Brevo vs Mailchimp: Which Email Marketing Tool Is Better in 2025?
Choosing the right email platform in 2025 matters more than ever. You’re not just sending newsletters — you’re building automations, tying email to revenue, handling SMS/chat, and juggling privacy rules and deliverability challenges. Two names keep coming up for small businesses and marketers: Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) and Mailchimp. Both have loyal users, but they serve different use cases and budgets.
Below I’ll walk you through a hands-on, impartial comparison across features, pricing, deliverability, automation, integrations, support, and real-world recommendations so you can pick the correct tool for your needs. I tested product docs, pricing pages, independent reviews, and recent market signals to give you an honest, 2025-aware verdict.
Quick verdict (TL;DR)
- Choose Brevo if you want an affordable all-in-one that includes email, SMS, a lightweight CRM, and generous sending for low cost — ideal for small businesses, agencies on a budget, and EU/GDPR-sensitive teams.
- Choose Mailchimp if you value polished deliverability history, deeper audience analytics, and mature integrations—and you can accept higher cost at scale. Mailchimp remains feature-rich but can be pricier for growing lists.
1) Product positioning & core strengths
Brevo(Formly SendinBlue)
Brevo positions itself as an all-in-one marketing & CRM suite, with email, SMS, chat, and basic CRM funnels built into a single platform. It emphasizes affordability and multi-channel capability (email + SMS + WhatsApp in some markets) and offers tools like a drag-and-drop automation builder and transactional messaging APIs. This makes it especially attractive to small teams that want fewer integrations and predictable cost per send.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a veteran in the space that has expanded from email into marketing automation, landing pages, ads, and audience insights. It’s frequently praised for polished templates, strong reporting, and deliverability history. That said, in 2025 Mailchimp faces usability and pricing criticisms from some SMBs as it evolves under Intuit ownership. If you need enterprise-grade analytics or a very refined UI, Mailchimp can still be the better choice.
2) Feature comparison (what you actually use)
| Feature | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Email builder & templates | Drag-and-drop, responsive templates | Strong editor, content studio |
| Automation workflows | Visual builder, prebuilt templates | Journeys & automation, deeper segmentation |
| SMS & multi-channel | Native SMS (paid) & transactional | SMS via add-ons / partners |
| CRM | Built-in lightweight CRM & pipelines | Audience management; not a full CRM |
| Transactional emails | Native transactional API & SMTP | Transactional options (add-on) |
| Landing pages & forms | Included | Included |
| Predictive analytics | Basic | Advanced analytics & recommendations |
| Deliverability tools | Domain setup, warmup help | Mature deliverability track record |
Takeaway: Brevo focuses on practical multi-channel tools and reasonably powerful automations, while Mailchimp leans into deeper analytics, more mature product polish, and a larger ecosystem of integrations.
3) Pricing & total cost of ownership (TCO) — the real difference
Pricing is one of the biggest practical differences — especially once your list grows.
- Brevo: Known for its cost-per-send model and a free tier that includes a daily sending limit. Paid tiers often feel very competitive for businesses that send high-volume, low-cost campaigns; Brevo’s messaging highlights big savings versus some competitors. Exact pricing can shift, so always check the vendor page for your region.
- Mailchimp: Uses a more traditional contacts-based model. The free tier is useful for tiny lists, but as contacts and feature needs scale (automation, premium support), bills can rise quickly. Recent market updates show Mailchimp has been adjusting strategy and pricing, and some SMBs report higher costs as lists expand.
Example scenario (illustrative): If you have 10,000 contacts but only send monthly newsletters, Mailchimp’s contact-based pricing can be higher than Brevo’s pay-per-send model. Conversely, for smaller lists that want advanced predictive segmentation and analytics, Mailchimp’s Standard/Premium tiers may justify the cost.
Pro tip: Calculate TCO based on your sending habits (how often you email and whether you need SMS), not just contact count. Brevo often wins on pure sending economics; Mailchimp often wins on advanced analytics and marginal deliverability.
4) Deliverability & inbox placement
Deliverability is complex and depends on IP reputation, domain setup, content, and list hygiene.
- Mailchimp historically scored well on deliverability in independent tests and has a long track record of inbox performance and deliverability tools. That institutional history is an advantage for senders who prioritize inbox placement.
- Brevo has invested in deliverability tools and warm-up support and is competitive — some recent comparisons show Brevo performing strongly, particularly for EU-centric businesses where local compliance and EU hosting matter. Independent tests in 2025 even place Brevo ahead on some health-monitoring and setup features.
Practical advice: Regardless of platform, ensure SPF/DKIM/DMARC are set up, use dedicated IPs if you’re high volume, maintain list hygiene, and test seed lists before large campaigns.
5) Automation, workflows & personalization
Automation is a key battleground.
- Brevo offers a visual automation builder with prebuilt templates (welcome flows, cart recovery, birthday emails) and includes multi-channel triggers (email + SMS). For many SMBs, this provides a complete automation stack with less configuration.
- Mailchimp has Journey Builder and advanced segmentation capabilities that can be more flexible for complex, multi-step lifecycle marketing. If your business needs granular predictive segments or deep integrations with ecommerce events, Mailchimp often has more mature capabilities.
Pro tip: If you sell physical products, test how each platform connects to your ecommerce stack — Klaviyo might do some flows better for pure ecommerce, but Brevo and Mailchimp both integrate widely.
6) Integrations & ecosystem
- Mailchimp enjoys a massive ecosystem of integrations and third-party tools, which matters if you rely on niche plugins, CRMs, or advanced analytics connectors.
- Brevo offers common integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Zapier) and increasingly adds native plugins for popular stacks. For many small businesses the integration set is more than adequate.
Recommendation: Check whether critical integrations (payment, membership, CRM, LMS) exist and how deep they are (one-way vs two-way sync).
7) Support, onboarding & ease of use
- Brevo emphasizes simplicity and step-by-step onboarding; smaller teams often report faster time-to-value.
- Mailchimp provides robust learning resources and strong documentation, but some SMBs have reported recent usability friction as the product expands. Recent business reporting suggests Intuit is focused on improving Mailchimp UX and retention.
If you’re a solo founder or tiny team, platform ease-of-use and onboarding speed might matter more than marginal feature differences.
8) Privacy, data residency & compliance
If you operate in the EU or handle sensitive personal data:
- Brevo historically positions itself as EU-friendly (GDPR compliance, EU hosting options), making it attractive to privacy-sensitive businesses.
- Mailchimp also complies with GDPR but has a broader global footprint and enterprise compliance offerings.
Pro tip: If legal/regulatory compliance is a core requirement, verify data residency and contractual terms before committing.
9) Real-world user feedback & market signals
Independent reviews and recent industry news indicate:
- Brevo is increasingly praised for value and features relative to price. Independent comparisons in 2025 show Brevo as a strong option for cost-conscious businesses.
- Mailchimp still leads in brand recognition and historical deliverability performance, but has faced criticism over usability and pricing as reported in financial and market news. Intuit’s earnings commentary has even referenced Mailchimp’s challenges, signaling active product shifts.
10) Recommendation matrix — pick based on your profile
- Small budget, need multi-channel (email + SMS) & EU focus: Brevo.
- Growing ecommerce brand needing deep analytics & highest deliverability history: Mailchimp (or consider ecommerce-first tools like Klaviyo if revenue attribution is critical).
- Agency managing many clients across budgets: Brevo for cost efficiency; Mailchimp if clients demand advanced analytics and ecosystem.
- Enterprise or complex stacks requiring custom integrations: Evaluate Mailchimp or enterprise ESPs; consider deliverability consulting.
Comparison table (condensed)
| Criteria | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Budget-conscious SMBs, EU businesses | Mid-market to enterprise, analytics-focused teams |
| Pricing | Competitive pay-per-send & free tier | Contact-based tiers; more expensive at scale |
| Automation | Strong, multi-channel | Advanced journeys & segmentation |
| CRM | Built-in basic CRM | Audience management (not full CRM) |
| Deliverability | Competitive; strong EU compliance | Long established deliverability track record |
| Support | Good onboarding for SMBs | Strong documentation; enterprise support higher tiers |
| Integrations | Major platforms, Zapier | Extensive ecosystem & partners |
| SMS | Native | Via add-ons/partners |
Pro tips for choosing & testing
- Run a 30-day pilot with real sends. Cheap plans allow testing deliverability, templates, and automation performance.
- Import a seed list and run inbox placement tests. Use the same campaign on both platforms to compare real inbox rates.
- Calculate TCO for 12 months. Include expected contact growth, SMS volumes, and premium features.
- Test automation ROI. Setup welcome + cart + post-purchase flows and measure revenue per recipient (RPR).
- Check legal terms and data residency if you have GDPR or industry-specific requirements.
Final thoughts
Both Brevo and Mailchimp are capable email marketing platforms in 2025 — but they solve slightly different problems. Brevo offers an excellent value proposition for SMBs that want multi-channel capability and predictable sending costs. Mailchimp remains a strong choice for teams that need mature analytics, extensive integrations, and a long track record of deliverability.
Your decision should hinge on what you’ll actually use (how frequently you’ll send, whether you need SMS, how much you value analytics), not on brand reputation alone. Run a short pilot, measure RPR and deliverability, and pick the platform that fits your workflow and budget.
Sources & further reading
- Brevo (official): features, automation, pricing.
- Mailchimp (official): pricing and product overview.
- Independent comparisons & reviews (EmailToolTester, Moosend, Omnisend).
- Market signal: Intuit reporting & Mailchimp performance commentary.
An expert, data-driven comparison from a 10-year blogger & digital marketer
