Email marketing continues to be one of the highest-ROI digital marketing strategies for small businesses. Whether you run an online store, a startup, a consulting business, or a local service company, email helps you build customer relationships, generate leads, and increase sales.
Among the many email marketing platforms available today, MailerLite and Sendinblue (now known as Brevo) are two of the most popular choices. Both offer affordable pricing, automation features, and tools to grow your audience, but each is designed with a different type of user in mind.
In this guide, we’ll compare MailerLite and Brevo based on features, pricing, automation, deliverability, ease of use, and real-world performance to help you choose the right platform for your business.
MailerLite Overview
MailerLite is built around simplicity. It provides all the essential email marketing features without overwhelming users with unnecessary complexity.
Key features include the following:
- Drag-and-drop email editor
- Email automation
- Landing pages
- Signup forms and popups
- Subscriber segmentation
- Email analytics
MailerLite is especially popular among bloggers, freelancers, and startups because of its clean interface and ease of use. Understanding what is email marketing helps beginners choose the right platform by first learning how email marketing works and which features matter most for achieving their business goals.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly interface
- Affordable pricing
- Easy campaign creation
- Fast learning curve
Cons
- Limited advanced automation
- No built-in CRM
- Fewer multichannel marketing features
Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue) Overview
Brevo has evolved from a traditional email marketing platform into a complete customer engagement solution.
Its features include:
- Email marketing
- SMS marketing
- Marketing automation
- CRM
- Live chat
- WhatsApp campaigns
- Transactional emails
Unlike MailerLite, Brevo focuses on helping businesses manage customer communication across multiple channels from one dashboard.
Pros
- Built-in CRM
- Advanced automation
- Excellent email deliverability
- Multi-channel marketing
Cons
- Slight learning curve
- Higher pricing for heavy email senders
MailerLite vs Brevo: Feature Comparison
| Feature | MailerLite | Brevo |
| Ease of Use | Excellent | Good |
| Free Plan | Up to 500 subscribers | Unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day |
| Automation | Basic to Intermediate | Advanced |
| CRM | No | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | No | Yes |
| No | Yes | |
| Landing Pages | Yes | Limited |
| Pricing Model | Subscriber-based | Email volume-based |
- Ease of Use
MailerLite is designed for beginners. Its clean interface makes creating newsletters, landing pages, and automation workflows straightforward.
Brevo offers many more tools, which means new users may need more time to become familiar with the platform.
Winner: MailerLite
- Email Campaign Builder
Both platforms provide:
- Drag-and-drop editors
- Ready-made templates
- Personalization
- Scheduling
- A/B testing
MailerLite focuses on simplicity, while Brevo offers greater flexibility and customization.
Winner: Tie
- Marketing Automation
Automation saves time by sending emails based on customer behavior.
MailerLite
- Welcome emails
- Drip campaigns
- Basic workflows
- Subscriber triggers
Brevo
- Advanced customer journeys
- CRM-based automation
- Multi-step workflows
- Email and SMS automation
Winner: Brevo
- Multi-Channel Marketing
This is where Brevo clearly stands out.
Brevo supports:
- Email marketing
- SMS campaigns
- WhatsApp marketing
- Live chat
- Transactional emails
MailerLite remains primarily focused on email marketing.
Winner: Brevo
- Pricing
MailerLite
- Free plan available
- Paid plans start around $9–10/month
- Pricing based on subscriber count
Brevo
- Free plan available
- Unlimited contacts
- Paid plans start around $25/month
- Pricing based on email volume
Best Value
- Small email lists → MailerLite
- Large contact databases with lower email frequency → Brevo
- Deliverability
Email deliverability determines whether your messages reach the inbox instead of the spam folder.
Brevo has consistently earned a strong reputation for inbox placement, while MailerLite also performs well for most small businesses when best practices are followed.
Winner: Brevo
- CRM and Sales Features
MailerLite focuses solely on email marketing.
Brevo includes:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Contact management
- Sales pipelines
- Lead tracking
Businesses with growing sales teams benefit from Brevo’s integrated CRM.
Winner: Brevo
- Customer Support
MailerLite
- Email support
- Live chat on paid plans
- Helpful documentation
Brevo
- Email support
- Live chat
- Extensive knowledge base
- Enterprise support options
Winner: Brevo
Real-World Case Study
Business
A small online fashion retailer, StyleHub, wanted to improve customer engagement and increase online sales.
Phase 1: Using MailerLite
The business implemented the following:
- Weekly newsletters
- Welcome email series
- Promotional campaigns
Results after 3 months
- Open rate: 28%
- Revenue increased from $3,000 to $4,200 per month
- Email became the primary marketing channel
Challenge
As the business expanded, it needed:
- Better audience segmentation
- SMS reminders
- Customer tracking
- Advanced automation
Phase 2: Migrating to Brevo
The company added:
- Email and SMS campaigns
- Abandoned cart automation
- CRM-based segmentation
- Personalized customer journeys
Results after 4 months
- Open rate increased to 34%
- Cart recovery improved by 22%
- Monthly revenue grew to $7,500
The business found that MailerLite was ideal during the early growth stage, while Brevo became more valuable as customer communication became more sophisticated.
Who Should Choose MailerLite?
MailerLite is ideal if you:
- Are new to email marketing
- Manage a blog or newsletter
- Have a limited marketing budget
- Need a simple, easy-to-use platform
It’s a great option for freelancers, creators, bloggers, and small startups.
Who Should Choose Brevo?
Brevo is the better choice if you:
- Need advanced automation
- Want built-in CRM functionality
- Plan to scale rapidly
- Use SMS or WhatsApp marketing
- Manage complex customer journeys
It’s particularly well suited for e-commerce stores, agencies, SaaS businesses, and growing startups.
Final Verdict
Both MailerLite and Brevo are excellent email marketing platforms, but they serve different business needs.
Choose MailerLite if you want an affordable, beginner-friendly solution focused on email marketing.
Choose Brevo if you need advanced automation, CRM capabilities, and multi-channel communication as your business grows.
Bottom Line
- Best for beginners: MailerLite
- Best for growing businesses: Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
The right choice depends on your current business stage, marketing goals, and future growth plans. Many businesses start with MailerLite for its simplicity and later transition to Brevo when they require more advanced marketing and customer management features.