--- title: "Best Brevo alternatives in 2026" description: "Brevo alternatives ranked for developers: API quality, free plans, transactional plus marketing in one product, deliverability and moving your Brevo data." url: https://www.unitpost.com/best/brevo-alternatives section: Roundups updated: 2026-11-02 --- # Best Brevo alternatives in 2026 Brevo is a marketing suite with the most generous free plan here, 300 emails a day, but its API serves the suite first, and SMS and WhatsApp credits are bought separately. For developers, the best Brevo alternative is Unitpost: an API-first product with email and SMS on one allowance, a 5,000-email free plan and a one-key import. Resend suits teams that only need transactional email. > Updated 2026-11-02. We make Unitpost, and it is on this list. Every score has a reason and the weights are published below, so you can re-rank it for your own needs. ## At a glance | # | Product | Best for | Free plan | Score | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Unitpost | app teams sending both kinds of email | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card | 4.4 | | 2 | Resend | developer-first transactional email | 3,000 emails a month, 100 a day | 3.5 | | 3 | Postmark | mail that must reach the inbox | 100 emails a month | 3.0 | | 4 | Mailgun | high-volume senders and validation | 100 emails a day on one domain | 3.0 | | 5 | SendGrid | enterprises and multi-tenant platforms | None: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day | 2.8 | | 6 | MailerSend | a cheap first paid plan | 500 emails a month, card required | 2.7 | | 7 | Amazon SES | lowest cost at very high volume | None for SES; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits | 2.5 | ## Why teams look for a Brevo alternative - The API is shaped by the marketing suite rather than built for developers first. - SMS and WhatsApp credits are bought separately from the email plan. - Sending on the free plan starts once Brevo approves the account. ## When Brevo is still the better choice - You want a full marketing suite with CRM, landing pages, and chat - You need WhatsApp today: we ship email and SMS, not WhatsApp yet - Their free tier volume matters more to you than developer experience - Your primary users are marketers rather than developers ## What moves when you leave Brevo With Unitpost's Migration Assistant and one Brevo key: - Contacts: imports. Every contact imports with `FIRSTNAME` and `LASTNAME` as its name and other attributes as custom fields; address objects and multiple-choice values are flattened into separate fields. - Unsubscribes and consent: imports. A contact Brevo has blocklisted for email (`emailBlacklisted`) imports unsubscribed, which stops marketing here. Transactional contacts that unsubscribed import as unsubscribe suppressions. - Suppressions (bounces and complaints): imports. Transactional blocked contacts import with their reason: hard bounces, spam complaints and admin blocks. Admin blocks stop every send here, transactional included. - Lists and segments: partly imports. Lists become static segments with their members, and list folders are flattened. Brevo segments are not read; rebuild them as dynamic segments. - Topics: rebuild. Brevo has no topics. Create them here if you want per-category opt-outs on campaigns. - Templates: partly imports. Transactional templates import subject and HTML as drafts in code mode; text versions are not read. `{{ params.x }}` and `{{ contact.X }}` stay as written, and the preview warns about them. - Sending domains: partly imports. Domains and their sender addresses are recreated as verifying with new DKIM keys when Brevo's domains API answers for your account; when it does not, the preview says so and you add them by hand. - Webhooks: partly imports. Transactional and marketing webhooks import switched off with a new signing secret. `request`, `uniqueOpened` and `listAddition` are not mapped and are listed in the preview. - API keys: rebuild. API keys and SMTP keys stay at Brevo. Create Unitpost API keys instead. - SMS contacts and consent: rebuild. The `SMS` attribute arrives as a text custom field, not as the contact's SMS number, and `smsBlacklisted` is not read. Re-record SMS consent before texting anyone. - Email campaigns: rebuild. Not read. Recreate drafts and scheduled campaigns as Unitpost campaigns on a segment. [The Brevo migration plan](https://www.unitpost.com/migration/brevo.md) ## 1. Unitpost Best for app teams sending both kinds of email. Transactional and marketing email on one API, one contact list and one bill, with a permanent free plan and an importer for six providers. Pros: - Permanent free plan, no card - Imports contacts, unsubscribes and consent, suppressions (bounces and complaints) from Brevo with one key - REST API, SMTP relay, MCP server and nine SDKs on every plan - Unlimited contacts on paid plans, priced by sends Cons: - A newer sender, without a long public track record - No sub-accounts, and dedicated IPs are not launched yet - SMS is on paid plans only Free plan: 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card. Paid from: $10 a month for 20,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.unitpost.com ## 2. Resend Best for developer-first transactional email. A clean, modern email API from the team behind React Email, with inbound email and an official MCP server on every plan. Marketing contacts are billed on a separate plan. Pros: - A modern API with clear errors and many SDKs - Inbound email on every plan, free included - React Email for building templates in code Cons: - Marketing is a second plan, priced by contacts ($40 a month for 5,000) - Free sending is capped at 100 emails a day Free plan: 3,000 emails a month, 100 a day. Paid from: $20 a month for 50,000 emails. Priced by: sends and contacts. Website: https://resend.com ## 3. Postmark Best for mail that must reach the inbox. Transactional email known for fast, reliable inbox placement, with bulk mail kept on separate broadcast streams. It costs more, and the free plan is for testing. Pros: - The best-regarded deliverability record here - Transactional and bulk mail kept on separate streams - 45 days of message content and good debugging tools Cons: - The free plan is 100 emails a month - No audience or campaign tools, and no inbound on Basic Free plan: 100 emails a month. Paid from: $15 a month for 10,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://postmarkapp.com ## 4. Mailgun Best for high-volume senders and validation. A long-running email API with address validation and inbox placement testing. Strong at volume, with marketing campaigns left to other tools. Pros: - Email validation and inbox placement testing - EU region for data residency - Proven at very high volume Cons: - The free plan keeps logs for one day, on one domain - Marketing campaigns need another tool Free plan: 100 emails a day on one domain. Paid from: $15 a month for 10,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.mailgun.com ## 5. SendGrid Best for enterprises and multi-tenant platforms. The long-running email API, now part of Twilio, with Marketing Campaigns as a separate product. Strong at scale; there is no free plan any more. Pros: - Proven at very high volume - Sub-accounts for multi-tenant platforms - Dedicated IPs from the Pro plan Cons: - No free plan: a 60-day trial, then from $19.95 a month - Marketing Campaigns is a separate product and plan Free plan: None: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day. Paid from: $19.95 a month (Essentials). Priced by: sends and contacts. Website: https://www.twilio.com/en-us/sendgrid ## 6. MailerSend Best for a cheap first paid plan. A transactional email API with an official hosted MCP server and a $7 first paid plan. The free plan is small. Pros: - Hobby is $7 a month for 5,000 emails - API and SMTP on the free plan - An official hosted MCP server Cons: - 500 emails a month on free - No audience or campaign tools Free plan: 500 emails a month, card required. Paid from: $7 a month for 5,000 emails. Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://www.mailersend.com ## 7. Amazon SES Best for lowest cost at very high volume. Amazon's sending service, inside AWS: the lowest price per email here. You build the rest yourself, from bounce handling to templates and dashboards. Pros: - $0.10 per 1,000 emails on pay-as-you-go pricing - Runs inside your AWS account and IAM - Inbound email as well as sending Cons: - No campaign builder or audience tools - Bounce handling, dashboards and reputation work are yours Free plan: None for SES; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits. Paid from: $0.10 per 1,000 emails (new accounts start on a $0.16 plan). Priced by: emails sent. Website: https://aws.amazon.com/ses/ ## Scores | Product | Free plan (20%) | Developer experience (20%) | Transactional + marketing (20%) | Switching (15%) | Deliverability (15%) | Scale (10%) | Total | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Unitpost | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4.4 | | Resend | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | | Postmark | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3.0 | | Mailgun | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3.0 | | SendGrid | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2.8 | | MailerSend | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2.7 | | Amazon SES | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2.5 | ## How we scored This list is for teams sending app email through Brevo who are weighing a switch. What matters to them: a free or cheap way to keep sending, a modern API, marketing email in the same place, and a move that keeps suppressions. - **Free plan (20%).** A permanent free plan large enough to run a small app on, with no card. - **Developer experience (20%).** A clear REST API, current SDKs, readable errors and docs. - **Transactional + marketing (20%).** Both kinds of email in one product, on one contact list and one bill. - **Switching (15%).** An importer, or a documented path, that moves Brevo contacts, suppressions and templates. - **Deliverability (15%).** A long public record of inbox placement, and the tooling to protect it. - **Scale (10%).** Proven at very high volume, with dedicated IPs and enterprise plans. Each product gets 1 to 5 per criterion; the total is the weighted mean. ### Why Unitpost scored 4.4 - Free plan: 5/5. 5,000 emails a month free for good, 200 a day, no card. - Developer experience: 5/5. Bearer-token REST API, nine SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, with idempotency keys on sends. - Transactional + marketing: 5/5. Campaigns, segments and topics share the contact list and the bill with API sends. - Switching: 5/5. The Migration Assistant imports contacts, unsubscribes and consent, suppressions (bounces and complaints) from Brevo with one key; the guide covers the rest. - Deliverability: 3/5. Guided SPF, DKIM and DMARC with continuous checks, but a short public record so far. - Scale: 2/5. No sub-accounts, and dedicated IPs are not launched yet. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.unitpost.com/pricing, https://www.unitpost.com/sms, https://registry.npmjs.org/unitpost. ### Why Resend scored 3.5 - Free plan: 4/5. 3,000 emails a month free, capped at 100 a day. - Developer experience: 5/5. The API many newer providers copy, with SDKs across most languages. - Transactional + marketing: 3/5. Broadcasts exist, but marketing contacts sit on a second plan and bill. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. A shorter public record than SendGrid or Postmark. - Scale: 3/5. Higher-volume plans above Pro; less proven at the very largest volumes. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://resend.com/pricing, https://resend.com/migrate, https://resend.com/docs/dashboard/receiving/introduction, https://github.com/resend/mcp-send-email, https://resend.com/docs/send-with-smtp, https://resend.com/docs/api-reference/api-keys/create-api-key, https://registry.npmjs.org/resend, https://resend.com/docs/dashboard/webhooks/retries-and-replays. ### Why Postmark scored 3.0 - Free plan: 2/5. 100 emails a month free, enough to test, not to run an app. - Developer experience: 4/5. A mature, well-documented API with official libraries. - Transactional + marketing: 2/5. Broadcast streams send bulk mail, but there are no audience or campaign tools. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 5/5. A long public record of time-to-inbox, protected by separate streams. - Scale: 3/5. Handles large volume; dedicated IPs from 300,000 emails a month on Pro and above. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://postmarkapp.com/pricing, https://postmarkapp.com/migration-guides, https://postmarkapp.com/lp/mcp, https://postmarkapp.com/developer/user-guide/send-email-with-smtp, https://registry.npmjs.org/postmark, https://postmarkapp.com/developer/webhooks/inbound-webhook. ### Why Mailgun scored 3.0 - Free plan: 3/5. A free plan of 100 emails a day on one domain, with one day of logs. - Developer experience: 3/5. A capable API on HTTP Basic auth, with a surface shaped by long history. - Transactional + marketing: 2/5. Built for transactional sending; marketing campaigns need another product. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 4/5. Validation, inbox placement tests and dedicated IPs. - Scale: 5/5. Built for very high volume, with dedicated IP pools and enterprise plans. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.mailgun.com/pricing/, https://www.mailgun.com/resources/guides/migrating-from-sendgrid-to-mailgun-email-api/, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/mcp, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/send-smtp, https://registry.npmjs.org/mailgun.js, https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/receive-forward-store/receive-http. ### Why SendGrid scored 2.8 - Free plan: 1/5. No free plan: a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day, then from $19.95 a month. - Developer experience: 3/5. A large API with SDKs, shaped by a decade of backwards compatibility. - Transactional + marketing: 3/5. Marketing Campaigns is a separate product with its own plans. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 4/5. A long track record, with dedicated IPs from the Pro plan. - Scale: 5/5. Proven at very high volume, with sub-accounts and enterprise support. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.twilio.com/en-us/products/email-api/pricing, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/for-developers/sending-email/integrating-with-the-smtp-api, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/ui/analytics-and-reporting/email-activity-feed, https://registry.npmjs.org/@sendgrid/mail, https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/for-developers/parsing-email/inbound-email. ### Why MailerSend scored 2.7 - Free plan: 2/5. 500 emails a month on one domain. - Developer experience: 4/5. A modern REST API, SMTP and an official MCP server. - Transactional + marketing: 2/5. Built for transactional email; bulk sending comes on paid plans, without audience tools. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. An established sender, without a long public inbox-placement record. - Scale: 3/5. Plans for growing volume; fewer enterprise tools than the incumbents. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://www.mailersend.com/pricing, https://developers.mailersend.com/mcp, https://www.mailersend.com/help/smtp-relay, https://www.mailersend.com/features/inbound-emails, https://developers.mailersend.com/api/v1/webhooks.html, https://registry.npmjs.org/mailersend, https://developers.mailersend.com/api/v1/inbound. ### Why Amazon SES scored 2.5 - Free plan: 2/5. No SES free tier; new AWS accounts get up to $200 in credits. - Developer experience: 3/5. AWS SDKs and IAM: powerful, with more setup than an email API. - Transactional + marketing: 1/5. A sending service; it has no campaign builder. - Switching: 2/5. No importer or guide for Brevo found; contacts move by CSV and the rest by API. - Deliverability: 3/5. Good infrastructure, but reputation monitoring is your job. - Scale: 5/5. AWS-scale throughput and dedicated IPs. Checked 2026-11-02 against https://aws.amazon.com/ses/pricing/, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/smtp-connect.html, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/smtp-credentials.html, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/vdm-dashboard.html, https://registry.npmjs.org/@aws-sdk/client-sesv2, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/receiving-email-notifications-contents.html. ## FAQ ### Is Brevo free? Brevo's free plan sends 300 emails a day once the account is approved. Starter is $9 a month for 5,000 emails, and SMS and WhatsApp credits are extra. ### How do I move off Brevo? Copy suppressions first, so nobody who bounced or complained gets mail from the new provider. Unitpost's Migration Assistant imports contacts, unsubscribes and consent, suppressions (bounces and complaints) with one Brevo key, and the migration plan lists what you rebuild by hand. ## Related - [Best Loops alternatives in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/loops-alternatives): Loops alternatives ranked for SaaS teams: pricing as your user base grows, API and SMTP, transactional plus marketing, and how hard it is to leave Loops. - [Best Mailchimp alternatives for developers in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/mailchimp-alternatives): Mailchimp alternatives ranked for developers: the API, syncing contacts from your app, pricing as the list grows, transactional email and the editor. - [Best Amazon SES alternatives in 2026](https://www.unitpost.com/best/amazon-ses-alternatives): Amazon SES alternatives ranked for teams that want sending without assembling AWS services: free plans, API, deliverability, marketing email and the switch.