When I first started building my email list, it was a no-brainer for me to choose Flodesk. Now, 4 years later, I want to share my honest Flodesk review to help you choose the best email marketing platform for your business!
The flat-rate beta pricing, clean user interface, and stylish templates were the things that initially attracted me most about Flodesk. Since then (I think I signed up in early 2021!) I’ve used Flodesk to grow my email list to over 2,000 subscribers, building an engaged audience of warm leads and customers.
If you’re curious about what Flodesk can do for your business, if it’s worth it, and all of my opinions and experiences with the platform, keep reading!!
Oh, and I might have a discount code for you to use, too, if that’s the kind of thing you’re into…
What is Flodesk?
Flodesk is an email marketing platform that lets you grow your email list, send marketing emails, and even sell products directly through the platform.
In addition to their core offering of email marketing, Flodesk has added a variety of other business tools, including a built-in link in bio landing page, e-commerce tools, and improved email analytics and segmentation capabilities.
You can choose to just use Flodesk’s signature email marketing services, or add on Flodesk Checkout to utilize the checkout features. Personally, I just use Flodesk for my email marketing and it’s incredible!
Within Flodesk, you can create and style landing pages, embeddable opt-in forms, and dynamic pop ups that get your people on your list (even without a website)!
How I Use Flodesk
Obviously, email marketing is the umbrella category of what Flodesk does for my business, but here’s a detailed breakdown of all the things I either have used or currently use Flodesk for:
- Sending my weekly newsletter
- Service guide delivery sequence
- Freebie opt-in forms
- Welcome sequences (for the newsletter and freebie delivery)
- Building and engaging waitlists
- Digital product delivery (connected to Thrivecart via Zapier)
- Sales + promotional emails
- Tracking subscriber interest in offers
Now that you know what Flodesk can do, let’s get into what you’re really here for — the full Flodesk review.
How Much Does Flodesk Cost?
Before I share my review, I have to talk about Flodesk’s pricing, because it’s the biggest appeal of the platform if you ask me (which, if you’re reading this, you are).
As of January 2025, Flodesk has three different plans — the Free Forever plan, the Email plan, and the Email + Checkout plan.
No matter which Flodesk plan you choose, you’ll always pay the same price, no matter how big or small your email list is. If you’ve been comparing Flodesk with other email service providers like Convertkit, you’ll know that this is RARE.
Most other email platforms increase the price as your subscriber list grows, but Flodesk doesn’t. You can have an unlimited number of subscribers and send an unlimited amount of emails (on the paid plans) for the same monthly price of $38 per month ($35 per month if you pay annually).
Try Flodesk for Free
I absolutely love that Flodesk has a free plan now. Instead of having a limited time trial to test the service, you can sign up for a free plan and take advantage of the link in bio and forms features to see if you like the platform before entering your CC info.
Here’s the full comparison of what the different plans include:
Flodesk Monthly vs. Annual Pricing
How much Flodesk costs depends on the plan you choose and if you pay on a monthly or annual basis. Since we’re mostly talking about email marketing here, let’s just use the email plan as our example.
As I mentioned before, Flodesk is $38/month if you pay monthly and $35/month if you pay for a full year at a time.
If you’re trying to figure out how much Flodesk is yearly, that works out to be $456 with monthly payments or $420 annually.
But if you use my Flodesk discount code of SARAHB, your first year is only $228!
For complete transparency, I pay $19 a month for Flodesk because I was grandfathered into their beta pricing.
Even though I’m not paying the full current cost of a Flodesk subscription, I would still do it in a heartbeat if I had to! The unlimited subscribers and flat fee model, not to mention everything that’s included, makes the price more than worth it.
Flodesk Review: My Favorite Features
In my opinion, Flodesk is the best email system for online businesses, creators, and service providers. It has nearly everything you need without being overly complicated or expensive. But instead of just listing the features of the platform, I’m going to share my personal favorite things about Flodesk.
It’s easy to use and understand
Flodesk saw an issue in the email system market and solved it brilliantly. Most of the other email service providers were overly corporate, outdated, or complicated.
They weren’t exactly appealing for the creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, one-woman shows, and girly-pop business owners of the world.
Flodesk combines a clean, user-friendly interface with beautiful design to create an email platform that’s as simple to use as it is aesthetically pleasing.
I’ll talk more about the design in a sec, because I know that’s easy to ignore.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Psh, I don’t care about pretty emails, I just need something that works.”
Fair! Flodesk works. And even better, it’s easy to get set up and running on Flodesk with simple, clear functions and navigations. You don’t have to be an email marketing expert to use Flodesk.
That’s why I think Flodesk is such a good email marketing platform for beginners. Even though there might be cheaper or free platforms out there, Flodesk offers an excellent place to learn how to set up workflows, sequences, segmentation, and more.
The email builder itself is also incredibly intuitive, with ready-to-use layouts and drag-and-drop functionality that’s ever improving. No coding or advanced design skills needed!
You can keep your emails and forms on-brand
Ask any brand designer and they’ll tell you the importance of having a cohesive brand online. With Flodesk, you can set up your brand guidelines including brand colors, brand fonts, and logos so they’re easy to add to any email or form.
Before I had my website up and running, I loved using Flodesk’s full-page landing page forms to promote my newsletter and freebies. As a Pinterest manager working with a lot of other visual creatives, my design skills were always somewhat on trial. Luckily, it was easy to design a landing page that looked nice and aligned with my brand identity.
Choose from Flodesk templates or purchase third-party integrated templates
I love a good template. It’s so much easier than starting from scratch, especially for anything design-related. That’s why Flodesk’s library of email marketing templates is such an appealing factor to me!
Not only do they have pre-built templates for newsletters, freebie delivery, sales, and more, but Flodesk also has a variety of templates for different forms, from popups and countdown timers to sales pages and wheel spinners.
In 2024, Flodesk also made it possible for other people to create, share, and sell Flodesk templates to use on the platform. That means it’s easier than ever to find gorgeous email designs to use.
Many website template shops have added matching Flodesk email templates to their shops, and you can even find free designer templates, too!
Flodesk listens to user feedback and continually adds new features
For the longest time, you would hear the same criticisms of Flodesk — there aren’t any analytics, you can’t automate subscriber tagging, it’s just for looks, etc.
After four years on the platform, I can proudly say that isn’t the case anymore.
I firmly believe that there aren’t any truly perfect, all-inclusive business tools. You have to stick with what works best for you and trust that with time, the platform will develop.
I never thought Flodesk would add the ability to auto-tag subscribers for advanced segmentation. But last year, 2024, they introduced link actions to do just that.
They also added analytics within the platform, the ability to view your Flodesk workflows without pausing them, and so many other often requested features.
The Flodesk team obviously listens to their users’ feedback and actually implements the changes, which I think says loads about its longevity as an essential business software.
Flat pricing for unlimited subscribers
I know I already mentioned Flodesk’s flat pricing model when we talked about how much it costs, but I truly do think it’s the biggest pro of Flodesk.
By charging the same subscription fee for every size email list, Flodesk isn’t “punishing” businesses for growing. Let me just say, email list growth is a lot sweeter when you know your bill isn’t going up at the same time.
Flodesk Cons: Potential Limitations
I promised you an honest review of Flodesk, and I couldn’t do that without mentioning some of Flodesk’s limitations.
It might not be the best choice for all business models
If you run a product-based or e-commerce business, it’s possible that a different email marketing platform would serve your needs better. My go-to email marketing expert, Aireanna Elanah, often recommends Klaviyo over Flodesk for her e-commerce clients because of their slightly more advanced e-commerce analytics and segmentation capabilities.
Even though Flodesk does offer checkouts now, I think those are more applicable for creators and service providers who are adding a digital product to their offerings rather than businesses who solely sell products.
A/B testing isn’t natively available
If you’re someone who really nerds out over marketing data and testing different variables, Flodesk does have some limitations in its ability to do A/B testing.
While there are workarounds, Flodesk doesn’t have a native option to A/B test subject lines or other components of your email marketing like some other platforms do.
Personally, this isn’t a big deal to me as I’m more focused on overall results than specific outcomes of individual emails or CTAs.
There are some design limitations
Flodesk’s drag-and-drop email interface is simple to use, but that also comes with some restrictions in the design possibilities. What’s great about Flodesk’s email designs is that they have customizable graphic layouts that you can design within the platform itself (instead of having to design the graphic in an external program like Canva and upload it as an image).
However, if you want to get creative beyond the bounds of the native Flodesk layout blocks, your options are somewhat limited.
If you’re someone who cares about complete customization of your email’s look, you may want to play around with Flodesk on the free version before committing.
Is Flodesk worth it?
In my opinion, Flodesk is absolutely worth it! Despite some of the complaints about Flodesk, the other features and benefits totally make up for it. Plus, they’re always adding new things!
No platform is without its limitations, you just have to find the one that works best for you. And for $19/month for your entire first year, Flodesk is a savvy and worthwhile investment for your business!
Email marketing in general is something I recommend every business owner start utilizing, particularly if you’re interested in Pinterest marketing. Flodesk makes it easy for you to set up a lead magnet landing page, build your automated welcome sequence, and continue to nurture your subscribers with a weekly newsletter. All of that is exactly what I recommend if you want to use Pinterest to grow your email list, and with Flodesk’s simplicity, you can get started even faster.
Try Flodesk for free here and get 50% off your entire first year with the code SARAHB!
And if you have any questions or want to see more in-depth how I use Flodesk in my business, I’m more than happy to share! I’m just a DM or email away. 🫶
