Mailerlite vs. Flodesk, Which is Better for your Creative Business?

So you’ve created a business, congrats! Now, it’s time to talk about emails. Email marketing is proven to be one of the most important ingredients of a successful business. 

According to Business Insider , “Email marketing can be a boom for business owners, providing one of the most direct ways to communicate with potential customers.” 

Not only is it the best way to create a lead magnet , but email marketing will help you build up a loyal client base and boost your sales which is why it’s crucial that you choose an email marketing platform that works for you!

Today we’re talking about the difference between two up-and-coming platforms, Mailerlite and Flodesk. Which one is best for your creative business, you may be wondering? Let’s talks some stats: 

Mailerlite

Main Features

Mailerlite’s most basic package offers all the essential features you need like automated email responses, AB testing, forms, pop-ups, email segmenting, and customer surveys. You can even build landing pages/websites and Mailerlite will host them for you! 

Pricing

Perhaps Mailerlite’s greatest strength is its price. It’s completely free up until 1k subscribers with up to 12,000 monthly emails! They do offer two other packages: one for $9/month ($108 per year) and one for $19/month ($228/year) which allow you to add more users and offer a few more premium features such as unlimited templates and websites, acustom HTML editor, and Facebook integration. 

Automation

You can create automated sequences on both Mailerlite’s free and paid plan allowing you to design email flows such as a welcome email series for new subscribers. Their main automation triggers include

• when a subscribers joins a group or completes a form
• when a subscriber’s field is updated
• when a link gets clicked
• on anniversaries of a date 

Email templates

 Mailerlite’s offers over 50 free email templates to get you started. Their designs have a clean, trendy feel, making it easy to create a professional-looking email marketing campaign. You also customize your own template using the drag and drop editor in the free version, or with a custom HTML in the growing business/advanced versions. 

Ease of use

Mailerlite has won multiple awards from companies such as g2.com who voted them at the top in “best usability.” Their platform is designed to be as easy to set up and use as possible, making it a budget-friendly, user-friendly choice! 

Flodesk 

Main Features

Though Flodesk doesn’t have some of the basic features that Mailerlite does such as auto-responses, AB testing, and customer surveys, they do offer workflows and opt-ins, email segmenting, and a truly design-forward template builder to create stunning and beautiful emails. 

Pricing

Flodesk offers a free 30-day trial but after that you have to pay a flat rate of $38/month. They only offer one plan, so for the $38/month you have unlimited access to all of their features. 

Automation

Workflows are a little harder to use in Flodesk than Mailerlite since you can only add a workflow trigger when a subscriber is added to a segment, and they only have four conditions to add to a workflow: 

• email (send an email as the next step)
• time delay (can be hours or days, or certain times of day, week, or year)
• condition (you can take action only if certain requirements are met first)
• action (add or remove a subscriber to a segment) 
• Flodesk also doesn't have an auto-response feature which can be a major drawback. 

Email templates 

Flodesk’s greatest strength definitely lies in their stunning email templates. Their strikingly unique, yet relevant designs definitely stand out from the rest, making their emails eye-catching and effortlessly polished and put-together. Though their templates are always a win, you can also use the drag and drop editor to customize your own. 

Ease of use

Flodesk’s core values are reflected in their interface which is simple and minimalist, making the platform intuitive, and very simple to navigate and use. Capterra writes, Flodesk has a user interface that is incredibly easy to use, intuitive, and even soothing.” 

Choosing between Mailerlite and Flodesk

After comparing the two, Mailerlite definitely comes out on top for affordability and automations/analytic features. I personally prefer Mailerlite because of how much you can do with its free version!  It’s perfect for businesses that are just starting out and want to see results without the risk of investing in something that might not pay off. 

However, if you’re looking for more cutting edge designs or something that makes your brand look more distinctive, Flodesk might be a better option for you as they have more niche templates and designs you can’t find anywhere else. 

Choosing an email marketing platform can be a big decision, andI hope this article helped give you a little more insight into some of the pros and cons of both Mailerlite and Flodesk!