Are you trying to decide which software would be better for you to use for your digital product business? When I hear the words Convertkit vs Clickfunnels, it makes me wonder what your business goals are.
Before we dive in, this review is probably unlike any other you’ve read before. Because I’m so brutally honest.
If you’re looking for a thorough review from the real deal. You got it!
Let’s dive in.
ConvertKit vs ClickFunnels… Fight!🥊🎮
ConvertKit and ClickFunnels are two softwares that are popular amongst the online world. They can both be used to help you reach your marketing goals. Depending upon what those goals are.
ConvertKit is an email marketing service provider that lets you send emails to your subscribers. You can also segment those subscribers to only send them emails that are directly related to what they are interested in.
ClickFunnels on the other hand, is a sales funnel builder. Think of ad campaigns. The sales funnel builder allows you to create landing pages, sales pages, VSL’s (Video Sales Letters), and other pages to create marketing funnels.
Though ClickFunnels has an option for email, that wasn’t the main goal of the platform.
ConvertKit is tailored to the blogger community. They are very dialed into who their targeted audience is. That doesn’t mean that other industry professional don’t use it. I have used it for brick and mortar retail business in the past and it worked great.
The platform was easy to use. Everything was smooth sailing. ConvertKit vs ClickFunnels was made with the creator in mind. It’s main feature is automated emails and customized opt-in forms. These opt-in forms were optimized with the goal of collecting a subscribers email in exchange for a lead magnet or freebie.
ClickFunnels vs ConvertKit is known for it’s drag-and-drop editor. Allowing you to make professional looking landing pages and sales funnels for monetary conversion purposes.
Let’s first take a look at ClickFunnels.
Understanding ClickFunnels
If you are looking to create land pages, marketing funnels, and sales funnels for visitors to purchase your products or services ClickFunnels can do the job. Here’s what you need to know:
The Features of ClickFunnels vs ConvertKit
ClickFunnels is a very sophisticated sales funnel builder that offers many templates of pre-made funnels for you to use in your marketing campaigns to drive sales.
In my honest opinion, it’s a bit bulky, but it does the job, and it does it well.
- It’s drag-and-drop editor makes customizing those landing pages simple without you having to know any code.
- They have pre-built templates at the ready. So, you can get started with your campaigns quickly.
- They have split testing capabilities. You can A/B split test differences on the landing pages you create to get the highest conversions possible to see what works and what doesn’t.
- They integrate with third-party email services providers like ConvertKit. Again, it wasn’t originally built to provide email services.
- You can build a membership site or even a website with their pages. This allows you to charge.
However, a rule of thumb is, just because you can do all those things with it, doesn’t mean you should or that it’s the best thing for the job. ClickFunnels is just that. Made for Funnels. So you can get a purchase click.
Benefits of Using ClickFunnels vs ConvertKit
If you are wanting to sell your digital products directly to the consumer, ClickFunnels can be that vehicle. It doesn’t really matter what you’re selling to be honest, it’s made for it.
- Time tested marketing funnels at the click of a button makes putting your marketing campaign together easy as pie.
- They have various levels of funnels from beginner to advanced depending upon how complex you want your sales funnel to be and how many products you want to promote. We’re talking upsells, downsells, and order bumps.
- They have video training and support inside their dashboard. Not to mention the owner, Russell Brunson has books that you can get as well to help you, no matter what platform you choose.
Drawbacks of ClickFunnels
Even though ClickFunnels is a great funnel building platform, with great training included, there are some things about it that doesn’t fit the bill for some people.
- The cost! ClickFunnels is expensive, especially for a beginner. The starting plan is $147 per month. If you want to email too, you’re looking at a whopping $297 per month.
- There is a learning curve if you are not familiar with building funnels or any type of website builder. When you are new to all of this, it takes time to learn how to properly connect pages. Then you have to make sure it’s working properly.
- It’s not all customizable. You have limited customization options. You can change colors, but you can’t make it exactly what you want it to be. You’re limited on that front.
But, we are talking about ClickFunnels vs ConvertKit, so with this being said, ClickFunnels is definitely worth considering if you are wanting to build comprehensive sales funnels to sell your products.
Landing Pages & Funnels = Winner: ClickFunnels
Moving onto ConvertKit!
Understanding ConvertKit
Features of ConvertKit
ConvertKit was designed to be an email marketing software made specifically for creators. Such as, bloggers, podcasters, and other content creators. Here are some features of the tool:
- It was one of the first with a visual automation builder. This was awesome and very user-friendly compared to other email automators that came out at the time. It’s visual builder allows you to see what emails your subscribers are getting and where they are in your email marketing campaigns.
- They specialized in tagging and segmentation because ConvertKit does not have what is commonly known as “List”. This can make it a bit confusing if you’ve worked with email software that has lists.
- They do have a landing page and form builder, but it doesn’t come any where close to ClickFunnels in that department. Again, the ConvertKit landing pages were built with another end goal in mind.
- They integrate with almost any and everything. ConvertKit has a huge library of integrations.
- They also allow creators to sell digital platforms. Their payment processor is stripe, but it allow content creators to make sells right through their emails.
Benefits of Using ConvertKit
There a lots of reasons to use ConvertKit if you’re a creator.
- The platform is super easy to use. Way easier than ClickFunnels. And if you’re a visual person, you’ll love it. The interface looks good and everything is so easy to understand. This software is very beginner friendly.
- The email targeting is awesome. You can see which subscriber opened your email, if they clicked any links inside. Did they purchase through your email? Did they move to a different tag. It’s awesome because everything is so visual inside of their platform.
- The Landing pages and forms can be customized. This allows you to grow your email list (audience). ConvertKit is awesome for beginners who are just starting out. Who need to build their audience have a simple, yet effective landing page while saving cost until they can get all the bells and whistles.
Drawbacks of ConvertKit
Yes, yes, yes. Everything has pros and cons, and in the battle between ConvertKit vs ClickFunnels there is not exception to that rule.
Here are some things you may want to consider:
- They have such a minimalist interface that there is limited design options. You’ll need to go into the code or hire someone to code things up for you to make it exactly how you want it.
- Though it’s not as expensive as ClickFunnels, for it’s equal counterparts, it can be higher priced over time. The larger your list becomes they begin to cost more than their competitors. Even though they do have a free account you can use, but that will only take you so far.
- You can’t seem to delete your digital products (at the time of this writing) [September 2023] They are stuck there in the products tag area forever it seems like. Even if you are no longer selling their product, you can’t delete it
Comparing ConvertKit vs ClickFunnels
Ease of Use
These two platforms do not compare. They are on two totally different pages. ConvertKit is the easiest to use because it’s an email marketing software.
ClickFunnels, even though it’s a funnel builder, the learning curve is still high compared to other funnel builders.
They both offer drag and drop editors. ClickFunnels does offer more customization in their platform overall. However, ConvertKit has the simpler UI (User Interface), making it so easy to send emails.
If we had to rate overall ease of use… it would be
Ease of Use = Winner: ConvertKit
Customer Support
When it comes to customer support, both platforms work. They both have Live Chats, built in knowledge bases, a community and email support. Even though with ClickFunnels you have to pay for the top-tier plan for it. ClickFunnels is winning, by having the phone support as well.
But that is understandable because their business model should require it. People’s money are attached to these sales/marketing funnels. It’s a bit different with an email service provider, even though talking to a person is a rare commodity these days.
If we had to rate who has the best customer service… it would be
Customer Support = Winner: ClickFunnels
Pricing
ConvertKit vs ClickFunnels the price structure is different because their business are different. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.
ConvertKit offers a Free starter plan now, they used to have a 14-day free trial. Their paying plans start at $15 per month.
ClickFunnels offers a 14-day free trial, then after that you begin to pay. Their plans start at $147 per month.
If we had to rate who has the best pricing… it would be…
Pricing = Winner: ConvertKit
Who Should Use ClickFunnels?
That is a great question. ClickFunnels is a great tool for those who are looking to start promoting a product to sell by running paid ad campaigns.
If you’re looking to run ad campaigns and do not have the webdesign skills this would be the right option for you. Here are some businesses that can benefit from using ClickFunnels:
- E-Commerce stores: Sometimes you need to isolate a product that you want to sell, and don’t want potential buyers clicking around. You would put that product and related products together in a sales funnel pitch.
- Affiliate Marketers: There are different types of affiliates and some run ads to promote their affiliate or CPA offers. This would be a great software to use if you are doing that.
- Authors: If you are looking to make private sells of your book and you wanted to do a Free + Shipping type of offer ClickFunnels already has that funnel laid out for you.
ClickFunnels can be considered the go-to platform for direct sales marketing.
Who Should Use ConvertKit?
This is straight forward, if you are a blogger, author who is not looking to sell through paid ads, podcaster, or any other type of content creator ConvertKit is the right choice for you.
It’s designed with all your needs in mind, not to mention you can passive sell your digital products, ebooks, kindle books are handmade physical items right to your email list.
It’s a good choice because it is tailored to the needs of a creator. Some of those needs are:
- Automation features: You need to be able to communicate with your audience around the clock. This makes it possible for you to remain the expert and keep delivering your content.
- Integration with other tools: We as creators have a lot of moving parts, that’s why ConvertKit has a huge library of integrations.
- Segmentation and Tagging: Big plus, you’re able to separate your calls to action using tags instead of list. Some audiences my be coming from various social media channels, you can tag them appropriately and deliver the content that only they want. It’s a win-win.
Overall, if you are a creator who wants to build relationships with your audience, ConvertKit is the software you want!
Tying It Together
Ultimately, the choice comes down to what I said in the beginning. What are your goals? What are you wanting to accomplish at this time?
What you choose will depend on that. Let’s recap:
- ClickFunnels excels at creating sales funnels and landing pages, making it ideal for businesses focused on driving sales and revenue.
- ConvertKit is a strong choice for email marketing and audience relationship building, offering user-friendly features and automation for targeted campaigns.