Brevo vs Mailchimp: Budget vs Premium Showdown (2025)

I’ve found that both Brevo and Mailchimp handle email marketing campaign creation well, but with different emphases.

Brevo prioritizes simplicity and speed. When I set up campaigns, the workflow walks me through list selection, templates, and scheduling with minimal friction. The platform also supports transactional emails under the same account, which I appreciate for businesses that need both email marketing and operational messaging.

While effective, Brevo’s send-time scheduling is mostly manual, with batch throttling as the main optimization.

Mailchimp is more advanced. I can use granular campaign tagging, multi-step scheduling, and AI-driven Send Time Optimization. The email marketing campaign builder is flexible, allowing complex setups, multi-variant testing across content, timing, and audiences, plus predictive analytics to maximize performance.

Winner: Brevo for simplicity and transactional integration; Mailchimp for advanced optimization at scale.

Email design is central to usability, and here the two platforms diverge.

Brevo offers around 40 templates that are mobile-responsive and easy to customize with an intuitive email builder. I find it lightweight and straighforward, but design depth is limited compared to premium tools.

Custom HTML is supported, which I appreciate as someone who occasionally needs that flexibility, and dynamic personalization fields are built in. However, compared to Mailchimp, Brevo has fewer prebuilt email marketing templates and lacks an AI-assisted design tool.

Mailchimp shines in this area. It has a better email template collection with 130+ modern choices and an advanced drag-and-drop editor, it enables highly polished emails.

I’ve seen creative professionals benefit from Creative Assistant, which auto-generates branded templates from uploaded assets. Combined with flexible layout blocks, reusable content sections, and integrated stock image libraries, Mailchimp is tailored for teams that want standout visuals.

Winner: Brevo for lean, functional design; Mailchimp wins for design flexibility and creative tools.

Marketing automation is a core differentiator in my experience.

Brevo provides a visual workflow builder that supports advanced trigger-based campaigns such as email opens, clicks, page visits, or ecommerce actions. The prebuilt scenarios (welcome flows, abandoned cart, reactivation) make it really helpful, and I appreciate the ability to integrate transactional emails into workflows.

These automation features and automated workflows cover essential needs for most SMBs. However, its automation library is more limited than Mailchimp’s, and AI use is only emerging (like AI-powered segmentation).

Mailchimp offers a robust automation suite, including Customer Journeys and unlimited marketing automation, on higher-tier plans. I can design branching paths with complex logic, incorporating predictive insights such as customer lifetime value or likelihood to purchase.

It supports advanced testing within automation paths, and integrations with ecommerce and CRM platforms feed directly into workflows. The trade-off is complexity—steeper learning curve, but unmatched flexibility.

Winner: Brevo for SMB-ready workflows; Mailchimp for advanced predictive automation.

Lead capture is often where the platforms feel different in my testing.

Brevo includes a landing page builder with drag-and-drop blocks, though it’s more functional than flashy and has limited availability (1 on Standard, 10 on Professional).

Forms can be embedded, pop-up, or standalone, with GDPR-compliant double opt-in available. However, like landing pages, advanced form features are reserved for higher paid plans. Limitations I’ve noticed: fewer design templates, and no extensive A/B testing within forms.

Mailchimp offers a polished landing page builder with numerous templates tailored for ecommerce, events, and lead gen. It supports custom domains, integrated payment buttons, and stronger A/B testing. Forms sync automatically across campaigns and can be styled extensively. The flip side is complexity and reliance on Mailchimp’s ecosystem to maximize potential.

*Note: As of 2025, Brevo’s pricing restructure removed popups and landing pages from entry-level plans, now requiring Standard tier or higher for these features.

Winner: Brevo for functional lead capture; Mailchimp for polished, conversion-focused landing pages.

List handling can make or break scaling, and I’ve seen this play out differently on each platform.

Brevo allows unlimited contacts, even on free plans, and organizes them under a unified database. Segmentation is flexible, supporting behavior, custom fields, and transactional activity. You can easily filter contacts by engagement levels or web behavior to target your campaigns effectively.

The standout feature I’ve used is AI Segmentation, where you can describe segments in plain English and quickly assign contacts to appropriate lists. 

Mailchimp uses audiences (contact lists) that you can segment based on behavior, tags, demographics, and predictive insights. Its predictive demographics and purchase likelihood features are powerful, but often locked behind higher tiers.

Important note: Brevo doesn’t bill you multiple times for the same contact across different lists, while Mailchimp counts duplicates across audiences, which inflates costs.

Winner: Brevo for cost efficiency; Mailchimp for predictive analytics.

Both platforms target ecommerce but with different maturity levels in my evaluation.

Brevo integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Prestashop. Shopify users should note: the legacy Shopify app has been replaced by the new PushOwl/Brevo app in August 2025. Features include abandoned cart workflows, product recommendations, and transactional emails—all under one account.

Mailchimp has a long-standing Shopify app plus deep ecommerce workflows. It offers personalized product recommendations, shoppable landing pages, revenue attribution, and predictive CLV analytics. The ecosystem is larger, making it better suited for advanced ecommerce teams in my view.

Winner: Brevo for simple ecommerce; Mailchimp for enterprise-grade capabilities.

Deliverability rates shape real ROI, and this is where I pay close attention.

Brevo benefits from EU-hosted infrastructure, built-in transactional routing, and strong compliance defaults. Dedicated IPs are available for higher-volume senders. However, independent benchmarks I’ve reviewed place Brevo’s average inbox placement slightly below Mailchimp’s (68-96%).

Mailchimp consistently scores high in deliverability tests I’ve seen (81-96%), often achieving high inbox placement rates in third-party studies, ensuring your messages reach subscribers’ inboxes reliably. It offers advanced authentication support (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and reputation monitoring. 

Downsides: on both platforms email deliverability can dip for smaller senders not on dedicated IPs, and stricter compliance can sometimes delay campaign approval.

Winner: Brevo for compliance-first EU businesses; Mailchimp for highest deliverability rates.

SMS is a key differentiator I’ve observed.

Brevo builds SMS into the same dashboard, with pay-as-you-go credits and international coverage in 130+ countries. WhatsApp campaigns are also supported, giving it multi-channel depth that I find appealing. The ability to run SMS campaigns alongside email from one platform streamlines digital marketing workflows significantly.

Mailchimp offers SMS as an add-on with bundled credits. Coverage is more limited, with MMS mainly in the US and Canada. SMS is functional but less integrated into the workflow compared to Brevo in my experience.

Winner: Brevo for global SMS/WhatsApp; Mailchimp for US/Canada SMS if already in ecosystem.

Analytics depth varies greatly between these platforms in my testing.

Brevo offers core email marketing metrics (opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes) plus revenue attribution for ecommerce, heatmas and Google Analytics integrations. Reports are clear but less customizable. Data export is easy, and transactional reporting is included—handy for dev teams tracking email engagement.

Mailchimp delivers advanced analytics with heatmaps, comparative benchmarks, and predictive insights. These analytics insights help you understand campaign performance at a deeper level.

Ecommerce reports link to revenue and CLV, and dashboards can be customized by user. It also integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics for deeper funnel tracking. Deeper insights come at a cost, with advanced analytics limited to higher tiers.

Winner: Brevo for essentials + transactional reporting; Mailchimp for deep, predictive insights.

Integration scope separates entry-level from enterprise in my assessment.

Brevo integrates with ~60 platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, and CRMs. The API is straightforward and well-documented, especially for transactional email. It also includes SMTP server capabilities for developers who need reliable email delivery infrastructure. However, the marketplace is smaller compared to Mailchimp.

Mailchimp has 300+ integrations spanning ecommerce, CRM tools, social ads like Google Ads, and analytics platforms. Its API supports advanced use cases but is more complex. The larger ecosystem benefits enterprises needing flexibility. Both platforms ensure compatibility with major email clients for consistent rendering.

Winner: Brevo for simplicity and transactional API; Mailchimp for ecosystem breadth.

Support models differ by tier, and I’ve noticed distinct approaches.

Brevo provides email support on all plans, with phone support reserved for Enterprise. Response times are decent, but 24/7 availability isn’t always guaranteed.

Mailchimp offers email and chat support on paid tiers, with Premium unlocking phone support. Priority response is better at higher plans. Many users I’ve spoken with note self-serve resources are excellent, but live support can feel limited at lower tiers.

Winner: Brevo for SMBs on budget; Mailchimp for enterprise users needing priority service.

Mobile apps are uneven here, and it’s worth noting.

Brevo offers mobile apps mainly for Conversations (customer messaging) and Brevo Phone. These support sales and CRM features, but do not allow full campaign creation/editing. For marketers, this means limited mobile utility.

Mailchimp provides a robust mobile app for iOS and Android that lets you create, edit, and send campaigns, build landing pages, and check analytics on the go. It’s a true mobile email marketing companion, though functionality can be slightly slower compared to desktop.

Winner: Brevo for sales messaging; Mailchimp for true mobile marketing.

Brevo often gets praise for its ease of use, affordable pricing, and reliable deliverability, especially from smaller teams. For example, one user writes that Brevo is “efficient and reliable”—they appreciate its email templates, CRM-like integration, and the ease with which analytics let them track performance.

Another user describes it as “user-friendly, robust, reliable performance,” though notes that integration setup and advanced reporting could be improved. Users do occasionally mention that customer support or feature depth is limited, noting “limited capability and the most challenging customer support experience” in some cases.

On the Mailchimp side, reviewers on G2 often highlight its powerful features and broad adoption. One user says Mailchimp “has surpassed our expectations … the price point of the overall features it provides is really tough to beat.”

Another user lauds its SMS-email integration: “SMS feature has been huge for us, being able to reach people through text and email from the same platform is great.” That said, the cons are evident: reviewers criticize the interface, stating that it shifts around too often, making familiar tools harder to locate. Some also find pricing and billing models less friendly to smaller users.

According to my Capterra research in Brevo vs. Mailchimp debate, the first one consistently earns praise for its intuitive interface and strong value proposition. According to one reviewer, “What I liked most about Brevo is how incredibly easy it is to use,” and they commend its simplicity in campaign creation, contact management, and automation.

Another reviewer notes Brevo has an “organized contact database” and good import/export flexibility, making list management smoother. The main criticisms revolve around occasional slowdowns during high-traffic periods and lack of clear guidance when enabling API or advanced features.

By contrast, Mailchimp is praised by users for its well-designed UI, robust template library, and solid campaign and segmentation tools. One user says Mailchimp “has a very good GUI … The application is very easy to use and well-designed.” Another reviewer notes that segmentation and contact tagging enable them to “categorize contacts easily” and understand subscriber behavior.

However, some complaints arise: Mailchimp’s numerous features can sometimes make the interface confusing, and the cost increases sharply as the number of contacts grows, prompting users to purge or reorganize lists frequently.

Reddit users who’ve used Brevo frequently highlight its affordability and all-in-one messaging appeal, particularly for smaller operations. One user on r/Emailmarketing writes, “good free tier (300 emails per day), good deliverability,” though they criticize the UI as “buggy” and lacking flexibility in template customization.

Others warn of inconsistent support: “I got zero response from support … couldn’t send a test email… got suspended” after migrating thousands of contacts.

In the Mailchimp sphere, Reddit users often criticize the complexity of features on higher tiers, pricing shifts, and declining usability as the platform matures. On r/Emailmarketing, one comment warns: “MailChimp is very basic, and you hit the limitations quickly,” noting how what seems simple becomes complex when scaling.

Another user is dissatisfied with the change in UI and loss of feature access: “I couldn’t help but feel like the whole setup has gotten significantly more complicated… many features that were readily available … now only available in the Enterprise level plans.”

It depends on priorities. Brevo is ideal for budget-conscious teams that need unlimited contacts, SMS/WhatsApp, and transactional email all under one roof. Mailchimp is better for larger businesses and agencies that want polished templates, advanced automation, predictive analytics, and a mature app ecosystem. 

When comparing email marketing services, Brevo suits startups and SMBs; Mailchimp fits creative pros and growth-focused brands. Each email template library serves different design needs—Brevo for functional simplicity, Mailchimp for creative polish. The key features of each platform align with very different user priorities and budgets.

Yes, Brevo usually remains cheaper because it charges by email volume rather than contact count. Mailchimp bills for every subscriber—even duplicates and unsubscribed contacts—so costs escalate rapidly as lists grow. For businesses scaling beyond 10,000 subscribers, Brevo often costs less than half of Mailchimp.

Independent benchmarks typically show Mailchimp slightly ahead in inbox placement. Brevo performs well, particularly for EU-based senders who value GDPR compliance and data residency, but may average a bit lower overall. Both offer dedicated IPs for high-volume senders, which can significantly improve email deliverability.

Mailchimp has stronger ecommerce tools—advanced product recommendations, shoppable landing pages, and predictive CLV analytics. It also integrates deeply with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. Brevo still supports ecommerce with cart recovery, transactional emails, and SMS, but its 2025 Shopify app migration makes it less mature than Mailchimp’s ecosystem.

Brevo setup is fast—most small teams can launch a campaign in under an hour with its guided workflow. Mailchimp takes longer, especially if you’re configuring advanced automations, predictive analytics, or multiple integrations. For simple newsletters, both are quick; for complex journeys, expect Mailchimp setup to take several hours.