Brevo vs Mailrelay (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Mailrelay: it is second in our ranking of email marketing and newsletter tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.6.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mailrelay grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Brevo
Email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing priced by emails sent, with a CRM
Mailrelay
Email marketing with a large free plan and SMS and WhatsApp add-ons
Which one is for you
Pick Brevo if
- Fits if you have thousands of contacts but only email them a few times a month
- Works for apps or shops that need receipt and password emails as well as newsletters
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Starter, which has 1 seat, no automations and the Brevo logo unless you pay $12 more
- Pricey if you want WhatsApp, popups or push, which start on the $499 Professional plan
- Skip it if you mail a growing list every day, since the price follows the emails you send
- Watch out: Starter and Standard cap contacts by volume, at 500 for 5,000 emails a month and 2,500 for 15,000
- Watch out: the free plan stops at 300 emails a day, and SMS credits are bought separately by destination
Pick Mailrelay if
- Fits if you have a list under 20,000 and want to send for nothing
- Works for shops that need an SMTP relay and an API alongside newsletters
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you grow, as Standard goes from €48 at 100,000 emails to €260 at 1,000,000
- Tight if you want a clean footer, because removing the logo is a €4.95 a month add-on
- Watch out: transactional email is a 30-day trial then €14.95 a month, and WhatsApp a 10-day trial then €9.95
- Watch out: prices are in euros and priority queue, chat and phone support are on paid plans only
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABrevoGood | 3.0GPAMailrelayVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is $9 a month for 5,000 emails, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools, and from 20,000 emails the contact cap jumps to 500,000. Automations and A/B tests need Standard at $18, and taking the Brevo logo off Starter is $12 a month more. | BThe free plan is large, but paid starts at €48 a month for 100,000 emails and climbs to €132 at 500,000, which is above the $20 category middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree for good with no card: 300 emails a day, campaigns and transactional email by API. Once your list passes 300 people, though, a single newsletter can't all go out on the same day. | AFree forever: 80,000 emails a month to up to 20,000 recipients. The cost is a Mailrelay logo in the footer of every email. |
| Features | BCampaigns, transactional email, automations, SMS, segments, forms, AI writing and a sales CRM, all from one contact list. That covers the whole job. WhatsApp, popups and push wait for the $499 Professional plan. | BEditor with AI, email and SMS automations, segments, landing pages, forms, SMTP and API, and statistics. The listed extras are paid on top. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a big web app with campaigns, automations, a CRM and SMS in it, so you'll be setting things up before it earns its keep. | CNo store rating on record. It is a web app where you build the lists, templates and automations yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, Zapier, ChatGPT and Claude connections and an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. | BWeb app with an SMTP relay and API, plus Make.com and WooCommerce. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | big lists you only email now and then | a big free email plan with a logo |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Brevo and Mailrelay. How we grade
Price against what you get
Brevo starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailrelay starts at about $53.63 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Brevo starts $44.63 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, none scores higher than Brevo for less, and 3 score higher than Mailrelay for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Brevo also covers sales pipeline, forms and live chat.
- Mailrelay also covers sMS marketing, transactional email and a/B testing.
At a glance
| Brevo | Mailrelay | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9 per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly | €48 per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Up to 300 emails a day (campaigns and transactional), 1 marketing seat and transactional email by API and SMTP. No credit card needed. | Free forever: 80,000 emails a month to up to 20,000 distinct recipients, with a Mailrelay logo in the footer of emails. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Brevo | Mailrelay |
| Price read from | brevo.com | mailrelay.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Brevo
- Starter and Standard cap contacts by email volume: 500 contacts at 5,000 emails a month, 2,500 at 15,000, and 500,000 from 20,000.
- The Free plan is limited to 300 emails a day.
- Starter has a single seat and shows the Brevo logo unless you pay $12 a month; extra seats on Standard cost $12 a month each, up to 3.
- SMS credits are bought separately and priced by volume and destination; WhatsApp campaigns start at the $499 Professional plan.
Mailrelay
- Prices are in euros and rise with monthly email volume: €76 at 250,000 emails on Standard, €260 at 1,000,000.
- Transactional email on the free account is a 30-day trial, then €14.95 a month; WhatsApp is a 10-day trial, then €9.95 a month.
- Free accounts carry a Mailrelay logo in emails; removing it is a €4.95 a month add-on.
- A prepaid option sells email credits instead of a subscription; annual billing takes 10% off.
Key features
Brevo
- Email campaigns and transactional email
- A drag-and-drop editor and templates for campaigns, plus transactional email over an API and SMTP relay on every plan, Free included.
- Marketing automation
- Standard and above allow unlimited multi-step workflows triggered by sign-ups, website activity and custom events.
- SMS and WhatsApp
- SMS campaigns are sold as credits priced by volume and destination on every plan. WhatsApp, popups and web and mobile push come with Professional.
- Sales CRM
- Sales seats add pipelines, deals and sales automation to the same contact database, sold as a separate monthly charge per seat.
- Segments and forms
- Paid plans can save unlimited segments filtered by website activity, campaign engagement and custom events, and build branded sign-up forms.
- AI tools
- An AI writer drafts subject lines and copy from Starter, send-time optimization comes with Standard, and Aura AI segmentation and data questions come with Professional.
Mailrelay
- Drag-and-drop editor with AI
- A drag-and-drop email editor that can draft a basic template with AI, with scheduled delivery, conditional content and A/B tests.
- Automations by email and SMS
- A visual editor for workflows such as welcome, birthday and abandoned-cart messages. Automations are available on the free account.
- Segmentation
- Groups, tags, segments, custom fields and contact scoring for sending different content to different people.
- Landing pages and forms
- Subscription forms and landing pages that feed the same contact lists.
- SMTP and API
- A REST API, webhooks and an SMTP server for transactional email; the vendor lists Make.com and WooCommerce as integrations.
- Statistics
- Reports on open rate, click rate, a click heatmap, bounces and inbox placement.
Plans
Brevo
Free$0
300 emails a day, 1 seat, campaigns and transactional email. Upgrading removes the daily sending limit.
Starter$9
per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
1 seat, forms, segmentation and AI writing help; removing the Brevo logo costs $12 a month. Price rises with volume: $17 a month at 10,000 emails.
Standard$18
per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
Automation workflows, A/B testing, send-time optimization, no Brevo logo, up to 3 seats. $69 a month at 20,000 emails, where the contact cap rises to 500,000.
Professional$499
per month for 150,000 emails, billed monthly
10 seats, WhatsApp, popups and push, contact scoring, AI segmentation, phone support and up to 2 million contacts.
EnterpriseCustom
For 1 million or more contacts: multiple brands under one account, dedicated IP, SSO and SAML, custom data integrations.
Mailrelay
Free€0
80,000 emails a month, up to 20,000 contacts, normal sending queue and ticket support.
Standard€48
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
Priority queue, ticket and chat support, transactional email and WhatsApp included. Price rises with email volume: €132 a month at 500,000.
Enterprise€67
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
Everything in Standard plus phone support at the highest priority. Price rises with volume: €185 a month at 500,000.
Ways to pay less
Brevo
- Annual discount
Save 10% with yearly billing
Brevo's pricing page takes 10% off Starter, Standard and Professional when billed yearly: Starter at 5,000 emails is $97 a year instead of $108.
Mailrelay
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
The pricing page shows an annual billing option that takes 10% off the monthly price on Standard and Enterprise.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Brevo or Mailrelay?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Brevo is cheaper to start with: $9 a month, against about $53.63 a month for Mailrelay. Brevo starts at $9 per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly, and Mailrelay starts at €48 per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Brevo or Mailrelay?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Brevo and Mailrelay have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.