The digital marketplace has evolved and is constantly changing; however, email marketing is still relevant and an effective channel for marketing a business. Over the years, its prevalence has been credited to its minimalism which has propelled it to be the most valuable and simplest way to communicate with prospective clients and customers.
To use the power of email marketing effectively, you’ll need good software to take your marketing to the next level. You may think that running an email marketing campaign with thousands of subscribers is a piece of cake, but that is not that simple. Managing the entire process requires a lot of time and effort. This is why I will cover two of the most powerful email marketing tools- Brevo and Mailchim
Brevo and Mailchimp come with a wide range of features to make it easier to reach your target audience. Both have a great interface that can be easily customized for your email campaigns. In this article, we will assess both of them against each other and find out which is the best tool for your business venture.
Brevo Overview
Brevo is a European-based platform that is one of the fastest email marketing solutions. It was founded in 2012 and helps businesses grow efficiently using its email marketing tools.
Click Here To Try Brevo For Free
The tool is an all-in-one email marketing service that stands out for its unique features. These features include everything from templates to automation, list management, and more. Its simplicity helps streamline the production of your email marketing campaigns.
Brevo is a one-stop shop for digital marketing and helps B2B and B2C businesses, marketers, and e-commerce retailers to build strong customer relationships. This is why it is used by 500,000+ customers across 160+ countries.
- Simple interface
- Great email builder with powerful template customization
- Powerful transactional email and SMS marketing tool
- Excellent deliverability
- Good range of automation features
- Powerful multi-channel campaign options
- Robust WordPress plugin
- Advanced features will cost extra
- Occasionally, a bit bloated
- Limited landing pages
Mailchimp Overview
In the email marketing space, Mailchimp is a well-known name. It was launched in 2001 and focuses on empowering businesses with different tools like Facebook, postcards, google ads, etc.
It comes with a well-organized interface with some great features to get you going on your email marketing journey. Mailchimp offers some valuable tips with in-depth analytics to keep track of how campaigns are going to gather information that can be used in the future.
- Beginner friendly
- Easily segment contacts
- Set triggers for your website and landing pages
- Powerful behavioral targeting
- Built-in conversion tools
- Multivariate A/B testing
- Limited email sends on every plan
- Website builder is too simplistic for some businesses
- Not very cost-effective
- Free plan is limited
Brevo vs Mailchimp
1. Ease of Use
The setup process and the ease of using a service are key parameters that allow for a seamless user experience. Let us understand what both tools compare when it comes to their ease of use.
Brevo
When you log into Brevo, the first thing you will notice is that it is simple and straightforward. As a new user, you can take a short tour of its features to familiarize yourself with the software or skip the tutorial. Everything you require from the tool is available on the left side menu, like your contacts, campaigns, meetings, conversations, and deals.
It has a great drag and drop editor that has pre-set options to efficiently create your email without much hassle. Again, you will get a guide through each step so you don’t miss anything. Finally, it has an option to revert to the previous versions of your design, which is very useful.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a very user-friendly email marketing software, and you can get going with a few clicks. Most users feel at home, as it is easy to navigate through every aspect of the tool. This has purely been based on the revised interface they have launched.
The recent UI updates have added a Create button at the top left corner of their interface. Now, you are able to efficiently craft email campaigns, landing pages, automation, surveys, and more without having to search through the dedicated tab.
Verdict
I didn’t find any major issues in either of the tools, but I will say that I like Brevo’s organization and UI slightly better. So, Brevo has a slight edge in this aspect.
2. Email Builder
The next section I’ll cover is the email designing that is available with both tools. Whether it is your standard drag and drop builder or other advanced features, I’ll discuss them below.
Brevo
Brevo has a great email builder tool that allows you to craft new campaigns from scratch or by selecting an email template or layout available with the tool. The editor will prompt you to save your brand assets to have consistent branding. This is great and saves you time and effort down the line.
If you dive a bit deeper, its drag and drop builder works well, and you can easily add various content elements to work seamlessly. To customize the design, you will need to click on the element, and you can edit it. Here, you can change the font, add links, or more with the floating ribbon that appears in the tool.
To ensure your campaign becomes impeccable, Brevo allows you to create A/B tests to test what works for your business. You can find this feature when you create an email campaign.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s email editor comes with several design features that beginners or advanced users will appreciate. The tool has options to choose from two different builders based on their preferences.
Its campaign creation and customization can be done through its versatile drag and drop builder. When you click on any content block, you are able to customize and edit it as per your liking. Unlike Brevo, Mailchimp offers advanced elements, like surveys and product blocks. I was also able to input my own custom HTML code for their unique designs.
Overall, I like my overall experience with the tool, and the company has taken serious steps to ensure the builder is one of the best in the market.
Verdict
Mailchimp offers advanced options to customize every aspect of your emails. They are easily available, and their user-friendly interface makes them quite straightforward, even though you are starting out in the space.
3. Templates
There are several email marketing platforms that offer pre-made email templates that users can use to start out instead of creating everything from scratch. The more templates you get with an email platform, the better it is.
Brevo
Brevo has 48 elegant templates with 4 simple layouts. These templates are mobile responsive and are great for users to take as a starting point. For example, you can use it to welcome new subscribers, make an announcement, etc. What is so great is that you can categorize them for easier navigation.
It also has a separate Templates tab on the menu. Here, you are able to create your own template by simply copying and pasting the HTML in their editor or importing an existing template into another account on their platform using a shared URL. However, it doesn’t let you import a template that you have created on other email marketing or third-party platforms.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has over 100 modern, eye-catching templates that are mobile-friendly and fully customizable. However, with the Free plan, you will only get access to 8 basic templates. They are categorized so users can easily locate their favorite designs.
What is more with it is that you can create custom HTML templates using code, ZIP file, or URL. If you are running a marketing campaign and looking for a stunning design, Mailchimp has templates that are a big help.
Verdict
This a tricky one to choose from. Mailchimp may offer more attractive templates to choose from, but you will need to pay to get them. All the templates available with Brevo are free, so I’ll give both of them a point in this section.
4. List Management
List management and segmentation options are something you require to run a successful email marketing campaign. Let us understand what both the tools have to offer in this aspect.
Brevo
Brevo allows you to easily segment and set up lists for your email. You can create segments by filtering your contacts based on your contact data, may it be their name, address, engagement status, data added), or behavioral inputs (email activity or SMS). There is also an option to add multiple conditions that help make things more advanced.
Brevo lets you automate the segmentation when a new subscriber signs up. Here, they will be added to a particular list based on the said condition.
The best thing you get with Brevo is that you get access to unlimited contacts on all its plans. So, you don’t need to worry about paying double for the same number of subscribers.
Finally, it has 5 pre-defined segment options, which are quite handy. Overall, I can say that the entire experience is smooth and effortless.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has some major issues with its email list management, and I totally see why. The lists of Mailchimp are mutually exclusive. In simple terms, you can’t include your contacts in different lists in a particular campaign. And to top it off, there is no way to create automations to move your subscribers from one list to the other.
Mailchimp charges per subscriber, so if you have the same contact on different lists, you’ll be paying for the same people multiple times. This is a big no, and I have not seen it with any other email marketing provider in the market.
Further, Mailchimp has made it complex with its various options and naming conventions. You have access to audiences, segments, tags, and groups. No wonder I was so confused when using it.
Verdict
Brevo is a clear winner, and the simplicity of its segmentation system and the plethora of criteria by which you can group your subscribers makes the tool a great solution to handle your email list.
5. Automation
Email automation is a valuable resource for every business as it helps eliminate repetitive tasks to free up your team’s time to focus on other important tasks. Let us check how the two services compare.
Brevo
The first thing I noticed when I checked its automation was its clean interface. Brevo allows users to create custom automation flows and select one of its 8 pre-made templates, including a welcome message flow, product purchase, cart abandonment, and transactional activity.
There are several set actions and conditions that give you complete freedom to efficiently craft sophisticated automation paths. You can personalize your journey based on your behavioral data. There is also an option to include SMS and WhatsApp messages in your automations. Apart from this, they can also assist in contact management that allows you to remove inactive subscribers, score leads, and much more.
I was surprised to know that you can get access to the automation on the free plan (limited to 2,000 contacts). To be quite honest I was surprised by how affordable it is and was surprised by how extensive the marketing automation workflows in Brevo are. They also give you the Best time feature that lets you send your campaigns at an optimal time based on your previous campaign performance.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp boasts that it has automation triggers, and that may be the case. However, the price is not justified when you compare it to Brevo. To get automation you will be required to flash cash and access this feature. And automations are not available on the Free plan, which means you’ll be required to sign up for one of the paid plans to get a basic automated welcome email. Mailchimp has an array of triggers and actions and access to100+ pre-built journeys.
Verdict
I will choose Brevo when it comes to email automation due to its exquisite functionality and price point compared to Mailchimp.
6. Forms and Landing Pages
What is the lead generation available with both tools; let us understand more of the same below.
Brevo
To start, the signup forms of Brevo make the creation of these forms a piece of cake. I was only asked to provide a name for the form, and it directed me to design the form. From here, I followed a step-by-step sequence that allowed me to easily design it without having to be redirected to a new page. You can easily customize your form by dragging and dropping the elements as you need. The only downside is that you don’t get additional form templates to design your form.
To get access to the landing page builder, you’ll be required to choose one of its premium plans. Similar to building signup forms, you can start from scratch or choose from pre-made templates (60+ available). The builder is quite easy to use and has a detailed onboarding process that is great for beginners.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp’s form builder is as simple as Brevo. The platform allows you to create embeddable forms, popups, and signup landing pages. However, a big negative point I noticed is that all the templates are not responsive.
Its landing page builder allows you to drag and drop elements that help design attractive landing pages to suit all your needs. The builder may look a bit sluggish to use, which is slightly complicated for me to use. Apart from this, you can add tracking to Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics. Finally, I would like to say that you get access to only 10 landing page templates to act as a starting point.
Verdict
I am inclined to choose Brevo as the winner due to the experience I had with its lead-generation tools. Furthermore, its form builder was great to work with, and it has several landing page templates that I really prefer.
7. Reporting and Analytics
A dedicated reporting and analytics dashboard offers useful insights for marketers and business owners. If you don’t get access to the right data, you will not be able to optimize your email marketing campaigns to yield better results. Let’s understand what both tools have to offer.
Brevo
Brevo has a powerful reporting and analytics functionality that allows you to see the performance of your campaigns. You can access this data in the Statistics tab under the Campaign option. The statistics page is very simplistic, as you can see from the image below. Here, you can get the summary of your email metric in the top right corner. There will also be important metrics like the click and open rate along with the unsubscription rate. The lower-tier plans only give users access to basic analytics and reporting.
If you want advanced reporting tools, you’ll have to upgrade to the Business plan. The advanced analytics gives you access to heat maps, in-depth open click rates, and geolocation tracking.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has several reporting functionalities, which have important performance metrics (clicks, opens, bounces, etc.) and other advanced analytics like links clicked, automation reports, and geolocation tracking.
The tool has great social and e-commerce reporting capabilities, which is something that Brevo lacks. This is vital for some business users and is a major difference from Brevo. Apart from this, the audience analytics dashboard looks sleeker and more modern.
Verdict
Mailchimp has great reporting and analytics functions, but Brevo is also great with its offering and price point. However, the social and eCommerce reporting capabilities give Mailchimp the win in this round.
8. CRM
CRM is a key technology that allows businesses to manage all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers or future customers. But how do both tools fare in this aspect?
Brevo
Brevo has a free CRM system that allows me to easily manage contacts by assigning them to different users, which helps me set tasks and deadlines with every customer profile. There is also additional information like what web page you have visited. However, importing contacts is not very simple, and you will have to upload a file that contains that data. I would like to copy them from my existing list of subscribers, which is not available with it.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp claims that you can use it as CRM software, but it really doesn’t come with enough features that would warrant the claim. I would like to see some additional options like uploading a file, creating tasks, or assigning contacts to specific sales agents.
It does offer a Social Profiles feature, which lets you create target campaigns depending on social media. However, if you activate this feature, you will incur some additional charges. Another area that Mailchimp does well is its eCommerce data if your account is connected to the online store. This showed me data on how much revenue each contact has generated.
Verdict
Brevo and Mailchimp have some good and bad points in this area, and there is no clear winner in this aspect.
9. SMS Marketing
Another area that I like to do is send SMS to users reminding them of a campaign. Does Brevo and Mailchimp have good SMS marketing services? Let us find out below.
Brevo
Brevo lets you send SMS campaigns on all its plans; however, you will need to purchase some credits. The price point depends on the country you are sending it to. But you will be charged in Euros regardless of where you operate.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is quite limited when sending SMS notifications. You are only able to send SMS as you are looking to sell products on a store that you have created with Mailchimp. If you are looking to send confirmation text messages of your service or create appointments on Mailchimp, then you can send an SMS to schedule a meeting with you. What is more, is that SMS text messages are only available to users in the USA.
Verdict
Brevo is a versatile and flexible SMS marketing option. Mailchimp has several limitations, which is why Brevo is a clear winner.
10. Pricing
We arrive at an important round that dictates the dollars you will have to dish out to use the tools. Without much hustle or bustle, let me get you through this important section.
Brevo
Brevo doesn’t have any caps on contacts or charges per the number of emails sent. It has 4 different plans that users can select from. All the plans offer unlimited contacts and pricing based on the number of emails you are able to send each month.
Click Here To Try Brevo For Free
The plans at the time of writing are the Free plan, Starter plan (starting at $25 per month), Business plan (starting at $65 per month), and Enterprise plan with custom pricing and features.
The pricing model is ideal for businesses that want large email lists to send plenty of emails each month. You also get the option to purchase extra email credits, which increase the number of emails you can send without any expiration date.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp also offers 4 plans; however, everything else is completely different. Its pricing is contact-based, and you will have to pay per the number of subscribers that you have. But you will still have to pay for unsubscribed contacts and people who haven’t confirmed an opt-in.
You might already know that I am not a big fan of the pricing, even though it has a free plan, which is very restricted and allows only 500 subscribers and 1,000 monthly email sends.
The paid plans are its Essentials plan ($4.59 for 500 subscribers), Standard plan ($6.84 for 500 subscribers), and Premium plan ($136.94 for 500 subscribers). However, as the subscriber count increases, so does the price.
Further, Mailchimp takes overage fees if users exceed their email and contact send this. All this makes it one of the most expensive solutions for your email marketing campaign.
Verdict
Brevo and Mailchimp have different types of pricing structures. Brevo has a simple and affordable pricing structure, which is ideal for nearly all users. Mailchimp’s pricing is a bit confusing and only suitable for higher-end companies. Overall, I like the pricing offered by Brevo, which makes it a clear winner in this aspect.
11. Integrations
Integrations allow businesses to connect you to your favorite tools and help streamline their efforts. But how do both of them fare in this aspect?
Brevo
Brevo has integrations with several third-party tools, may it be eCommerce platforms or sales CRM tools that help in lead generation and analytics. At the time of writing, it had 67 integrations. The most notable ones are Shopify, WordPress, Salesforce, and Google Analytics.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has 300+ integrations that connect you through various CRM tools, eCommerce platforms, social media, and more. If you want more integrations, then you can connect it with Zapier.
Verdict
Mailchimp is a clear winner as it offers 2 times more integrations than Brevo.
12. Customer Support
Customer support is a key component in any service, so getting the right support helps you to optimally operate your email marketing channel. What are the customer support features offered by Brevo and Mailchimp?
Brevo
Brevo offers two ways to connect with the support team. The contact forms located on the contact page or in a pop-up in the Help Center are the most common places where you can contact for support. The other place is to send an email to the team. However, if you are on any of its premium plans, which I’m not on, you get access to phone support to directly converse with the team.
The email support is available 24/7, and I usually get responses within 5 hours, which is perfect as long as you don’t have an emergency. This is quite a common form of support that you’ll get with several other tools in the market.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has excellent customer support to resolve nearly all your issues or questions. On the Free plan, you get access to email support for only 30 days. The tool gives you step-by-step videos and tutorials on how to operate the platform. You also get access to 24/7 live chat to help you with any stage of your business journey.
If you want advanced support, then you can get priority support, onboarding, and phone support on its Premium plans.
In addition to the existing resources, you get an in-depth knowledge base and useful tutorials on all its plans, which is a great plus point of the tool.
Verdict
Brevo and Mailchimp have great resources to resolve most issues that you will face while using the platform. Mailchimp’s live chat support is not as fast as you would expect; however, this feature is not available with Brevo. This is why I can say that Mailchimp takes the edge in this field.
13. Email Deliverability
Your email marketing software may be the best, but it is essential that your campaigns land in your subscriber’s inboxes and not the spam folder. Let us look at the overall deliverability rates of the popular email marketing platforms from the Emailtooltester’s bi-annual tests.
Verdict
Mailchimp wins with flying colors when it comes to deliverability over Brevo. However, Brevo is constantly working to improve its deliverability for its customers.
Which is the Ultimate Winner: Brevo or Mailchimp?
Brevo and Mailchimp are two of the best email marketing solutions in the market. Mailchimp is well-known, but as we have seen in this review, notoriety is not everything.
Brevo is a great choice for people who want a user-friendly platform that doesn’t skim with any features. Its prices are quite reasonable over Mailchimp, and its list management is not a big headache.
Brevo’s constant improvement in deliverability rates is a great sign of a top email marketing software and a top competitor to Mailchimp.
Mailchimp is also a great tool in the market and offers excellent email builder and features. However, it has some areas it has to work on if it wants to become the real champion. Overall, I would recommend Brevo as the winner when you compare it with Mailchimp.
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