You can use both ClickFunnels 2.0 and Shopify to sell digital and physical products.
Let’s compare them to see which one is best.
- Plans cost from $147/month
- ClickFunnels 2.0 is rated as the #3 best platform on SupplyGem
- Rated 4.6 on Trustpilot
- ClickFunnels 2.0 is the best choice for selling digital products
- Plans cost from $39/month
- Shopify is one of the best platforms for e-commerce
- Rated 1.7 on Trustpilot
- Choose Shopify for physical products and large-scale e-commerce
Key Takeaways:
- For selling courses and digital products, ClickFunnels 2.0 can’t be beaten
- Shopify excels in large-scale e-commerce and physical products
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify at a Glance
| Feature | ClickFunnels 2.0 | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Current Promotion | 14-day free trial | 3-day free trial plus two months for $1 |
| Funnels | ✅ | ❌ |
| Website Builder | ✅ | ✅ |
| Templates and Blueprints | ✅ | ✅ |
| Email Campaigns | ✅ | ✅ |
| Blogs | ✅ | ✅ |
| Digital Product Sales | ✅ | ✅ |
| Physical Product Sales | ✅ | ✅ |
| Large-Scale E-Commerce | ❌ | ✅ |
| Automatic Shipping and Tax Handling | ❌ | ✅ |
| Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Analytics | ✅ | ✅ |
| Native Checkout | ✅ | ✅ |
| CRM | ❌ | ✅ |
| Integrations | ✅ | ✅ |
What Is ClickFunnels 2.0?
ClickFunnels 2.0 is primarily a sales and marketing platform with one of the best and most established funnel builders on the market.
The platform has features that enable you to sell both physical and digital products and connect them to your ClickFunnels 2.0 marketing material.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is one of the most popular platforms used for e-commerce. Whether you’re a boutique store or operate in large-scale e-commerce, Shopify has all the necessary tools to make your online store run smoothly.
The platform allows you to sell digital and physical products and provides a number of marketing tools to help you promote them.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Key Differences
Both Shopify and ClickFunnels 2.0 are designed for selling, but they have different focuses. ClickFunnels 2.0 focuses on the marketing and promotional side of selling and therefore has sophisticated tools such as its funnel builder to enable you to build effective marketing campaigns.
With Shopify, the focus is on building and growing an online store and has more features and tools to help you do this. For example, Shopify can handle huge numbers of products and inventory, so it is suitable for very large e-commerce requirements.
The other key difference is the pricing. ClickFunnels 2.0 costs from $147/month, while Shopify can be had for only $5/month, making it a budget-friendly option.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Pros and Cons
ClickFunnels 2.0 Pros
- Best platform for funnel building
- Easy-to-use tools and features
- Excellent help and support service
- Can build and sell courses and membership sites
ClickFunnels 2.0 Cons
- Very expensive
- Lacks tools for large-scale e-commerce
- No automatic sales tax calculations
Shopify Pros
- Best-in-class e-commerce platform
- Generous trial and affordable plans
- Allows you to scale infinitely
- Suitable for all types of products
- Automatic sales tax and shipping
Shopify Cons
- Big learning curve for the platform
- Help and support isn’t the best
- No course building feature
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Affordability
Both Shopify and ClickFunnels 2.0 have three main plans to choose from:
- ClickFunnels 2.0 paid plans cost from $147/month – $297/month
- Shopify plans cost from $39/month – $399/month
It’s also worth pointing out that Shopify has a very basic plan for $5/month. However, this is aimed for purely selling on social media and does not include tools to create an online store.
| Price | ClickFunnels 2.0 | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | From $147/month | From $39/month |
| Annually | From $127/month ($1,524 total) | From $29/month ($348 total) |
| Discount for paying annually | 20% | 25% |
| Standard free trial | 14 days | Three-day free trial, then $1/month for three months |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
Winner Is Shopify
ClickFunnels 2.0 is notoriously expensive. However, you are getting a premium product for those premium prices. But from a purely cost perspective, Shopify’s entry-level $5 plan makes it very accessible, and its basic and mid-tier plans are also very affordable given the number of features you get.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Store and Website Builder
ClickFunnels 2.0: Store and Website Builder
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ClickFunnels 2.0 has a pretty comprehensive page-building tool with lots of decent templates to choose from, including ones for product pages. You choose a theme for the overall look and style of your site; then, you can choose a template for each page.
All elements are fully customizable, and the drag-and-drop editor is really nice to use and uncomplicated.
Now, you can’t really design an entire online store as such. Instead, you can have product pages containing multiple product listings, but that’s about it.
Interestingly, ClickFunnels 2.0 states on its website that it has an e-commerce store feature “coming soon,” but there are no details for when or what it may involve.
Shopify: Store and Website Builder
Shopify’s building tool is entirely centered around the creation of your store. As such, you can’t create standalone websites that aren’t a store.
To create your store, you must first select a theme. This is essentially Shopify’s version of a template, and there are a handful of free ones to choose from (paid themes are also available).
Rather than use drag and drop, Shopify has a left-hand editing bar where you can add and adjust elements for each of your store pages. This takes a bit of getting used to if you’re more acquainted with simpler tools, as there are an incredible number of editing options.
Once you have your main store page created, you can go ahead and create additional pages such as terms of services, blogs, About Us, and more.
Winner Is: It’s a Draw
Both platforms operate quite differently, and since each is designed for a different purpose, it’s hard to draw a direct comparison.
Shopify’s page builder is more complex to use, but it allows you to build a highly customized online store. On the other hand, ClickFunnels 2.0 is easier to use and gives you more diversity in the type of site or page you want to create, but it can’t create a full e-commerce store.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: E-Commerce Options
ClickFunnels 2.0: E-Commerce Options
ClickFunnels 2.0 is fantastic for selling one or a handful of products. You can easily create your product listing on the ClickFunnels 2.0 platform and then add it to any sales page. You are also able to create bundles of products and list multiple products for sale on the same page.
Products can be sold for a one-time fee or as a subscription, and you can add SKU numbers for inventory management. ClickFunnels 2.0 also has its own native payment gateway that you can use on its own or connect with third-party providers like Stripe.
However, the platform lacks the infrastructure for selling large numbers of physical products and does not have a bulk upload feature for multiple listings. It also lacks features for automatic shipping and tax calculations. At this point, these things have to be done manually.
Shopify: E-Commerce Options
As you can probably imagine, as one of the world’s largest and most popular e-commerce platforms, Shopify has an awful lot to offer in this department.
The number of e-commerce features warrants an article all on its own, so we won’t go into full detail. Instead, here’s a rundown of the key Shopify e-commerce features:
- Sell digital or physical products
- Native payment gateway and checkout
- Sell wholesale, direct, in-person, and online across multiple channels
- Suitable for dropshipping
- Bulk upload product listings
- Advanced inventory management tools
- Automatic sale tax calculations per country
- Automated localized storefront adjustments for viewing in different countries (currency conversion, language translation, etc.)
- Detailed and automatic shipping options
- Staff accounts for store management
- Multiple inventory locations
Winner Is Shopify
Shopify really has everything you need, and more to run a successful e-commerce store. It’s customizable in just about every way, so you can build a store that works for your business and the types of products you are selling.
ClickFunnels 2.0 is fine for selling small numbers of products or digital products, but you may find you outgrow the platform if your business starts to scale.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Marketing Tools
ClickFunnels 2.0: Marketing Tools
ClickFunnels was made for marketing. Its funnel builder is second to none and allows you to build sophisticated and high-converting funnels for many purposes, including sales, lead collection, webinars, and more.
The platform comes with “recipes.” These are premade, proven funnels that you can customize for your own use, meaning you can quickly have a funnel up and running with minimal effort. The building tools are easy to use after a initial learning curve.
You also get a comprehensive emailing feature where you can build fully automated email campaigns or send out email blasts whenever you like.
For your web pages, you have a number of conversion tools. You can add upsells, downsells, order bumps, and one-time offers to help gain that all-important revenue increase.
All-in-all, this platform has left no stone unturned and has made it possible to create sophisticated campaigns that help you sell your products with ease.
Shopify: Marketing Tools
Shopify does have marketing tools included on the platform, but they are less comprehensive than ClickFunnels 2.0.
You get an emailing feature where you can send out automated email campaigns to contacts, but unfortunately, the platform lacks a funnel-building tool. However, you can actually connect with ClickFunnels 2.0 and use its funnels to sell your Shopify products.
Shopify’s main marketing focus is selling through social media ads, and it provides an easy way to do this by directly integrating with the main social media platforms and providing a seamless shopping experience.
Additionally, you have a number of conversion tools like upsells, order bumps, abandoned checkout nudges, and more.
Winner Is ClickFunnels 2.0
Funnels are a proven way of converting leads into sales, and we feel they’re a valuable asset for any online store. ClickFunnels 2.0 has nailed this and now has one of the best funnel-building tools around.
Shopify’s marketing tools are great for Shopify, but they lack the diversity to be used for other purposes such as lead collection and contact list building.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Automation Capabilities
ClickFunnels 2.0: Automation Capabilities
There are plenty of automation options inside ClickFunnels 2.0, and they are separated into two areas. The first can be found in the funnel-building feature where you can automate your funnel steps to take the customer through the journey.
For example, if a customer completes a lead form, this can then trigger a series of emails to be sent. Or if the customer declines to buy, you can set an automatic downsell to appear.
The second area for automation is where admin and emailing are concerned. For example, you can create automated email campaigns and auto-enroll course students.
Overall, ClickFunnels 2.0 automation isn’t too hard to learn, and while effective, it also isn’t overly complex, making it a good place for beginners to dip their toes.
Shopify: Automation Capabilities
Shopify has an entire automation program called Shopify Flow, and it allows you to automate pretty much everything on the platform, from fraud prevention and fulfillment management to customer retention and loyalty.
It’s huge, and as such, it requires a lot of time and attention to learn. There are loads of pre-made automation templates you can use for common tasks such as automated purchase confirmations, so this makes things a bit easier.
However, learning to use it for customized automation is going to take some dedication. However, when you get into the swing of it, the sheer flexibility and convenience it provides are awesome. You can pretty much set most of your shop to run on auto-pilot, and who doesn’t want that?
Winner Is Shopify
ClickFunnels 2.0 is definitely much easier to master, but it just doesn’t have the scope of capability that Shopify’s automation has. If you’re willing to learn Shopify Flow, you will be doing yourself a massive favor and freeing up a ton of time by offloading repetitive tasks.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: CRM and Analytics
ClickFunnels 2.0: CRM and Analytics
Right now, ClickFunnels 2.0 doesn’t have a CRM feature and you are limited to creating and organizing your contact lists. It does state that a CRM feature is on its way, but no one knows when.
You do get plenty of analytics, though, where you can track your customer’s progress and sales results as well as tools that give you the ability to project what your future business performance may look like.
Shopify: CRM and Analytics
Shopify utilizes live chat for its CRM. This handy tool allows you to connect with customers in real-time, answer their queries, and hopefully convert them into making a sale. If you’re not available to chat, you can set up quick answers that direct customers to information about common queries.
Analytics comes in the form of over 60 different reports that provide detailed customer and sales insights. It also provides benchmarking so you can see how your store is performing against others. Forecasting, trends, customer behavior patterns, it’s all there and it doesn’t get more comprehensive than this.
Winner Is Shopify
Live chat is super useful for any business, and Shopify provides it for free. Since you can chat with your customers there and then, this lessens the likelihood of missing out on a sale.
ClickFunnels 2.0 is currently disappointing in the CRM department, but we’re interested to see what it comes out with when it launches this feature.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: User Experience
ClickFunnels 2.0 User Experience
It doesn’t take much to get started with ClickFunnels 2.0, and as soon as you log into the platform, it’s quite easy to find what you’re looking for.
A setup wizard will guide you through the steps toward setting up your first funnel, and there are lots of prompts around that you can click on for extra assistance. Most features can be mastered in a relatively short space of time although the workflows and automation section requires a learning curve.
Overall, ClickFunnels 2.0 presents a great user experience with an up-to-date and smooth-running interface.
Shopify: User Experience
Shopify’s interface is modern and fresh, with a good experience when navigating and using the tools. However, the sheer number of options, tools, and features requires a huge learning curve, and it can be a while before you’ve successfully set up your store.
A handy wizard guides you through the setup process step-by-step, so you’re not entirely on your own. But when you start digging into things like automation, it can quickly become quite complicated.
That said, when you get into the swing of using Shopify, you realize that it is an intuitive and highly sophisticated platform that makes managing your e-commerce store a much easier process.
Winner Is: It’s a Draw
Taking the learning curves of both platforms out of the equation, each offers a great user experience and a stylish, modern interface. They have clearly put a lot of thought into how people use each platform and have designed intuitive tools that enhance the experience further.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Help and Support
ClickFunnels 2.0: Help and Support
We’re big fans of the ClickFunnels 2.0 help and support service. The best way to get in touch with an agent is via live chat. Although it’s not available 24/7, when it is online, you get an almost immediate response. Better still, agents will go and create an on-the-spot Loom video to walk you through anything you’re having trouble with.
If you’re not in a rush, an email ticketing service is also available 24/7, or you can go and find a walkthrough guide in the ClickFunnels 2.0 Knowledge Hub. Here, most articles have step-by-step instructions supported by a video; however, we’ve found that these can occasionally be out of date and not correspond with the platform.
Shopify: Help and Support
Shopify offers 24/7 live chat and email ticketing support, but in our experience, you can have a lengthy wait for a response. It would appear that support agents are dealing with several customers at once, so be prepared to wait in between replies when engaging in live chat.
Shopify does also direct you to the community forums to get answers, but since these consist of fellow Shopify users rather than Shopify employees, you can’t guarantee the accuracy of the responses.
The Help Center contains literally thousands of articles on how to use the platform. However, the sheer number of articles makes it complicated to use, and you often find that you end up going around in circles. Plus, most articles contain just text with next to no visual aids.
Winner Is ClickFunnels 2.0
While we would love it if ClickFunnels 2.0 had 24/7 live chat, the responses you get when it is online are unbeatable. Its Knowledge Base is far easier to use and navigate than Shopify’s.
ClickFunnels 2.0 vs Shopify: Conclusion
It’s hard to pick an overall winner because both platforms perform for different purposes. Both are excellent in their respective niches and provide best-in-class features that are hard to beat.
All-in-all pick either platform depending on what your priorities are:
- Choose ClickFunnels 2.0 if you need a top notch sales and marketing tool and only have a handful of products to sell.
- Choose Shopify if your focus is purely on e-commerce, and you want the ability to scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use ClickFunnels 2.0 with Shopify?
You can connect your ClickFunnels 2.0 funnels and sales pages with Shopify. When a customer makes a purchase, all orders are sent through to and processed by your Shopify store rather than ClickFunnels 2.0.
Is ClickFunnels 2.0 or Shopify More Affordable?
Shopify is more affordable than ClickFunnels 2.0 since it has an entry-level plan for $5/month and full plans starting from $39/month. ClickFunnels 2.0 only has plans available from $147/month.
Is ClickFunnels 2.0 or Shopify Better for E-Commerce?
Shopify was created for e-commerce and has far better and more comprehensive tools than ClickFunnels 2.0 for this purpose. You can use ClickFunnels for e-commerce, but it is not suitable for large-scale needs.
Is ClickFunnels 2.0 or Shopify Better for Marketing?
ClickFunnels 2.0 is a marketing platform and, therefore, better than Shopify for this purpose. Although Shopify does have marketing features, ClickFunnels 2.0 is easier to use and has more advanced tools, such as its funnel builder.
Is ClickFunnels 2.0 or Shopify Better for Dropshipping?
Shopify is better than ClickFunnels 2.0 for dropshipping since the platform contains features specifically for this purpose. Therefore, it’s much easier to keep tabs on your orders, suppliers, and inventory numbers.
