We use gradient flow to compute the static force based on a Wilson loop with a chromoelectric field insertion. The result can be compared on one hand to the static force from the numerical derivative of the lattice static energy, and on the other hand to the perturbative calculation, allowing a precise extraction of the $\Lambda_0$ parameter. This study may open the way to gradient flow calculations of correlators of chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields, which typically arise in the nonrelativistic effective field theory factorization.