mailchimp vs brevo: which is best? [2026 review]

Mailchimp vs. Brevo: The Contact Counting Scam That's Draining Your Budget

You're probably here because your Mailchimp bill keeps climbing, even though your actual results aren't improving.

I've been there. Watching that monthly charge creep higher every month, wondering why I'm paying more for the same service. Then I discovered something that changed everything: Mailchimp has been charging you for contacts that aren't even subscribed anymore.

The Billing Model That Benefits Them, Not You

Mailchimp charges per contact, including people who unsubscribed months ago.

This feels normal because that's how they've always done it. You get familiar templates, a recognizable interface, and the comfort of using what 20 million other businesses use. When clients ask what email platform you're on, "Mailchimp" sounds professional.

But here's the hidden cost: if you have the same person on multiple lists, you pay for them multiple times. Unsubscribed contacts? Still counting toward your bill. It's like paying rent on apartments that people moved out of.

Brevo charges per email sent, with unlimited contacts.

This French company (formerly Sendinblue) flipped the pricing model completely. You can have 50,000 contacts and only pay for the emails you actually send. Same person on five different lists? Doesn't matter. They count as one contact.

The trade-off? Fewer template options, less brand recognition, and you might need to explain to clients why you're not using the "industry standard."

The Math That Will Shock You

Here's a real scenario: let's say you have 20,000 contacts across multiple lists, with some overlap and old unsubscribed contacts. On Mailchimp, you're looking at roughly $350 monthly.

On Brevo, if you send 4 emails per month to your active 15,000 subscribers, you're paying about $65 monthly.

That's $285 monthly difference, or $3,420 annually. Over three years, you're talking about $10,260 in savings for essentially the same email marketing capability.

But here's what both platforms share: delivery limitations. Mailchimp uses their infrastructure, Brevo uses theirs, but neither can guarantee optimal performance across all email providers simultaneously.

This is where Lemon Email becomes worth considering. Instead of choosing between Mailchimp's expensive contact counting or Brevo's limited template selection, Lemon sits on top of both their email engines.

It can route your emails through Mailchimp's infrastructure when that's optimal for certain subscribers, or through Brevo's system when that provides better delivery for others.

You get the delivery strengths of both platforms without the pricing games or feature limitations.

The Choice That Actually Matters

If brand recognition and template variety are worth $10,260 over three years to your business, and you don't mind paying for unsubscribed contacts, Mailchimp makes sense.

But if you're focused on actual email performance and keeping more money in your business, paying Mailchimp's contact premiums starts to feel like expensive status signaling.

Something like Lemon Email won't give you Mailchimp's brand recognition or Brevo's unlimited contact pricing. But it can work with both their email infrastructures, automatically choosing the best delivery path for each subscriber, without the billing complications that force you to choose between cost and features.

The real question is whether you're paying for email marketing results or email marketing prestige. Only one of those actually grows your business.