How to switch to EmailOctopus from Flodesk

Recently, Flodesk moved away from its flat-rate unlimited pricing model, introducing subscriber-based tiers for new users – bringing its pricing structure in line with most other email marketing platforms. Existing members who signed up before the change kept their legacy pricing, but only for as long as they maintain their subscription.

If you're looking to explore your options, this guide walks you through everything you need to make the switch to EmailOctopus – from exporting your subscribers and rebuilding your automations, to sending your first campaign on a new platform. For most people, the whole process takes under an hour – let's dive in.

Before you start: what's different between Flodesk and EmailOctopus

Flodesk and EmailOctopus share a lot of common ground – campaigns, automations, forms, landing pages, and segmentation. But we approach some things differently, and a few Flodesk features don't have an equivalent in EmailOctopus.

Before you start, it's helpful to know that a few things are named differently across the two platforms. What Flodesk calls a one-off email send is a campaign in EmailOctopus. Workflows become automations, and full-page forms are what we call landing pages.

One other thing worth knowing: Flodesk doesn't use tags – it organises subscribers through segments instead. In EmailOctopus, tags work in a very similar way to Flodesk's manual segments, giving you a simple way to group contacts with labels so you can target or exclude them when sending. Our segments work as dynamic filters based on rules like engagement, tags, custom fields, or subscription date.

Features Flodesk has that EmailOctopus doesn't

EmailOctopus is focused on email marketing. It doesn't include Flodesk's built-in checkout feature for selling digital products, abandoned cart automations, subscription products, or sales pages. It also doesn't have in-email polls, countdown timers, or a link-in-bio page builder. If you relied on Flodesk's checkout feature, you'll need a separate tool for that – options like Gumroad, Payhip, or Stripe work well alongside EmailOctopus.

Flodesk's template library is also known for its visual depth. One thing worth knowing: because email clients can't render custom fonts or complex visual layouts natively, Flodesk converts those elements into images when sending. This can cause deliverability and accessibility issues – if images are blocked or don’t load by default for your recipients, subscribers may see a blank email instead of your content. Email providers would see the same, and "empty emails" like this can be routed to the spam folder immediately.

Our drag-and-drop editor takes a simpler approach, which tends to be more reliable across inboxes. That said, if you love Flodesk's editorial-style designs, you don't have to leave them behind. Flodesk Studio is a standalone, AI-powered design tool that generates polished email designs from a simple description. You can export the HTML and paste it into EmailOctopus's code editor, adding our merge tags and required footer elements – giving you the best of both worlds.

One important difference in how pricing works

Flodesk's new subscriber-based plans include unlimited email sends at every tier, except the free one, as it doesn't have the email-sending feature. EmailOctopus's pricing is also based on subscriber count, but includes a send limit (roughly 10x your contact count per month). For most senders that limit is more than enough, but it's worth checking our pricing page with your list size and sending frequency in mind.

Step 1: Set up your EmailOctopus account

Sign up for a free EmailOctopus account if you haven't already – it only takes a couple of minutes. Once you fill in your details, we'll automatically pull your branding from the website you provide, so your templates are ready to go from the start.

Domain verification

You can skip this step if you don't own a domain. Read why it's worth verifying it in this article.

Before starting out with any campaigns, verify your sending domain. Domain verification tells inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook that your emails are legitimate – it's one of the most impactful things you can do for deliverability from day one. Here's how to verify your domain in EmailOctopus.

You may have already verified a domain inside Flodesk – the process works similarly in EmailOctopus, though you'll need to add the DNS records again for the new platform.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

While you're in settings, it's worth enabling two-factor authentication to keep your account secure. Follow this guide to set it up.

Step 2: Clean your list before migrating

Optional, but definitely worth doing before you move.

If your Flodesk audience includes subscribers who haven't opened an email in six months or more, it's a good idea to address that before you switch. Inbox providers use engagement as a signal of trust – a list that includes inactive contacts can affect your deliverability on any email marketing platform.

Flodesk has a useful tool for this in the Audience > Subscribers tab.

1. Click the Filter option in the upper-right corner.

2. Filter by engagement and identify contacts who haven't opened or clicked in a given period – you can use the Emails opened and clicked filters, or the Last activity filter. Make sure to select contacts with the Active status – those contacts are still subscribed, but might be unengaged. Apply the filter.

3. Export the contacts by hitting the triple-dotted icon and selecting Download CSV.

For contacts who haven't engaged in a long time, you have two options: run a re-engagement campaign through Flodesk before you export, giving them a chance to interact with your emails (you can save the filtered view as a segment in Flodesk), or simply exclude them from your export and carry only your active, engaged audience across to EmailOctopus.

If you'd like to keep a record of those inactive contacts as unsubscribed (so you don't accidentally email them later), you can export them separately and import them into EmailOctopus as unsubscribed – we cover this in step 4, so read on.

Step 3: Export your Flodesk data

Contacts

Flodesk exports contacts as CSV files – you can export all your active contacts at once, or export individual segments separately if you want to carry your segment structure across as tags in EmailOctopus later.

Flodesk's CSV export includes all contacts in the selected segment, including unsubscribed, bounced, and complained contacts. Make sure to export each status separately, and filter each segment by active contacts only.

To export all of your active contacts:

1. Go to Audience > Subscribers in your Flodesk dashboard.

2. Use the Filter feature to target contacts with the Active status, excluding other statuses.

3. Hit the triple-dotted icon, and select Download CSV.

4. A download link will be emailed to the login address on your Flodesk account. Note that the link expires after 24 hours, so download it promptly.

You can also export active contacts that belong to individual segments:

1. Go to Audience > Segments in your Flodesk dashboard. You’ll see all your segments to choose from – click on the segment you want to export.

2. Filter contacts by the Active status.
3. Hit the triple-dotted icon, and select Download CSV.
4. A download link will be emailed to the login address on your Flodesk account.

To get a separate export of unsubscribed, cleaned, archived, bounced and complained contacts:

You can create a custom filter for all the unsubscribed, cleaned, archived, bounced and complained contacts by selecting the status types in the filter directly, and then exporting the contacts in that filtered view. Make sure to using the 'any' filter instead of 'all'. This will provide you with a file with all contacts you shouldn’t send to – it will be useful later on.

Workflow and campaign data

If you have campaign reports or automation analytics you'd like to keep for reference, export the reports or screenshot the flows before closing your Flodesk account. This data doesn't transfer automatically.

Step 4: Import your unsubscribed contacts first

Before bringing your active list across, import your unsubscribed contacts and mark them as unsubscribed during the import.

Doing this first means EmailOctopus already knows not to email those addresses – even if they come up in a future import. It's an easy step that protects you from accidentally contacting people who've opted out, and it keeps your sender reputation safe from the start.

1. Go to the Contacts tab in EmailOctopus and choose Add contacts from the dropdown.

2. Upload your file of unsubscribed, cleaned, bounced, archived and complained contacts.

3. Mark them as Unsubscribed and click Next.
4. Map the fields and finish the import.

This guide on bulk unsubscribing contacts is a useful reference as you get this done.

Step 5: Import your active subscribers

With your suppression list in place, you're ready to bring your main list across. Our full guide on importing contacts has step-by-step instructions, but we provided them below, too.

1. Go to the Contacts tab and choose Add contacts from the dropdown.
2. Upload your file of active subscribers and choose the Subscribed status.
3. Map the fields from your Flodesk export – first name, last name, and any other fields you collected.
4. If you want to recreate your Flodesk segment structure, apply a tag to each import that corresponds to the segment name. For example, subscribers from your exported "VIP clients" segment in Flodesk can be tagged as "VIP clients" when importing the file into EmailOctopus. Tags work the same way as Flodesk's manual segments – a way to group subscribers so you can target them or exclude them from specific sends.
5. Finalise the import. Repeat for each segment file if you exported them separately.

Once done, your contacts will appear in EmailOctopus with their data intact – quick and easy.

Recreating Flodesk segments in EmailOctopus

Flodesk also uses segments dynamically – for example, filtering by engagement or behaviour. You can do the same in EmailOctopus – head to the Contacts page and click on the Segments tab to set up rule-based filters by tag, engagement, custom fields, subscription date, and more. This article on segmentation covers everything available, so make sure to give it a read.

Step 6: Recreate your workflows as automations

If you have Flodesk workflows running (welcome sequences, nurture flows, post-purchase journeys), rebuild them in EmailOctopus before you start driving new subscribers in, so no one falls through the gap.

In Flodesk, workflows are triggered when someone is added to a segment, submits a form, makes a purchase, or abandons a cart. In EmailOctopus, automations are triggered by similar subscriber-level events – joining a list, a tag being applied, a date field matching a condition, and many more. This article on automation triggers and actions is a helpful reference when rebuilding your automations.

A few things worth knowing when recreating your Flodesk workflows:

• Flodesk's workflow emails (the individual emails within a workflow) are the equivalent of EmailOctopus's automated emails. You'll recreate these from scratch in the EmailOctopus editor.
• Flodesk supports multiple trigger branches in a single workflow, allowing subscribers from different sources to enter the same flow. In EmailOctopus, you can achieve the same outcome only on the Pro plan, as it offers up to three triggers within one automation. The free Starter plan users can set one trigger per automation.
• Flodesk's action steps (which add or remove subscribers from segments mid-workflow) have an equivalent in EmailOctopus through the Action step, although we offer some more subscriber-related options instead of removing contacts from segments.
• Purchase and abandoned cart triggers aren't natively available in EmailOctopus. If your Flodesk workflows included those, you'll need to connect an integration via Zapier or our API to replicate your automation scenario.

Step 7: Recreate your email templates

Our drag-and-drop editor comes with a library of clean, professional templates to get you started – and if you're used to Flodesk's more visual, design-forward layouts, keep in mind that the simpler aesthetic is actually a big plus for deliverability and readability across different inboxes and devices. You can recreate your emails from scratch in the editor, which is also a good opportunity to refresh your designs.

If you used custom HTML in Flodesk, you can paste it directly into EmailOctopus's code editor. Make sure to swap out any Flodesk-specific merge tags for the EmailOctopus equivalents – our customisation cheatsheet is a useful reference, and check that the required footer merge tags are in place.

And if you want to keep creating design-heavy emails, remember that you can use Flodesk Studio to generate your designs and export the HTML straight into our Code your own editor – so you won't have to compromise on aesthetics.

Step 8: Update your forms and landing pages

If you have Flodesk opt-in forms or full-page forms embedded on your website, replace them with EmailOctopus equivalents so new subscribers go to the right place.

Go to the Grow tab in EmailOctopus to create a new landing page or signup form, then swap out the embed code on your site. This guide on adding form code to your website covers the embedding process.

If you used Flodesk's link-in-bio page to drive sign-ups, you'll need an alternative for that – most people create a simple landing page on EmailOctopus, a free Linktree account, a Carrd page or a page on their website instead.

Step 9: Send your first campaign

Everything's in place – time to send!

Start with your most engaged subscribers rather than blasting to your full list on day one. When you move to a new sending platform, inbox providers may take a little time to build trust with your new setup. Starting small (so with your most active contacts first), and expanding gradually over the first few weeks gives you the best chance of landing in the inbox from the start.

To create your first campaign, go to the Campaigns tab and follow this guide.

Great job, you just switched to EmailOctopus! 🐙

Keeping your sender reputation healthy after the switch

Moving platforms is a good moment to build habits that will serve you well long term. A few things worth focusing on once you're up and running:

1. Send on a consistent schedule. Weekly or monthly – whatever works for your audience – is one of the most effective things you can do for deliverability. Inbox providers respond well to regular, predictable senders.
2. Warm up your domain, even if your list is not large. This gradually builds your sender reputation with inbox providers and improves your chances of landing in the inbox. More on how to do that here.
3. Keep your list clean. EmailOctopus handles hard bounces automatically, but regularly suppressing contacts who haven't engaged in 90 days or more helps protect your sender reputation.
4. Monitor your metrics. Open rates, click rates, bounces, and complaints give you an early warning if something's off. The Reports tab gives you a clear view of how each campaign performs.
5. Only send to people who've opted in. EmailOctopus is a permission-based platform – meaning all of your contacts need to have actively opted in to receive your emails. Emailing contacts who haven't given permission is one of the fastest ways to damage your sender reputation – and what can go wrong in a single send can take much longer to put right.

For more on maintaining a healthy sending reputation, this article is worth reading.

Frequently asked questions

Will my subscribers know I've switched from Flodesk?

They receive emails from your domain or sender address, not from Flodesk or EmailOctopus. As long as your domain is verified, the switch is invisible to them. If you're on our free Starter plan, there's a required link back to EmailOctopus in the footer – that's the only visible difference.

What happens to my Flodesk segments?

Flodesk segments don't export as a separate structure – they're part of the CSV file you download. If you export each segment separately, you can apply corresponding tags in EmailOctopus during import to preserve the same groups. From there, you can create rule-based segments in EmailOctopus to filter by those tags, just as you'd use segments in Flodesk to target specific groups.

Will I lose my subscriber data?

No, as long as you export from Flodesk and map the fields correctly during import. First name, email, and any other fields in your CSV will carry across. Custom fields that don't already exist in EmailOctopus can be created directly during the import process.

Does EmailOctopus have a Checkout feature like Flodesk?

No, EmailOctopus doesn't include built-in e-commerce or digital product selling. If you used Flodesk checkout feature to sell products, courses, or subscriptions, you'll need a separate tool for that. Gumroad, ThriveCart, and Stripe are popular options that integrate with EmailOctopus, often via Zapier. Have a look at all of our integrations here.

Can I replicate Flodesk's email designs in EmailOctopus?

The EmailOctopus editor produces clean, professional emails and has a good template library to work from. Flodesk is known for its highly visual, design-forward layouts, and if that aesthetic is central to your brand, there'll be some adjustment. That said, simpler email designs tend to perform better on deliverability and load quickly across all devices – which is worth keeping in mind.

Can I import my Flodesk templates?

Flodesk templates can't be exported as files. You'll recreate your emails in the EmailOctopus editor. If you used custom HTML or Flodesk Studio, you can copy that across directly with a quick swap of merge tags.

What about Flodesk's link-in-bio pages?

EmailOctopus doesn't have a link-in-bio feature. Most people replace this with a simple landing page (which we support), a free Linktree or Carrd account, or a dedicated page on their own website.

How long does the migration take?

For most people, under an hour. Larger lists take a little longer to export and import, but the steps are simple and well-documented.

If you need help at any point during your migration, our support team is happy to help you anytime. You'll also find detailed guides for every step in our Knowledge Base.

Happy emailing!