# Kartra vs ClickFunnels (2026) · Funnel Critic > Source: https://funnelcritic.com/compare/kartra-vs-clickfunnels Head-to-head ## Kartra vs ClickFunnels ClickFunnels is the deeper funnel and checkout. Kartra is the broader bundle, with affiliates and a helpdesk on a cheaper plan. Which fits your list size and offer. By [Marta Ovalle](/authors/marta-ovalle), reviewed by [Funnel Critic Editorial](/authors/funnel-desk-editorial). Published 12 October 2026\. We revisit this page every 90 days. **Disclosure:**We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings. ### Quick answer Pick Kartra if you want pages, email, SMS, checkout, memberships, a helpdesk and an affiliate program under one subscription and will use most of that bundle; pick ClickFunnels if your business runs on multi-step funnels with order bumps and one-click upsells and you will put in the weeks its editor takes to learn. Both host your funnel, checkout, email and courses, so the feature columns look close. The fork is what each was built around. ClickFunnels is a funnel builder first, and its latest rebuild went into the funnel editor and Smart Checkout. Kartra sells itself as the stack you stop paying for: its pricing page lists the email tool, page builder, membership site, checkout, helpdesk, video host, affiliate system and analytics it replaces. The cheaper of the two changes at a few thousand contacts, so [price both plans for your list size](/best/funnel-tool-cost-calculator-what-each-platform-costs-at-your-size) before you compare features. ### Side by side The two tools you are choosing between, plus one more worth knowing if you run paid ads. | Tool | Free trial | Best for | | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Kartra](/reviews/kartra) | 14 days | Established coaches and creators who want pages, email, checkout and memberships on one login | | [ClickFunnels](/reviews/clickfunnels) | 7 days | Course, coaching and info-product sellers who want a proven funnel platform and will learn it | | [ElasticFunnels](/reviews/elasticfunnels) | 14 days, no card | Teams running paid traffic | ### What you are really choosing between #### ClickFunnels is organised around the funnel In ClickFunnels the unit of work is a funnel: a run of steps from opt-in to order form to upsell. Its rebuilt funnel builder shows stats inside each funnel and ships Smart Checkout with A/B testing, which is where the order bumps and one-time offers live. Long-term reviewers on Capterra tie its steep learning curve to exactly that depth, with so many features that the editor takes weeks to feel natural. #### Kartra is organised around replacing your other subscriptions Kartra's case is one bill for the email platform, automation, page builder, membership site, checkout, split testing, helpdesk, video hosting, affiliate management and analytics. Its Growth plan adds funnel simulation, which lets you map a campaign before it goes live, along with surveys and the helpdesk. The price of that breadth turns up in user reviews, where bugs and slow support are named together again and again. #### Affiliates are where the plans split hardest If you want partners selling your product for a commission, Kartra includes affiliate management on Growth. ClickFunnels keeps its Affiliate Center for Optimize and above, a full plan step past Scale. For a creator who plans to recruit affiliates, that gap alone can settle the choice. #### Switching away is equally painful Neither platform exports funnels or pages to another tool. Contacts come out as a CSV file from either one, so a later switch means rebuilding every page by hand. Build one real funnel during the trial before you move a list in. ### Where each one wins and loses #### Kartra ##### What works * One platform genuinely replaces the stack. You get pages and funnels, email and SMS, checkout, memberships, courses, a calendar, a helpdesk and an affiliate program on one login, and because they share one database the data joins up. Reviewers single out the detailed analytics and how convenient built-in affiliate management and payments are once everything sits in one place. * Checkout and memberships are strong for selling knowledge. The checkout takes upsells, coupons and several payment processors, and the membership and course tools host your content and drip it out. For a coach selling a course or a membership, that is the core job done without plugins. * No transaction fees on the main plans. From Starter up, Kartra charges 0% on your sales, so the platform is not skimming a cut of every order the way some checkout tools do. Only the entry Essentials plan carries a 5% fee. * It is genuinely no-code, with templates and AI. The drag-and-drop builders, more than 100 done-for-you campaigns and Kartra AI mean a non-technical creator can get a funnel, emails and a checkout live in a few hours rather than wiring separate tools together. * Real safety nets to try it. There is a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can build a real funnel and see whether the platform holds up before you are locked in. ##### What to watch * Bugs across the builders are the top complaint. Long-term reviewers describe a page builder that malfunctions, constant logouts and glitches across the email, page and membership tools. It is usable, but expect rough edges, and some reviewers feel updates polish the surface while core problems linger. * Support is slow. The other recurring complaint is support: long waits on live chat, tickets left unanswered for days, and no phone or Zoom line. When something breaks mid-launch, a fast answer is hard to get. * It is overkill for beginners. Kartra bundles eight to twelve tools, and if you only need one or two you still pay for and navigate all of them. Reviewers repeatedly say beginners find it overwhelming, and point them at simpler, cheaper tools. The value lands for established businesses that use most of the bundle. * The entry plan is thin and carries a fee. Essentials looks cheap, but it caps you at 500 contacts and 5 pages and charges a 5% transaction fee. Unlimited pages, 0% fees and video hosting start on Starter, and automations and affiliates only arrive on Growth. * You are hosted on Kartra, and pages do not export. Everything lives on Kartra's servers, and pages built there do not move cleanly to another tool. If you leave, budget rebuild time. Your contacts export as a CSV file, and your pages stay behind. #### ClickFunnels ##### What works * It is a proven, funnel-first platform with a deep ecosystem. ClickFunnels invented much of this category, and that shows in the template library, the FunnelFlix training, the huge community and the endless walkthroughs online. When you get stuck building a funnel, someone has already documented the fix. For a non-technical seller, that lowers the real cost of getting a funnel live. * The funnel and checkout mechanics are its strength. Order form bumps, one-click upsells, one-time offers, A/B testing and a Smart Checkout are what ClickFunnels was built for, and they still hold up. If your business runs on multi-step offers, these tools are where ClickFunnels has put most of its work. * One login covers the whole path. Pages and funnels, checkout, email, a CRM with pipelines and appointments, courses, a community and a store all sit on one platform, so a course or coaching business can run without stitching plugins together. * It takes no cut of your sales, and hosting is unlimited. ClickFunnels charges 0% on your transactions, so you keep every dollar, and every plan includes unlimited funnels, unlimited pages, unlimited visitors and hosting on a global edge network. Even the entry Launch plan does not cap your traffic. * There are real safety nets to try it. You get a trial to build a funnel inside the platform, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on a paid charge, so you can put a real funnel together before you are locked in. ##### What to watch * The learning curve is steep. This is the single most consistent complaint from long-term users. The 2.0 editor is deep, and reviewers describe weeks or months of use before it felt fluent, with some still running into limitations regularly. Plan for weeks of setup before your first funnel goes live. * Bugs and glitches still show up. Version 2.0 fixed the worst sluggishness of the old platform, but reviewers who use it daily still report intermittent glitches, logouts and middling page-speed scores, which can nudge your SEO. Most call it usable with rough edges rather than broken. * Support is inconsistent, and billing complaints are real. Some users praise live video help, while others report slow answers and no easy phone line. Public complaint records include over-billing and double-billing, so watch your statements and confirm cancellations went through. * It is not cheap, and the entry plan is tight. Launch caps you at one workspace, two team members and 10,000 contacts, and email and contact limits push many users up to Scale. Priced against simpler tools, ClickFunnels is a premium spend. * It is hard to leave. Pages built in ClickFunnels do not export cleanly to another platform, and there is no one-click importer coming in. If you switch tools later, budget rebuild time. Your contacts come out as a CSV file, but your funnels stay behind. ### What they cost Price the plan you will actually run, because the entry tiers mislead in both directions. Kartra's cheapest plan holds 500 contacts and 5 pages and takes 5% of every sale, so few businesses stay on it long. Starter is where Kartra starts to work: 2,500 contacts, unlimited pages and courses, unlimited email and SMS, and no transaction fee. ClickFunnels Launch holds four times as many contacts as Kartra Starter for less money, with unlimited funnels, pages and visitors. The limit most lists hit first there is the monthly email allowance. A list close to the contact cap, mailed twice a week, sends more than Launch allows and pushes you up to Scale. | | Kartra | ClickFunnels | | ----------------- | --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Entry plan | $59/mo Essentials ($52 annual) | $97/mo Launch ($81 annual) | | Working plan | $119/mo Starter ($99 annual) | Launch, the entry plan | | Next plan up | $229/mo Growth | $197/mo Scale | | Contacts | 500, 2,500, 12,500 | 10,000 Launch, 75,000 Scale | | Email sends | Unlimited from Starter | 50,000/mo Launch, 300,000/mo Scale | | Transaction fee | 5% on Essentials, 0% from Starter | 0% on every plan | | Affiliate program | Growth and up | Optimize ($297/mo) and up | | Team members | 5 Starter, 10 Growth | 2 on Launch | | Trial and refund | 14-day trial, 30-day money-back | Free trial, 30-day money-back | So which one is cheaper depends on your list. Under 500 contacts, Kartra Essentials costs least on monthly billing while your sales stay under about $760 a month, the point where its 5% fee closes the gap with Launch. From a few thousand contacts up, ClickFunnels is the cheaper subscription until email volume moves you a plan higher. Kartra makes up the difference once you need an affiliate program, because it includes one on a lower plan than ClickFunnels does. One billing detail for Kartra: it does not accept PayPal for its own subscription. ### A third option, if you run paid ads Kartra and ClickFunnels both assume you sell to an audience you are building: a list, a webinar crowd, a community. A team buying cold traffic from Meta, Google or TikTok has a different problem, which is knowing which ad, angle and page made the money. ElasticFunnels is a funnel platform built for that team. It keeps the pages, the checkout, the CRM and the attribution on one data layer, so a click, an order, a rebill and a refund sit on one timeline. Its lead feature is same-URL split testing: variants rotate server-side behind one campaign link, so the ad platform keeps its learning and a new test never sends the ad back through review. It also builds pages with an AI builder that writes one from a prompt or clones one from a URL, and hosts a checkout with order bumps, one-click upsells and subscriptions. Every feature is on every plan and the 14-day trial needs no card. Revenue through its own checkout carries a 0.5% fee, and sales sent to outside networks such as ClickBank carry none. The drawback is its track record. ElasticFunnels has been in development since 2023 and has very little independent review coverage, so its testing and attribution claims rest mostly on the vendor's word until you push real volume through it. That is what you would expect of a platform this young, set against the years of user reviews Kartra and ClickFunnels have collected. For a course or membership sold to your own list, Kartra's and ClickFunnels' course tools remain the closer fit. The full case is in our [ElasticFunnels review](/reviews/elasticfunnels), and each matchup has its own page: [ElasticFunnels vs ClickFunnels](/compare/elasticfunnels-vs-clickfunnels) and [ElasticFunnels vs Kartra](/compare/elasticfunnels-vs-kartra). If you have to pick one without knowing more, take ClickFunnels. Most people searching this pair sell a course, coaching or an info product through a multi-step funnel, and that is the job ClickFunnels was built for. Its entry plan holds a bigger list than Kartra's working plan, and it never takes a cut of sales. Budget the learning time, though, because long-term users measure it in weeks. Choose Kartra when you would otherwise pay separately for a helpdesk, SMS, video hosting, calendars and an affiliate system, and you will really use them. Go in through the trial and the refund window, since bugs and slow support are the complaints that keep coming back. **My take.** I would count the tools you pay for today outside your funnel builder. If the answer is one or none, ClickFunnels Launch is the cheaper and deeper funnel. If it is three or more, and one of them runs your affiliates, Kartra Growth replaces them on a single bill for less than ClickFunnels charges to unlock its Affiliate Center. Our default pick ### ClickFunnels ClickFunnels is the pick if you sell courses, coaching or info products and want a proven, funnel-first platform with a deep template library and a big community behind it, and you will put in the time to learn it. It is not for you if you want the cheapest option, a flawless page builder or fast setup. The learning curve is steep, the plans are not cheap, and long-term users still hit bugs. Lean on the free trial and the 30-day money-back guarantee before you commit. 3.8 ### Frequently asked questions Is Kartra or ClickFunnels cheaper? It depends on your list. Kartra has the lower sticker price at entry, but that plan stops at 500 contacts and keeps a share of each sale. For a list of a few thousand, ClickFunnels Launch is the smaller bill. Kartra pulls ahead again when you want a built-in affiliate program. Which is better for courses and memberships? Kartra if you run many programs: Starter has no course limit, while ClickFunnels Launch includes three courses. Both host members-only content behind a login. Build a sample module during the trial to see which member area you would rather put buyers in. Which has better checkout and upsells? ClickFunnels. Order bumps, one-time offers and an A/B-tested checkout are the parts it has developed longest. Kartra's checkout handles upsells and coupons too and is enough for a simple offer stack. Does either platform take a cut of sales? ClickFunnels takes nothing on any plan. Kartra charges 5% on Essentials only and nothing from Starter up. Your payment processor's card fees apply on both. Can I move from one to the other later? Yes, but only your contacts travel, as a CSV export. Funnels and pages have to be rebuilt in the new platform, so plan the rebuild before you cancel. Should I use Kartra or ClickFunnels for paid ads? Either can send ad traffic to a funnel. Neither tests page variants under a single ad link or joins ad clicks to orders and rebills on one record. If paid ads are where your sales come from, read the ElasticFunnels section on this page first. ### What we read on Kartra #### From Kartra * * Funnel mapper and simulator * Checkouts and shopping cart * Plans and pricing #### Other sources 7 discussions and reviews read for this page. Quotes are excerpts; open a link to read the original in context. 1. \[capterra-buggy\] [Kartra Reviews | Capterra ](https://www.capterra.com/p/184946/Kartra/reviews/) Capterra 2. \[capterra-support\] [Kartra Reviews | Capterra ](https://www.capterra.com/p/184946/Kartra/reviews/) Capterra 3. \[capterra-500k\] [Kartra Reviews | Capterra ](https://www.capterra.com/p/184946/Kartra/reviews/) Capterra 4. \[trustpilot-polish\] [Kartra Reviews | Trustpilot ](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/kartra.com) Trustpilot 5. \[trustpilot-support\] [Kartra Reviews | Trustpilot ](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/kartra.com) Trustpilot 6. \[g2-bugs\] [Kartra Reviews | G2 ](https://www.g2.com/products/kartra/reviews) G2 7. \[g2-positive\] [Kartra Reviews | G2 ](https://www.g2.com/products/kartra/reviews) G2 ### What we read on ClickFunnels #### From ClickFunnels * * Smart Checkout * Sales funnel builder #### Other sources 5 discussions and reviews read for this page. Quotes are excerpts; open a link to read the original in context. 1. \[classic-faq\] [ClickFunnels Classic FAQ ](https://support.clickfunnels.com/en/articles/12733798-top-frequently-asked-questions) Blog, 16 Apr 2026 2. \[classic-trial\] [ClickFunnels Classic trial billing ](https://support.clickfunnels.com/en/articles/12734363-will-i-be-billed-automatically-after-the-free-14-day-trial-period) Blog, 12 Mar 2026 3. \[cf2-pricing\] [ClickFunnels 2.0 pricing ](https://support.clickfunnels.com/en/articles/12734340-clickfunnels-2-0-pricing) Blog, 15 Apr 2026 4. \[pricing-page\] [ClickFunnels pricing page ](https://www.clickfunnels.com/pricing) Blog, 13 Oct 2026 5. \[websiteplanet-switch\] [WebsitePlanet: ClickFunnels alternatives ](https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/clickfunnels-alternatives) Blog If your campaigns run on paid traffic and end at a checkout, ElasticFunnels is the tool on this page built for that job, and you can start its trial without a card. [Try ElasticFunnels free (opens in a new tab) ](https://elasticfunnels.io/?utm%5Fsource=funnelcritic&utm%5Fmedium=affiliate&utm%5Fcampaign=review) ### Related reading Go deeper in our [Kartra review](/reviews/kartra) and [ClickFunnels review](/reviews/clickfunnels), and see every tier in the [Kartra pricing guide](/reviews/kartra/pricing) and the [ClickFunnels pricing guide](/reviews/clickfunnels/pricing). Weighing Kartra against a course platform instead? Read [Kartra vs Kajabi](/compare/kartra-vs-kajabi). On a tight budget, [Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels](/compare/systeme-io-vs-clickfunnels) covers the cheaper route, and [GoHighLevel vs ClickFunnels](/compare/gohighlevel-vs-clickfunnels) covers agencies. If you have ruled one out, see [Kartra alternatives](/alternatives/kartra) or [ClickFunnels alternatives](/alternatives/clickfunnels). The [ranked shortlist](/best) shows where both sit against the rest, [all our head-to-heads](/compare) settle other close calls, and our [methodology](/methodology) explains how we judge each tool. --- [Funnel Critic](/) Independent reviews and comparisons of funnel, page and checkout tools for startups running paid traffic. Ranked from real user reports and verified pricing. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings. © 2026 Funnel Critic. Independent and reader-supported.