Yes, up to 1,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, 200 a day, with no card. Paid plans start at $9/month billed monthly for 8,000 emails, and there is no free trial of them.

Yes, up to 500 contacts and 300 emails a day, with no credit card. The first paid plan, Starter, starts at $9/month billed monthly for its smallest email band.

Why does Mailjet's price depend on emails sent rather than contacts?

Mailjet's pricing slider is set by how many emails you send a month, not by list size. Contacts are unlimited on Essential and Premium, so only sending volume moves the price: Essential starts at $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends and steps up at 50,000. Brevo also prices by email volume, but each of its bands includes a set number of contacts, so a growing list can move you up a band on its own.

Which is cheaper at 5,000 contacts?

Mailjet. Its Starter plan stops at 2,000 contacts, so a list this size moves to Essential: $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, roughly a 5,000-contact list mailed three times a month, with unlimited contacts. Brevo's bands each carry a contact limit, and 5,000 contacts needs its 20,000-email band on Starter at $32/month billed monthly. A much more frequent sender pays a higher Mailjet rung, so check your own send volume.

Which has automation on the cheapest plan?

Neither has it on its cheapest paid plan. Brevo's unlimited multi-step workflows start at Standard ($18/month billed monthly at its smallest email band, rising as your list grows); Mailjet's automations start at Premium ($29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, with unlimited contacts). For a very small list Brevo is cheaper to automate; at a few thousand contacts Mailjet's Premium entry price usually wins.

Which is better for sending from an app through an API?

Mailjet documents API, SMTP relay and webhooks on every plan, Free included. Brevo's API access by plan is not confirmed, so Mailjet is the clearer fit for developer-led sending.

Which is better for a big list you rarely email?

Mailjet, up to a point. Contacts are unlimited from Essential ($19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends), so only sending volume sets the price. Brevo's 20,000-email band also includes 500,000 contacts, so for a very large list compare the two at your real monthly send count.

Mailjet vs Brevo: unlimited contacts, or contacts tied to sends?

Email marketing and CRM platforms · Verified 30 Sep 2026 · By Joonas Rotko

Mailjet

Desk research

From Starter, billed annually

$8.10/mo

$9/mo billed monthly

Brevo

Hands-on

From Starter, billed annually

$8.08/mo

$9/mo billed monthly

Quick answer

Mailjet is the better pick for most small and growing lists, and Brevo is the better fit for a team that needs confirmed seats. Both bill by emails sent, but Brevo ties a contact limit to each email band: its Starter entry price ($9/month billed monthly) is the smallest band, so a 5,000-contact list needs its 20,000-email band at $32/month billed monthly. Mailjet Essential is $19/month billed monthly for 15,000 sends with unlimited contacts, though automation waits until Premium ($29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends). Brevo prices verified 2026-10-14, Mailjet's 2026-10-01.

Across the three setups below: Mailjet in 2 of 3 scenarios.

Which one fits you?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier
Mailjet
My pick
$0/mo billed annually
At 500 contacts both vendors have a free plan that covers the list, so both cost nothing on monthly and annual billing. Mailjet's Free plan allows 1,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, so a 500-contact list has room to double. Brevo's Free plan stops at exactly 500 contacts, and its cheapest Starter band ($9/month billed monthly) holds no more contacts than that, so the first paid step that adds list room is a higher band.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Both are free at this size, so price does not decide it. I'd pick Mailjet for the contact headroom. If you send often, Brevo's Free plan has the higher daily cap: 300 emails a day against Mailjet's 200.
Skip it if you want automation on the free tier. Neither vendor includes it there: Mailjet's automations start at Premium and Brevo's multi-step workflows start at Standard. Mailjet's Free plan also caps sending at 6,000 emails a month, which a frequent sender can hit.
See Mailjet plans
Growing list, sending regularly
Mailjet
My pick
$17.10/mo billed annually
At 5,000 contacts mailed three times a month, which is 15,000 sends, Mailjet Essential is $19/month billed monthly, or $17.10/month billed annually, with unlimited contacts. Brevo also bills by email volume, but each band carries a contact limit, and its 15,000-email band stops short of 5,000 contacts. The list needs Brevo's 20,000-email band on Starter: $32/month billed monthly, or $28.75/month billed annually. Mailjet is the cheaper of the two on both billing bases. Essential has no automation; if you need it, Mailjet's Premium is $29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if your list will grow far past 5,000 while your sending stays flat. Brevo's 20,000-email band on Starter already includes 500,000 contacts, while a bigger Mailjet list mailed at the same rhythm means more sends and a higher rung.
See Mailjet plans
Small team managing one list together
Brevo
My pick
$449.08/mo billed annually
At 1,000 contacts with 3 people needing a login, the engine finds no Mailjet plan that confirms the seats. Brevo is the only one of the two that does: 10 seats on Professional, $499/month billed monthly. Mailjet's multi-user access starts at Premium ($29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends) but it publishes no number of users, so a 3-person team can't be checked against it. Brevo's Free and Starter plans are single-user, and Standard includes 1 seat with extra seats sold as an add-on at no published price, so this pick is about a confirmed number, not a low price.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if the $499/month billed monthly jump is too steep for a 3-person team. Mailjet's Premium costs far less and Brevo's Standard sells extra seats as an add-on; confirm the user limit or seat price with the vendor before paying.
See Brevo plans

Neither fits? See the alternatives, or take the 2-minute recommendation.

How are Mailjet and Brevo really different?

What the price is tied to
Mailjet
Emails sent per month. Essential and Premium both climb with sending volume, and contacts are unlimited on both.
Brevo
Emails sent per month too, but each band includes a set number of contacts. Starter's entry price ($9/month billed monthly) is the smallest band, and a 5,000-contact list needs the 20,000-email band at $32/month billed monthly.
On Brevo, list size alone can push you up a band even when you send little. On Mailjet only sending volume moves the bill, so a list of a few thousand contacts is cheaper there.
Free plan
Mailjet
Free, no card: 1,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month, 200 a day. No trial of the paid plans.
Brevo
Free forever, no card: 500 contacts, 300 emails a day.
Mailjet's free plan allows twice the contacts. Brevo's allows more sending per day.
Where automation starts
Mailjet
Premium only, from $29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends. Essential has no automation.
Brevo
Standard, $18/month billed monthly at its smallest email band, with unlimited multi-step workflows.
Brevo's automation is cheaper to reach for a very small list, but Standard's entry price covers only its smallest band. A larger list pays a higher Standard band, while Mailjet Premium's entry price already includes unlimited contacts at 15,000 sends.
Team access
Mailjet
Multi-user access from Premium. No seat count is published, and Premium allows up to 20 subaccounts.
Brevo
10 seats included on Professional ($499/month billed monthly). Free and Starter are single-user; Standard includes 1 seat and sells more as an add-on with no published price.
Neither vendor publishes a seat price on its cheaper plans, so a small team should confirm access before paying.
API and developer sending
Mailjet
API, SMTP relay and webhooks are listed on every plan, Free included.
Brevo
API access by plan is not confirmed for Brevo.
If your app sends the email, Mailjet documents the developer tools on the free tier already.
Top of the published ladder
Mailjet
Premium is published up to 500,000 emails a month; past that, Custom is a quote with no starting price.
Brevo
Professional is $499/month billed monthly at its entry band, and Enterprise is a custom quote with no published price.
Mailjet's published numbers run higher on one tier; Brevo jumps to a much larger bill with a single step from Standard to Professional.

What will Mailjet or Brevo cost for your setup?

The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

500 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

Mailjet

My pick

Free

Assumes 1,500 sends a month: 500 subscribers mailed 3 times.

Above 3,000 sends a month: Starter (+$8.10/mo, billed annually).

Brevo

Free

Above 500 subscribers: Starter (+$15.25/mo, billed annually).

See Mailjet plans

Usage, limits and billing

Mailjet

Uses 500 of 1,000 subscribers, 1,500 of 6,000 sends a month.
On monthly billing: $0 a year.
On annual billing: $0 a year.

Brevo

Uses 500 of 500 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $0 a year.
On annual billing: $0 a year.

Growing list, sending regularly

5,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

Mailjet

My pick

$19

$17.10

Essential

Assumes 15,000 sends a month: 5,000 subscribers mailed 3 times.

Above 15,000 sends a month: Essential at the next send rung (+$18.90/mo, billed annually).

Brevo

$32

$28.75

Starter

Above 500,000 subscribers: Professional (+$420.33/mo, billed annually).

See Mailjet plans

Usage, limits and billing

Mailjet

Uses 5,000 of unlimited subscribers, 15,000 of 50,000 sends a month.
On monthly billing: $228 a year.
On annual billing: $205.20 a year.

Brevo

Uses 5,000 of 500,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $384 a year.
On annual billing: $345 a year.

Small team managing one list together

1,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 3 users

MonthlyYearly, per month

Mailjet

Fit unconfirmed

Free is priced, but users limit isn't published

Brevo

My pick

$499

$449.08

Professional

Above 2,000,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

See Brevo plans

Usage, limits and billing

Mailjet

The plan's price is published, but a limit this setup needs isn't, so the fit can't be confirmed.

Brevo

Uses 1,000 of 2,000,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $5,988 a year.
On annual billing: $5,388.96 a year.

How I calculated this

For each tool I price every current plan plus the add-ons a setup needs, from the vendor's published prices only, and take the cheapest. Monthly and annual billing are priced separately. When a limit or price isn't published, the tool shows as not fitting instead of a guess.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier: A list of about 500 contacts, just past the free tiers most vendors offer. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.Mailjet is priced by emails sent, not subscribers, so its price assumes 1,500 sends a month: 500 subscribers mailed 3 times.
Growing list, sending regularly: A list of 5,000 contacts, sending regularly. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.Mailjet is priced by emails sent, not subscribers, so its price assumes 15,000 sends a month: 5,000 subscribers mailed 3 times.
Small team managing one list together: Three people logging in to the same 1,000-contact list. Seats, not list size, are the deciding limit. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.Mailjet, monthly billing: Free is priced, but users limit isn't published. Users limit isn't published.Mailjet, annual billing: Free is priced, but users limit isn't published. Users limit isn't published.

Mailjet vs Brevo side by side

I compare email/CRM platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything; Team seats included, and the seat price past that; List segmentation depth; Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits; Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window); CRM and ecommerce integration depth; What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade).

Mailjet and Brevo compared on the main buying criteria
Criterion	Mailjet	Brevo
Free plan	1,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month, no card.	500 contacts, 300 emails a day, no card.
Entry paid plan	Starter: $9/month billed monthly, 8,000 emails a month, 2,000 contacts, no daily limit.	Starter: $9/month billed monthly, or $8.08/month billed annually, at the smallest email band; higher bands add sends and contacts.
Mid plan	Essential: $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, unlimited contacts.	Standard: $18/month billed monthly, or $16.17/month billed annually, at the smallest email band; from the 20,000-email band it includes 500,000 contacts.
Automation	Premium and Custom only.	Standard and up; Standard lists unlimited multi-step workflows.
Upper tier	Premium: $29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, rising on five published rungs up to 500,000.	Professional: $499/month billed monthly, or $449.08/month billed annually.

All details, including automation and AI workflows

All compared details for Mailjet and Brevo
Criterion	Mailjet	Brevo
Annual billing	10% discount on annual plans.	Annual rates published per plan, for example Starter at $8.08/month billed annually.
Trial of paid plans	None. Mailjet has a permanent Free plan instead.	No trial length stated; the Free plan is the way to try it.
Refund terms	No money-back guarantee published. Monthly plans have no contract and cancelling drops you to Free.	No money-back guarantee published on the pricing page.
Send-volume ladder	Free: $0/month billed monthly. Starter: $9/month billed monthly flat at 8,000 emails. Essential: $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, with one higher rung at 50,000, its ceiling. Premium: $29/month billed monthly at 15,000, then rungs at 50,000, 100,000, 250,000 and 500,000 sends.	Brevo Starter: $9/month billed monthly at the smallest email band, rising with monthly email volume; a 5,000-contact list needs the 20,000-email band at $32/month billed monthly. Standard: $18/month billed monthly at the smallest band. Professional: $499/month billed monthly. Enterprise: custom quote.
How pricing scales	By emails sent, on a slider with six stops. Contacts are unlimited on Essential and Premium, so list growth alone never raises the bill.	By monthly email volume on every paid plan, with a contact allowance tied to each band. From the 20,000-email band, Starter and Standard include 500,000 contacts; Professional includes 2,000,000.
Annual and multi-month discounts	10% off with annual billing.	Standard is $16.17/month billed annually at its smallest band, against $18/month billed monthly. Professional is $449.08/month billed annually at its entry band.
Past the published ladder	Above 500,000 emails a month, Custom is a quote with white-glove onboarding, deliverability services and priority support. No starting price is published.	Enterprise is a custom quote with no published price or feature table.
Subaccounts	Up to 20 on Premium, 1 on Free, Starter and Essential, unlimited on Custom.	Not published.
Sending limits	Free: 200 emails a day. Starter: no daily limit.	Free: 300 emails a day. Paid plans remove the daily limit and cap sending by the monthly email band you pay for.
Refund and money-back terms	None published. The FAQ says monthly plans have no engagement and you can switch to Free at any time.	None published on the pricing page.

Who should pick Mailjet, and who should pick Brevo?

Mailjet

Desk research

Best for solo marketers and small businesses
Best for growing lists sending regularly

Mailjet prices by how many emails you send, not how many contacts you keep. $9/month billed monthly gets you 8,000 emails a month, and $19/month billed monthly unlocks unlimited contacts, priced by how many emails you send. That send-volume model is the whole story here: a tool with a huge, mostly-quiet list and the occasional big blast pays less than an ESP that bills per contact.

Best for: Developers and transactional-email-heavy teams who care more about API reliability and SMTP relay than marketing polish. Also a fit for anyone with a large contact list but low actual send frequency, since contacts are unlimited from Essential up and price tracks volume instead.

Strengths

API access, SMTP relay and webhooks are included on every tier, Free included, not gated behind a paid plan.
Unlimited contacts from Essential ($19/month billed monthly) up; you only pay more when your send volume actually grows.
No credit card required for the Free plan, and monthly billing is cancel-anytime with no contract.

Limits

No free trial for paid plans. You either stay on the capped Free tier or pay from day one.
Automations don't appear until Premium. Essential gets segmentation and AI content help, but not workflow automation.
No published money-back guarantee. Cancelling a monthly plan drops you to Free rather than refunding anything already paid.

Skip it if you want a free trial of the paid tiers (there isn't one, only a permanent but capped Free plan), or you need automations below Premium ($29/month billed monthly at its lowest send tier). Heavy senders should also budget carefully: Premium has published prices up to 500,000 emails a month, and the price climbs steeply with volume.

Mailjet review Mailjet pricing Mailjet alternatives

Brevo

Hands-on

Best for small teams sharing one account

Brevo starts free with 500 contacts and no credit card, then moves to paid plans starting at $9/month billed monthly. It's built for small businesses and teams who want automations, multi-channel campaigns, and sales tools in one platform, but the Professional plan at $499/month billed monthly jumps sharply in price and targets mid-market teams.

Best for: Small businesses that want email, SMS, and automation bundled together, plus the flexibility to add sales features when they grow. Works well for solopreneurs starting free, then scaling to Starter or Standard.

Strengths

A real free plan with 500 contacts, no card required.
Automations, A/B testing, and contact scoring by Standard ($18/month billed monthly), not hidden behind enterprise pricing.
10 team seats included on Professional.

Limits

Free plan caps at 500 contacts; Starter is contact-tiered, with published prices up to 500,000 contacts.
No published money-back guarantee visible on the pricing page.
Professional at $499/month billed monthly is a steep jump from Standard ($18/month billed monthly); mid-market features are bundled, not à la carte.

Skip it if you're a pure email-only shop (Mailchimp or MailerLite are simpler), or your budget caps out below $18/month billed monthly. If you need white-label reports or heavy custom integrations, Enterprise is the only option, and its pricing is quoted by sales.

Brevo review Brevo pricing Brevo alternatives

My pick: Mailjet in 2 of 3 scenarios.

See Mailjet plans See Brevo plans

Neither Mailjet nor Brevo? Try these

MailerLite
From $10.80/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want a plain email-only tool with automation on its free plan and no sales-tool bundle to pay for.
MailerLite review MailerLite alternatives
Moosend
From $7/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want contact-tiered pricing with automation and several seats included on its one paid plan.
Moosend review Moosend alternatives
ActiveCampaign
From $15/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want deeper CRM and sales-pipeline automation than either of these two offers on its entry tiers.
ActiveCampaign review ActiveCampaign alternatives

Switching between Mailjet and Brevo

Neither vendor publishes a migration tool, import fee or list-transfer guarantee that either vendor documents, so expect to export your contacts and rebuild automations by hand in either direction. The cheapest way to test is the free tiers: Mailjet's Free plan takes 1,000 contacts with no card, and Brevo's takes 500. Mailjet offers no trial of its paid plans, so the jump from Free to Starter or Essential is a commitment you can end at any time on a monthly plan, with no refund.

What would change my pick?

Mailjet publishing a seat count for Premium would let a 3-person team be priced on it directly, instead of only knowing that multi-user access exists.
Brevo publishing the price of extra Standard seats would show whether a 3-person team can stay below Professional.
Brevo raising the contact allowance on its 15,000-email band would put a 5,000-contact list on a cheaper Brevo band and could flip the growing-list pick back to Brevo.
A price change on either side. The scenario picks that rely on resolved prices recalculate on their own.

Mailjet vs Brevo: questions people ask

Is Mailjet free?: Yes, up to 1,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, 200 a day, with no card. Paid plans start at $9/month billed monthly for 8,000 emails, and there is no free trial of them.
Is Brevo free?: Yes, up to 500 contacts and 300 emails a day, with no credit card. The first paid plan, Starter, starts at $9/month billed monthly for its smallest email band.
Why does Mailjet's price depend on emails sent rather than contacts?: Mailjet's pricing slider is set by how many emails you send a month, not by list size. Contacts are unlimited on Essential and Premium, so only sending volume moves the price: Essential starts at $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends and steps up at 50,000. Brevo also prices by email volume, but each of its bands includes a set number of contacts, so a growing list can move you up a band on its own.
Which is cheaper at 5,000 contacts?: Mailjet. Its Starter plan stops at 2,000 contacts, so a list this size moves to Essential: $19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, roughly a 5,000-contact list mailed three times a month, with unlimited contacts. Brevo's bands each carry a contact limit, and 5,000 contacts needs its 20,000-email band on Starter at $32/month billed monthly. A much more frequent sender pays a higher Mailjet rung, so check your own send volume.
Which has automation on the cheapest plan?: Neither has it on its cheapest paid plan. Brevo's unlimited multi-step workflows start at Standard ($18/month billed monthly at its smallest email band, rising as your list grows); Mailjet's automations start at Premium ($29/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends, with unlimited contacts). For a very small list Brevo is cheaper to automate; at a few thousand contacts Mailjet's Premium entry price usually wins.
Which is better for sending from an app through an API?: Mailjet documents API, SMTP relay and webhooks on every plan, Free included. Brevo's API access by plan is not confirmed, so Mailjet is the clearer fit for developer-led sending.
Which is better for a big list you rarely email?: Mailjet, up to a point. Contacts are unlimited from Essential ($19/month billed monthly at 15,000 sends), so only sending volume sets the price. Brevo's 20,000-email band also includes 500,000 contacts, so for a very large list compare the two at your real monthly send count.

How I verified this

Every price and limit here comes from the vendors' own pages, last checked 30 Sep 2026. Mailjet: desk research. Brevo: hands-on.

Sources and changelog

38 facts from 6 source pages, oldest checked 30 Sep 2026.

Mailjet plans and pricing (checked 30 Sep 2026)
Brevo plans and pricing (checked 14 Oct 2026)

30 Sep 2026: New page for the crm-email-platforms category. Mailjet is the first send-volume-priced tool in the category, so its paid prices are quoted by emails sent per month rather than by contacts.
14 Oct 2026: Brevo's pricing now reflects its contact ladder: Brevo bills by monthly email volume and each band includes a set number of contacts, so a 5,000-contact list prices at Starter's 20,000-email band rather than its entry rate. That makes Mailjet Essential the cheaper option at 5,000 contacts, so the growing-list pick moved from Brevo to Mailjet. With Mailjet now taking 2 of 3 scenarios, the overall verdict moved from Brevo to Mailjet. Brevo's free daily sending cap and per-plan seat limits were added, and Enterprise is now listed as a custom quote.

Spot something out of date?Vendors and readers, send me the correct fact.

Software sites change almost every week, and I want every claim on this page to be factually correct. If you are a vendor or a reader, send me the correct fact and a link to the official page. I will check it and update the page. The opinions and rankings stay mine.

Mailjet vs Brevo: unlimited contacts, or contacts tied to sends?

Quick answer

Which one fits you?

How are Mailjet and Brevo really different?

What the price is tied to

Free plan

Where automation starts

Team access

API and developer sending

Top of the published ladder

What will Mailjet or Brevo cost for your setup?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

Growing list, sending regularly

Small team managing one list together

Mailjet vs Brevo side by side

Who should pick Mailjet, and who should pick Brevo?

Mailjet

Brevo

Neither Mailjet nor Brevo? Try these

Switching between Mailjet and Brevo

What would change my pick?

Mailjet vs Brevo: questions people ask

Is Mailjet free?

Is Brevo free?

Why does Mailjet's price depend on emails sent rather than contacts?

Which is cheaper at 5,000 contacts?

Which has automation on the cheapest plan?

Which is better for sending from an app through an API?

Which is better for a big list you rarely email?

How I verified this

Compare Mailjet or Brevo with another tool

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