Brevo vs Mailchimp at 10k: Is the Extra $822.96 a Year Worth It?

Brevo is also the cheaper bill at 1,000 contacts, just by a smaller amount. On Starter against Essentials, at both list sizes and the send volumes below, price points to Brevo. At 10,000 contacts, Brevo takes about 38 cents for every dollar Mailchimp would take from you in a year.

The plans aren’t feature-equal, though. Mailchimp Essentials includes automations of up to 4 steps, while Brevo lists marketing automation on Standard, not Starter, per Mailercloud. Mailchimp also brings a bigger template library and a longer app list. Those are worth the money only if you would actually use them.

Quick Answer: Brevo Costs Less at Both Sizes, Mailchimp Lists More Integrations

Verdict: Brevo is the cheaper email tool at 1,000 or 10,000 contacts; Mailchimp suits a store that needs its app list, template range or entry-plan automations. The bills differ because Brevo prices by emails sent and Mailchimp by contacts stored, per Mailercloud’s comparison. At 10,000 contacts, Mailchimp costs $822.96 a year more. Pay it only if those features save you over $68.58 a month in replacement work; otherwise choose Brevo.

Brevo’s flaw, with its fix: Mailercloud lists marketing automation under Brevo’s Standard plan, from $18 a month (5,000 emails), not Starter. If you’re buying for abandoned-cart emails, check which tier includes them on Brevo’s pricing page. Then compare that tier’s price, not Starter’s.

Mailchimp’s flaw, with its fix: At 10,000 contacts, Essentials costs about 2.7 times what Brevo Starter costs billed yearly. That $1,320.00 matches the list price on Brevo’s switch page, which excludes promotional offers (details below). If you need Mailchimp anyway, check the 15% off the first 12 months that Mailchimp’s pricing page offers businesses with 10,000+ contacts.

Strengths: Brevo doesn’t charge for duplicates or unsubscribed contacts, per Email Software Insights. You can also start free with no credit card on Brevo’s Mailchimp-switch page. Mailchimp offers more templates and more integrations, with the figures in the editor section below.

• Pick Brevo if cost decides it, or your list carries many duplicate and unsubscribed contacts.
• Pick Mailchimp if your store runs on an app that only Mailchimp’s catalog connects.
• Skip Mailchimp if $822.96 a year matters more to you than templates → buy Brevo Starter.
• Skip Brevo if you need Mailchimp’s template range and app list → buy Mailchimp Essentials.

How Each One Bills: Brevo Counts Emails Sent, Mailchimp Counts Contacts

Brevo’s price follows how many emails you send each month. Mailchimp’s follows how many contacts you store, and its features are split across plan tiers, per Mailercloud. Neither plan is unlimited: Mailchimp charges overages above the contact or send limit.

Brevo’s 10,000-contact price assumes 40,000 emails a month, per Brevo’s pricing page. That’s 4 emails per contact. This 4-per-contact figure is how this comparison’s pricing data is built, not a cap that Brevo sets. If you send more, you move up to a bigger volume tier.

Mailchimp Essentials lets you send “10x your contacts” a month, per Mailercloud. So a 1,000-contact list gets 1,000 x 10 = 10,000 emails a month, and a 10,000-contact list gets 10,000 x 10 = 100,000.

12-Month Cost Side by Side: Brevo Is $135.00 Cheaper at 1k and $822.96 at 10k

These prices were read 2026-10-20 from Brevo’s pricing page and Mailchimp’s pricing page, except the last row’s Brevo figure, whose source is in its row. Mailchimp’s 12-month figures are billed monthly. Brevo is shown both ways, so the headline gaps compare Brevo billed yearly with Mailchimp billed monthly.

Scenario (read 2026-10-20 unless noted)	Brevo, 12 months (emails/month)	Mailchimp Essentials, 12 months billed monthly (emails/month)	Brevo saves
1,000 contacts, Brevo Starter billed yearly	$183.00 (10,000)	$318.00 (10,000)	$135.00
1,000 contacts, Brevo Starter billed monthly	$204.00 (10,000)	$318.00 (10,000)	$114.00
10,000 contacts, Brevo Starter billed yearly	$497.04 (40,000)	$1,320.00 (100,000)	$822.96
10,000 contacts, Brevo Starter billed monthly	$552.00 (40,000)	$1,320.00 (100,000)	$768.00
10,000 contacts, 100,000 emails a month (Brevo: monthly list price on its switch page, which checked Mailchimp on 2026-08-07)	$984.00 (100,000)	$1,320.00 (100,000)	$336.00

• At 10,000 contacts: $1,320.00 (Mailchimp) − $497.04 (Brevo) = $822.96 a year, or $68.58 a month.
• Against Mailchimp Standard: $1,620.00 (Mailchimp) − $497.04 (Brevo) = $1,122.96 a year.
• Sending a lot: $82 a month x 12 = $984.00 for 100,000 emails at monthly list price on Brevo’s switch page, and $1,320.00 (Mailchimp) − $984.00 = $336.00.
• Cost per 1,000 emails at 10,000 contacts: Brevo $497.04 ÷ 480 thousand emails a year = $1.04 (Brevo). Mailchimp $1,320.00 ÷ 1,200 thousand = $1.10 (Mailchimp).

At 10,000 contacts and 100,000 emails a month, Brevo’s switch-page price still comes in $336.00 a year under Mailchimp Essentials. Per email allowed, the two are close. Mailchimp’s bigger bill comes from charging for the contact band, with the 100,000 emails included whether you send them or not.

This fits Email Software Insights, which says Brevo often costs less than half of Mailchimp at scale. Brevo’s bill is 57.5% of Mailchimp’s at 1,000 contacts and 37.7% at 10,000.

Extras Outside the Base Price: SMS on Both, Branding on Brevo, Promo Pricing on Mailchimp

1. Text messages cost extra on both. Brevo sells credit for SMS (Short Message Service, plain text messages) separately, priced by volume and destination, per Brevo’s pricing page. Mailchimp sells an SMS add-on on Essentials, and SMS plus MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service, picture messages) on Standard and Premium, per Mailchimp’s pricing page.
2. Removing Brevo’s branding may cost $10.80 a month. Brevo’s pricing page shows a remove-branding add-on at that price on Starter. Mailercloud says Starter has “No Brevo logo”, but Brevo’s own page is the one to trust. If the add-on applies, 1,000 contacts cost $183.00 + ($10.80 x 12 = $129.60) = $312.60. That’s still $5.40 under Mailchimp’s $318.00.
3. Mailchimp’s promo pricing: the sources disagree. Mailercloud calls Mailchimp’s listed prices “introductory rates for the first 12 months”. But Brevo’s switch page lists Mailchimp at $110 a month for 10,000 contacts, promotional offers excluded; $110 x 12 = $1,320.00, the table’s figure. Mailchimp’s pricing page also offers 15% off the “first 12 months” at 10,000+ contacts.
4. Mailchimp charges overages. Going past your contact or send limit adds overage charges, per Mailchimp’s pricing page. Before a big contact import, check the price of the next band up.
5. Brevo’s top tier is a big jump. Mailchimp’s comparison page says Brevo’s Professional plan “jumps to $449/month for advanced features”. Mailercloud lists $499 a month. Check Brevo’s pricing page before you budget for that tier.

The cost per text is compared in SMS marketing platforms for e-commerce ranked by per-text cost.

Editor, Templates and Integrations: Mailchimp Lists More, Brevo Rolls Back Edits

• Templates go to Mailchimp. Email Software Insights counts 130+ Mailchimp templates against 40+ for Brevo. Email Tool Tester counts more than 250 for Mailchimp.
• Integrations go to Mailchimp, by its own count. Mailchimp’s comparison page claims 330+ integrations against Brevo’s 150+. That’s a rival’s figure, so check that your store platform is on Brevo’s list.
• Brevo’s editor can roll back edits. Email Tool Tester notes that Brevo’s editor lets you go back to earlier versions of an email. It still scores the ease-of-use and editor round a tie.
• For automation, check the tier on both. Mailercloud puts Brevo’s automation on Standard and caps Mailchimp Essentials automations at 4 steps. Price the plan that runs your automated emails. Mailchimp Standard at 10,000 contacts costs $1,620.00 a year.

Pick Mailchimp for more templates, more app connections and automations on its entry plan. On the editor itself, Email Tool Tester calls it even.

How We Evaluated: Vendor Pricing Pages, Read 2026-10-20

Prices come from MarketingRating’s pricing dataset, read 2026-10-20 from each vendor’s own pricing page. Every price uses the same two contact sizes, and each billing term is labelled. The 100,000-email price comes from Brevo’s Mailchimp-switch page. Feature claims come from Mailercloud, Email Software Insights, Email Tool Tester and Mailchimp’s own comparison page, each credited where it’s used.

Where sources disagree, both figures appear.

Next Step: Price More Tools the Same Way

If neither bill fits, drip email marketing software for e-commerce ranked by 12-month cost compares more tools on the same yearly basis.

Next step: read more in Comparisons on MarketingRating, or check the figures in Email marketing pricing: the true 12-month cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts.

FAQ: Is Mailchimp SMS Free? Is There a Cheaper Option Than Mailchimp?

Is Mailchimp SMS free? No. SMS is an add-on on Essentials, and SMS plus MMS is an add-on on Standard and Premium, per Mailchimp’s pricing page.

Is there a cheaper option than Mailchimp? Yes. Brevo Starter is cheaper at both sizes: $183.00 against $318.00 at 1,000 contacts, and $497.04 against $1,320.00 at 10,000. For a third option priced the same way, see Mailchimp vs MailerLite 12-month cost at 1k, 10k and 50k contacts.

Can I try Brevo before paying? Yes. Brevo’s Mailchimp-switch page offers a free start with no credit card required.