MailerLite
BrevoMailerLite vs Brevo: Which Email Platform Is Better for Growing Newsletters? (2026)
Quick Verdict
Choose MailerLite if...
The better choice for newsletter creators and content-first businesses — MailerLite's superior editor, paid subscription tools, and generous free plan make it the purpose-built platform for audience-driven growth.
Choose Brevo if...
The better choice for large-list, multi-channel businesses — Brevo's per-email pricing and SMS/WhatsApp/CRM integration make it ideal for newsletters embedded in a broader marketing operation.
MailerLite and Brevo are the two email marketing platforms that consistently appear at the top of every "best budget email tool" list — and for good reason. Both offer generous free plans, both handle automation and campaign design well, and both cost a fraction of what Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign charge at comparable subscriber counts. But they solve fundamentally different problems, and picking the wrong one will cost you more than the subscription fee.
The core difference comes down to pricing philosophy. MailerLite charges by how many subscribers you have. Brevo charges by how many emails you send. This isn't a minor detail — it determines which platform is cheaper at every stage of your newsletter's growth. A creator with 10,000 subscribers who sends a weekly newsletter pays very differently on each platform than an ecommerce brand with 10,000 contacts sending daily promotional emails.
Beyond pricing, these platforms diverge on where they invest their product development. MailerLite has leaned into the creator economy: paid newsletter subscriptions, digital product sales, website builder, and a clean editor with 108+ templates that makes sending beautiful emails genuinely fast. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) has built outward into multi-channel marketing: SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, built-in CRM, lead scoring, and website visitor tracking — capabilities that MailerLite simply doesn't offer.
We tested both platforms across the dimensions that matter most for growing newsletters: email design quality, automation depth, deliverability, pricing at scale, and monetization tools. This comparison is specifically for newsletter creators, content businesses, and small brands building an audience — not enterprise marketers who need Salesforce-level segmentation. If you're choosing between these two platforms for your newsletter, this guide will make the decision clear.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | MailerLite | Brevo | |---------|-----------|-------| | Email Templates | 108+ templates | 48 templates | | Drag-and-Drop Editor | Yes (clean, fast) | Yes (functional) | | Automation Workflows | Visual builder, basic triggers | Visual builder, advanced triggers | | Website Tracking | No | Yes | | Lead Scoring | No | Yes | | Built-in CRM | No | Yes (free on all plans) | | SMS Marketing | No | Yes | | WhatsApp Campaigns | No | Yes | | Transactional Email | Add-on (MailerSend) | Built-in | | Paid Subscriptions | Yes (sell subscriptions to readers) | No | | Digital Product Sales | Yes | No | | Website Builder | Yes | No | | A/B Testing | Subject lines, content, send time | Subject lines, content | | Click Maps | Yes (Advanced plan) | No | | Dynamic Content | Yes (Advanced plan) | Yes (Business plan) | | Pop-ups & Forms | Yes | Yes | | Landing Pages | Yes (all plans) | Yes (Business plan) |
Pricing Comparison
| Metric | MailerLite | Brevo | |--------|-----------|-------| | Pricing Model | Per subscriber | Per email sent | | Free Plan | 1,000 subscribers / 12,000 emails/mo | Unlimited contacts / 300 emails/day | | Contacts Included | Based on plan tier | Unlimited on all plans | | Entry Paid Plan | $10/mo (500 subscribers, unlimited emails) | $9/mo (5,000 emails/mo, unlimited contacts) | | Mid-Tier Plan | $19/mo Advanced (500 subscribers) | $18/mo Business (5,000 emails/mo) | | 10K Subscribers | ~$73/mo Growing Business | $9-18/mo (if sending <5K emails/mo) | | 50K Subscribers | ~$289/mo Growing Business | $9-18/mo (if sending <5K emails/mo) | | Branding Removal | Included on paid plans | Extra $11/mo | | Dedicated IP | Enterprise only | $251/year add-on |
Feature Comparison
| Feature | MailerLite | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Drag & Drop Email Builder | ||
| Landing Page Builder | ||
| Email Automation | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| RSS-to-Email Campaigns | ||
| Advanced Segmentation | ||
| E-commerce Integration | ||
| High Deliverability | ||
| Volume-Based Pricing | ||
| Marketing Automation | ||
| Built-in CRM | ||
| Transactional Email | ||
| SMS & WhatsApp | ||
| AI Segmentation | ||
| Landing Pages | ||
| Multi-Channel Workflows |
Pricing Comparison
| Pricing | MailerLite | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | ||
| Starting Price | $10/month | $9/month |
| Total Plans | 4 | 4 |
MailerLite- Up to 1,000 subscribers
- 12,000 monthly emails
- Email campaigns & automation
- 1 website & 10 landing pages
- Drag & drop editor
- Email support
- Everything in Free
- Unlimited websites & landing pages
- Remove MailerLite logo
- RSS & AutoResend campaigns
- Custom templates
- Multiple triggers in automation
- 24/7 chat support
- Everything in Growing Business
- Unlimited account users
- Custom HTML editor
- Unsubscribe page builder
- Password-protected websites
- Custom code injection
- Preference center
- 100,000+ subscribers
- Dedicated account manager
- Custom integrations
- Priority support
Brevo- Unlimited contacts
- 300 emails/day
- Email campaigns
- Transactional emails
- CRM
- SMS & WhatsApp campaigns
- 5,000 emails/month
- No daily limit
- Basic analytics
- Email support
- Unlimited contacts
- 5,000 emails/month
- Marketing automation
- A/B testing
- Landing pages
- AI segmentation
- Priority support
- Custom volume
- Dedicated IP
- Advanced integrations
- Sub-account management
- Dedicated account manager
- SSO
Detailed Review
MailerLite is the email platform that newsletter creators actually enjoy using. Where Brevo feels like a marketing operations tool that happens to send emails, MailerLite feels like it was designed by someone who sends newsletters every week and got tired of fighting clunky editors. The drag-and-drop builder is noticeably faster, the template library (108+ designs vs Brevo's 48) covers more newsletter styles, and the clean interface means less time clicking through menus and more time writing.
For growing newsletters specifically, MailerLite offers two capabilities Brevo can't match: paid newsletter subscriptions and digital product sales. You can gate premium content behind a paid subscription managed entirely within MailerLite — no Stripe integration, no membership plugin, no separate platform. This makes MailerLite a complete creator business platform, not just an email sender. A newsletter that monetizes through paid subscriptions, sells an ebook, and runs a free tier for audience building can do all three from MailerLite's dashboard.
The free plan is generous for early-stage newsletters: 1,000 subscribers with 12,000 emails per month, plus automation workflows, 10 landing pages, and the website builder. This is meaningfully more useful than Brevo's free plan (which caps at 300 emails per day — roughly 9,000/month — and locks automation behind the $18/month Business plan). For a newsletter just getting started, MailerLite's free tier provides a longer runway before you need to pay.
Pros
- 108+ email templates with a faster, cleaner drag-and-drop editor — produces better-looking newsletters with less design effort than Brevo's 48 templates
- Paid newsletter subscriptions and digital product sales built in — monetize your audience without third-party tools or payment integrations
- Free plan includes 1,000 subscribers with automation and landing pages — Brevo locks automation behind its $18/month Business plan
- Unlimited emails on all paid plans — daily newsletters cost the same as weekly, unlike Brevo's per-email pricing
Cons
- Per-subscriber pricing becomes expensive at scale — 10,000 subscribers costs ~$73/month vs Brevo's $9-18/month for moderate sending
- No SMS, WhatsApp, or transactional email built in — if you need multi-channel, you'll need separate tools alongside MailerLite
- No CRM or lead scoring — MailerLite is purely email-focused, while Brevo includes sales pipeline management free
Brevo
All-in-one marketing platform with email, SMS, and CRM at volume-based pricing
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) takes a fundamentally different approach to email marketing that makes it the smarter choice for one specific scenario: large subscriber lists with moderate sending frequency. Because Brevo charges per email sent rather than per subscriber stored, a newsletter with 50,000 subscribers sending a weekly digest pays the same as one with 500 subscribers — you only pay for the volume you actually send. For audience builders who've grown a large list but don't send daily, this pricing model can be 3-5x cheaper than MailerLite.
Brevo's competitive advantage for newsletters extends beyond pricing into multi-channel reach. While MailerLite is email-only, Brevo lets you reach subscribers through SMS and WhatsApp alongside email campaigns — and tie all three channels into a single automation workflow. A newsletter that announces new issues via email, sends breaking-news alerts via SMS, and shares quick updates on WhatsApp can manage the entire workflow from Brevo's automation builder. The built-in CRM (free on all plans) adds contact scoring and deal tracking, which is valuable for newsletters that sell sponsorships, consulting, or premium products to their audience.
The trade-off is clear: Brevo is a broader, less polished platform. The email editor is functional but slower than MailerLite's. The template library is smaller (48 vs 108). There's no paid subscription feature, no digital product sales, and no website builder. Brevo branding appears on emails unless you pay an extra $11/month to remove it — a fee MailerLite doesn't charge on paid plans. For pure newsletter creation and audience monetization, Brevo requires more workarounds. But for newsletters that are part of a broader business with multi-channel needs, Brevo's breadth outweighs MailerLite's email-specific polish.
Pros
- Unlimited contacts on every plan including free — a 50,000-subscriber list costs the same as 500, you only pay for emails sent
- Multi-channel automation combines email, SMS, and WhatsApp in a single workflow — reach subscribers on their preferred channel
- Built-in CRM with lead scoring and deal tracking included free — useful for newsletters that sell sponsorships or premium services
- Transactional email built in natively — no add-on needed for order confirmations, password resets, or automated receipts
Cons
- Per-email pricing penalizes frequent senders — daily newsletters to even moderate lists get expensive faster than MailerLite's unlimited emails
- Brevo branding on emails requires an extra $11/month to remove — MailerLite includes brand-free emails on all paid plans
- Automation locked behind the $18/month Business plan — MailerLite includes automation on the free plan and $10/month Growing Business plan
Our Conclusion
Choose MailerLite If...
- You're a creator or solo publisher building a newsletter-first business. MailerLite's paid subscription tools, digital product sales, and website builder make it a complete creator platform — not just an email tool.
- Design quality matters to you. With 108+ templates, click maps, and a faster drag-and-drop editor, MailerLite produces better-looking emails with less effort.
- Your list is small and growing. Under 1,000 subscribers, MailerLite's free plan is more practical (12,000 emails/month vs Brevo's 300/day cap). The generous free tier gives you room to grow before paying.
- You send frequently to a smaller list. MailerLite's unlimited emails on paid plans means daily sending costs the same as weekly.
Choose Brevo If...
- You have a large list but send infrequently. Brevo's unlimited contacts with per-email pricing means 50,000 subscribers costs the same as 500 — you only pay when you send.
- You need multi-channel marketing. SMS, WhatsApp, and transactional email alongside marketing campaigns, all from one platform.
- You want a built-in CRM. Brevo's free CRM with deal tracking and lead scoring is genuinely useful — MailerLite has nothing comparable.
- You need transactional email. Order confirmations, password resets, and receipt emails are built into Brevo natively. MailerLite requires the separate MailerSend add-on.
Our Recommendation
For newsletter creators and content-first businesses, MailerLite is the better choice. The combination of superior email design tools, paid subscription monetization, digital product sales, and a clean creator-focused experience makes it purpose-built for audience-first businesses. The pricing becomes less favorable at very large list sizes, but most newsletter creators will find MailerLite cheaper and more capable until they cross 25,000+ subscribers.
For small businesses that need email plus SMS plus CRM in one affordable package, Brevo wins on breadth. If your newsletter is part of a broader marketing operation — especially one that includes transactional email, WhatsApp outreach, or sales pipeline management — Brevo's multi-channel approach saves you from paying for three separate tools.
Browse all email marketing tools for more options, or see our best email marketing platforms guide for ecommerce-specific recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: MailerLite or Brevo?
It depends on your list size vs sending frequency. MailerLite is cheaper for small lists (under 2,500 subscribers) with frequent sending because all paid plans include unlimited emails. Brevo is cheaper for large lists (10,000+ contacts) with infrequent sending because you pay per email sent, not per subscriber stored. At 10,000 subscribers sending weekly, MailerLite costs ~$73/month while Brevo costs $9-18/month for the same volume. But at 1,000 subscribers sending daily, MailerLite's $10/month with unlimited emails beats Brevo's volume-based pricing.
Which has better deliverability?
Both platforms deliver comparable inbox placement rates. MailerLite's strict approval process for new accounts means fewer spammers share their sending infrastructure, which indirectly benefits deliverability for legitimate senders. Brevo's transactional email infrastructure is particularly reliable for order confirmations and system emails. Neither platform significantly outperforms the other in third-party deliverability tests — both achieve 90%+ inbox rates with properly authenticated domains.
Can I switch from MailerLite to Brevo (or vice versa) easily?
Both platforms support CSV import of subscriber lists, making the basic migration straightforward. However, automation workflows, email templates, and landing pages don't transfer — you'll need to rebuild them. Neither platform can import the other's automation sequences. The best approach is to export your subscriber list with all custom fields, import into the new platform, and recreate your most important automations. Allow 1-2 weeks for a full migration including domain authentication setup.
Does MailerLite or Brevo have better automation?
Brevo has more advanced automation capabilities including website visitor tracking, lead scoring, multi-channel workflows (email + SMS + WhatsApp), and event-based triggers. MailerLite's automation is simpler but covers the essentials — welcome sequences, abandoned cart, post-purchase follow-ups, and date-based triggers. For newsletter creators, MailerLite's automation is usually sufficient. For ecommerce or sales-driven businesses, Brevo's advanced triggers and CRM integration provide more sophisticated workflow options.