Brevo Free Plan
What Is the Brevo Pricing Plan?
Brevo does something different with pricing — they charge for emails sent, not contacts stored. Which honestly makes sense when you think about it. Why pay for 10,000 contacts if you only email 2,000 of them monthly?
They’ve got four tiers: Free, Starter ($9/month), Business ($18/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Plus this pay-as-you-go option that’s perfect if you’re one of those businesses that sends emails sporadically. You know the type — quarterly newsletters, event announcements, that sort of thing.
What caught my attention is how much they include even in the free tier. Marketing automation and CRM functionality that most platforms lock behind paywalls? Brevo just gives it to you. They restructured everything in October 2022 to focus more on what you actually use rather than how many people you might potentially email someday.
A Quick Overview of Brevo and Its Features
Started as Sendinblue, now it’s this full multichannel marketing platform that handles pretty much everything — email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, even basic sales CRM. It’s like they looked at the mess of tools most businesses juggle and said “what if we just put it all in one place?”
The email builder is solid. Drag-and-drop interface, 40+ templates that don’t look like they were designed in 2015. But here’s what’s interesting — the real-time tracking shows you engagement as it happens. Open an email right now, and I can literally watch it happen in the dashboard.
The multichannel approach is where things get clever. You can build customer journeys that start with an email, follow up with SMS if they don’t respond, maybe throw in a WhatsApp message for good measure. All without switching between different platforms or trying to make three different tools talk to each other.
What Do You Get with the Brevo Free Plan?
300 emails per day. That’s roughly 9,000 monthly if you’re consistent, though the count resets daily and doesn’t roll over. Send 300 on Monday? You’re done until Tuesday. Planning a campaign to 1,000 people? Hope you’re not in a hurry.
But here’s what surprised me — unlike most “free” plans that feel like elaborate teasers, Brevo actually includes useful stuff. Marketing automation workflows, basic CRM, contact segmentation. Features that Mailchimp charges $20+ monthly for.
The drag-and-drop editor works well, mobile optimization happens automatically, and you get those AI-powered subject line suggestions that usually cost extra elsewhere. Plus unlimited contact storage, which is pretty generous when competitors cap you at 500 or 1,000 contacts.
What’s Actually Free:
- Store up to 100,000 contacts with basic segmentation
- Drag-and-drop editor with 40+ responsive templates
- Automation workflows (though limited to 2,000 contacts)
- Campaign analytics and performance tracking
- Basic CRM functionality
- SMS and WhatsApp capabilities (credits cost extra)
The catch? One user account only, and your emails will have Brevo branding. But honestly, for testing the waters or running simple campaigns, it’s more capable than it has any right to be.
Key Features of the Free Plan
Email Campaign Builder and Templates
The builder feels polished — none of that clunky, frustrating interface you sometimes get with free tools. Content blocks for text, images, buttons, social feeds. Create both HTML and plain text versions automatically. The mobile optimization actually works across devices, which isn’t always a given.
40+ templates covering newsletters, promotions, events, transactional emails. They’re modern, customizable, and honestly? Most businesses could run their entire email program using just these templates. No custom template creation on the free plan, but you probably won’t miss it.
Builder Highlights:
- Visual editor that doesn’t require coding knowledge
- Responsive design that looks good on phones
- Pre-built content blocks for common elements
- Dynamic content using your contact data
- Spam score checking before you hit send
That AI subject line feature is genuinely helpful. I’ve used it, and while the suggestions aren’t always perfect, they’re often better than whatever I came up with on my own.
Marketing Automation Workflows
This is where Brevo’s free plan gets interesting. You can build sophisticated automation workflows with triggers, conditions, branching logic — the whole deal. Welcome sequences for new subscribers, abandoned cart recovery, birthday campaigns.
The visual workflow builder lets you map out customer journeys. Someone opens your welcome email? They get one sequence. Ignore it completely? Different path. It’s like having a really patient, never-sleeping assistant managing your follow-ups.
The limitation? Only 2,000 unique contacts can enter your automations monthly. Cross that threshold and you’ll need to upgrade. But honestly, if you’re hitting 2,000+ contacts in automation workflows, you’re probably making enough money to justify the upgrade anyway.
Automation Capabilities:
- Behavioral triggers based on opens, clicks, purchases
- Time delays for optimal follow-up timing
- Conditional logic for different subscriber paths
- Multi-channel sequences combining email, SMS, WhatsApp
- Performance tracking for each workflow
For a free plan, this automation capability is genuinely impressive. Most competitors either skip automation entirely or give you such limited versions they’re basically useless.
Integrated CRM and Contact Management
Here’s something you don’t see often — a basic CRM system included free. It tracks customer interactions across email, SMS, chat, website activity. See when someone opened your last email, what they clicked, their complete engagement history.
The contact management handles up to 100,000 contacts with segmentation based on demographics, behavior, custom fields. Duplicate detection keeps things clean, and the data import/export makes switching from other platforms pretty painless.
CRM Features:
- Complete interaction history for each contact
- Activity tracking across all channels
- Basic lead scoring based on engagement
- Pipeline management (limited on free plan)
- Easy data migration from other platforms
It’s not Salesforce, but for small businesses managing customer relationships alongside email marketing, it covers the basics without requiring a separate CRM subscription.
What’s Missing in the Brevo Free Plan?
That daily sending limit is the real constraint. 300 emails sounds reasonable until you need to send a newsletter to 800 subscribers. Now you’re spreading one campaign across three days, which kills the momentum for time-sensitive content.
Only one user account is another pain point. Everyone shares login credentials, which creates security headaches and workflow bottlenecks. The moment you need team collaboration, you’re looking at paid plans.
Restricted or Limited Features
Automation Limits: While you can build workflows, only 2,000 contacts can enter them monthly. For growing businesses running multiple welcome sequences, re-engagement campaigns, and seasonal promotions, this constraint hits faster than expected.
No Landing Pages: The landing page builder is locked behind Business plans. So if you need lead magnets, event registrations, product launches — you’ll need external tools or upgrades.
Limited A/B Testing: Can’t test subject lines, send times, content variations. You’re essentially guessing what works rather than optimizing based on data.
Basic Reporting: You get open rates and clicks, but revenue tracking, campaign comparisons, detailed subscriber insights — all paid features.
Hidden Costs and Limitations
SMS and WhatsApp Credits: Sure, Brevo advertises multichannel on all plans. But SMS messages cost around $32 for 1,000 credits, and WhatsApp isn’t much cheaper. The “free” multichannel quickly becomes expensive multichannel.
Transactional Email Sharing: Those 300 daily emails? They cover both campaigns and transactional emails. Order confirmations, password resets, shipping notifications — all eating into your campaign limit.
Branding Removal: Want to remove the Brevo logo? That’s $12/month extra on top of the Starter plan. So much for the $9/month pricing.Support Limitations: Email support only, and based on user feedback, response times can stretch several days for free users. Not great when you’re troubleshooting a broken campaign.
Who’s the Brevo Free Plan Perfect For?
Solo entrepreneurs, small nonprofits, early-stage startups — basically anyone who needs to test email marketing without the financial commitment. If you’re sending occasional newsletters to a small, engaged audience, that 300-email daily limit won’t feel restrictive.
It’s particularly valuable for businesses that want to experiment with automation before paying for it. Unlike competitors that make you buy before you try, Brevo lets you build workflows and see if automation actually moves the needle for your business.
Good Fits:
- Solo consultants with client update lists
- Local businesses with small customer bases
- Content creators building their first audiences
- Nonprofits communicating with volunteers and donors
- SaaS startups testing user onboarding sequences
The unlimited contact storage works well for businesses with large databases but low sending volume. Store 50,000 contacts, email 300 at a time — much better than paying per contact when most of your list isn’t actively engaged.
But if you need daily campaigns, team collaboration, or time-sensitive promotions, the free plan will frustrate you quickly. Sender offers 15,000 monthly emails with 2,500 contacts and full automation — might be worth comparing if Brevo’s limits feel too tight.
How Does the Brevo Free Plan Compare to Paid Plans?
Starter ($9/month) removes the daily limit and gives you 5,000-100,000 monthly emails depending on your tier. Enhanced reporting and 24/7 email support, but automation stays limited to 2,000 contacts monthly.
Business ($18/month) is where Brevo gets interesting for growing companies. Unlimited automation contacts, A/B testing, landing pages, advanced analytics, team collaboration for up to 10 users. Phone support alone might justify the upgrade if email marketing drives significant revenue.
Feature Comparison
The Starter plan mainly solves the daily limit problem. Weekly newsletters to 2,000 subscribers? No more spreading campaigns across multiple days. The enhanced reporting provides better engagement insights, though nothing groundbreaking.
Business plan unlocks Brevo’s full potential — unlimited automation contacts, multi-user access, A/B testing, landing page builder. The advanced segmentation lets you create precise audience targets based on behavior, demographics, engagement history. This is where the platform starts feeling professional rather than just functional.
Enterprise features include dedicated IPs, advanced security, custom integrations, dedicated account management. Most SMBs won’t need these unless they’re handling sensitive data or require extensive customization.
When It Makes Sense to Upgrade
Immediate Upgrade Scenarios:
- Daily limit constraining campaign timing
- Multiple team members needing account access
- More than 2,000 contacts in automated workflows monthly
- Professional branding requirements
- Need for A/B testing and advanced analytics
Strategic Timing: Most users upgrade when email marketing becomes revenue-critical. If campaigns directly drive sales, the improved deliverability, analytics, and automation capabilities typically pay for themselves through increased conversions.
Before upgrading though, compare alternatives. Sender.net’s free plan includes 15,000 monthly emails, 2,500 contacts, full automation — potentially delaying paid subscription needs.
Bottom Line: Brevo’s free plan offers genuinely useful features, especially that automation capability most platforms charge for. But the daily sending limit creates real workflow constraints, and single-user restriction limits team growth. For businesses serious about email marketing, exploring alternatives or planning quick upgrades makes sense to avoid operational bottlenecks.
