Flodesk

Design-led email, forms, automation, checkout, and digital products

NOT REALLY · consider alternatives
price $25/mosubscription / year $300estimated build time not a true replacement; consolation build in one to two daysreplaced by 0 people

Do not mistake the interface for the product. Flodesk's durable value is deliverability, reputation, network, which a solo one-shot build cannot reproduce responsibly. The prompt therefore builds only the closest honest personal consolation tool.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • payments, recommendations, and audience network
  • sender reputation, deliverability, and suppression handling
  • sender reputation and deliverability operations
  • bounce, complaint, and suppression handling
  • large-scale segmentation and automation

Why people still pay

Flodesk: The editor is trivial compared with inbox placement, compliance, reputation, unsubscribe handling, analytics, and audience growth infrastructure.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • Node.js 22
  • PostgreSQL
  • transactional or bulk email provider key in .env
  • Explicit README warning that this is a consolation build, not a production replacement
01
Use exactly this stack: Next.js 15 + TypeScript + PostgreSQL.
02
Model subscribers, consent records, campaigns, delivery attempts, and suppression state; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.
03
Interface for this creator email marketing workflow: a local web page with input, progress, review, and export views.
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1, architecture and data

Use exactly this stack: Next.js 15 + TypeScript + PostgreSQL. Model subscribers, consent records, campaigns, delivery attempts, and suppression state; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.

2

Phase 2, implement

For creator email marketing, import subscribers with consent source, status, and suppression flag.

3

Phase 3, implement

Compose a campaign, preview HTML/plain text, and queue an authorized send by stable message ID.

4

Phase 4, review and output

Process delivery, bounce, and unsubscribe events before publishing the archive or report.

5

Phase 5, recovery and acceptance

Verify this invariant with a saved fixture: Unsubscribed or bounced addresses must stay suppressed; retrying an ambiguous provider response cannot silently send twice. State the practical limit: payments, recommendations, and audience network.

the pro prompt
Build me a focused creator email marketing workflow for the personal core of Flodesk. Requirements:

- Use exactly this stack: Next.js 15 + TypeScript + PostgreSQL. Model subscribers, consent records, campaigns, delivery attempts, and suppression state; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.
- Paid product context: Design-led email, forms, automation, checkout, and digital products. Build only this DIY scope: Build a small creator email marketing editor and subscriber database that exports clean HTML and sends only through a reputable user-supplied email provider.
- For creator email marketing, import subscribers with consent source, status, and suppression flag.
- Compose a campaign, preview HTML/plain text, and queue an authorized send by stable message ID.
- Process delivery, bounce, and unsubscribe events before publishing the archive or report.
- Use a local web page with input, progress, review, and export views. Required input or access: transactional or bulk email provider key in .env. Keep credentials in .env.
- Acceptance: with one labelled sample, show the input, saved intermediate state, and exported result; verify this invariant: Unsubscribed or bounced addresses must stay suppressed; retrying an ambiguous provider response cannot silently send twice.
- Out of scope: payments, recommendations, and audience network; sender reputation, deliverability, and suppression handling. Keep this a personal, inspectable workflow.
- Include a README with setup, a sample input, required keys or permissions, data location, and the supported scope.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan

prior art · use these instead of building, if you'd ratherlistmonkHigh-performance self-hosted newsletter and mailing-list manager.↗MauticOpen-source marketing automation platform.↗
share on X ↗

Flodesk pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
free$0/workspace$0/workspaceUnlimited active subscribers; forms, landing pages and link-in-bio; 0 email sends and 0 workflow automations.
lite$25/workspace$19/workspaceUp to 1,000 subscribers at starting tier, maximum 25,000 subscribers, unlimited emails, 1 workflow automation.Prices scale as list grows.
pro$28/workspace$25/workspaceUnlimited workflow automations, advanced analytics, show/hide footer, 1 integrated checkout.Prices scale as list grows.
everything$54/workspace$49/workspaceUnlimited checkouts, sales pages, payment plans, subscriptions, abandoned cart, discount codes; 3 seats.Prices scale as list grows.

free tier$0; unlimited active subscribers; forms/landing pages/link-in-bio; 0 email sends and 0 workflow automations.

billingmonthly + annual

hidden costsPrices scale with active subscribers; dedicated IP is an add-on; Free cannot send emails.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-10 · pricing source ↗

Questions about Flodesk

Can you build your own Flodesk with AI?

A full replacement is not the recommended project. Do not mistake the interface for the product. Flodesk's durable value is deliverability, reputation, network, which a solo one-shot build cannot reproduce responsibly. The prompt therefore builds only the closest honest personal consolation tool.

What does the Flodesk build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Build a small creator email marketing editor and subscriber database that exports clean HTML and sends only through a reputable user-supplied email provider. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: payments, recommendations, and audience network; sender reputation, deliverability, and suppression handling; sender reputation and deliverability operations. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the Flodesk prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this Flodesk project take?

The catalogue estimate is not a true replacement; consolation build in one to two days for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing Flodesk?

payments, recommendations, and audience network; sender reputation, deliverability, and suppression handling; sender reputation and deliverability operations; bounce, complaint, and suppression handling; large-scale segmentation and automation. Flodesk: The editor is trivial compared with inbox placement, compliance, reputation, unsubscribe handling, analytics, and audience growth infrastructure.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Lite plan is $25/mo (monthly), checked 2026-08-10. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building Flodesk?

The prior-art section lists listmonk, Mautic as starting points. Review their current scope, license and maintenance before adopting one.

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