Why Brevo is a unicorn: A practical analysis for marketers

If you follow the CRM and marketing automation space space, you likely saw the news. Brevo has officially raised $583 million, securing its status as the newest unicorn in Europe. This capital raise is a major signal that the market wants an alternative to Salesforce and HubSpot.

For years, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) was seen as a budget-friendly email tool. That view is outdated. After rebranding in 2023, they aggressively pivoted to become a full CRM suite. They are managing customer relationships across numerous channels.

The investment confirms confidence that this momentum can continue with scale. But what do the actual users say? We looked at G2 reviews to understand why Brevo is winning and where it fits in a modern lifecycle stack.

It is a CRM first and an ESP second

The most consistent theme in recent reviews is the shift in focus. Brevo is fundamentally a CRM.

Users appreciate that the platform is built around the unified contact profile rather than just an email list. This distinction matters. In tools like Mailchimp, the subscriber is an email address. In Brevo, the subscriber is a person with a sales pipeline stage, a deal value, and a history of chat interactions.

The G2 verdict: Reviewers value the ability to bridge the gap between sales and marketing. Small to mid-sized teams use it to track deals and trigger marketing automation based on sales activity without needing a complex integration.

The pricing reality: low entry, high ceiling

Brevo is often marketed as the affordable option. The reviews tell a more nuanced story.

The entry price is low. You can start for free or very cheap. However, as you layer on features like advanced automation, SMS, and multiple users, the cost scales quickly. Several users note that for high-volume, feature-rich programs, the price becomes comparable to Klaviyo.

The G2 verdict: Users find value not because it is the cheapest option at scale, but because it consolidates multiple bills. You might pay Klaviyo-level prices, but you are getting a CRM, chat widget, and meeting scheduler included in that fee.

Marketing automation that works

Brevo is not just a repository for data. It leverages that CRM data for marketing automation.

Reviews highlight that the automation builder is robust enough for most lifecycle needs. You can trigger flows based on website behavior, CRM deal stages, or email engagement. It handles the core requirements of onboarding and retention effectively.

The G2 verdict: Marketers like that the automation logic is tied directly to CRM data. You can stop a nurture sequence automatically when a lead status changes to "Negotiating" because the data lives in the same system.

Where Brevo fits in your stack

With $583M in fresh capital, Brevo will be focusing on expansion into the US and moving upmarket. As a tool that has largely been focused in EMEA and small businesses, Brevo has a great opportunity to take market share away from Salesfoce and Hubspot in the US. But is it right for you today?

You should consider Brevo if:

• You need a CRM: You have a sales team or account managers who need to track deals alongside your marketing efforts.

• You want consolidation: You are tired of managing separate tools for email, chat, and sales.

• You are ready to graduate: You have outgrown basic email tools but are not ready for the complexity of Salesforce.

You might want to stick with others if:

• You are pure DTC: If you do not have a sales team and just need deep ecommerce predictive analytics, a dedicated ecommerce tool might still offer more granular data modeling.

• You need enterprise permissions: Brevo is improving here, but complex role-based access control is still better handled by legacy enterprise platforms.

The bottom line

Brevo has successfully transitioned from an email vendor to a legitimate CRM challenger. They identified a gap for companies that need the power of a unified suite without the bloated complexity of the giants.

Want to see how Brevo stacks up against your current tool? Check out our full comparison guide or reach out to our team for an audit of your stack.