In this buying guide, we compare the Emma & Flodesk email marketing platforms on automation, features, and pricing. Spoiler alert: we’re pretty fond of Emma, but we’ll call out where each platform actually wins—even when it stings a little 🤍
Disclaimer: The features, pricing, and details mentioned for each product are as of September 2025 and may have changed since then.
| Category | Emma | Flodesk |
| Pricing | Starts $99/mo; Emma Lite for 10k contacts, annual contract | Flat-rate Free $0, Professional $35, Advanced $59; unlimited subscribers |
| User sentiment | 4/5 average rating (500+ reviews) | 4.3/5 average rating (75+ reviews) |
| Automation & journeys | Multi-step journeys with branching, welcome and drip, API and date triggers | Visual workflows; triggers from form or segment plus e-commerce (abandoned cart); simple branching |
| AI features | AI Assistant for writing and edits, A/B and subject tests, reporting insights | No native AI writer |
| Deliverability & reliability | High deliverability (99.53% as of a 2022 review), SPF/DKIM/DMARC guidance, SFTP sync | High deliverability (no % disclosed); domain authentication and analytics; user-driven reliability (authenticate, warm sender, engage, clean lists) |
| Segmentation & personalization | Dynamic segments with real-time updates, dynamic content, opt-down center | Segments with filtering; merge fields in text/subject; form preferences auto-segment |
| Integration ecosystem | Hundreds of integrations and open API, deep CRM syncs (Salesforce, Blackbaud, EverTrue), Shopify app, Eventbrite | Native integrations (Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Stripe, WordPress, Instagram, HoneyBook; plus Zapier/Pabbly); REST API |
| Conversion & list-building tools | Landing pages included on Essentials plan, brand controls for consistent capture | Forms, landing pages, link-in-bio; checkout and sales pages on Advanced |
| Support & resources | Email and phone support, live tech support Mon–Fri 7am–7pm CT, onboarding services | Email support Mon–Fri 7am–7pm CT; Help Center + Flodesk University; self-serve onboarding |
“Emma is our top-of-the-line and favorite email marketing tool”
Anna L., Senior Vice President Marketing (G2)“We have never faced failure since day one. I can say that it helps generate a positive turnover. Emma has been our favorite since the start. I decided to choose Emma as our email marketing tool and beyond any doubt it has proved itself over and over again…”
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Average Rating | 4/5 (500+ reviews) | 4.3/5 average rating (75+ reviews) |
| Setup Experience | Quick and easy setup — from minutes to hours for SPF authentication. | Easy and user-friendly setup — minutes to hours for full domain verification. |
| Learning Curve | Intuitive interface with guide to getting started, and Quick Start training. | Intuitive interface with Getting started guide, help center, and setup guide. |
| Best for: | Franchises & multi-location teams needing centralized brand control | Design-first creators & small businesses wanting beautiful emails with a simple workflow. |
Emma works best for franchises and multi-location teams that need centralized control over branding and campaigns. It offers a balance of ease-of-use with the structure needed for more complex organizations.
Flodesk is ideal for creators and small businesses who prioritize design and want to send beautiful emails without fuss. Its simplicity and visual-first approach make it appealing for users who care more about style than technical depth.
“Emma is very user friendly and insight oriented”
“The navigations to Emma are very simple and self explanatory. There is a very short learning curve and a very clean UI to use.”
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Email Editor | Drag-and-drop editor with mobile design mode | Drag-and-drop editor with layout blocks; mobile-responsive by default. |
| Template Library | Hundreds of pre-designed, mobile-optimized templates | Large gallery of designer templates for email, workflow, and forms. |
| Design Flexibility | Style locking, asset sharing, template approval workflows | Font & color controls, image/GIF blocks, and reusable layouts. |
| Branding Consistency | Professional templates with brand locking capabilities for consistent branding | Save brand colors, fonts, and logo to keep designs on-brand. |
| Best for: | Teams requiring consistent branding across locations | Creators & small businesses prioritizing beautiful, on-brand emails. |
Emma is built for teams managing multiple locations or brands that need consistency at scale. Its design system emphasizes control and approval workflows, making it easier to keep every campaign on-brand across distributed teams.
Flodesk appeals to creators and small businesses who want stylish, visually-driven emails without overthinking design rules. Its flexible, mobile-ready layouts let users prioritize beauty and branding with minimal effort.
Car Talk simplified templates and optimized for mobile with clear CTAs using Emma, sustaining ~40% opens and up to 50% clicks on The Puzzler and lifting overall click rates by nearly 20%.
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Trigger Options | Signup, date-based, field change, contact import, and custom API events | Form submission or segment added; e-commerce triggers like abandoned cart. |
| Conditional Logic | Branching on opens/clicks; dynamic-content rules from contact fields; up to 20 branches | If/then conditions on opens, clicks, and more; supports nested conditions. |
| Prebuilt Journeys | Common workflows: welcome series, re-engagement/drip, abandoned cart | Welcome series, sales sequences, post-purchase follow-ups, re-engagement, and abandoned cart. |
| Journey Complexity | Multi-step workflows with Wait/Send steps and branching; automate from activity inside or outside the inbox | Visual workflows with Email, Time delay, Condition, and Action steps; simple branching and audience-segmentation actions. |
Emma fits teams that need structured customer journeys with branching and multi-step automations. It’s ideal for organizations managing multiple triggers and audience segments, ensuring campaigns stay personalized and on-brand.
Flodesk is tailored for creators and small businesses who want visually intuitive automations without the complexity. Its simple, drag-and-drop workflows make it easy to nurture customers through sales, follow-ups, and re-engagement.
Dogfish Head activated automated welcomes and a web-series send with Emma, with welcome emails averaging ~78% opens and 27% clicks and the series pulling ~58% opens and 33% clicks.
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| AI Content Creation | AI Assistant writes/rewrites email copy, fixes grammar, and adjusts tone/length to speed up campaign creation | No o native AI writer |
| Design Intelligence | Drag-and-drop editor with mobile design mode; brand controls lock styles and manage shared templates | Drag-and-drop editor; upload custom fonts; brand colors; mobile-responsive layouts |
| Optimization Tools | Subject line split testing, A/B content testing, click-map visualization, and detailed analytics/compare reports | Analytics dashboard with charts; opens/clicks and per-email metrics; “best day/time” heat maps. |
| Predictive Features | Response Dashboard shows robust analytics that reveal subscriber insights so you can double down on what works. | Subscriber & email insights via Analytics; no predictive/smart send-time features. |
| Best For | Small businesses needing all-in-one AI help for content, design, and reporting. | Design-first creators & small businesses wanting beautiful emails with simple workflows. |
Emma gives small businesses an AI edge, helping polish copy, refine subject lines, and surface insights to boost performance. It’s a fit for teams that want smart guidance across content, design, and reporting.
Flodesk caters to design-first creators who prefer simplicity over AI. With intuitive dashboards and clean layouts, it makes tracking performance easy while keeping the creative process front and center.
“Very smooth email marketing experience with Emma”
“I liked using the platform a lot, it was very smooth to use and AI suggestions were cherry on a cake truly.”
— Nirmalya N., WhatsApp Chatbots and Automation Information Technology and Services (G2)
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Delivery Rate | High deliverability (99.53% deliverability as of 2022 review) | High deliverability, no deliverability percentage disclosed |
| Inbox Placement | Strong reputation management across multiple accounts | Basic analytics (open rates, click rates, subscriber growth) |
| Deliverability Tools | Supports SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication with best-practice guidance to improve inboxing | Analytics for delivered/opens/clicks; domain auth status + deliverability best-practice guides. |
| Sending Reliability | Automated SFTP Connect for steady contact syncs. | User-driven: authenticate domain, warm up the sender, target engaged segments, and clean unengaged contacts. |
| Best for: | Multi-location brands needing to monitor delivery and manage authentication across sub-accounts | Creators & small businesses wanting straightforward analytics and simple authentication. |
Emma gives multi-location brands confidence in delivery, with tools that keep emails authenticated, synced, and trusted across accounts. It’s ideal for teams who can’t risk lapses in reputation or compliance.
Flodesk makes deliverability accessible for creators and small businesses, offering clear analytics and simple domain authentication without heavy technical setup. Perfect for users who want reliability without complexity.
“Emma is an excellent product for SMEs for email & SMS marketing”
“The deliverability rate of Emma was the highest we ever saw for any of our Email campaigns and we could send numerous campaigns at once that was the highlight.”
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Segmentation Capabilities | Dynamic segments with real-time updates based on behavior, demographics | Segments with advanced filtering; link actions & workflow actions auto add/remove subscribers. |
| Dynamic Content | Dynamic blocks that personalize per subscriber using fields or custom API events. | Personalize text/subject/preview with @ fields; poll block captures preferences for targeted follow-ups. |
| Personalization Tags | Personalization/merge tags from contact fields (e.g., name, custom fields) in the editor. | Merge fields from first name and custom fields in text, subject, and preview. |
| Subscriber Preferences | Customizable subscription center with opt-down options | Form preferences let subscribers pick interests and auto-segment. |
| Best for: | Complex audience management across multiple accounts | Creators & small businesses needing simple segmentation and personalization. |
Emma is built for complex audience management, giving larger teams control over real-time segments and subscriber preferences. Perfect for multi-location brands that need depth and flexibility in targeting.
Flodesk shines for creators and small businesses that want personalization without complexity. With simple forms and auto-segmentation, it makes tailoring emails to subscriber interests effortless.
Convince & Convert used Emma’s audience-choice segmentation and sponsor-friendly newsletter format to grow and engage the daily “Definitive” readership while preserving trust and giving partners credible visibility.
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Number of Integrations | Hundreds of integrations + open API | Native integrations (Shopify, Zapier, Stripe, WordPress) |
| CRM Integrations | Salesforce, Blackbaud, EverTrue with deep sync capabilities | HoneyBook natively; broader CRMs via Zapier/Pabbly. |
| E-commerce Integrations | Shopify app; SFTP Connect for automated data sync | Shopify (purchase/abandoned cart), Wix Stores, Squarespace; Stripe checkout. |
| API Flexibility | Ecommerce, landing pages, events (Eventbrite) | REST API (JSON over HTTPS) with API keys |
| Best for | Distributed brands (franchises, universities) needing centralized control with deep CRM integrations. | Simple tech stacks with essential integrations |
Emma fits distributed brands like franchises and universities that need centralized oversight with deep CRM and e-commerce connections. It’s ideal for organizations that rely on multiple systems working seamlessly together.
Flodesk is built for smaller teams and creators who want a straightforward tech stack with essential integrations. Perfect for those who prioritize simplicity over complex custom setups.
“Emma is the best ever multi-channel email marketing software”
“Emma is the best ever email marketing software used by me with various features. The ease of use in analytics of campaigns makes my life easier… Integration of this software to my CRM is soo easy and if I get any query, their customer support is ready to help me in the quickest way.”
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Starter Offer | $99/mo; Emma Lite (10,000 contacts, annual contract) | Free, $0/mo: forms, landing pages, link-in-bio; designer templates; upload custom fonts and brand colors. |
| Most Popular | Emma Essentials — $159/mo (10,000 contacts, annual contract; adds landing pages, unlimited automation, SMS*) | Professional — $35/mo (unlimited emails/subscribers, conditional personalization, automated workflows). |
| Pricing Model | Contact-based tiers with flat monthly/annual billing; per-contact overages if you exceed your limit; custom quotes for >10k contacts; annual discounts available | Flat-rate, no tiers; unlimited emails/subscribers. Free $0, Professional $35, Advanced $59, Custom. |
| Best for | Large organizations who want to scale | Creators & small businesses that want unlimited emails/subscribers at a simple flat rate. |
Emma fits large organizations that need predictable, structured scaling. Its tiered, contact-based pricing ensures cost control as lists grow, with annual discounts and enterprise-level flexibility.
Flodesk appeals to creators and small businesses that want freedom. With flat-rate, unlimited subscribers and emails, it removes penalties for growth and keeps pricing simple and transparent.
| Feature | Emma | Flodesk |
| Support Availability | Email & phone support, plus Support Hub; live tech support Mon–Fri, 7am–7pm CT. | Email support only (Monday-Friday, 7AM-7PM CT) |
| Support Response Time | Business-hours live support; priority phone support available on Corporate plan | Standard email responses only |
| Knowledge Resources | Support Hub, Emma 101 resource hub & webinar , and video library | Help center and Flodesk University |
| Onboarding Assistance | Professional Services onboarding packages (strategic kickoff, list import, custom training). | Self-service onboarding via Help center for account setup |
| Best for | Teams wanting business-hours live help + self-serve resources; larger orgs needing priority phone support & services. | Self-sufficient users who prefer self-serve resources with email support. |
Emma is ideal for teams that value guided support and training. With business-hours live help, priority onboarding, and a full resource hub, it’s built for organizations needing structured assistance.
Flodesk fits self-sufficient users who prefer quick, simple resources. With self-service onboarding and community-style learning, it supports creators who thrive on independence.
“Emma has made my job communicating to my customers so valuable!”
“Emma’s customer support is extremely superior to many other development tools I have used in the past. By using Emma to send my emails, newsletters and landing pages, I am able to get metrics that are so valuable.”
“Emma email marketing – a multi-tasker email marketing tool”
Angelika E., Marketing & Sales Lead, Retail (Brick and Mortar) Gift Cards (G2)“It provides ease to the users for creating and summarizing results. It is easy to update and add new contacts on this platform. It allows people to manage their list of emails. It has great integration with other applications. Users can also edit them for a long time as well. There are certain different features in this regard.”
“Emma captures any type of campaign solution”
Hanna L., Head Of Solutions Media Production (G2)“Emma has supported the creation of a content distribution resolution component; for us, it has been invaluable because it has been able to automate the marketing and sending of mass emails to promote our services… It has helped us improve the quality of our service through customer interaction.”
“We have been using Emma for a few years now”
Sarah D., Senior E-commerce Strategy Manager (G2)“We use Emma for marketing our campaigns, target our specific customers and audience as well as send targeted emails for subscriptions and promotions to our targeted customers. Sending mass emails is not a big deal now…Honestly, it works so well for us.”
