Flodesk Review (2024): What's Behind the Beautiful Flat-Rate Tool?
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Have you ever heard of Flodesk? If you prioritize design in your business and email marketing campaigns, chances are you have.
What's special about Flodesk?
Founded in 2018, Flodesk emerged as an email marketing platform that aimed to help users send beautiful, and functional emails without the overwhelming complexity often associated with more established platforms. The tool is mostly known for its unique email designs and minimalist interface.
Over the years, Flodesk has garnered a loyal fan base who swear by its simplicity and aesthetic appeal, despite competing in a crowded market with so many email marketing tools. It’s especially popular among solo entrepreneurs and small businesses who want to effortlessly create eye-catching newsletters.
My Own Experience With Flodesk
I've been using Flodesk for about three years now to send monthly emails to a list of over 5,000 subscribers. When I was searching for an email marketing tool, I found that most services charged way too much for a list of that size, especially since I wasn't making any money from my personal newsletter.
Flodesk, on the other hand, offered stable pricing that made sense to me, so I could focus on my content without worrying about sudden price hikes. Plus, I loved how simple and beautifully designed everything was!
While I'm still happy with my choice, I know Flodesk isn't for everyone. Since I have firsthand experience, I'm here to give you an honest and detailed look at what this tool offers — and where it falls short.
I hope it helps you decide if Flodesk is the right tool for you (or not!).
Flodesk Review: Summary
Flodesk offers great features and stunning, easy-to-use designs to simplify email marketing – all with a unique, straightforward pricing model. The platform includes an intuitive email builder, beautiful templates, a checkout page for digital products, and cool automation capabilities.
Users can choose between two flat-rate plans: the Email Marketing Plan for $38 per month, and the Email + Checkout Plan for $64 per month (annual discounts are available).
Flodesk is primarily aimed at small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, as it lacks some advanced features, such as automations with multiple triggers and multi-user access.
Flodesk Screenshots
Flodesk Pricing
Unlimited Subscribers
unlimited emails
Flodesk's Email plan includes unlimited emails, unlimited subscribers and access to all templates, workflows, embedded forms, landing pages, segments and analytics.
Unlimited Subscribers
unlimited emails
Flodesk's Checkout plan includes everything from the Email plan, plus ecommerce-specific features such as unlimited sales and unlimited Checkout pages.
Annual discounts are available.
Note: Flodesk promotes a “Free plan” in their website under pricing, but this does not refer to their email marketing tool which is why we are not listing it here. For email marketing, they only offer a 30-day trial.
Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Cons
Pros
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Stunning Email Designs
Flodesk’s templates are beautiful and make it easy to create unique, professional emails quickly. While all templates are easily customizable, certain pre-built layout sections might be a bit annoying to edit, since tweaking them too much can mess with Flodesk’s original design idea.
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Flat-rate pricing
Flodesk offers a clear and affordable pricing structure with no hidden fees – something that’s pretty rare in the industry! This is particularly great for those with a large list, a limited budget, and no need for complex features.
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Unlimited Emails and Subscribers
One of the main selling points of Flodesk is the freedom to grow your list without worrying about costs. While other tools might charge you hundreds of dollars, Flodesk allows you to expand your subscriber base and send unlimited emails without breaking the bank. (Of course, this comes with certain limitations – but more on that later.)
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User-Friendly Interface
Flodesk’s editor has a clean, intuitive, minimalist interface. It is easy and fun to play around with, and ideal for beginners.
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E-commerce features
Flodesk’s Checkout Page is a great way to start selling digital products online, and the best news is that they take no cut of your earnings – you only pay the regular Stripe processing fee. You can integrate thousands of third-party apps through Zapier and if you have a Shopify store, it takes just a few clicks to bring your customer list into Flodesk. You can use the Checkout Page feature even if you’re not on the Checkout plan – you only pay for it if you decide to publish it.
Is Flodesk the right newsletter service for you?
- Recommended if:
- Not recommended if:
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You value design and simplicity
If all you want is to quickly set up beautiful emails that are easy to customize without complicated editing, Flodesk has got you covered. It is ideal for those who prioritize simplicity in their email marketing efforts and want an easy-to-use platform with a minimalist interface.
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You sell digital products and services
Flodesk’s Checkout plan offers unlimited sales and checkout pages and it can be a great deal if your business focuses on digital products and services and requires only basic automation features. The platform does not take any fees from your sales, so you will only need to pay the standard Stripe fees.
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You want affordable, straightforward pricing
If you are looking for straightforward pricing that will not skyrocket over time (or, as a matter of fact, change at all!), Flodesk provides consistent and transparent pricing with only two flat-rate plans that are very affordable compared to many other tools—particularly if you have a big list.
Rating Details
A More Detailed Look at Flodesk’s Top Features
We have highlighted through this article all that Flodesk has to offer, but let’s take a closer look now at its pro features.
Interface, Templates and Editor
The top feature that draws users to Flodesk is its stunning, aesthetically-pleasing approach. The platform offers a clean interface paired with beautiful designs. This, combined with their minimalist and intuitive editor, makes creating campaigns an enjoyable, fun experience. It’s very easy to get started and create your emails – you won’t have to navigate through complicated menus or feel overwhelmed by options.
Flodesk provides a nice range of beautiful, customizable email templates, ideal for engaging campaigns. In their template library, you can filter templates based on your campaign goals.
For example, under the “Make Money” category, you’ll find excellent template options for simple countdown offers, gift guide roundups, coupon codes, event registrations, and much more.
Flodesk templates: great options depending on your email goal
Automated Workflows + Link Action
When I first started using Flodesk, I found their automation options to be quite basic. So basic, in fact, that I thought I must be missing something. However, for a long time, that really was all there was. Flodesk only offered simple workflow sequences triggered by a single event: “when a subscriber is added to a segment.”
The good news is that just this July, Flodesk launched a new automation feature called Link Action, aiming to improve its automation capabilities.
With Link Actions, you can now add automations to any link in your emails. This allows you to organize subscribers into segments or workflows based on which links they click, making your email marketing more personalized and efficient. And it’s pretty easy to use: you can add a link action to any link in your Flodesk emails, and you can automatically segment subscribers, trigger workflows, or apply custom tags.
These features are indeed basic for some users, but they could still be just right for many others.
Affordable, Flat-rate Pricing
We can’t wrap up this review without giving another shoutout to Flodesk’s pricing! While it might not be the most complex tool out there, Flodesk still offers a lot of cool, basic features for various business needs. In a market where many popular tools charge hundreds of dollars and prices keep rising as your list grows, Flodesk’s pricing feels like a dream – with only two affordable, flat-rate plans to choose from, and no hidden costs.
That alone makes it an excellent option for those on a budget, allowing you to grow their list with all the basics covered and without stressing over upcoming costs.
Conclusion
As a personal fan of Flodesk, I recommend it to anyone looking to grow their email list on a budget. It’s particularly great for creators, solo entrepreneurs, and small businesses due to its straightforward approach.
Flodesk claims to be the most intuitive email marketing tool out there, and while I can’t confirm this, I certainly agree that its user-friendliness and visuals are great for beginners. It’s a nice, simple tool that allows you to send beautiful campaigns, track their performance, and create simple automations with ease.
While some might see its simplicity as a drawback, it’s exactly this (combined with its beautiful designs!) that makes it perfect for those who want to keep their email marketing efforts simple while making a great impression.
That being said, it does lack more complex features regarding automation, for example.
Flodesk’s prices are also tempting, but remember that it will not meet the needs of businesses requiring advanced automation or extensive integrations.
But if you like the idea of creating beautiful emails and growing your list without dealing with complex features or rising prices, Flodesk could be the perfect choice for you!
Sign up for a free trial to see if it meets all your business needs:
> You can try Flodesk for free for 30 days here (get 50% off your first year through this link).
Flodesk Alternatives
Mailchimp: If you are considering Mailchimp as an alternative to Flodesk, be aware that its prices escalate much quicker. While Mailchimp does offer a free plan, its features are very limited and it only supports up to 500 subscribers. For a detailed comparison, check out our “Flodesk vs. Mailchimp” article.
Kit: Kit is a good email marketing tool that offers much more powerful automation and subscriber management tools than Flodesk. However, its design options are quite basic, best suited for simple text emails. Additionally, its free plan is restrictive and lacks advanced reporting and integrations. For more insights, see our “Flodesk vs. Kit” article.
MailerLite: MailerLite offers a budget-friendly pricing structure and a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers. It provides robust automation features and a user-friendly interface, making it a strong competitor. However, its design capabilities are not as visually appealing as Flodesk’s. For a more comprehensive comparison, read our “Flodesk vs. MailerLite” article.
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This review has been written and researched following our EmailToolTester methodology.
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