Thrivecart vs Clickfunnels – A Funnel Builder’s Perspective

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ThriveCart or ClickFunnels?

I know there are many people out there who say “Oh, I’ve moved from ClickFunnels to ThriveCart” – or vice versa.

So there’s bound to be a less than stellar review on the one they left, and a nicer review of the one they’re currently using. 

Agree?

What makes mine different?

Well, I’m using both – actively. Yep.

I like both, and I’ll talk about the features, pros and cons, and pricing, of both – but in a ‘both are good’ way, not a ‘ugh, this one was crappy, so I’m moving to this one’ type of review.

ThriveCart Vs ClickFunnels – Which One’s For Me And My Business?

It honestly depends on what kinds of business you have.

I do funnel building, design, copywriting, email marketing, and backend setup for my clients. 

In order to be able to navigate and troubleshoot potential issues seamlessly, naturally, I need to know my way inside out and, thus, have my own subscription to the platforms.

Let’s do a quick summary so you’re not left hanging:

If you’re looking to build awesome funnels, split testing, and be able to track your conversion rates clearly, ClickFunnels will be the way to go.

If gorgeous funnels aren’t a priority, but wanting the ability to create lots of products with different offers – such as a 30-day trial or an initial one-off setup fee followed by a usual monthly subscription to a membership for example, and have a more dynamic affiliate setup, then ThriveCart will definitely work for you.

This is just skimming the top of everything, though – so let’s do a deep dive into both.

ThriveCart: What You Need To Know

ThriveCart became famous for its awesome affiliate setup system. ClickFunnels Classic’s affiliate is BackPack. OK to use, a bit clunky, but works.

Can ThriveCart Create Landing Pages? 

Yes, it can. Basic decent-looking ones. 

If your goal is to create a complete gradient-ish, premium type of look, you’ll have to go to ClickFunnels. 

Quick examples here.

You can tell that ThriveCart templates (unless you incorporate perhaps a certain level of coding, etc (I can see you shaking your head) are pretty template-y. That’s about as far as you can go, really.

There are prettier templates, but that’s it – they’re templates. You can’t customize much, especially if you don’t know how to bring in awesome graphics and backgrounds.

You might be interested in: Lead Generation Landing Page: How to Create an Effective One

Does ThriveCart Have A Free Trial?

No, it doesn’t. It’s $497 upfront for the basic plan, with an option to upgrade to access more features for an additional $195.

On the whole, one does pretty well with the Lifetime $495 plan – unless your business revolves around affiliate marketing.

So what makes ThriveCart special?

In my humble opinion, two very important things (from what I’ve done for my clients).

Number 1: The checkout cart.

It can cater to very specific needs.

Examples:

You may want to sell a membership for perhaps $97 for the first 2 weeks, and then $297 monthly after. You won’t be able to do that in ClickFunnels – unless you integrate (via Zapier, etc) the purchases to ThriveCart, ha ha!

You may want to offer a 7-day free trial and then charge $47 monthly or $497 annually—ThriveCart can do that for you.

You may want to give your buyers the option of using coupons. You can’t do that in ClickFunnels (unless you use CF Pro Tools, another paid tool) but you can easily set that up in ThriveCart.

ClickFunnels’ most popular payment gateway, Stripe, has incredibly limited payment plan options. 

It’s super easy to set up as well. ThriveCart’s interface (for product setup, NOT the landing page editor) was so intuitive I did everything like a pro, even for the first time.

In short, its ease of use, the ability to customize the checkout process and shopping cart, and its dynamic affiliate program setup is what I truly appreciate about ThriveCart.

Number 2: One-time payment

It’s so nice to know that paying for ThriveCart just once gives you lifetime access.

One-time payment. Need I say more?

So, tell me the Nays.

A one-time payment does come with some downsides (not referring to the payment, of course, haha). For one, customer support is hard to get to. You need to maneuver multiple steps just to get to the help section and create a ticket.

There’s no 24/7 helpdesk. There is no option for live chat support. You can write in but don’t hope for a reply anytime soon. They do take their time answering. 

Next, the page builder.

ThriveCart has a drag and drop editor like ClickFunnels does.

But goodness, are the options limited.

I don’t blame it, of course – it does have website and landing page builders, but it wasn’t meant to be a funnel building platform.

As a funnel builder and having built on so many different platforms – ThriveCart has one of the most limited functionalities and customization options in making a page look awesome sauce.

It’s also not easy to use, which is a surprising difference from its user-friendly interface for creating products.

You can’t design awesome drop-dead gorgeous sites, the type you see done with ClickFunnels. If you’re about simplicity and clean, but not premium or wow-ish looking designs, then ThriveCart will work for you. After all, sometimes it’s about the offer, the messaging, and targeting the correct people to get those much desired conversion rates, and not about beautiful, premium sites (though these do make a difference, and bring a new meaning to the term high-converting sales funnels).

There isn’t an option to send emails or create email campaigns, either – but that’s fair, considering the pricing. You can, however, integrate with an external email provider, such as ActiveCampaign.

You might be interested in: ActiveCampaign Vs Klaviyo: Top Choice In 2024

Let’s Look At ClickFunnels Next.

We’ve all read and seen the usual articles on ClickFunnels – how it gives you high-converting sales pages, can create membership sites, order bumps, a and b testing,  and is just an amazing all in-one sales funnel builder.

While this is true, from a funnel builder’s perspective, ClickFunnels is so much more (I’m specifically referring to ClickFunnels Classic here because, again, I’m not a fan of 2.0). 

You might be interested in: ClickFunnels 2.0: Best Guide For Beginners

The Editor In ClickFunnels.

First off, it makes designing so easy. 

The editor is straightforward and intuitive. You’d think that, as a funnel platform, you’d need a steeper learning curve to use it, but I have to say that this isn’t true at all.

You can easily create digital products, much like ThriveCart, but it does not have the customization abilities ThriveCart has. You create anything you need in your offline or online business, but it comes with a set one-time pricing. If you want to make payment plans or subscriptions, you’ll need to go a step further and make those within Stripe first and then integrate that into ClickFunnels (easy to do, luckily).

You’re able to whip up a full-fledged working funnel, complete with upsells and downsells very quickly and easily in less than 30 minutes. There are numerous templates (some new, some outdated, but usable regardless) you can use if it makes life easier for you.

I’ve created so many complete sales funnels in ClickFunnels, even without the need for third party tools sometimes – because the $97 does have a basic email sending capability (you’ll need to open an account with Sendgrid and link that to ClickFunnels), and the $97 plan does have a place you keep all your contacts and email list.

You might be interested in: GrooveFunnels vs ClickFunnels: 2024 Comparison

The Platinum Plan With Some Advanced Features.

The Platinum Plan comes at a hefty $297 per month.

What comes with it?

Backpack affiliate features and email marketing automation, known as Actionetics.

Both are a bit clunky, but not hard to use – just not as modern as you’d expect. They are very useful and get the work done, though, so I suppose that’s what matters.

Actionetics does not have the dynamic capabilities ActiveCampaign has. It’s more like Mailchimp – simple to use, for those who aren’t into complicated email automation and workflows. It allows you to create all these under a tab called ‘Follow-up Funnels’.

While most clients do not use this feature (they pay $97 for the funnel building features and have third-party tools and email marketing platforms which they integrate with ClickFunnels), there are clients who are on the $297 plan and who wish to take advantage of the automation features that are available within the plan.

Backpack, while not as awesome as ThriveCart and First Promoter when it comes to creating affiliate links, is incredibly easy to learn and use. You can create an affiliate link for anyone manually or send them a login page for them to create one themselves – it’s completely up to you.

While you may not be using these features yourself, it’s good to know about them – because your clients may want you to use them on their behalf.

You might be interested in: ClickFunnels vs Instapage: Freelancer Comparison For Success

The Support.

ClickFunnels’ support wins, hands down. 

You’re given the option of a live chat, an email ticket, or even a call!

The support team knows what’s what, too, and I’ve learned so much from them over the years it isn’t funny.

Tickets are addressed within the next 12 hours and they use Looms and videos to walk you through the solution – very helpful.

You might be interested in: ClickFunnels Vs Kajabi: Best for Your Business in 2024

My preference as a Funnel Builder/Business Owner?

I’ve mentioned above that I use both.

I have all my funnels built in ClickFunnels – the products, everything – because I like the brand consistency and congruency my site visitors get – rather than sending them to a ThriveCart platform to check out.

However, I create my affiliate links within ThriveCart – and manage my affiliates and payouts from there.

I’m going to include a table of comparisons here so business owners like yourself can make an informed decision about which platform is a better choice for your business.

Conclusion

As a funnel builder, I’ve actively recommended both platforms to my clients.

I’ve asked them to use ClickFunnels for their funnels, and consider ThriveCart if they need highly customizable payment plans or very dynamic affiliate management.

If they do not need all these features (yet), then ClickFunnels with payment plans set up in Stripe is more than enough for them to get started.

When they want a strong email marketing platform, I then recommend ActiveCampaign – because in my humble opinion, Activecampaign is one of the best there is (and yes, I use it actively too).

But what if a client says – that’s just too many platforms needing a lot of duct tape and integration capabilities – don’t you have anything all-in-one?

I do. I recommend Go High Level.

It builds websites, funnels, has a steady email marketing platform, decent affiliate management system, and the ability to natively create subscription and payment plans. With prices only starting at $97, it offers better value for the range of features it offers. It can even host online courses (but it’s not really customizable and I am not a fan).

I use GHL actively, too – because I coach my students on how to use it, and I have many clients using it as well – and I like to keep a copy of my work in my own account. That’s a whole different story, though – GHL is not without its flaws.

So I have – a ClickFunnels Platinum account, a $297 Go High Level account, and a ThriveCart account of my own. All these I deem very necessary for my business as a coach and a funnel builder.

My advice?

Try a few months of ClickFunnels and ThriveCart. See which one works better for your specific business needs. Each has its own unique features, but essentially both are incredibly powerful tools that can help you grow your business – but the keyword here is ‘tools’.

These are, in the end, tools. As a business owner, instead of focusing on the ‘right tools’, ensure you get your offer down. That your messaging is on point. That you know exactly what your target audiences want. When you have all these in place, choosing between these two (or using both) will be an easy choice to make.