Email marketing remains one of the most effective digital marketing channels. But choosing the right email marketing platform is key to running successful campaigns.
Two popular solutions are Flodesk and Mailchimp. But they differ in their features, pricing, and ideal use-cases.
This in-depth comparison reviews all aspects of Flodesk vs Mailchimp to help you decide which (if either) is better for your email marketing needs.
Overview of Flodesk
Flodesk is a cloud-based email marketing platform catering to small businesses. Features include:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop email builder
- Pre-designed templates
- Automations for onboarding and journeys
- Landing page and opt-in form builder
- CRM features
- Marketing calendar
- Detailed analytics and reports
Ideal users are small businesses and online entrepreneurs looking for an all-in-one platform to not only send emails, but to capture leads, build relationships, drive sales, and grow their business with automation.
Pricing starts at $59/month for up to 500 subscribers. Volume discounts available.
Overview of Mailchimp
As one of the first email marketing platforms ever, Mailchimp needs no introduction. Their key strengths lie in:
- Email creation, management, and sending at scale
- Automations for complex segmentation scenarios
- Integrations with popular apps via open API
- Standard and advanced analytics
Mailchimp best serves growing businesses who already have established processes looking to scale email marketing and manage complex campaigns.
Pricing is free for up to 2,000 subscribers then starts at $9.99/month. Volume discounts available.
Now let’s dive into a feature-by-feature comparison:
Email Campaign Creation and Sending
Both Flodesk and Mailchimp offer user-friendly drag and drop builders to create email campaigns. But there are some key differences:
Email Templates
- Flodesk: Over 100 free, professionally designed templates covering relevant business scenarios like welcome campaigns, sales sequences, etc. Fully customizable.
- Mailchimp: Over 250 free templates. Not as tailored for specific business goals but still lots of variety.
Automation Workflows
- Flodesk: Intuitive workflow builder lets you set up triggers, sequences, delays, conditional logic and more with a simple drag-and-drop interface. Great for complex onboarding journeys.
- Mailchimp: Automation workflows are powerful but less intuitive requiring some technical knowledge. Ideal for advanced, highly customized scenarios.
Scheduling & Sending
- Flodesk: Easy scheduling, ability to stagger sends, and option for sending samples and tests before full campaign goes out.
- Mailchimp: Advanced options for timing testing and rollout. Send tests to verify rendering and spam check scores before sending.
Overall, Flodesk simplifies creating beautiful, engaging emails across the customer journey whereas Mailchimp prioritizes complex, large volume sends.
Analytics and Reporting
Understanding your email marketing performance is crucial. Here’s how the two platforms compare in helping you track and analyze data:
| Metric | Flodesk | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Open & Click Tracking | ? | ? |
| Campaign Reports | ? | ? |
| Automated Reports | ? | ? |
| Custom Dashboards | ? | ? |
| Data Export | CSV, PDF | CSV, PDF, XML, HTML |
| Integrations | Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel | Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Heap + more |
The standout difference is Flodesk having a simpler, more user-friendly analytics interface oriented towards beginners, whereas Mailchimp has a highly customizable power-user analytics engine.
For most small businesses starting out, Flodesk should provide all the necessary tracking and reporting needed. Mailchimp analytics offers additional complexity for growth.
Landing Pages and Forms
Collecting leads is vital to email marketing success. Let’s explore some of the key options for landing pages and forms:
| Feature | Flodesk | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Page Builder | Drag and drop editor with 100+ templates | Code editor only |
| Form Builder | Drag-and drop editor with professional field options | Over 60 field options but code editor only |
| Templates | 14 categories with 5-6 templates each | 8 categories with 1-2 templates |
| Lead Management | Saved directly in platform CRM with tagging and assignment tools | Can sync to many CRMs with integration |
| Spam Check | Built-in scoring and filtering | Additional third-party apps required |
The core takeaway is that Flodesk provides marketer-friendly design with their no-code web page and form builders. Mailchimp offers greater design flexibility through code customizations.
Integrations and Apps
Adding apps and connecting platforms in your martech stack is critical as you scale marketing operations.
Some key details on integrations:
- Flodesk: Over 50 native integrations with leading apps like WordPress, Shopify, Stripe and others. App store coming soon for more integrations.
- Mailchimp: Offers an App Directory with over 700 apps to connect popular services. Open API allows endless custom integrations.
The sheer breadth of integrations makes Mailchimp the winner if you need complex connections or niche use-case app scenarios. But Flodesk covers the most common platforms used by their target small business users.
Customer Support
Getting timely support can make or break Email marketing success. So how do Mailchimp and Flodesk compare?
- Flodesk: Phone, email and chat support options available. Plus an online knowledge base, community forums, and pro services.
- Mailchimp: Offers limited live chat support for paying users only. Rely on knowledge base articles, forums, and email support responses within 1-2 days.
Many reviewers highlight Flodesk’s superior customer support experience with more live training and direct assistance through multiple channels.
So in summary – Flodesk has better real-time customer support options, especially for beginners whereas Mailchimp offers solid self-service content.
Flodesk vs Mailchimp: Which is Better for You?
| Flodesk | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Small business owners, entrepreneurs, creators | Growing businesses looking to scale |
| Key Strengths | Automations and journeys, converting leads, CRM features | Managing complex campaigns at scale |
| Key Weaknesses | Advanced analytics, coding flexibility | Steep learning curve for beginners |
| Pricing | $59+/month starting | Free up to 2k contacts then $9.99+/month |
Here is our final verdict:
- Use Flodesk if you are a small business or startup looking for an intuitive all-in-one marketing platform to capture leads, drive sales, and support customer relationships.
- Choose Mailchimp if you are an established business ready to scale complex email campaigns and analytics but require flexibility through code-level customizations.