Are you preparing to set up an online store? If so, you might be looking for tools to use to help you out – and if you have, you’ve probably come across information about two of the most commonly used tools, ClickFunnels and SamCart.
A lot of people want comparisons between the two, but…These two products don’t actually do the same thing!
It can be hard to compare two things that don’t have the same function, but they do actually have a few things in common.
What’s more – we actually have a suggestion for you that might be better than using these two products, which can work together. We’ll get to that later, but for now, let’s look at what each of these products do so you can figure out what you need.
What is ClickFunnels?
Let’s start with the basics. ClickFunnels is a system that you can use to create various types of sales funnels.
What that means is that it’s more than just a simple page builder. They offer all kinds of templates that you can use to create sales funnels. For example, they have:
- A simple, two-page funnel that allows you to collect email addresses or sell a product and then display a Thank You page.
- A sales page funnel that you can use to explain your products, sell them, and then add a series of upsells or downsells as needed.
- A webinar funnel that you can use to promote and sell your upcoming webinar.
- A full-blown membership site funnel to entice people to sign up and help you earn recurring income.
It also comes with templates you can use to get existing customers to opt in and give you a testimonial, and options to add pricing pop-up tables.
If none of the templates appeal to you, you also have the option of starting from scratch and using the ClickFunnels editor to do it. The editor allows you to move elements around easily and make the pages in your sales funnel look exactly the way you want them to look.
Whether you use a template or decide to create your own sales funnel using the ClickFunnels tools, there are some things you should know about how the design process works.
First, even if you use a template, you have the option of deleting or adding pages as needed.
Second, each page is divided into basic sections and columns where you can add elements from ClickFunnels’ huge library of options. For example, you may want to add any or all of the following:
- Headlines
- Images
- Text
- Buttons
- Videos
- Testimonials
- Input forms
- Countdown timers
ClickFunnels provides its users with a ton of control in terms of how their pages look. You can change colors, fonts, images – just about every element of your sales funnel.
The other nice thing about ClickFunnels is that once your sales funnel is designed to your liking and you launch it, they also provide tools to help you monitor its performance.
For example, you can check out how many visitors come to your page, how many convert by signing up for your list or making a purchase, and so on.
ClickFunnels also has split testing built in, so if you’re not 100% sure that your funnel is the best it can be, you can run some tests to fine-tune your headlines, images, calls to action, and so on.
There are two more key functions you need to know about before we move on to SamCart.
- Actionetics is ClickFunnels’ email program. You can use it to manage your list, design basic emails, and send out email bulletins. It isn’t a replacement for a full email automation system – yet – but it does have some nice tools for you to try.
- Backpack is an affiliate marketing tool that you can use if you want to add an affiliate program and offer commission to people who promote your products. It has a ton of great features.
Now, the one potential downside of ClickFunnels is that if you want access to the advanced features like Actionetics and Backpack, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee that’s higher than their regular price of $97/month.
Those features are only included with their Etison Suite Plan, which is $297 a month. That might seem like a lot, but it comes with all the benefits of ClickFunnels, plus you can use it to create unlimited traffic, pages, funnels, and domains – plus your own affiliate program.
What is SamCart?
Now let’s talk about SamCart. As mentioned above, these products are not the same – but they do have some important things in common.
SamCart’s primary function is to help users set up high-converting checkout pages. Since ClickFunnels can help you do that too, it’s easy to see where the confusion comes in.
People who already have a partial sales funnel in place might want to consider SamCart or something like it to add a checkout page. If you’re going to ask people to get out their credit cards and make a purchase, it’s important to have a checkout page that looks great and works.
Here are some of the things you can do with SamCart:
- Choose from 17 different checkout page templates, each of which supports both PayPal and Stripe payment processors
- Add a product bump (upsell) to your checkout pages
- Create an affiliate program (another commonality with ClickFunnels
If all you want is a quick and easy way to create a checkout page, then something like SamCart is a good idea. It has a lot less functionality than ClickFunnels, but it also doesn’t limit the number of pages you can create the way ClickFunnels does.
Which is Better: ClickFunnels or SamCart?
Now let’s talk about making a choice – and it really depends on what you want to do. On the whole, ClickFunnels has far more functionality and options than SamCart does.
If you’re looking to set up a fully functioning sales funnel that will convert and allow you to make sales, then we strongly recommend ClickFunnels over SamCart in spite of its high price tag.
But wait…
Earlier, we told you that we had a third option. SamCart is a perfectly acceptable tool to use for your checkout cart, but we think you can do better. That’s why we want to tell you about ThriveCart.
What is ThriveCart?
Like SamCart, ThriveCart is a tool you can use to set up a checkout page. What they have in common is:
- A choice of checkout page template
- Integration with popular autoresponder software such as Active Campaign, AWeber and GetResponse
- The ability to accept common payment methods such as PayPal and Stripe
- The ability to add upsells and downsells to boost sales and grow your profits
If they were identical, then the decision would largely come down to price. However, there are some key differences that explain why we prefer ThriveCart.
Difference #1: Autoresponders
The first major difference is in these two tools’ ability to connect with autoresponders. While SamCart can connect with quite a few, ThriveCart has more. In fact, it can integrate with any HTML-based autoresponder service.
It’s also important to note that SamCart allows you to connect with only one autoresponder option, making list segmentation an impossibility. By contract, ThriveCart has no limit on the number of options you can integrate.
Difference #2: Payment Options
Both services also work with PayPal and Stripe, but ThriveCart is the only one that works with Apple Pay – and given the popularity of iPhones, that’s a big plus.
Another area where SamCart comes up short is that it allows you to accept only one currency. By contrast, ThriveCart is currently set up to accept 16 currencies – a clear advantage.
ThriveCart is constantly expanding, too, adding new integration capabilities on a daily basis.
Difference #3: Technical Support
While both SamCart and ThriveCart offer some technical support, the research we’ve done indicates that ThriveCart’s is superior. In fact, people on their Facebook page rave about the level of support they get.
By contrast, people who ask for technical help on SamCart’s Facebook page have been banned.
Considering how frustrating it can be not to be able to get the support you need, we think it’s especially important to choose a company that offers round-the-clock, caring support.
Other Features
There are a few other things we want to point out to demonstrate why we feel ThriveCart is a better choice than SamCart. Here they are:
- ThriveCart integrates fully with Taxomo so you can collect and pay sales taxes easily. By contrast, you’d have to pay $100 extra or more a month.
- ThriveCart’s terms & conditions show up in a pop-up box on the checkout page, whereas on SamCart pages, customers are directed away and may end up not converting.
- ThriveCart allows you to create multiple user logins and SamCart does not.
- ThriveCart offers support in 10 languages with more coming, while SamCart offers only six with no plans to add more.
- ThriveCart offers full coupon support and two-tier checkout, neither of which is possible with SamCart.
- ThriveCart gives you the ability to create your own upsell and downsell pages and embed a buy button to make your purchase path seamless.
- ThriveCart’s affiliate program allows for instant payouts to affiliates via Paypal. In contrast, SamCart requires that you manually pay out affiliates.
- ThriveCart has a little-known feature that allows customers to pick their own price. This is great for collecting donations or offer “practically free” products and allowing the customer to decide what it’s worth to them.
- ThriveCart has deep integration with Zapier. Zaps can be triggered from things like cancellations, coupons, or even sales generated from a specific affiliate, allowing endless integration possibilities with other tools.
- ThriveCart allows integration with multiple membership sites at the same time. If you sell multiple programs, you can sell them all from one Thrivecart account. If you’re using SamCart, you’ll need multiple SamCart accounts in order to run multiple membership sites.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, ThriveCart allows you to capture the emails of people who start to make a purchase and then abandon their shopping carts.
If you know anything about marketing, you know that’s huge. With those email addresses, you can funnel people into a drip campaign to get them to return and complete their purchase. Without their addresses, they’re in the wind – and may never come back.
Our Final Recommendation: ClickFunnels + ThriveCart
You came here looking for a way to decide between ClickFunnels and SamCart, but our final recommendation to you is this:
If you want to create a killer sales funnel that converts combined with a checkout page that has all the functionality you could possibly want, your best bet is to forget about SamCart and go with a combination of ClickFunnels and ThriveCart.
These two tools truly offer you everything you need to make your sales funnel a success. They eliminate almost all of the guesswork, providing you with a full array of integrated tools and options that you can use to grow your business, just like ours. Good luck!
