EmailOctopus vs Brevo: A Plain Newsletter or a Wider Toolkit
By Joris van Huët
Enterprise Interim CMO & Marketing Leader · 15+ years · 50+ orgs
Published
2026-10-26
The short answer: if all you send is a weekly newsletter to 2,500 people, you do not need a multichannel platform. EmailOctopus covers that on its free plan, which allows 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, exactly four issues, while Brevo's free plan sends 300 emails a day (EmailOctopus pricing, Brevo pricing, checked on 26 October 2026). Choose Brevo if your job also includes order emails, SMS or, later, WhatsApp and a sales CRM.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.
EmailOctopus says what it is on its homepage: "Email marketing. Nothing else.", with no SMS and no extra services to pay for (homepage). Brevo is the opposite bet, one account for campaigns, transactional email, SMS, WhatsApp, push and a CRM. The question is whether you will use the rest of Brevo, or only pay to have it near.
Do the sums first:
- Turn Brevo's daily cap into send days. For example, one issue to 2,500 people at 300 emails a day takes 2,500 / 300 = 8.3, so 9 days of quota. On Brevo's free plan a weekly newsletter cannot go out on the day it is written.
- Find EmailOctopus's edge. 2,500 subscribers x 4 issues = 10,000 emails, the whole free allowance. A fifth issue in a month, or subscriber 2,501, moves you to Pro at $20 a month for 2,500 subscribers and 25,000 emails, and the pricing page says upgrades happen automatically as the list grows.
- Start from the accounts you already have. If your company already uses Amazon SES, EmailOctopus Connect routes the same tool through your own SES account with unlimited emails, from $8 a month billed yearly, with Amazon billing the sending separately (Connect pricing, Connect guide).
- Keep the numbers that tell you it works. Copy each issue's opens, clicks and unsubscribes into a sheet the week it goes out. On EmailOctopus's free plan the reports disappear after 30 days, and the sheet is your trend line either way.
Four plans, one table
| EmailOctopus Free | EmailOctopus Pro | Brevo Free | Brevo Starter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price for 2,500 subscribers | $0 | $20 a month | $0 | $25 a month, at the 15,000-email step |
| Sending allowance | 10,000 emails a month | 25,000 a month at that size | 300 emails a day | 15,000 a month |
| Users | 1 | Unlimited | 1 included | 1 |
| Vendor branding | On emails | Removable | "Sent with Brevo" footer | Removal is a $12 a month add-on |
| Report history | 30 days | Kept indefinitely | Not stated on the pricing page | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Transactional email | Not on the pricing page | Not on the pricing page | Included | Included |
| SMS | No, by design | No | Credits sold separately | Credits sold separately |
| Source | Pricing | Pricing | Pricing | Pricing |
Price at four list sizes
USD, checked on 26 October 2026 on the EmailOctopus pricing page and the Brevo pricing page. Brevo is priced here for four issues a month, at the volume step whose contact allowance fits the list.
| Subscribers | EmailOctopus Pro, monthly billing (yearly billing) | Brevo Starter, monthly billing, four issues a month |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $13.50 ($12) | $17, at 10,000 emails |
| 2,500 | $20 ($18) | $25, at 15,000 emails |
| 5,000 | $31.50 ($28) | $32, at 20,000 emails |
| 10,000 | $44.50 ($40) | $46, at 40,000 emails |
Brevo's yearly billing takes 10% off (pricing). Brevo Starter does not include multi-step automation, which starts on Standard at $18 a month for 5,000 emails.
Three differences that matter
A monthly allowance or a daily cap
EmailOctopus counts the month, so a 2,500-person issue goes out in one go on the free plan. Brevo's free plan counts the day, 300 at a time, after Brevo approves the account for sending (pricing FAQ). Brevo's free plan stores far more people, though: its pricing file lists 100,000 marketing contacts. A large list you mail rarely fits Brevo's free plan; a small list you mail weekly fits EmailOctopus's.
One channel on purpose, or many
EmailOctopus states on its homepage that it does email marketing only. Brevo's paid plans include transactional email through API and SMTP, sell SMS credits, and put WhatsApp, push and popups on Professional (pricing). If receipts from your shop or app should come from the same sender as the newsletter, that settles it for Brevo.
What a user and a report are worth
EmailOctopus Pro adds unlimited users and keeps reports indefinitely, from $10 a month for 500 subscribers (pricing). Brevo Starter has one user, and Standard allows up to two more at $12 a month each (pricing). A newsletter written by a team of four costs noticeably less on EmailOctopus.
Brevo's connector writes drafts and never sends
Brevo's Claude connector and ChatGPT plugin read campaign results, contacts and segments and save templates and drafts, and Brevo says they never send, schedule or delete. Ask the connector Brevo's own example: compare your last five campaigns on delivery, opens and clicks, explain which differences matter, and recommend the next test. Then have it save next week's issue as a draft. The person who writes the newsletter opens the draft in Brevo, checks every link and sends it. EmailOctopus's pages list no MCP server of its own; Zapier's MCP page offers EmailOctopus contact actions, such as adding or tagging a contact, through Zapier rather than the vendor.
EmailOctopus's free plan keeps reports for 30 days and Pro keeps them indefinitely, so the history you build is what pulls you up a tier. The sheet from step 4 keeps that history yours on any plan.
Choose EmailOctopus if your job is
- A weekly or monthly newsletter to up to 2,500 people, at no cost.
- Writing as a team, with unlimited users on Pro.
- Sending through your company's own Amazon SES account with Connect.
Choose Brevo if your job is
- Sending newsletters and order emails from one account and one sender.
- Storing a large list you mail only a few times a year, on the free plan.
- Adding SMS now, and WhatsApp or a CRM later, without a second vendor.
FAQ
Does EmailOctopus have a free trial?
No. Its FAQ points to the free plan instead, with no time limit and no card (pricing).
Can EmailOctopus send SMS?
No. Its homepage describes it as email marketing with no SMS (homepage). Brevo sells SMS credits on its paid plans (pricing).
Do nonprofits get a discount?
On EmailOctopus, yes: its pricing page gives nonprofits a 20% lifetime discount (pricing). Brevo's pricing page links a nonprofit page in its footer without stating a discount there.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am Joris van Huët, an enterprise interim CMO. 15+ years, 50+ organizations, including ING, P&G, Nestlé, BNP Paribas, WeTransfer and Vinted. I take on innovation projects (venture building, design sprints), agentic marketing (setting up and running AI agents) and hands-on multi-channel work. See the track record.
I wrote and published this with AI assistance, and I answer for it. Claims about my own experience are limited to the track record above, and a statistic links to its source or is labelled as an example. I sell interim and fractional CMO work, which is why this site exists. How this site is written.
A senior operator doing the work: campaigns, channels, CRM and AI agents, live from day one.