Brevo and MailerLite charge around different units and expose different limits. The better choice for a small newsletter depends on four inputs: active subscribers, messages per month, automation population and the labour required to run the programme safely.

Source date: Official pricing, billing, form and double-opt-in documentation was rechecked on 25 August 2026. No deliverability, inbox-placement or support test was performed.

Current free-plan shape

Free-plan facts checked 25 August 2026
QuestionBrevoMailerLite
Primary send limit300 email sends per day; unused sends do not roll over2,500 monthly emails
Published contact or subscriber limitUp to 100,000 stored contactsUp to 250 subscribers
Automation boundaryUp to 2,000 unique contacts can enter active automations on FreeAutomations are included on Free; test the current feature boundary for the intended sequence
BrandingBrevo branding remains on FreeMailerLite logo remains on Free
Paid evaluationOngoing Free plan; paid tiers are organised by monthly sends and contact storage14-day feature trial advertised without a credit card, plus an ongoing Free plan

These are not equivalent allowances. A large stored list does not mean Brevo can send one campaign to that entire list in a day. A small MailerLite subscriber ceiling can bind before its monthly email allowance does.

Decide from workload, not list size alone

Brevo or MailerLite by newsletter operating scenario
ScenarioFitReasonVerify before deciding
240 subscribers, one weekly issue, simple welcome emailstrongMailerLite's published Free subscriber and monthly-send limits can contain this example; Brevo can also fit if the daily cap is scheduled deliberately.Add campaigns, welcome messages, resends and test sends before assuming the allowance is sufficient.
Several thousand stored contacts, occasional segmented sendsconditionalBrevo's send-volume model and large Free contact storage may align better than a subscriber-tier model.Check the daily or monthly send tier, contact cap, segmentation need and tax at checkout.
Visual newsletter with landing pages and a compact audienceconditionalMailerLite bundles campaigns, forms, a website and landing page in its published Free route.Confirm the present template, automation, branding and custom-domain boundaries.
Multi-channel lifecycle messaging and larger automation populationconditionalBrevo publishes email, SMS, WhatsApp and automation options, with important plan and add-on boundaries.Price the required plan, channels, contacts entering automation, seats and message add-ons together.

Brevo or MailerLite by newsletter operating scenario

  1. Scenario
    240 subscribers, one weekly issue, simple welcome email
    Fit
    strong
    Reason
    MailerLite's published Free subscriber and monthly-send limits can contain this example; Brevo can also fit if the daily cap is scheduled deliberately.
    Verify before deciding
    Add campaigns, welcome messages, resends and test sends before assuming the allowance is sufficient.
  2. Scenario
    Several thousand stored contacts, occasional segmented sends
    Fit
    conditional
    Reason
    Brevo's send-volume model and large Free contact storage may align better than a subscriber-tier model.
    Verify before deciding
    Check the daily or monthly send tier, contact cap, segmentation need and tax at checkout.
  3. Scenario
    Visual newsletter with landing pages and a compact audience
    Fit
    conditional
    Reason
    MailerLite bundles campaigns, forms, a website and landing page in its published Free route.
    Verify before deciding
    Confirm the present template, automation, branding and custom-domain boundaries.
  4. Scenario
    Multi-channel lifecycle messaging and larger automation population
    Fit
    conditional
    Reason
    Brevo publishes email, SMS, WhatsApp and automation options, with important plan and add-on boundaries.
    Verify before deciding
    Price the required plan, channels, contacts entering automation, seats and message add-ons together.

Worked cost scenario

For 240 active subscribers and four newsletters per month, the campaign baseline is 960 sends. Add 240 welcome messages only if all subscribers are new that month, plus internal tests, transactional mail and any resend to non-openers. The workload can therefore range from roughly 1,000 sends in a steady month to more than 1,400 during acquisition.

MailerLite's 2,500 monthly Free allowance leaves room in this bounded example, while its 250-subscriber ceiling leaves almost none for growth. Brevo's 300-per-day cap can deliver a 240-person campaign in one day, but a 400-person issue would be split or require a paid plan. This arithmetic is a planning example, not a price quote or deliverability prediction.

For a paid comparison, capture the same invoice inputs for both tools: billing period, subscriber/contact tier, monthly send volume, seats, automation features, branding removal, landing pages, dedicated IP or other add-ons, tax and expected growth. Then add the operator's monthly hours for list hygiene, template changes, QA and reporting.

Both platforms document form and double-opt-in workflows. Double opt-in is not a substitute for a lawful basis or clear notice, but it can create stronger evidence that an address owner confirmed the subscription. Record form version, consent wording, source, timestamp and confirmation state. Keep unsubscribed, bounced and complained addresses suppressed across imports and integrations.

Before switching providers, export active contacts and suppression states separately. Test whether unsubscribed people remain excluded after the migration. A cheaper plan is not cheaper if it creates manual consent repair or sender-reputation risk.

Migration acceptance test

Create a small seed list using addresses you control. Test signup, confirmation, welcome automation, campaign rendering, unsubscribe, suppression, export and deletion. Verify authentication records such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC through the provider's current setup instructions. Run the same script in both tools before choosing.

This comparison cannot establish inbox placement, conversion rate, support quality or the exact invoice for a reader's country. Those require account-level evidence and a representative sending history.