Many online business owners and creatives are looking for a better email marketing service than MailChimp. Flodesk and ConvertKit offer two of the most user-friendly platforms on the market, but they are very different.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll compare these two email marketing platforms to help you decide which is the best fit for your business.
ConvertKit vs Flodesk Bottom Line
Both ConvertKit and Flodesk are favourites among bloggers, course creators and other more visual online entrepreneurs. These two platforms offer a much more visual approach to email marketing with beautifully-designed email and form templates, rather than fixating on data with old and clunky templates.
ConvertKit was once the new upstart in this field, but now Flodesk is a much more Instagram-worthy platform that may be simple but offers a tempting low price and a wonderful aesthetic.
Crucially, ConvertKit does lie towards the more premium end of email marketing platforms. While it has a free plan for up to 1000 contacts this does not include an autoresponder. That’s a shame given that the best part of email marketing – especially for bloggers – is to load up a sequence of emails to nurture a new lead and get them familiar with your brand.
Flodesk on the other hand features a fully-functioning free trial and a lower monthly fee. Plus, if you sign up through MeltMail you’ll get 50% off for life.
That means $19 a month no matter how many subscribers you have.
With Convertkit, the price just keeps climbing as you grow.
These two email marketing platforms are very different and it can be hard to figure out which one is right for your particular business. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll compare the key features of Flodesk vs. ConvertKit to help you decide which is the best fit for you.
ConvertKit vs Flodesk Dashboard
Both ConvertKit and Flodesk are very user-friendly in their dashboards. The whole point is to be easy for coaches, bloggers, authors and other creatives – not just techies.
Flodesk features a dashboard displaying your most recent emails. One of my favorite aspects of the Flodesk dashboard is that you can organize your email into folders for easy access.
When you sign up for a ConvertKit account, the company displays your subscriber growth and other performance data on its dashboard. This fits in with ConverKit’s focus of delivering results.
Flodesk vs ConvertKit Email Builder
This is the area where Flodesk and ConvertKit are most different. The Flodesk email builder allows you to create email designs from scratch, or from one of their many pre-designed templates, with a level of customization not available in alternative providers such as MailChimp.
The ConvertKit editor is minimalistic, and doesn’t give you much in terms of making your emails more visually appealing.
This is largely a matter of personal taste. Generally plain text emails perform better than those with a lot of design elements, but everyone has their own preferences.
Flodesk’s drag and drop email templates are beautiful – but beautiful doesn’t always mean more functional in gaining engagement and sales.
Flodesk Vs Convertkit Analytics
Flodesk’s analytics leaves a bit to be desired in the world of modern email services but it still does have some key features that are worth considering. For example, Flodesk has a detailed metric for tracking open and click-through rates on individual emails as well as workflows.
ConvertKit provides in-depth reporting. You can see the rates of open and click-through for individual emails, email sequences, and single subscribers. You can actually see which emails each subscriber opens individually. In addition to these analytics features, ConvertKit also has A/B testing abilities for email broadcasts that allow you to compare open rates with different subject lines.
Subscriber Tagging
Flodesk only lets you segment subscribers, but it also automatically applies tags to them. While Flodesk’s sorting system may not be as robust as ConvertKit’s, it does simplify things and cut down on confusion.
ConvertKit allows you to sort subscribers using segments and tags. Though nice to have the flexibility each of these options provide, it can be confusing to figure out which sorting method you should use since they both function in similar ways.
Flodesk vs ConvertKit Forms and Landing Pages
Flodesk is the inferior choice in this category. With only 6 email marketing templates and one landing page design, you won’t have to agonize over choices when it’s time to create a new campaign.
ConvertKit has tons of form options. From links to polls, you have over 20 type of forms to choose from. What’s even better is there are 41 different landing pages to match every style of your form; they go as far as matching a YouTube background with the rest of it!
Overall I would say Flodesk’s forms and landing pages are more visually appealing. Flodesk is also very new so more stunning landing pages templates may well be on the way.
Flodesk vs ConvertKit Email Sequences and Visual Automation Builder
Flodesk’s visual automation builder lets you create simple sequences and more complex automation flows. The good news is that the layout of the builder is well designed, but one downside (depending on how particular you are) is that if you want to start with a sequence, for instance, distinct emails need to be incorporated into your flow.
Compared to other email marketing platforms, ConvertKit has a few unique features. The most notable is the sequence builder and visual automation builder that allows you to quickly create sequences in one single place. This saves time because it eliminates the need for adding individual emails to automations. It also comes with six pre-built automations that you can use if creating your own sales funnel proves challenging.
Flodesk vs Convertkit Deliverability
Deliverability is the most important aspect of an email service. Without a record of regular inbox placement, your carefully crafted emails will be sent straight to spam.
Moreover, individuals have varying experiences with both services. Some people who made the switch from Convertkit to Flodesk reported that their open rates increased. Others experienced a decrease in their open rate since switching platforms.
There is no guarantee that your deliverability will be better with one provider over the other. However, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of inbox placement and make sure you’re getting a positive ROI on each email campaign:
- Make sure your DMARC and SPF records are correctly configured with your DNS provider.
- Limit your use of images, links and salesy language
- Build up a good domain reputation – don’t spam!
Flodesk vs Convertkit Integrations
Flodesk has no native integrations, meaning you’ll have to connect through Zapier.
ConvertKit offers 18 integrations including Squarespace Commerce, which do not have a Zapier integration. Incidentally, you can also connect any service not covered by ConvertKit’s native integrations via Zapier.
As ConvertKit is more established it is definitely friendlier with other platforms. For instance, the popular online course platform Teachable integrates natively with Convertkit but hardly any other email marketing platforms.
With zapier it is easy to integrate your preferred email service with most software – including Flodesk – but this can add a few extra hours to set up and an additional point that could fail.
Flodesk vs Convertkit Customer Service
Flodesk offer email support, a Facebook group for users, and a help center. My experience with the Flodesk team has been largely positive and I’ve found their Facebook community to be incredibly helpful.
ConverKit also offers email support, a Facebook group, and help center. I’m not sure how long their customer service has been declining but there is definitely a lot of people complaining about it having gotten worse over the last few years.
Convertkit vs Flodesk Pricing
Flodesk is the best email-marketing service for both business owners and creatives. Flodesk only offers one subscription plan at $39/mo and touts a 30-day free trial with its cheapest pricing tier costing only $19/mo if you sign up through my affiliate link.
ConvertKit offers a variety of options for email marketing plans, with prices ranging from $0-$119/mo. Free plans allow you to send unlimited emails and include limited features such as automation. The full-service plan starts at $29/mo for audiences up to 1k subscribers.
ConvertKit vs Flodesk Conclusion
Overall, I find Flodesk to be an excellent email marketing provider with a great deal of features for such a competitive price. The only drawback is that it can feel more like you’re dealing with your uncle than the founder when trying to get in touch with customer service.
One thing’s for sure: ConvertKit is not cheap!
But on the flipside, they offer exceptional customer care and are very well-known in the industry. If you have some extra cash laying around or want an all-inclusive plan, then ConvertKit might be worth considering. But if money is tight and you want something simple or don’t need mass automation options (i.e., conversion tracking), then try out Flodesk instead – especially as you can get 50% off for life with this link.
Is Flodesk better than ConvertKit?
I would say that it depends on your needs. If you are not sure which one is best for you, then try Flodesk first to see if it’s a good fit before moving on to something more expensive and complicated like ConvertKit.
Is Flodesk any good?
Absolutely! Flodesk is a simple autoresponder with visual design at its core. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to send automated emails without losing their sanity.
If you’re looking for a no-frills email marketing service that provides excellent results, then Flodesk is the best option. If you want more features and are willing to pay more (or have money to spare), try out ConvertKit instead – but be warned: it is not as user-friendly!
Is Flodesk better than MailChimp?
Mailchimp is old. And while the free plan is popular the paid plans get expensive very quickly. You can find a lot of great features for a better price with Flodesk.
Is ConvertKit worth the money?
ConvertKit is an email marketing platform designed to help small businesses grow and become successful. However, it’s not as user-friendly or beginner-oriented as other platforms like Flodesk.
Can you use Flodesk for free?
Flodesk offers a 30-day free trial. After that you can get 50% off for life with this link.