Substack vs Flodesk
Side-by-side comparison of Substack and Flodesk.
Newsletter publishing and monetization in one place
Flat-rate email marketing built for visual creators
What they are
Substack
Substack is a publishing platform where writers host email newsletters and charge subscribers a recurring fee. Independent journalists, essayists, and niche experts use it to build direct audiences without relying on ad revenue. The platform handles payments, delivery, and a basic website automatically. Substack takes a 10% cut of paid subscription revenue on top of stripe fees, which becomes a real cost as an audience grows.
Flodesk
Flodesk is an email marketing platform focused on design-first newsletters and automated workflows. It attracts independent creators, photographers, and small-business owners who prioritize aesthetics over deep segmentation. The flat monthly rate has been abandoned, pricing is now subscriber-based and scales with list size ($19 is the starting price at 1,000 subs) so the price scales as the list grows. The trade-off is a thinner feature set compared to platforms like Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign.
if you need hosting and monetization. It has a usable free tier to start with.
- +Free to start with no upfront cost
- +Built-in payment processing removes the need for a separate tool
- +Readers can comment and respond, creating light community features
if you need monetization and email marketing. It has a usable free tier to start with.
- +Free option available to try before you buy
- +Template designs are polished and require minimal editing to look professional
- +Drag-and-drop editor is quick to learn for non-technical users
Which to choose
Substack and Flodesk both cover monetization, email marketing, so this is a real either-or for some teams. The right pick depends on which one's wider feature set and pricing fit how you work.
Read the full reviews for Substack and Flodesk.
Pricing checked 3 Jun 2026.