Brevo Review for Bloggers
I’ve been using Brevo for about four months, on the free plan, and I’m still testing it. So this isn’t a full feature tour. It’s a straight account of the one job I give Brevo: running the pop-up and sign-up forms on my WordPress blog.
That’s all I’ve used it for. I haven’t used it for newsletters or campaigns. I haven’t tested deliverability or SMS, and I’ve never paid for a plan. Where Brevo offers something I haven’t touched, I’ll say “Brevo offers this, but I haven’t used it” and move on. I’m not going to review features I haven’t used.
If you’re a beginner blogger choosing an email tool, maybe weighing Brevo against Systeme.io, MailerLite, or ConvertKit, and you don’t want to pay for tools before you need to, this should help you decide whether Brevo’s free plan is worth trying.
Brevo review for bloggers: Brevo free plan sign-up form on a WordPress blog
The Short Version
- What I use Brevo for: pop-up and sign-up forms on my WordPress blog, on the free plan, for about four months.
- Why I switched for forms: the embedded code for pop-ups and sign-up forms from Systeme.io didn’t work well on my WordPress setup, so I moved this one job to Brevo for now.
- What worked: the forms did the job I needed on my site.
- What I can’t judge yet: CAPTCHA (not set up), newsletters, campaigns, deliverability, SMS, and every paid plan.
- My take: Brevo and Systeme.io are both good for beginners, in their own ways. I don’t need to pick a winner.
- Pricing: I’ve included reported figures below. Brevo’s plans and prices change, so check Brevo’s official pricing page before you buy anything.
What Is Brevo and Who Is It For?
Brevo is an email marketing platform. At its core, it lets you collect email addresses with forms, store them as contacts, and send emails to them. Around that, Brevo offers marketing automation, SMS campaigns and sales tools, but I haven’t used any of those, so I can’t tell you how well they work.
Who is it for? On paper, anyone who wants to collect subscribers and email them, from solo bloggers to small businesses. One thing that stands out in the pricing is that the paid plans are built mainly around how many emails you send per month, rather than how many contacts you store. I’ll come back to that in the pricing sections.
For a beginner, though, the useful question is simpler: can this tool do the specific job I need right now, for free? In my case, that job was forms. If you’re still deciding on your overall email setup, my guide to the best email marketing platforms for bloggers covers the wider picture.
My Exact Setup: Pop-Up and Sign-Up Forms on WordPress
Here’s everything I use Brevo for:
- A pop-up form on my WordPress blog.
- A sign-up form on my WordPress blog.
- Double opt-in turned on for my form, which means new subscribers have to confirm their email address before they’re added properly to my list.
That’s the whole setup. Visitors enter their email address, and it goes into my Brevo contact list.
Here’s what I have not used Brevo for, so you know exactly where my experience stops:
- Newsletters or email campaigns
- Deliverability testing
- SMS
- Any paid plan
- CAPTCHA on my form (it isn’t set up yet)
Why I Use Brevo for Forms and Systeme.io for Other Things
Let me be clear first: Systeme.io is a good tool, and it’s very easy for beginners. I still use it for other things outside this blog, and I’m not leaving it. If you want to read more about it, I’ve written a full Systeme.io review.
The reason I use Brevo for my forms is practical. The embedded code for pop-ups and sign-up forms didn’t work well on my WordPress site. I’m not saying Systeme.io can’t work with WordPress. I’m saying it didn’t work well on my setup, with my theme and my pages. That can come down to a lot of small things, like theme styling or how the code is placed, and I haven’t worked out which one it was.
So I made a simple call. Instead of losing time fighting the embed code, I set up the forms in Brevo, where they worked on my site, and I kept everything else where it was. I’m doing this for now, until I get the embed issue sorted out.
What the Brevo Free Plan Includes (and Where the Limits Are)
Brevo has a free plan, and it’s the only one I’ve used. Here’s what third-party sources report about it, since I haven’t tested most of these things myself:
- 300 emails per day. I haven’t hit this limit because I’m not sending campaigns.
- Up to 100,000 contacts. That’s a large allowance for a free plan. My list is nowhere near it.
- Forms are included. This is the part I use.
- Marketing automation is included, but automated campaigns are reportedly capped at 2,000 contacts per month on the free plan. Brevo offers automation, but I haven’t used it.
- A Brevo logo appears on emails you send. I haven’t sent any, so I haven’t seen it.
- No A/B testing or landing pages on the free plan, according to the source I checked.
Brevo free plan limits and reported paid plan prices for bloggers
I want to be careful here. The figures above come from third-party reporting, and I can’t confirm each one from my own use. Those sources also disagreed with each other in a few places, which I’ll explain in the next section. Treat these as a starting point, then check Brevo’s own pricing page for what’s current.
From my side, the honest summary is this: for pop-up and sign-up forms, the free plan has been enough. I haven’t run into a wall. But my use is light, and that’s exactly why I can’t tell you how the limits would feel if you were sending newsletters to a growing list.
What the Brevo Paid Plans Cost and Who Might Need Them
I haven’t used any paid plan, so this section is about what’s reported, not what I’ve experienced.
Brevo’s own help center describes five plans: Free, Starter, Standard, Professional, and Enterprise. Here are the starting prices as reported:
A few notes so these numbers don’t mislead you:
- These are “from” prices. Costs go up with your monthly email volume. The third-party sources I looked at listed higher prices at higher sending tiers.
- Plan names and details vary between sources. Some call the Standard plan “Business,” and the sources didn’t fully agree on how contact limits work on the lower paid tiers. That’s why I’m calling these reported figures, not confirmed facts.
- The logo. Brevo’s help center says the Brevo logo isn’t shown on the Standard, Professional and Enterprise plans, and that Starter has a remove-logo add-on.
- Plans, names and prices change often. Please check Brevo’s official pricing page before buying.
So who might need a paid plan? From the reported details, here’s my reading, and it’s an opinion rather than experience:
- If you want to send more than 300 emails a day, you’d need to look at paid tiers.
- If you don’t want the Brevo logo on your emails, a paid plan is the route.
- If you want features the free plan reportedly leaves out, like A/B testing or landing pages, you’d look above free.
- If you need automation reaching more than 2,000 contacts, the reported cap is something to check carefully.
If none of those describe you yet, you may not need to pay at all. That’s where I am.
Brevo Review for Bloggers: Pros and Cons From My Real Use
Here’s what I can say from using Brevo’s forms for about four months.
Pros (from my use)
- The forms worked on my WordPress site. This is the main reason I’m using Brevo. After the embedded code from Systeme.io didn’t work well for me, the Brevo forms did the job.
- The free plan covered everything I needed. I’ve never needed to pay to run my pop-up and sign-up forms.
- Double opt-in is available on my form. I turned it on after finding fake sign-ups on my list, and it gave me a way to ask new subscribers to confirm.
Cons (from my use)
Here’s where I won’t invent anything to look balanced. Since I use Brevo only for forms, I don’t have a real complaint about it. What I do have are gaps in what I know:
- CAPTCHA isn’t set up yet. That’s a gap on my side, not a fault in Brevo. I’ll come back to it below.
- I can’t judge the parts I haven’t used. Newsletters, campaigns, deliverability, SMS, and the paid plans are all outside my experience.
- The pricing is layered. Plans scale by sending volume, names get mixed up between sources, and details change. If you’re a beginner, it takes a bit of care to work out what you’d actually pay. I’d call that a “read it carefully” point, not a flaw.
If I had more to complain about, I’d say it. I don’t, and I’m not going to make something up.
Double Opt-In, CAPTCHA, and Fake Sign-Ups
I found fake sign-ups on my list a while back, so I turned on double opt-in on my Brevo form. I wrote about what I found and what I did in a separate post: Fake Email Sign-Ups: What I Found on My List and What I Did About Them.
One important point: I’m not blaming Brevo for those fake sign-ups. They can happen with any sign-up form, on any email tool, because bots go after forms that are easy to submit.
Here’s where things stand with my setup:
- Double opt-in: on.
- CAPTCHA: not set up yet.
I can’t say much more than that. I’ll know a lot more once real traffic and new sign-ups start coming in, and I’ll update this post and revisit CAPTCHA then. I’d rather tell you that than pretend I’ve tested something I haven’t.
Brevo has a help article on protecting your forms from bots and spam sign-ups. It recommends combining several methods, including a CAPTCHA and double opt-in, and it warns that an unprotected form hit by a bot attack can put your account at risk. If you’re setting up Brevo forms, that article is worth reading before you go live.
Brevo vs Systeme.io for a Beginner (Based on What I Tried)
I’ll keep this comparison narrow, because I only compared the two on one thing: forms on a WordPress blog.
- Very easy for beginners.
- I still use it for other things outside this blog.
- The embedded code for pop-ups and sign-up forms didn’t work well on my WordPress site.
- The forms worked on my WordPress site.
- The free plan has covered my use.
- I’ve only used it for forms, so I can’t compare the rest.
That’s the full extent of what I can fairly say. I don’t think one of them wins. They’re both good for beginners in their own ways, and the right choice depends on your setup.
If you can get the embedded code working with your WordPress theme, you can use either one. If you can’t, Brevo worked for me.
If you’re also comparing other tools, I’ve put together two comparisons that might help: MailerLite vs Systeme.io and ConvertKit vs MailerLite.
Brevo vs Systeme.io for WordPress pop-ups and sign-up forms
Who Should (and Shouldn't) Start With Brevo
Brevo may be a good starting point if:
- You’re a beginner blogger on WordPress who wants pop-up and sign-up forms without paying upfront.
- You tried another tool’s embedded forms and they didn’t work well on your theme.
- You’d like a free plan with a large contact allowance while your list is small.
- You’re happy to start with forms and explore the rest of the tool later.
Brevo may not be the best starting point if:
- Your forms already work well in the tool you’re using. There’s no need to switch just for the sake of it.
- You need landing pages or A/B testing on a free plan, since the source I checked reported those aren’t included.
- You want me to tell you how Brevo performs for newsletters, campaigns, or deliverability. I can’t, because I haven’t used it for those.
My advice: start with the job you need done. If it’s forms and the free plan covers it, Brevo is worth a try.
Why I Stay on the Free Plan
I don’t pay for monthly tools until I need to. That’s a rule I keep for my own blog, and it’s the reason I’m still on Brevo’s free plan.
Right now, Brevo does one job for me, and the free plan handles it. Paying more would mean paying for features I’m not using. When my needs change, whether that’s sending campaigns, wanting a feature the free plan doesn’t include, or hitting a limit, I’ll look at paid plans properly and tell you what I find.
Until then, free does the job. And I think that’s a sensible approach for most beginners. Pay when a limit costs you something, not before.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brevo free for bloggers?
Brevo has a free plan, and it’s the one I use. Reported figures for it include 300 emails per day and a large contact allowance, with forms included. I use it for pop-up and sign-up forms on my WordPress blog. Plans and limits change, so check Brevo’s pricing page for the current details.
Is Brevo good for beginner bloggers?
For the one job I’ve used it for, forms on WordPress, yes. It worked on my site, and the free plan was enough. I can’t speak for newsletters, campaigns or the paid plans, because I haven’t used them.
Is Brevo better than Systeme.io?
I don’t think one is better. Systeme.io is a good tool and very easy for beginners, and I still use it for other things. The embedded code for pop-ups and sign-up forms didn’t work well on my WordPress setup, so I use Brevo for those. If your embed code works with your theme, you can use either.
Do I need a paid Brevo plan to use forms?
I haven’t paid for any plan, and I run my pop-up and sign-up forms on the free plan. Forms are reported as included on free. If you need features outside the free plan, check Brevo’s pricing page to see what each plan includes.
Does double opt-in stop fake sign-ups?
I turned on double opt-in after finding fake sign-ups on my list, but I can’t give you results yet, because I’m waiting on real traffic and new sign-ups. Brevo’s own help article recommends combining methods, including a CAPTCHA, which isn’t set up on my form yet. I’ll revisit this when I have real data.
Are you a Brevo affiliate?
No. I’m not a Brevo affiliate, and this review isn’t paid. I am a Systeme.io affiliate, which is why I included a disclosure at the top.
Conclusion: My Honest Brevo Review for Bloggers
I’ve used Brevo for about four months on the free plan for one job: pop-up and sign-up forms on my WordPress blog. For that job, it worked. The embedded code from Systeme.io didn’t work well on my setup, so I moved my forms to Brevo for now, and I’ve had no reason to pay for anything.
That’s the honest core of this Brevo review for bloggers. Systeme.io is a good tool and very easy for beginners, and I still use it for other things. Brevo is a good option too, especially if you want free forms on WordPress and your embed code isn’t cooperating. I don’t need to pick a winner, and if you can get the embedded code working with your theme, you can use either one.
I also want to be clear about what I can’t tell you. I haven’t used Brevo for newsletters, campaigns, deliverability, SMS, or any paid plan. CAPTCHA isn’t set up on my form yet, and I’ll revisit it once real traffic and new sign-ups start coming in. The pricing figures in this post are reported, not confirmed, and Brevo changes its plans and prices, so check the official pricing page before you buy.
My advice to you is simple. Work out the one job you need your email tool to do, start on a free plan, and only pay when a limit actually gets in your way. That’s how I run my own blog, and it’s why I’m still on Brevo’s free plan.
Disclosure: This Brevo review for bloggers is not paid, and I’m not a Brevo affiliate. I do mention Systeme.io, which I’m an affiliate for, so I may earn a commission if you sign up through my link. That didn’t change what I wrote.
