Best Marketing Automation Software for Small Businesses: Brevo vs Mailchimp

Brevo is the better pick for most small businesses that care about email, SMS, and price control. Mailchimp is better if you want polished email design, lots of templates, and a brand name your team already knows. Brevo’s free plan includes 300 emails per day, while Mailchimp’s free plan is built around contact and send limits, so your best choice depends on how often you message customers [source: Brevo].

Quick Winner

Best overall for small businesses: Brevo.

Why? It gives you more practical tools under one roof. Email. SMS. WhatsApp campaigns. A sales CRM. Basic automation. Transactional email. That is a lot for a small team.

Best for beginners who love templates: Mailchimp.

Mailchimp feels smooth at first. The campaign builder is clean. The templates are nice. The reports are easy to read. If you only need email marketing, it can feel like a cozy little command center.

The catch is that Mailchimp can get pricey as your list grows. That is when small business owners start squinting at invoices and wondering what happened.

Brevo vs Mailchimp at a Glance

• Brevo: Best for budget, SMS, sales tools, and automation.
• Mailchimp: Best for email templates, ease of use, and brand familiarity.
• Brevo pricing style: Based more on email volume.
• Mailchimp pricing style: Based more on contacts and features.
• Best small team fit: Brevo, if you want one tool for many jobs.
• Best solo creator fit: Mailchimp, if you send simple newsletters.

Ease of Use

Mailchimp wins for first impressions.

Open it up and you can usually find what you need. Campaigns are easy to create. The drag and drop editor is friendly. The design tools are strong. You can build a nice email without feeling like you need a course, a snack, and three deep breaths.

Brevo is simple too, but more business like.

It has more tools packed into the sidebar. This is useful. It can also feel a bit busy. Still, once you know where things live, it becomes quick.

Honestly, it feels like Mailchimp was built for marketers first. Brevo feels like it was built for owners who need marketing, sales, and messages in one place.

Email Marketing

Mailchimp has the prettier email builder.

The templates look modern. The content blocks are easy. Product sections work well if you run an online store. It is a good fit for newsletters, product drops, seasonal campaigns, and creator updates.

Brevo is more direct.

You can still build clean emails. You get templates. You get personalization. You get A/B testing on paid plans. It may not feel as glossy, but it gets the job done.

If your brand cares a lot about visual polish, Mailchimp has an edge. If you care more about getting targeted messages out without fuss, Brevo is strong.

Automation

Brevo is the stronger automation tool for the money.

You can create workflows for welcome emails, abandoned carts, birthdays, lead follow ups, and reactivation campaigns. You can also mix in SMS. That is useful for local businesses.

For example, a dental clinic could send:

1. A welcome email after signup.
2. A reminder SMS two days before an appointment.
3. A follow up email after the visit.
4. A review request one day later.

That is practical. It saves calls. It saves time. It also stops customers from saying, “Wait, when was my appointment?”

Mailchimp automation is good, but the best stuff often sits behind higher plans. It handles welcome journeys, customer paths, product follow ups, and abandoned carts. The builder is visual and pleasant. But some small teams may hit plan limits faster than they expect.

SMS and Extra Channels

Brevo wins here.

Brevo supports email, SMS, WhatsApp campaigns, live chat, transactional emails, and CRM features. This matters if your customers do not always open email.

A gym can send SMS reminders. A bakery can send a flash sale. A consultant can send lead follow ups. A small store can send order updates.

Mailchimp has SMS marketing in select regions and plans, but it is not the main reason people choose it. Mailchimp is still mostly known for email.

CRM and Sales Tools

Brevo has a built in CRM.

This is great for service businesses. Think agencies, cleaners, coaches, tutors, clinics, and B2B teams. You can track contacts, deals, tasks, and conversations.

Mailchimp has audience management and customer profiles. They are useful. But it does not feel like a full small sales hub in the same way.

It drives me crazy that some tools make you pay for a separate CRM before your business is even stable. Brevo helps avoid that for many small teams.

Pricing

This is where Brevo gets very attractive.

Brevo’s pricing is friendly for growing lists because it focuses more on how many emails you send. So if you have many contacts but do not email them daily, it can be cheaper.

Mailchimp can be affordable at the start. But costs can rise as your contact list grows. Also, inactive contacts may still affect billing unless cleaned up. Expect to spend time pruning your list. Not fun. Very necessary.

Here is the simple version:

• Small list, simple newsletter: Mailchimp can be fine.
• Larger list, lower send frequency: Brevo may save money.
• Need SMS and email: Brevo is usually the cleaner choice.
• Need advanced design fast: Mailchimp feels better.

Analytics and Reporting

Mailchimp makes reports easy to understand.

You can see opens, clicks, sales, audience growth, and campaign results without digging too much. The dashboards are friendly. Reports look polished.

Brevo also gives useful reports.

You can track opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, conversions, and automation results. It is enough for most small businesses. It just feels a little less shiny.

For a small business, the key numbers are simple:

• Open rate: Are people interested?
• Click rate: Are they taking action?
• Unsubscribe rate: Are you annoying them?
• Revenue per campaign: Did the email make money?

Ecommerce Features

Mailchimp is strong for ecommerce.

It connects with Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, and other platforms. You can recommend products, recover carts, and segment buyers.

Brevo also supports ecommerce workflows.

It works well for order updates, abandoned cart messages, customer segments, and product promos. Its transactional email tools are a big bonus for online shops.

If you want pretty product emails, Mailchimp wins. If you want store emails plus transactional messages plus SMS, Brevo is tough to beat.

Customer Support

Support depends on your plan with both tools.

Brevo offers help resources, email support, and more options on higher tiers. Mailchimp has guides, chat, and email support depending on the plan.

Both have large help centers. Both have tutorials. Both can still make you mutter at your screen when a setting is hidden in a weird spot.

Who Should Choose Brevo?

Choose Brevo if you:

• Want email and SMS in one place.
• Have a growing list.
• Run a local business or service business.
• Need basic CRM tools.
• Want automation without a giant bill.
• Send transactional emails, like receipts or password resets.

Brevo is great for practical businesses. It is less flashy. It is more useful.

Who Should Choose Mailchimp?

Choose Mailchimp if you:

• Want beautiful email templates.
• Are new to email marketing.
• Send newsletters more than sales sequences.
• Run a creator brand or small ecommerce shop.
• Care about a smooth editing experience.

Mailchimp is a pleasant tool. It feels friendly. Just watch the pricing as your audience grows.

Final Verdict

Pick Brevo if you want the best value marketing automation software for a small business. It gives you email, SMS, automation, CRM, and transactional tools in one package. That is hard to ignore.

Pick Mailchimp if your main job is sending nice looking emails. It is easy, polished, and beginner friendly. It is still a strong choice for newsletters and simple ecommerce campaigns.

The simple rule is this. If you want more tools for less stress, go with Brevo. If you want better email design with less setup, go with Mailchimp.