Brevo (formerly known as Sendinblue) is an email marketing tool that has slowly evolved into a comprehensive marketing and sales platform. It now includes additional features such as CRM, website chatbots, and SMS marketing. Additionally, it allows you to send transactional emails via SMTP or API.
Though Brevo is excellent for email marketing, it does have some drawbacks, such as the additional payment required to remove their logo from emails and a complex user interface due to the addition of several features.
Additionally, the frequent pricing changes and updates have affected many customers who are now actively looking for an alternative.
Brevo's 2026 pricing update
Brevo has updated their pricing in a weird and smart way in 2026 and this change affects both new aswell as existing customers.
So recently Brevo has decided to update the pricing for their paid plans (Starter & Standard) but the hike is done only on plans with more than 10,000 subscribers. Leaving the base plan at $9 keeps the “from $9/month” figure intact on the pricing page, in comparison articles and in every review that quotes a starting price. The advertised entry cost is unchanged, so at a glance nothing looks different.
Starter tier (monthly emails) | Old price | New price | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
5,000 | $9 | $9 | No change |
10,000 | $17 | $17 | No change |
20,000 | $29 | $32 | +10% |
40,000 | $39 | $46 | +18% |
The customers who actually pay more are the ones already on the platform and sending at volume. On the 40,000-email tier, that's an extra $84 a year for the same service.
Additional charges for add-ons
Brevo is also one of the few email marketing tools that practically charges for many small things. Here's a quick list of things Brevo charges for:
- Remove Brevo logo: $9/month, and only needed on Starter. Standard and above have no logo.
- Extra marketing seats: $9/month each, available on Standard up to three users.
- Dedicated IP: $251/year, on Professional and Enterprise.
- SAML SSO: $324/month, on Professional.
- Sales packages: Sales Essentials at $31/month, Sales Advanced at $64/month.
Best Brevo alternatives compared
Below is a side-by-side view of the eight alternatives, so you can narrow things down before reading the detail.
Free plan comparison
Tool | Free plan (subscribers) | Free plan (emails) |
|---|---|---|
Brevo | Up to 100,000 stored | 300/day |
EmailOctopus | 2,500 | 10,000/mo. |
HubSpot | 1,000,000 | 2,000/mo. |
Mailchimp | 250 | 500/mo. |
MailerLite | 250 | 2,500/mo. |
Constant Contact | Not available | Not available |
Drip | Not available | Not available |
beehiiv | 2,500 | No capping |
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | 10,000 | No capping |
Two things stand out here. Mailchimp and MailerLite have both cut their free plans hard in 2026, down to 250 subscribers each. Kit, meanwhile, now offers 10,000 subscribers free, though with only one automation and requirement to mandatorily show promotion which promote other newsletters in their network.
Paid plan comparison
Tool | Pricing/mo. (500 subscribers) | Pricing/mo. (10K subscribers) |
|---|---|---|
Brevo | From $9 | From $32 |
EmailOctopus | Free, or Pro from $10 | $44.50 |
HubSpot | From $20 | From $470 |
Mailchimp | From $13 | From $110 |
MailerLite | From $12 | From $89 |
Constant Contact | From $12 | From $110 |
Drip | $39 | $154 |
beehiiv | Free, or from $49 | From $109 |
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Free, or from $39 | Free, or $139 |
Note: As Brevo charges by emails sent, a 10,000-contact list needs the 20,000-email Starter tier to clear the contact caps, which is why the figure is $32 rather than the headline $9. That tier is also one of the ones that went up in September 2026.
Best use case and ratings
Tool | Best for | User rating (data from GetApp) |
|---|---|---|
Brevo | Businesses looking for multiple solutions under a single tool (email marketing, CRM & customer support) | 4.6 |
EmailOctopus | Small/medium businesses and newsletter writers | 4.8 |
HubSpot | Startups and enterprises who are sales heavy | 4.5 |
Mailchimp | Startups and enterprises | 4.5 |
MailerLite | Small/medium businesses and startups | 4.7 |
Constant Contact | Ecommerce and medium sized businesses | 4.3 |
Drip | Ecommerce businesses | 4.4 |
beehiiv | Creators and writers | 4.4 |
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Creators and writers | 4.6 |
EmailOctopus
EmailOctopus focuses on providing an easy-to-use email marketing tool with all the essential features, while keeping prices affordable and transparent.
You get everything you need, including a drag and drop email builder, no-code signup forms and automated emails, at a fraction of the cost of the alternatives.
There are no logo removal fees and no surprise tier upgrades when your list grows past a hidden cap. What you see on the pricing page is what you pay.
Features:
- Easy to use drag and drop email builder
- List segmentation
- No-code signup, popup forms and landing pages
- Email automation
- Zapier and Make integrations
EmailOctopus is a popular Brevo alternative that's been used by over 80,000 businesses and individuals for their newsletters and email marketing.
Pricing:
Free for up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with Pro plans starting from $9/month. You can see the full breakdown on our pricing page.
HubSpot
HubSpot offers a suite of products for inbound marketing, sales and customer service. It includes tools for email marketing, social media management, content management, analytics and customer service automation.
Features:
- Email automation
- Segmentation
- Forms & landing pages
- Inbuilt CRM
- Added customer support tools
HubSpot is a strong choice if you need a CRM at the centre of your business. It's less compelling if email is your main focus, and the cost climbs quickly as your contact list grows.
Pricing:
Free tools are available with a generous contact limit but restrictive email sending limits. Marketing Hub Starter begins at $20/month per seat and includes 1,000 marketing contacts, with additional contacts charged in blocks. Professional jumps to $890/month.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the best known email marketing tools and has been for years. It once offered 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers a month for free, and was known for being affordable.
That's changed considerably. In February 2026, the free plan dropped again to 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends, down from 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. Automation was removed from the free tier entirely.
In April 2026, Mailchimp also raised prices by around 11–13% for legacy account holders who had never moved onto a current plan.
So, although Mailchimp remains a good email marketing platform, we’d recommend checking out all the other great alternatives to find the best fit for you.
Features:
- Email automation
- Segmentation
- Forms & landing pages
- Dynamic content
- A/B testing
Pricing:
The free plan works for testing, but not for real use cases. Essentials starts at $13/month for 500 contacts, Standard at $20/month, and Premium at $350/month. Note that Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts towards your total.
MailerLite
MailerLite has long been a favourite for its low prices and generous free plan. Both of those things have changed over the past year.
The free plan now allows just 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, having been cut from 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails in two separate reductions. Paid prices also rose by roughly 10–30% across every subscriber tier in 2026.
The plans were renamed at the same time. Growing Business is now Comfort, and Advanced is now Power, which makes comparing old and new quotes trickier than it should be.
We've covered the full detail in our MailerLite pricing update post.
Features:
- Easy to use drag and drop email builder
- List segmentation
- No-code signup and popup forms
- Extensive landing pages builder
- Email automation
- Zapier and Make integrations
MailerLite still offers useful extras, like a native payment gateway and locked content. If you need those and don't mind the higher price, it's a reasonable choice.
Pricing:
The free plan is now very limited. Comfort starts at $12/month for 500 subscribers, and Power at $25/month.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact started as an email marketing tool and has expanded into a full marketing communications platform, with SMS marketing, social media marketing and marketing automation.
Features:
- Email automation
- List segmentation
- Forms & landing pages
- Dynamic content
- A/B testing
- AI assistant
Constant Contact is feature-rich, which suits you well if you need all of it. Its pricing also scales sharply with list size, so it pays to check the cost at your expected subscriber count rather than the headline figure.
Pricing:
There's no free plan, only a short trial. Lite starts at $12/month for 500 contacts, Standard at $35/month and Premium at $80/month.
Drip
Drip started as a popup tool and has grown into an ecommerce email marketing platform. It integrates closely with Shopify and includes the features you need to scale an online store.
Features:
- Email automation
- List segmentation
- Large popup template collection
- Dynamic content
- A/B testing
Every feature is included at every tier, so you won't hit a feature wall. The trade-off is that there's no free plan and the entry price is high for a small list.
Pricing:
No free tier, though a 14-day trial is available. Plans start at $39/month for up to 2,500 contacts.
beehiiv
beehiiv is an email and content platform built for creators and authors. It's well suited to newsletters, though other tools may serve you better for broader email marketing.
Features:
- Basic email editor
- List segmentation
- No-code hosted signup and popup forms
- Zapier integrations
The free Launch plan is genuinely useful, covering 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. The catch is the step up afterwards, as there's no low-cost middle tier.
Pricing:
Free up to 2,500 subscribers. The Scale plan starts at $49/month.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
Kit rebranded from ConvertKit in 2024. It's an email marketing tool focused on the creator economy, built to help individual creators grow and monetise their newsletters.
Features:
- Easy to use drag and drop email builder
- List segmentation
- Natively supports paid newsletters
- Extensive landing pages builder
- Email automation
- Zapier and Make integrations
- Monetise your newsletter with paid recommendations and ads
Kit's free plan is the most generous in the category at 10,000 subscribers, though it's limited to a single automation and no sequences. Plus you'll have to have one mandatory recommendation slot in your emails to promote another business in Kit's network.
Pricing:
Free for up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator starts at $39/month.
Frequently asked questions
What is Brevo used for?
Brevo is a marketing platform that helps businesses manage email campaigns, automation, SMS and WhatsApp messaging, and customer relationships. It also handles transactional email through SMTP or API.
Is Brevo a CRM?
Yes. Brevo includes CRM functionality, letting businesses manage and analyse customer interactions across the customer lifecycle. Every plan includes free built-in sales tools, with more advanced features available through paid Sales packages.
What is the most affordable Brevo alternative?
EmailOctopus is among the most affordable options, with a free plan covering 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, and paid plans from $10/month.
Can EmailOctopus be a Brevo replacement?
For email marketing, EmailOctopus works well as a Brevo replacement, and often at a lower cost. For other needs such as CRM, SMS and transactional email, Brevo remains the better fit.
