Brevo vs Mailchimp for Startups: Real Costs at Each List Size
Brevo or Mailchimp for a startup email program? Compare free plans, starting prices, and monthly costs at 250, 500, 2,500 and 5,000 contacts.
The short answer
For most startups that expect to outgrow a free plan within a year, Brevo is the better pick, and the reason is how it prices. Brevo's paid plans start at $9 a month for the Starter tier, which covers a band of 5,000 emails a month, and the price depends on how much you send. Mailchimp's paid plans depend on how many contacts you store: the Standard plan at 500 contacts costs $20 a month, and a list of 2,501 to 5,000 contacts costs $100 a month. A startup that keeps a growing list but sends modestly can pay far less on Brevo. A startup that sends to a small, fast-growing list and needs Mailchimp's brand familiarity or its integrations may still choose Mailchimp, at a higher cost.
Pricing for both tools was checked against each vendor's public pricing page on 7 October 2026. Where a plan price is not shown on the page we reviewed, we say so instead of estimating it. This guide is written for founders, early hires and small growth teams, not for enterprise marketing departments.
Comparison at a glance
The table below compares the two tools on the attributes that matter most when a startup is choosing its first paid email plan. Read the prices as starting points. The price you pay depends on your contact count or monthly send volume, and the cost tables later in this guide show how that plays out.
| Tool | Best for | Starting price (plan and billing) | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Startups with a large list that send in bursts, or that want email, SMS and CRM in one account | Free plan: $0, 300 sends a day, up to 100,000 contacts. Starter: $9 a month, starts at 5,000 emails a month, no daily limit | The free plan's daily cap, and automation and A/B testing sit on the Standard plan at $18 a month |
| Mailchimp | Startups that value brand recognition, a large integration catalogue and a familiar interface | Free plan: $0, up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month (250 a day). Standard at 500 contacts: $20 a month, billed monthly | Priced by contacts, so costs step up quickly once a list passes 250 contacts |
| MailerLite | Creators and small teams with a modest list that want a lower-cost paid tier with unlimited sending | Free plan: $0, up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort: $12 a month, or $10.80 a month billed yearly | The Comfort allowance is 10 times the subscriber ceiling, so sending volume is capped by list size; Power at $25 a month removes the cap |
What each tool actually costs at real list sizes
The starting price is the least useful number for planning. A startup's bill depends on its contact count, how often it sends, and whether it needs automation. The table below uses four realistic list sizes and shows the plan that applies at each one, using only the prices and allowances published on each vendor's pricing page. Where a price is not published for a given list size, the table says "pricing on request" rather than guessing.
| List size | Mailchimp | Brevo | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 250 contacts, about 500 sends a month | Free: $0 a month (up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 250 a day) | Free: $0 a month (300 sends a day, up to 100,000 contacts) | Free: $0 a month (up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month) |
| 500 contacts, about 5,000 sends a month | Standard at 500 contacts: $20 a month (up to 6,000 emails a month). Essentials at 500 contacts: $13 a month, monthly billing | Starter: $9 a month (starts at the 5,000-email band, no daily limit) | Comfort: $12 a month, or $10.80 a month billed yearly (10 times the 500-subscriber ceiling) |
| 2,501 to 5,000 contacts, up to 60,000 sends a month | $100 a month (up to 60,000 emails a month) | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
| 5,001 to 10,000 contacts, up to 120,000 sends a month | $135 a month (up to 120,000 emails a month) | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
Two things stand out in that table. First, the Free rows are close, but the free plans have different limits. Mailchimp's free plan stops at 250 contacts, so a list that grows past that point has to move to a paid tier. Brevo's free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts, but caps you at 300 sends a day. Second, the paid costs diverge as the list grows. At 500 contacts, Brevo's Starter plan at $9 a month is less than half of Mailchimp's Standard plan at $20 a month. Over a year, that is $108 against $240, before any automation needs are added.
The arithmetic is simple, but it is worth doing with your own numbers. Multiply the monthly price by 12 to get the annual cost, and compare the result against what you would spend on a second tool if the first one lacks a feature you need. For example, if a startup needs automation from day one, Brevo's Standard plan at $18 a month costs $216 a year, and Mailchimp's automation tiers are not priced in this comparison, so you should read them on its pricing page before committing.
Brevo for startups: where it wins and where it falls short
Brevo is the stronger choice when a startup's list is growing faster than its sending schedule. Because the paid plans are priced by monthly email volume, a startup can store tens of thousands of contacts on the free plan and move to Starter only when it starts sending in volume. The free plan's storage limit of 100,000 contacts is far above what most early-stage products will reach in their first year, so the free plan is useful for building the list before you have a reason to pay.
Brevo also suits startups that want more than email in one account. Its positioning, which we describe here without testing the features ourselves, includes SMS, a built-in CRM and transactional email alongside marketing campaigns. For a small team that wants password-reset emails, onboarding messages and a launch newsletter in one login, that consolidation can remove a second subscription. Whether a given channel is included in a given plan depends on the plan, so check the feature list on Brevo's pricing page before you assume a channel is covered.
The weaknesses are real. The free plan's daily cap of 300 sends means a large one-off announcement to a 10,000-contact list cannot go out in a single day on the free plan. That is a manageable limit for a weekly newsletter but a real constraint for a launch. Automation and A/B testing sit on the Standard plan at $18 a month, so a team that needs lifecycle sequences should price the Standard plan, not the Starter plan, from the start. Brevo's Professional plan, priced at $499 a month for 150,000 to 10 million sends, is designed for much larger programmes and is not a realistic step for most startups.
Brevo's pricing is also sensitive to send volume. A startup that sends a weekly newsletter to 20,000 people produces 80,000 sends a month, which is well above the Starter band and must be priced against the plan that covers that volume. Before you pick Brevo, estimate your monthly sends, not just your contact count.
Brevo's pricing page lists the plans, the monthly and yearly toggles and the send-volume bands.
Mailchimp for startups: where it wins and where it falls short
Mailchimp's strengths are familiarity and breadth. Most startup marketers have used it before, its templates are easy to adapt, and its integration catalogue is large, which matters when your product, storefront or CRM already has a Mailchimp connector. For a founder who is the only marketer and has no time to learn a new interface, a tool the whole team already knows can outweigh a lower price.
The free plan is generous for a very small list. Up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month lets a pre-launch startup collect sign-ups, send a few updates and test a welcome message at no cost. The cap of 250 sends a day is unlikely to be the constraint; the 250-contact ceiling is. Once a list passes 250 contacts, you need a paid plan, and that is where Mailchimp's contact-based pricing starts to cost more than sending-based pricing.
The price curve is the main drawback. Standard at 500 contacts is $20 a month, and the next band, 2,501 to 5,000 contacts, is $100 a month for up to 60,000 emails. That jump is larger than the increase in sends you might expect. Mailchimp's Essentials plan starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts with monthly billing, but the page we reviewed does not publish a price for Essentials at 1,500, 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 contacts, so those sizes are shown as pricing on request in this guide. Also, transactional email is not part of Mailchimp's plan. Mandrill, the separate transactional product, has its own pricing, which is covered below.
Mailchimp's pricing page shows the current contact tiers, the Free plan limits and the trial offer. The page we reviewed offered a 14-day Standard trial, which is a useful way to test the editor and your integrations before you commit to a paid plan.
Where MailerLite and Mandrill fit
MailerLite is the third tool a startup should consider, especially if the list is small and the team wants a low-cost paid tier with fewer features to learn. The Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and the Comfort plan starts at $12 a month, or $10.80 a month billed yearly. That works out to $129.60 a year on the yearly toggle, compared with $144 on monthly billing. Power, at $25 a month or $22.50 a month billed yearly, removes the monthly email cap. MailerLite's list-size pricing for larger contact counts is not published on the page we reviewed, so those sizes are marked pricing on request.
Mandrill is not a marketing tool. It is Mailchimp's transactional email product, used for receipts, password resets and account notices sent by your product. Mandrill's pricing page lists monthly blocks of 25,000 transactional emails, with the first band at $20 per block and a lower per-block price at higher volumes. New users can send up to 500 free emails to a verified domain, subject to restrictions shown on the pricing page. A startup that uses Mailchimp for marketing and Mandrill for transactional mail will pay for both, so compare the total cost against Brevo, which lists transactional email within its own platform.
Decision table: which tool fits which situation
The decision table below turns the comparison into a set of situations. Read each row against your own position, then use the reason column to check whether it holds for your business before you act on it.
| If you need | Pick | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A free plan for a list under 250 contacts with a few sends a month | Mailchimp or MailerLite | Both are free at that size. Mailchimp allows 500 sends a month to a list of up to 250 contacts |
| A large list you email rarely, such as a quarterly update | Brevo | Pricing follows monthly sends, so a big list that is mailed rarely does not add a contact-based charge |
| Automation from the start, at the lowest entry price | Brevo Standard at $18 a month, or check Mailchimp's automation tiers | Brevo's automation and A/B testing sit on Standard, so price that plan. Mailchimp's automation tiers are not priced in this guide |
| Email, SMS and a CRM in one account | Brevo | Brevo positions these channels in one platform. Confirm which channels your plan includes on its pricing page |
| The integrations your stack already uses | Mailchimp | Its integration catalogue is large. Check the specific connector you need before you commit |
| Transactional email from the same vendor | Brevo, or Mailchimp with Mandrill | Brevo lists transactional email within its platform. Mailchimp's transactional email is a separate product with separate pricing |
| A low-cost paid tier with unlimited sending | MailerLite Power at $25 a month, or $22.50 billed yearly | The Power plan removes the monthly email cap that applies to Comfort |
Setup and migration checklist
Whichever tool you pick, the first month decides how clean your list is and how much you pay later. Moving from one platform to another is far easier before you have thousands of contacts and dozens of automations, so treat the setup steps as the start of a long-term decision rather than a box to tick.
| Step | What to do | Why it matters for cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Count contacts and sends | Write down your current contact count and how many emails you send in an average month, including automated messages | Mailchimp is priced by contacts and Brevo by sends. You need both numbers to choose a tier |
| 2. Remove dead addresses | Export your list, remove hard bounces and long-inactive subscribers, and keep a record of consent | Fewer contacts means a lower Mailchimp tier and fewer sends on Brevo |
| 3. Map your sign-up sources | List each form, checkout or integration that adds people to the list, and decide which tool each one feeds | Duplicate lists in two tools cause double billing and conflicting unsubscribes |
| 4. Set up sending domains | Add your domain's authentication records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) in the tool you choose before the first campaign | Good authentication protects deliverability, which protects the sends you are paying for |
| 5. Build the first three automations | Start with a welcome sequence, a re-engagement message and an onboarding message | Automation is a paid feature on some plans, so build these after you confirm the plan includes them |
| 6. Run a small test send | Send to your own addresses and a small internal group before a full campaign | Catches broken links and merge fields before they reach your full list |
If you are migrating from Mailchimp to Brevo, or the reverse, export the subscriber list with consent fields, tags and unsubscribe status, then import it into the new tool in a single batch. Re-create the core automations rather than copying every template. Keep the old account active for a short period so you can check that new sign-ups land in the right list. Cancel the old plan only after the first full campaign has gone out cleanly from the new one.
Building the first lifecycle emails
A startup's first email programme usually has three jobs: welcome new sign-ups, move trial or free users toward a first useful action, and bring back people who have gone quiet. Each job needs a trigger, and the trigger is where the tool choice starts to matter. Brevo's automation sits on the Standard plan, so price that plan if your lifecycle emails are a priority. Mailchimp's automation features depend on the tier you choose, and the comparison above does not price them, so read the plan details before you build.
If your product sends events that should trigger email, such as a sign-up, a workspace created or an upgrade, you may need a small automation layer between the product and the email tool. Make, the workflow automation service, has a free plan with 1,000 credits a month, no time limit, up to 2 active scenarios, and runs at most every 15 minutes. Its paid plans start at $10.59 a month on monthly billing, or $9 a month billed annually, for 10,000 credits, according to its pricing page. A single scenario that moves sign-ups into a list uses one credit per module action, so a small startup can often start on the free plan and move up only when volume grows.
Keep the lifecycle emails short and specific. A welcome email should tell a new user one thing to do next. A re-engagement email should offer a clear reason to return, and it should stop after a few messages if the person does not respond. Those are product decisions as much as marketing ones, and they hold regardless of which tool sends the email.
How to choose: a step-by-step method
The fastest way to choose between these tools is to work through the same five questions in order, using your own numbers rather than the examples in this guide.
- How many contacts will you have in six months? If the answer is under 250, start on a free plan. If it is between 500 and 5,000, price Mailchimp by contact tier and Brevo by monthly sends, then compare the two.
- How many sends will you make in a typical month? Multiply your list size by how often you email it, then add automated messages. A weekly newsletter to 5,000 people is 20,000 sends before any automations.
- Do you need automation in the first quarter? If yes, price the plan that includes automation, not the cheapest plan. For Brevo that is Standard at $18 a month.
- Do you need SMS, a CRM or transactional email in the same account? If yes, Brevo's platform covers more channels in one login. If you use Mailchimp, add the cost of a separate transactional tool such as Mandrill to the total.
- Does your stack already connect to one of them? A native integration can save a development sprint, which is worth more to an early-stage team than a small monthly difference in price.
Once you have answers to those five questions, write down the annual cost for each tool at your six-month list size, add any second tool you would need, and choose the option that meets your must-have requirements at the lowest total. Revisit the choice when your list passes the next tier, because the cheapest option at 500 contacts is not always the cheapest at 5,000.
How prices were checked
Prices in this guide come from the public pricing pages of each vendor: Brevo, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Mandrill and Make. Each figure was checked against the page on 7 October 2026. Where a page did not show a price for a given plan or list size, the guide says "pricing on request" instead of estimating. Annual totals are simple multiplications of the monthly price, and they do not include taxes, currency conversion or any discount that a vendor may offer at checkout. Prices change, so confirm the current figure on the vendor's pricing page before you buy. If you spot a figure that no longer matches a vendor's page, use the correction process described on our how we evaluate page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Brevo or Mailchimp cheaper for a startup?
It depends on how you grow. Mailchimp's Free plan is limited to 250 contacts, and its Standard plan at 500 contacts costs $20 a month. Brevo's Starter plan costs $9 a month and covers a band of 5,000 emails a month, with no daily sending limit. For a list that grows and sends regularly, Brevo is usually the lower-cost option. For a list that stays very small, both free plans are enough.
What is the best free email plan for a startup?
For a list under 250 contacts that sends a few emails a month, Mailchimp's Free plan and MailerLite's Free plan both cost $0. Mailchimp allows up to 500 sends a month and 250 a day, and MailerLite allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Brevo's Free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts but caps sends at 300 a day, so it is the better free option for a large list that is emailed in small batches.
When does Mailchimp become expensive for a startup?
The cost rises when your contact count passes the tier boundaries. On the page we reviewed, the Standard plan at 500 contacts costs $20 a month, and the 2,501 to 5,000 contacts tier costs $100 a month for up to 60,000 emails. A startup that grows from 2,500 to 2,600 contacts moves into a higher bracket, so it helps to plan the next tier before you reach it.
Does Brevo include automation on its cheapest paid plan?
Not according to the plan descriptions reviewed for this guide. Starter, at $9 a month, starts at 5,000 emails a month with no daily limit. Automation, A/B testing and advanced reports are listed under the Standard plan at $18 a month. If lifecycle emails are a priority, budget for Standard from the start.
Can I use Mandrill with Mailchimp for transactional email?
Yes. Mandrill is Mailchimp's transactional product, sold separately with its own pricing. Its pricing page lists monthly blocks of 25,000 transactional emails, starting at $20 per block at the lowest volume band, and new users can send up to 500 free emails to a verified domain, subject to restrictions. Include Mandrill's cost in your total when you compare the two tools.
How much does MailerLite cost for a 500-subscriber list?
The Comfort plan starts at $12 a month on monthly billing, or $10.80 a month billed yearly, for the 500-subscriber tier. Its monthly email allowance is ten times the subscriber ceiling, so that tier covers 5,000 emails a month. The Power plan, at $25 a month or $22.50 a month billed yearly, offers unlimited monthly emails at the same starting subscriber tier.
Should a startup move from Mailchimp to Brevo to save money?
Only if the savings are large enough to cover the migration time and the risk of a broken automation. If your list is small and your automations are simple, the saving is modest. If your list is large and you send infrequently, the move can pay off quickly. Export your list with consent records, rebuild the core automations, keep the old account active for a short overlap and cancel only after a clean campaign from the new platform.
Does Make replace an email marketing tool?
No. Make is a workflow automation service. It connects your product's events to other tools, such as an email platform, a CRM or a spreadsheet. Its Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month and up to 2 active scenarios. Its paid plans start at $10.59 a month on monthly billing, or $9 a month billed annually, for 10,000 credits. You still need an email tool to send the messages.
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