Trying to figure out who’s the winner in Flodesk vs Mailchimp?

Neither one is right or wrong — like with Flodesk vs Substack, they serve different purposes, for different users. Here’s how I break it down.

What is Flodesk?

Flodesk is a platform for sending email newsletters to your email list. It's made to be easy to use. I think of it as an email sender for people who are artists, writers, florists, designers, whatever — basically, everyone but marketers. Marketers already have their favorite programs: ConvertKit, Mailchimp, AWeber, etc., which all offer intense marketing tools like advanced segmentation, retargeting, and stuff like that.

If you're at the place in your entrepreneurship or creative journey where you want an easy, beautiful way to send email newsletters, I honestly don't think Flodesk can be beat. 

Flodesk vs Mailchimp: Details

I started out on Mailchimp, and I would likely have stayed with them, but they introduced tiered pricing. If you have more than, say, 1000 subscribers (or hope to have many more), this can be a problem, if you don’t need the additional bells ‘n’ whistles that a full-featured provider like Mailchimp offers. Many creatives just want a way to send out a text-based email every week or so to their subscribers — so a monthly fee like $135 (which is wha Mailchimp charges for a list of about 10,000 subscribers) is not going to work. (And by the way, that number continues to climb as your list grows — 100,000 subscribers is $800 per month. At Flodesk, it's still just $38.) 

Mailchimp Has Some Advantages

Mailchimp has better customer service than Flodesk — officially with Flodesk, you can get help by email, but practically, the fastest assistance comes via their official Facebook group. Mailchimp, by contrast, has 24/7 support by email and chat support, and if you're on a premium plan, help by phone as well. Flodesk only recently debuted analytics, and they're much less fine-grained than Mailchimp's. Finally, if you have a very small list, the pricing can be quite competitive — if you have 500 contacts and send under 6,000 emails per month (that's 12 sends to your whole list), it's only $20 a month. Plus, there are lots of features a growing business might want down the road, including advanced segmentation and behavior targeting. 

For the final Flodesk v Mailchimp consideration, I don’t think one’s right and one’s wrong — it just depends on your needs. If you're building a brand, I think Flodesk is the better choice. If you're building a business, I think Mailchimp makes sense. 

Want to Get Going With Flodesk?  

I offer custom packages based on your needs. Email me to schedule a complimentary consult call. My services can include:

• Importing, consolidating, and managing your subscriber list — if it’s a mess, we’ll sort it out

• Creating or modifying a template that beautifully reflects your brand identity

• Creating and embedding sign-up forms

• Creating automations and freebies (see an automation sample here)

• Adding additional ecommerce functionality if it benefits your business

I’ll do it for you — or I can teach you how to do it during one-on-one Zoom sessions.