- © 2026 Mailsoftly Inc. The name "Mailsoftly" and the Mailsoftly logo are registered trademarks of Mailsoftly Inc.
Sendinblue became Brevo, and the pricing turned SMS-first. Here is how email-focused teams move to a platform built for email.
by Alkan Balkaya · Last updated: 2026-06-30Users switch from Brevo to Mailsoftly for one main reason: after the Sendinblue rebrand, Brevo’s SMS-centric, volume-based pricing added cost and complexity for email-only teams. Mailsoftly offers a focused email interface, transparent per-contact pricing, and free hands-on migration that most users finish in one to two hours.
If you built your email marketing on Sendinblue and stuck around through the rebrand to Brevo, you already know the platform has changed. The pricing structure shifted, the feature focus moved toward SMS and CRM, and the simple email tool you signed up for became something different. You are not alone in noticing.
New here? Start with our primer on Email Marketing for the fundamentals, then come back to this guide.
Quick context: Mailsoftly offers transparent pricing, free hands-on migration, and human support. 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, no credit card.
Start free with Mailsoftly →
More email marketers are searching for a Brevo alternative that puts email first. Not because Brevo is a bad platform, but because it has evolved away from what many users actually need: a clean, affordable way to send emails that land in inboxes and drive results.
This guide walks you through every step of switching from Brevo to Mailsoftly, from exporting your contacts to authenticating your domain. Whether you manage 500 subscribers or 50,000, the migration takes less time than you think.
Key Takeaways
Users are leaving Brevo because the Sendinblue rebrand pushed the product toward an all-in-one CRM, sales, and SMS suite, while charging by email volume and gating simple needs like branding removal behind extra fees. For email-only teams, that means paying for infrastructure they will never use.
Read enough? Try Mailsoftly free with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, no credit card.Start free with Mailsoftly →
The Sendinblue-to-Brevo rebrand was more than a name change. It signaled a strategic shift toward becoming an all-in-one CRM and marketing suite. For users who wanted a straightforward email marketing tool, that shift created friction in three areas.
Yes. Long-time Sendinblue users found themselves on a platform with a new name, reorganized menus, and different terminology. Tutorials they relied on became outdated overnight. Support articles referenced features under old names. The rebrand also coincided with pricing restructuring that caught many users off guard.
Yes. Brevo prices by email volume rather than contacts. That sounds appealing until you realize the platform bundles SMS credits and CRM features into its higher tiers. If you only send emails, you are paying for infrastructure you will never use. The free plan caps you at 300 emails per day with Brevo branding on every message, and removing that branding costs an additional $10.80 per month.
For many, yes. As Brevo added CRM pipelines, landing pages, WhatsApp messaging, and sales tools, the interface grew cluttered. Email-focused users report spending more time navigating menus that serve salespeople and less time actually building campaigns. Support response times have also become a common complaint, with free-tier users often waiting days for resolution.
None of these are dealbreakers for every user. But if your primary goal is sending effective email campaigns without paying for extras, the friction adds up.
Brevo users find a platform built for one purpose: making email marketing simple, powerful, and affordable. Instead of bolting on CRM, SMS, and sales tools, every Mailsoftly feature serves the goal of helping you send better emails to the right people at the right time.
The difference is focus. Brevo spreads across marketing, sales, and customer service. Mailsoftly goes deep on email. That focus translates to a faster setup, a shorter learning curve, and fewer features competing for your attention.
Brevo is a broad CRM plus email plus SMS suite priced by email volume, while Mailsoftly is an email-focused platform priced per contact with branding and AI included on every plan. Here is a quick overview of how the two compare on the features that matter most to email marketers.
| Feature | Brevo | Mailsoftly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per email volume | Per contact |
| Free plan | 300 emails/day (with branding) | 500 contacts, 2,000 emails/mo |
| Branding removal | $10.80/mo extra | Included on all plans |
| AI content tools | Limited | Built-in on all plans |
| Primary focus | CRM + Email + SMS | Email marketing |
| Support | Tiered, slower on free | Human support, free migration |
| Best for | Sales teams needing CRM plus SMS | Email-focused marketers and newsletters |
For a detailed, side-by-side feature breakdown, visit our full Mailsoftly platform comparison page. The rest of this guide focuses on the practical steps for making the switch.
You migrate from Brevo to Mailsoftly in six steps: export your contacts as CSV, export your email templates, create a Mailsoftly account, authenticate your sending domain, import your contacts, and rebuild your automations. Follow the flow below and you will be sending from your new account within hours.
In your Brevo dashboard, navigate to Contacts and select the list you want to export. Click the export icon and choose CSV format. Repeat for each list or segment you want to bring over. Make sure to export all custom fields (name, company, tags) since Mailsoftly can map these during import.
If you have multiple lists, export them separately to maintain your segment structure. Label each CSV file clearly so you can recreate the same organization in Mailsoftly.
Go to Campaigns in Brevo, then Templates. Open each template you want to keep and export the HTML. You can copy the source code directly from the template editor. Save these files locally. While Mailsoftly has its own template library and drag-and-drop editor, having your existing designs means you can recreate your brand look quickly.
Sign up at Mailsoftly with a free account. The free tier gives you 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, which is enough to test the platform and complete your migration before committing to a paid plan. No credit card required.
Before importing contacts, authenticate your sending domain. In Mailsoftly, go to Settings and select Domain Authentication. The platform provides SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to add to your DNS provider. This step is critical for deliverability and typically takes 15 to 30 minutes, including DNS propagation. If you want the background on why these records matter, the standards body explains how DMARC authentication protects your sending domain from spoofing and improves inbox placement.
If you had domain authentication configured in Brevo, you will add new records for Mailsoftly alongside your existing ones. There is no conflict, and you can remove the Brevo records after you have fully transitioned.
Upload each CSV file to Mailsoftly. The import wizard lets you map columns to fields, create new lists, and tag contacts during upload. Mailsoftly automatically deduplicates contacts, so if the same email appears in multiple lists, it will be stored once and assigned to all relevant lists.
After import, review your contact counts and list structure to confirm everything transferred correctly. Mailsoftly shows an import summary with any skipped or invalid entries.
Brevo automations do not export directly, so you will need to rebuild them in Mailsoftly’s visual automation builder. Start with your highest-priority workflows: welcome sequences, abandoned cart emails, and re-engagement campaigns. Mailsoftly includes pre-built automation templates for common sequences, which speeds up the process significantly.
It depends on how you send (all prices as of 2026-04-15). Brevo charges by email volume with unlimited contacts, so it looks cheaper at low volumes. Mailsoftly charges by contact count with generous email limits and includes branding removal and AI on every tier, which often wins for teams that send regularly. The biggest reason users switch is total email marketing pricing once hidden fees are included.
| What You Need | Brevo | Mailsoftly (annual) |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started (free tier) | $0 — 300 emails/day, Brevo branding | $0 — 500 contacts, 2,000 emails/mo |
| ~5,000 emails/mo | $9/mo (Starter) | Free (within 2,000 limit) or $39/mo Basic |
| ~20,000 emails/mo | $19/mo (Starter) | $39/mo (Basic: 5K contacts, 40K emails) |
| ~40,000 emails/mo | $29/mo (Starter) | $39/mo (Basic: 5K contacts, 40K emails) |
| ~100,000 emails/mo | $69/mo (Starter) | $79/mo (Business: 15K contacts, 150K emails) |
| Branding removal | +$10.80/mo on any plan | Included free |
At lower volumes, Brevo’s per-email pricing looks cheaper on paper. But when you factor in the branding removal fee and the features locked behind higher tiers, the gap narrows. At 40,000 emails per month, Mailsoftly’s Basic plan at $39 per month delivers more value than Brevo’s Starter at $29 per month plus the $10.80 branding fee, since Mailsoftly includes AI tools, full automation, and no forced branding at any tier. You can verify Brevo’s current volume tiers on Brevo’s official pricing page before you decide.
The pricing models are fundamentally different. Brevo charges by volume (unlimited contacts), while Mailsoftly charges by contacts (generous email limits per tier). If you have a large contact list but send infrequently, Brevo may be cheaper. If you send regularly to your full list, Mailsoftly’s per-contact model often wins, especially as you add AI features and automation that Brevo reserves for higher tiers.
Most Brevo migrations take 1 to 2 hours. Simple accounts under 1,000 contacts with no automations move in about 30 minutes, while complex setups with many automation workflows can take 1 to 2 days. The variable is not the data, it is how many automations you need to rebuild.
The contact export and import is the fastest part, usually under 30 minutes regardless of list size. Domain authentication takes 15 to 30 minutes of active work plus DNS propagation time. The bulk of any migration time goes to recreating automations, which depends entirely on how many workflows you run and how complex they are.
Most users run both platforms in parallel for a week during the transition. Send your next campaign from Mailsoftly while keeping Brevo active. Once you have confirmed deliverability and automation performance, downgrade or cancel your Brevo plan.
Mailsoftly provides free migration support for every user switching from another platform. This is not a generic help article or chatbot. The support team will assist with domain authentication, contact import troubleshooting, and automation rebuilding.
If you are migrating from Brevo with complex automation workflows, the support team can review your existing setup and recommend the best way to recreate it in Mailsoftly. For enterprise migrations with more than 30,000 contacts, a dedicated migration specialist handles the entire process.
Users switching from other platforms like HubSpot, Klaviyo, and Kit receive the same level of hands-on migration support.
Ready to switch?Start free with Mailsoftly →
500 contacts, 2,000 emails per month. Free hands-on migration. No credit card.
For the broader landscape, see our full comparison of the best email marketing services covering every major platform.
Looking for a simpler Brevo alternative? See why teams switch to Mailsoftly as a Brevo alternative — free hands-on migration in 1-2 hours, no contracts, real human support.
Both platforms handle email marketing, but they serve different needs. Brevo evolved into an all-in-one CRM, sales, and marketing suite that includes SMS, WhatsApp, and pipeline management. Mailsoftly is purpose-built for email marketing with AI-powered content tools, visual automation, and per-contact pricing. If you primarily send email campaigns and newsletters, Mailsoftly offers a more focused and cost-effective solution.
Most users complete the migration in 1 to 2 hours. This includes exporting contacts from Brevo, setting up domain authentication in Mailsoftly, importing your lists, and building your first automation. Complex setups with many automation workflows may take 1 to 2 days. The Mailsoftly support team provides free assistance throughout the process.
Mailsoftly focuses on marketing email, not transactional messaging. If you use Brevo for transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets), you can keep Brevo active for those while switching your marketing campaigns to Mailsoftly. Many users run both platforms temporarily, using Brevo’s free tier for transactional messages and Mailsoftly for marketing.
No. The CSV export from Brevo preserves all contact fields including email addresses, names, custom properties, and list assignments. Mailsoftly’s import wizard maps these fields to your new account, and you can verify the data after import. We recommend keeping your Brevo account active until you have confirmed everything transferred correctly.
Yes. Mailsoftly’s free plan supports up to 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month with full access to all features including AI tools, automation, and segmentation. Import a small segment from Brevo, run a test campaign, and evaluate the results before migrating your entire list.
Looking for an alternative?
Mailsoftly offers the features you need at a price that makes sense.
Switch to MailsoftlyMigrate in minutes