify behavior triggers. Brevo covers the basics (welcome, cart, follow-up) at a lower price, but its advanced ecommerce features sit behind the $499/month Professional tier.
Does Brevo have better deliverability than Mailchimp?
Both document strong deliverability practices and hold similar independent ratings. Sender behavior — authentication, list hygiene, engagement — affects inbox placement more than the choice between these two platforms.
Which has better customer support?
Mailchimp offers 24/7 email and chat on all paid plans including the $13 Essentials tier; Brevo offers email support on all plans with phone support reserved for Professional ($499/mo) and Enterprise. Mailchimp wins on support breadth at low price points.
Conclusion
Mailchimp vs Brevo in 2026 isn’t a product contest — it’s a pricing-model question. Answer one question honestly — how often do you email your full list? — and the winner picks itself. Weekly or monthly: Brevo, usually by a wide margin. Daily: Mailchimp’s contact-based model finally earns its keep.
Beyond price, the trade is depth versus breadth: Mailchimp is the deeper marketing platform (templates, ecommerce automation, support), Brevo the broader value platform (SMS, CRM, honest pricing). Neither is wrong; they’re built for different sending patterns. Run your own numbers with your actual list size and frequency before committing — the tables above are the starting point, and both vendors’ pricing pages are the final word.