The ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels decision usually comes down to one core question. Do you want a lean, specialized checkout engine, or a full funnel-building ecosystem with everything bundled in?
ThriveCart is a focused checkout and funnel specialist built to maximize conversions on a single offer, while ClickFunnels is a broader all-in-one funnel builder with unlimited funnels, email automation, course hosting, and its own built-in affiliate system, Backpack, all under one subscription. Both charge 0% in platform transaction fees on their standard plans, so neither one takes a cut of your sales. The real differences show up in pricing structure, course hosting limits, and exactly which plan unlocks affiliate management.
This guide breaks both platforms down feature by feature, including a detailed, side-by-side look at ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center versus ClickFunnels’ Backpack. The two genuinely sophisticated systems that are each gated behind a specific paid tier.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels Feature Comparison
| Feature Category | ThriveCart | ClickFunnels |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Checkout Engine & Funnel Optimizer | All-In-One Funnel Builder |
| Pricing Model | Lifetime Deal (One-Time) / Monthly Tier | Recurring Monthly Subscription |
| Platform Transaction Fee | 0% | 0% |
| Affiliate System Plan Required | Pro+ Plan ($87/mo) | Optimize Plan ($297/mo, or $248/mo annual) |
| Funnel & Checkout Pages | Ultra-optimized checkouts & 1-click upsells | Unlimited funnels & drag-and-drop pages on every plan |
| Course & Membership Hosting | Built-in LMS (ThriveCart Academy), no course limit | Built-in, but capped by plan (3 to 20 courses) |
| Email & Marketing Automation | Requires Integration (ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, etc.) | Native email automation on every plan |
| API & Custom Code | Via Zapier | Native, available from Scale plan up |
Want to test either one yourself? Start your ThriveCart trial here or try ClickFunnels free for 14 days.
What Is ThriveCart? (Checkout & Funnel Platform Overview)
ThriveCart is a fully hosted checkout platform built to help online entrepreneurs sell courses, coaching, SaaS, and digital products through high-converting checkout pages, order bumps, and upsell funnels, without needing separate hosting or plugins.
Its checkout templates are mobile-responsive, support custom domains, and connect to Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, with order bumps, one-click upsells, and payment plans built directly into the checkout flow. ThriveCart also bundles unlimited course and community hosting into every plan through ThriveCart Academy, and charges 0% in platform transaction fees regardless of which plan you’re on.
Where ThriveCart narrows compared to ClickFunnels is page and funnel building outside of checkout: it’s built around optimizing one offer at a time rather than a full multi-step funnel builder, and it has no native email marketing, relying on Zapier for that instead.
Key Features of ThriveCart
- Checkout page builder: High-converting, customizable checkout pages without code.
- Order bumps and one-click upsells: Increase average order value directly in the checkout flow.
- Payment plans and subscriptions: Installment billing and recurring payments built in.
- ThriveCart Academy: Unlimited course and community hosting bundled into every plan.
- A/B testing: Test checkout page variations to improve conversion.
- Global tax handling: Automatic tax calculation and collection across the US, Canada, EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other regions.
- Apple Pay and Google Pay: Broad payment method support alongside Stripe and PayPal.
- 0% platform transaction fees: No added fee from ThriveCart on top of your payment gateway, at every plan tier.
Get started with ThriveCart’s 30-day free trial →
What Is ClickFunnels? (All-In-One Sales Funnel Builder Overview)
ClickFunnels is an all-in-one sales funnel builder that combines a drag-and-drop funnel and page editor, email automation, course and membership hosting, a blog/CMS, community features, and its own built-in affiliate system, Backpack, all under one platform.
Every ClickFunnels plan, even the entry-level Launch tier at $97/month, includes unlimited funnels, unlimited visitors, and unlimited landing and site pages, a notably generous baseline compared to platforms that cap page or funnel counts on lower tiers. Course and membership hosting is included from the start as well, though the number of courses you can host is capped by plan, from 3 courses on Launch up to 20 on Dominate.
Where ClickFunnels asks you to pay more is for its advanced revenue and scaling tools. API access and custom code require the Scale plan or higher, and Backpack, its affiliate management system, is reserved specifically for the Optimize plan and above, which means its most powerful revenue tool sits well above the entry price.
Key Features of ClickFunnels
- Drag-and-drop funnel builder: Unlimited funnels, visitors, and pages included on every plan.
- Native email marketing and automation: Built-in email sequences without a separate tool.
- Course and membership hosting: Built-in LMS, with course limits that scale by plan (3 to 20).
- Backpack affiliate system: A native, highly automated affiliate management system, available from the Optimize plan up.
- Community features: Create and manage a paid or free community for customers and students.
- Blog and CMS tools: Publish content directly within the platform.
- API and custom code access: Available from the Scale plan up.
- 0% platform transaction fees: No added fee from ClickFunnels on top of your payment gateway, across all standard plans.
Try ClickFunnels free for 14 days →
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels: Core Difference (Checkout Specialist vs. Full Funnel Ecosystem)
ThriveCart does one thing thoroughly: checkout, order bumps, upsells, and course delivery, at a low, flat price with 0% transaction fees across every plan. If you already have a funnel or page builder and email tool you’re happy with, you’re not paying for overlapping features.
ClickFunnels is built to be the whole system: funnel pages, email, courses, community, and affiliates, under one login. That breadth is genuinely generous at the page and funnel level, unlimited funnels even on the cheapest plan, but its most advanced revenue tool, Backpack, isn’t included until the Optimize plan, which costs more than three times ThriveCart’s entry price.
If your priority is a lean, highly optimized checkout with a lower-cost path to affiliate management, ThriveCart is the more direct fit. If you want a complete funnel-building ecosystem with unlimited funnels, native email, and community features from day one, and you’re prepared to pay for the tier that unlocks Backpack, ClickFunnels is built for that instead.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels: Funnel & Checkout Page Building Compared
ThriveCart focuses narrowly on the checkout page itself: a single, highly optimized page built for order bumps, one-click upsells, and payment plans, designed to convert a specific offer as efficiently as possible.
ClickFunnels takes a broader approach, giving you unlimited full multi-step funnels on every plan, including opt-in pages, sales pages, upsell sequences, and checkout, all built with its drag-and-drop editor. If you need to build an entire funnel journey, not just a checkout step, ClickFunnels’ page builder is the more complete tool out of the box.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels: Course & Membership Hosting Compared
Both platforms bundle course and membership hosting, but the way each one limits that feature is worth calling out directly.
ThriveCart Academy places no cap on the number of courses you can host, included at every plan tier starting at $47/month.
ClickFunnels also includes course hosting from its entry plan, but caps the number of courses by tier: 3 courses on Launch, 6 on Scale, 10 on Optimize, and 20 on Dominate. For course creators planning to build out a library of offers over time, that limit is worth factoring in before committing to a lower tier.
Affiliate Management Compared (Backpack vs. ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center)
ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center starts at $87/month on the Pro+ plan, while ClickFunnels’ Backpack affiliate program starts at $297/month on the Optimize plan. Both are built-in affiliate management software, so you don’t need a third-party tracking tool, but neither one is included on the entry-level plan. If you plan to recruit affiliates, partners, or joint venture promoters to sell your offer, this is where the two platforms differ most in cost, and it’s worth comparing exactly what each one gives you for the money.
ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center is included starting at the Pro+ plan ($87/month). It offers granular commission controls down to the product variant, automated PayPal payouts with configurable delay rules, a choice between first-cookie and last-cookie attribution with adjustable expiration windows, second-tier affiliate networks with override commissions, in-dashboard asset hosting for promotional materials, and per-affiliate commission overrides for top performers.
ClickFunnels’ Backpack is included starting at the Optimize plan ($297/month, or $248/month billed annually), and is built specifically around multi-tier network growth and long-horizon attribution:
- Two-tier sub-affiliate programs: Give a main affiliate a commission (for example, 40%) on a sale they refer, and let them earn a secondary override commission (for example, 5%) on sales generated by promoters they personally recruit into your program.
- Affiliate Types and custom plan variations: Group promoters into categories, such as standard affiliates, social media influencers, or top-tier joint venture partners, with different percentage or flat-dollar commissions per product or funnel step for each group.
- Sticky Cookies attribution: Rather than relying on a standard browser cookie, Backpack links the buyer’s contact profile or email directly to the affiliate’s ID. That means if someone clicks an affiliate link for a free opt-in and returns months later on a different device to buy a $2,000 program, the original affiliate still gets credited.
- Tipalti-powered payout automation: Global affiliate payments run through Tipalti, handling automated banking and tax compliance, including W-8/W-9 form collection, before releasing funds.
- Mass Payout Reconciliation: A centralized ledger of approved commissions inside the Backpack dashboard, with a “Mass Pay” utility to export CSVs or execute global payouts via PayPal or direct bank routing.
- Cooling-Off Windows: Manual or scheduled fund-hold periods, typically 30 to 45 days, to protect against chargebacks and refunds before affiliates are paid out.
Feature for feature, both are serious, enterprise-capable affiliate systems rather than bolt-on afterthoughts. ThriveCart’s strength is flexible attribution models and payout timing rules at a lower entry price. Backpack’s strength is its cross-device “Sticky Cookies” attribution and built-in tax-compliant mass payouts via Tipalti, aimed squarely at businesses building a large, multi-tier affiliate network. The tradeoff is cost: ThriveCart’s affiliate tier starts at $87/month, while ClickFunnels’ starts at $297/month paid monthly, or $248/month billed annually, roughly three times as much.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels: Email Marketing and Automation Compared
ClickFunnels includes native email marketing and automation on every plan, letting you build sequences and send campaigns without connecting a separate tool.
ThriveCart has no built-in email marketing. It connects to external email tools primarily through Zapier, which covers a wide range of platforms but adds an extra connection layer rather than a native feature.
If consolidating email marketing and funnel building into one platform matters to you, that’s a clear point in ClickFunnels’ favor, regardless of which plan tier you choose.
Ease of Use and Learning Curve
ThriveCart’s narrower scope, checkout, order bumps, upsells, and course delivery, tends to make for a faster, more self-serve setup, since there’s less to configure before you can sell something.
ClickFunnels’ broader feature set means more to learn upfront: multi-step funnel building, email automation, courses, community, and Backpack all living in one dashboard. That’s a reasonable tradeoff for businesses that want a complete funnel ecosystem, but it’s a steeper starting point than a dedicated checkout tool.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels Pricing Comparison
ThriveCart pricing:
- Standard: $47/month, or $37/month billed annually (no affiliate management)
- Pro+: $87/month, or $67/month billed annually (includes the Affiliate Center)
- $495 one-time lifetime license available for the Standard plan
- 0% platform transaction fees at every tier
- 30-day free trial
See current ThriveCart plans and start your free trial →
ClickFunnels pricing:
- Launch: $97/month, or $81/month billed annually ($970/year) — unlimited funnels, up to 3 courses
- Scale: $197/month, or $164/month billed annually ($1,970/year) — adds API/custom code, up to 6 courses
- Optimize: $297/month, or $248/month billed annually ($2,970/year) — adds Backpack, up to 10 courses
- Dominate: $5,997/year, annual-only — up to 20 courses
- 0% platform transaction fees across all standard plans
- 14-day free trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee (44 days total)
Start your ClickFunnels free trial →
The real cost of matching features: ThriveCart Pro+ vs. ClickFunnels Optimize
If affiliate management is a must-have, the fair comparison is each platform’s cheapest plan that actually includes it:
- ThriveCart Pro+ (annual): $67/month × 12 = $804/year
- ClickFunnels Optimize (annual): $248/month × 12 = $2,976/year
- Difference: $2,172/year in ThriveCart’s favor
That is a gap of more than $2,000 a year for the same affiliate capability. If you only need ClickFunnels for its unlimited funnels and native email, without Backpack, the Launch plan at $970/year is the more relevant comparison point instead.
ThriveCart Pros and Cons
ThriveCart Pros
- 0% transaction fees at every plan, including the entry tier
- Unlimited course and community hosting bundled into every plan
- Lower-priced entry point to a native affiliate system ($87/month)
- Option of a one-time $495 lifetime license
- Faster, more self-serve setup
ThriveCart Cons
- Affiliate management is not included on the base $47/month plan
- No native email marketing, relies on Zapier for that integration
- Built around a single optimized checkout rather than full multi-step funnels
ClickFunnels Pros and Cons
ClickFunnels Pros
- Unlimited funnels, visitors, and pages on every plan, including the entry tier
- Native email marketing and automation included from the start
- Backpack’s Sticky Cookies attribution and Tipalti-powered mass payouts for serious affiliate networks
- Community and blog/CMS features built in
ClickFunnels Cons
- Backpack affiliate management not available until the Optimize plan, $297/month
- Course hosting is capped by plan, 3 courses on the entry tier
- Significantly higher price than ThriveCart at every comparable tier
- Steeper learning curve given the breadth of included tools
Who Should Use ThriveCart?
- Course creators and coaches who want low-cost checkout with 0% transaction fees and unlimited course hosting
- Sellers who already have a funnel or page builder and email tool they’re happy with
- Businesses that want a native affiliate system without paying ClickFunnels’ Optimize-tier price
- Anyone who wants the option of a one-time lifetime license instead of ongoing subscription costs
If that sounds like you, ThriveCart is worth a closer look.
Who Should Use ClickFunnels?
- Businesses that want unlimited multi-step funnels, native email automation, and community features from day one
- Teams specifically interested in Backpack’s two-tier commission structure and Sticky Cookies cross-device attribution for building a large affiliate network
- Sellers who need API and custom code access and are already budgeting for the Scale plan or higher
- Businesses prepared to pay a premium for a complete, all-in-one funnel ecosystem
If that describes your setup, you can try ClickFunnels risk-free.
ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels Alternatives
- Kartra — another all-in-one platform with its own native affiliate system, gated behind its Growth plan. See our full breakdown: ThriveCart vs Kartra.
- Systeme.io — a lower-cost all-in-one alternative to ClickFunnels, with funnels, email, courses, and a built-in affiliate program on a free plan or paid tiers starting much lower.
- PayKickstart — a subscription-focused billing platform with built-in affiliate management on flat, predictable pricing tiers.
See our full breakdowns: 9 Best ThriveCart Alternatives and ThriveCart vs PayKickstart.
Final Verdict on ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels
Choose ThriveCart if you want low-cost checkout with 0% transaction fees, unlimited course hosting bundled in from the start, and the cheapest path to a native, highly automated affiliate system.
Choose ClickFunnels if you want unlimited multi-step funnels, native email marketing, and a more advanced multi-tier affiliate system built around cross-device attribution and automated tax-compliant payouts, and your budget supports the Optimize plan or higher.
Both platforms charge 0% in transaction fees and offer genuinely advanced affiliate management once you reach the right tier, ThriveCart’s at $87/month, ClickFunnels’ at $297/month. The real decision isn’t about feature depth, it’s about how much of your funnel-building and marketing stack you want in one platform, and how much you’re willing to pay to unlock its most powerful revenue tools.
Ready to decide? Start with ThriveCart for the lower-cost route, or try ClickFunnels if you want the full funnel ecosystem.
FAQs About ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels
Is ThriveCart better than ClickFunnels?
ThriveCart is the better fit if you want low-cost checkout with 0% transaction fees, unlimited course hosting, and a cheaper entry point to native affiliate management. ClickFunnels is the better fit if you want unlimited multi-step funnels, native email marketing, and a more advanced multi-tier affiliate system, and you’re willing to pay more for that breadth.
Does ClickFunnels charge transaction fees?
No. ClickFunnels charges 0% in platform transaction fees across all of its standard monthly subscription plans. You’ll still pay your connected payment gateway’s standard processing rate.
What plan do I need for ClickFunnels’ Backpack affiliate system?
Backpack requires the Optimize plan, $297/month, or $248/month billed annually. It’s not available on the Launch or Scale plans.
What plan do I need for ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center?
ThriveCart’s Affiliate Center requires the Pro+ plan, $87/month, or $67/month billed annually. It’s not included on the $47/month Standard plan.
Which is cheaper, ThriveCart or ClickFunnels?
ThriveCart is cheaper at every comparable tier. For a setup that includes native affiliate management specifically, ThriveCart’s Pro+ plan runs about $804/year billed annually, compared to roughly $2,976/year for ClickFunnels’ Optimize plan.
Does ThriveCart limit the number of courses I can host?
No. ThriveCart Academy includes unlimited course hosting on every plan. ClickFunnels caps courses by plan, from 3 on Launch up to 20 on Dominate.
Is there a free trial for ThriveCart or ClickFunnels?
ThriveCart offers a 30-day free trial on its monthly plans. ClickFunnels offers a 14-day free trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee, for 44 days of risk-free access in total.