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Mailchimp to Brevo migration: steps, what doesn't transfer, cost
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 26 Oct 2026
Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.
Brevo has a built-in Mailchimp integration: it logs in to your Mailchimp account and syncs your contacts, no CSV needed. It moves contacts only. Tags, address fields, templates and automations you rebuild. The bigger difference is how you're billed: Mailchimp charges for the contacts you store, Brevo for the emails you send. A weekly newsletter to 5,000 subscribers costs $75/mo on Mailchimp (Essentials) and $32/mo on Brevo (Starter); send daily and it's $180 vs $179.
Prices from Mailchimp and Brevo (checked 2026-10-20), monthly billing. Steps from Brevo's Mailchimp integration guide and Mailchimp's help center (checked 2026-10-26). Neither company has an affiliate deal with us.
Cost: Mailchimp vs Brevo (weekly newsletter)
| Subscribers | Mailchimp | Brevo | Mailchimp, no logo | Brevo, no logo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $13 (Essentials) | $9 (Starter) | $13 (Essentials) | $18 (Standard) |
| 1,000 | $26.50 (Essentials) | $17 (Starter) | $26.50 (Essentials) | $29 (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on) |
| 2,500 | $45 (Essentials) | $25 (Starter) | $45 (Essentials) | $37 (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on) |
| 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $32 (Starter) | $75 (Essentials) | $44 (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on) |
| 10,000 | $110 (Essentials) | $46 (Starter) | $110 (Essentials) | $58 (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on) |
| 25,000 | $270 (Essentials) | $82 (Starter) | $270 (Essentials) | $94 (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on) |
Per month, monthly billing, cheapest plan that covers the list at 4 emails per subscriber a month. Mailchimp's paid plans already remove its branding; on Brevo that takes the $12/mo no-logo add-on on Starter or the Standard plan. Mailchimp Free covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month; Brevo Free sends 300 emails a day and stores up to 100,000 contacts. On Brevo Free and Starter, automations are limited to 2,000 contacts.
At 10,000 subscribers without either platform's logo it's $110/mo (Essentials) vs $58/mo (Starter + No Brevo logo add-on).
How often you send changes the answer
Mailchimp's price follows your contact count; each tier includes a monthly send allowance (10× contacts on Essentials, 12× on Standard, 15× on Premium). Brevo's price follows monthly email volume, and Starter tops out at 100,000 emails a month. Same 5,000 subscribers, different sending schedules:
| You send | Emails /month | Mailchimp | Brevo | Mailchimp minus Brevo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $32 (Starter) | $43 |
| Twice a month | 10,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $32 (Starter) | $43 |
| Weekly | 20,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $32 (Starter) | $43 |
| Twice a week | 40,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $46 (Starter) | $29 |
| 3 times a week | 60,000 | $100 (Standard) | $65 (Starter) | $35 |
| Daily | 150,000 | $180 (Essentials) | $179 (Standard) | $1 |
Each platform's cheapest plan whose published allowance covers the volume. Mailchimp overage blocks aren't published, so we move to the tier or plan that includes the volume instead. Method: send limits.
Calculate your exact Mailchimp → Brevo switching cost → · Brevo vs Mailchimp compared · every Brevo tier
Before you start
- Clean the list in Mailchimp first. Brevo only accepts contacts who consented to hear from you in the last two years, and says it may suspend campaigns sent to contacts who didn't. Remove anyone who never opted in (purchased or rented lists) before syncing. See cleaning a list before switching.
- Keep a backup export. In Mailchimp, Owners and Admins can export the audience (Audience → Export audience → Export CSV). The ZIP has separate files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts and stays in your account for 30 days (Mailchimp help). Your tags are in that file too, which matters because the sync won't bring them.
- Create the Brevo account on Free or a paid plan. The integration works on either.
Step by step: Brevo's Mailchimp integration
- Open the integration. In Brevo, click the account dropdown → Integrations, search for Mailchimp (choose "Mailchimp by Brevo", not the Zapier option) → Set up integration. Give it a name, Continue, then click Contact synchronization and turn on syncing from Mailchimp Contacts to a Brevo list.
- Connect Mailchimp. Click Log in to Mailchimp Contacts, sign in and allow Brevo access.
- Pick the lists (audiences) to sync, then Use this list.
- Map attributes. Only Email is mandatory. Match first name to FIRSTNAME and so on, choose "Do not import" for data you don't want, or create a new attribute on the spot.
- Choose or create the Brevo list the contacts go into.
- Set the sync frequency for new contacts (existing contacts sync as soon as you activate). You can also Sync now from My integrations, at most once every 6 hours.
- Confirm consent (tick the box only if every contact opted in), then Save to activate. The first sync can take several minutes; you get a notification when it's done. Check the result under CRM → Contacts → Lists.
What doesn't come across
- Tags. Brevo has no matching tag system. Rebuild tag-based groups as Brevo lists or segments, for example by importing the tag column from your Mailchimp CSV as an attribute.
- Address fields (in Mailchimp an address is one field made of several parts, such as street and ZIP) and category/dropdown fields aren't synced. Use text or number fields instead.
- Phone numbers outside 6 to 16 digits: Brevo skips the whole contact, so fix or clear those numbers in Mailchimp first.
- Contacts in a Mailchimp compliance state (previously unsubscribed, permanently deleted or invalid) are blocked by Mailchimp. Permanently deleted contacts must resubscribe themselves.
- Subscription status changes. Synced contacts are subscribed in Brevo, and later status changes in Mailchimp are not reflected. If both platforms run in parallel for a while, copy Mailchimp unsubscribes to Brevo by hand before each send.
- Templates, past campaigns, automations, forms and landing pages are not part of the integration. See below.
If connecting fails with "Forbidden", Brevo says Mailchimp may be temporarily blocking requests: wait 15 to 30 minutes, then a few hours; contact Brevo support if it lasts more than 24 hours.
Templates and merge tags
- Custom-coded templates: in Mailchimp, Campaigns → Email templates → More options → Export as template downloads the HTML. Mailchimp says drag-and-drop templates cannot be exported, so those you rebuild in Brevo's editor (Mailchimp help).
- Import into Brevo: create a campaign or template → Start from scratch → HTML custom code, paste the code, and optionally Actions → Save as template (Brevo help).
- Replace merge tags. Mailchimp's
*|FNAME|*(merge tag list) becomes Brevo's{{ contact.FIRSTNAME }}; any attribute is{{ contact.ATTRIBUTE }}with the exact attribute name (Brevo help). Send yourself a test before the first real campaign.
After the move
- Automations: rebuild welcome and nurture sequences as Brevo workflows. Free and Starter limit automations to 2,000 contacts; Standard has no such limit.
- Forms: create Brevo sign-up forms and replace the Mailchimp embeds on your site, or new sign-ups keep landing in Mailchimp (the sync would still copy them, but the plan is to switch it off).
- Sending domain: authenticate your domain in Brevo before the first campaign, then send a small test.
- Turn off the sync and Mailchimp. Deactivating the integration keeps the contacts already in Brevo. Downgrade or close Mailchimp around your billing date so you don't pay both for another full month; Mailchimp bills on your peak contact count in the billing period.
Related: Brevo vs Mailchimp · how much Mailchimp costs · Brevo Free plan limits · Mailchimp to MailerLite instead · Mailchimp to beehiiv · all Mailchimp alternatives
Sources
- Brevo help: Mailchimp integration (by Brevo) (checked 2026-10-26)
- Brevo: How to migrate from Mailchimp to Brevo (dated July 31, 2026; checked 2026-10-26)
- Brevo help: HTML custom code editor and Personalize emails with contact attributes (checked 2026-10-26)
- Mailchimp help: View or export contacts, Export template HTML, merge tags cheat sheet (checked 2026-10-26)
- Mailchimp pricing and Brevo pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
Tip: before you import, leave out unsubscribed and bounced contacts. Most platforms bill by list size, so a cleaner list can keep you on a lower tier. How to clean your list before switching
FAQ
Can Brevo import contacts directly from Mailchimp?
Yes. Brevo has a native "Mailchimp by Brevo" integration (account menu → Integrations → Mailchimp) that connects to your Mailchimp login, syncs the lists you pick, and keeps syncing new contacts on a schedule. Brevo says it can sync up to 1M contacts.
What doesn't transfer from Mailchimp to Brevo?
Per Brevo's help article: tags (Brevo has no matching tag system), address fields (Mailchimp stores them as one combined field), category/dropdown fields, phone numbers outside 6 to 16 digits, and contacts Mailchimp holds in a compliance state (unsubscribed, permanently deleted or invalid). Templates, campaigns, automations and forms are not part of the sync either.
Do Mailchimp unsubscribes carry over to Brevo?
Not automatically. Brevo says synced contacts are subscribed to your campaigns in Brevo and later changes to their subscription status are not reflected. If you keep the sync running while you still use Mailchimp, remove people who unsubscribe there from your Brevo list too.
Can I move my Mailchimp templates to Brevo?
Only custom-coded ones. Mailchimp lets you export the HTML of templates you coded yourself; drag-and-drop templates cannot be exported. Paste the HTML into Brevo's HTML custom code editor and replace Mailchimp merge tags such as *|FNAME|* with Brevo attributes such as {{ contact.FIRSTNAME }}.
Is Brevo cheaper than Mailchimp?
For a weekly newsletter, yes at every list size in our table: 5,000 subscribers cost $75/mo on Mailchimp (Essentials) and $32/mo on Brevo (Starter), monthly billing. Brevo prices by emails sent, so the gap shrinks the more often you send: daily at 5,000 it is $180 vs $179.
Does Brevo keep its logo in my emails?
On Free and Starter, yes. Removing the Brevo logo is a $12/month add-on on Starter, or included in Standard. Mailchimp's paid plans remove Mailchimp branding.
Related guides: How much does Mailchimp cost? Per month, per year and per contact (2026) · Mailchimp Free plan limits (2026) · Nonprofit Email Marketing Discounts (2026) · Mailchimp price increase 2026 · Mailchimp to MailerLite migration · Mailchimp to beehiiv migration · Clean your email list before switching platforms (and pay less) · How newsletter platform prices changed 2023–2026 (from archived pricing pages) · all guides
Comparisons: Brevo vs Mailchimp · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers
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