Brevo: our review
Brevo is an email, SMS and marketing-automation platform published in Paris, formerly Sendinblue. It documents European hosting certified ISO 27001, but reserves in its general terms the right to train its AI features on the content data sent through it.
What we take away from it
What counts in its favor
- Servers located within the European Union according to its own security page, with ISO 27001:2022 certification — a rare level of proof for a mainstream emailing vendor.
- Permanent free tier: 300 emails per day, unlimited contacts, no credit card required to sign up.
- Billing by volume of emails sent rather than by number of contacts stored: a growing list doesn't mechanically drive the bill up.
- A vendor born in Paris, still presented by itself as "100% French" on its pricing page.
What counts against it
- The general terms allow Brevo to use content and usage data from customers to enrich and train its AI features, even though the stated purpose is limited to security and anti-fraud — real training that other vendors explicitly rule out.
- GDPR compliance of consent stays entirely on the customer's shoulders: Brevo provides double opt-in tools, but itself points out that the legal basis for each send is beyond its control.
- A significant price gap between the Standard tier (15 €/month) and the Pro tier (499 €/month): advanced AI segmentation and analytics features are only available on the latter, far from a micro-business's budget.
A good choice for a French SMB that sends campaigns to consenting contacts and wants to keep its data in Europe; skip it for cold outreach, a use Brevo doesn't cover and that its own GDPR doctrine rules out.
The facts
- First paid tier
- €7/month — Starter, from 5 000 emails/month, excluding tax
- Data hosting
- Data in the EU · source
- Categories
- Email marketing,Marketing,Customer service
- Data verified on
- 30 July 2026
- Integrations observed
- Shopify · WordPress · Stripe · Zapier
What happens to your data
- Is your data used to train their models?
- Yes, according to the publisher
- Subprocessors
- Not detailed on the pages reviewed; Brevo points to its general terms and its privacy policy for the precise list of subprocessors.
- Retention
- On the pricing page, the vendor states it keeps data if the customer wants to reuse the service later, or deletes it entirely on request at termination.
Brevo in detail
Brevo brings together email, SMS, WhatsApp marketing and campaign automation for SMEs and marketing teams. The vendor, based in Paris, was called Sendinblue until May 2023: the name changed, the company and its business stayed the same.
What it actually does
A business builds its contact lists, creates campaigns with a drag-and-drop editor or an AI content generator, then schedules sends or automated flows triggered by behaviour — an abandoned cart, a form signup, inactivity. The higher tiers add contact scoring, AI segmentation and dedicated deliverability support, for businesses handling large volumes or several brands.
The free tier allows up to 300 emails a day with no limit on stored contacts, a rare feature in a market where many vendors cap the list size first.
Why it interests us
Brevo documents its hosting with a level of detail few email vendors show: servers located in the European Union, ISO 27001:2022 certification with a downloadable certificate. For a French SME subject to the GDPR, that's a solid argument, reinforced by the vendor's own claim on its pricing page to be "100% French."
The subject that really matters in email marketing, though, isn't hosting but consent. Brevo says so on its own GDPR page: opt-in is the only legal basis it accepts for its marketing sends, and double opt-in is recommended. Responsibility for collecting that consent, documenting it and purging lists stays entirely with the customer — the tool provides the forms and the technical mechanics, not the legal proof. See our automation page for setting up these flows.
Where it falls short
Two reservations to know before choosing Brevo. The first sits in its terms of service: the vendor allows itself to use customers' content and usage data to "enrich and train" its AI features, for the stated purpose of preventing fraud and spam. That's real training, even if narrow in scope, which other vendors in the sector exclude outright.
The second is pricing: the gap between the Standard tier, at €15/month, and the Pro tier, at €499/month, is considerable. The most advanced features — AI segmentation, data analyst — are only available on the top tier, out of reach for a micro-business just starting to automate its campaigns.
Finally, Brevo isn't built for cold outreach. Its own GDPR doctrine rules out using non-consented lists: a business wanting to email-prospect contacts who have never interacted with it will need to turn to a tool built for that use, such as lemlist.
Our recommendation
For a French SME sending campaigns to contacts who are already customers or subscribers, and that wants to keep its data in Europe, Brevo remains a solid, well-documented choice. If your goal is to reach out to prospects who have never heard of you, or if the idea that your content, even marginally, trains an AI is a red line, look elsewhere.
Who it's for, and who it isn't
Suited for
- French SMBs and micro-businesses that send newsletters or automated campaigns to contacts who have given their consent
- An organization that wants to bring email, SMS and marketing automation together in one tool hosted in Europe
Not a fit
- A team that does cold sales outreach: Brevo is built for consented emailing, not for cold email
- A company that refuses on principle to let its content data feed the vendor's AI model, even partially
Frequently asked questions
- Where is data sent to Brevo hosted?
- Within the European Union: the vendor's security page states that its servers are located in the EU and displays ISO 27001:2022 certification, with a downloadable certificate.
- Does Brevo use my data to train an AI?
- Yes, to a limited extent. Its general terms state it may use content and usage data to enrich and train its AI features, for the stated purpose of improving security and fighting fraud and spam.
- Can I do cold outreach with Brevo?
- That's not the use the vendor intends. Its GDPR page states that opt-in is the only valid legal basis for its marketing sends, and responsibility for the consent collected rests with the customer, not with Brevo.
- What does the switch from Sendinblue to Brevo mean?
- A simple name change, announced on 4 May 2023 by the vendor: the service had grown beyond a plain newsletter-sending tool, and only 31% of customers were still using it solely for that purpose at the time of the rebrand.
- How much does Brevo's first paid tier cost?
- The Starter tier starts at 7 €/month before tax for 5,000 emails sent per month, according to the vendor's French pricing page.
Alternatives to Brevo
Email marketing · E-commerce
Klaviyo
Segments an e-commerce customer base and triggers automated email and SMS campaigns based on purchase behavior.
Email marketing
GetResponse
Builds automated email sequences and landing pages with a built-in AI writing assistant.
Email marketing
Moosend
Automates email journeys through behavioral triggers with a visual sequence editor.
Our sources
- Pricing page (France)accessed on 30 July 2026
- Security and data hostingaccessed on 30 July 2026
- GDPR complianceaccessed on 30 July 2026
- Announcement of the switch from Sendinblue to Brevoaccessed on 30 July 2026
- General terms of useaccessed on 30 July 2026
Prices and hosting terms change often. We recheck them periodically, but the publisher's page remains the only up-to-date reference.