In the ever-expanding world of email marketing platforms, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) often shows up on the radar-especially for small and medium-sized businesses seeking affordable yet functional solutions. But is it really the right choice for a modern marketer? In this blog, we dig into what Brevo offers, how it performs in real-world usage, and whether it’s a smart choice for your marketing stack.
🔍 First Things First: What Exactly Is Brevo?
Brevo is an all-in-one marketing platform that offers email marketing, SMS campaigns, transactional emails, and basic automation flows. The platform rebranded from Sendinblue to Brevo to reflect a broader vision-helping businesses build stronger customer relationships through more than just email.
It’s often positioned as a budget-friendly Mailchimp alternative, especially attractive for companies that send a high volume of emails without needing advanced enterprise-level tools.
💰 Pricing: What Do You Really Get?
One of Brevo’s biggest selling points is its generous contact limit-even on the free plan. Here’s how the plans stack up:
- Free Plan
- Up to 100,000 contacts
- 300 emails/day
- Basic email editor, customizable templates
- Transactional emails (via API/SMTP)
- No landing pages
- Brevo branding on all emails
- Starter Plan(from $9/month)
- Up to 100,000 emails/month
- Unlimited contacts
- No daily sending cap
- Branding removal costs extra ($12/month)
- Business Plan(from $18/month)
- Includes marketing automation, landing pages, A/B testing
- Predictive sending and advanced reporting
- Enterprise Plan
- Custom pricing
- Includes dedicated IP, priority support, and custom integrations
🎨 UI & Usability: How Easy Is It to Use?
Brevo’s UI is fairly modern and clean, but it may take some getting used to. While everyday tasks like building an email or creating a list are intuitive, deeper features like automation flows and transactional setup may feel buried.
- Drag-and-drop builder: Fast, responsive, and easy to use.
- Template library: 54 templates available, plus brand libraries for reuse.
- Reports: Includes campaign stats, open/click rates, and unsubscribes.
⚙️ Key Features and Functional Depth
Let’s break down the core marketing tools Brevo offers and how they hold up for everyday marketers.
✅ Transactional Emails
Brevo supports transactional messaging via API, SMTP, and Webhooks-making it ideal for eCommerce, SaaS, and finance apps.
However, you can’t fine-tune delivery throttling or SmartSend-style pacing, which could impact inbox placement for high-volume or cold lists.
✅ Marketing Automation
Brevo’s workflow builder is visual and supports:
- Welcome emails
- Abandoned cart flows
- Birthday campaigns
- Page visit triggers
You can build behaviour-based workflows with filters, delays, and conditional logic-but free users are limited to 2,000 contacts per automation flow.
✅ Segmentation & Personalization
- Static segments only (no real-time updates)
- Supports merge tags and conditional blocks
- No true CDP-like behavior or predictive segments
Segment Template option
Segment Creation from scratch area
📈 Reporting & Analytics
Brevo includes:
- Real-time performance charts
- Open, click, bounce, and unsubscribe tracking
- Optional predictive send-time (on higher plans)
🧪 Other Highlights from Our Testing
- Landing Pages: Not available on free plan
- Popups & Forms: Visual builder included with behaviour triggers
- Deliverability: Dedicated IPs available on Business/Enterprise plans only; no auto IP warm-up or SmartSend pacing
- Support: 24/7 email support begins from Starter plan; phone support only in Business tier
✅ Pros & Cons Recap
Pros
✔️ 100,000 contacts in free plan
✔️ Clean UI and responsive email builder
✔️ Good automation for basic use cases
✔️ Transactional emails via API and SMTP
✔️ Affordable for high-volume sending
Cons
❌ Static segmentation; no real-time list updates
❌ Branding removal costs extra
❌ No SmartSend-style email throttling
❌ Some limits on reporting and user targeting
❌ Daily limit on free plan (300 emails/day)
🧠 Final Verdict: Is Brevo Right for You?
Brevo is a solid starter platform for marketers who want affordability, scalability, and good automation basics. It’s especially handy for:
- Startups and solopreneurs
- E-commerce brands needing transactional emails
- Marketers who prioritize cost-efficiency over advanced segmentation
However, if your strategy depends on fine-tuned deliverability control, real-time segmentation, or in-depth subscriber behavior tracking, you might find Brevo limiting as your needs grow.
👀 Exploring Other Options?
If you’re looking for a platform that offers deep behavioral segmentation, controlled email pacing (like SmartSend), subscriber-level insights, and a free plan with 6,000 lifetime emails/month-then cmercury is worth exploring.
Vishnu S - Deputy General Manager Marketing
Vishnu heads marketing at cmercury, but around here, he’s just Vishnu — the guy who loves turning complex email stuff into simple, actionable ideas. He writes about email marketing, SaaS growth, and the occasional marketing myth that needs busting. Expect honest takes, light banter, and tips that actually work.