MailerLite vs Brevo: Two Budget Champions Compared
The Quick Verdict
MailerLite wins for pure email marketing. It has a cleaner interface, a more intuitive email builder, better automation for the price, and a more generous free plan. Brevo wins in specific scenarios — if you need transactional emails, SMS marketing, or you have a very large list with low sending frequency. For the typical small business or creator who needs a reliable, affordable email marketing platform, MailerLite is the better pick.
Both platforms are excellent budget options that outperform Mailchimp and Constant Contact on value. You cannot go badly wrong with either.
Pricing Comparison
These platforms use different pricing models, which makes direct comparison tricky:
| Feature | MailerLite | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Per subscriber, unlimited sends | Per email volume, unlimited contacts |
| Free Plan | 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails/mo | 300 emails/day (unlimited contacts) |
| 1K Contacts | $9/mo (Growing Business) | $9/mo (Starter, 5K emails/mo) |
| 5K Contacts | $39/mo (Growing Business) | $18/mo (Starter, 20K emails/mo) |
| 25K Contacts | $159/mo (Growing Business) | $35/mo (Starter, 40K emails/mo) |
| 100K Contacts | $440/mo (Growing Business) | $69/mo (Business, 60K emails/mo) |
| SMS | Not available | Available as add-on |
| Transactional Email | Not available | Included |
Brevo looks dramatically cheaper at large list sizes because it charges per email sent, not per contact stored. But those prices assume relatively low email volume. If you email your 25,000-contact list twice a week (200,000 emails/mo), Brevo’s cost rises to match or exceed MailerLite. The right choice depends on your sending frequency.
Features Head-to-Head
Email Builder
MailerLite’s drag-and-drop editor is one of the best in the budget category. Templates are modern and clean, the interface is intuitive, and you get features like product blocks, countdown timers, and surveys built in. Brevo’s editor is functional but less polished — template designs skew more corporate, and the editor feels slightly clunkier to navigate.
Edge: MailerLite.
Automation
Both platforms offer visual automation builders with conditional logic. MailerLite’s automation is slightly more intuitive, with cleaner workflow visualization and easier trigger configuration. Brevo’s automation is powerful but the interface can feel dense, especially for beginners. Both cover the essential workflows — welcome series, abandoned triggers, date-based campaigns.
Edge: MailerLite, for ease of use. Feature parity is close.
Transactional Email
Brevo offers a full transactional email API for order confirmations, password resets, shipping notifications, and other triggered transactional messages. This is a legacy from its Sendinblue days, and it remains a strong differentiator. MailerLite does not offer transactional email at all.
Edge: Brevo, exclusively.
SMS Marketing
Brevo includes SMS marketing with the ability to send campaigns, set up automations, and combine email and SMS in workflows. SMS credits are purchased separately. MailerLite has no SMS capability.
Edge: Brevo, exclusively.
Landing Pages and Forms
MailerLite includes landing pages, pop-ups, embedded forms, and a full website builder on all paid plans. The landing page templates are clean and conversion-focused. Brevo offers landing pages on its Business plan ($18/mo+), but the builder is less intuitive and the template selection is smaller.
Edge: MailerLite.
Website Builder
MailerLite includes a full website builder on all paid plans — one of the few email platforms to offer this. You can build a complete website with blog, pages, and email signup integrated. Brevo does not offer a website builder.
Edge: MailerLite.
Deliverability
Both platforms have acceptable deliverability. MailerLite is slightly stricter about list quality and compliance, which tends to protect sending reputation. Brevo’s deliverability is also solid, especially for transactional emails, which have consistently high inbox placement.
Edge: Roughly tied.
Reporting
Both platforms cover the basics — open rates, click rates, bounce rates, unsubscribes. Brevo provides slightly more granular data, especially for transactional email performance. MailerLite’s reports are cleaner and easier to read, with visual click maps and subscriber engagement tracking.
Edge: Tied, with each platform excelling in its area.
Who Should Choose MailerLite
- Small businesses and creators who want the best email marketing experience on a budget
- Anyone who values a clean, intuitive interface over feature density
- Businesses that want landing pages, forms, and a website builder included
- Users with moderate list sizes who send regularly (MailerLite’s unlimited sends model)
- Anyone who does not need transactional email or SMS
Who Should Choose Brevo
- Businesses that need transactional email and marketing email in one platform
- Companies that want SMS marketing integrated with email automation
- Organizations with very large lists but low sending frequency (per-email pricing)
- Ecommerce businesses that need order confirmation and shipping notification emails
- Teams that want to consolidate marketing and transactional messaging under one roof
The Bottom Line
MailerLite is the better pure email marketing platform. It is easier to use, better designed, and includes landing pages and a website builder that Brevo cannot match. For the typical small business or creator who needs to send newsletters, build automations, and grow their list, MailerLite delivers more value.
Brevo is the right choice when your needs extend beyond marketing email. If you need transactional email for your web application, SMS marketing for your ecommerce store, or you have a massive contact list with infrequent sends, Brevo’s pricing model and feature set make it the smarter pick. Choose based on what you actually need, not which has the lower sticker price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MailerLite or Brevo cheaper?
It depends on your sending pattern. MailerLite charges by subscriber count with unlimited sends. Brevo charges by email volume with unlimited contacts. If you send frequently to a small list, MailerLite is cheaper. If you have a large list but send infrequently, Brevo's email-volume pricing can save money. For most typical use cases, MailerLite offers better value.
Does Brevo still offer SMS marketing?
Yes. Brevo includes SMS marketing on its platform, with SMS credits available as add-ons. This is a genuine advantage over MailerLite, which does not offer SMS. If multichannel marketing (email + SMS) is important to your strategy, Brevo provides it in a single platform.
Can MailerLite replace Brevo for transactional emails?
No. MailerLite is strictly a marketing email platform. Brevo offers a full transactional email API (formerly Sendinblue SMTP) for order confirmations, password resets, and other triggered transactional messages. If you need both marketing and transactional email in one tool, Brevo is the only option between these two.