In Brief (TL;DR)
This comprehensive guide compares Mailchimp and Sendinblue, two of the most popular email marketing services, to help you choose the one best suited to your business needs.
In this guide, we’ll analyze features, pricing, and ease of use in detail to help you choose the ideal solution for your business.
We will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of both to guide you toward the best decision for your business.
The devil is in the details. 👇 Keep reading to discover the critical steps and practical tips to avoid mistakes.
Email marketing still represents one of the most effective channels for building a direct and lasting relationship with your customers. In a crowded digital market, reaching a user’s inbox is a privilege that, if managed well, can turn into a significant competitive advantage. Choosing the right platform is the first crucial step. Among the many names, two giants vie for the top spot: Mailchimp, the long-standing leader and icon of simplicity, and Sendinblue (now Brevo), the European challenger that has focused on versatility and affordability. This guide aims to thoroughly analyze both solutions, offering a detailed comparison to help businesses, professionals, and content creators navigate the choice within the specific context of the Italian and European markets.
Choosing between Mailchimp and Brevo is not just a technical issue, but a strategic one. It means deciding whether to rely on the tradition and brand recognition of an established name like Mailchimp, known for its intuitive interface and appealing designs, or to embrace the innovation of an all-in-one platform like Brevo. The latter, of French origin, has quickly established itself by offering not only email, but also SMS, chat, and an integrated CRM, often at more advantageous prices. The final decision will depend on the specific needs of each business: from the size of the contact list to the budget, as well as growth ambitions and the need to comply with strict regulations like the GDPR.
The Importance of Email Marketing in the Italian Market
Despite the rise of social media, email marketing in Italy is in excellent health and remains a crucial tool for businesses. Statistics for 2025 indicate that it continues to generate one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) in digital marketing, with an average that can reach €42 for every euro spent. This channel allows for personal and direct communication, a value highly appreciated in Mediterranean culture, where building a relationship of trust is fundamental. Unlike the unpredictable algorithms of social media, email is a proprietary channel that guarantees unmediated contact with your audience. Whether it’s a weekly newsletter for a small blog or promotional campaigns for a growing e-commerce store, email remains an irreplaceable pillar.
Mailchimp: The American Giant of Tradition
Founded in 2001, Mailchimp has become synonymous with email marketing for millions of users worldwide. Its strength lies in a flawless user experience, making it the ideal choice for those taking their first steps in this world. The drag-and-drop editor is intuitive, the email templates are aesthetically pleasing, and the integrations with hundreds of other applications are almost limitless. Mailchimp is perfect for those looking for a tool focused on creating visually appealing newsletters with minimal effort. However, this simplicity comes with trade-offs, especially for the European market. Its pricing model, based on the number of contacts, can quickly become expensive for growing lists. Furthermore, as a U.S. company, data management in compliance with GDPR requires special attention.
Mailchimp’s Strengths
Mailchimp’s success is built on solid, recognized pillars. Its ease of use is legendary: the clean interface and visual editor allow even novices to create professional campaigns in minutes. Another undeniable advantage is the huge library of integrations; Mailchimp connects natively with over 300 tools, from WordPress to Shopify, making it a central hub for many marketing strategies. The platform also offers clear analytics and easy-to-interpret reports, ideal for monitoring performance without getting lost in overly complex data. Finally, its strong brand recognition instills a sense of reliability and security, a significant factor for those entrusting an external service to communicate with their customers.
Drawbacks for the European Market
Despite its strengths, Mailchimp has some drawbacks for Italian and European users. The first hurdle is language: the platform and customer support are primarily available in English. The pricing model, based on the number of stored contacts, penalizes those with large lists who send communications infrequently, becoming costly as the audience grows. The most sensitive issue, however, concerns GDPR. As a U.S. company, the data of European users is transferred overseas. Although Mailchimp adheres to frameworks like the Data Privacy Framework and uses Standard Contractual Clauses to ensure compliance, this architecture introduces a layer of complexity that European companies must carefully consider to ensure a GDPR-compliant site.
Sendinblue (now Brevo): The Innovative European Alternative
Born in France, Sendinblue completed its strategic evolution with the rebranding to Brevo, transforming from a simple email marketing tool into a complete marketing and sales platform. This move reflects its ambition: to offer small and medium-sized businesses an integrated ecosystem that includes email, SMS, chat, a full CRM, landing pages, and advanced automations, all from a single dashboard. Its main competitive advantage lies in a pricing model based on the volume of emails sent, not the number of contacts, often making it much more affordable for those with large subscriber lists. As a European company with servers in Europe, Brevo also offers a solid guarantee of GDPR compliance, an increasingly decisive factor for businesses on the continent.
Brevo’s Strengths
Brevo stands out for being an all-in-one platform. In addition to email marketing, it natively integrates channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat, allowing for centralized multichannel communication. Its free plan is one of the most generous on the market, offering unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails per day, ideal for startups and small businesses. Another strength is its pricing flexibility: paying for the number of sends rather than contacts allows for more sustainable business scaling. The marketing automation features are more advanced than Mailchimp’s in the basic and intermediate plans, allowing for the creation of complex workflows without prohibitive costs. Finally, customer support and documentation in Italian are a significant added value for the local market.
Weaknesses and Areas for Improvement
Although Brevo is a powerful platform, it has some areas for improvement. For an absolute beginner, the interface can feel slightly more complex and less immediate than Mailchimp’s, given the wide range of features offered. The email editor, while functional, is sometimes perceived as less polished and with a less modern selection of basic templates compared to its American competitor. Although the number of direct integrations is growing, it does not yet match the breadth of Mailchimp’s ecosystem, which boasts hundreds of native connections. For some specific integrations, it may be necessary to rely on third-party connectors like Zapier, adding an intermediate step to the setup.
Detailed Comparison: Mailchimp vs. Brevo
The choice between the two services depends on a careful analysis of key factors. Mailchimp excels in its simplicity and design quality, making it perfect for those who prioritize visual appeal and speed of execution. Brevo, on the other hand, offers a broader suite of tools and greater scalability at a lower cost, ideal for those seeking an integrated, growth-oriented solution. The real difference emerges when analyzing the details: from pricing plans to privacy management and automation capabilities. Delving into these aspects is crucial to understanding which platform aligns best not only with your current needs but also with the future goals of your project or company.
Pricing Plans and Affordability Compared
The pricing model is one of the starkest differences. Mailchimp bases its costs on the number of contacts and the number of sends. Its free plan was recently limited to 500 contacts, making it less appealing for those starting from scratch with the goal of rapid growth. As the list grows, costs can increase significantly. Brevo, in contrast, adopts a model based primarily on the volume of emails sent, with unlimited contacts in the free plan. This approach is advantageous for those with a large database but who don’t send campaigns daily, such as a successful blog or a non-profit organization. In summary, Brevo is often the more economical and scalable option, especially for SMBs and startups.
Automation and Advanced Features
Marketing automation is the engine that transforms a simple newsletter into a powerful marketing machine. In this area, Brevo offers a competitive advantage, especially in its more accessible plans. Even in the free plan, it allows you to create automation workflows for up to 2,000 contacts, including complex scenarios based on “if/then/else” conditions. Mailchimp reserves its more sophisticated, multi-step automations for its more expensive paid plans, offering only basic workflows in its entry-level packages. Brevo also integrates features like lead scoring and a more structured CRM, essential tools for those who want not only to communicate but also to actively manage the sales funnel and write effective content for specific audience segments.
GDPR and Data Localization
In Europe, GDPR compliance is not an option, but an obligation. Brevo, being a French company with infrastructure and servers located in the European Union, offers inherent peace of mind. User data does not leave the continent, significantly simplifying compliance with privacy regulations. Mailchimp, as a U.S. company, transfers data to the United States. While it has adopted valid legal mechanisms like the Data Privacy Framework (DPF) and the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), the legal situation regarding EU-US data transfers has historically been complex and subject to change. For companies that handle sensitive data or simply prefer a more cautious and straightforward approach to privacy, Brevo’s European nature represents an undeniable strategic advantage.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no single answer to the question “Mailchimp or Brevo?”. The ideal choice depends strictly on the user’s profile and business goals. Mailchimp remains the perfect choice for beginners, bloggers, and small businesses that primarily seek ease of use, impeccable design, and an established brand. It is the ideal tool for those who want to send beautiful newsletters without complications and have a limited contact list. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), on the other hand, is the winning solution for SMBs, e-commerce stores, and growing startups that need a powerful, versatile, and scalable platform. With its affordable pricing model, all-in-one features, and solid GDPR compliance, it positions itself as the more strategic and comprehensive alternative for the European market. Carefully evaluating your budget, technical skills, and long-term vision is the final step to making the right choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
For those starting out with a small budget, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is often the more advantageous choice. Its free plan allows for unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails per day, a model that supports list growth without immediate costs. In contrast, Mailchimp’s free plan is limited to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly sends, a threshold that can be reached quickly.
For an e-commerce store, Brevo offers a more complete and integrated suite of tools right from its free or more affordable plans. In addition to email marketing, it natively includes SMS marketing, website chat, a CRM for customer management, and advanced automations like abandoned cart recovery. Mailchimp also offers powerful e-commerce tools, but many advanced features, such as complex automations, are only available in the more expensive paid plans.
Both platforms are GDPR compliant and offer tools to help users respect the regulation, such as double opt-in forms. However, Brevo is a European company (French) with its main servers located in the EU. This can offer greater peace of mind to Italian and European businesses, ensuring that customer data is managed within the European Union, in line with strict privacy regulations.
Mailchimp is historically recognized for its extremely intuitive interface and its drag-and-drop email editor, considered one of the easiest for those just starting out. Its templates are modern and aesthetically pleasing. Brevo is also user-friendly, but its wide range of features might require a slightly longer learning period to fully master.
No, the process of migrating contacts is relatively simple for both platforms. You can export your contact list as a CSV file from one service and import it into the other. Brevo also offers a specific integration to import contacts directly from Mailchimp. The part that requires more manual work is rebuilding email templates and automation workflows, which cannot be transferred automatically.
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