beehiiv and Brevo are often shortlisted together because both are affordable email tools with free tiers, but they optimise for opposite outcomes. beehiiv is a newsletter platform built around publishing, growth and monetisation: paid subscriptions, an ad network, referral recommendations and a website. Brevo is a marketing suite built around reaching contacts across channels: email, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications and a mobile wallet, with a CRM attached.
TL;DR
beehiiv and Brevo both send email, but they are built for different jobs. beehiiv is a newsletter platform: Launch costs $0 up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends and a 0 percent cut of subscription revenue, with paid tiers from $49 a month. Brevo is a multi-channel marketing suite: Free up to 300 emails a day, Starter at $9 per month, Standard at $18 and Professional at $499. Pick beehiiv to grow a publication, Brevo to run marketing across email, SMS and WhatsApp.
The free tiers tell the story. beehiiv's Launch plan costs nothing for up to 2,500 subscribers, includes unlimited email sends, and takes a 0 percent cut of paid subscription revenue, with only Stripe's standard 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction applying. Brevo's free plan allows up to 300 emails a day for an unlimited contact list, which is generous in contacts and restrictive in daily volume.
Paid pricing runs in different directions from there. beehiiv's paid plans start at $49 a month according to its own FAQ, with the Scale tier listed at $43 per month on annual billing ($517 a year) and Max at $96 a month ($1,151 a year). Brevo's Starter is $9 a month, Standard is $18 and Professional is $499 for senders moving from 150,000 emails upward, with annual prices of $96.96, $194.04 and $5,388.96. The split is cleanest when you state the job. A writer or media brand monetising an audience wants beehiiv's growth and subscription tools. A business sending campaigns, transactional mail and SMS to a customer list wants Brevo's channel breadth and its $9 entry point. Very few teams need both, though a publisher that also runs SMS campaigns is one of them.
| Feature | Beehiiv | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Newsletter publishing and growth | Multi-channel marketing suite |
| Free plan | Launch, free up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends | Free up to 300 emails a day |
| Entry paid price | Paid plans start at $49/month per beehiiv's FAQ | Starter at $9/month |
| Mid tier | Scale listed at $43/month billed annually ($517/year) | Standard at $18/month |
| Top public tier | Max listed at $96/month billed annually ($1,151/year) | Professional at $499/month, from 150,000 emails |
| Revenue cut | 0 percent of paid subscription revenue | Not applicable to a marketing suite |
| Channels | Email, website, podcast, recommendations | Email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, mobile wallet |
| Send limits | Unlimited sends on every plan including Launch | From 5,000 emails a month on Starter, from 150,000 on Professional |
| Seats | Unlimited seats included on Max | Single user on Starter and Standard, 10 on Professional |
| Integrations | Send API, MCP read access on Launch | Connectors, SFTP and a marketplace of apps |
Pick Beehiiv if
Choose beehiiv when you are publishing and want to grow and monetise an audience. Launch costs nothing up to 2,500 subscribers, takes no cut of subscription revenue and includes a website, podcast hosting and custom domains. The free plan alone outperforms most newsletter tools at the same price, and paid tiers add the growth machinery.
Pick Brevo if
Choose Brevo when the job is marketing to a customer list across more than one channel. Starter at $9 per month is the cheapest entry here, the free plan handles 300 emails a day indefinitely, and SMS, WhatsApp and push sit on the same platform. It is not a publishing product, so it will not monetise an audience for you.
Yes. The Launch plan is free forever for up to 2,500 subscribers, with unlimited email sends, a website builder, podcast hosting, analytics, the recommendation network and custom domains.
Brevo has a free plan up to 300 emails a day, then Starter at $9 per month, Standard at $18 and Professional at $499 for senders from 150,000 emails. Annual prices are $96.96, $194.04 and $5,388.96.
No. beehiiv takes 0 percent of paid subscription revenue, so only Stripe's standard 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction applies.
Brevo. It bundles SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications and mobile wallet with email, and sells SMS credits separately. beehiiv is email, website and podcast only.
It depends on volume. beehiiv's free Launch plan stops at 2,500 subscribers, so growth pushes you to a paid tier starting at $49 a month, while Brevo's Starter at $9 covers from 5,000 emails a month and scales with send volume.
Some publishers do, running the newsletter on beehiiv and customer campaigns on Brevo. For most teams one platform is enough, since the audiences and the goals are different.
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