Some links in this article are affiliate links — if you sign up through one, WorkflowUnity may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our verdicts are based on the verified research below, never on commissions.
Every MailerLite vs Flodesk comparison you've read is probably out of date. Flodesk retired its famous flat-rate pricing on December 2, 2025 — the “$38 a month no matter how big your list gets” pitch that defined the brand is gone for new customers — and MailerLite renamed and repriced its own plans in mid-2026. Here's how the comparison actually looks now.
The old version of this decision was simple: Flodesk cost nearly four times MailerLite's entry price for a small list, then got cheaper in relative terms as your list grew past a few thousand subscribers. With flat-rate gone, that crossover argument is dead, and the choice comes down to what it probably should have been all along — design-first simplicity versus feature depth.
The flat rate is gone — the new pricing, verified
As of July 2026, Flodesk sells tiered plans: Free at $0, Lite at $19/month billed annually (about $25 month-to-month, capped at 25,000 subscribers), Pro around $28/month, and an Everything tier around $54/month (Flodesk pricing, 2026). Existing customers who signed up before the December 2025 change keep their grandfathered $38 flat rate (EmailToolTester, 2026) — but if you're choosing today, that deal isn't on the table.
MailerLite changed too. Its plans were renamed around June 2026 to Comfort (from $12/month) and Power (from $25/month) with price increases, and the free plan was trimmed to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails per month (MailerLite pricing, 2026). At 1,000 subscribers on Power — the tier with A/B testing depth and monetization — you're looking at roughly $39/month (EmailToolTester, 2026). So a pricing gap remains at entry level, but it has narrowed from “4×” to “noticeable.”
Design-first vs feature depth
What hasn't changed is the philosophy split. Flodesk is built for people who care how their emails look before anything else: the templates are genuinely the best-looking in the budget class, and the product deliberately strips away everything that isn't email design and straightforward automation. That's a positioning choice, not a missing feature — visually-driven brands pick Flodesk precisely because there's less product to learn.
MailerLite covers the design bar and then keeps going: multi-step automation with more trigger types, proper A/B testing, a website and landing-page builder, and — on the Power plan — built-in selling of digital products and paid newsletter subscriptions. If your list is a business asset you intend to segment, test, and monetize, MailerLite simply has more machine behind the same clean front end.
The honest verdict
Choose Flodesk if design aesthetics are the product — photographers, designers, and visually-driven brands that send beautiful, simple campaigns and don't need deep automation. Choose MailerLite if you want more capability per dollar: stronger automation, A/B testing, and monetization tools that Flodesk doesn't attempt. With the flat rate retired, Flodesk lost its one structural pricing argument, so the premium now buys polish alone — worth it for some brands, unused weight for most. Pricing on both changed within the last year; verify on the official pages before committing.
Weighing MailerLite against other options? See MailerLite vs Brevo, MailerLite vs Moosend, and MailerLite vs Klaviyo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Flodesk get rid of its flat-rate pricing?
Yes. Flodesk retired flat-rate pricing for new customers on December 2, 2025. Existing subscribers keep the grandfathered $38/month unlimited-subscriber rate, but new signups choose tiered plans: Free, Lite at $19/month billed annually (about $25 monthly, capped at 25,000 subscribers), Pro around $28, and Everything around $54.
Is Flodesk or MailerLite cheaper?
MailerLite, at most list sizes. As of mid-2026 MailerLite's Comfort plan starts at $12/month versus Flodesk Lite at $19/month annual, and MailerLite's Power plan at $25/month includes automation depth and monetization Flodesk doesn't offer at any tier. The old case where Flodesk's flat rate became cheaper for very large lists no longer applies to new customers.
Which is better for design-focused brands?
Flodesk. Its templates and visual editor are the best-looking in this price class, and the deliberately minimal feature set means less to learn. Just go in knowing the trade: MailerLite matches the clean interface while adding stronger automation and A/B testing, so you're paying Flodesk's premium for polish, not capability.