Constant Contact vs Brevo vs EmailOctopus: Email Marketing Platform Comparison for Small Businesses
By Email ExtractorPublished 6 min read
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Platform Overview
These three platforms target small businesses and organisations but occupy different positions in the market:
Feature
Constant Contact
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
EmailOctopus
Founded
1995
2012
2014
Primary market
Small businesses; nonprofits
SMBs; startups; growing businesses
Startups; creators; cost-conscious SMBs
Philosophy
All-in-one marketing; ease of use
Multi-channel (email + SMS + chat); value pricing
Simple email marketing; affordability
Free tier
14-day trial only
Yes (300 emails/day; up to 9,000/month)
Yes (2,500 subscribers; 10,000 emails/month)
Starting paid price
$12/month (Lite, 500 contacts)
$9/month (500 contacts; 5,000 emails)
$9/month (500 subscribers; unlimited emails)
Pricing model
By contact count
By contact count (with email volume limits)
By subscriber count (unlimited sends on paid)
Core Features
Email campaign features
Feature
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
Drag-and-drop editor
Yes (strong; many templates)
Yes (good; modern templates)
Yes (basic; clean templates)
HTML editor
Yes
Yes
Yes
Template library
200+ templates
40+ templates
30+ templates
A/B testing
Yes (subject line + content)
Yes (subject line + content + send time)
Yes (subject line only)
Dynamic content
Yes (Standard+)
Yes
No
Send time optimisation
Yes (Standard+)
Yes (machine learning-based)
No
RSS-to-email
No
Yes
Yes
Surveys and polls
Yes (built-in)
No (third-party integration)
No
Event management
Yes (built-in; strong feature)
No
No
Social media posting
Yes (built-in)
No
No
Automation
Feature
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
Welcome sequences
Yes
Yes
Yes
Drip campaigns
Yes
Yes
Yes
Behavioral triggers
Yes (Standard+)
Yes (all plans)
Limited (tag-based)
Abandoned cart
Yes (Shopify integration)
Yes (Shopify, WooCommerce)
No
If/then branching
Yes (Standard+)
Yes
No
Lead scoring
No
Yes
No
Multi-channel automation (email + SMS)
No (email only)
Yes
No
Visual workflow builder
Yes
Yes (strong)
Basic (linear)
Contact management
Feature
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
Segmentation
Yes (tags, lists, engagement)
Yes (tags, lists, engagement, events)
Yes (tags, custom fields)
Custom fields
Yes
Yes (unlimited on paid)
Yes
Contact scoring
No
Yes (lead scoring)
No
CRM functionality
Basic (contact management)
Yes (built-in CRM; deals pipeline)
No
Landing pages
Yes
Yes
Yes
Signup forms
Yes (pop-ups, inline, landing pages)
Yes (pop-ups, inline, landing pages)
Yes (inline, pop-ups)
List import
Yes (CSV, XLSX, copy-paste)
Yes (CSV, copy-paste)
Yes (CSV, copy-paste)
Additional channels
Channel
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
SMS marketing
No
Yes (built-in; competitive pricing)
No
WhatsApp campaigns
No
Yes
No
Live chat
No
Yes (built-in)
No
Push notifications
No
Yes (web push)
No
Facebook / Instagram ads
Yes (built-in ad creation)
Yes (Facebook ads)
No
Pricing Comparison
Monthly pricing by list size (billed monthly)
List size
Constant Contact (Lite)
Constant Contact (Standard)
Brevo (Starter)
Brevo (Business)
EmailOctopus (Pro)
500 contacts
$12
$35
$9 (5K emails)
$18 (5K emails)
$9 (unlimited emails)
2,500 contacts
$35
$55
$29 (20K emails)
$49 (20K emails)
$19 (unlimited emails)
5,000 contacts
$55
$75
$29 (20K emails)
$49 (20K emails)
$29 (unlimited emails)
10,000 contacts
$80
$110
$39 (40K emails)
$69 (40K emails)
$44 (unlimited emails)
25,000 contacts
$155
$210
$69 (40K emails)
$129 (60K emails)
$77 (unlimited emails)
50,000 contacts
$275
$365
$99 (60K emails)
$169 (100K emails)
$127 (unlimited emails)
Key pricing differences
Factor
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
Pricing model
By contacts only
By contacts + email volume
By subscribers only (unlimited sends)
Free plan
No (14-day trial)
Yes (300/day; 9K/month)
Yes (2,500 subs; 10K/month)
Branding removal
Paid plans
Starter+ ($9+)
Pro plans ($9+)
SMS included
No
Pay-per-SMS (credits)
No
Annual discount
~15%
~10%
~16%
Deliverability
Factor
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
Shared IP (default)
Yes
Yes
Yes (sends via Amazon SES)
Dedicated IP
Yes ($50+/month)
Yes (Business plan or add-on)
No (uses Amazon SES)
Deliverability reputation
Strong (long track record)
Good (improving)
Good (Amazon SES backbone)
Authentication (SPF/DKIM)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Deliverability monitoring
Basic
Advanced (Business plan)
Basic
Compliance team
Yes (strict list requirements)
Yes
Yes (Amazon SES policies)
Integrations
Integration category
Constant Contact
Brevo
EmailOctopus
E-commerce (Shopify)
Yes (native)
Yes (native)
Yes (via Zapier)
E-commerce (WooCommerce)
Yes (native)
Yes (native; strong)
Yes (native)
CRM (Salesforce)
Yes (native)
Yes (native)
No (Zapier)
CRM (HubSpot)
No
No
No
WordPress
Yes (plugin)
Yes (plugin)
Yes (plugin)
Zapier
Yes (1,000+ connections)
Yes (1,000+ connections)
Yes (1,000+ connections)
API access
Yes
Yes (well-documented)
Yes
Total native integrations
300+
150+
50+
Strengths and Weaknesses
Constant Contact
Strengths
Weaknesses
Easiest to use; minimal learning curve
Most expensive at every tier
Built-in event management (unique feature)
No free plan
Built-in social media posting
Automation less powerful than Brevo
Strong for nonprofits (special pricing available)
No SMS or multi-channel
Longest track record; established deliverability
Template designs can feel dated
Strong phone support
Advanced features locked behind Standard plan
Brevo
Strengths
Weaknesses
Best value for multi-channel (email + SMS + chat + CRM)
Email volume limits on lower tiers (must buy more sends)
Built-in CRM with deals pipeline
Template library smaller than Constant Contact
Strongest automation at price point
Interface more complex; steeper learning curve
Generous free plan
Deliverability historically lower (improving)
Transactional email included
Support response times can be slow
SMS built in at competitive rates
Some features require Business plan ($18+/month)
EmailOctopus
Strengths
Weaknesses
Most affordable at every list size
Fewest features overall
Unlimited sends on paid plans
No SMS, chat, or multi-channel
Simple and clean interface
Very basic automation (linear only)
Amazon SES backbone (reliable delivery)
No built-in CRM
Generous free plan (2,500 subscribers)
Limited integrations (Zapier-dependent)
Good for creators and simple newsletters
No A/B testing beyond subject lines
Use Case Recommendations
If you need...
Best choice
Why
Simplest tool for a non-technical user
Constant Contact
Most intuitive; phone support; least learning curve
Event invitations and registration
Constant Contact
Only one with built-in event management
Multi-channel (email + SMS + chat)
Brevo
Only one with all channels built in
CRM + email in one tool
Brevo
Built-in CRM with deals pipeline
Cheapest option for a large list
EmailOctopus
Lowest price at every tier; unlimited sends
Simple newsletter for a creator or startup
EmailOctopus
Clean; affordable; no unnecessary complexity
Nonprofit with events and fundraising
Constant Contact
Event tools; nonprofit discount; ease of use
E-commerce with abandoned cart
Brevo
Strong automation; e-commerce integrations
Transactional + marketing email in one
Brevo
Transactional email included; API for developers
Migrating Between Platforms
When moving between email marketing platforms or consolidating subscriber lists from multiple sources, export your subscriber lists from all platforms (CSV). Upload these exports to Email Extractor to extract and deduplicate email addresses before importing into your new platform. Subscribers may exist in multiple lists, segments, or across platforms, and deduplication prevents inflating your new platform's contact count (and cost) with duplicate records.
