Tool profile
Brevo: cost, fit and limits
Brevo is a marketing platform made by Brevo, a company based in France, that sends email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns, runs automation workflows and adds AI drafting and an MCP connector for ChatGPT and Claude, for small and mid-size teams.
What to know first
Brevo prices by monthly email volume rather than by contact count alone, and the entry tier starts at $9 per month for Starter on monthly billing. A free plan exists, but the pricing page does not state its send or contact limits. AI shows up as a content generator on Starter, send time optimization on Standard, and an AI Data Analyst on Professional. The pages read give no hosting region.
Brevo at a glance
| Maker | Brevo, France |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Entry price | $9 per month (Starter, lowest volume tier, billed monthly) |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, rank 1 of 14 |
| Website | brevo.com |
Who Brevo is best for
Shops that mix email and SMS
Starter covers email and SMS in one plan, with SMS credit bought separately, so a store can send order texts and newsletters from one contact list instead of two tools.
Teams that want assistants to run campaigns
The MCP connector on Starter lets ChatGPT or Claude manage campaigns and contacts, which suits a marketer who already works inside an assistant and wants drafts to land in the account.
Agencies and larger senders
Professional includes 10 fixed seats and 3 hours a year of deliverability specialist time, which helps a group that shares one account and worries about sender reputation.
Brevo plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free forever, no credit card | Aimed at individuals building an online presence. The opened pricing pages do not state the send limit or contact limit for this plan. |
| Starter | From $9 per month billed monthly (EUR 7 shown in a second price view) | From 5,000 emails a month, email and SMS (SMS credit sold apart), drag and drop editor, AI content generator, MCP for ChatGPT and Claude, segmentation and no Brevo logo. |
| Standard | From $18 per month billed monthly (EUR 15 shown in a second price view) | Starter plus unlimited multi-step workflows, A/B testing, click heatmaps, AI send time optimization, web and event tracking and one landing page. |
| Professional | From $499 per month (EUR 499 on the other view) | Standard plus 150,000 or more emails a month, WhatsApp, popups, push, 10 seats, RFM and CLV scoring, AI segmentation, AI Data Analyst and phone support. |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Built for 1M-plus contacts: multi-account management, custom objects, dedicated IP, SSO with SAML, custom data connectors and tailored onboarding. |
Checked October 2026.
What Brevo does
- Volume-tiered email sending
- Starter begins at 5,000 emails a month and steps up through 10,000 and 15,000, with contact caps of 500, 1,500 and 2,500 at those tiers, so the cost depends on how often you send.
- AI content and Aura agents
- Starter adds an AI generator for subject lines and copy. Brevo also markets Aura, a set of AI agents that includes a Marketing Agent, though the pages read describe it in general terms.
- Workflows and A/B tests
- Standard removes the limit on multi-step automations and adds A/B tests on subject lines and content variants, which Starter users have to do by hand or leave out.
- Behavior tracking
- Web and event tracking on Standard can trigger messages and segments from on-site behavior and custom events, so a cart or pricing-page visit can start a sequence.
- Transactional and multichannel sending
- The homepage lists transactional email, SMS and WhatsApp through an SMTP relay and an API, so app notifications can run through the same account as marketing sends.
How Brevo handles your data
The privacy policy names Brevo SAS at 17 rue Salneuve in Paris as the controller. It says personal data may move to countries without a European Commission adequacy decision, and it names hosting providers for the website and the software without giving a hosting region. Retention is set out per data category in a table, and the text read gives no fixed period for customer data. The pages read do not say whether customer data trains AI models, and no ISO or SOC certification appeared on them, so the vendor's policy was not checked for those points.
Where Brevo falls short in practice
- Contact caps on Starter. Starter allows 500 contacts at 5,000 emails and 2,500 at 15,000, so a list that grows faster than send volume forces an upgrade even when monthly sending stays modest.
- Features gated by tier. Unlimited workflows, A/B testing and send time optimization start at Standard, and scoring and phone support start at Professional, so the cheapest plan lacks several tools that email marketers expect.
- Two price views. The pricing page shows dollar and euro figures that do not match one for one, so a buyer should confirm the invoice currency and any VAT before choosing an annual plan.
Works with
Alternatives to Brevo
Brevo: common questions
What does Brevo cost when you only send newsletters?
Starter begins at $9 per month on monthly billing for the lowest volume tier of 5,000 emails, and the pricing page shows EUR 7 in a second view. Higher email volumes cost more. The free plan exists, but its limits are not stated on the pages read, so check them inside the signup flow.
Can Claude or ChatGPT manage Brevo campaigns?
Yes, Starter lists an MCP connector for ChatGPT, Claude and other AI tools that manages campaigns and contacts. The pages read do not describe which actions the connector can take or how permissions work, so test what it may send, edit or delete before pointing it at a live list.
Is SMS included in the plan price?
No. Starter includes SMS as a channel, but SMS credit is sold separately according to the pricing page. WhatsApp starts on Professional. Budget the message costs on top of the plan price, and ask what the per-message rate is for the countries you send to.
Where does Brevo store customer data?
The privacy policy names a Paris-based controller but no hosting region. It says data may go to countries without an adequacy decision and lists hosting providers for the software. A buyer with residency rules should ask Brevo for the processing locations in writing before signing.
When does Brevo's pricing jump the most?
The largest step is from Standard at $18 to Professional at $499 per month, which adds 150,000 or more emails, WhatsApp, 10 seats and scoring. Teams between those tiers usually stay on Standard and add volume, since the pricing page lists no tier between them.