{
"id": "sender-vs-flodesk",
"ids": [
"sender",
"flodesk"
],
"title": "Sender vs Flodesk: free sending, branding and subscriber growth",
"kicker": "SOFTWARE BUYING DECISIONS",
"heading": "Sender vs Flodesk:
free sending, branding and subscriber growth.",
"deck": "Sender versus Flodesk for small-list sending, subscriber-based plans, email branding and automated journeys.",
"description": "Sender versus Flodesk for small-list sending, subscriber-based plans, email branding and automated journeys.",
"answerHeading": "Choose around your work.
Check the retained plan.",
"answer": "Sender is the stronger starting point to evaluate when ongoing free email sending is essential. Flodesk’s permanent free tools build a list but do not send campaigns; its paid plans include unlimited sends and subscriber-based pricing. Choose by campaign frequency, required branding and the journeys that must remain available after a trial.",
"researchTag": "Sender / Flodesk",
"researchLimit": "Illustrative buying briefs and capacity calculations; no measured product usability or performance ranking.",
"checkedAt": "2026-10-14",
"type": "workflow-buying",
"rows": [
[
"Permanent free sending",
"Up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails/month",
"No email sending on permanent Free"
],
[
"Free tools",
"Campaigns, forms and email automation",
"Forms, landing pages and link-in-bio pages"
],
[
"Paid send model",
"Subscriber and email-volume package",
"Unlimited sends within the paid subscriber tier"
],
[
"Free branding",
"Sender branding included",
"Free is list building, not a sending tier"
],
[
"Branding removal",
"Paid packages remove Sender branding",
"Pro includes show/hide footer control"
],
[
"Automation decision",
"Confirm simple versus multichannel scope",
"Lite has a limited-time workflow bonus; deeper workflows need Pro"
],
[
"Growth brief",
"Subscribers, sends, staff and SMS",
"Active subscribers, workflows and checkouts"
]
],
"scenarios": [
{
"name": "1,500 people receive four emails this month",
"question": "Can an ongoing free sender fit?",
"left": "6,000 emails and 1,500 subscribers fit the published Free caps.",
"right": "Email sending requires a paid plan.",
"note": "This is volume arithmetic, not a deliverability prediction."
},
{
"name": "2,000 people receive eight emails",
"question": "Which cap is crossed?",
"left": "16,000 emails exceed the 15,000-email free allowance.",
"right": "Use the paid subscriber tier and required functions.",
"note": "Include automated messages in the planned sending volume."
},
{
"name": "An unbranded recurring newsletter",
"question": "Which package needs evaluation?",
"left": "Evaluate a paid plan for branding removal.",
"right": "Evaluate Pro for footer control.",
"note": "Preview an actual outgoing email rather than only the editor."
},
{
"name": "A creator selling several digital products",
"question": "What belongs in the brief?",
"left": "Define store integration and notification needs explicitly.",
"right": "Check the Everything checkout and selling functions.",
"note": "Processor fees, refunds and the complete checkout experience remain separate evaluation items."
}
],
"exampleTable": {
"caption": "Four hypothetical buying briefs; capacity checks do not measure product performance",
"headers": [
"Buying brief",
"Sender",
"Flodesk"
],
"rows": [
[
"1,500 people receive four emails this month",
"6,000 emails and 1,500 subscribers fit the published Free caps.",
"Email sending requires a paid plan."
],
[
"2,000 people receive eight emails",
"16,000 emails exceed the 15,000-email free allowance.",
"Use the paid subscriber tier and required functions."
],
[
"An unbranded recurring newsletter",
"Evaluate a paid plan for branding removal.",
"Evaluate Pro for footer control."
],
[
"A creator selling several digital products",
"Define store integration and notification needs explicitly.",
"Check the Everything checkout and selling functions."
]
]
},
"sections": [
{
"id": "frequency",
"navLabel": "Budget for the busiest campaign month",
"title": "Budget for the busiest campaign month",
"paragraphs": [
"Multiply the audience for each campaign by its frequency, then add automated messages. Use actual segment sizes if different groups receive different campaigns. Do not divide a monthly allowance by the whole database when only a portion is subscribed.",
"Include a launch or seasonal peak. A free plan that fits four routine newsletters may fail during a promotion. Keep paid upgrade cost and renewal terms next to that workload."
]
},
{
"id": "journeys",
"navLabel": "Evaluate the whole subscription journey",
"title": "Evaluate the whole subscription journey",
"paragraphs": [
"Submit a synthetic signup, inspect consent capture and check the welcome message on a phone. Trigger an unsubscribe and verify that the contact leaves the intended audience. Use authorised test accounts rather than a live subscriber list.",
"For digital selling, follow a sample purchase through payment, delivery, receipt and refund. Record every outside service and charge. Attractive email design does not establish that a checkout or automation matches the required business process."
]
}
],
"faqs": [
{
"question": "Can Flodesk send newsletters permanently for free?",
"answer": "No. Its permanent Free plan is for list-building tools. Email sending requires a paid package after the trial."
},
{
"question": "Does unlimited sending make a paid plan cost-free to scale?",
"answer": "No. Subscriber growth can change the subscription tier. Also check seats, workflow requirements and any separate payment or SMS costs."
},
{
"question": "How many monthly campaigns fit Sender Free?",
"answer": "Divide the 15,000 monthly email allowance by each campaign’s recipient count, then subtract automation and other sends. The subscriber cap also has to fit."
}
],
"sources": [
{
"url": "https://www.sender.net/pricing/",
"facts": "Free subscribers and sends, branding, paid package volumes and SMS scope."
},
{
"url": "https://flodesk.com/pricing",
"facts": "Free excludes sending; paid subscriber tiers, workflow, footer and checkout scope."
}
],
"relatedLinks": [
{
"path": "/categories/email-marketing/",
"title": "Explore email marketing software"
},
{
"path": "/guides/software-total-cost/",
"title": "Plan your software evaluation"
}
],
"datasetDescription": "Sender versus Flodesk for small-list sending, subscriber-based plans, email branding and automated journeys. Includes seven workflow differences and four illustrative buying briefs with package qualifications."
}