Brevo, which used to be called Sendinblue, and Mailchimp both send newsletters, run automations and collect sign-ups, but they charge in different ways. Brevo prices mostly by how many emails you send, Mailchimp by how many contacts you keep. We compared them on price, free plans, automation, SMS, testing and support, using each official pricing page in October 2026.
Brevo is better for most coaches and small businesses on a budget: its free plan holds up to 100,000 contacts and sends 300 emails a day, and paid plans start at $9 a month. Mailchimp is better if you sell through an online shop, want more seats and onboarding, and value its wide range of integrations.
Who this is for: Coaches, consultants and small business owners choosing between Brevo (Sendinblue) and Mailchimp.
Choose Brevo if you want the cheapest way to email a growing list, you send a steady number of emails each month, and you might add SMS or transactional emails later. Choose Mailchimp if you sell through an online shop, want more seats, roles and onboarding help, and you are happy to pay more once its first-year discount ends.
For most coaches and consultants we speak to, Brevo is the better value. Its free plan is far more generous on contacts and sends, and its Standard plan at $18 a month includes unlimited automation, A/B testing and no Brevo logo. Mailchimp's free plan is now small, so most people move to a paid plan quickly.
Mailchimp is still a strong tool. It has more seats on its middle plans, onboarding sessions on Standard and Premium, predictive segments for online shops and over 300 integrations on every plan. If it already works for you, read the section on who should not switch first.
Independent comparison, last reviewed 29 October 2026. Product names are trademarks of their owners. Unbury is not affiliated with, sponsored by or paid by any company compared here. Features and prices change, so check each vendor before you decide.
The two tools charge in opposite ways, so the cheaper one depends on how you send. We checked Brevo's official pricing page, Brevo's full plan comparison and Mailchimp's official pricing page at the time of writing (October 2026). All figures are in US dollars.
Brevo's Free plan needs no card. It lets you keep up to 100,000 contacts and send up to 300 emails a day once Brevo approves your account. It includes the drag and drop editor, templates, forms, segmentation, basic reports, email support and marketing automation for up to 2,000 contacts. The Brevo logo stays on your emails, and there is no A/B testing or landing page builder on Free.
Starter is $9 a month, or $97 for a year, for 5,000 emails a month with up to 500 contacts at that tier. It removes the daily sending cap, but removing the Brevo logo is a paid add-on and automation stays limited to 2,000 contacts. Standard is $18 a month, or $194 for a year, and adds unlimited automation, A/B testing, send time optimisation, advanced reports, 1 landing page and no Brevo logo. Professional is $499 a month for 150,000 emails a month, with 10 seats, WhatsApp campaigns, popups, phone support and 3 hours a year with a deliverability specialist. Enterprise is a custom price.
Your price rises as you buy more emails a month, and the contact limit rises with it. SMS credits are sold separately on every plan.
Mailchimp's Free plan covers 250 contacts, with a maximum of 500 emails a month or 250 a day. It has 1 seat, no marketing automation flows, limited templates and email support for the first 30 days only, and Mailchimp branding stays on your emails.
The paid plans are on an introductory offer at the time of writing: Essentials $13 a month, Standard $20 a month and Premium $350 a month, each for 12 months and labelled 50% off. After that you pay the full price for your contact tier, which the pricing page shows once you choose a list size, so check current pricing before you commit. At 500 contacts, Standard allows 6,000 emails a month. Mailchimp also says it bills paid plans automatically for overages if you go over your limits.
For a fuller picture of what lists of different sizes pay, see our guide to how much email marketing costs.
This table uses each vendor's own pricing page at the time of writing (October 2026). Prices are monthly, in US dollars, for the cheapest tier.
| What you need | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free, then $9 a month (Starter, 5,000 emails) | Free, then $13 a month for 12 months (Essentials, 50% off), then full price |
| Free plan | Up to 100,000 contacts, 300 emails a day | 250 contacts, 500 emails a month or 250 a day |
| Contacts on the cheapest paid plan | Up to 500 contacts at 5,000 emails a month | 500 contacts, sends of 10 times your contacts |
| Automation | Up to 2,000 contacts on Free and Starter, unlimited on Standard | None on Free, up to 4 flow steps on Essentials, up to 200 flows on Standard |
| Landing pages and forms | Forms on every plan, 1 landing page on Standard, 10 on Professional | Popup forms on every plan, landing page builder available |
| A/B testing | From Standard ($18 a month) | Testing on paid plans, multivariate and A/B on Premium |
| SMS and WhatsApp | SMS on every plan (credits extra), WhatsApp campaigns on Professional | SMS as a paid add-on in select countries |
| Deliverability help | Deliverability specialist (3 hours a year) on Professional, dedicated IP as an add-on | Phone and priority support on Premium |
| Support | Email on Free, Starter and Standard, phone on Professional | Email for 30 days free, 24/7 email and chat on paid plans |
| Best for | Budget-minded coaches and businesses that also want SMS | Online shops and teams that want deep reports and integrations |
We have already compared Brevo with MailerLite in our Brevo vs MailerLite guide, if that is your other option.
Brevo's free plan lets you store up to 100,000 contacts and send up to 300 emails a day. Mailchimp's caps you at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. If you have a list of 1,000 people from past clients and events, Brevo lets you keep them all for free and email them in batches, while Mailchimp would push you onto a paid plan straight away.
Brevo charges mainly by how many emails you send each month. That suits a coach with a large but quiet list who emails twice a month. You are not paying every month for people you rarely email. Mailchimp charges by contacts, so a big list costs more even if you barely use it.
Brevo Standard at $18 a month includes unlimited automation, A/B testing and no Brevo logo. To get a full set of automation flows on Mailchimp you need Standard, and its listed price of $20 a month is an introductory offer for the first 12 months. For a coach who just needs a welcome sequence, a nurture sequence and a reminder before calls, Brevo gets you there for less.
Brevo includes SMS on every plan, with credits bought separately, and transactional email through its API and SMTP on every plan. If you want to text a reminder before a discovery call or send receipts from the same account as your newsletter, Brevo handles it without another tool.
Mailchimp is built with connected stores in mind. Its pricing page highlights automation flows for orders and predictive segments on Standard and Premium. Brevo has e-commerce features too, including abandoned cart recovery, but some of its stronger shop tools, such as product recommendations and dynamic coupons, sit on Professional at $499 a month. For a small shop, Mailchimp gets you further on a mid-priced plan. If the shop is your whole business, also look at our Klaviyo vs Mailchimp comparison.
Mailchimp Essentials includes 3 seats and Standard 5 seats, with role-based access and an onboarding session on Standard. Brevo Starter is a single user, and Standard allows up to 3 users as a paid add-on. If an assistant or a small team works on your emails, Mailchimp's structure is simpler and cheaper.
Mailchimp lists 300+ integrations on every plan, and paid plans include 24/7 email and chat support. Brevo offers email support in 6 languages up to Standard, with phone support on Professional. If you want to reach someone at any hour without paying for a top plan, Mailchimp has the edge.
If you are on Mailchimp, your automations run, your emails reach people and your bill is fair, there is little reason to move. Switching means rebuilding forms, automations and templates, testing every sign-up again and building up a sending history on the new platform. Move only when a real limit is costing you leads or money.
A new platform also will not fix where your emails land. Emails go to spam or the Promotions tab because of how your domain is set up, how clean your list is and how your emails are written, and those problems follow you to the new tool. Our guide to why emails go to Promotions explains the causes, and our free email deliverability checker tests your SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in a minute.
Neither tool will fix a vague offer, a lead magnet that nobody wants or follow-up that arrives days after someone signs up. Those are the reasons most coaches' email lists stay quiet, and they are the same on Brevo and Mailchimp.
Still unsure? These three questions settle it for most people.
A big list you email a few times a month usually costs less on Brevo, because you pay for sends. A small list you email often can work on either, so compare the full price for your exact tier on both pages.
If you sell coaching, consulting or courses, Brevo covers what you need for less, and adds SMS reminders if you want them. If you sell products through a shop, Mailchimp's store features may be worth paying for.
If it is just you, pick the tool you find easier and will open every week. If a team runs it, Mailchimp's seats and roles may matter more than price.
The tool is the easy bit. Writing the emails, building the follow-up and keeping it running every week is where most coaches get stuck. A done-for-you studio fits when you know email should be bringing in clients but you do not have the hours to build it and keep it going. We find where your marketing is losing people first, then build the fix on whichever platform suits you. You can start with a free marketing audit.
For most coaches and small service businesses, yes, mainly on price. Brevo's free plan holds far more contacts and sends, and its $18 Standard plan includes unlimited automation and A/B testing. Mailchimp is better for online shops and teams that want more seats, onboarding and integrations.
Yes. Sendinblue renamed itself Brevo, so Sendinblue vs Mailchimp and Brevo vs Mailchimp are the same comparison. Your old Sendinblue account, contacts and campaigns now live in Brevo.
Yes, but the free plan is small. At the time of writing (October 2026) it covers 250 contacts and a maximum of 500 emails a month or 250 a day, with 1 seat and no automation flows. Sending pauses if you go over a limit.
Brevo's free plan lets you keep up to 100,000 contacts and send up to 300 emails a day. Automation works for up to 2,000 contacts, and the Brevo logo stays on your emails. A/B testing and landing pages need a paid plan.
Brevo is one of the cheapest, with a large free plan and Starter at $9 a month. MailerLite is another, with a free plan of 2,500 emails a month and paid plans from $12 a month. Check each official pricing page for your exact list size.
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