Brevo Problems & Issues
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Should you use Brevo?
Try with cautionBrevo works for some teams, but users report recurring problems (score 62/100). Most reported issues: Email deliverability significantly below industry average; Accounts blocked without explanation or warning; Free users get zero support - paid support limited. Not a good fit for: Businesses requiring high email deliverability; Users needing reliable customer support; Businesses with strict sending schedules. Users most often switch to MailerLite, Mailchimp, Sender.
Top problems
- Email deliverability significantly below industry average
- Accounts blocked without explanation or warning
- Free users get zero support - paid support limited
Good for
- Budget-conscious small businesses
- Businesses with large contact lists emailed infrequently
Avoid if you are
- Businesses requiring high email deliverability
- Users needing reliable customer support
- Businesses with strict sending schedules
Common alternatives: MailerLite, Mailchimp, Sender
Score breakdown
Brevo offers unbeatable value with pay-per-email pricing and multi-channel features, but deliverability issues (27% spam rate) and account suspension risks are serious concerns. Best for budget-conscious users willing to accept trade-offs.
Overview
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is an all-in-one marketing platform offering email marketing, SMS, WhatsApp messaging, chat, and CRM. Known for its pay-per-email pricing model and affordable entry point, it serves small to medium businesses seeking multi-channel marketing.
Signals & Issues
Patterns extracted from real user feedback — not raw reviews.
Brevo emails are about twice as likely to get marked as spam (27.4% vs 14.8% industry benchmark). Inboxing score is only 55.4%. Users report emails not reaching full list, at best reaching 80% of contacts.
Even after contact verification, campaigns continue to get suspended. Users struggle to understand why legitimate campaigns are blocked. This disrupts marketing schedules and frustrates teams relying on timely sends.
Users report accounts being blocked for 'no reason' with no explanation, just told to 'go elsewhere.' Brevo is described as 'very strict on compliance' - more than any other platform - frequently shutting down accounts and requiring extensive proof.
Free plan includes no support at all. Starter plan only has email support. Phone support requires Business plan at $65/month minimum. Users complain about slow replies, canned responses, and agents who don't understand the product.
Users find it difficult to design email bodies. Reducing wasted space between blocks is challenging. Templates are lackluster. Email block design is unresponsive or unintuitive. Creating professional-looking emails takes more effort than expected.
SMS automation sends messages but you cannot reply individually to customer responses. Messages come from random inconsistent numbers. SMS setup requires many revisions before approval, causing campaign delays.
Automations lack folder organization, offering only basic filters. Managing numerous workflows becomes challenging as scale increases. Users accustomed to more sophisticated organization find this limiting.
Instructions are unclear and documentation could use improvement. Users aren't informed about important steps like opening tickets for captcha verification. This creates unnecessary friction during onboarding.
Users experience slow performance when working with larger contact lists. Platform responsiveness degrades as data grows. This impacts workflow efficiency for growing businesses.
Analytics and reporting tools are described as 'not-as-advanced' and lacking depth found in premium alternatives. Businesses needing detailed insights may find Brevo's reporting insufficient for data-driven decisions.
The Brevo logo appears on all emails by default. Removing it costs an additional $10.80/month on top of your plan. This hidden cost catches users by surprise when trying to maintain professional branding.
Using shared IP pools means your deliverability is affected by other senders' behavior. Poor sender reputation from others on shared IPs can impact your email deliverability even with good practices.
What Users Love
Pay-per-email pricing offers better value for large lists
Unlike competitors charging per contact, Brevo charges per email sent. Great for businesses with large contact lists they email infrequently. 100K contacts on free plan with 300 emails/day.
Multi-channel marketing in one platform
Email, SMS, WhatsApp messaging, live chat, and CRM in one platform. Saves money compared to separate tools. Coordinate campaigns across channels from single dashboard.
Intuitive interface easy to learn
Platform is praised for ease of use and intuitive interface. Creating and managing email campaigns is straightforward. Good for marketers without technical background.
Generous free plan with 100K contacts
Free plan allows 100K contacts and 300 emails daily. No time limit on free plan. Good for testing and small-scale email marketing without commitment.
Effective automation for common workflows
Automation features work well for standard marketing workflows. Visual automation builder handles common scenarios. Good for businesses needing basic to intermediate automation.
Affordable entry point for small businesses
Starter plan at $9/month makes email marketing accessible. More affordable than Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign at similar scales. Good value for budget-conscious businesses.
Pricing Plans
Users: Unlimited
Storage: Not specified
- ✓Up to 100,000 contacts
- ✓300 emails/day (9,000/month)
- ✓Customizable email templates
- ✓Transactional emails
- ✓SMS and WhatsApp campaigns
Limitations: 300 emails/day, no support, Brevo branding, basic features only
Users: Unlimited
Storage: Not specified
- ✓5,000 emails/month base
- ✓No daily sending limit
- ✓Email support
- ✓Basic reporting
Limitations: Email support only, Brevo branding unless you pay extra, basic analytics
Users: Unlimited
Storage: Not specified
- ✓5,000 emails/month base
- ✓Marketing automation
- ✓A/B testing
- ✓Advanced statistics
- ✓Phone support
Limitations: Still need higher tier for full phone support, sales features cost extra
Users: Unlimited
Storage: Not specified
- ✓Custom volume
- ✓Dedicated IP
- ✓Advanced integrations
- ✓Priority support
- ✓Dedicated account manager
Limitations: Need to contact sales for pricing. Enterprise commitments expected.
Features
- Email campaigns
All plans
Marketing
- SMS marketing
All plans, pay-per-message
- WhatsApp messaging
All plans
- Live chat
All plans
- Two-way SMS replies
Can send, can't reply individually
Automation
- Marketing automation
Business+ for advanced
CRM
- CRM
Basic included, sales add-on extra
Pricing
- 100K contacts free
On free plan
- Pay-per-email pricing
Not per contact
Testing
- A/B testing
Business+ plans
Support
- Phone support
Business plan $65+/mo only
Reliability
- Industry-average deliverability
27% spam rate vs 15% average
Who Should Use This?
Good Fit
Budget-conscious small businesses
Free plan with 100K contacts and $9/month starter is very affordable. Pay-per-email model saves money for large lists with infrequent sends. Accept deliverability trade-offs for price.
Businesses with large contact lists emailed infrequently
Pay-per-email pricing is ideal if you have many contacts but don't email often. 100K contacts on free plan. Better value than per-contact pricing from competitors.
Neutral
Marketing teams
Affordable multi-channel marketing but limited automation and reporting. Good for small teams with basic needs. Larger teams may outgrow capabilities.
Sales teams needing CRM
Basic CRM included but limited compared to dedicated CRMs. Sales features cost extra ($27-58/user/month). Consider HubSpot or Pipedrive for serious sales needs.
Multi-channel marketers (email + SMS + WhatsApp)
All channels in one platform is convenient. But SMS has limitations (can't reply individually). WhatsApp integration works well. Evaluate if limitations matter for your use case.
Avoid
Businesses requiring high email deliverability
Brevo's deliverability is significantly below industry average (27.4% spam rate vs 14.8% benchmark). Shared IPs compound problems. Choose dedicated IP solutions or platforms with better deliverability.
Users needing reliable customer support
Free users get zero support. Starter only has email. Phone support requires $65+/month Business plan. Support quality is criticized as slow with canned responses.
Businesses with strict sending schedules
Campaign suspensions happen even with verified contacts. Account blocks happen without warning. This unpredictability disrupts time-sensitive marketing campaigns.
Regret Patterns
Common buyer's remorse scenarios reported by users.
Planned major product launch with email campaign. Discovered significant portion went to spam folders. Lost sales and momentum. Didn't research deliverability rates before choosing platform.
Account suddenly blocked with no explanation. Active campaigns stopped. Couldn't reach support (on free plan). Had to scramble to migrate to new platform while campaigns stalled.
Critical issue arose but only had email support. Days of back-and-forth. Discovered phone support requires $65+/month plan. Should have factored support into original budget.
Excited about SMS marketing capability. Discovered can't reply to individual customer responses. Random sender numbers confused customers. Feature was less useful than expected.
Simple email design took hours due to inflexible block system. Wasted space between blocks couldn't be reduced. Templates looked dated. Spent more time on design than content.
Built automation workflows, migrated contacts, created templates. Then learned about better deliverability elsewhere. Migration pain meant staying despite issues. Should have researched more.
When It Breaks Down
Scenarios where this product tends to fail users.
With 27.4% spam rate (2x industry average), critical emails frequently miss inboxes. Transactional emails, welcome sequences, and sales campaigns underperform. Consider platforms with better deliverability.
Brevo's strict compliance means surprise suspensions happen. No warning, no explanation, campaigns stop immediately. Support unavailable on free/basic plans. Migration becomes urgent.
Free has zero support. Starter has email only with slow responses. Phone support requires $65+/month Business plan. Urgent issues go unresolved for days.
Email editor is inflexible and frustrating. Templates are lackluster. Block design is unintuitive. Creating professional emails requires fighting the tool rather than focusing on content.
SMS feature is one-way only. Cannot reply to individual customer messages. Messages come from random numbers. Not suitable for actual customer service conversations.
Reporting tools lack depth compared to competitors. Data-driven decisions become difficult. Businesses needing advanced analytics must upgrade to expensive tiers or switch platforms.
Alternatives Users Switch To
MailerLite
8x mentionedUsers switch for better deliverability and easier interface. Gain: higher inbox rates, cleaner UI, similar pricing. Trade-off: fewer multi-channel features.
Mailchimp
7x mentionedBusinesses switch for brand recognition and better deliverability. Gain: industry standard, more templates. Trade-off: more expensive, also has its own issues.
Sender
6x mentionedBudget users switch for generous free plan and better support. Gain: excellent free tier, good automation, responsive support. Trade-off: less multi-channel.
Klaviyo
5x mentionedE-commerce businesses switch for better Shopify integration. Gain: superior e-commerce automation, better analytics. Trade-off: significantly more expensive.
ActiveCampaign
5x mentionedUsers needing CRM + advanced automation switch. Gain: sophisticated automation, built-in CRM. Trade-off: more expensive, complex, has its own billing issues.
Encharge
4x mentionedBusinesses needing advanced automation switch. Gain: powerful workflows, behavior-based emails, deep segmentation. Trade-off: more expensive, steeper learning curve.
Frequently Asked Questions
See how Brevo compares in our Best Email Marketing Software rankings, or calculate costs with our Budget Calculator.
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