Brevo Transactional Emails: What They Are and How to Use Them

Not all emails you send are newsletters or campaigns. A large category of business-critical emails — order confirmations, password resets, shipping notifications — are called transactional emails. And Brevo handles them exceptionally well.

This guide explains what transactional emails are, why they matter, and how to set them up in Brevo.

What Are Transactional Emails?

Transactional emails are automated messages triggered by a specific user action or system event. Unlike marketing emails that are sent to a list, transactional emails are one-to-one messages sent in response to something a specific user did.

Common examples:

• Order confirmation emails ("Your order #12345 has been placed")
• Shipping notification emails ("Your package is on its way")
• Password reset emails ("Click here to reset your password")
• Account activation emails ("Verify your email address")
• Invoice or receipt emails
• Subscription renewal reminders

How Transactional Emails Differ from Marketing Emails

Understanding this distinction matters because the rules are different:

Because transactional emails are expected and often urgent, they have among the highest open rates of any email type. Getting them right directly impacts customer experience and trust.

Why Use Brevo for Transactional Emails?

Brevo's transactional email infrastructure offers several advantages:

Reliable delivery. Brevo maintains a high sender reputation through dedicated IP management and compliance monitoring. Your password resets will reach the inbox, not spam.

Detailed logs. Every transactional send is logged in Brevo. You can search for any email by recipient address and see exactly when it was delivered, opened, or bounced.

Template management. Create and manage your transactional email templates directly in Brevo using the drag-and-drop editor — no developer required for template updates.

API and SMTP support. Developers can send transactional emails via Brevo's REST API or via SMTP relay — whatever fits best into the existing tech stack.

Setting Up Transactional Emails in Brevo

Method 1: SMTP Relay

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the simplest way to route transactional emails through Brevo. Instead of sending through your web host's mail server, you configure your application to send through Brevo's SMTP server.

Brevo SMTP settings:

• SMTP Host: smtp-relay.brevo.com
• Port: 587 (TLS) or 465 (SSL)
• Username: Your Brevo account email address
• Password: Your SMTP key (found in Settings → SMTP & API)

Most platforms (WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Laravel, etc.) have built-in SMTP settings or plugins that accept these credentials.

Method 2: Brevo API

For more control — including dynamic content, personalisation, and tracking — use Brevo's REST API to send transactional emails.

A basic API call to send a transactional email looks like this:

POST https://api.brevo.com/v3/smtp/email
{
  "sender": {"name": "Sendexy", "email": "support@sendexy.online"},
  "to": [{"email": "user@example.com", "name": "User Name"}],
  "subject": "Your order is confirmed",
  "templateId": 42,
  "params": {
    "ORDER_ID": "12345",
    "PRODUCT_NAME": "Email Course"
  }
}

The templateId refers to a template you've created in Brevo's template library. The params object passes dynamic values into the template's placeholders.

Creating a Transactional Email Template

Go to Campaigns → Templates (or Transactional → Templates) and click Create a Template.

Build your template in the drag-and-drop editor. Use Brevo's personalisation syntax to insert dynamic content:

• {{params.FIRST_NAME}} — the contact's first name
• {{params.ORDER_ID}} — any custom parameter you pass via the API
• {{contact.EMAIL}} — the recipient's email address

This approach lets you design the template visually once and reuse it for every transactional send, just passing different data each time.

Viewing Transactional Email Logs

One of the most useful features for troubleshooting is Brevo's transactional email log.

Go to Campaigns → Transactional → Email Logs and you can:

• Search by recipient email address
• Filter by status (delivered, soft bounce, hard bounce, spam report)
• View the exact timestamp of each event
• Resend or trigger retries manually

This log is invaluable when a customer says "I never received my confirmation email." In most cases, you can look up the send within 60 seconds and see exactly what happened.

Best Practices for Transactional Emails

Keep them functional, not promotional. Transactional emails have a specific job. Don't clutter them with banners, promotions, or excessive branding. Deliver the expected information clearly.

Use a clear, recognisable sender name. "Sendexy Orders" or "Sendexy Support" is better than just "Sendexy" or an email address. Recipients should immediately know what this email is about.

Include relevant details. An order confirmation should include the order number, items purchased, shipping address, and estimated delivery. Don't make customers dig for information.

Test every template thoroughly. Before going live, test every transactional template with real data. Check that all parameters populate correctly and that formatting looks right on both desktop and mobile.

Brevo Pricing at a Glance

All plans include unlimited contact storage. See full pricing on Brevo →