Overview
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a Paris-based marketing platform that rebranded in 2023. What sets it apart: email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, and transactional email all in one dashboard. They charge by email volume, not contacts a pricing model that saves significant money for businesses with large lists and low send frequency.
We tested Brevo for 6 months across email campaigns, SMS, transactional SMTP, and automation workflows. We sent 50,000+ emails and tracked deliverability across Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
Deliverability Testing
| Provider | Inbox Rate | Spam Rate | Missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 95.1% | 3.2% | 1.7% |
| Outlook | 92.8% | 5.1% | 2.1% |
| Yahoo | 94.5% | 3.8% | 1.7% |
| Overall Average | 94.2% | 4.0% | 1.8% |
94.2% overall inbox rate is good but not top-tier. GetResponse (96.8%) and MailerLite (95.5%) scored higher in our tests. Brevo's shared IP pool on lower plans is the likely cause dedicated IPs on Business plan ($18/mo) should improve this.
Multi-Channel Features
📧
Email Marketing
Drag-and-drop editor, 40+ templates, A/B testing, send-time optimization. Functional but templates less polished than MailerLite.
📱
SMS Marketing
Send SMS campaigns to 200+ countries. Pay-as-you-go pricing. Segment by location, behavior, and engagement.
💬
WhatsApp Campaigns
Send WhatsApp marketing messages at scale. Template approval required. Unique feature no other email platform includes this.
🤖
Marketing Automation
Visual workflow builder with triggers, conditions, and actions. Good for basic-to-intermediate automation. Advanced users may want GetResponse.
🔌
Transactional Email
SMTP relay and API for transactional emails. Excellent deliverability for order confirmations, password resets, etc.
💬
Live Chat Widget
Embeddable chat widget for your website. Basic but functional. Included free on all plans.
SMTP & API Performance
Brevo's transactional email service is one of its strongest features. We benchmarked the SMTP relay and REST API over 6 months:
SMTP Latency
120ms
Avg send time
API Latency
95ms
REST API
Delivery Rate
99.1%
Transactional
Uptime
99.98%
SMTP service
For developers, Brevo SMTP is a strong alternative to SendGrid and Postmark at a lower price point. The API is well-documented with SDKs for Python, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, and Go.
Pricing Analysis
Brevo's unique pricing model charges by email volume, not contacts. This is a massive advantage for businesses with large lists:
Cost Comparison: 10,000 Contacts
Brevo
$9/mo
5,000 emails/mo
Mailchimp
$100/mo
10,000 contacts
GetResponse
$65/mo
10,000 contacts
Support
📧
Email only
Free Plan
💬
Chat + Email
Paid Plans
🎯
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quality
Pros & Cons
👍 Pros
👎 Cons
Brevo vs Competitors
| Feature | Brevo | MailerLite | GetResponse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $9/mo | $10/mo | $15/mo |
| Free Plan | 300/day, ∞ contacts | 1,000 subs, 12K/mo | 500 subs, basic |
| SMS/WhatsApp | ✓ Built-in | ✗ | ✗ |
| Inbox Rate | 94.2% | 95.5% | 96.8% |
| Templates | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| SMTP/API | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Best For | Multi-channel budget | Creators | Automation power |
FAQ
Is Brevo the same as Sendinblue?▼
Why is Brevo so much cheaper than Mailchimp?▼
Is the SMTP service good enough for production?▼
Can I remove Brevo branding on the free plan?▼
Final Verdict
Brevo earns a 4.5/5 as the best budget multi-channel marketing platform. The unlimited contacts model, built-in SMS/WhatsApp, and excellent SMTP API make it uniquely valuable. Deliverability is good but not best-in-class. For prettier emails, go MailerLite. For advanced automation, GetResponse.