Brevo
FreemiumAll-in-one marketing platform (formerly Sendinblue) with email campaigns, SMS, automation workflows, CRM, and transactional email — generous free tier.
What does this tool do?
Brevo is a consolidated marketing and sales platform that consolidates email, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, live chat, and chatbot capabilities into a single interface. Built on the legacy of Sendinblue, it positions itself as a Mailchimp alternative with deeper CRM functionality, transactional messaging via API/SMTP, and a customer data platform for unifying contact information across channels. The platform emphasizes automation workflows that trigger messages based on customer behavior, plus native sales pipeline management and a loyalty rewards system. What distinguishes Brevo is its transactional email infrastructure—allowing developers to send triggered messages (password resets, order confirmations, etc.) through APIs—combined with marketing automation in one product, rather than requiring separate tools.
AI analysis from Feb 23, 2026
Key Features
- Email campaign builder with drag-and-drop editor and template library for marketing and transactional messages
- SMS and WhatsApp marketing capabilities with segmentation and scheduling
- Automation workflows triggered by customer behavior (opens, clicks, purchases, page visits) across multiple channels
- Transactional email and SMS via SMTP relay and REST API for application-triggered messages
- CRM with contact management, custom pipeline stages, and sales automation
- Live chat and chatbot builder for website visitor engagement
- Customer loyalty/rewards program with wallet integration
- Customer data platform for unifying contact data and creating audience segments
- Analytics and reporting on campaign performance, revenue impact, and customer journeys
Use Cases
- 1E-commerce businesses recovering abandoned carts and sending personalized product recommendations via email and SMS
- 2SaaS companies sending transactional emails (sign-ups, receipts, alerts) while simultaneously running marketing campaigns
- 3Small businesses with limited budgets managing customer relationships and multi-channel campaigns without enterprise CRM costs
- 4Developers and agencies building customer communication into applications via Brevo's API and SMTP relay
- 5Retail chains executing omnichannel loyalty programs with email, SMS, and WhatsApp customer engagement
- 6Service-based businesses automating appointment reminders and follow-ups across multiple communication channels
- 7Marketing teams in mid-market companies managing complex, segmented customer journeys with behavioral triggers
Pros & Cons
Advantages
- Generous free tier removes barriers for small businesses—can send emails and SMS without upfront costs, making it accessible for startups testing marketing automation
- True omnichannel platform (email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, live chat, chatbot) in one system reduces tool sprawl and integration overhead compared to assembling point solutions
- Built-in transactional email infrastructure allows developers to use Brevo as both a marketing and operational messaging platform, eliminating the need for separate transactional email services like SendGrid
- 150+ native integrations with major platforms (Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, Zapier) provide pre-built connectors, reducing custom development
- CRM and sales pipeline features bundled at no additional cost on most plans, giving small-to-mid-market teams basic sales functionality without subscribing to separate CRM platforms
Limitations
- Pricing details are obscured behind a 'Contact Sales' wall for advanced features—transparency on mid-market and enterprise plans is lacking, making budget forecasting difficult
- Free tier has likely restrictive contact limits and send frequency caps (not specified in available content), pushing users quickly into paid tiers once they scale
- Bundling many features into one platform can create UI complexity and a steeper learning curve compared to purpose-built, single-function tools like Mailchimp for pure email marketing
- Customer data platform and advanced segmentation appear to be premium/enterprise features, limiting sophisticated personalization for budget-conscious teams
- Limited visibility into AI capabilities mentioned in marketing copy—unclear what specific AI-powered features exist beyond basic automation and what differentiates Brevo's AI from competitors
Pricing Details
Pricing details not publicly available in standard format. Website indicates a free tier exists and mentions 'Sign up free,' but specific contact limits, send volume caps, and paid plan pricing are behind a 'Contact Sales' or 'Get a demo' wall. Brevo's previous pricing model offered tiered plans based on contact volume (up to 300 contacts free), but current pricing structure for 2026 is not transparently displayed on the homepage.
Who is this for?
Small-to-mid-market businesses ($1M–$50M revenue) and entrepreneurs seeking an affordable, all-in-one alternative to Mailchimp or HubSpot; SaaS and e-commerce companies needing both transactional and marketing email; developers and technical teams building customer communication into applications; agencies managing multiple client campaigns; teams in non-English speaking markets (Brevo has strong presence in Europe and emerging markets).