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How to build a dated requirements set for Brevo, Kit, Mailchimp and MailerLite
How to build one dated requirements set for Brevo, Kit, Mailchimp and MailerLite: the billing unit of each, a starter set with weights, what to normalize, permission and sending tests, and how to score the results.
What to take away
- Write one dated requirements set and run every candidate through it. Vendor pages are not a comparison.
- Price the same list size and send volume across Brevo, Kit, Mailchimp and MailerLite. Each one charges on a different unit.
- Label every requirement proven, claimed, planned or unknown. Unknown is a risk, not a zero.
- Pilot on your own data, then write the decision down with owners and a review date.
The direct answer: compare on one dated requirements set, not on vendor pages. An email marketing software comparison built that way survives a price change without being rewritten. This article does not quote prices. Vendors change them often, so confirm each figure against a current quote at your own numbers.
Plan shape and the unit that drives price
Brevo, Kit, Mailchimp and MailerLite do not charge for the same thing. That difference settles most cost arguments before features enter the room. The table gives the billing unit each vendor describes on its public pricing pages, and where the cost tends to follow you.
Plan shape and price unit
Unit that drives price
- Brevo
- Emails sent per month
- Kit
- Subscribers
- Mailchimp
- Contacts and plan tier
- MailerLite
- Active subscribers
Plan shape as published
- Brevo
- Free send cap, then paid send tiers that add volume and remove branding
- Kit
- Free plan to a subscriber cap, then bands that step up
- Mailchimp
- Free tier capped by contacts and monthly sends, then tiered paid plans
- MailerLite
- Free plan to a subscriber cap, then bands by subscriber count
Where the cost follows you
- Brevo
- Campaign volume, not list size
- Kit
- List growth, even in a quiet month
- Mailchimp
- Contacts and feature tier together
- MailerLite
- Active subscribers, not sends
Confirm the unit and the band edges on each vendor's pricing page on the day you compare, because they change. Ask each vendor for a written quote at your real list size and send volume, and record it beside the requirement it supports.
Normalize billing and limit items before you add up totals.
Billing comparison checklist
- Contact, subscriber, send, user definitions
- Daily and monthly limits
- Automatic tier changes and overages
- Branding, trials, annual commitments
- Add-ons, currencies, taxes, refunds
- Pauses and downgrade timing
Normalizing cost before you compare totals
Normalizing cost before comparing
- What counts as a contact, including unsubscribed and suppressed records.
- Monthly send allowance, daily caps and overage price per thousand sends.
- User seats, add-on modules, branding removal and annual discount terms.
- Currency, tax treatment, refund window and downgrade timing.
- Export formats, suppression retention and support during a migration.
Hold one scenario constant, such as 5,000 contacts and 20,000 sends a month, and price all four candidates against it. The sums will differ, and the difference is the comparison.
Discounts and annual commitments change the ranking, so record term length and renewal price beside every total. The how to choose email marketing software guide covers the regret tests that catch a plan you outgrow in two quarters.
A starter requirements set
Write the set before opening any pricing page, and date it. Each line needs a test and a weight. Use these as a starting point and change the weights to fit your business:
- Cost at your real volume, with the billing unit normalized (25 percent): a written quote for the same contacts and sends from each vendor.
- Suppression across imports, API writes and deletion (25 percent): the import and delete tests in the sections below.
- Consent evidence (15 percent)how each platform records consent, and whether you can export that record.
- Automation re-entry and deduplication (15 percent)the trigger test in the sending section.
- Send performance at peak volume (10 percent)queue time and reporting lag in the 5,000-recipient test.
- Export and migration (10 percent)export formats, suppression retention and support during a move.
Score every line as proven, claimed, planned or unknown, using the same evidence states for all four vendors.
Audience and permission behavior
Test the behavior, not the presence of a consent checkbox. A platform that keeps one suppression list across all lists and channels removes a whole class of mistakes. Check imports, API writes, deletion and re-entry.
United States subscribers fall under the CAN-SPAM Act, which sets content, identification and opt-out duties. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide is the reference to work from. Canadian subscribers fall under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) instead, which requires consent records and a working unsubscribe.
Keep a dated record of how each platform proves consent, because a checkbox screenshot is not a consent record. Score each permission behavior with the same evidence states you use elsewhere.
Permission behavior tests
- Fields, events, lists, tags, segments
- Identity, timestamps, consent evidence
- Topic and frequency choices
- Objection, complaint, correction, deletion
- Central suppression and re-entry
- Imports and APIs
Free tiers hide this work. A vendor will let you import contacts long before it lets you segment them well, so test segmentation on your own list before the free plan becomes a paid one.
Sending and automation under real volume
- Send 5,000 recipients in one campaign with a peak burst, then measure queue time and reporting lag.
- Run a three-step welcome sequence with a wait step, and confirm timing, deduplication and re-entry rules.
- Trigger the same event twice for one contact and check whether the second entry is blocked.
- Stop an automation mid-run, resume it, then export the run history.
Record operator time and any workaround the tester needed. A demo account often conceals limits that appear once real volume arrives.
Example: a filled scoring table (illustrative)
The table shows how a scored row looks once it is filled in. The evidence states are illustrative, not findings about any vendor. Each row names a requirement, a vendor, a state and the test that would change that state.
Filled scoring row for Mailchimp
| Requirement | Vendor | Evidence state | What flips it to proven |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suppressed addresses stay out after an API import | Mailchimp | Claimed | Import a known suppressed address in the pilot |
| A second entry into the same automation is blocked | MailerLite | Unknown | Replay the trigger twice for one contact |
| Contact deletion also clears the suppression record | Kit | Unknown | Delete, then re-import and check |
| Daily send cap reached mid-campaign | Brevo | Claimed | Run the peak burst past the cap |
Mailchimp stays at claimed until your own import test passes, because help documentation is not your data. Unknown rows carry risk into the memo rather than a zero score. Use the email marketing software pages to decide which scenarios deserve a row in the first place.
Vendor claims and substantiation
When a vendor publishes a performance claim, ask for the reasonable basis behind it. The FTC requires one before an objective advertising claim is disseminated. Quote the FTC advertising substantiation policy in the memo.
Apply the same scrutiny to your own figures. A comparison built on your list and your sends is only as good as the export it came from, so check that each count matches what the platform reports.
