Email marketing
Brevo review
Businesses with big contact lists that send occasionally, since Brevo charges by emails sent rather than contacts.
We check it out so you don’t have to.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend things we believe are useful. Read our full disclosure.
- What it is
- Email and SMS marketing
- Best for
- Pay by emails sent, not contacts
- Price
- Free (300/day); Starter $9/mo, checked October 26, 2026
- Prices checked
- October 26, 2026
We researched Brevo's official pricing, plan terms, product pages and help documentation, and our team also set up Brevo's free plan ourselves for business and transactional email. We haven't run marketing campaigns on it, so the rest of this review is research-based, not a full hands-on test.
Who it’s best for
- Small businesses that want email, SMS and WhatsApp together.
- Senders with big lists but low volume, since pricing is by emails sent.
- Teams that need transactional email via API.
Who should skip it
- Less ideal if you need advanced automation on the cheapest plan.
How it works day to day
This part draws on Brevo’s own product pages, help center and documentation, read October 26, 2026 (listed under Sources). We haven’t used Brevo ourselves.
You design campaigns from templates, segment your contacts and schedule sends. Because Brevo prices by emails sent rather than contacts stored, you can keep a large list and only pay for the volume you actually send. On Standard you can build automated journeys that combine email with other channels, and developers can send order and password-reset messages through Brevo's SMTP relay or API.
Key features in use
- Email campaigns and templates.
- Marketing automation (Standard).
- SMS and WhatsApp.
- Transactional messaging.
- Sales pipelines and live chat.
Setup and learning curve
Brevo says you don't need a card to sign up. You start on the Free plan, upload contacts, and can send up to 300 emails a day once Brevo approves your account for sending. Our team set up the free plan on October 26, 2026 for transactional and business email. Domain authentication (a Brevo code TXT record, two DKIM CNAME records and a DMARC record) verified on the first try once the DNS records were added. Senders on the authenticated domain were verified automatically, with no codes. The SMTP relay worked with Gmail's "Send mail as" within about an hour. Brevo also takes sensible security and compliance steps: generating an SMTP key is protected by a code sent by email plus phone verification, which keeps the sending account secure, and onboarding asks for a business address, which anti-spam laws require in commercial email.
Integrations
Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, Zapier and more.
Support
Email support in 6 languages on Starter.
Real-world use cases
- A shop sends order emails through the API.
- A nonprofit sends a monthly newsletter.
- A store sends SMS promotions.
What it costs
Prices checked October 26, 2026, from Brevo’s own pricing page unless noted. Prices change often, so check the official page before you buy.
- Free: up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved for sending.
- Starter: $9 a month, or $8.08 a month billed yearly. From 5,000 emails a month.
- Standard: $18 a month, or $16.17 billed yearly. Adds marketing automation.
- Professional: $499 a month, or $449.08 billed yearly. From 150,000 emails a month.
- Removing the Brevo logo costs extra on Starter ($10.80 a month as listed).
What we like
- Free plan with 300 emails a day.
- Pricing based on emails sent, not contacts.
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, live chat and chatbot.
- Transactional messaging via SMTP and API.
- Integrations with Shopify, WordPress, Stripe and Zapier.
What to watch for
- Brevo logo on Starter unless you pay to remove it.
- Automation needs Standard.
- Daily cap on the free plan.
- Professional is a big price jump.
The fine print
- Paid plans are priced by emails sent each month, so check the volume tier you need.
- Yearly billing saves 10%.
The main alternative: GetResponse
GetResponse is an email marketing platform with a free account, webinars on higher plans and automation.
What it costs: $15.58/mo yearly or $19 monthly (Starter), checked October 26, 2026
Read our full GetResponse review · GetResponse vs Brevo
Pick Brevo if you…
- want multichannel messaging on a budget.
- have a big list but send rarely.
Pick GetResponse if you…
- want webinars and landing pages too.
- want automation on lower plans.
Our take
Brevo is a flexible, low-cost platform for email, SMS and WhatsApp, priced by volume sent. Automation needs Standard. Compare GetResponse if you want webinars and landing pages in the same tool.
Side by side
| Company | Best for | Starting price | Trial / refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Pay by emails sent, not contacts | Free (300/day); Starter $9/mo, checked October 26, 2026 | Free plan |
| GetResponse | Automation plus webinars and courses | $15.58/mo yearly or $19 monthly (Starter), checked October 26, 2026 | 14-day trial |
From our company records. Check the official pages for current prices.
What we checked
- Brevo's pricing page and plan terms, read October 26, 2026
- GetResponse's details: its pricing page, read October 26, 2026
- Brevo's feature pages, help-center articles and integration pages, read October 26, 2026
Sources
How we review
We read the company's own terms, test the sign-up or booking steps where we can, and compare it with alternatives. A commission never changes what we write. Read our disclosure.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend things we believe are useful. Read our full disclosure.