Brevo and Beehiiv are two heavy hitters in the world of email marketing platforms. But if you're running an ecommerce business, the distinction between them is what really matters.
I put Brevo and Beehiiv through their paces, and here's what I found out – Brevo comes out on top for ecommerce and lifecycle marketing – while Beehiiv is the clear winner for content creators and newsletter-first businesses.
So, in this head-to-head comparison, I'll break down how these two platforms stack up when it comes to pricing, features, automation, monetization and more – so you can figure out which one is the best fit for your email strategy.
Brevo vs Beehiiv: The Quick Lowdown
While both platforms serve email marketing needs, they’re optimized for completely different types of businesses. Brevo is built for ecommerce and customer lifecycle management. Beehiiv is built for creators who want to grow and monetize a newsletter.
In short, Brevo gives ecommerce businesses the tools to engage customers across channels and automate the entire buying journey. Beehiiv gives newsletter brands the tools to grow faster and monetize directly with built-in features like ads, referrals, and paid subscriptions.
If you’re not sure which fits your business, the deciding factor comes down to what you’re selling. Products and services? Choose Brevo. Content and attention? Choose Beehiiv.
| Tool | Verdict |
| Brevo | Best for ecommerce, transactional emails, and multichannel messaging |
| Beehiiv | Best for creators and newsletter-led media businesses |
Brevo vs Beehiiv: How They Stack Up
Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know:
| Feature | Brevo | Beehiiv |
| Best For | Ecommerce, lifecycle marketing, multichannel | Newsletter growth, paid subs, media brands |
| Pricing Model | Volume-based (emails sent) | Subscriber-based (number of contacts) |
| Transactional Emails | Yes (SMTP/API included) | No (only on Enterprise tier) |
| Automations | Multi-step, advanced logic workflows | Basic email sequences |
| SMS/WhatsApp | Yes (included in many plans) | Not available |
| CRM Features | Yes (contact management, segmentation) | No |
| Built-In Monetization | No | Yes (ads, referrals, paid subs, Boosts) |
| Best Use Case | Ecommerce stores, SaaS, multichannel brands | Newsletters as the product |
Brevo and Beehiiv approach email marketing from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Brevo is full-stack, multichannel, and powerful. Beehiiv is focused, lightweight, and creator-first.
Think of Brevo as the toolkit for ecommerce operations that need automation, segmentation, and transactional infrastructure. Beehiiv is the launchpad for media operators building direct-to-audience businesses.
If you’re a founder running an online store or SaaS product, Brevo is more likely to fit your needs. If you’re building a newsletter brand or media company, Beehiiv gives you exactly what you need—nothing more, nothing less.
The Pricing War: Beehiiv for Simplicity, Brevo for Flexibility
Beehiiv Pricing
Beehiiv's pricing is refreshingly simple. It's based on subscriber count, not the number of emails sent.
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
| Launch | Free | 2,500 subs, unlimited sends, site + domain |
| Scale | $43/month | Automations, Ad Network, 0% fee on subs, referrals |
| Max | $96/month | Audio newsletters, RSS-to-send, 10 publications |
| Enterprise | Custom | Dedicated IPs, Send API, white-glove support |
Beehiiv offers unlimited sends on all tiers, so you don’t get penalized for email frequency.
The pricing tiers also make it easy to scale gradually. You can start with Launch at no cost, and only pay when you're ready to monetize or automate. Features like Boosts and paid subscriptions unlock as you grow, keeping your costs in line with your revenue.
There are no hidden fees or complex pricing calculators. Everything is flat and transparent, which makes it especially appealing for solo creators and indie publishers who need to forecast costs accurately.
Brevo Pricing
Brevo takes a more conventional approach to pricing – it's volume-based.
| Plan | Starting Price | Key Features |
| Free | $0 | 300 emails/day, limited automation |
| Starter | $9/month | Branding included unless removed ($9 extra) |
| Standard | $18/month | Automation, A/B testing, landing pages |
| Professional | $499/month | Advanced automations, multichannel support |
| Enterprise | Custom | SLA, dedicated manager, premium features |
Brevo can get expensive if you want to add on services like branding removal or extra automation features.
Brevo is more modular. You pay more as your volume increases or as you unlock advanced features. This works well for ecommerce brands with thousands of contacts and a need for high-volume messaging.
However, this can make it harder to predict total monthly spend—especially once you add extras like SMS credits or branding removal. That said, the flexibility allows businesses to fine-tune their plan based on needs, which is ideal for growing operations.
The Winner: Beehiiv
Beehiiv’s transparent pricing and unlimited email sends make it more accessible for newsletter-based businesses. Brevo offers more flexibility and power for ecommerce, but the add-on pricing can be confusing at scale.
Best for Ecommerce: Brevo
When it comes to ecommerce workflows, transactional emails, and multichannel marketing, Brevo is clearly in a different category.
Why Brevo Wins for Ecommerce
- Transactional Emails: Built-in via SMTP/API, perfect for order confirmations and shipping updates.
- CRM and Segmentation: Manage contacts based on customer behavior, tags, and properties.
- Multi-Channel Messaging: Includes SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, and live chat.
- Automation: Visual journey builder lets you automate every stage of the customer lifecycle.
- Integrations: Seamless connections with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Stripe, and Zapier.
You can easily build:
- Cart abandonment workflows
- Post-purchase product sequences
- Replenishment reminders
- Customer win-back flows
Brevo allows you to build real-time customer journeys triggered by behaviors—like browsing a product page or abandoning a cart. These journeys can span email, SMS, and even WhatsApp, making your messaging more timely and relevant.
The platform also supports contact scoring, product-based segmentation, and ecommerce analytics. You can see which flows drive purchases, track customer lifetime value, and fine-tune every part of the post-purchase journey.
Where Beehiiv Falls Short
Beehiiv isn’t designed for ecommerce. It doesn’t offer:
- Transactional email support unless you’re on a custom enterprise plan
- SMS or WhatsApp messaging
- Purchase-based segmentation or automations
Beehiiv’s strength lies in content distribution—not transactional infrastructure. While you can use it to promote offers or drive readers to an online store, it won’t help you track the customer lifecycle or build triggered journeys.
If you're managing inventory, running flash sales, or handling high order volumes, Beehiiv simply doesn’t have the tooling you need.
The Winner: Brevo
With built-in ecommerce integrations, transactional messaging, and multichannel campaigns, Brevo is the better choice for any product-based business.
Best for Growing a Newsletter: Beehiiv
Beehiiv was built by creators, for creators. If your business is the newsletter, Beehiiv has all the growth tools you need baked in.
Key Monetization Features on Beehiiv
- Ad Network: Automatically places ads from paying sponsors in your newsletter.
- Boosts: Paid placements across the Beehiiv network to grow your list quickly.
- Referral Program: Encourage subscriber sharing with built-in referral rewards.
- Paid Subscriptions: Sell premium content and keep 100% of your earnings (at Scale tier or higher).
These features are native, so you don’t need to piece together third-party monetization tools.
Beehiiv’s monetization stack is perfect for writers and publishers building a brand around content. Everything is designed to help you grow and earn without relying on outside platforms or tools.
You can run a fully paid newsletter business without leaving the Beehiiv dashboard—no third-party platforms or plugins needed. The Boosts network in particular makes it easier to grow your list quickly by tapping into other newsletters' audiences.
Brevo Monetization Strategy
Brevo assumes you’re making money through your core business (product sales, services, SaaS). You can monetize indirectly by using Brevo to:
- Nurture leads with educational emails
- Send promo emails to convert subscribers
- Upsell or cross-sell based on behavior
There’s no ad network or Boost-style distribution tool.
Brevo is perfect for businesses that already have a revenue stream. It’s designed to increase conversions, not create new income channels through ads or content subscriptions.
While it's highly effective for marketing automation, it lacks native creator tools like paid subscriptions or newsletter monetization networks.
The Winner: Beehiiv
Beehiiv wins hands-down for content-driven businesses that rely on sponsorships, paid subscriptions, and newsletter growth.
Best for Automation: Brevo
Automation is where Brevo really pulls ahead—especially for ecommerce use cases.
What Brevo Offers
- Visual journey builder
- Advanced triggers: page views, product purchases, cart abandonment, link clicks
- Conditional logic: If/then paths based on user behavior
- Email/SMS/WhatsApp automation all in one place
- A/B testing and performance tracking
Brevo’s automation capabilities are robust and customizable. You can create campaigns that react instantly to customer actions, segment users in real time, and personalize every touchpoint in a customer journey.
These workflows can include delays, branching logic, testing, and even real-time inventory logic pulled from your ecommerce store. This makes it ideal for brands that want to deliver the right message at the perfect time.
What Beehiiv Offers
- Welcome sequences
- Basic drip campaigns
- Segmentation-based sends
Automation in Beehiiv is email-only and primarily supports editorial sequences, not ecommerce workflows.
Beehiiv’s automation is built for simplicity. It helps with onboarding new subscribers, sending regular content, and driving engagement—but it’s not built for complex triggers or multichannel outreach.
You can schedule content-based workflows, but not lifecycle-based actions like “purchased a product” or “hasn’t opened the last 5 emails.”
The Winner: Brevo
If you’re looking to automate complex customer journeys across multiple channels, Brevo gives you the tools and flexibility to do that effectively.
Best for Developer Access and Integrations: Brevo
For stores and businesses with custom workflows, Brevo’s developer support and integrations are more advanced.
Brevo’s Integration Stack
- Over 100 ecommerce and marketing integrations
- RESTful API and SMTP support
- Webhooks and developer documentation
- Shopify and WooCommerce native apps
- Zapier support for no-code workflows
Brevo is built with flexibility in mind. If you have a development team or use tools like Zapier, Integromat, or Make, you’ll have no problem connecting Brevo to your existing systems. Its API is well-documented, and there’s a developer portal with support for transactional email, real-time events, and complex flows.
You can trigger automations based on data from Shopify, Stripe, or your CRM, and sync customer segments across platforms. That’s a major advantage for scaling businesses with more complex infrastructure.
Beehiiv’s Integration Stack
- Limited API access (Send API only on Enterprise)
- No Shopify or WooCommerce integration
- Webhooks available on Scale/Max
- No Zapier or multichannel support
Beehiiv is intentionally closed in terms of integrations. The platform is built for simplicity and vertical control, meaning most of the features you need are already built in. While this works well for creators, it limits flexibility for ecommerce businesses that need to pass customer data between systems.
There’s no support for real-time purchase tracking, no native ecommerce integrations, and limited webhook functionality unless you’re on the Max or Enterprise tiers. This makes Beehiiv a poor choice for businesses that rely on API-driven workflows.
The Winner: Brevo
With extensive integrations and developer options, Brevo is a better fit for ecommerce operations that need to connect multiple platforms. Whether you're integrating with your store, CRM, or data warehouse, Brevo provides the tools and documentation to support it.
Best for Messaging on Multiple Channels: Brevo
If your subscribers expect to hear from you on more than just email, then Brevo is the only choice.
Brevo supports:
- Email campaigns
- SMS marketing
- WhatsApp messaging (for verified businesses)
- Push notifications (via integrations)
- Live chat widgets for websites
With Brevo you can create campaigns that hit customers on the right channel at the right time – no need for multiple platforms.
Beehiv supports:
- Just email!
There's no roadmap to add sms, push, or WhatsApp support to Beehiv – it's focused on newsletters and web publishing.
The Winner: Brevo
For businesses that need to send messages on multiple channels , Brevo is the clear winner.
The Verdict: Brevo vs Beehiv
So which platform is right for your business ? That depends on what you're trying to do.
| Use Case | Best Platform |
| Running a newsletter business | Beehiiv |
| Monetizing via ads and subs | Beehiiv |
| Building a paid media publication | Beehiiv |
| Ecommerce with transactional emails | Brevo |
| Multi-channel customer automation | Brevo |
| SMS or WhatsApp campaigns | Brevo |
| Shopify/WooCommerce integration | Brevo |
The Bottom Line
If you sell physical or digital products and need a platform that can automate ecommerce workflows, handle transactional emails, sms, and CRM-style segmentation then Brevo is the better option.
If your product is a newsletter and you’re trying to build, monetise and grow a subscriber based media brand then Beehiv is built for that job.
For most ecommerce businesses, Brevo gives you the tools, integrations and messaging channels needed to convert and retain customers. BeeHiv on the other hand is a great choice for solo creators and writers who are focused on building an audience.
