When is Brevo the better choice?

You want to sign up without a credit card and test the platform before paying. You need transactional email tools on the free plan, including API, SMTP, and webhooks. You are building around campaign sending and contact management more than helpdesk or analytics. You expect to outgrow free by send volume first and want a clear email-centric upgrade path.

When is Klaviyo the better choice?

You run a small ecommerce brand and want a free tier built around customer profiles and revenue attribution. You need a tighter, easier-to-understand free cap for a small list and modest monthly sends. You want built-in reporting, dashboards, and basic segmentation from day one. You want Customer Hub or basic Helpdesk features in the free plan. You are okay with entering a credit card to start.

Brevo vs Klaviyo: Free Tier Comparison

Q: How much does Brevo cost after the free tier?

Starter - From 5,000 emails per month. Brevo’s paid path is tiered at the bottom and then shifts to contact sales at higher volume. The first meaningful paid step is Starter, which starts from 5,000 emails per month, but the page does not give a dollar amount. Klaviyo’s paid path is usage-based for marketing data/analytics and service, with custom pricing for enterprise and professional services, but no base dollar prices are provided here. Because both vendors omit concrete prices in the supplied data, the cost comparison is about structure rather than exact spend: Brevo becomes a volume-and-feature tier jump, while Klaviyo scales by usage and product scope. For a small team, neither provided dataset lets us say which is cheaper in dollars.

Q: How much does Klaviyo cost after the free tier?

Marketing Data + Analytics - Marketing Data + Analytics. Brevo’s paid path is tiered at the bottom and then shifts to contact sales at higher volume. The first meaningful paid step is Starter, which starts from 5,000 emails per month, but the page does not give a dollar amount. Klaviyo’s paid path is usage-based for marketing data/analytics and service, with custom pricing for enterprise and professional services, but no base dollar prices are provided here. Because both vendors omit concrete prices in the supplied data, the cost comparison is about structure rather than exact spend: Brevo becomes a volume-and-feature tier jump, while Klaviyo scales by usage and product scope. For a small team, neither provided dataset lets us say which is cheaper in dollars.

Quick answer

Klaviyo - Klaviyo wins for most builders who need a more usable free tier for small audiences, while Brevo wins if you want a simpler email-first free plan with no credit card required.

How the free tiers compare

Brevo and Klaviyo both sit in marketing automation and CRM, but the free tiers are shaped differently. Brevo’s free plan is broader on access: no credit card, contact management, campaign creation, transactional email, REST API, SMTP, webhooks, and unlimited transactional log retention. The tradeoff is a hard sending cap of 300 emails per day after approval, and the free plan is less explicit about audience size. Klaviyo is narrower in channel breadth but more concrete for small lists: 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month, 150 mobile message credits, plus reporting, basic segmentation, Customer Hub, and Helpdesk basics. That makes Klaviyo easier to reason about for a small ecommerce or lifecycle setup, but it requires a credit card and hits scale limits faster. Brevo is better if you mainly care about email infrastructure and trying the platform without payment details. Klaviyo is better if you want a more productized small-list free tier with analytics and service features included.

Brevo vs Klaviyo free tier, side by side

	Brevo FTV 63	Klaviyo FTV 50
Credit card required Brevo explicitly says no credit card needed; Klaviyo does not.	No	Yes
Free email allowance These limits are not directly comparable because Brevo is daily while Klaviyo is monthly.	Up to 300 emails/day after approval	500 email sends/month
Marketing contacts / profiles Only Klaviyo gives a numeric free profile cap.	Upload and manage contacts	Up to 250 active profiles
Mobile message credits Klaviyo includes a free SMS/mobile message allowance.	Not listed	150 per month
Transactional email Brevo explicitly includes REST API, SMTP, outbound webhooks, and unlimited transactional log retention.	Included on all plans	Not listed in the free tier items
Landing pages Brevo includes 1 landing page only on Standard, but the free tier does not specify any.	Not listed	Not listed

After you outgrow the free tier

Brevo’s paid path is tiered at the bottom and then shifts to contact sales at higher volume. The first meaningful paid step is Starter, which starts from 5,000 emails per month, but the page does not give a dollar amount. Klaviyo’s paid path is usage-based for marketing data/analytics and service, with custom pricing for enterprise and professional services, but no base dollar prices are provided here. Because both vendors omit concrete prices in the supplied data, the cost comparison is about structure rather than exact spend: Brevo becomes a volume-and-feature tier jump, while Klaviyo scales by usage and product scope. For a small team, neither provided dataset lets us say which is cheaper in dollars.

Brevo next step Starter - From 5,000 emails per month Tiered

Klaviyo next step Marketing Data + Analytics - Marketing Data + Analytics Usage-based

When to pick each one

Pick Brevo when…

You want to sign up without a credit card and test the platform before paying.
You need transactional email tools on the free plan, including API, SMTP, and webhooks.
You are building around campaign sending and contact management more than helpdesk or analytics.
You expect to outgrow free by send volume first and want a clear email-centric upgrade path.

Pick Klaviyo when…

You run a small ecommerce brand and want a free tier built around customer profiles and revenue attribution.
You need a tighter, easier-to-understand free cap for a small list and modest monthly sends.
You want built-in reporting, dashboards, and basic segmentation from day one.
You want Customer Hub or basic Helpdesk features in the free plan.
You are okay with entering a credit card to start.

Bottom line

For the most common builder use case, Klaviyo is the better free tier if you want a clearer small-list product with profiles, sends, reporting, and lightweight helpdesk features. Brevo is the better pick if your priority is no-credit-card signup, transactional email access, and a broader email infrastructure toolkit before you pay. The main split is not just limits, but what the free plan is trying to prove: Klaviyo proves lifecycle marketing for small audiences, while Brevo proves email operations and campaign sending.

Read the full listings: Brevo and Klaviyo. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.