Brevo vs Mailercloud Comparison 2026
Brevo and Mailercloud both give away a real amount of sending before asking for a card, then keep pricing on sends rather than contacts, at least at first. Brevo's Starter tier is $9 a month and lifts a daily cap; Mailercloud's is $10 for unlimited emails at its first contact band, on top of a free plan stated at 12,000 emails a month. The difference shows up above that first paid step: Mailercloud's price then climbs with contacts held, while Brevo keeps counting sends the whole way up.
At a glance
- Brevo starts cheaper, at $9.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Brevo | Mailercloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $9 | From $10 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
Brevo
Email, SMS and automation on one free plan
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, prices by messages sent rather than by contacts stored, which is the cheaper shape for anybody with a big list they mail rarely. Email, SMS and WhatsApp sit in one place. The editor and templates are plainer than the newsletter-first tools.
Our note
This is the one to pick when the list is big and quiet. If you mail weekly, the send-based pricing stops being a saving and a newsletter-first tool will serve the writing better.
Only on this side
- Works with WhatsApp
Mailercloud
Twelve thousand free emails every month
Mailercloud gives twelve thousand emails a month on a free plan that needs no card, which is one of the larger permanent allowances in this category. Above it, a single cheap tier lifts the send limit rather than adding features. A separate email API is sold beside the marketing product for anybody who needs transactional sending too. The list-management and reporting tools are ordinary rather than clever, and the free allowance is the reason to be here.
Why people weigh these two
- Mailercloud instead of Brevo
- Mailercloud's free plan runs to twelve thousand emails every month, then $10, close to Brevo's own $9 start for a similar send-priced shape.
- Brevo instead of Mailercloud
- Brevo bundles email, SMS and automation on one free plan, paid from $9.
Which one should you pick
Pick Mailercloud if the free allowance is the deciding number, since 12,000 emails a month with no card required is a large permanent tier for this category. The first paid step is $10 a month for unlimited sends, close to Brevo's $9, but check the contact-band table before the list grows, because pricing shifts to counting contacts once you are paying.
Pick Brevo if you want sends-based pricing to hold at every tier rather than switching over once you pay, which matters most for a big list mailed rarely. It also brings SMS and WhatsApp into the same account, which Mailercloud's listing does not describe.
Common questions
- Which free plan gives more?
- Mailercloud states its free allowance plainly: 12,000 emails a month with no card required, which is a large permanent tier for this category. Brevo's free plan works on a daily limit instead, without a specific monthly number stated.
- Do both keep pricing by sends as the list grows?
- No, and that is the real difference. Brevo prices by sends at every tier. Mailercloud's first paid step is also by sends, at $10 a month for unlimited emails, but above that its table moves to pricing by contacts held, running from $50 at 10,000 contacts up to $380 at 100,000.
- Which one includes channels beyond email?
- Brevo does: email, SMS and WhatsApp share one contact record and one account. Mailercloud's listing describes a separate developer email API for transactional sending, but not SMS or WhatsApp alongside the marketing product.
- Which is cheaper at the first paid tier?
- They are close. Brevo's Starter is $9 a month, Mailercloud's first paid step is $10 for unlimited sends at its smallest contact band. The gap opens up later, since Mailercloud's price then rises with contacts while Brevo's continues to track sends.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.