Mailjet is the email marketing platform we would point to first for teams that want a real API and developer-grade transactional sending alongside their newsletter tool, because few email marketing platforms in this price range treat SMTP and API sending as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. This Mailjet review compares its documented pricing and feature set against Brevo and Mailchimp, and the pattern is clear: Mailjet wins on developer flexibility and collaborative editing, loses on built-in automation depth and template polish. Plans run from a free tier capped at 6,000 emails a month to paid tiers documented from about $17 a month, and Mailjet raised its subscription pricing in September 2026, so verify current rates before you budget.
For this review, we compared Mailjet's documented plans, sending and collaboration features, and reviewer-reported weaknesses against Brevo and Mailchimp. We priced out typical small-list bills, weighed developer-facing sending against marketing automation depth, and identified the senders each tool fits.
How We Compared These Tools
We compared Mailjet, Brevo, and Mailchimp using publicly documented pricing, vendor feature lists, and consistent patterns in published customer reviews. We did not send live campaigns through any of the accounts. All three tools publish rate cards, though contact limits, send caps, and prices change, and Mailjet specifically updated its pricing in September 2026, so verify current pricing before committing. We weighted four factors: cost at typical small-list volumes, API and developer tooling, marketing automation depth, and collaborative editing.
Mailjet Priced Out: A Free Tier, Then a September 2026 Increase
Mailjet documents a free plan covering up to 200 emails a day, roughly 6,000 a month, with core sending and a basic editor. The Starter plan is listed around $9 a month for about 2,000 contacts and 8,000 emails, Essential runs about $17 a month and adds unlimited contacts, segmentation, and AI-assisted content, and Premium starts near $25 a month with advanced statistics, automation, and landing pages. Annual billing is documented at roughly 10 percent off monthly rates. New pricing took effect for monthly subscribers on their first billing date on or after September 9, 2026, the first adjustment in two years, so the numbers above should be treated as a starting point rather than a locked-in quote. The honest takeaway: the free tier is genuinely useful for testing, but budget for higher paid rates than Mailjet's older marketing has implied.
API-First Sending and Real Collaboration Set It Apart
Mailjet's differentiator is that it was built around a developer-friendly API and SMTP relay from the start, so technical teams can send transactional email, password resets, and receipts through the same account as marketing newsletters without bolting on a separate service. Reviewers consistently report the API documentation and libraries are stronger than most competitors in this price band. On the marketing side, Mailjet's drag-and-drop editor supports real-time collaborative editing, letting multiple people work on one campaign at once with comments, which is unusual at this price point. Segmentation, A/B testing, and basic marketing automation round out the paid tiers, and deliverability is generally described as solid, though every provider depends on list hygiene.
The Weaknesses: Automation Depth, Template Polish, and the Recent Price Hike
Three criticisms appear repeatedly in published reviews. First, marketing automation is lighter than what Brevo or Mailchimp offer at comparable tiers, with fewer prebuilt journey templates and less branching logic for complex funnels. Second, the template library and visual polish trail Mailchimp's design-forward editor, so brands that lean heavily on templated aesthetics may find Mailjet's options plainer. Third, the September 2026 pricing update pushed several tiers higher, and some reviewers report the value proposition feels less clear-cut than it did when Mailjet was positioned as the budget developer option. None of these are fatal, but they shift Mailjet from clear budget winner to a more even trade against Brevo.
How Mailjet Stacks Up Against Brevo and Mailchimp
Brevo is the automation and channel-breadth choice, adding SMS and a generous free tier alongside email. Mailchimp is the design and ecosystem choice, with the deepest template library and the widest third-party integrations. Mailjet is the developer choice when transactional sending and collaborative editing matter more than automation depth. The table below sums up the trade-offs.
| Factor | Mailjet | Brevo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting cost | Free up to 6,000 emails monthly, paid from about $9, verify current after Sept 2026 update | Free tier available, paid plans from roughly $9 a month | Free tier limited, paid plans from roughly $13 a month |
| API and transactional sending | Strong, developer-first design | Solid API, less developer-focused branding | Available, less emphasized |
| Marketing automation | Basic to moderate depending on tier | Deeper automation and SMS included | Deep automation on paid tiers |
| Template design and polish | Functional, plainer library | Moderate template selection | Widest, most polished template library |
| Best fit | Teams needing both transactional and marketing sending | Teams wanting automation plus SMS on a budget | Brands prioritizing design and integrations |
Who Should Choose Mailjet Instead of a Marketing-First Platform
Choose Mailjet when your team needs one account that handles both transactional email through an API and marketing newsletters, especially if developers and marketers need to collaborate on the same platform. It suits SaaS companies, ecommerce backends, and any business whose product sends receipts or password resets alongside promotional campaigns. Choose Brevo if automation depth and SMS matter more than developer tooling. Choose Mailchimp if template design and a large integration marketplace lead your decision. Our review of Brevo covers the automation-forward alternative in depth, and our roundup of the best email marketing software for small business ranks the field. Mailjet's free plan costs nothing to test, and you can compare it against the Mailchimp free trial before deciding which fits your workflow.
What Reviewers Consistently Praise and Pan About Mailjet
Praise clusters around the API and SMTP reliability, real-time collaborative campaign editing, and a free tier that reviewers describe as genuinely usable rather than a crippled trial. Pans cluster around thinner marketing automation, a plainer template library, and the recent price increase that some longtime users report changed the calculus versus Brevo. A practical pattern emerges: technical teams and companies that already send transactional email report the strongest satisfaction, while marketing teams wanting deep automation and polished templates more often prefer Brevo or Mailchimp. Buy Mailjet for the combined sending use case, not for automation depth alone.
The bottom line: Mailjet remains the strongest choice we compared for teams that need transactional and marketing email under one roof, backed by a genuinely developer-friendly API and real-time collaborative editing that few competitors match at this price. The trade-offs are lighter marketing automation, a plainer template library, and a September 2026 price increase that narrowed its budget advantage. If your product sends transactional email and your marketing team needs to work alongside developers, Mailjet is the strongest option we compared; if design and automation depth lead your decision, Brevo or Mailchimp will likely serve you better.
