Brevo review for 2024
Is this the best email marketing platform?
Looking to supercharge your email marketing efforts? Maybe the perfect solution would be Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) – a comprehensive business solution that not only boasts a solid CRM system and live chat features but shines brightly in the realm of email marketing.
- Email template library with 47+ designs
- It has a very easy and clean user interface
- SMS marketing with WhatsApp campaigns
- Easy to use drag and drop editor inside
In this in depth Brevo review, we’ll dive into the heart of Brevo email marketing software, exploring its features, pricing, and uncovering the pros and cons that make it a contender in the competitive market of digital marketing tools.
Is Brevo the game-changer your business needs, or is it just another tool in the vast sea of options? Let’s unravel the mystery and determine if Brevo is truly worth the buzz! 🦸♂️
⏰ Brevo review quick summary
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, stands out as an adept email marketing solution with a strong focus on small businesses. Here’s a Brevo review quick overview:
Small business-oriented, excelling in email marketing essentials
Advanced email automation, segmentation, and personalization
Offers an impressive free account with substantial features
Competitive pricing starting at $25 for 20,000 emails
User-friendly email and sign-up form builders
In essence, Brevo proves to be a robust and affordable choice, particularly suited for small businesses looking to harness sophisticated email marketing features.
Table of contents
What is Brevo?
Brevo used to be called Sendinblue when it started in 2012. Back then, it began as a solution for small businesses struggling with the challenge of doing email marketing on a tight budget. Over time, it grew a lot, with more than 500,000 active users.
But in early 2023, they changed their name to Brevo. Why? Because they’ve become more than just an email tool. Now, Brevo offers a whole bunch of cool features. It’s not just about sending emails – they’ve got a CRM to manage customer relationships, marketing automation, handling transactional emails, SMS marketing, creating landing pages, detailed analytics, WhatsApp campaigns and even dealing with Facebook ads.
Brevo key features
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) brings a bunch of cool features to the table, and the best part is, it doesn’t break the bank for small businesses. Now, let’s zoom in and check out what’s good and maybe not-so-good about Brevo key features. We’ll break it down so you can decide if Brevo is the right fit for your business.
Ready to dive in? Let’s go! 🧐
Drag-and-drop email editor
When it comes to crafting your newsletter in Brevo, the default go-to is the easy-peasy drag-and-drop email editor. It’s like a creative playground where you pick a template, and voila, you’re ready to design and write your masterpiece.
Brevo’s drag-and-drop editor is super easy to use, just like the rest of the platform. The main menu on the left has 3 tabs:
Content: This tab lists 17 content blocks that you can add to your template.
Saved Blocks: Customize content blocks and save them for later use.
Design: Style your entire template with text formatting options, background color, and even background images. Access your Brand Library from here too.
Editing individual blocks is a breeze – just click on them. This opens a side window for each content type. For instance, when you click on an image, a new image editing tool pops up, making it easy to create eye-catching graphics.
It’s a quick process; I made the design above in just a few minutes. The interface is simple yet offers a bunch of editing choices. If you’re a fan of Canva, you’ll love it. Brevo provides pre-made templates to kickstart your designs, and if you’re low on images, they’ve got you covered with 10,000+ stock images to choose from.
Contact management
When starting email marketing campaigns, the first step is to select a contact list. If you already have existing contact lists, don’t worry – Brevo allows you to import them seamlessly.
You can upload contacts via a spreadsheet (.csv or .xlsx), a basic text file (.txt), or simply copy-paste if your contacts are in a different format. Brevo makes sure you’re on the right track with a handy preview to visually confirm your data upload.
Data mapping, where you select the contact attributes to import, is a breeze. Apart from email, the default for every attribute is ‘don’t import‘. You can add each to an existing contact attribute (field) or create your own custom attribute.
Brevo contact management is both simple and robust. Creating segments starts with filtering the contact management data, be it based on actions (like opening an email or clicking a link) or contact attributes (like country or subscription date).
Brevo offers plenty of flexibility in combining filters. You can filter based on actions, attribute data, or even combine both. With 8 filter options for actions, you can also integrate email, SMS campaigns, and transactional email actions into your filters. The AND/OR operators are clearly defined, making it easy to understand the logic behind more complex segments.
While you can’t use SQL queries, which isn’t common in other SMB email tools either, Brevo simplifies things with a pre-made segment for unengaged contacts. This handy segment, located under Contacts > Settings, allows you to filter out people unlikely to engage with your campaigns or run reengagement campaigns to win them back.
Ready email templates
Brevo currently offers 47 pre-designed templates (with the possibility of more in the future), you’re sure to find one that suits your style.
In addition to the designed templates, Brevo presents 4 layout templates. While these don’t come with special styling, they provide a solid structure with content blocks to get your creative juices flowing.
The Layouts tab is your go-to spot for blank templates, perfect for those who prefer to start from scratch. What’s cool is the Brand Library feature. Importing your website’s brand style into your templates is a cinch, ensuring your emails align seamlessly with your online presence.
Once your Brand Library is set up, your website’s colors, font types, and logo become the default for your templates.
Don’t have a website or want to switch things up? No worries – you can tweak logos, colors, and more anytime you please. 🤠
Segmentation & personalization
Brevo delivers on the promise of effective segmentation and personalization, ensuring a seamless user experience.
To put these features to the test, we created a new email list and imported contacts via an Excel spreadsheet. It’s worth noting that having the right attributes is crucial before grouping contacts.
For segmentation, Brevo impressed with its quick and easy process. Filtering your contact list based on attributes allows you to create more targeted groups effortlessly. The menu provides straightforward options for selection.
When it comes to personalization, Brevo offers a user-friendly customization ribbon that allows you to add various attributes like names and locations to your text. The process is intuitive, and you can even use advanced conditions to insert dynamic content into your email marketing campaigns, enhancing engagement and conversions.
Subject line and preview texts don’t miss out on the personalization party.
Brevo makes it easy to make subject line and customize them by clicking on the icon on the right during the creation process.
Marketing automation
Brevo email marketing automation is a game-changer with an array of impressive features. The workflow editor stands out, allowing you to create clever triggered campaigns based on various factors such as contact data, email engagement, web behavior, and ecommerce activity.
What’s noteworthy is the inclusion of lead scoring and the ability to test email marketing automation workflows before launching them – a handy touch for perfectionists.
Brevo takes a unique approach to transactional emails, enabling you to send messages like purchase confirmations and receipts via SMTP. Plus, there’s a nifty ‘Best Time’ feature that automatically sends your emails at the optimal time based on past campaign performance.
For those who prefer a head start, Brevo offers 12+ marketing automation templates. These are pre-built automated email sequences – just tweak the emails to fit your style.
Navigating the workflow editor is a breeze. Click the + symbol to add an action or step, and click on a step to edit or delete it. A standout feature is the ability to add more than one Entry Point, allowing you to trigger the same dynamic welcome email sequence from different sign-up forms.
Multichannel messaging takes center stage in the workflow editor. You can seamlessly incorporate WhatsApp and SMS messages, web push notifications, and emails into your automated campaigns, giving you a comprehensive tool to engage with your audience.
Personally, I love Brevo email marketing automation feature! 🤩
Reporting and analytics
Brevo provides a variety of reports, including a click-map, geo-tracking, and integration with Google Analytics. For users integrated with an ecommerce platform, conversion data is also accessible. However, the reporting user interface itself may be challenging to navigate, especially for those on the Starter plan or lower tiers, limiting access to certain data, such as individual link clicks.
The real-time reporting and analytics feature in the lower-tiered plans offer a basic version, and the dashboard may appear somewhat simplistic compared to the overall platform.
On the dashboard’s top right, you’ll find a summary of email metrics, covering opens, clicks, and bounce rates. For more advanced reporting tools like heat maps and geolocation tracking, an upgrade to the Business plan is necessary, albeit at a higher cost than the Starter plan.
Sign-up forms creator
Brevo takes sign-up forms to the next level with some surprisingly advanced features and cool personalization options. Subscribers can now choose which list(s) they want to be a part of, based on their interests or industry – a nifty way to tailor the experience.
The forms even support Captcha verification for added security.
What’s really impressive is the ability to pre-populate form fields with user data when they come via email. Plus, you can choose between single and double opt-in for added flexibility.
To access Brevo form options, head to Contacts in the main menu. Creating a new form is a breeze, thanks to Brevo’s step-by-step process.
In the design phase, you get a simple outline template in the main window. Using the design tools under the Build tab, you can easily customize it. Content blocks and fields can be dragged and dropped into position.
Content blocks let you add information and decoration, while fields help gather data. Choose pre-formatted attributes for things like email addresses, customize your own, or add multiple-choice lists and yes/no options.
Styling options are under the Form Design tab, where you can play with colors, background images, text size, font, and layouts using content container settings and spacing.
Landing pages editor
Brevo landing page builder, available only for users on the Business and Enterprise plans, stands out with its sleek and modern design – some might even prefer it over the email editor. With a selection of nice templates to choose from or the option to build one from scratch, you have the creative freedom to make landing pages that match your style.
The added bonus? These landing pages can be hosted on your own domain.
Here’s what the editing experience is like:
In-Line Text Editing: Type away, and see the page change in real-time. What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) at its finest.
Section Editing Options: Hover over a section to reveal editing options – add, copy, delete sections, insert new content, and manage text and images.
Block-Specific Options: Click inside a block, and the left side presents options for that block, such as colors and button sizes.
Image Editing: Brevo’s built-in image editor lets you resize, crop, add text to your images, and apply color and effects filters.
To access the landing page builder, you’ll need the Business plan.
Transactional emails
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) steps up to the plate for transactional emails with its SMTP relay service, specifically crafted to send time-sensitive bulk emails while steering clear of spam filters – a crucial need for many businesses.
The promise? Rapid email deliverability:
50% of emails delivered within 1 second
99.98% of emails delivered in under 20 seconds
Brevo generously offers its SMTP service for free, allowing you to send up to 300 emails per day. However, if your email volume goes beyond this limit, you’ll need to opt for one of their paid plans.
WhatsApp campaigns
Brevo takes your marketing game a step further by being one of the inaugural Meta partners for WhatsApp Campaigns, allowing you to send targeted messages directly to your audience through this widely-used messaging app.
Unlike SMS, WhatsApp campaigns on Brevo offer customization options beyond text – you can include images, videos, attachments, and compelling CTAs.
However, it’s important to note that adding an unsubscribe link is a requirement for WhatsApp campaigns, and monitoring the unsubscribe rate is advised, as it can impact your quality score. While A/B testing in WhatsApp campaigns is currently not possible, it’s a feature that could add even more value.
Managing your WhatsApp campaigns on Brevo is made easy. You can upload contacts in bulk and create segments that seamlessly integrate with other channels like SMS and email campaigns.
It’s worth mentioning that the WhatsApp Campaigns feature is available across all plans, although sending charges may vary depending on the country.
SMS marketing
Brevo extends its marketing prowess to SMS, providing an added layer to your outreach strategy. Even on the free plan, SMS marketing is available, though you’ll need to purchase credits, with pricing varying based on the destination country.
For example, sending SMS within the US costs €5 for 500 SMS, €10 for 1000, and so on. It’s important to note that charges are in Euros, regardless of your operating location.
The ability to integrate SMS marketing sets Brevo apart from other tools, as not many email marketing platforms offer this feature – even popular tools like Mailchimp lack this capability.
Composing mass SMS messages is a breeze – just type your campaign name and message, add recipients, and hit send. Keep in mind that for SMS marketing, you need permission to use every phone number, similar to email contacts.
If you send SMS in the US or Canada, compliance with regulations requires registering for a toll-free number. However, for other locations, simply add a mobile number when setting up your SMS marketing campaign.
Similar to email campaigns, personalization is a key feature. You can personalize SMS messages using contact attributes by enclosing them in { } tags (e.g., {FIRSTNAME}). Brevo also supports shortcodes, which are shortened numbers for contacts to reply to and take up less space in a message.
Creating an SMS campaign on Brevo is a swift process. Add the SMS sender, ensure compliance (for US recipients), input your message, and you’re good to go.
A noteworthy feature is the ability to send a test SMS to preview your campaign, although be cautious as the cost is deducted from your SMS credits.
Select your contact list, schedule the email campaign, and if your audience is in the US or Canada, complete a TNF form to register for a toll-free number, adhering to regulations. Additionally, you can use the SMTP server to send transactional SMS along with your transactional email marketing campaigns.
Brevo CRM tools
Brevo free plan not only offers unlimited contacts, marketing automation, and web tracking but also includes a built-in CRM – a standout feature considering many services charge extra for this.
While dedicated CRMs like HubSpot may offer more extensive functionality, Brevo CRM is a straightforward and free option, making it an excellent choice for those seeking simplicity without sacrificing essential CRM capabilities.
Brevo deal pipeline stands out for its well-designed and user-friendly interface. While it may lack some advanced features found in dedicated CRMs, its simplicity is an advantage, ensuring new users’ won’t feel overwhelmed with countless options. Editing columns and adding/editing attributes are intuitive tasks in Brevo’s CRM.
However, it’s essential to note that the CRM is missing two key components: lead scoring and analytics. The absence of reporting on deals could be a drawback for those who prioritize detailed reports and insights. Brevo Sales CRM offers:
Pipelines: Define different stages, track deal progress, set tasks to aid progression, and assess pipeline effectiveness in converting prospects to customers.
Deals: Individual sales opportunities categorized within pipelines, allowing for easy tracking of progress.
Tasks: Actions necessary to move deals between pipeline stages, assignable to specific team members, and automatable.
In conclusion, Brevo CRM, despite its simplicity, is a valuable addition to your marketing stack, especially for businesses with budget constraints.
Brevo pricing plans
Our Brevo review can’t go without a look at pricing.
Here are Brevo current pricing plans:
Free Plan: $0/month with unlimited contacts
Best choice for beginners
The Free Plan offers unlimited contacts and includes features such as 300 emails per day, customizable email templates, a drag & drop editor, and support for transactional emails, send SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns.
Starter Plan: $25/month with unlimited contacts
Ideal choice for growing businesses
Moving up, the Starter Plan at $25/month includes everything in the Free plan and offers additional benefits like increased email quotas (starting from 20k emails/month), no daily sending limits, the option to remove the Brevo logo, basic reporting and analytics, and access to email support.
Business Plan: $65/month with unlimited contacts
Best for marketing managers and ecommerce pros
For more advanced features, the Business Plan at $65/month includes all elements of the Starter plan and adds marketing automation, A/B testing, advanced statistics, multi-user access, send time optimization, and phone support.
BrevoPlus: Custom price with unlimited contacts
Best for large organizations with specific needs
Finally, the BrevoPlus Plan offers a custom pricing model tailored for large organizations with specific needs. It encompasses all features in the Business plan and further provides enterprise-grade security, advanced integrations, sub-account management, personalized onboarding, and support.
Brevo does things a bit differently in terms of pricing for email marketing. Instead of charging per subscriber in your contact list, they charge based on the actual emails you send. This means there’s no limit to how many contacts you can have.
And if you don’t send emails every month, there’s a ‘pay-as-you-go‘ option called Email Credits. This way, you only pay for the emails you send, making it flexible and cost-effective based on your actual usage.
Brevo email deliverability
Brevo places a strong emphasis on email deliverability, recognizing its crucial role in the success of email marketing campaigns. The platform employs various strategies and best practices to ensure that emails reach their intended recipients’ inboxes effectively.
One notable feature is Brevo’s use of a dedicated IP address, which can enhance deliverability by establishing a positive sender reputation. Additionally, Brevo monitors and manages its IP addresses to maintain high deliverability rates. 📈
The platform also implements authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to verify the legitimacy of sent emails, reducing the likelihood of messages being marked as spam.
Brevo integrations
To explore Brevo’s integration you need navigate to the Add more apps button (+) on the left-side menu. Here, a variety of plugins is available, covering e-commerce platforms, sales CRM tools, lead generation, and developer tools.
As of now, Brevo offers a selection of 63+ integrations, including popular options like Shopify, Zapier, WooCommerce, WordPress, a Google Analytics integration, Salesforce, and a Facebook Messenger add-on. While this provides a decent range of integrations, it’s worth noting that the current list certain features may be somewhat limited compared to other platforms.
Given Brevo’s commitment to enhancing the customer experience through rebranding, there’s an expectation that the integration list will likely expand over time.
Brevo pros and cons
Brevo pros
- Email Template Library: Brevo offers a diverse Email Template Library with 47 pre-made designs, including 4 simple layouts. These templates are fully responsive and visually appealing, facilitating the email creation process.
- Ease Of Use: Brevo stands out for its user-friendly interface, minimizing friction and making it easy for users to navigate and utilize its features.
- Low-cost Plans: Brevo's pricing is highly competitive, starting at $25 for 20,000 emails and unlimited contacts. The affordability, among other factors, positions it as one of the top alternatives to ActiveCampaign.
- Solid Email Automation: Despite its cost-effective pricing, Brevo excels in workflow-based automation. It enables users to trigger campaign actions based on visitor email and website engagement, assign lead scores, send transactional messages, and more.
- Transactional Email and SMS Marketing: Brevo stands out by offering both transactional email and SMS marketing tools, a feature not commonly found in many newsletter tools and at an affordable price.
- Brevo WordPress Plugin: With over 80,000 active installations and a 4.5-star rating, Brevo's WordPress plugin mirrors the web application's interface, providing a seamless user experience for WordPress users.
- Free CRM Software: Even on its free version, Brevo includes a sales CRM, providing additional value to users without incurring extra costs.
Brevo cons
- Free Plan Sending Limit: The free version has a daily sending limit of 300 emails, which may be restrictive for users with larger mailing needs.
- Deliverability: Tests suggest that Brevo's deliverability is not consistently reliable, posing a potential drawback for users seeking high delivery rates.
- Reporting & Analytics: Users on lower-tiered plans receive only a basic version of real-time reporting and analytics. The dashboard's simplicity may also be considered a drawback compared to the overall platform's sophistication.
Brevo review summary and rating
In conclusion, Brevo emerges as a formidable player in the email marketing arena, demonstrating a deep understanding of the needs of small businesses. The platform excels in providing a comprehensive set of features, integrating advanced email automation, segmentation, personalization, and conversion-focused tools like landing pages creating campaigns, and forms.
With a keen focus on catering to small businesses, Brevo establishes itself as a noteworthy alternative to industry giants such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact. While it may not surpass the automation capabilities of giants like ActiveCampaign, Brevo positions itself as a strong contender, offering a feature-rich experience.
Brevo’s commitment to enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) is evident through the introduction of a deal pipeline and an integrated inbox for direct customer emails, showcasing ongoing efforts to evolve its feature set.
Notably, Brevo affordability is a standout feature, providing a generous free plan and paid options starting at $25 for up to 20,000 emails. The platform impresses with its robust feature set, offering sophisticated marketing automation that rivals more expensive alternatives.
The email and form builders in Brevo are particularly praised for their user-friendly design and enjoyable user experience. However, areas for improvement include refining basic reports, adjusting plan features, ensuring consistent deliverability multiple products, and enhancing customer support responsiveness.
While the lack of an even more generous free plan might be a drawback for beginners, Brevo’s competitive pricing and extensive features make it a compelling choice for those seeking budget-friendly yet powerful email marketing solutions.
Personally, I think Brevo is a good email marketing service and I rate it 4.8 / 5.
- Email template library with 47+ designs
- It has a very easy and clean user interface
- SMS marketing with WhatsApp campaigns
- Easy to use drag and drop editor inside
Frequently asked questions
Is Brevo free to use?
Yes, Brevo is free to use. The free account comes with essential features, making it a cost-effective choice, especially for small businesses or individuals. With unlimited contacts, Brevo ensures that users can manage their audience without worrying about additional costs based on the number of subscribers. Open a free Brevo account here.
How does Brevo work?
Brevo operates as an email marketing service with a distinctive pricing structure, charging based on the number of emails sent rather than the number of subscribers. Users can access various features, including advanced automations, CRM tools, and unlimited contacts.
Is Brevo better than Mailchimp?
Some users rate Brevo higher than Mailchimp, particularly due to the more generous free plan. Brevo offers advanced features like unlimited contacts, comprehensive automations, and CRM tools even on the free tier, which surpasses Mailchimp’s limitations. Brevo is often considered a better choice for small businesses due to its flexibility and robust offerings.
Is Brevo GDPR-friendly?
Yes, Brevo is GDPR-friendly. Being a French company, it stores user contacts’ data within the European Union, specifically in France and Belgium. This geographical location ensures compliance with GDPR regulations, which are designed to safeguard the privacy and rights of individuals within the EU.
Why choose Brevo?
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) stands out for its unique pricing model, charging per email rather than per subscriber. It provides unlimited contacts, even on the free account, and offers advanced features like comprehensive email automation features and CRM tools. Visit Brevo website here.
Is Sendinblue CRM (currently Brevo) good?
Yes, Brevo CRM is a fantastic addition to your marketing tools. It’s not only effective but also comes at no cost, making it an ideal choice, especially for many online businesses with budget considerations. While it may not have all the features of dedicated sales CRM tools, it provides essential functionalities and is a practical solution for managing customer relationships without incurring additional expenses.
Brevo alternatives (best)
Have you read our entire Brevo review and still don’t know if it’s the right tool for you? Here are the best Brevo alternatives:
1. Mailchimp
Widely embraced for its user-friendly interface and versatility, Mailchimp caters to businesses of varying sizes and offers intuitive features.
2. Moosend
Recognized for its simplicity and powerful automation tools, Moosend is a suitable alternative with a focus on user convenience.
3. Constant Contact
A popular choice, especially among small businesses, Constant Contact provides a range of features and a straightforward approach to email marketing.
Rating
4.8
