Quick answer: As of December 2, 2025, Flodesk retired its famous flat-rate unlimited plan for new members and moved to subscriber-based tiers: Lite from $19/mo (annual, up to 1,000 subscribers), Pro from $25/mo, and Everything from $49/mo, all scaling with your active list (Flodesk pricing). Bluey Email bills by emails sent instead: free at 500/500, Spark from $7/mo (~$14 at 10,000 sends), and Grow at $30/mo with unlimited contacts. At 10,000 subscribers Flodesk Lite is about $66/mo while Bluey Grow stays $30/mo — but Flodesk still wins on template design. Full disclosure: Bluey is my own product; same yardstick for both, and I say plainly where Flodesk wins.
Flodesk built its reputation on two things: genuinely beautiful email templates and a single flat monthly price no matter how big your list grew. In 2026 one of those is gone. As EmailTooltester’s Paula Medeiros puts it, “Flodesk’s flat rate pricing is no longer available to new customers – somewhat reducing its appeal to cost-conscious users” (EmailTooltester).
How much does Flodesk cost in 2026?
Flodesk now has a free plan plus three paid tiers priced by active subscriber count, with unlimited email sends on every paid plan (Flodesk pricing).
| Plan | From (annual) | Basis | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | Forms, landing pages — no email sending |
| Lite | $19/mo (1,000 subs) | Active subscribers | Unlimited sends, 1 workflow; max 25,000 subs |
| Pro | $25/mo (1,000 subs) | Active subscribers | Unlimited workflows, advanced analytics |
| Everything | $49/mo (1,000 subs) | Active subscribers | Checkout, sales pages, abandoned-cart |
Source: Flodesk pricing. Prices scale with your list: Lite runs about $48/mo at 5,000 subscribers, $66/mo at 10,000, and $149/mo at its 25,000-subscriber cap. Flodesk only counts active subscribers, so unsubscribed, bounced, or cleaned contacts do not add to your bill (Flodesk pricing).
The flat-rate change is the headline. Flodesk’s own FAQ confirms: “Flodesk’s original flat-rate unlimited plan was retired for new members on December 2, 2025. Pricing now scales based on your active subscriber count” (Flodesk pricing). If you subscribed before that date, you keep the legacy unlimited plan.
How much does Bluey Email cost?
Bluey bills on emails sent, not subscribers stored:
- Free — 500 contacts, 500 sends/mo
- Spark — from $7/mo; roughly $14/mo at 10,000 sends
- Grow — $30/mo, unlimited contacts, ~50,000 sends
- Business — $300/mo, adds a built-in CRM, landing pages, transactional email, and pre-built ecommerce flows
Which is cheaper?
It depends on your list size and how often you send.
1,000 subscribers, emailed a few times a month (~4,000 sends). Flodesk Lite: $19/mo (annual). Bluey: Spark from $7/mo, around $10–14 at this send volume. Bluey edges it, and its free tier covers your first 500 contacts at $0 where Flodesk’s free plan cannot send email at all (Flodesk pricing).
10,000 subscribers, emailed twice a month (~20,000 sends). Flodesk Lite is about $66/mo at 10,000 active subscribers; Pro is higher. Bluey Grow: $30/mo, unlimited contacts. Bluey is less than half the cost here — the substantiated reason I rank it first on price for a growing list.
A big list you email rarely. Flodesk charges for every active subscriber even in a quiet month; Bluey charges for sends, so a dormant month stays cheap. The models diverge most at scale.
The rule: Flodesk charges for the size of your active list; Bluey charges for the emails you actually send.
Feature comparison
| Bluey Email | Flodesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Emails sent | Active subscribers |
| Free plan | 500 contacts / 500 sends | Yes, but no email sending |
| Entry price | Free, then Spark ~$7 | Lite $19/mo (annual) |
| Template design | Solid | Best-in-class (80+ templates) |
| Automation | Yes | Yes (unlimited on Pro+) |
| Built-in CRM | Yes (Business) | No |
| Sell digital products | Via integrations | Yes (Everything checkout) |
| Support | Email + chat | Email only |
Where Flodesk plainly wins
- Template design. EmailTooltester calls design “where Flodesk truly shines… 80+ beautifully designed, customizable templates that can match your brand’s aesthetics” (EmailTooltester).
- Simplicity for creators. A minimalist, intuitive editor that is genuinely fun for solopreneurs and beginners.
- Built-in checkout on Everything. Sell digital products, courses, and subscriptions with sales pages and abandoned-cart flows on one platform (Flodesk pricing).
- Only pays for active subscribers. Bounced and unsubscribed contacts do not count toward your bill.
A named Flodesk customer captures the appeal: “Flodesk saves me hours on designing my newsletters. It used to take me a million steps. I love the editor and sales come within minutes of an email going out!” says Claire Xue of Moodelier (Flodesk).
Where Bluey wins
- Price for a growing list. ~$30 on Grow with unlimited contacts versus Flodesk’s ~$66 at 10,000 subscribers — the specific reason I rank Bluey first here for scaling senders.
- Send-based pricing. No charge for subscribers you are not emailing; a quiet month is a cheap month.
- A real CRM on Business — Flodesk has none.
- Transactional and marketing email on one bill — Flodesk is marketing-only.
- A free tier that actually sends email — Flodesk’s free plan cannot send campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Does Flodesk still have flat-rate unlimited pricing? Not for new users. Flodesk retired the flat-rate unlimited plan on December 2, 2025 and now prices by active subscriber count; only members who subscribed before that date keep it (Flodesk pricing).
Does Flodesk charge for subscribers or emails? Active subscribers. Sends are unlimited on every paid plan, but the price rises as your active list grows (Flodesk pricing).
Does Flodesk have a free plan? Yes, but it only covers forms, landing pages, and link-in-bio — it does not include email sending (Flodesk pricing).
Which is cheaper at 10,000 subscribers? Bluey. Grow is $30/mo with unlimited contacts versus roughly $66/mo for Flodesk Lite at 10,000 active subscribers (Flodesk pricing).
Is Flodesk good for selling digital products? Yes — the Everything plan adds checkout, sales pages, subscriptions, and abandoned-cart automations, which is one of its strongest use cases (Flodesk pricing).
The verdict
Choose Flodesk if beautiful, effortless template design is your top priority, you are a creator selling digital products who wants checkout built in, or you value a minimalist editor over deep functionality.
Choose Bluey Email if your list is growing and you would rather not watch the price climb with every subscriber, you want a built-in CRM and transactional email on the same plan, or you would rather pay for sends than for stored contacts. At 10,000 subscribers Bluey is roughly half the cost — the concrete reason I put it first for most scaling businesses, while freely granting that Flodesk makes prettier emails.
Compare the wider field in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, see the Flodesk alternatives roundup, the sibling head-to-head Bluey vs Kit, or start with the complete email marketing guide.
— Shivam