Brevo Review: A No-BS Look at This Budget Email Marketing Platform

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) has positioned itself as the affordable alternative to Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. But is cheap actually good? After digging through real user feedback and testing the platform, here's what you need to know before you sign up.

The short version: Brevo is genuinely solid for small businesses that need email marketing, basic automation, and don't want to pay per contact. But it has limitations that become frustrating as you scale. Let's break it down.

What Is Brevo?

Brevo is an all-in-one marketing platform that handles email campaigns, SMS marketing, WhatsApp messaging, live chat, and CRM functionality. The company rebranded from Sendinblue in May 2023 and now serves over 500,000 businesses worldwide with a 4.3-star rating on Trustpilot.

What sets Brevo apart is its pricing model: you pay based on the number of emails you send, not the size of your contact list. This is a big deal if you have a large list but only email occasionally. Most competitors will charge you for every subscriber whether you email them or not.

Brevo Pricing: The Real Numbers

Here's the current pricing breakdown for Brevo's Marketing Platform:

Annual plans get you a 10% discount. For a deeper dive into what each tier includes, check out our full Brevo pricing breakdown.

Hidden Costs to Watch For

The base prices look great, but extras add up:

That $9/month Starter plan suddenly becomes $21/month if you want to remove branding. Something to factor into your budget.

What Brevo Actually Does Well

User-Friendly Email Builder

The drag-and-drop email editor is legitimately easy to use. Even complete beginners can create professional-looking emails in minutes. The brand assets feature saves your logos, colors, and fonts so campaigns stay consistent. There are about 47 email templates organized by purpose (welcome, sales, re-engagement, etc.), though some users find the template selection limited compared to competitors like Constant Contact.

Solid Automation for the Price

Brevo's automation builder punches above its weight. You can build workflows for welcome sequences, abandoned carts, and behavioral triggers. The visual editor is straightforward, and you can even automate SMS and WhatsApp messages within the same workflow - something many competitors don't offer at this price point.

That said, automation on the free and Starter plans is limited to 2,000 contacts. You'll need the Standard plan ($18/month) for unlimited automation contacts.

Built-In CRM

Every plan includes a basic CRM with deal pipelines, contact management, and activity tracking. It won't replace HubSpot or Salesforce, but for small businesses managing leads alongside marketing, it's a nice bonus. You can customize deal stages, set probability percentages, and log communication history without paying for separate software.

Multi-Channel Messaging

Beyond email, Brevo handles SMS marketing, WhatsApp campaigns, and live chat. The live chat (called Brevo Conversations) is available on the free plan with unlimited chats and full conversation history. The Pro version at $15/month per user is competitive when standalone chat tools charge double.

WhatsApp integration includes 1,000 free messages per month on paid plans before credits kick in.

Pay-As-You-Go Option

If you don't send regularly, prepaid email credits are available. One credit equals one email, credits never expire, and you get Starter plan features without a monthly commitment. Useful for seasonal businesses or one-off campaigns.

Where Brevo Falls Short

Deliverability Is... Variable

This is the elephant in the room. Email deliverability testing shows Brevo's rates have fluctuated over the years. Recent tests show around 88-89% deliverability, which is decent but not industry-leading. For context, top performers like MailerLite consistently hit higher marks.

Brevo reached a high of 96.3% in March 2021, but also dipped to 76% back in 2018. More recent testing in 2023 showed some inconsistency. If your business lives or dies by email, this variability is worth considering.

To their credit, Brevo provides solid deliverability tools - SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup with clear instructions, plus a deliverability center to monitor your sender reputation.

Limited Templates

With around 47 templates, Brevo's selection is modest. Users wanting heavy customization or unique designs often find the options limiting. If visual variety matters, you might be disappointed.

Advanced Features Behind Paywalls

The free plan is generous for getting started, but key features require upgrades:

300 Email Daily Limit on Free

The free plan caps you at 300 emails per day. That's roughly 9,000 emails per month if you max it out daily. Sounds okay until you realize sending to a 5,000 person list would take over two weeks. For anything beyond testing, you'll need to upgrade.

Automation Builder Quirks

Some users report occasional loading issues with the automation builder. While the interface is generally intuitive, complex workflows can get clunky. More in-app guidance for advanced setups would help.

Who Should Use Brevo?

Brevo is a good fit if you:

Look elsewhere if you:

Brevo vs. The Competition

Brevo vs. Mailchimp: Brevo wins on price for larger lists since it doesn't charge per contact. Mailchimp has more templates and integrations but gets expensive fast as you scale.

Brevo vs. ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign has superior automation, conditional content, and deliverability. But it costs significantly more. Brevo is the budget option for small businesses that don't need enterprise features.

Brevo vs. MailerLite: MailerLite is better for forms, landing pages, and has stronger deliverability. Brevo wins on multi-channel capabilities (SMS, WhatsApp, live chat) and CRM features.

If you're exploring CRM options beyond Brevo's built-in offering, see our guide to CRM for small business or check out the best CRM software picks.

Final Verdict: Is Brevo Worth It?

Brevo delivers solid value for small businesses on a budget. The unlimited contacts model is genuinely appealing, the automation is capable for the price, and having email, SMS, chat, and CRM in one platform simplifies your stack.

But it's not perfect. Deliverability inconsistency, limited templates, and features locked behind higher tiers are real drawbacks. If email is your primary revenue driver, the deliverability fluctuations alone might justify paying more for a platform like ActiveCampaign.

For most small businesses just getting started with email marketing or looking to consolidate tools, Brevo is a smart choice. Start with the free plan to test it, then upgrade to Starter or Standard when you hit the limits.

Looking for more options? Check out our roundup of the best email marketing software or dive into email marketing for small business strategies.