Alternative to Brevo vs SendGrid Comparison

Why Email Communication Matters Today

Email remains the most reliable, measurable, and cost-effective communication channel for businesses globally. Whether it’s sending order confirmations, account alerts, customer newsletters, or onboarding sequences, email offers unmatched reach with direct access to customer inboxes.

In today’s digital economy, the ability to deliver personalized, timely, and actionable emails can define the customer experience. Brands that consistently communicate with their customers build loyalty, increase customer lifetime value, and improve retention. From startups to large enterprises, email has become essential not just for marketing but also for critical transactional notifications such as password resets, purchase receipts, and balance alerts.

However, as simple as email sounds on the surface, the technology and operational challenges behind high-scale, reliable email delivery are complex. Businesses need to consider factors like deliverability, sender reputation, compliance, and user engagement.

The Shift from Global to Local Platforms

Historically, most businesses in Africa and emerging markets have relied on international providers like SendGrid, Mailchimp, and Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) to handle their email marketing and transactional messaging needs. These platforms have set industry standards for deliverability, API performance, and automation.

Yet, these global platforms often fail to address unique local challenges such as:

• Currency and payment limitations, with many requiring credit card payments in USD or Euros.

• Lack of regulatory compliance advisory for regions like Nigeria, where data protection laws are evolving.

• Limited optimization for African ISP networks, leading to delivery gaps or higher bounce rates.

• Minimal or no local customer support, making problem resolution slow or costly.

This gap has led to the rise of local platforms like Yournotify, built specifically for African businesses. Yournotify combines transactional email, marketing automation, and SMS campaigns with local billing in Naira, accessible payment options, and African network optimization.

In this article, we will compare these platforms in depth, covering their features, pricing, technical capabilities, and market fit, to help you make an informed decision for your business.

Platform Profiles and Market Fit

Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo began its journey as Sendinblue in 2012, headquartered in Paris, France. It entered the market positioned as an affordable alternative to larger email service providers like Mailchimp. Over the years, it expanded its features to include SMS marketing, landing page builders, CRM tools, and advanced automation workflows. In 2023, the platform rebranded as Brevo, reflecting its ambition to move beyond email into a full customer relationship platform.

Its strengths lie in its user-friendly interface, easy-to-use drag-and-drop automation builder, and compliance with European data privacy regulations like GDPR. It is widely used by small to medium-sized businesses globally for managing customer engagement through email and SMS.

However, Brevo’s limitations become apparent when scaling transactional email delivery, particularly for developers or businesses sending millions of messages. Its dependency on USD and Euro billing and international payment methods makes it less accessible to African businesses without access to foreign currency or international payment cards. Brevo also lacks optimization for African ISP networks, which can affect email deliverability in local markets.

Brevo is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses, marketing teams looking for multi-channel engagement tools, and agencies managing campaigns for clients. It is not ideal for high-scale transactional email delivery or businesses operating primarily in Africa with local billing and regulatory requirements.

SendGrid

SendGrid was founded in 2009 in Colorado, USA, with a focus on solving the challenges of reliable transactional email delivery. It became the platform of choice for developers needing to send millions of time-sensitive emails with high deliverability. In 2019, SendGrid was acquired by Twilio, further strengthening its position as a leader in developer-focused communication APIs.

SendGrid excels in its API performance, SMTP reliability, and enterprise-grade deliverability. Its documentation, SDKs, and webhook support make it a favorite among large tech companies and SaaS platforms. Brands like Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb rely on SendGrid for their email infrastructure.

Despite these strengths, SendGrid’s user interface is less intuitive for non-technical users. Its marketing tools are basic and not as feature-rich as platforms like Brevo. Additionally, SendGrid does not offer SMS capabilities or lead generation tools, which means businesses often need to integrate multiple platforms to meet all their messaging needs.

For African businesses, SendGrid poses challenges with USD-only billing, international card requirements, and limited regional support. It is best suited for large-scale transactional email senders, developers, and product teams who prioritize API performance over marketing features.

Yournotify

Yournotify was built specifically to address the challenges faced by African businesses in managing customer communication. It integrates email, SMS, and lead generation into a single platform, with the added benefit of local currency billing in Naira. This makes it accessible to businesses of all sizes in Nigeria and other African countries.

Yournotify stands out by providing local payment options, including bank transfers and wallet-based billing. It also focuses on optimizing deliverability for African ISP networks, ensuring higher success rates for both email and SMS campaigns. By offering a unified customer data platform, Yournotify helps businesses manage customer profiles and run personalized campaigns across multiple channels.

The platform is designed to support businesses at every stage of the customer lifecycle, from acquisition through lead generation to engagement and retention through targeted messaging. Its customer data management tools make it easier for businesses to segment audiences and create relevant communication flows.

Yournotify is ideal for African fintechs, e-commerce businesses, SMEs, and marketing teams that need a locally relevant, cost-effective solution for customer engagement. While it is still expanding its feature set and lacks global recognition, its focus on local market needs makes it a strong choice for businesses operating in Africa.

Platform Fit Summary

Brevo is best for small to medium-sized businesses needing marketing automation and multi-channel engagement tools. It is less suitable for businesses focused on transactional email at scale or those operating in markets with currency and payment barriers.

SendGrid is ideal for developers and enterprises that require high-performance transactional email APIs. However, it lacks advanced marketing features and is not optimized for local markets in Africa.

Yournotify is designed for African businesses that need a unified platform for email, SMS, and lead generation with local billing and support. It is best suited for businesses looking to grow their customer base and improve engagement without the complexities of dealing with foreign payment systems.

Performance and API Capabilities

Selecting the right platform goes beyond marketing features. It requires evaluating technical performance, scalability, and how developer-friendly the platform is. Below is a breakdown of how Brevo, SendGrid, and Yournotify stack up in API documentation, SDK support, rate limits, queue management, and webhooks.

API Documentation Quality

A strong developer experience starts with documentation. Let’s see how these platforms compare:

Platform	API Documentation Quality	Supported Languages	Developer Community
Brevo	Well-documented but scattered between transactional and marketing APIs	PHP, Python, Node.js, Java	Moderate
SendGrid	Best-in-class, detailed, and consistent	Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, Java, Go	Strong
Yournotify	Clear and local-market oriented, fewer language-specific docs	REST API, Node.js, PHP	Growing

Key Takeaways:

• SendGrid stands out with enterprise-grade developer documentation and large community support.
• Brevo provides good documentation but can feel split between use cases.
• Yournotify keeps it simple with RESTful APIs and local market examples, ideal for African fintechs and SMEs.

SDK and Developer Tooling Coverage

SDKs accelerate development by reducing the complexity of direct API requests.

Brevo SDKs:

• PHP
• Python
• Node.js
• Java

SendGrid SDKs:

• Node.js
• Python
• Ruby
• PHP
• Java
• Go

Yournotify SDKs:

• REST API with examples for Node.js and PHP (official SDKs expanding)

See related Yournotify API examples here: Yournotify API Docs

API Rate Limits and Scalability

Handling high volumes of transactional emails requires a platform that scales reliably.

Platform	Rate Limit Transparency	High-Volume Capacity	Dedicated IP Support
Brevo	Limited documentation	Requires upgrade requests	Available on higher plans
SendGrid	Clear documentation	Enterprise-grade scalability	Yes
Yournotify	Flexible, based on subscription	Localized scaling for African markets	Yes (coming soon)

Highlights:

• SendGrid leads in documented scalability and rate management.
• Yournotify offers flexible scaling for African markets, avoiding surprises with local support for increasing limits.

Email Processing Speeds and Reliability

Platform	Processing Speed	Ideal Use Cases
Brevo	Batch processing, minor delays for large lists	Marketing campaigns
SendGrid	Near real-time delivery	Transactional notifications, high-scale systems
Yournotify	Optimized for local ISPs, fast for African regions	Nigerian fintech, local e-commerce

Related reading: How Nigerian Fintechs Can Handle Failed Transaction Notifications

Webhook and Event Feedback Capabilities

Handling real-time events like delivery, bounce, and engagement tracking is crucial.

Platform	Supported Webhook Events	Ease of Integration
Brevo	Delivered, Opened, Clicked, Bounced, Unsubscribed	Medium
SendGrid	Delivered, Dropped, Bounced, Opened, Clicked, Spam Reported	High
Yournotify	Delivered, Failed, Bounced	Easy for local developers

Example Event Types You Can Track with SendGrid:

• Processed
• Delivered
• Opened
• Clicked
• Bounced
• Dropped
• Spam Reported
• Unsubscribed

Yournotify keeps the event payloads lightweight and local-developer-friendly, ensuring African teams can build real-time engagement dashboards without unnecessary complexity.

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Performance Comparison Summary

Criteria	Brevo	SendGrid	Yournotify
API Documentation	Good, but scattered	Excellent	Clear and growing
SDK Coverage	4 major languages	6+ major languages	REST + Examples
Rate Limit Control	Limited	Transparent & Scalable	Flexible & Localized
Email Processing	Batch (Marketing)	Real-time (Transactional)	Optimized for Africa
Webhook Feedback	Standard Events	Comprehensive Events	Lightweight & Localized

You can explore more technical resources on SendGrid’s Developer Hub or Yournotify’s API Reference.

Deliverability and ISP Optimization

Deliverability is the most critical success factor in any email or SMS campaign. A great-looking message or perfect API request means nothing if the message doesn’t reach the customer’s inbox or mobile phone. This section evaluates how Brevo, SendGrid, and Yournotify handle deliverability and network optimization, particularly in African regions like Nigeria where infrastructure and ISP partnerships play a significant role.

Deliverability refers to the platform’s ability to ensure messages land in the inbox (not spam) or are successfully delivered to mobile networks. Factors affecting deliverability include sender reputation, ISP-specific spam filters, network optimization, domain authentication with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, bounce management, and blacklist monitoring.

Brevo offers basic deliverability features such as SPF and DKIM setup guides and dedicated IPs for higher-tier customers. It meets European data protection standards through GDPR compliance. However, Brevo lacks African ISP partnerships or specialized routing, leading to higher spam filtering with local Nigerian email services. SMS routes also rely on international providers, which may not guarantee delivery consistency in African regions.

SendGrid is recognized globally for its deliverability infrastructure. It provides dedicated IPs, IP warm-up strategies, advanced suppression lists, and detailed bounce classification. Event tracking includes real-time data on delivery, drops, bounces, spam reports, and engagement metrics. SendGrid is used by major brands like Uber and Spotify for enterprise-grade email delivery. Despite this strength, SendGrid has little to no optimization for African ISP conditions or local mobile networks. African businesses using SendGrid must manage deliverability on their own, often without regional support.

Yournotify takes a different approach by building direct relationships with African ISPs and SMS aggregators. This ensures better local email delivery to Nigerian inboxes and higher SMS success rates on local telco networks. Yournotify provides Naira-billed options for dedicated sender IDs and IP addresses, giving businesses more control over their sender reputation. The platform includes bounce handling and localized delivery reports designed for African markets. Yournotify’s SMS fallback feature automatically triggers an SMS when an email fails to deliver, increasing message reach.

The following table compares how each platform performs across African ISP optimization, SMS delivery, dedicated IP support, and real-time feedback.

For example, a Nigerian fintech previously using SendGrid switched to Yournotify after experiencing high bounce rates on Nigerian ISPs. After migrating to Yournotify, the company saw a 22% reduction in bounce rates, a 19% improvement in OTP delivery success, and a 35% drop in customer complaints about missed notifications. By using Yournotify’s SMS fallback, they ensured that failed emails automatically triggered SMS messages, boosting customer reach and reliability.

To learn more about optimizing your deliverability in Africa, explore Yournotify’s guide on improving email deliverability at Yournotify’s blog

 

Pricing and Accessibility for African Businesses

While technical capabilities are important, pricing and payment accessibility often become the biggest barriers for businesses operating in Africa. Many international platforms price their services in USD or Euros, requiring foreign payment methods such as international credit cards. This limits access for many businesses in Nigeria and other African countries where local currency usage and bank transfers are the norm.

This section breaks down the pricing structures of Brevo, SendGrid, and Yournotify, focusing on affordability, billing transparency, currency options, and payment method accessibility for African businesses.

Brevo Pricing Overview

Brevo operates a freemium model where businesses can start with 300 emails per day at no cost. Paid plans start at around $25 per month, increasing with the number of emails and features required. SMS pricing is separate and can vary by destination country. Higher-tier customers have the option to purchase dedicated IPs for improved deliverability. All pricing is in USD or Euros, and payments require international credit cards or PayPal.

For many African businesses, this pricing structure introduces challenges due to fluctuating exchange rates, international payment processing fees, and currency restrictions imposed by local banks. These factors make Brevo less accessible to businesses that operate entirely in Naira or other African currencies.

SendGrid Pricing Overview

SendGrid’s free tier allows up to 100 emails per day. Paid plans start at $19.95 per month for up to 50,000 emails. High-volume senders are encouraged to move to dedicated IP plans and scalable infrastructure that can cost several hundred or thousands of dollars monthly. Like Brevo, SendGrid prices are listed in USD, and payments require international credit cards or PayPal.

For African businesses aiming to send millions of emails per month, SendGrid’s pricing can become expensive, especially when factoring in foreign exchange costs and payment barriers. The lack of local currency support and payment flexibility makes it difficult for many African SMEs to adopt SendGrid without navigating financial hurdles.

Yournotify Pricing Overview

Yournotify takes a different approach by pricing its services in Naira, starting from ₦20,000 per month. This pricing model removes the need for currency conversion or international payment methods. Customers can pay via:

• Local bank transfers

• Debit or credit cards issued by Nigerian banks

• Wallet-based payments within the platform

Yournotify’s transparent pricing includes both email and SMS services. Customers can purchase credits that apply to email campaigns, SMS campaigns, or lead generation activities. Unused credits roll over, ensuring that businesses get full value for their investment without losing funds to expiration or hidden fees.

Real Cost Comparison (Email Only)

Key Advantages of Yournotify’s Local Pricing Model

• Fully Naira-billed with no hidden forex conversion fees

• Flexible payment methods that fit African business banking norms

• Credit rollover for future campaigns, protecting customer investment

• Unified pricing for both email and SMS campaigns

Yournotify also offers volume-based discounts for businesses that commit to higher monthly spend or pre-purchase larger credit packages. This makes it attractive to growing SMEs, fintechs, and large enterprises looking to control costs while scaling their messaging efforts locally.