Brevo vs Customer.io Comparison
Compare Brevo vs Customer.io features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Brevo
6.9/10
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is a multichannel marketing platform for email, SMS, WhatsApp, automation and transactional messaging, with a built-in sales CRM for small and mid-sized businesses.
Customer.io
6.5/10
Customer.io is a behavior-driven messaging platform that lets product-led and tech companies automate email, push, in-app, SMS and WhatsApp messages based on user data.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 5/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $9/mo Starter | $100/mo Essentials |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $499/mo Professional | $100/mo Essentials |
| Features | ||
| Landing Pages | ||
| A/B Testing | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Segmentation | ||
| SMS Marketing | ||
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
Brevo vs Customer.io cost by team size
Brevo costs less at 1 user; Customer.io costs less from 5 to 10 users.
| Team size | Brevo | Customer.io |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | $100/moEssentials |
| 5 users | $499/moProfessional | $100/moEssentials |
| 10 users | $499/moProfessional | $100/moEssentials |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | $100/moEssentials |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | $100/moEssentials |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Brevo
- Has a free plan (Customer.io does not)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (7/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose Customer.io
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $100/mo vs $499/mo
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for mid-market (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Brevo
Pros
- The free plan sends 300 emails a day and allows up to 100,000 contacts, which is generous for testing the product or for very small lists.
- Pricing is based mainly on how many emails you send, so businesses with large lists that email rarely can keep costs low.
- Transactional email through an API and SMTP, outbound webhooks and a Zapier connector are included on every plan, including Free.
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, live chat and a sales CRM are available from one vendor.
Cons
- On Starter and Standard, the lowest send tiers cap contacts at 500 to 2,500, which can force earlier upgrades.
- Pop-ups, contact scoring, WhatsApp, inbound webhooks and phone support all require Professional, which starts at $499 a month.
- Many reviewers on Capterra and Trustpilot report sudden account suspensions with unclear reasons and slow reinstatement.
- SMS and WhatsApp are billed as prepaid credits on top of the plan price, and the CRM is a separate purchase.
Customer.io
Pros
- Its visual workflow builder supports branching, goals and loops, and it can coordinate email, push, in-app, SMS and WhatsApp in one flow.
- Segmentation can use custom events, attributes and inactivity windows, and a built-in CDP stores custom objects.
- Every plan includes API and webhook access, and reviewers say developers can connect it easily.
- It holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, supports HIPAA, offers SSO, and lets you choose US or EU data residency.
- Startups that have raised under $10M can get up to 12 months free.
Cons
- Every stored profile counts toward the bill, inactive ones included, so costs climb quickly as the contact list grows.
- Setup has a steep learning curve and usually needs a developer to implement event tracking.
- There are no native landing pages or signup forms.
- Reviewers say reporting is limited and often needs data exports.
- Chat support starts at Premium, and Essentials gets only email and community support.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Brevo scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.5/10 for Customer.io. The largest gap is in Cost: 8/10 for Brevo and 4/10 for Customer.io.
Customer.io costs less for 10 users: about $100/mo on its Essentials plan, against about $499/mo on its Professional plan for Brevo, billed monthly.
Brevo has a free plan; Customer.io does not list one.
Brevo is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 2/10 for Customer.io.
Brevo has Landing Pages, which Customer.io lacks.
