Dave @ Review.casa

By Dave Carr @Review.Casa

This website is reader-supported. When you buy through links on the site, I may earn an affiliate commission.

Introduction – What is Clickfunnels?

Clickfunnels is a funnel building and marketing automation platform.

Clickfunnels is the loudest new kid on the block looking to make a name for himself in the all in one marketing platform arena and doing very well too I might add. The alarming growth of Clickfunnels shows that the team there know about marketing.

Clickfunnels will allow you to build funnels easily without any coding (it’s the easiest platform I’ve used to date) and more than likely integrates with the tools you already use.

ClickFunnels™ - Marketing Funnels Made Easy

The Clickfunnels home page is where you can start a 14-day trial.

There are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Summary – Who is Clickfunnels not for?

In my honest opinion Click funnels is not for you if you are not in a position where you can fund it easily.

So if you are just starting and don’t have a guaranteed income or are in that feast or famine stage where you are still trying to figure things out then I would avoid Clickfunnels if I was you.

If you are in either of these situations then Clickfunnels is not a magic bullet!

It won’t make you money if you are not in the right stage of your business.

It is a fantastic tool but if you don’t know about funnels and this type of marketing then you will feel like a fish out of water and get lost easily.

I remember when I first started online I was desperate!

I taught myself how to build a website from scratch using notepad, Filezilla, tutorials online and the cheapest hosting I could find.

I didn’t have money but had lots of time and I learnt SEO and affiliate marketing because it had the lowest barrier to entry in terms of cost.

If you are in that sort of situation then obviously things have got easier with WordPress making it simple to get a website set up quickly and easily but it’s not the 2000s anymore and there is so much more competition out there on the web today in all markets.

If you are somebody who suffers from SOS (shiny object syndrome) and jumps around a lot (you know who you are 🙂 ) then the way Clickfunnels is marketed to you may cause you some issues as it’s often given away (in trial form) with a huge bundle of marketing stuff which can quickly lead to information overload.

Summary – Who is Clickfunnels for?

Clickfunnels is for anyone who already has a business making them money, it will work better for you if you have traffic that you can control such as a social media following or an email list.

If you know about funnel marketing and have products and services that you want to sell online then Clickfunnels could be the perfect tool for you.

From small to super large businesses Clickfunnels can help you make more money and you can use it yourself (no need for an army of technical wizards to help you out).

So if you are looking for a sales funnel builder software then Clickfunnels is probably your main contender.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

The Cons of Clickfunnels

  • Only one payment processor can be used per funnel.
  • Click funnels is normally marketed as a free bonus (in trial form) to another marketing course or bundle of courses from Russell Brunson which can lead to information overwhelm.
  • The visual page builder is not as powerful as the Divi themes and tends to jump around a lot (but they are both designed for totally different groups of users. Divi is designed and developed for web designers and click funnels is designed for non-techy business owners).
  • Quirky bounce in the page builder. See video below (it’s only 45 seconds and has no sound but you get the idea)
  • Affiliate scheme (not backpack) seems to kick you out randomly and has some quirky behaviour.
  • Creating products is a bit backwards (in most other systems you would create a product before building your funnels).
  • Support can be painfully slow at times (see the section below).

The Pros of Clickfunnels

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels Improvements

  • The ClickFunnels Marketplace (Jan 2022)
  • Integrates With ZenDirect (Jan 2022)
  • Integrates With Zapier (Jan 2022)
  • EasyPost Integration (June 2020)
  • Product Variations (Jan 2020)
  • Contact Profile Redesign (Jan 2020)
  • New Dashboard (Jan 2020)
  • Add Sub Users to Your Account (Jan 2020)

Clickfunnels Account Pricing

Click funnels pricing starts at $97 a month and enables you to build twenty funnels and one hundred sub-pages within those funnels. On this level, you can connect three domains, three payment processors and have one team member.

Click funnels mid-tier “click funnels platinum” costs $297 and allows you to build unlimited funnels and have unlimited sub-pages. On this level, you can connect nine domains, nine payment processors, unlimited follow-up funnels (email autoresponders), affiliate software and can have three team members.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

My experience with Clickfunnels

Having been through several Clickfunnels funnels I can tell you from the outside it looks like a very polished platform. On most funnels created with click funnels, the shopping cart process looks very professional.

The membership sites created with it look good like a pro styled them too.

It looks the part from the outside.

But what’s it like on the inside?

The Clickfunnels dashboard

ClickFunnels-Dashboard

The click funnels dashboard is very polished is the answer. It’s well laid out, very intuitive and has everything you need right there.

It’s not hard to see why they have had such amazing growth over the last few years.

The interface is well designed, intuitive and you can get a funnel set up quicker than most tools out there even if you don’t have experience with click funnels.

All in all, I’ve had a great experience with Click funnels since my first log in.

It’s so much simpler than messing about with WordPress and provides a very friendly user experience from the get-go.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

The Clickfunnels cookbook funnel builder

ClickFunnels funnel builder options

When you first build a funnel you are presented with two options: The cookbook builder process (a more guided approach that includes free and premium templates from the Click funnels marketplace) or the classic funnel builder.

From what I can tell the cookbook funnel process is brand new as it’s changing by the hour with a few things being renamed while I was grabbing screenshots.

It looks like this will be the new process going forward at some point.

Step 1

ClickFunnels cookbook step 1

Step 1 of the cookbook funnel builder gives you 21 options to choose from. It asks what you want the funnel to do.

This step asks what you want the funnel to do and gives you 21 options to choose from. It’s a simplified process to the classic funnel builder.

Step 2

ClickFunnels cookbook step 2

Step 2 gives you a video describing what the type of funnel is and what it’s used for, written directions, the pages and a link to download a funnel map.

The funnel cookbook process adds more options and gives a more guided process to users building funnels, it’s probably more helpful to new users and people who are new to the concept of sales funnel marketing.

Step 2 premium templates

ClickFunnels cookbook step 2 premium templates

Step 2 also gives you the option of choosing from premium templates submitted by the Clickfunnels community to the Clickfunnels marketplace (covered later).

The premium templates in the marketplace offer templates from people who know about funnels and funnel building some of whom have had 8 figure funnels!

It’s a way for users to grab what works and make it fit for their business.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

The Clickfunnels classic funnel builder

ClickFunnels classic funnel builder options

When you first launch the classic funnel builder you are presented with a popup to guide you through the process of selecting the type of funnel you want to build

Once you get through the steps you are presented with the funnel builder page where your page structure will be ready for you.

From here you have access to everything to do with your funnel. It’s easy to choose what templates you want to use and edit or build from scratch.

ClickFunnels - funnel steps

Building funnels in click funnels classic builder is very easy, above you can see it’s all laid out and easily accessible.

Click funnels classic funnel builder page is laid out well, you can access everything from the single page, even setting up split tests is very easy (easiest split testing functionality I’ve used in any tool or platform to date).

You can see from the image above that adding new pages (funnel steps) to your funnel is just 1 click.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

The Clickfunnels landing page builder

My Awesome Landing Page Powered by ClickFunnels com

This squeeze page was built in 20 minutes my first ever time building a page from scratch in Clickfunnels, it’s not hard to see why people love it so much.

The page builder is really easy to use but comes with a quirky bounce (you’ll know what I mean when you use the software) that could get on your nerves quite quickly but it’s not a deal-breaker.

All in all the visual page builder is a well-designed tool for a beginner with no experience of web design to get a page set up in no time from scratch.

If you don’t want to build from scratch then there are plenty of templates to choose from too.

ClickFunnels templates

 

A small selection of email opt-in templates is shown above. Clickfunnels has a very large number of professionally designed templates to choose from, I counted 104 email opt-in templates.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels adding products

ClickFunnels add product

The add products screen is tucked away inside the funnels builder.

I found this a little strange that you would build your funnels and add the product in the process of building your funnels. Normally on software products of this type, you would create a product and then add it to your sales process.

With Thrivecart everything centres around your product and you create that first. With WooCommerce you create your product and that creates your page.

But who am I to say anything they have a billion-dollar business while I do not lol.

Clickfunnels learning products for your marketing education

Russell Brunson is the co-owner of Clickfunnels and has a whole range of educational programs to educate people about marketing and more specifically lead generating and sales funnels.

Ranging from bestselling books (Dotcom secrets, Expert secrets, Traffic secrets, Funnel cookbook and 30days) free summits and challenges (30days, Dotcom secrets summit, One funnel away, Brick and mortar summit, two comma club live and funnel challenge) and on-demand training (Funnel builder secrets, 5 day lead challenge) he is buying up huge swathes of the internet and offering them as paid packages and bonuses to try Clickfunnels.

It seems like every few days there is another offer from the Clickfunnels universe. Just days ago the yourfirstfunnel.com offer was released.

You can’t blame him for his marketing works I got Clickfunnels through the Yourfirstfunnel.com box set (which is a couple of books and a t-shirt) but I got it because it includes some Tony Robbins stuff, a 30 day free trial of Clickfunnels and a course from Dan Kennedy that I wanted to get my hands on.

You can see the full package below.

Your First Funnel

The full your first funnel package

Most people it seems buy a package and then stay a member of Clickfunnels.

It seems the more he gives away the more fans he creates for himself and Clickfunnels which is only logical as he is giving away some awesome stuff and Clickfunnels is a good software platform.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels follow up funnels (platinum upgrade)

ClickFunnels follow up funnels dashboard

Clickfunnels follow up funnels dashboard

Clickfunnels follow up funnels is Clickfunnels built-in email marketing system. It allows you to create email marketing sequences to promote your offers and build a relationship with your list.

It uses the same user-friendly system they use with their landing page builder. But getting it all set up is a bit confusing even for someone who uses this type of software all the time.

I guess if you are not used to using email marketing services then it will be easy for you to grasp as it’s a guided step by step system. If you have used email service providers in the past it may seem a bit alien at first.

The first step shown above is where you configure an action that happens when someone signs up and the list that they get signed up to.

ClickFunnels follow up funnels adding steps

Adding a step reveals the email service provider integrations.

When you add a step you are then given the option of selecting an email service provider, as I’m testing their follow up funnels feature I decided to stick with their own system.

When you click on your ESP the list of integrations is replaced by a funky little box to add and select rules. I can see this leading to confusion if you have used other platforms.

ClickFunnels follow up funnels add filters

 With Clickfunnels being touted for beginners I thought this part would be easier and more streamlined than it was. I kept getting a “Please assign the From Name for the SMTP Integration” so it was a bit of a frustrating experience to start with.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels backpack (Platinum upgrade)

ClickFunnels backpack dashboard

Backpack is Clickfunnel’s built-in affiliate system so you can have affiliates sign up and promote your products. I poked, prodded and looked around but as I use Thrivecart I had already made up my mind not to continue the Clickfunnels platinum package at this point.

It looks like there is enough to run an affiliate scheme in there but it doesn’t look as simple and effective as the Thrivecart one.

It only allows Stripe and ominously it has a little box that allows the product owner to set should these commissions expire which is explained like this in the help documentation:

When enabling this option, affiliates that generate commissions during an earning period (defined by you as the owner of the affiliate program) but don’t meet/complete your requirements (i.e. providing you with a properly completed tax form, not reaching the minimum payout amount, or whatever other requirements you may have) will have their commissions expire after X days.

I believe that if someone promotes your stuff you should go out of your way to make sure they get their money not try tactics to shut them down.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels affiliate program

ClickFunnels affiliate scheme

Clickfunnels affiliate scheme (not to be confused with backpack) allows you to sign up and promote Clickfunnels marketing education products until you have made a few sales and then you can promote Clickfunnels free trial offer funnel Clickfunnels affiliate scheme allows you to get a hire car paid by Clickfunnels if you get so many sign-ups to the Clickfunnels software platform.

The program pays 20% until you hit a certain amount and then 40% after that.

This is the part of Click funnels I don’t like, I was signed up as a free affiliate (not a Clickfunnels member) but after you become a paid member the affiliate scheme seems to throw you about the place and one minute it’s letting you in and the next it’s not.

It could definitely use some work in this area.

A big thing in Clickfunnels advertising is they use Clickfunnels themselves for all their landing pages and sales. This leaves me wondering if the platinum upgrade backpack has the same quirks.

At $297 a month and the age of the product, the software shouldn’t have any issues at all.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels marketplace

ClickFunnels-Marketplace connect stripe

I had high hopes in joining the Clickfunnels marketplace and selling some funnel designs as a bit of a side hustle. Being a web designer I thought it would be a good way of using my existing skillset to make a bit of extra cash for work I’m good at.

I couldn’t join the Clickfunnels marketplace it just kept asking me to connect Stripe.

I had an issue with becoming a seller on the Clickfunnels marketplace. I got shown a button “Connect your Stripe account” which lead me back to the payment gateway page where I had originally connected my Stripe and PayPal accounts.

You can see in the image below I had already connected my payment gateways.

ClickFunnels payment gateways setup

Clickfunnels support

ClickFunnels support

Support can be painfully slow at times.

So I contacted Clickfunnels support about the issue I had with the Clickfunnels marketplace and was greeted by one of their support agents.

I explained the issue I was having and our first couple of interactions were really fast, then it tailed off to painfully slow taking over 36hrs for one of the interactions as you can see in the screen shot above.

Conclusion

All in all, it is a great platform with a few quirks that I can personally live with. I don’t have many reasons to complain about it (see the cons above in this article).

So would I recommend Clickfunnels?

Yes, I would recommend Clickfunnels but only the standard level not the platinum upgrade for the follow-up funnels and backpack (I’ll stick with Thrivecart for these features as it’s nowhere near as complicated to set up).

If you are already earning money in your online business and have the money spare then it’s probably a great fit for you. Saying that if your website gets traffic and your business has assets like a social media following and email list then Clickfunnels should pay for itself in no time.

If you are using other expensive tools and want to swap to a funnels automation platform then yes Clickfunnels is most definitely for you too and this is purely based on price nothing else!

If you are looking to bring your costs down and are subscribed to many different tools to run your business then Clickfunnels could save you money.

If you are looking for a way to easily build a sales funnel Clickfunnels is going to be useful. It gives you an easy way to build sales funnels like a sales letter funnel or one for lead generating giving you list post software to insert your leads into the email service provider you are using.

Clickfunnels comes with a 14-day trial but there are tons of ways to get a better free trial.

You can get a 30-day free trial as I did by buying the Yourfirstfunnel.com box of goodies by using the link below

Clickfunnels Alternatives

ThriveCart

ThriveCart is a SAAS based shopping cart that could save you thousands every year if you were to swap it for Clickfunnels.

Full Thrivecart review

SamCart

SamCart is another shopping cart platform that has very similar features to Clickfunnels. Including LMS, affiliate centre and shopping cart.

Full Samcart review

FAQs

What does ClickFunnels do?

Clickfunnels is a funnel building platform. It allows you to deploy lead generating or sales funnels easily.

How much is Clickfunnel monthly?

Click funnels pricing starts at $97 a month and enables you to build twenty funnels and one hundred sub-pages within those funnels. On this level, you can connect three domains, three payment processors and have one team member.

Click funnels mid-tier “click funnels platinum” costs $297 and allows you to build unlimited funnels and have unlimited sub-pages. On this level, you can connect nine domains, nine payment processors, unlimited follow-up funnels (email autoresponders), affiliate software and can have three team members.

Is ClickFunnels worth the money?

Clickfunnels is one of the better platforms I’ve tried. It’s easier and more intuitive to use than most platforms of this type out there even the more expensive ones so yes Clickfunnels is worth it.

Can you make money with ClickFunnels?

If you already have traffic you can control like existing visitors to your website, a list or you can afford to buy traffic to your landing pages then yes Clickfunnels can make you money.

Is ClickFunnels better than WordPress?

It depends on your needs. Clickfunnels is a funnel building platform for creating landing pages and funnels. WordPress can build landing pages and funnels with a premium theme and plugins. If you have no experience of WordPress then Clickfunnels is probably better for you.

Is ClickFunnels better than WordPress?

It depends on your needs. Clickfunnels is a funnel building platform for creating landing pages and funnels. WordPress can build landing pages and funnels with a premium theme and plugins. If you have no experience with WordPress then Clickfunnels is probably better for you.

Can I use ClickFunnels with WordPress?

Yes, Clickfunnels has a WordPress plugin that will enable you to add a funnel step into your WordPress based website.

Do you need a domain for ClickFunnels?

No, you don’t need a domain to use Clickfunnels. They give you a subdomain on their website and all the funnels you create have URLs that you can send traffic to. Adding a domain just makes it easier to brand it to your name and website.

Does ClickFunnels integrate with PayPal?

Yes, Clickfunnels integrates with PayPal. You need to go to the PayPal website and get your API keys and insert them into the Clickfunnels website.

Does ClickFunnels have a shopping cart?

No, Clickfunnels does not have a traditional shopping cart. It forces people through a process of upsells and down sells called a funnel. There is no view cart the visitor buys one product and then buys others through the 1 click upsells or 1 click down sells.