Kartra vs ClickFunnels: Which One is Best for Your Business?

Launch Your Online Business in Just 7 Days

An all-in-one tool is the best asset you could have for your online business.


With 93% of all online interactions starting on a search engine, getting yourself to the top ranks using an all-in-one tool is an absolute no-brainer.


Both ClickFunnels and Kartra are great online marketing tools, but there can only be one winner.


In this post, we’ll compare all their features and pricing, as well as mention some alternative platforms, to help you decide which tool is best to run your entire business.


Let’s dive in!

1. What is the best all-in-one marketing platform?

Before we get started, let’s go through a quick rundown of each of these platforms.

1.1. What is Kartra?

Kartra logo

Kartra logo

Kartra is a really simple, although powerful all-in-one marketing platform.

Its core features include:

  • Landing page and sales funnel building
  • Sign up forms
  • Email marketing
  • Affiliate marketing

And more.


Kartra currently has a 4.5/5 rating on Capterra, and although it’s listed as the “Top Performer” and “Emerging Favorite” for 2021, this digital marketing tool isn’t without its flaws.


Let’s look at what Kartra’s customers have to say:

1.1.1. Kartra’s pros and cons

Pros

  • As an all-in-one platform, you don’t need to spend extra money on different subscriptions
  • Easy drag-and-drop interface
  • Offers great tutorial videos for new users

Cons

  • Can become costly for businesses with large email lists
  • Slow page loading speed
  • An unreliable support team
  • Quite a steep learning curve

If you’d like to learn more about Kartra, read our in-depth review here.

1.2. What is ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels logo

ClickFunnels logo

ClickFunnels is one of the most popular all-in-one platforms.

Its core features include:

  • Funnel builder services
  • Email marketing software and automation
  • Affiliate management programs

And more.


ClickFunnels currently has a 4.6/5 rating on Capterra.


Their customers emphasize the benefits of sales funnel templates, shortlisting them as the “Top Performer” for 2021. However, their features are a little clunky.


Let’s look at the pros and cons of ClickFunnels as mentioned by their customers:

1.2.1. ClickFunnels’ pros and cons

Pros

  • Easy-to-use landing page builder
  • Great resources and tutorials for new users
  • Plenty of templates to choose from

Cons

  • Pages and funnels can’t be formatted for tablets
  • Poor page loading speeds
  • The editor has limited features
  • The pricing doesn’t justify their email marketing capabilities
  • Unreliable support team

If you’d like to learn more about ClickFunnels, click here to read our full review.

2. Kartra vs. ClickFunnels: Features

2.1. Kartra’s page builder

Kartra’s page builder

Kartra’s page builder

Kartra’s page builder isn’t only sleek and easy to use, but it also comes with a truckload of features to get your web pages and sales funnels up in minutes.


Kartra’s page builder includes:

  • 500+ page templates
  • Multiple drag-and-drop elements — Embed video links, carousels, alert bars, countdown timers, and more
  • Pop-up, lead capture, and checkout forms
  • Customer tags and segmentation
  • A/B split testing
  • Customer tracking software — Scroll heatmaps, time tracking, conversions by device, etc.

Kartra allows you to publish any pre-existing domains you might have, as well as create entirely new web pages using their web form creator.


Anything you create can also be optimized for any device (something ClickFunnels should consider).


All in all, Kartra has a great page builder!

2.1.2. ClickFunnels’ page builder

ClickFunnels’ page builder is very similar to Kartra’s, but it doesn’t have as many customization options.


With their drag-and-drop editor, you’ll also get:

  • Page templates — Create sales, order, opt-in, 1-click upsell, webinar, and membership pages
  • Color-coded building block structures — Sections, rows/columns, and element editing (see image below)
  • Various elements — Surveys, countdown timers, SMS sign-up, pricing tables, host videos, and more
An example of ClickFunnels’ building block feature

An example of ClickFunnels’ building block feature

With ClickFunnels you can also customize the color and padding of your page content, as well as make any additional custom changes using existing HTML code.


ClickFunnels focuses on utility, but its editor is simple to use and has all the elements you need to get started.

2.2. Sales funnel builders

In practice, sales funnels are sales pages combined with email marketing automation.


Ultimately, you should have a cohesive funnel that nurtures your leads and customers and provides them with a seamless experience.


For an in-depth look into sales funnels, you can read our article on building high-converting sales funnels right here.

2.2.1. Kartra’s sales funnel builder

An example of a Kartra sales funnel

An example of a Kartra sales funnel

Kartra’s sales funnel builder includes:

  • Drag and drop sequence builder
  • Plug-and-play marketing campaigns — Import or share new marketing campaigns or use pre-built ones
  • Event-based and email marketing automation options
  • Lead tagging (behavioral segmentation)
  • Multi-page flow — Connect your pages to form a sales funnel
  • IF/THEN automation — For example, IF a customer visits their cart, THEN they receive an up-sell offer and a recommendation email

Kartra’s sales funnels are a part of a highly integrated ecosystem.


You can convert customers on auto-pilot with conditional automation powered by effective pages and smooth email marketing sequences.


Kartra’s funnel templates are also a great feature.


Because everything is already done for you, you just have to select the one you like, customize it to fit your brand, and you’re good to go.

2.2.2. ClickFunnels’ sales funnel builder

An example of a ClickFunnels funnel

An example of a ClickFunnels funnel

One of ClickFunnels’ main focal points are funnel building, and as such, their sales funnels software includes:

  • Lead generation funnels — Squeeze pages and long-form funnels
  • Sales pages
  • One-click upsells and order forms
  • Host live webinars or create evergreen webinars
  • Membership sites and affiliate marketing centers
  • Follow-up funnel options (email autoresponders)
  • A/B split tests
  • Sales and conversion tracking

ClickFunnels offers the same CSS customization features as their web page builder.


You can also sell your own physical and digital products through their funnels without using 3rd party integrations.

2.3. Email marketing

Since all-in-one tools aim to completely replace standard email marketing tools, they have to have plenty of email marketing tricks up their sleeve for users to love.

2.3.1. Kartra’s email marketing features

Kartra’s email platform

Kartra’s email platform

Kartra’s email marketing system is fueled by behavior-based automation.


Your leads and customers will receive different email sequences depending on the actions they take on your website.


They’ll also receive timed emails that’ll land in their inboxes at the times they’re most likely to open them.


Kartra also offers:

  • Templates for hero sections, content blocks, countdown timers, testimonials, video thumbnails, and more
  • A/B testing
  • Multiple automation rules
  • Email tags, lists, and sequences
  • Real-time spam, open and subscription rate analyzation

With email sequences, you can automatically start nurturing your leads with specific content that’ll turn them into customers.


You can also use a different sequence type to reengage with people who have already bought from you.

2.3.2. ClickFunnels’ email marketing funnels

ClickFunnels' Email Messenger dashboard

ClickFunnels' Email Messenger dashboard

ClickFunnels’ email marketing automation is called Follow-up Funnels, and they’re similar to Kartra’s email sequences.


For example, once a lead subscribes to your mailing list, you can start a lead nurturing sequence.


You can segment your mailing list according to their behavior and interests, create different sequences for different types of audiences, and more.


All in all, ClickFunnels’ email marketing features are enough to get you started.


However, they have limited trigger and behavior options, giving Kartra the upper hand.

2.4. Extra features

Now that we’ve covered the main features, let’s talk about add-ons and extra features that can be used to improve your online business.

2.4.1. Affiliate marketing

Both Kartra and ClickFunnels offer affiliate marketing.


Instead of paying for ads, you can onboard affiliates and pay them a commission only after they’ve successfully sold your product.

Kartra’s affiliate dashboard

Kartra’s affiliate dashboard

In addition to the basics such as setting up and managing the program, Kartra offers other affiliate marketing benefits:

  • Custom landing pages for affiliates
  • T&Cs and invitation questionnaires — Review potential affiliate responses before manually approving their application
  • Multiple commission tiers
  • Joint venture brokers — Let brokers recruit affiliates for you, earning a second-tier commission each time their affiliate base makes a sale
  • Payments made through PayPal

And more.

ClickFunnels’ Backpack affiliate program

ClickFunnels’ Backpack affiliate program

ClickFunnels’ affiliate program offers:

  • The standard features are similar to Kartra’s — Onboarding affiliates, dashboards, commission structures, etc.
  • Affiliate Area Page — This is an affiliate “hub” you create where your promoters can access helpful promotional materials
  • Affiliate contests — These can be combined with a leaderboard to motivate your affiliates to work harder and make more sales
  • PayPal payment integration

If you’re interested in becoming a ClickFunnels affiliate yourself, read our article here to help you get all the details.

2.4.2. Agency accounts

Kartra’s Agency dashboard

Kartra’s Agency dashboard

With Kartra Agency, you can manage your clients’ websites or give them secure access to co-manage their accounts.


You can also:

  • Choose your agency model — Owner (purchase Kartra accounts for clients at 40% discount) or Contractor (link existing accounts and manage them as a contractor)
  • Create client performance reports
  • Use one unified billing profile instead of billing each client individually
  • Brand your agency

This is a very important feature for online businesses that manage several large clients.


Unfortunately, ClickFunnels doesn’t offer agency accounts.

2.5. Pricing

Both Kartra and ClickFunnels have some powerful features to get your online business off the ground, but if the price is too high, it might not seem worth it.


Let’s examine their price tags to determine which platform will come out on top.

2.5.1. Kartra’s pricing

Kartra's pricing plans

Kartra's pricing plans

Kartra has 4 plans that can be billed monthly or yearly; the latter saves you 25%:

  • Starter plan — $99/month for up to 2,500 leads
  • Silver plan — $199/month for up to 12,500 leads
  • Gold plan — $299/month for up to 25,000 leads
  • Platinum plan — $499/month for up to 50,000 leads

Kartra has a 14-day trial, but it’ll cost you $1. If you are, however, unsatisfied with the platform, Kartra offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.


Unfortunately, the Kartra Agency is also only available from the Silver plan upwards.

2.5.2. ClickFunnels’ pricing

ClickFunnels’ pricing plans

ClickFunnels’ pricing plans

ClickFunnels offers 3 plans, consisting of the Basic plan ($97/month), the Platinum plan ($297/month), and the TwoCommaClubX plan ($2,497/month).


Unfortunately, the TwoCommaClubX is invite-only, and you need to have proof that you’ve made at least $1 million using ClickFunnels.


The Basic plan includes:

  • Up to 20 shareable funnels
  • Up to 100 pages
  • 1 sub-user
  • 3 payment gateways
  • 3 domains
  • Chat support
  • Access to the Funnel Hacker forum and FunnelFlix

Follow-up funnels (email marketing automation), peer review Hackathons, and unlimited funnels and pages are only available on the Platinum plan.


ClickFunnels does offer a free 14-day trial, but it requires your credit card details.

3. Which one is better for your online business — Kartra or ClickFunnels?

We recommend choosing Kartra, even if it’s a little more expensive.


Although similar, Kartra offers some finer features that businesses looking for all-in-one software could use (such as better email marketing capabilities, device optimization, and the Agency feature).


Even though ClickFunnels tries, it’s easy to see that they still focus heavily on their roots — being a sales funnel builder.


Both Kartra and ClickFunnels could improve on their support teams and page loading speeds.


ClickFunnels still falls short because of their difficult payment integrations and lack of additional features that Kartra has.


If you’re not sold on Kartra or ClickFunnels, then check out...

4. Kartra vs. ClickFunnels: Alternatives

4.1. The best alternative: Systeme.io

systeme.io logo

systeme.io logo

Systeme.io is the perfect all-in-one SaaS marketing platform that covers everything your online business could need to grow and improve.


Some of our features include:

  • Email marketing tools — Set up automated email sequences, categorize your customers and send tailored emails to specific groups
  • Sales funnel builder — Automate your funnel steps. Trigger email sequences, and give instant access to courses
  • Online course builder tools — No experience needed, and you can easily control your membership sites and your students' access
  • Website builder — Use our proven website templates and simple drag-and-drop builder. Integrate your email list and payment system, and create membership sites
  • Affiliate program management with automatic affiliate payouts
  • Blogging capabilities — Create and share high-converting content to get more followers behind you
  • Marketplace — Become a dropshipper, or sell your products on your website, blog, or our built-in marketplace

And more!


Systeme.io offers a Free plan and 3 paid plans that scale as your business grows.

systeme.io’s pricing plans

systeme.io’s pricing plans

Our Free plan is free forever, requires no card details to get started, is available for up to 2,000 contacts, and includes:

  • 3 sales funnels
  • 10 sales funnel steps
  • 1 blog site
  • 1 membership sites
  • 1 automation rule, workflow, customer tag, and email campaign
  • 1 one-click upsell, order bump, and A/B test
  • 1 custom domain and 1 coupon code

Our paid plans start from $27/month and can be billed either monthly or yearly, with the latter saving you 30%.


All of our plans come with unlimited emails, blog posts, storage space, and membership site members.


All of our plans also include:

With systeme.io, you can run your entire business without a hitch!

4.2. Other all-in-one alternatives

Builderall and Kajabi are also great alternatives to Kartra and ClickFunnels if you’re looking for something . . . specific.


Not sure what we mean?


Read on!

4.2.1. Builderall

Builderall logo

Builderall logo

There’s no way around it: Builderall is 100% focused on tech and utility.


Builderall’s features include:

  • Website and sales funnel builders
  • Templates for pages and funnels
  • Email marketing
  • A/B testing
  • CDN servers
  • Website sharing
  • Membership websites
  • Page loading accelerator
  • Chatbots and SMS marketing
  • Tools for Facebook and YouTube live streaming
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

And more.


It’s definitely one of the most advanced tools out there, but it can get overwhelming for beginners.


Builderall has a 14-day free trial, and you can pay $1 to experience the whole platform for 30 days.


When the trial is over, you’ll automatically be billed $69.90 monthly for their Premium plan.


Their paid plans normally start at $14.90/month.


For more information on Builderall, read our article here.

4.2.2. Kajabi

Kajabi logo

Kajabi logo

Kajabi is a great choice if you plan on selling courses or creating a membership site.


Kajabi’s features include:

  • Website, landing page, and sales page builder
  • Email marketing
  • Marketing automation
  • Create online courses, membership sites, or coaching programs

And more.


Kajabi has 3 plans, starting from $149/month. If you choose to pay annually, you’ll save 20%.


They also have a 14-day free trial, but it requires your credit card details.


For an in-depth look into Kajabi, read our article here.

4.3. Email marketing alternatives

If you’re looking for software that focuses mainly on email marketing, then ConvertKit and Mailchimp are good alternatives.

4.3.1. ConvertKit

ConvertKit logo

ConvertKit logo

ConvertKit aims to help online creators reach success with their businesses. They have some great email marketing features that include:

  • A powerful automation sequence builder
  • Landing page and sign-up form builder
  • Plenty of beautiful and effective email templates
  • Customer tagging and segmentation
  • Sales funnel creator

They have a Free plan available for up to 1,000 subscribers and their pricing starts at $149/month. If you opt to pay yearly, you’ll get 2 months free.

4.3.2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp logo

Mailchimp logo

Although they can be considered an all-in-one platform now, Mailchimp was one of the first email marketing tools on the market back in 2001.


In terms of email marketing, they now specialize in creating, sending, and tracking email campaigns.


Some of their email marketing features include:

  • Automated email marketing and audience segmentation
  • Landing page and sign-up form builder
  • 100+ email templates
  • Email analytics and reports
  • Customer survey features

Mailchimp has a Free plan available for up to 2,000 contacts, and the paid plans start at $9,99/month for 500 contacts — be aware that this can add up quickly.


If you’d like to see how we compared ConvertKit and Mailchimp, click here.

5. Conclusion

We know there are plenty of options to choose from, so we’ll make it easy for you.


Between Kartra and ClickFunnels — we recommend Kartra for its additional features and stronger email capabilities, even if it’s a little pricier.


However, for the best all-in-one solution — we recommend systeme.io.


Our forever Free plan will get you miles ahead of the short trials offered by both ClickFunnels, Kartra, and the other tools mentioned.


Not to mention our affordable prices for the features offered (our most expensive plan is only $97/month and offers you unlimited everything).


Once you’re ready to get your online business off the ground, or you plan on switching to the smarter alternative, click here!

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