Brevo vs Mailchimp (2026): Which Is Cheaper for Your List?

Brevo is cheaper than Mailchimp for most small lists in 2026. Brevo Starter costs $9 a month for 5,000 emails, while Mailchimp Essentials costs $13 a month at 500 contacts, and Brevo's Standard plan undercuts Mailchimp Standard by $2 a month. Mailchimp is the better buy when a small team needs several logins on the entry plan, or when a 10,000-contact list wants unlimited users on Premium.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 108 email marketing tools as of 19 October 2026 on its email marketing ranking, and the median cheapest paid plan among the 28 that publish a price is $19 a month. Both entry plans here sit below that median. Mailchimp is listed as an alternative to 63 other tools there, and Brevo to 28.

For transparency: MarketingShot and Dupple's other newsletters are sent on beehiiv, not on Brevo or Mailchimp.

Every price below was read on the vendors' own pages on 19 October 2026: Brevo pricing and Mailchimp pricing. Mailchimp's Essentials and Standard figures are for a list of up to 500 contacts; its Premium plan starts at 10,000 contacts.

At a glance

	Brevo	Mailchimp
Billing model	Emails sent per month	Contacts stored, with a send limit
Free plan	Up to 300 emails a day, no credit card	Up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 1 user
Entry paid plan	Starter, $9/mo for 5,000 emails ($8.08/mo billed yearly)	Essentials, $13/mo at 500 contacts, 3 users
Automation plan	Standard, $18/mo ($16.17/mo billed yearly)	Standard, $20/mo at 500 contacts, 5 users
Top published plan	Professional, $499/mo, from 150,000 emails, 10 seats	Premium, $350/mo at 10,000 contacts (150,000 sends), unlimited users
Enterprise	From $2,499/mo	Through sales
Trial	Free plan instead of a trial	14 days on Essentials and Standard
Yearly discount	10% on Starter, Standard and Professional	15% off the first 12 months, only at 10,000+ contacts

The billing model is the whole comparison. Brevo charges for how many emails you send, so a large list you email twice a month stays cheap. Mailchimp charges for how many contacts you keep, so every dormant subscriber costs money whether you email them or not.

Which one is cheaper for a small list?

At 500 contacts, Brevo wins on both entry tiers. Starter undercuts Mailchimp Essentials by $4 a month, or $48 a year. Paying Brevo yearly drops Starter to $8.08 a month, and Brevo prints the yearly bill as $96.96.

The send allowances line up closely at this size. Mailchimp gives Essentials 10 times your contact count in monthly sends, so 5,000 emails at 500 contacts, and Standard 12 times, so 6,000. Brevo's Starter and Standard both start at 5,000 emails a month. A 500-person list emailed weekly uses about 2,000 sends, well inside either plan.

At the automation tier the gap narrows. Brevo Standard at $18 a month against Mailchimp Standard at $20 saves $24 a year, which is small enough that features and seats should decide.

What the free plans really allow

The free plans fail in different ways, and neither suits a list that is already growing.

Mailchimp Free stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with one user, and sending pauses if you go over either limit. A newsletter with 300 subscribers is already over the cap, so Mailchimp's free plan is a test account more than a home for a real list.

Brevo Free has no contact cap on its pricing page, but it limits you to 300 emails a day. That sounds generous until you send one campaign to 500 people: it cannot go out in a single day. Brevo Free works for a small list emailed in batches, or for transactional email such as order confirmations, which all Brevo plans include through its API and SMTP relay.

If you want the widest free option across the whole category, our best free email marketing software compares the other free tiers.

Which is cheaper for a team?

Seats are where Mailchimp claws back ground. Essentials includes 3 users and Standard includes 5, so a three-person marketing team can share the entry plan without paying for extra logins.

Brevo's Starter is described as best for single users, which makes it a one-person plan. Brevo's pricing page lists multi-user access with 10 seats included on Professional, at $499 a month. A small team that needs separate logins should check what Brevo's Standard plan allows before assuming the cheapest plan covers them.

For a solo marketer, Brevo is cheaper; for a small team on the entry plan, Mailchimp's included seats can be worth its higher price. Check seat counts against your org chart before you compare the headline numbers.

What the automation plans add

Both Standard plans are where a newsletter tool turns into a marketing automation tool, and the tier where the gap between the two vendors is smallest.

Brevo Standard adds unlimited multi-step automated workflows, A/B testing of subject lines and content, AI send time optimization, web and event tracking, advanced reporting with click heatmaps, one landing page and removal of the "Sent with Brevo" footer. On Starter, removing the Brevo logo is a paid add-on, so a brand-conscious sender may land on Standard anyway.

Brevo Starter is not bare, though: it already includes the drag-and-drop editor, templates, an AI content generator, advanced segmentation, signup forms and an MCP connection for managing campaigns from ChatGPT or Claude, which covers a solo sender who mostly runs one-off campaigns.

Mailchimp Standard adds 12 times your contact count in sends and 5 users. Our Mailchimp pricing breakdown goes through what each Mailchimp tier unlocks in automation depth, audiences and templates. Mailchimp warns on its pricing page that extra fees apply when you exceed your contact or send limit, which makes list hygiene part of the price.

When does Mailchimp become the cheaper choice?

Mailchimp's top plan is cheaper at the same send volume. Premium starts at $350 a month for 10,000 contacts and 150,000 sends, with unlimited users, while Brevo Professional starts at $499 a month from 150,000 emails with 10 seats. A 10,000-contact list mailed about 15 times a month pays $149 a month less on Mailchimp Premium, and a large team gets unlimited logins on top.

The comparison depends on the shape of your list. A large list you email rarely favors Brevo, because Brevo bills sends and Mailchimp bills every stored contact. A smaller list that several teammates email often favors Mailchimp's included seats. Both vendors price larger lists on a slider, so run your own contact count and monthly send volume through each calculator before you sign.

What happens as the list grows?

Mailchimp's bill climbs with every contact tier, even if you send the same number of emails. Its calculator puts Essentials at $45 a month for 2,500 contacts and $75 for 5,000, and Standard at $60 and $100 for the same lists. A list that grows from 500 to 5,000 people multiplies the Essentials bill by almost six.

Brevo's slider moves on monthly email volume instead, so the same growth only costs more if you also send more. A 5,000-person list mailed once a month needs about 5,000 sends, the volume Brevo's entry plans start at. Mailed weekly, it needs about 20,000, and you should price that volume on Brevo's slider before you assume the gap holds. Our Brevo pricing breakdown walks through the volume steps, and MailerLite vs Brevo runs the same per-email logic against a per-subscriber rival.

MarketingShot covers price changes like these in its daily brief for marketers; subscribe at marketingshot.com if you are planning a platform switch this year.

Where each one costs you more than it looks

Mailchimp's hidden cost is the contact count. Unsubscribed or inactive contacts left in your audience can push you into a higher tier, and Mailchimp charges extra when you go over. Cleaning the list before each billing cycle is part of running Mailchimp cheaply.

Brevo's hidden cost is volume. Its prices start at 5,000 emails a month on Starter and Standard, and a sender who emails a big list daily climbs the volume slider fast. SMS credits are sold separately on every plan, so a team adding text messages pays per message on top. Pay-as-you-go email credits do not expire, which helps a sender who only mails a few times a year.

Brevo also keeps the 10% yearly discount on its main plans, while Mailchimp's 15% offer covers only the first 12 months and only for accounts with 10,000 or more contacts. Neither discount changes the ranking for a small list.

Which one to pick

Choose Brevo if you are a solo marketer or a small business with a list you email a few times a month. Starter undercuts Mailchimp Essentials by $4 a month, the free plan has no contact cap, and transactional email is included on every plan. Read our Brevo review for the plan detail.

Choose Mailchimp if two or three people need their own logins on the entry plan, or if you want unlimited users on a top plan that starts below Brevo Professional. Our Mailchimp review covers its strengths and limits, and Mailchimp alternatives lists other platforms if neither price fits.

If you are comparing more than these two, see Mailchimp vs MailerLite, Kit vs Mailchimp and our best email marketing for small business guide. Before you move a list, our email deliverability tools guide covers warming a new sending domain.

How we checked

We read Brevo's and Mailchimp's pricing pages on 19 October 2026. Mailchimp's Essentials and Standard prices are its figures for up to 500 contacts and Premium's for 10,000; Brevo's are its published starting prices for 5,000 emails a month (150,000 on Professional). Yearly savings multiply the printed monthly difference by twelve. Dupple has no test lab, so this comparison rests on the vendors' published plans and limits, not on sending campaigns ourselves.

FAQ

Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp in 2026?

Yes, for most small lists. As of October 2026, Brevo Starter costs $9 a month for 5,000 emails and Brevo Standard $18, while Mailchimp Essentials costs $13 a month and Mailchimp Standard $20 at 500 contacts. Mailchimp's Premium plan, at $350 a month for 10,000 contacts, starts below Brevo Professional.

Which free plan is better, Brevo or Mailchimp?

Brevo's free plan holds more contacts, because its pricing page sets a limit of 300 emails a day rather than a contact cap. Mailchimp Free allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month with one user. Brevo suits a list over 250 people; Mailchimp Free suits a test account.

How does Brevo pricing work compared with Mailchimp?

Brevo charges by the number of emails you send each month, starting at 5,000 emails on Starter and Standard. Mailchimp charges by the number of contacts in your account, with a monthly send limit of 10, 12 or 15 times your contacts depending on the plan. A big list emailed rarely costs less on Brevo.

How many users do Brevo and Mailchimp include?

Mailchimp Essentials includes 3 users, Standard 5 and Premium unlimited. Brevo describes Starter as a plan for single users and lists 10 seats included on Professional. Check seat needs before comparing entry prices.

Does Brevo have a free trial?

Brevo offers a free plan with no credit card instead of a timed trial, limited to 300 emails a day. Mailchimp offers a 14-day free trial on Essentials and Standard, and a one-month trial of Premium through sales.

Can I send transactional emails on Brevo and Mailchimp?

Brevo includes transactional email on all plans, with an API, SMTP relay and webhooks, according to its pricing page. Mailchimp sells transactional email separately from the marketing plans compared here, so check its transactional pricing if you need order confirmations.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "Brevo vs Mailchimp (2026): Which Is Cheaper for Your List?", October 2026.

MarketingShot is the daily brief for marketers weighing an email-platform switch. Join at marketingshot.com.

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