Flodesk VS. Mailchimp
Flodesk vs MAILCHIMP - Which is better for email marketing?
We break down everything you need to know
When it comes to email marketing platforms, there are a growing number of options to choose from, making it pretty challenging for inundated business owners to sift through their choices and pick what’s right for both their short and long-term growth.
Because here’s the thing about email marketing—It’s not about pushing out content for the sake of ticking a checkbox on your marketing to-do list. It’s about authentically connecting with your audience and sharing the story of your business. Customers and clients who feel engaged with your story are statistically more likely to support you, whether it’s through sharing your cause or purchasing your products or services.
So when it comes to choosing an email marketing platform, it’s really about selecting a platform that allows you to easily and effectively tell that story. We say this because there’s a learning curve to everything, including something as seemingly straightforward as composing email blasts.
If you’ve ever used an email marketing platform before, you already know it’s a whole different process than sending a single email to an individual or small group. You’re basically building an entire campaign from scratch. This involves selecting a template, building in your branding, carefully crafting your message, and scheduling it to arrive at the opportune moment.
Sound daunting? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
Flodesk vs Mailchimp
Mailchimp and Flodesk are just a few of the standouts in the field of email marketing. Mailchimp has been a longtime mainstay in the industry and is pretty popular thanks to its free plan for email campaigns with 500 subscribers or less. And we get it - free is pretty tempting, especially for emerging businesses and brands.
By comparison, Flodesk is $35 per month if you sign up for annual billing. And while we know there’s a seemingly big difference between $35 and, you know, free, we’re here to break down what you actually get for that $0 price tag and how Flodesk compares to Mailchimp’s offerings, especially as you start growing your customer and subscription base.
Mailchimp Pricing
Probably the biggest thing to pay attention to when considering Mailchimp is its pricing structure. This is incredibly important because Mailchimp bases its entire pricing model around audience size. This means if you’re a new business with less than 500 subscribers a month, you can indeed sign up for an entirely free email marketing account with Mailchimp. With this account, you can also send up to 1,000 email sends.
This might sound pretty great at first glance, but here’s where we’re going to shine a light on the details so you can make the most informed decision for your business.
If you actually have 500 subscribers, that 1,000 email sends only works out to 2 emails per month. If you have 100, it’s 10 email sends. If your list has as few as 50 subscribers, you get 20 email sends. You get the gist. It’s basic math. But that’s kind of the point. You have to keep track, and the more subscribers you build, the less you can communicate with them. That’s kind of the opposite of the direction you want to be headed.
So how do their paid plans work?
Once you exceed 500 subscribers, the plan automatically jumps to their essentials plan for $26.50/month. Once your audience hits 2,500, the cost rises to $39.50. From there, the cost of using Mailchimp increases exponentially. Using their own audience and cost calculator on their site, if your audience hits 200,000, guess what you’re paying per month? Because certainly there would be some sort of cap or unlimited threshold, right? Nope. If your audience reaches 200,000 subscribers, you’re looking at a $1,510 per month plan fee. Think we’re kidding? Check it out for yourself.
Flodesk Pricing
One of the things that has made Flodesk so attractive to both marketing agencies and independent business owners alike is their flat rate pricing. Everything in their email marketing suite is included for one flat rate of $35 per month. Access to nearly 50 customizable email templates - which are pretty amazing, by the way - unlimited emails and subscribers, workflow automations, audience segments, and more are all part of the plan.
The only caveat to the above pricing is their checkout integration which is an entirely separate add-on or something you can purchase instead of email marketing. Good news is, they’ve packaged both together for a flat rate of $59/month, so if you’re looking to sell services and transact directly through your email marketing, Flodesk makes it really easy.
Is Flodesk or Mailchimp better for email marketing newbies?
Mailchimp’s campaign builder has all sorts of graphics for you to start building your email campaign. It’s easy to use but also perhaps a little overwhelming for someone just starting out.
Flodesk’s campaign builder is extremely aesthetically pleasing and allows users to sort and pick between predesigned email templates based on your marketing goals. Once you’ve selected your option, you’re basically just swapping out existing images and placeholder content for your own. It can take some time to get the hang of it, but the end result will be worth it.
What about email automations?
Here’s another BIG thing to consider when choosing between Flodesk and Mailchimp, especially if you’re leaning toward the free Mailchimp plan.
Automations are currently not included in Mailchimp’s free plan. Even with 500 subscribers or less, you’ll need to upgrade to their $13/month Essentials plan in order to access their “Automated Customer Journeys” features.
What are email automations?
When a subscriber signs up for your email list, they’ll get an automated response that you can customize. Pretty much every email marketing provider has some sort of basic automation built in so that you’re subscriber receives a bare minimum response, such as “Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter.”
But as ultra-savvy email marketing experts already know, setting up more personalized automations can not only increase engagement but also simplify and streamline your marketing efforts.
With Flodesk, setting up an email automation is both easy and actually fun. Mailchimp’s aren’t difficult either, but they frame it in the context of a “customer journey” which may be confusing to those new to these platforms.
How hard is it to switch between Mailchimp and Flodesk?
In theory, it’s pretty straightforward to switch between email marketing platforms. It’s indeed very simple to export your audience and its segments, which is usually done as a CSV. From there, you upload that audience list CSV into the new platform.
With that said, there are some real things to consider before undertaking such a transition.
In terms of holding onto your list and transitioning your audience, yes, it’s easy to switch. But if you’ve been sending email blasts out for years or even months and have things like automations set up already, it’s going to be more of a pain to recreate what you have already set up in an entirely new platform.
You’ll basically have to start from scratch all over again, creating new branding, all new campaigns, new automations, and so on. This is why it can be so beneficial to decide on a platform that you can grow with long into the future, so you don’t have to make a shift just because your audience size went up.
Flodesk vs Mailchimp Summary
To summarize everything from our experiences using Flodesk vs Mailchimp, it really comes down to some pretty basic things to consider.
COST
If you’re looking for the cheapest entry point into email marketing, there’s really no competition between the two. Mailchimp wins because, after all, it’s hard to beat free. It’s important to keep in mind that these short-term savings could indeed cost you more money in the future should your audience grow, and you’re suddenly faced with the potentially daunting task of switching platforms or paying exponentially increasing costs.
FLEXIBILITY
If you're in a financial situation where you comfortably invest in Flodesk’s $35/month flat fee for their unlimited email marketing features, you’ll have the peace of mind that you can grow into this platform for years to come without having to face increased costs.
Top Features Compared
TOP FEATURES FOR FLODESK EMAIL MARKETING
✦ COST — Flat rate $35/month if paid annually
✦ TRIAL — Free for 30 days
✦ EMAIL & SUBSCRIBER LIMITS —Unlimited
✦ SCHEDULING —Unlimited
✦ AUDIENCE LIMITS — Unlimited Segments
✦ TEMPLATES — Nearly 50 email templates
✦ ANALYTICS — Included for all plans
✦ A/B TESTING —Not available
✦ FORMS & LANDING PAGES — Unlimited
TOP FEATURES FOR MAILCHIMP EMAIL MARKETING
✦ COST —$0-$1,510+/month
✦ TRIAL —Free for 30 days
✦ EMAIL & SUBSCRIBER LIMITS —Tiered
✦ SCHEDULING —Not included in free plan
✦ AUDIENCE LIMITS — 1 audience with free plan
✦ TEMPLATES — Limited under free plan
✦ ANALYTICS — Included for all plans
✦ A/B TESTING — Not included in free plan
✦ FORMS & LANDING PAGES — Included
Top Benefits of Email Marketing
Cultivating an authentic following of loyal supporters can mean the difference between flat and surging engagement, whether that’s through increased website visits, sales of your products and services, or anything else you’d like to achieve. Sending attractive on-brand messaging can help establish and grow these connections, creating lasting client and customer relationships for years to come.
How to Use Social Media to Build Your Email List
Social media is not just a powerful tool for driving clients and customers to your website. It can be a dynamic funnel to boost newsletter sign-ups to help you build a wider base for sharing upcoming events and promotions.
Want To Learn How to Maximize Social Media and Email Marketing Together?
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