Hi, welcome to funnelmoose.com and my SamCart vs ClickFunnels comparison.
I’m sure you’re aware there is a huge array of online marketing automation tools all vying for your custom these days.
With so many options for selling your physical products, digital products, and services online, it’s often difficult to decide which marketing automation platform to go with.
While ClickFunnels and SamCart are very similar in what they do, they are actually different.
In this ClickFunnels vs SamCart showdown you’ll see:
- What is ClickFunnels
- What is SamCart
- SamCart vs ClickFunnels Features
- SamCart Pricing
- ClickFunnels Pricing
- Pros & Cons
- FAQ
- Conclusion
Table of Contents
What is ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels, based in Eagle Idaho and co-founded by Russel Brunson and Todd Dickerson in 2014, is an online software for building landing pages and high converting sales funnels for selling your products and services.
As it works on a drag & drop system, it does not require you to have any tech experience or spend a ton of money hiring a tech guru.
You can either select a pre-made template, change the text, change the images (if you like) move images around to where you want them, etc, or you can choose to build your own landing page/sales funnel from scratch.
It’s so simple you can build a funnel in approx 1o minutes.
Other ClickFunnels features include:
- One-click upsells
- One-click downsells
- A/B split tests
- Email autoresponder integrations
- Payment gateway integrations
What is SamCart
SamCart, based in Austin Texas, and co-founded by Scott and Brian Moran in 2013, is an online eCommerce platform for building checkout pages for selling your products and services.
Sam Cart also works on a drag & drop system, so it too does not require you to be tech-savvy or spend a ton of money hiring someone who is.
Like ClickFunnels, you can use pre-made checkout page templates and just edit the parts that you need to.
Some of the SamCart features available include:
- Landing pages
- One-click upsells
- A/B split tests
- Email autoresponder integrations
- Payment gateway integrations
SamCart vs ClickFunnels Features
We’ll start this section off with the main feature of both Click Funnels and Sam Cart.
Sales Funnels
A sales funnel is a series of steps for taking a lead (potential customer) from having never heard of you and converting them into a paying (and potentially lifelong) customer.
ClickFunnels is hands down, the best online business platform for building your sales funnels.
You can create your own funnel from scratch, use one of ClickFunnels free ready-made funnel templates, have someone else build it for you and send it via the Share Funnel feature, or you can always buy a pre-built funnel template from the funnel market place.
Depending on how tech-savvy you are will depend on which of those options is more appealing for you.
As ClickFunnels works on a drag and drop platform, editing the funnel template pages is a breeze. If you can type text, upload an image from your computer and move an icon around on your screen, you can create your very own customized funnel using the ClickFunnels page builder.
There are a ton of page element options when building your funnel pages, headlines, text, images, videos, sign-up forms, countdown timers and so much more. You can edit as little or as much as you want.
It really is that simple to use, no coding required at all. You can focus more of your time and energy on what really matters, your business, rather than learning complicated HTML and CSS coding.
A sales funnel is ideal if you have multiple products to offer your leads. Using Russell Brunson’s own Traffic Secrets book funnel as an example here:
You go to the funnel for the FREE (you just pay for shipping) Traffic Secrets book and click Yes! Reserve My Free Copy Now!:
On the next page, you enter your shipping details then click Claim Special Offer Now:
You’re then taken to another page where you enter your payment details and are offered two upsells:
Once you’ve clicked Ship My Book NOW!!! you’re then taken to yet another page where you’re offered another two one-time-only upsells:
So you see how you can offer a lot of products in a single sales funnel.
SamCart doesn’t offer you this feature, but that’s not to say SamCart isn’t any good, it’s just not what they specialize in.
Checkout Pages / Order Pages
As we’ve just seen, ClickFunnels specialize in multiple page sales funnels, so the checkout page is generally on page 3-5.
SamCart on the other hand specializes in the one-page sales page.
With ClickFunnels you get the main product on the first page, enter your payment and shipping details on the second page, accept or reject any upsells on another page, so it’s a longer process to get to the checkout.
Both options have pros and cons, it’s all about what works best for you and your customers.
Here’s an example of a SamCart checkout page:
If you’ve only got a couple of products on offer you don’t need a full-on sales funnel.
With a more streamlined sales page, you are likely to have a reduction in online shopping cart abandonment due to you’re potential customers not being bombarded with more and more products.
According to statistics, the online abandoned cart rate is approximately 68.53%!!!
Upsell Pages
Both platforms allow you to offer upsells.
The idea of an upsell page is to get your customer to buy more things from you. As Russell Brunson puts it; your landing page with your main offer is the bait to lure them in, then on the upsell you make them an offer that’s too good to resist.
A perfect example would be let’s say you have a series of 8 eBooks that relate to each other. You would entice someone to your sales page or sales funnel, with the first book priced at $9. Your upsell option would then be to add the remaining 7 eBooks to the order for an additional $25.
If an offer like that doesn’t get somebody’s attention, then I don’t know what would.
Because your customer has already entered their payment and shipping details, all they have to do is click “Yes Please” and that upsell is automatically added to their order.
With ClickFunnels this is done on an additional page within the funnel, with SamCart it’s in a box at the bottom of your order page as you can see in the image above.
Downsell Pages
One of the great features of ClickFunnels is you can set a specific action when someone clicks on a button within your sales funnel.
Let’s say your customer clicks the ‘No Thank You’ button for one of your upsell options in your sales funnels, you have the option of sending them to another page and offering them an alternative item for a cheaper price than the one they’ve just rejected.
Using the eBooks example again you could have your funnel set up this way:
- Page 1 – Main eBook for $9
- Page 2 – Shipping & payment information
- Page 3 – Upsell offer of the remaining 7 eBooks for $25. If your customer clicks ‘Yes’ they will go directly to Page 5. If they click ‘No’ they will go to Page 4
- Page 4 – Downsell offer of 4 eBooks for $15
- Page 5 – Checkout page
This feature is something that SamCart does not offer you.
Share Funnels
With the whole focus of ClickFunnels being usability, they have taken that to the next level with this feature.
If you’ve no idea where to even start with funnel building, don’t worry, someone else can do this for you.
All you have to do is click on a URL link and that sales funnel or landing page will install into your ClickFunnels account. All you have to do then is link your payment gateway and email autoresponder service and you’re away.
I have this article that shows you how to share a funnel in ClickFunnels.
This is something that only ClickFunnels offers you, I have yet to see any other platform use this function.
Email Marketing
When it comes to email marketing you will have to integrate a third-party email marketing platform with SamCart.
You can integrate SamCart with the following email marketing platforms:
- ActiveCampaign
- AWeber
- Constant Contact
- ConvertKit
- Drip
- GetResponse
- HubSpot
- iContact
- Infusionsoft
- MailChimp
- Maropost
- Ontraport
ClickFunnels has its own email marketing platform, Follow-Up Funnels.
The only downside to this is that you have to be on the Platinum plan at $297 per month to use the ClickFunnels email automation, which is an awful lot of money if you’re only wanting to use Follow-Up Funnels.
Alternatively, you can integrate ClickFunnels with the following email marketing tools:
- ActiveCampaign
- AWeber
- Constant Contact
- ConvertKit
- Drip
- GetResponse
- HubSpot
- Infusionsoft
- MadMimi
- MailChimp
- Maropost
- MarketHero
- Ontraport
- Sendlane
If you’d like to know which is the best ClickFunnels email integration, along with illustrated integration instructions, please see this article: Top 10 Showdown – Best Email Autoresponder For ClickFunnels
Affiliate Management
Imagine having an army of other people advertising your products and services for you, and you only pay them after they have generated you a sale!
Both SamCart and ClickFunnels allow you to have an affiliate management system.
The bad news is that on both platforms you have to be subscribed to their top tier plans:
- SamCart Scale $199 per month
- ClickFunnels Platinum $297 per month
SamCart vs ClickFunnels Pricing
SamCart Pricing
SamCart comes with a 14 day free trial and has three plans for you to choose from:
You can also pay annually for a 20% discount:
ClickFunnels Pricing
ClickFunnels also comes with a 14 day free trial and has two plans to pick from:
You also have the choice of paying upfront for a year to get yourself a discount:
For a full comparison of the ClickFunnels Basic and ClickFunnels Platinum plans, please see this article: Basic Or Platinum: $97 Or $297 Which Is Best? – ClickFunnels Pricing
Refund Policies
If you choose to pay annually, please be aware that ClickFunnels and SamCart do NOT offer you a refund.
If you pay monthly and cancel part way through a month, your subscription will run until the end of that month.
If you pay for 12 months and cancel after 6 months, you will not see a cent of that remaining 6 months subscription.
ClickFunnels does score slightly better than SamCart here as they will at least give you the option of using any unused subscription money as a credit against any other products and services you purchase from them.
You can read SamCart’s terms and conditions here, and ClickFunnels terms and conditions here.
Affiliate Programs
If you’re someone who likes to make some extra income from recommending services you use to others, then the affiliate program is a must mention.
SamCart pays you a 40% monthly recurring commission.
ClickFunnels will pay you up to a 40% monthly recurring commission. You start of at 20% and have to work your way up to the 40% rate.
ClickFunnels also has the ‘Win Your Dream Car’ contest plus a whole host of other services and products you can promote.
If you’d like to know more about the ClickFunnels Affiliate Program, please see this article: ClickFunnels Affiliate Program Review
Pros And Cons
ClickFunnels Pros And Cons
ClickFunnels Pros
- ClickFunnels is much better if you want a full-on sales funnel and marketing platform
- Simple to use
- Spoilt for choice when it comes to funnel page template and editing options
- Affiliate program – Upto 40% monthly recurring commission
- A/B Split Testing
- You can build and share/sell funnels
- ClickFunnels free trail – 14 days
- One click upsells
- One click down sells
ClickFunnels Cons
- ClickFunnels limits you to just 20 funnels and 100 pages on their Basic plan, meaning you are limited to 20 products to sell. Whereas SamCart allows you unlimited pages, unlimited templates, and unlimited products on all of their plans. To have unlimited on ClickFunnels you need to upgrade to their Platinum plan at $297 per month
- Affiliate management (BackPack) only available on the $297 per month platinum plan
- More expensive than SamCart
SamCart Pros And Cons
SamCart Pros
- SamCart is cheaper than ClickFunnels
- Simple to use
- SamCart is better if you want simplified checkout pages
- Unlimited pages, templates, and products across every plan
- Affiliate program – 40% monthly recurring commission
- A/B Split Testing
SamCart Cons
- No refund policy
- Not as many integrations available as ClickFunnels
- Email marketing via third party integration only
- Affiliate management only available on the $199 per month Scale plan, but still cheaper than ClickFunnels
SamCart vs ClickFunnels Conclusion
ClickFunnels or SamCart?
That’s a good question and it all boils down to whether you want a full-on sales funnel platform with loads of features or a dedicated checkout page platform.
If you’re wanting a full-on sales funnel platform then ClickFunnels is definitely the way to go. Alternatively, if you just need simple checkout pages with just one option for an upsell, then I’d go with SamCart.
As both come with a free 14-day trial, why not give them both a try and see which you prefer? As long as you cancel before your trial ends you won’t be charged a single cent.
Thank you for taking the time to read my SamCart vs ClickFunnels article, I hope you found it helpful.
FAQ
Does ClickFunnels Send Emails
Yes, ClickFunnels does send emails with their Follow-Up Funnels feature. However, you have to be on their Platinum plan in order to use this.
How Much Does ClickFunnels Cost Per Month
ClickFunnels prices are either $97 per month for the Basic plan or $297 per month for the Platinum plan.
How Much does SamCart Cost Per Month
The monthly SamCart cost is either $49 per month for SamCart Launch, $99 per month for SamCart Grow, or $199 per month for SamCart Scale.
What Is ClickFunnels Dream Car contest
The ClickFunnels Dream Car Contest is an offer from ClickFunnels to encourage affiliates to get new customers to subscribe to ClickFunnels. Once an affiliate gets ClickFunnels 100 customers, ClickFunnels will pay that affiliate a $500 per month bonus towards the lease payments of a new car. If that affiliate can make it to 200 new ClickFunnels customers, the bonus increases to $1,000 per month.
Is There A ClickFunnels App
Yes, ClickFunnels has an app that you can download free of charge from the App Store.