ClickFunnels Review Summary;
PRICING
It really depends on your outlook. A salesfunnel should pay for itself. There are now cheaper funnel builders out there, so this is up to you.
Ease of USe
The majority of ClickFunnels is easy to use. Accessing the admin side on mobile sucks.
Functionality
It works, though it can be buggy at times. I wouldn't say it's the best, or 'full of functionality' but it does work.
Support
I would say their support is lacking. I have never had a decent or useful reply, and it usually take days, I prefer to use the Facebook groups for answers.
Summary: A staple for the funnel building software / platforms these days. ClickFunnels is everywhere and used by a lot of vendors and sellers. It hasn't had much of an update for a while, and they seem to be focusing on their books and webinars more these days.
$97 per month after the 14 Day Trial
For years, having a website, or a landing page was supposedly enough to help capture leads, or potential new customers for your business. Then, in came ClickFunnels, usually called the OG of funnel design and building platforms.
They coined the term 'websites are dead' and basically had a huge marketing campaign to show people the benefits of funnels, and how they can help business become more streamlined with their customer acquisition.
But, what is a Sales funnel?
Pretty good question, using a good quote from Entrepreneur.com, a Sales funnel can be summarised as;
At the top of that funnel, some substance is poured in, which filters down towards one finite destination. In sales, something similar occurs. At the top, lots of visitors arrive who may enter your funnel. However, unlike the real-world funnel, not all who enter the sales funnel will reemerge out from the other end. - R.L Adams Entrepreneur.com
Or you can visualise by looking at this image;
You are essentially 'funnelling' people in as leads, and pushing them towards an end goal, usually a sale, or possibly just a sign up, depending on the goal.
ClickFunnels is one of those platforms, that is meant to held streamline that for you, making it super easy to build and launch these funnels, and today we are going to have a look at;
- The Tools & Features they have
- How much ClickFunnels Costs
- If ClickFunnels is really for you
- Some ClicKFunnels competitors
What Is ClickFunnels?
At it's core, ClickFunnels is, as the name suggests a funnel building and lead generation platform. It has been designed to allow you, or me, or the average Joe on the street to create a funnel. It provides it's customers with a hosted platform (so no need to purchase other hosting) with funnel building software, and even some affiliate capabilities (if you are willing to pay for it).
You will find ClickFunnels is used by a variety of niches such as affiliate marketers, photographers, realtors, insurance agents, restaurant owners, and online store owners.
Offering a potentially easy way for these businesses find more customers, generate leads or increase their cart values, all by creating these funnels.
These days, ClickFunnels has also branched out in more than just a funnel builder, they also do a lot of marketing related courses and content. From their OneFunnelAway challenge, to Russel Brunsons ever popular 'The Secret Trilogy' books (Expert, Traffic, Dotcom), or even products such as Funnel Scripts.
ClickFunnels is probably more of a brand, than it is a platform these days, but we will look at each of these areas as we go through this ClickFunnels review.
I will try and separate the 'extras' that ClickFunnels has to offer, as well as looking at main tools etc.
ClickFunnels Features & Tools
At the heart of the ClickFunnels platform, is the actual funnel builder, this is the part that many would call the core product that they have to offer.
Much like many of it's competitors, the funnel builder comes with additional tools inside of it, designed to make life easier and possibly quicker, especially for the none technical business owners of the world. Some could argue, the main customer base ClickFunnels aims for.
Templates & ShareFunnels
Before I go into the main product, it's worth noting that ClickFunnels do have a large variety of funnel templates, and even things that they call 'ShareFunnels' (essentially funnels with your affiliate cookie inside, that you or other people have built) that can be pre-loaded or built using a 'wizard' or 'guide' into any ClickFunnels Account.
As a user goes through the wizard, they are asked the outcome, the type of industry and even the type of funnel they think they want to build. Each with a little overview of explanation about what they are.
I would say that it is a learning curve, especially if you are not familiar with the different names, or funnel varieties that exist. I wasn't when I first started, and I could honestly say I don't think I am that up-to-date with them these days, and I have built a few myself.
You can also just use the 'Classic Funnel Builder', which is essentially just an older version of the above screen and you can click the type of funnels you want to build.
The ShareFunnels allow you to use other peoples funnels, or share funnels between clients. For example, if you wanted to use ClickFunnels for eCommerce or DropShipping and you weren't very technical you could take a pre-built funnel, such as the one below and be able to edit the wording or images and be good to go.
The ShareFunnels will of course bring in a full funnel (or a part funnel) depending on what the share funnel offers. You can of course review and see an over of the funnels, and you can archive and remove them if they are of no use.
Funnel Overview
Something that does set ClickFunnels apart from other funnel builders, though BuilderAll has a slightly better version, is the actual funnel overview, as I like to call it.
This part actually lets you see every page within the funnel you are creating, in one easy to see place.
The only thing this doesn't do, is actually let you know which pages, leads to the next. Whereas BuilderAll will actually show you a complete overview.
Drag & Drop Page Builder
Having spent a number of years using this Drag & Drop builder, as well as plenty of others, I would probably say ClickFunnels version is still one of the more annoying to use.
The Drag And Drop builder, can be found on any page that is loaded in ClickFunnels, and is there standard page builder.
They use elements that can be dragged onto pretty much any part of the page, but it can be quite buggy and annoying at times.
If you want to perhaps make a column, or add an element next to another, you have to actually add columns first, and then drag each element into the column.
Other landing page builders and funnel builders, they actually snap into place, creating the columns for you. It can also be really difficult to drop elements down, with the borders not appearing or the text box, video or whatever you are trying to put onto the page simply refusing to go where you ask it to go.
In terms of elements, there are lots to choose from, such as videos, images, text, checkout elements and more. Though all of the edit sections, or basically everything in on the right hand side. Other builders have opted to use both sides of the windows,
There are also lots of editable options, the videos can be used with a variety of platforms such as Vimeo, YouTube or even HTML videos.
ClickFunnels does also try to provide you with a number of 'pre-built' elements, such as pricing tables, but they are quite sparse in their abilities or
Third-party Integrated System
Clickfunnels offer integrations with a number of third-party systems. The integrations are either for payment gateways or better emailing. Clickfunnels have several partners that they’ve integrated with.
With some of the big email platforms such as MailChimp, Aweber, ActiveCampaign or webinar sites such as Zoom, GoToWebinar and more, you can probably find most integrations that you might need.
Managing these third-party interactions is quite straightforward. The set up process itself is easy, with each one taking you through the information it needs. I have found that some integrations can break, for example GetResponse constantly breaks.
You can set them up once for your account, and they become available going forward for your funnels.
FollowUpFunnels and Backpack
As part of the higher tier, or platinum ClickFunnels tier you get access to their automation and affiliate marketing platform, which has gone through a number of different names.
The first half of this tool is currently called FollowUpFunnels, which are automated marketing tools that are in some way similar to auto responder emails in that they send out automated responses. The main selling point is that the FollowUpFunnels can be integrated with SMS or emails etc, and allow you to send out different options at each point within the funnel.
Besides just sending automated email, FollowUpFunnels offer also lets you segment your email list based on customer interests, using tags, a bit like ActiveCampaigns automations.
Backpack is the second tool, this was formerly known as Backpack CRM. It was updated, or revamped around the same time FollowUpFunnels was released. It is a tool designed to simplify affiliate marketing programs and their management.
If you are a vendor, or someone who runs their own products, you can use BackPack to offer an affiliate program, setting the prices and commissions for the products, including both digital and physical products.
General affiliate information such as the total number of affiliates and the sales they made is available on Backpack‘s main dashboard.
Having been in a number of programs that use BackPack, I have found it buggy and broken, especially if you are logged into ClickFunnels, or you are not properly logged into the original place that is offering the affiliate program.
For example if I wanted to see how many units of PassiveProfits I had sold, I would have to log into the training, and then head on over to the affiliate side of things, and that switch can be broken pretty easily, with ClickFunels seemingly getting confused with itself.
Additional ClickFunnels Training, Software & Books
ClickFunnels is more than just a funnel builder, they are a whole brand, an ever growing, expanding platform, full of software, training and courses.
They range from free programs, all the way up to a few hundred $$$'s, covering a variety of topics and areas.
Affiliate BootCamp
A staple for any new ClickFunnels affiliate, the Affiliate Boot Camp (I would recommend it) is a must if you really want to understand or learn how to promote ClickFunnels, or even other programs or offers.
The training is a pre-cursor or pre-sale for the OneFunnelAway challenge, which is their go to training these days. The training also adds interviews with some of their top affiliates, so you can get some valuable takeaways from these.
OneFunnelAway
A training course that is heavily promoted and spoken about, the OneFunnelAway Challenge is a 30 day, step by step training course that focuses on taking you from zero funnel, to a proper, working full funnel.
You can check out the full OneFunnelAway review here to see what it includes.
ClickFunnels Software
As previously mentioned, ClickFunnels also has a number of tools, or software products that can work alongside the funnel builder and their main core product.
They are sold, or designed as products that can help people with their funnels, or help them build their funnels out. Or they can be used as tools to help with the marketing side of things.
Funnel Scripts
An online tool designed to help you create emails, scripts, sales letters and even media ads. It allows you to input words, phrases and overall 'mood' to then generate you copy that can be placed on your landing pages, or inside of your emails.
It of course comes with training and webinars to help get the most from the product. You can find similar programs online that help with creating you scripts or ideas for your pages.
They usually have templates that will insert your options (what is the outcome of the copy, what is the overall mood or feel of the copy and who is your audience). It then compiles a script for you to copy and paste.
ClickFunnel Books
Russel Brunson, the main guy and founder of ClickFunnels has written a number of books over the years, including his pretty successful 'Secrets Trilogy', which are the 3 main 'core' books that he wrote. Though there are a number of other books, some of which are reviewed in more detail elsewhere in the AvidMarketer.
Secrets Trilogy
As the name suggests, the Secrets Trilogy is a 3 part series (or 4 if you decide to actually get all 3 in one go) that covers 3 main areas when it comes to creating online businesses.
Traffic Secrets focuses on ideas and ways to find unknown or possibly 'untapped' traffic sources, it does go into finding your audience and understand where they spend their time. There are some great ideas within this book and it does talk about social media, forums and other places where your customers might be hiding. This one is the latest in this trilogy line.
Possibly more of the more famous out of the trio is Expert Secrets, a book that most people are told to read or even listen too (yes, you can get these as podcasts / audiobooks). Expert Secrets was written as a way of helping people understand their own knowledge and their own power. A lot of people have a hell of a lot of knowledge in their own heads, but he also explains how to get this knowledge across to people and how to turn your audience into customers.
The original 'Secrets' book was DotCom Secrets, and the one that basically comprises of a lot of Russels own secrets, or funnels and templates that helped him turn ClickFunnels around and become the multi million (or possible billion) dollar platform that it is today.
The books are decent and offer some really decent insights into Russel's mind as well as brilliant ways to think about both understanding your audience, pricing and even how you build your funnels or business.
Copywriting Secrets
Created by one of the guys who does a lot of the copy for ClickFunnels, Jim Edwards released his own 'Secrets' book that focuses on (no surprise) Copywriting!
Possible one of the hardest skills that I feel that any sales person or business owner faces is how to write copy that actually sells. The books covers a lot of styles and different ways that copywriting can be used, but Jim also provides you with formulas and structures that you can take, update and use to create your own sales pitches or letters.
30Days (OneFunnelAway)
Actually sold as part of the OneFunnelAway challenge, the 30Days book was designed to give you ideas on the different plans some of ClickFunnels best affiliates and platform users would use if they lost everything.
There are some brilliant takeaways from this book, and you can get a variety of different ideas or examples of businesses you can build and scale within your first 30 days.
The book is meant to be read as part of the OneFunnelAway, or the 30Day as I believe it was first called, to give you ideas on funnels you could make or ways in which you could use ClickFunnels for your business.
Network Marketing Secrets
The final book in the ClickFunnels back catalogue, Network Marketing Secrets is a smaller book, more like a work book than anything that focuses on explaining tactics and styles of network marketing, or social marketing as people like to call it these days.
A great book for those who promote MLM's or products that have downlines and uplines, as it really deals with building up your teams, something crucial for that style of marketing and business.
How Much Does ClickFunnels Cost?
ClickFunnels as the funnel builder has always had 2 tiers, depending on what you are trying to achieve, the standard, or everyday tier is for those who just want that standard funnel builder, giving access to 20 funnels, 100 pages and around 20,000 visitors per month.
The Platinum tier bumps you to unlimited funnels, unlimited pages and of course the follow-up funnels and BackPack, though it x2 the price per month for it.
For those who are maybe, mad? You can go one higher and pay a nice $2,497 per month for TwoCommaClubX, which offers you the ability to have 27 domains, VIP Phone Support and some additional training. Personally, and this may just be me, paying $25k a year, for a number of different training courses or a number of funnels I'm not really sure it's worth it. They also have a 'Scale It' value at $50k, but nothing actually saying what it is.
To check out everything on offer, check this out, or look at the table below.
ClickFunnels Pricing Table;
Clickfunnels
Everything you need to get started
$
97
/mo
Private
Clickfunnels..But More stuff
$
297
/mo
Can You Get ClickFunnels For Free?
A question that gets asked a lot these days, mainly because it can be an expensive if you are just starting out, so people are always trying to find ways of making platforms pay for themselves.
One of the ways to get ClickFunnels for Free, or at least cheaper is to utilise the ClickFunnels affiliate program. Currently new affiliates earn 20% of the monthly subscription (though you will need to sell $1,000 worth of ClickFunnels products before you have the ability to promote the subscription platform itself).
Who Is ClickFunnels For?
As I mentioned right at the start of this ClickFunnels Review, ClickFunnels can be used by a large variety of niches and audiences, with templates and funnels for lots of industries.
If you are are someone who doesn't 'do' a lot of technology, then this is probably going to be one of the easier funnel builders to use, or possibly one of the first ones you will find when searching for funnels.
For those who are trying to;
- Increase their cart averages, or focus their customers towards a checkout
- Capture emails or leads
- Turn leads, into customers
Then ClickFunnels could be the one for you.
What I Liked About Clickfunnels
ClickFunnels is pretty good at what it aims to do, build funnels. You can create decent looking, functional funnels that get the job done.
There is a large community and database of funnels available, you can find hundreds of templates and sharefunnels that you can load into your account, quickly and easily. Which can then be updated with the page builder, with a fairly decent number of elements and integrations.
I would say ClickFunnels is beginner friendly, there is enough documentation, training and information out there to find solutions to most of your problems.
And of course, the marketing books, such as Traffic Secrets and Marketing Secrets are good books, though they may not be directly related to ClickFunnels the funnel builder itself, but they are part of the platform and they are useful products and books to own, even if you don't always want to use the ClickFunnels builder.
What I Didn’t Like About ClickFunnels
The builder is is outdated these days, it feels like it's been a long time since ClickFunnels had got a decent graphical update. This includes the look and feel of the page builder, with parts of it still buggy even after all these years. A good example is the pasting of links into fields (especially for buttons). If you simply paste a link in, and then go back to the page you where just on (as you would expect, as there is no save button), it doesn't save. You have to press space, or enter for it to register a link. Annoying.
Integrations and APIS can also be problematic, GetResponse never integrates correctly, and constantly falls over (usually after 1 or 2 emails). GetResponse advise talking to them to turn off their new API version and instead use their old one... It's 2021, this should not be a thing!
For the price, you would expect an updated, working product, not a buggy platform, but it does feel like ClickFunnels lost their way a little and pushed their products and books more than sorting out the issues they had.
Are There Any ClickFunnel Alternatives?
As with all platforms, products and services, there are alternatives, and this particular ClickFunnels review is no different, with a number of funnel builders or page builder alternatives out there. Check here for a larger list of ClickFunnels Alternatives or check out the individual articles below.
ClickFunnels vs LeadPages
LeadPages are very popular and have been in use for the longest time, in marketing. You will notice that somehow, LeadPages are limited compared to Clickfunnels, in terms of scope and total coverage. Their function is to create a landing page.
Both platforms have the drag and drop feature that makes it easy to work with in creating the designs you like. Also, both offer the option to integrate with other email service providers.
LeadPages are better than ClickFunnels at creating target lead magnets. This strategy is very efficient for growing your email list. The target lead magnets will help with opt-in conversion rates that are far much higher than those for your standard pop-up.
If your focus is to sell products and services, then ClickFunnels is what you should opt for. This tool will really help you to boost your sales. Seelin on LeadPages is not as easy as it is with ClickFunnels.
If your focus is lead generation, LeadPages are the way to go.
ClickFunnels vs SamCart
SamCart has a lot more in common with ClickFunnels in the way that it creates beautiful and high converting checkout pages. SamCart has more flexible terms in comparison with clickfunnels.
On matters of integration, SamCart is in partnership with both Stripe and Paypal.
SamCart allows you to add order buttons, upsells and downsells just like the case in ClickFunnels. You can also create coupons which come in really handy for increasing conversions for your site.
SamCart comes with 17 customizable templates. There are very minimal customizations that can be done to these pre-designed templates.
In general, ClickFunnels are viewed to be more powerful. This is because you can design as many checkout pages as you can imagine.
Both tools are available at the $97 per month.
ClickFunnels vs Thrive Architect Pages
For me, this is a difficult one, a lot of people have sent me messages comparing ClickFunnels with Thrive Landing Pages, and I feel its like comparing apples with eggs.
Thrive Landing Pages are also referred to as Thrive Content Builder is more focused on building pretty amazing websites and what I usually see as content pages.
They do allow you to build stand alone 'capture' pages, or optin pages, and you can produce something that looks like a funnel, but there is a lot of manual work to make that happen.
Thrive Architect does provide you with some lead generation tools, or quite pretty landing pages.
ClickFunnels vs Builderall
One of the 'vs' that I created a while back, BuilderAll was a big ClickFunnels competitor, with a lot of their marketing spoke about how they could do more than ClickFunnels.
BuilderAll is really a 'all-in-one' style platform, giving access to 30+ tools and apps, and is sold as a way of getting rid of everything else such as ClickFunnels or GetResponse.
Their funnel builder is ok, the overview is a lot better than ClickFunnels, but the actual page builder is somewhat lacking, though it is nice to use, and they do look to be constantly improving it.
ClickFunnels Review 2021 Conclusion
I do have a love hate relationship with ClickFunnels these days, I have funnels and membership areas built on the ClickFunnels, and a lot of people still use and share their funnels via it.
I would struggle to get the same level of template or 'pre-done' content from other platform builders, as they don't currently have the community set up or a decent market place for the different needs.
It is still a decent funnel builder, they have lots of good books and courses, but I feel that in a year or two other platforms might have caught up and surpassed ClickFunnels.
I hope this review was helpful in making a sound decision on whether ClickFunnels are right for you.
ClickFunnels Affiliate Program
A bit of an addition, or a bolt on for this ClickFunnels Review, is their affiliate program. I would say that they are well known for this, and possibly the secret to their enormous success, though they have 'nuked it' a lot these days.
There is a host of products, tools and training webinars that can be sold and promoted to a wide range of niches and potential customers, so the affiliate program can be lucrative, even if you are not in the 'make money' niche.
Click Funnels
$97 per month
Pros
- Tons of pre built segements
- High quality landing pages & funnels
- 14 Free Trial
- Free funnels from other members
- Free upgrades and hosting
Cons
- Can be costly
- Funnels are hosted by them
I started this blog around 2017, after realising that I wanted to let people know about all the different ways someone could make money online. From DropShipping, Affiliate Marketing, Network Marketing and more.
This blog has now grown to review and explain a variety of different tools and platforms, in the bid to help you.
This blog contains affiliate links, and I will get a commission for purchases made through these links. It doesn’t change anything for you and will on occasion save you money! Enjoy, James.
THIS IS AWESOME!
I have recently just moved from leadpages as I wasn’t really getting on with it!
I was a little put off by the higher price, but the numbe r of tools and templates for this really makes this worthwhile in my eyes.. I signed up to the 14 day free trial, so I am about 8 days into that and really loving it.
Can you share the free funnel link? It won’t load for me and I am keen to get another funnel added to my own
Hi Micheal,
Welcome to the Clickfunnel club! I hope you are still enjoying it and I am guessing you are about finished with the trial? Still loving it?
You can grab the free funnel via this link this link
I would also recommend watching their Affiliate Bootcamp webinar as well, as you can learn some cool stuff from here
I hope that helps
Not a fan personally, but trhanks for reviewing