Marketing automation doesn't have to drain your budget or require a computer science degree to operate. That's the promise Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) makes to small businesses and growing teams worldwide.
But does this European-based platform actually deliver on its ambitious claims? After diving deep into Brevo's features, pricing, and real-world performance, I'm breaking down everything you need to know before committing your marketing dollars.
What Exactly Is Brevo?
Brevo has evolved far beyond its email marketing roots. This all-in-one digital marketing platform now combines email campaigns, SMS marketing, chat functionality, CRM tools, and marketing automation under one roof.
The platform serves over 500,000 businesses across 180 countries. From solopreneurs to mid-sized enterprises, Brevo positions itself as the Swiss Army knife of marketing tools—minus the complexity that usually comes with such comprehensive solutions.
Core capabilities include:
- Email marketing with drag-and-drop builders
- SMS and WhatsApp messaging
- Marketing automation workflows
- Built-in CRM system
- Landing page creation
- Facebook ads integration
- Live chat and chatbot functionality
- Transactional email services
The company made waves in 2023 by rebranding from Sendinblue to Brevo, signaling its transformation from a simple email tool to a complete marketing ecosystem.
Email Marketing Features That Actually Matter
Email remains the backbone of any marketing automation strategy. Brevo understands this and delivers a surprisingly robust email editor that rivals platforms costing three times as much.
The drag-and-drop email builder feels intuitive from day one. You're not wrestling with complicated interfaces or hunting for basic functions buried in endless menus.
Email capabilities breakdown:
- Over 60 responsive email templates
- A/B testing for subject lines and content
- Advanced personalization using contact attributes
- Send time optimization based on engagement patterns
- Heat map analytics showing click patterns
- Mobile preview for all email designs
- Spam score checker before sending
One standout feature is the email deliverability rate. Brevo consistently maintains delivery rates above 95%, putting it on par with industry leaders like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign.
The platform also handles transactional emails seamlessly. Whether you're sending order confirmations, password resets, or shipping notifications, Brevo's SMTP service ensures these critical messages reach inboxes reliably.
Marketing Automation Without the Headaches
Here's where Brevo truly shines for businesses ready to scale beyond manual campaigns. The automation builder strikes that rare balance between powerful functionality and user-friendly design.
Creating automated workflows doesn't require technical expertise. The visual workflow editor lets you map out customer journeys by dragging and dropping triggers, conditions, and actions onto a canvas.
Automation triggers you can use:
- Contact subscribes to a list
- Opens or clicks an email
- Visits a specific webpage
- Abandons a shopping cart
- Reaches a certain engagement score
- Updates a contact attribute
- Anniversary or birthday dates
The conditional logic capabilities let you create sophisticated segmentation. You can branch workflows based on contact behavior, demographics, purchase history, or custom attributes you define.
Want to send different follow-up sequences to people who clicked versus those who didn't? Easy. Need to tag contacts based on their activity and route them to sales? Done in minutes, not hours.
Brevo's automation also extends to SMS campaigns. You can build multi-channel workflows that combine email and text messages for maximum reach and engagement.
SMS Marketing Integration That Makes Sense
Most marketing platforms bolt SMS onto existing features as an afterthought. Brevo built SMS capabilities into its core from the beginning, and the integration shows.
Sending text messages follows the same intuitive process as email campaigns. The platform handles compliance requirements automatically, managing opt-ins and opt-outs according to regulations in different countries.
SMS features include:
- Personalized bulk messaging
- Automated SMS in workflow sequences
- Two-way conversations with contacts
- Delivery reports and analytics
- Link shortening and tracking
- Unicode support for international characters
- Sender ID customization (where allowed)
The pricing for SMS remains competitive. You pay only for messages sent, with rates varying by country. Most businesses find the costs reasonable compared to standalone SMS platforms.
One clever feature is the ability to trigger SMS based on email behavior. If someone doesn't open your email within 24 hours, the automation can send them a text message with the same offer—increasing your chances of engagement.
CRM Functionality for Sales Teams
Brevo includes a built-in CRM that many small businesses find sufficient for managing customer relationships without investing in separate sales software.
The CRM organizes contacts, tracks deals through pipeline stages, and logs all interactions automatically. Sales teams can see complete communication history—every email opened, link clicked, and page visited.
CRM capabilities:
- Custom deal pipelines
- Task management and reminders
- Contact scoring based on engagement
- Activity timeline for each contact
- Company and contact profiles
- Custom fields and attributes
- Deal value tracking
- Win/loss analysis
The contact scoring system proves particularly valuable. Brevo automatically assigns points based on actions like email opens, website visits, and link clicks. Your team can prioritize outreach to the most engaged prospects rather than guessing who's ready to buy.
Integration between the CRM and marketing automation creates powerful possibilities. When a contact reaches a certain score, automation can notify sales reps, add the contact to a nurture sequence, or trigger other actions you define.
Landing Pages and Signup Forms
Building landing pages directly in Brevo eliminates the need for separate tools like Unbounce or Leadpages—at least for straightforward campaigns.
The landing page builder follows the same drag-and-drop approach as the email editor. Templates provide starting points, and customization options let you match your brand without touching code.
Landing page features:
- Mobile-responsive designs
- Custom domain connection
- Built-in SEO settings
- Facebook pixel integration
- Google Analytics tracking
- A/B testing capabilities
- Pop-up and embedded form options
The signup forms deserve special mention. You can create inline forms, pop-ups, or slide-ins that integrate seamlessly with your automation workflows. When someone subscribes through a form, they automatically enter whatever automation sequence you've connected.
Form customization includes conditional fields that appear based on previous answers. This creates more engaging, conversational signup experiences rather than overwhelming visitors with dozens of fields at once.
Pricing That Won't Break the Bank
Brevo's pricing structure differs from most competitors in one crucial way—you're not charged based on contact list size.
Instead, Brevo charges based on emails sent per month. This approach saves significant money if you maintain a large list but don't email everyone constantly.
Pricing tiers include:
- Free Plan: Up to 300 emails per day, unlimited contacts
- Starter Plan: Starting at $25/month for 20,000 emails
- Business Plan: Starting at $65/month with marketing automation
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for high-volume senders
The free plan offers genuine value for startups and small businesses. You get unlimited contacts, basic email campaigns, and SMS functionality—features that competitors typically lock behind paid tiers.
Marketing automation requires upgrading to the Business plan at minimum. This tier also unlocks A/B testing, advanced statistics, multi-user access, and phone support.
One cost-saving advantage is the SMS pricing. Brevo's rates typically run 10-30% lower than standalone SMS platforms, though exact pricing varies by destination country.
User Experience and Learning Curve
Platform complexity can make or break your marketing automation adoption. Brevo strikes a solid balance between functionality and usability.
The interface feels clean and modern without the clutter that plagues some competitors. Navigation makes logical sense—campaigns, contacts, automation, and analytics each occupy clearly labeled sections.
User experience highlights:
- Intuitive dashboard showing key metrics
- Contextual help articles throughout the platform
- Video tutorials for major features
- Template library for quick starts
- Real-time preview for all content
- Logical workflow builder layout
New users typically feel comfortable creating their first campaign within 30 minutes. The learning curve steepens when building complex automation workflows, but Brevo provides extensive documentation and templates to accelerate the process.
The mobile app lets you monitor campaign performance and manage contacts on the go, though it lacks the full functionality of the desktop version for creating content.
Integration Capabilities
Marketing automation platforms must play nicely with your existing tech stack. Brevo offers integrations covering most common business tools.
Popular integrations include:
- Shopify and WooCommerce for e-commerce
- WordPress for content management
- Salesforce for advanced CRM needs
- Zapier for connecting 5,000+ apps
- Google Analytics for traffic tracking
- Facebook and Instagram for social ads
- Pipedrive for sales pipeline management
- Slack for team notifications
The Zapier connection proves particularly valuable. Even without native integration, you can connect Brevo to virtually any cloud software through automated workflows—triggering actions in Brevo based on events in other apps and vice versa.
API access comes standard on all paid plans. Developers can build custom integrations or add Brevo functionality directly into applications.
Customer Support and Resources
When automation breaks or you hit a roadblock, responsive support makes all the difference.
Brevo provides email support on all plans, including the free tier. Phone support requires upgrading to Business or Enterprise plans.
Support options:
- Email support (all plans)
- Phone support (Business plan and above)
- Live chat for urgent issues
- Extensive knowledge base
- Video tutorial library
- Community forum
- Dedicated account manager (Enterprise only)
Response times for email support typically range from 2-24 hours depending on complexity. The knowledge base covers most common questions comprehensively, often providing faster answers than waiting for support tickets.
The onboarding process includes guided tours and setup checklists that walk new users through core features systematically.
Deliverability and Performance
Marketing automation means nothing if your emails never reach inboxes. Brevo maintains strong deliverability rates through proactive sender reputation management.
The platform automatically handles technical requirements like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication. You're not left configuring DNS records alone—Brevo guides you through each step.
Deliverability features:
- Dedicated IP addresses (Enterprise plans)
- Automatic list cleaning for bounces
- Spam score testing before sending
- Engagement-based sending optimization
- ISP feedback loop monitoring
- Regular infrastructure updates
Independent testing consistently shows Brevo achieving 95%+ inbox placement rates across major providers including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
The platform also monitors sender reputation scores and alerts you to potential deliverability issues before they impact campaign performance.
Areas Where Brevo Falls Short
No platform is perfect for every business. Brevo has limitations worth considering before committing.
The reporting and analytics, while adequate, lack the depth that data-driven marketers might want. Custom report building is limited compared to platforms like HubSpot or ActiveCampaign.
Potential drawbacks:
- Basic reporting compared to enterprise platforms
- Limited template customization in free plan
- SMS costs add up quickly for high-volume senders
- Learning curve for advanced automation
- Occasional interface lag with large contact lists
- Fewer native integrations than competitors
The visual automation builder, while user-friendly, doesn't offer quite as many advanced branching options as specialized automation tools like Ontraport or Keap.
For businesses already invested in comprehensive CRM systems like Salesforce, Brevo's built-in CRM might feel redundant rather than valuable.
Who Should Choose Brevo?
Brevo fits specific business profiles better than others. Understanding where you fall helps determine if this platform matches your needs.
Ideal candidates for Brevo:
- Small to medium-sized businesses (under 500 employees)
- E-commerce stores needing transactional email
- Agencies managing multiple client campaigns
- Startups wanting to grow without platform migrations
- Businesses needing multi-channel marketing (email + SMS)
- Teams wanting CRM and marketing automation combined
- Organizations on tight budgets requiring full features
The platform particularly excels for businesses transitioning from basic email tools to full marketing automation. The learning curve remains manageable while capabilities expand significantly.
Companies already using enterprise platforms like Marketo or Eloqua will find Brevo lacking the advanced features justifying the complexity they've already mastered.
Final Verdict: Should You Choose Brevo?
Brevo delivers impressive value for businesses seeking affordable, comprehensive marketing automation without sacrificing essential features.
The platform's greatest strength lies in democratizing marketing automation. Features once reserved for enterprise budgets are now accessible to small businesses and startups.
Bottom line advantages:
- Genuinely useful free plan for getting started
- Affordable scaling as your business grows
- All-in-one platform reducing tool sprawl
- Strong deliverability maintaining sender reputation
- Intuitive interface accelerating adoption
- Multi-channel capabilities (email, SMS, chat)
For most small to medium businesses, Brevo provides everything needed to build sophisticated marketing funnels, nurture leads, and drive conversions—without requiring a dedicated marketing ops team to manage.
The platform won't satisfy every niche requirement or replace best-in-class specialists in every category. But for businesses prioritizing practical functionality over bleeding-edge features, Brevo stands out as a smart, cost-effective choice in the crowded marketing automation landscape.
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