Although ClickFunnels is an all-in-one marketing solution, it has some serious limitations that marketing agencies may find frustrating.
It’s ideal for small agencies or solopreneurs that focus solely on conversion-focused sales processes, but not for growing agencies that need scalable operations.
Key Takeaways:
- ClickFunnels limits agencies to only 20 clients
- It lacks tools to create and facilitate complex sales cycles and campaigns
- GoHighLevel is a better alternative for agencies that plan to scale
5 Reasons Why ClickFunnels Might Suit Marketing Agencies
Here’s the thing: ClickFunnels has some okay features for marketing agencies. After all, it was built for marketing purposes. However, it won’t fit many agencies because it’s not as comprehensive as it could be.
First, here are several reasons why you might choose it for your agency.
1. Excellent Marketing Tools
If your agency specializes in funnels, you’re going to love ClickFunnels. The entire platform is centered around them, making it easy for agencies to create them.
Russell Brunson, the founder of ClickFunnels, is passionate about funnels, and this passion is evident. He’s poured all his knowledge (which is extensive) and expertise into the funnel builder, so if you want a quick way to build funnels that convert, you’re in the right place.
There are lots of templates for various funnel types, including sales, webinar, countdown, and more, and you can create an unlimited number of them.
The funnel workflow screen is visually appealing, with everything you’d expect: the ability to integrate email, utilize split A/B testing, and more.
The emailing tool is perfectly adequate. I like the drag-and-drop builder since it makes email creation pretty effortless.
However, you won’t find advanced email tools such as deep segmentation, conditional content, or deliverability optimization. If your agency primarily focuses on email, then you’ll likely find that a tool like ActiveCampaign will suit you better.
I’m happy that ClickFunnels has finally introduced pipelines to its platform. Now you can actually view the entire customer journey and see which leads require nurturing.
It’s still a little basic, but given that this feature didn’t exist a year ago, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Overall, ClickFunnels excels at, well, funnels, and it’s decent for email marketing and lead management. So, if you want a good all-rounder platform for these tools, ClickFunnels will be a respectable choice.
2. All-in-One Platform
Theoretically, ClickFunnels has everything you need under one roof. If you’re happy with the feature set and plan limitations, then you don’t need to use or pay for third-party apps.
This keeps everything simple and streamlined, plus you don’t have to rely on a patchwork of integrations to get the functionality you need.
This will definitely work for agencies that focus on funnel building because it has everything you need right there.
However, I will say that ClickFunnels’ features may not be sufficient for many agencies, so depending on what your agency specializes in, you might find that you end up needing integrations anyway.
3. Workspaces
Essential for any agency with multiple clients. Workspaces act as self-contained environments and keep each of your clients’ assets separate from one another.
This not only helps keep all your client work organized, but it also ensures that each client’s data remains private and secure.
Workspaces can be customized to suit your clients’ preferences and branding, including adding collaborators and setting user permissions.
Each workspace tracks its own leads, sales, page views, and conversions, so you get a clean dataset for analyzing performance.
The only kicker is that workspaces are one of the few features with limits:
- The Launch plan only gives you one workspace (so it’s no good for agencies)
- The Scale plan gives you up to 5
- The Optimize plan gets you 10
- The Dominate plan gives you 20
4. Team Members
ClickFunnels allows you to add a certain number of team members to your account to collaborate on client projects.
Like the workspaces, team members are limited to the same number according to the plan you choose.
So, if you’re an agency with a small team, this is definitely something you will need. Likewise, you’ll also need it if you’re a one-person agency that regularly hires other freelancers for specific tasks.
You get complete control over access. You can then decide which workspaces each team member can access and what their user roles will be.
For example, you can invite an individual on a read-only basis, which is great for allowing clients to check and approve work. Or, you can give a designer access to the building and marketing tools.
You can even simply assign someone as a workspace admin or a support specialist.
5. Native Payment Processor
Native payment gateways are always more convenient than integrating with Stripe or PayPal, but ClickFunnels takes it one step further and incorporates some really interesting tools.
While it acts as a standalone payment processor (called Payments AI), you can still connect multiple payment gateways and route payments to the one that makes most sense.
You get to define the rules and conditions for which gateway is used based on transaction types, locations, and so on.
This is especially useful if you’re processing payments on behalf of clients or customers based outside the US.
Additionally, you can use advanced automation to efficiently handle various payment scenarios, and you have tools available to automatically manage failed payments.
Other features include invoicing, the ability for clients to pay invoices via email, set tax locations (US only), and generate tax reports.
What ClickFunnels Lacks (That an Agency Most Probably Needs)
Unlimited Features
There was a brief yet sweet period when ClickFunnels streamlined its pricing plans and offered everyone unlimited features.
Those were the days.
But they weren’t to last. ClickFunnels has recently updated its pricing and reintroduced feature limits, so you don’t get as much bang for your buck as you did before.
Now, there are limits for everything except funnels, which is extremely restrictive if you’re an agency that needs to send out high volumes of emails or add large numbers of contacts.
Let’s take the Dominate plan, for example. You can have up to 20 workspaces, so theoretically, you can manage up to 20 clients. Yet you’re limited to adding 400k contacts.
Sounds like a lot, but it’s only 20,000 contacts per client.
If one of your clients has a large email list, then you’re screwed. Or, you have to use a separate third-party app to accommodate the additional contacts, which piles on extra costs and complications.
Phone and SMS Capabilities
I really hope that ClickFunnels introduces this onto its platform at some point in the near future.
We all know that SMS messages have a significantly higher open rate than emails; that’s why they have rapidly become an essential marketing tool. WhatsApp, too, for that matter.
Unfortunately, ClickFunnels does not have this capability. You cannot connect or use a phone service, so it is almost impossible to run multi-channel marketing campaigns using these methods.
The only thing you can do is use Zapier to connect your messaging channels (SMS, social media, etc.) to the platform’s message hub.
While this enables you to view and respond to incoming messages from one dashboard (and automate certain responses), it still can’t be incorporated into your campaigns, which really limits the platform in this respect.
Social Planner
What is a marketing agency without social media marketing tools?
Again, I feel that ClickFunnels is missing a trick here because social media is central to most marketing campaigns.
There are no tools or features for creating or scheduling social media posts.
As I mentioned above, all you can do is connect Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok’s direct messaging services and respond to incoming messages.
This means that all your social media management has to take place outside of ClickFunnels, which adds an extra layer of complexity when creating your campaigns.
Client Portal
Although you can add clients as team members, the platform lacks a proper client portal.
Essentially, you have to grant them access (as a team member) to the ClickFunnels backend, which may expose them to parts of the account they don’t need to see.
Furthermore, there’s a lot to ClickFunnels, and it can be confusing for clients to navigate if they’re unfamiliar with the platform. This means you’re going to have to spend extra time on onboarding and training so your clients know how everything works.
In contrast, a well-designed client portal appears more professional and polished, and is typically easier and simpler for clients to navigate.
Reputation Management
Online reviews are essential to your clients, and part of an agency’s work is to maintain and manage a positive online reputation.
Again, ClickFunnels has no tools to facilitate reputation management, so this has to be done outside of the platform.
For instance, you’ll have to use a separate tool for the job or painstakingly go through every site, platform, and search engine to locate, manage, and improve review scores.
True White Labeling
Although you can create branded workspaces, fundamentally, the platform does not offer true white labeling. This means that under the surface, the platform still looks and feels like ClickFunnels.
For example, the interface isn’t truly customizable, and the ClickFunnels branding remains visible in various places. Plus, you have to log in to a workspace via the ClickFunnels website.
The lack of a client portal feeds into this issue. You can’t rebrand the dashboard or create a custom experience tailored to your agency. Even if you use a custom domain, the login process and portal styling still reflect that it’s ClickFunnels.
For agencies that require high professionalism, the lack of white labeling can undermine their authority, particularly if they are a full-service provider.
And, if your clients know you are using ClickFunnels for everything, there’s nothing stopping them from leaving your services and signing up for the platform directly.
Client Rebilling
It’s typical for agencies to charge clients for a base level of service and then bill for certain aspects on top.
For instance, they may charge extra for sending a certain number of emails or messages.
Rebilling, in this case, is essential because it ensures the agency is not left out of pocket and the client pays appropriately for the service they receive.
When there is no way to rebill that cost to the client, you have to factor it into the base cost of your service and keep a close eye on how many emails you send so you don’t exceed the agreed-upon amount.
Again, this is inconvenient because it puts the burden on the agency to manually track usage and potentially absorb the cost of any overages. Without automated rebilling, you’re left with a clunky process that doesn’t scale well.
Why I Only Recommend ClickFunnels for Small Agencies
Given the limitations of ClickFunnels, I feel I can only recommend it to smaller agencies or solopreneurs that have a handful of clients and only one or two additional staff members.
The feature limits are a real sticking point for me because they prevent an agency from scaling or taking on larger clients.
Additionally, ClickFunnels can’t handle complex sales cycles that require advanced CRM tools or multi-step client onboarding.
Really, it’s designed for straightforward, conversion-focused sales processes and funnel-building specialists, not for managing enterprise-level sales cycles.
This makes it a limited solution for growing agencies who are likely to need more sophisticated automation, proper white labeling, and additional communication channels.
Therefore, consider this platform carefully and ask yourself whether you’re likely to outgrow it later on.
GoHighLevel Is a Better Alternative for Agencies, Here’s Why
Given the limitations of ClickFunnels, you’re probably wondering if there’s a platform out there that ticks all the boxes.
I fully believe that GoHighLevel is that platform.
Unlike typical agency-level platforms like Hubspot and Salesforce, you pay a flat subscription fee instead of paying per user, making it an affordable solution for agencies that don’t want to spend a ton on a software solution.
Unlimited Sub-Accounts and Features
GoHighLevel offers a solution with no limitations on the number of clients you can have or the services you can provide.
The Starter plan ($97 per month) gives you up to three sub-accounts and, therefore, three clients. However, the Unlimited plan ($297 per month) places no limits on sub-accounts, meaning you can take on as many clients as you wish.
Plus, there are no feature limits on either plan. Got a client with a 100k contact list? No worries. Want to take on a client who needs you to host a library of courses? Absolutely fine.
This opens the doors to scalability because there’s no cap on how many businesses you can serve without worrying about hitting limits.
Includes Everything That ClickFunnels Lacks
Everything that I mentioned above that ClickFunnels lacks is included with GoHighLevel.
Social media management, client portals, rebilling, and so on—it’s all there and present inside the GoHighLevel platform.
Additionally, it offers native email, phone, and SMS services, as well as natively integrates with WhatsApp and various social media platforms.
Additionally, it’s way more advanced than ClickFunnels, especially when you look at its automation capabilities (which are incredible, by the way).
This means it’s suitable for agencies that require tools for sophisticated and complex sales cycles without having to resort to using third-party platforms.
I won’t go into the full details of what the platform contains because there are over 300 features to discuss. However, trust me when I say that it’s a true solution for agencies of all sizes and types, no matter which industry they serve.
SaaS Capabilities
GoHighLevel is one of the few true white-label platforms out there.
Not only can you customize everything within your account, but you can actually sell the entire platform as SaaS.
Each sub-account can be fully branded so that the look and feel of it is like your own. When clients log in via their portal, they get a customized experience that’s matched to your style and preferences.
But the magic really happens when you start selling GoHighLevel as SaaS. You get to pick the feature set, load it with pre-created assets (if you wish), and design price plans tailored to your clients.
This allows you to broaden your service offering beyond traditional marketing and create a scalable, high-margin product that generates unlimited, recurring revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which ClickFunnels Pricing Plan Does an Agency Need?
The right ClickFunnels pricing plan depends on the number of clients an agency has. The Launch plan allows for one, the Scale plan is five, the Optimize plan is ten, and the Dominate plan is 20.
Is ClickFunnels Better for Agencies or Freelance Marketers?
ClickFunnels is better for freelance marketers who specialize in funnels. Although it allows up to 20 clients, ClickFunnels lacks sophisticated CRM, automation, rebilling, and true white labeling—all things that an agency is likely to need.
