Brevo vs Constant Contact: Which One Should You Choose?
Choosing an email marketing platform is no longer just about finding a tool that can send newsletters. Modern businesses often need automation, customer segmentation, CRM capabilities, transactional email, SMS, analytics, and integrations in the same workflow.
Two established options are Brevo and Constant Contact. Both are designed to help small and growing businesses communicate with customers, but they take different approaches to pricing, automation, multichannel marketing, and CRM.
In this comparison, we examine Brevo vs Constant Contact across the features that matter most to business owners, marketers, and ecommerce operators.
Quick verdict: Brevo is generally the stronger choice for businesses that want flexible email pricing, transactional email, multichannel capabilities, and room to scale. Constant Contact is particularly attractive to small businesses that prioritize an easy-to-use email and social marketing experience, strong support, and a straightforward campaign-building workflow.
Brevo vs Constant Contact: Quick Verdict
| Category | Brevo | Constant Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 4.5/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Email Marketing | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Automation | 4.7/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Multichannel Features | 4.8/5 | 4.2/5 |
| CRM | 4.4/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Transactional Email | 4.8/5 | 3.8/5 |
| Pricing Flexibility | 4.8/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Ecommerce Use | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 |
Best overall for: growing businesses, ecommerce companies, agencies, and organizations that want email, automation, CRM, transactional messaging, and multiple communication channels in one platform.
Best for simplicity: Constant Contact is worth considering if your priority is a highly approachable email marketing workflow combined with social marketing, integrations, and customer support.
1. Email Marketing and Drag-and-Drop Editing
Email creation is one area where both platforms are competitive.
Brevo
Brevo provides a drag-and-drop email editor, reusable sections, templates, personalization options, reporting, and campaign-management features. Its email marketing tools are designed to support both standard newsletters and more targeted campaigns.
Brevo’s approach becomes especially useful when email is connected to customer data and automation. Rather than treating every subscriber identically, marketers can use attributes, lists, segments, and behavioral information to build more targeted communications.
Brevo also supports transactional email alongside marketing campaigns, allowing businesses to manage promotional and operational email within the same broader ecosystem. (Brevo Help)
Constant Contact
Constant Contact has a strong focus on ease of use. Its platform includes a drag-and-drop editor, hundreds of professionally designed templates, AI-assisted content creation, scheduling, personalization, reporting, and subject-line testing depending on the plan. (Constant Contact)
For a small business owner who wants to create a polished newsletter without spending much time learning the platform, Constant Contact has an advantage in simplicity.
Winner: Constant Contact for simplicity; Brevo for broader marketing infrastructure.
2. Multichannel Marketing
Email is only one part of modern customer engagement.
Brevo
Brevo positions itself as a broader customer engagement platform rather than an email-only service. Depending on the plan, its ecosystem includes:
- Email marketing
- SMS campaigns
- WhatsApp messaging
- Web push notifications
- Transactional messaging
- Live chat
- CRM and sales tools
However, not every channel is available at every subscription level. For example, Brevo’s current documentation places WhatsApp campaigns and transactional messaging on the Professional and Enterprise plans, while web push becomes available from Starter. (Brevo Help)
This tiered structure is important when comparing the platforms. Brevo has extensive multichannel functionality, but businesses should check the specific plan requirements before choosing it.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact also goes beyond email. Its platform combines email with social marketing, advertising, events, landing pages, and SMS.
Its current plans include integrations with platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Shopify, Canva, and other services. Constant Contact advertises more than 300 integrations. (Constant Contact)
SMS is currently available to paid-plan customers in the United States, with different SMS arrangements depending on the plan. (Constant Contact)
Winner: Brevo, particularly for businesses looking for a broader customer-engagement stack that includes transactional messaging and WhatsApp.
3. Marketing Automation and Workflows
Automation can significantly reduce repetitive marketing work.
Brevo Automation
Brevo provides workflow automation based on triggers, rules, and actions. Examples include:
- New subscriber welcome sequences
- Website activity
- Email opens and clicks
- Contact-list membership
- Custom events
- SMS actions
- WhatsApp interactions on supported plans
Its newer automation editor is designed around trigger/action workflows and supports website activity, messaging actions, contact conditions, and other events. (Brevo Help)
Brevo also provides marketing automation on the Standard plan for unlimited contacts, while Free and Starter plans have a limit of 2,000 unique contacts entering active automations. (Brevo Help)
Constant Contact Automation
Constant Contact offers pre-built automation for common marketing scenarios, including:
- Welcome sequences
- Birthday messages
- Abandoned-cart reminders
- Thank-you emails
- Re-engagement campaigns
- Upsell and cross-sell sequences
Its Standard plan adds more automation capabilities, while Premium provides more advanced customization and unlimited automation templates. (Constant Contact)
Constant Contact is particularly approachable for businesses that want ready-made automation recipes rather than building complex customer journeys from scratch.
Winner: Brevo for flexibility; Constant Contact for beginner-friendly templates.
4. Sales CRM and Pipeline Management
A built-in CRM can reduce the need to connect separate sales software.
Brevo CRM
Brevo includes free sales tools with every plan. These currently include a sales pipeline, deal management, task management, meeting scheduling, reporting, forecasting, live chat, and related sales functionality. The standard included setup provides one sales pipeline and up to 50 open deals, with more advanced capabilities available through paid Sales packages. (Brevo Help)
This makes Brevo interesting for small companies that want to connect marketing activity with basic sales management.
Constant Contact CRM
Constant Contact has also expanded into lead generation and CRM. Its current offering includes centralized customer information, lead scoring, automation, pipeline and revenue insights, and marketing activity connected with sales data. (Constant Contact)
However, businesses seeking a marketing-first CRM with transactional communication and extensive multichannel messaging may find Brevo’s overall ecosystem more suitable.
Winner: Brevo for an integrated marketing-and-sales workflow.
5. Transactional Email
Transactional email is different from promotional email.
These messages can include:
- Password resets
- Order confirmations
- Account notifications
- Shipping updates
- Invoices
- Verification messages
- Application-generated notifications
Brevo provides transactional email capabilities alongside its marketing platform, including transactional email and SMS on its Free plan and broader transactional functionality across paid tiers. (Brevo Help)
This can be particularly useful for ecommerce businesses and SaaS companies that do not want to maintain completely separate systems for marketing and operational email.
Constant Contact is primarily positioned around digital marketing and customer engagement. It provides extensive marketing automation and campaign functionality, but businesses with significant application-generated transactional email requirements should evaluate dedicated transactional-email infrastructure separately.
Winner: Brevo.
6. The Pricing Model Difference
Pricing is one of the biggest distinctions between these platforms.
Brevo Pricing
Brevo currently offers five primary plans:
| Plan | Starting Price | Key Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Entry-level email and customer engagement |
| Starter | From $9/month | Growing email and multichannel needs |
| Standard | From $18/month | Advanced marketing |
| Professional | From $499/month | High-volume marketing teams |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large organizations |
Brevo’s pricing is structured around email volume and selected features rather than simply charging according to the number of contacts stored. Its Free plan includes up to 100,000 stored contacts but limits sending to 300 emails per day. Starter removes the daily sending limit, while Standard adds features such as unlimited-contact marketing automation, A/B testing, advanced reporting, and landing pages. (Brevo Help)
This distinction can matter for businesses that maintain large databases but do not email every contact frequently.
Constant Contact Pricing
Constant Contact currently offers:
- Lite: starting at $12/month
- Standard: starting at $35/month
- Premium: starting at $80/month
Pricing is based on the number of contacts and the plan selected. The plans also have monthly sending allowances tied to contact counts. Constant Contact says Lite allows up to 10 times the number of contacts in monthly sends, Standard 12 times, and Premium 24 times, with additional-send charges applying above the included allowance. (Constant Contact)
Which Pricing Structure Is Better?
There is no universal winner.
Brevo is generally more attractive when email volume is the key cost consideration.
Constant Contact may be easier to understand for businesses that prefer contact-based pricing and a traditional marketing-platform structure.
For businesses with a large list and relatively low engagement frequency, Brevo’s model can be especially compelling.
7. Brevo vs Constant Contact: Pros and Cons
Brevo Pros
1. Flexible email-based pricing
Businesses can avoid paying solely because they store a large number of contacts.
2. Strong multichannel ecosystem
Email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, chat, CRM, and transactional messaging can be managed within the broader platform. (Brevo Help)
3. Strong transactional email capabilities
Brevo is particularly relevant to ecommerce and software businesses that need both marketing and operational messaging.
4. Useful built-in sales tools
Every plan includes core sales functionality, with advanced capabilities available through add-ons. (Brevo Help)
5. Generous entry-level contact storage
The Free plan currently supports up to 100,000 stored contacts, although sending and automation limits still apply. (Brevo Help)
Brevo Cons
1. Free-plan sending limitations
The Free plan is capped at 300 email sends per day, and unused sends do not roll over. (Brevo Help)
2. Some advanced features require higher plans
Features such as WhatsApp campaigns, landing pages, advanced analytics, and other capabilities are distributed across different tiers. (Brevo Help)
3. Pricing can become more complex at scale
Email volume, add-ons, sales packages, and other optional services can make the final cost harder to estimate than the headline starting price.
Constant Contact Pros
1. Very approachable interface
The platform is designed for small businesses and users who want to create campaigns quickly.
2. Strong template and content ecosystem
It offers hundreds of templates and AI-assisted content tools. (Constant Contact)
3. Strong customer support
Paid plans include live support, with higher levels of onboarding and priority assistance depending on the plan. (Constant Contact)
4. Broad integrations
Constant Contact advertises more than 300 integrations, including ecommerce and business applications. (Constant Contact)
Constant Contact Cons
1. Contact-based pricing
Costs generally increase as the contact database grows.
2. Advanced automation is plan-dependent
More sophisticated automation, segmentation, and reporting require higher tiers. (Constant Contact)
3. SMS availability is geographically limited
Its current SMS offering is available to paid-plan customers in the United States. (Constant Contact)
8. Competitor Context: Brevo vs Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo
While Constant Contact is the primary comparison here, it is useful to understand where Brevo sits among other popular marketing platforms.
| Platform | Pricing Structure | Contact Limits | Multichannel | Built-in CRM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Primarily email volume + features | Generous limits depending on plan | Email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, chat | Yes |
| Mailchimp | Primarily contacts + plan/send limits | Plan-dependent | Email, SMS and other marketing tools | Limited/plan-dependent |
| ActiveCampaign | Contacts + plan/features | Plan-dependent | Email, SMS, automation and sales | Yes |
| Klaviyo | Primarily profiles + usage | Plan-dependent | Email, SMS and ecommerce-focused messaging | Customer-data focused |
The exact limits and prices of these platforms change frequently, so businesses should verify current pricing before making a purchasing decision.
For a company that prioritizes ecommerce data, sophisticated customer journeys, and advanced segmentation, Klaviyo may be worth evaluating.
For businesses that want deep sales and marketing automation, ActiveCampaign is another strong alternative.
For a more general-purpose email marketing ecosystem, Mailchimp and Constant Contact remain relevant competitors.
Brevo’s main differentiator is its combination of email-volume-oriented pricing, multichannel communication, CRM, and transactional messaging.
9. Setup and Migration Guide
Moving to a new email platform should be handled carefully, particularly when deliverability is important.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Start by creating a Brevo account and selecting the plan appropriate for your sending volume and required features.
Before importing a large database, establish your sender identity and understand the platform’s compliance requirements.
Step 2: Authenticate Your Domain
Domain authentication is one of the most important technical steps.
Configure the DNS records requested by Brevo, including the appropriate SPF and DKIM records. You should also have a correctly configured DMARC policy for your domain.
Authentication helps receiving mail providers verify that your organization is authorized to send messages from your domain.
Do not assume authentication alone guarantees inbox placement. Deliverability also depends on list quality, engagement, sending practices, content, reputation, and recipient behavior.
Step 3: Import and Clean Your Contacts
Before migration:
- Export contacts from your existing platform.
- Remove invalid and obsolete addresses.
- Separate unsubscribed or suppressed contacts.
- Preserve consent information where applicable.
- Map contact fields correctly.
- Create relevant segments and lists.
Avoid importing purchased or scraped email lists. Permission-based acquisition is safer for both compliance and deliverability.
Step 4: Send Your First Campaign
Once your domain and contact database are ready:
- Create a campaign.
- Select a verified sender.
- Choose a template or build your email.
- Add personalization and relevant links.
- Test the message on desktop and mobile.
- Send a test email.
- Review the recipient segment.
- Schedule or send the campaign.
- Monitor opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, and other available metrics.
Start with a smaller, engaged audience when migrating from another provider. This gives you an opportunity to identify technical or list-quality problems before increasing volume.
10. Which Platform Should You Choose?
The right choice depends on the type of business and the marketing workflow you need.
Choose Brevo if:
- You want pricing that is less dependent on your total contact count.
- You maintain a large database but send selectively.
- You need transactional email.
- You want email, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, and chat capabilities.
- You want basic CRM and sales functionality within the same ecosystem.
- You operate an ecommerce or SaaS business.
- You expect your email program to become more sophisticated over time.
Choose Constant Contact if:
- You prioritize ease of use.
- You are a small business building traditional email campaigns.
- You value extensive templates and AI-assisted content creation.
- You want social marketing and advertising features alongside email.
- You value phone and chat support.
- You prefer a contact-based pricing structure.
Consider another platform if:
You need highly specialized enterprise CRM functionality, extremely advanced ecommerce personalization, or very complex marketing automation. In those situations, platforms such as ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, HubSpot, or other specialized solutions may be a better fit.
Final Verdict
Brevo and Constant Contact are both capable email marketing platforms, but they are optimized for somewhat different priorities.
Constant Contact is an appealing choice for small businesses that want a straightforward campaign-building experience, strong templates, social marketing, integrations, and accessible support.
Brevo is the stronger overall choice for businesses that want a broader customer-engagement platform. Its combination of email marketing, flexible email-volume pricing, automation, transactional email, CRM, SMS, WhatsApp, web push, and chat gives it a wider functional range. (Brevo Help)
For a small organization sending occasional newsletters, Constant Contact may be all that is necessary. But for an ecommerce store, SaaS company, agency, or growing brand that expects its marketing infrastructure to become more sophisticated, Brevo deserves serious consideration.
The most important factor is not simply the starting monthly price. Evaluate your contact volume, monthly email volume, automation requirements, transactional email needs, geographic requirements for SMS, integrations, and expected growth before choosing.
Recommended next step: Compare your current contact database and monthly sending volume against both platforms’ current plans before committing.
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