Mailchimp vs Brevo for Churches (2026)

Last updated: April 20, 2026

TL;DR: For most churches, neither Mailchimp nor Brevo is the best fit. Mailchimp charges for unsubscribed contacts and requires training. Brevo caps contacts at 500 on paid plans — counterintuitive for a growing congregation. Groupmail gives churches unlimited contacts from $15/mo, a handover call when volunteers change, and an editor anyone can use in 10 minutes.

Churches comparing Mailchimp and Brevo are usually asking the wrong question. The real question is whether either tool was designed for how churches actually communicate. This guide compares both side by side, walks through real pricing for a typical congregation, and introduces a third option most churches overlook.

Disclosure: We're the team behind Groupmail — simple email software for organizations since 1996. We'll be upfront about where we fit and honest about alternatives.

Why Are Churches Comparing Mailchimp and Brevo?

Churches need to send weekly bulletins and event updates to their congregation — not build marketing funnels or automate lead nurturing sequences.

Mailchimp is the name most people know. It is the default suggestion when a church board asks "what should we use for email?" Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) gets attention because its free plan offers 300 emails per day — roughly 9,000 per month — which sounds generous for a weekly bulletin.

But neither platform was built for churches. Both were designed for marketers, and that creates friction around pricing, complexity, and volunteer turnover. Nonprofit Tech for Good's 2024 Global NGO Technology Report found that 74% of nonprofits use email as their primary communication channel. Churches are no different — email is the backbone of congregational communication. Yet the tools most churches pick were designed for e-commerce and SaaS companies.

If you are exploring this comparison, you may also find our broader guide to the best email software for churches useful.

Tip: Before comparing features, write down exactly what your church sends each month. Most churches need a weekly bulletin, occasional event reminders, and volunteer coordination — nothing more.

What Does a Church Actually Need From Email Software?

A church needs an editor any volunteer can learn in minutes, reliable delivery to inboxes, and affordable pricing that survives the next budget meeting.

Church email is fundamentally different from marketing email. A church secretary or volunteer coordinator does not need A/B testing, customer journey builders, or CRM integrations. They need to type a weekly update, add a few links, and click send.

Here is what actually matters:

• A simple editor that requires no training
• List management for ministries, small groups, and committees
• Pricing under typical board-approval thresholds (usually $500 per year)
• Reliable inbox delivery — not spam folder placement
• A smooth handover process when the volunteer running email changes roles

That last point is often overlooked. According to Church Tech Today, the average church volunteer serves in a specific role for one to two years before transitioning. When the person managing your email platform leaves, the next volunteer inherits an unfamiliar tool with no transition support. Simplicity is not just a convenience — it is an operational requirement.

How Do Mailchimp, Brevo, and Groupmail Compare at a Glance?

Groupmail offers the simplest path for churches: unlimited contacts from $15/mo, human support, and a handover call when your volunteer changes.

Pricing last verified April 2026.

What Are the Best Email Options for Churches in 2026?

Groupmail leads for simplicity and unlimited contacts, Mailchimp for brand recognition and integrations, and Brevo for high-volume free sending — but each comes with trade-offs churches should understand.

1. Groupmail

Best for: Churches that want simplicity, unlimited contacts, and human support without marketing complexity Pricing: Free (500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo) | Community $15/mo | Continuity $29/mo | Business $49/mo | All paid plans: unlimited contacts, 5,000 emails/mo Website: groupmail.io

Groupmail was built for organizations like churches, schools, and nonprofits — not for marketers. The editor is straightforward enough that any church volunteer can set up and send a bulletin within 10 minutes of creating an account. There is no audience builder, no customer journey designer, and no marketing CRM cluttering the interface. You log in, write your update, pick your list, and send.

Every paid plan includes unlimited contacts, which eliminates the anxiety of watching your member count approach a billing threshold. Groupmail has served over 100,000 organizations across 160 countries since 1996. It is EU-based and GDPR compliant by design. Managed email delivery comes standard on all plans — there is no technical setup, no DNS records to configure, and no deliverability infrastructure to manage.

The Continuity plan at $29/mo includes something no other email tool offers: an annual handover call. When your church volunteer changes, the Groupmail team walks the new person through the account, lists, and sending process. The same plan includes migration assistance if you are moving from another platform. Credit top-ups are available on all plans including Free at $5 per 1,000 additional emails. Cancellation is one click — no phone calls, no retention agents.

Pricing last verified April 2026. Visit groupmail.io/pricing for current rates.

What's missing: Groupmail has a smaller integration library than Mailchimp or Brevo. It is not designed for marketing automation — there are no drip sequences or behavioral triggers. For churches, this is a trade-off that works in your favor: less complexity means fewer things for a volunteer to accidentally break.

Key Takeaway: Groupmail is purpose-built for how churches actually communicate — simple updates to members, sent by volunteers who may change every year or two. At $15/mo with unlimited contacts and human support, it fits most church budgets without board approval headaches.

2. Mailchimp

Best for: Churches with a tech-savvy admin who needs deep integrations with existing church management software Pricing: Free: 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | Essentials from $13/mo | Standard from $20/mo | Premium from $350/mo Website: Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the most recognized name in email, and many churches start here simply because it is the first suggestion they hear. The platform offers a wide template library, strong deliverability, and integrations with tools like Planning Center and Elvanto that some churches already use.

But Mailchimp has grown significantly more complex over the years. The interface now includes an audience builder, customer journeys, marketing CRM, and AI-generated content tools — features designed for e-commerce companies, not church secretaries. The free plan has been reduced to just 250 contacts and 500 emails per month, down from 2,000 contacts pre-2022. For a detailed look at costs, see our Mailchimp nonprofit pricing breakdown.

Mailchimp's nonprofit discount is 15% — the lowest among major email platforms — and requires submitting 501(c)(3) documentation before purchasing a paid plan, with no retroactive application. A church with 2,000 members on the Standard plan would pay roughly $60 per month before the discount and approximately $51 per month after it. Meanwhile, M+R Benchmarks 2025 found that nonprofits average a 9.7% unsubscribe rate. Since Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts toward your plan limit, a 2,000-member church accumulates approximately 194 zombie contacts per year that it cannot email but still pays for. Mailchimp holds a 2.8/5 on Trustpilot from 1,348 reviews.

If you are weighing this comparison more broadly, our guide on Mailchimp vs Brevo for nonprofits covers additional detail beyond the church-specific context.

What's missing: No handover support when volunteers change. Pricing punishes list growth — the more your congregation grows, the more you pay. The interface creates a training burden for non-technical volunteers. The 15% nonprofit discount is the lowest among major competitors and requires paperwork before you can access it.

3. Brevo

Best for: Churches with a dedicated communications director (not a volunteer) who needs SMS alongside email Pricing: Free: unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day (~9,000/mo) | Starter from $9/mo | Business from $18/mo Website: Brevo

Brevo's free plan looks attractive on paper. Unlimited contacts and roughly 9,000 emails per month covers most church sending needs without paying a cent. If your church has a small congregation and can live with Brevo branding on every email, the free tier is genuinely useful.

The problem emerges when churches outgrow the free plan. Brevo's paid Starter plan caps contacts at just 500 — meaning that upgrading to access paid features actually reduces your contact allowance. A Brevo community thread documents the confusion this causes. A church with 3,000 members needing paid features would have to jump to approximately the $49 per month tier just to store all their contacts.

Brevo also auto-upgrades your plan if you exceed the contact limit, increasing your bill without explicit approval — a real risk for budget-conscious churches where a volunteer might import a new ministry list without realizing the billing consequences. The nonprofit discount is 15% but only applies to Enterprise plans, which effectively means no discount for small to mid-sized churches. Brevo's pricing model is based on emails sent rather than contacts stored, which can be confusing for a volunteer trying to track a monthly budget.

What's missing: The contact cap on paid plans is counterintuitive and penalizes growing congregations. Auto-upgrade billing surprises are a genuine risk for churches operating on tight budgets. The interface is marketing-oriented, featuring transactional email, SMS, and CRM tools that add unnecessary complexity. There is no volunteer handover support.

How Do Pricing and Hidden Costs Compare for a Real Church?

A church with 1,500 members sending weekly updates would pay $20/mo with Groupmail, roughly $38/mo with Mailchimp, and up to $49/mo with Brevo once hidden costs surface.

Let us walk through a realistic scenario. Your church has 1,500 members and sends a weekly bulletin plus one or two event reminders per month — approximately 6,000 emails per month total.

With Groupmail, the Community plan at $15/mo covers unlimited contacts and 5,000 emails per month. The extra 1,000 emails cost a single $5 credit top-up, bringing the total to $20 per month or $240 per year.

With Mailchimp, the Standard plan at 1,500 contacts runs approximately $45 per month. After the 15% nonprofit discount (if approved with documentation), that drops to roughly $38.25 per month or $459 per year. And each year, approximately 146 unsubscribed contacts accumulate on your list that you cannot email but still pay for — a hidden cost that compounds over time.

With Brevo, the free plan technically covers the email volume (9,000 emails per month), but it includes Brevo branding and does not offer paid features like advanced analytics or dedicated IP. Once you upgrade to a paid plan, the Starter tier caps contacts at 500 — far below your 1,500 members. You would need to jump to approximately the $49 per month tier, or $588 per year.

Pricing last verified April 2026.

The annual savings are significant. Groupmail saves a church in this scenario $219 per year compared to Mailchimp and $348 per year compared to Brevo's paid tier — money that goes back to the ministry budget.

What Happens When Your Church Volunteer Changes?

Volunteer turnover is inevitable in churches, and most email tools offer zero transition support — Groupmail is the only platform with a dedicated handover call.

The person sending your church's weekly bulletin is almost certainly a volunteer. According to Church Tech Today, most church volunteers serve in a specific technology role for one to two years before moving on. When that person leaves, the incoming volunteer inherits an account they have never seen, a list structure they did not create, and a tool they may not understand.

With Mailchimp, the new volunteer faces a complex interface with audience segments, customer journey builders, and marketing CRM features. There is no transition support from Mailchimp — the outgoing volunteer must train their replacement informally, if they train them at all.

With Brevo, the challenge is similar. The dashboard is oriented around marketing concepts — transactional emails, automation workflows, and CRM contacts — that a church volunteer has no context for. Brevo does not offer transition support either.

Groupmail addresses this directly. The Continuity plan at $29/mo includes an annual handover call where a member of the Groupmail team walks the incoming volunteer through the account, lists, templates, and sending process. This is not a generic onboarding webinar — it is a one-on-one session designed for the specific transition your church is going through. No other email platform offers this feature, and for volunteer-run organizations, it solves one of the most common operational pain points.

Which Tool Is Right for Your Church?

Groupmail is the right choice for most churches — pick Mailchimp only if you rely on specific integrations, and Brevo only if you need SMS and have a paid communications director.

Here is a simple decision framework:

• Choose Groupmail if a volunteer manages your church email, you want unlimited contacts without billing anxiety, and you value human support and handover calls. This covers the vast majority of churches.
• Choose Mailchimp only if your church already relies heavily on Mailchimp integrations with tools like Planning Center, and you have a tech-savvy administrator (not a rotating volunteer) who can navigate the complex interface. Be prepared for rising costs as your congregation grows.
• Choose Brevo only if you specifically need SMS messaging alongside email and have a dedicated, paid communications director who can manage a marketing-oriented platform. The free tier works for very small churches comfortable with branded emails.

If you are also considering Constant Contact, our guide to Constant Contact alternatives for churches covers that comparison in detail.

For most churches, the simplest tool with the best support wins — because the person using it will change, and the next volunteer needs to hit the ground running. Groupmail is designed for exactly that reality.

FAQ

Is Mailchimp or Brevo better for a small church?

Neither is purpose-built for churches. Mailchimp offers brand recognition and a wide integration library, but it charges for unsubscribed contacts and presents a complex interface to volunteers. Brevo's free tier is generous on email volume but caps contacts at 500 on paid plans, which creates a confusing upgrade path. For a small church wanting simplicity without hidden costs, Groupmail's $15/mo Community plan with unlimited contacts and human support is a better fit.

Does Brevo really cap contacts at 500 on paid plans?

Yes. Brevo's free plan allows unlimited contacts, but the paid Starter plan caps contacts at 500. A church upgrading to access paid features like removing Brevo branding or using advanced analytics actually loses contact capacity. To store more than 500 contacts on a paid plan, churches must jump to a higher tier — often around $49 per month for 1,500 or more members. This is documented in a Brevo community thread where users express frustration about the counterintuitive structure.

Why is Groupmail so affordable for nonprofits?

Groupmail uses Community-First pricing — $15/mo is the price for community organizations, not a discounted rate. There are no application forms, no 501(c)(3) documentation requirements, and no discount codes to track down. Groupmail has been EU-based and profitable since 1996, which means it does not rely on venture-capital-driven pricing models that push costs onto users. The $15/mo Community plan includes unlimited contacts and 5,000 emails per month.

Can I send a weekly church bulletin with the free plan on any of these tools?

It depends on your congregation size. Mailchimp's free plan allows only 250 contacts and 500 emails per month — not enough for even a small weekly bulletin going to more than 125 people. Brevo's free plan allows 300 emails per day, which works for sending volume but includes Brevo branding on every email. Groupmail's free plan covers 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month — enough for a small church sending weekly updates to up to 250 members.

What happens when our church volunteer who manages email leaves?

With Mailchimp or Brevo, the new volunteer starts from scratch with no transition support from the platform. Groupmail's Continuity plan at $29/mo includes an annual handover call — the Groupmail team walks the incoming volunteer through the account, lists, and sending process one-on-one. This is a unique feature no other email platform offers, and it is particularly valuable for churches where volunteer turnover is a normal part of congregational life.

Does Mailchimp charge churches for unsubscribed contacts?

Yes. Mailchimp counts all contacts — subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed — toward your plan limit. M+R Benchmarks 2025 found nonprofits average a 9.7% unsubscribe rate, meaning a 2,000-member church accumulates roughly 194 contacts per year that it cannot email but still pays for. Groupmail does not charge for unsubscribed contacts on any plan, and all paid plans include unlimited contacts.

Is there a free email tool that works well for churches?

Groupmail's free plan includes 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month with email support from real people — enough for a small church sending weekly updates. Brevo's free plan offers higher email volume at approximately 9,000 emails per month, but includes Brevo branding on every send. Mailchimp's free plan is now limited to 250 contacts and 500 emails per month, which is too restrictive for most churches. For churches beyond 500 members, Groupmail's $15/mo Community plan with unlimited contacts is the most affordable paid option.

Can I switch from Mailchimp or Brevo to Groupmail easily?

Yes. Groupmail's Continuity plan at $29/mo includes migration assistance — the Groupmail team helps move your contact lists and set up your account. Even on the Community plan at $15/mo, you can export your contacts from Mailchimp or Brevo as a CSV file and import them into Groupmail in minutes. Groupmail also publishes a step-by-step Mailchimp migration guide on its blog that walks you through the process.

Conclusion

Mailchimp and Brevo are both capable platforms, but neither was designed for how churches actually work. Mailchimp's complexity and contact-based pricing create ongoing friction. Brevo's counterintuitive contact caps on paid plans create budget surprises. Groupmail gives churches unlimited contacts from $15/mo, an editor any volunteer can learn in 10 minutes, and a handover call when that volunteer eventually moves on. For most congregations, that is exactly the right fit.

Ready to send your first update? Start free with Groupmail — set up in 10 minutes, no credit card required. Built for organizations, not marketers.