Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit

Choosing between Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit comes down to three things — your list size, the channels you need, and whether automation depth matters to you now or later. Brevo charges by email volume and adds SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional tools; MailerLite charges by subscriber count and keeps things clean and beginner-friendly. Both have generous free plans. The right pick depends on your business model, not on which tool gets more hype.

Photo: Lara Jameson (Pexels)

This comparison covers every meaningful difference so you can make a confident decision without sorting through marketing copy.

What each platform is built for

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo positions itself as a multi-channel communication platform. Email is the core product, but SMS marketing, live chat, CRM, transactional email (via SMTP/API), and WhatsApp campaigns are all built in. That makes it particularly useful for ecommerce stores, small SaaS companies, and businesses that need more than just a newsletter tool.

The interface is functional rather than polished. It gets the job done, but new users sometimes need an extra 20–30 minutes to orient themselves compared to simpler tools.

MailerLite

MailerLite focuses on email marketing and stays tightly in that lane. It includes landing pages, pop-up forms, a website builder, and a paid newsletter feature (for paid subscriptions via Stripe). The interface is widely regarded as one of the cleanest in the category — ideal for bloggers, creators, and small business owners who want results without a steep learning curve.

MailerLite added an AI writing assistant and a “MailerLite Email Verifier” tool in recent updates, but its core strength remains simplicity paired with solid automation.

Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit — full breakdown

Pricing compared in plain terms

How Brevo prices its plans

Brevo’s pricing is volume-based — you pay for how many emails you send, not how many contacts you store. The free plan allows 300 emails per day with unlimited contact storage, which is useful if you have a large list but send infrequently.

The paid Starter plan at $9/month covers 20,000 emails per month. However, automation workflows are capped at a basic level. To unlock multi-step automation sequences, you need the Business plan starting at $18/month, which also adds A/B testing and advanced reporting.

If you need to send SMS messages, you buy credits separately — currently around $0.013 per message to US numbers [verify current rates at brevo.com].

How MailerLite prices its plans

MailerLite charges by subscriber count. The free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month — enough to build a real audience before spending a dollar.

The Growing Business plan starts at $9/month for up to 500 subscribers, but most bloggers will realistically start at the $18/month tier for 2,500 subscribers. The jump to 5,000 subscribers runs $32/month. Every paid tier unlocks full automation, A/B testing, and landing pages.

For solopreneurs monetizing a newsletter, MailerLite’s built-in paid subscription feature (via Stripe) adds revenue without needing a separate platform like Memberful or Patreon.

The cost math at scale

At 10,000 subscribers sending two emails per week (roughly 80,000 emails/month):
– Brevo Business: ~$35/month
– MailerLite Growing Business: ~$73/month

Brevo wins on cost at higher send volumes. MailerLite wins if your list is small but you want maximum feature access from day one.

Features that actually matter

Email automation

Both platforms support visual automation builders, but the depth differs by plan.

MailerLite gives you full automation on every paid plan — welcome sequences, behavioral triggers, e-commerce follow-ups, and time-based conditions. A typical onboarding flow (welcome → content delivery → 3-day follow-up) takes about 15 minutes to build and preview.

Brevo on the Starter plan limits automation to basic triggers. To build multi-branch workflows with conditions (e.g., “If the subscriber clicked link A, wait 2 days, then send email B; otherwise send email C”), you need the Business plan at $18/month. Once there, the automation engine is genuinely capable — particularly for transactional workflows tied to purchase events.

List management and segmentation

Both tools handle segmentation well. You can filter by behavior (opened, clicked, didn’t open), custom fields, and date joined. Brevo’s CRM layer lets you add deal stages and contact notes — lightweight, but useful for service businesses running email alongside a sales pipeline.

MailerLite uses “groups” and “segments” distinctly. Groups are manual buckets (e.g., “Podcast listeners”); segments are dynamic filters built on rules. This dual system works cleanly once you understand it, though it occasionally confuses users migrating from other platforms.

Deliverability and sender reputation

Neither platform publishes real-time deliverability benchmarks, and third-party test results vary by industry and list hygiene. Both have strong reputations for inbox placement.

Brevo offers a dedicated IP address on higher-tier plans, which matters for high-volume senders (100,000+ emails/month) who want full control over their sender reputation. MailerLite uses shared IPs with solid infrastructure and does not currently offer dedicated IPs.

Landing pages and forms

MailerLite’s landing page builder is genuinely polished — drag-and-drop, mobile-responsive, with A/B testing on landing pages available on paid plans. You can build a complete lead magnet funnel (opt-in page → thank you page → email sequence) inside MailerLite without touching a third-party tool.

Brevo’s landing pages are functional but feel more utilitarian. They are restricted to Business plan users. If landing pages are central to your list-building strategy, MailerLite has a clear edge here.

Integrations

Both platforms connect to common tools:
– Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress — supported by both
– Zapier — both platforms work with Zapier for custom workflows
– Stripe — MailerLite uses it natively for paid newsletters; Brevo integrates for e-commerce triggers

Brevo’s native API and transactional email setup (similar to Mailgun or Postmark but built-in) is a genuine advantage for developers building SaaS products or apps that need to send automated system emails.

Where each tool falls short

Brevo’s limitations

• Automation depth is paywalled. Multi-step sequences require the Business plan — you cannot do serious email marketing on the $9 Starter plan.
• Interface density. The dashboard shows more options than most beginners need, which can slow down the setup process.
• Reporting. Basic analytics are available, but advanced reporting (heat maps, revenue attribution) requires the Business plan or higher.

MailerLite’s limitations

• No SMS or multi-channel tools. If your business plans to layer SMS into campaigns alongside email, you will need a separate platform.
• No transactional email. Developers and SaaS builders cannot use MailerLite for system emails — you would need to add Postmark or SendGrid separately.
• Subscriber-based pricing scales up. At 25,000+ subscribers, MailerLite’s pricing becomes noticeably higher than Brevo’s for the same send volume.

Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit — who should pick which

This question — Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit — does not have a universal answer. It depends on your business model.

Choose Brevo if:

• You run an ecommerce store and need transactional emails, SMS, and purchase-triggered automations in one place.
• You have a large list (10,000+ subscribers) and send frequently — the volume-based pricing saves money at scale.
• You are building a SaaS product or app that needs a built-in SMTP/API for system emails.
• You want a lightweight CRM alongside email without paying for HubSpot.

Choose MailerLite if:

• You are a blogger, creator, or solopreneur building an email list from scratch and want an intuitive setup.
• You plan to monetize a paid newsletter using Stripe without adding a third-party membership platform.
• You need full automation access from the start without upgrading to a more expensive tier.
• Landing pages are central to your lead generation and you want them built natively in your email tool.
• Your list is under 5,000 subscribers and you value a clean, fast-to-learn interface.

Quick comparison: who picks which tool

Frequently asked questions

Is Brevo or MailerLite better for beginners?

MailerLite is the better choice for most beginners. The interface is cleaner, the free plan includes up to 1,000 subscribers, and full automation is available on the entry-level paid plan. Brevo’s free plan is useful if you have a large list but a low daily send volume, though the interface takes longer to navigate.

Does MailerLite have a free plan in 2025?

Yes. MailerLite’s free plan covers up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month with no expiration date. It includes basic automation, landing pages, and sign-up forms. A/B testing and priority support require a paid plan.

Can I switch from MailerLite to Brevo later without losing my list?

Yes. Both platforms support CSV export and import of subscriber lists. Before switching, export your segments and custom field data, recreate your fields in Brevo, and re-import. Automation workflows must be rebuilt manually. The migration typically takes a few hours, not days.

Which platform has better email deliverability?

Both Brevo and MailerLite maintain strong deliverability track records. Deliverability depends heavily on list hygiene, sending frequency, and engagement rates — factors within your control. Brevo’s dedicated IP option (on higher plans) gives high-volume senders more control over sender reputation. For lists under 50,000 subscribers, shared IPs on either platform perform comparably.

Is Brevo good for SMS marketing?

Brevo is one of the few email marketing platforms with native SMS built in. You buy SMS credits separately (pricing varies by country) and send SMS campaigns directly from the same dashboard as your email campaigns. This is significantly more convenient than using a separate SMS tool like Klaviyo or Attentive.

Our take

Evaluating Brevo vs MailerLite: pricing, features, and best fit side by side, the clearest pattern is this: MailerLite wins on simplicity and value for content creators; Brevo wins on channel breadth and cost efficiency at scale.

If you are starting an email list for a blog, course, or paid newsletter — start with MailerLite’s free plan and upgrade when you hit 1,000 subscribers. If you are building a multi-channel marketing setup for an ecommerce brand or a SaaS product, Brevo’s ecosystem justifies the slightly steeper learning curve.

Neither tool will limit your growth at under 10,000 subscribers. The real differentiator is which features you need today — not which one looks more impressive on a feature list.

For a deeper look at the full landscape, review MailerLite’s official pricing page and Brevo’s plan comparison before committing to either.

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