ClickFunnels is an acquired taste. It’s a good platform with decent features, but it’s not without its quirks.
Those quirks will either make you love the platform (and the culture that goes with it) or turn you off faster than a pop-up on a slow-loading sales page.
Key Takeaways:
- Plans cost from $97 with unlimited features
- ClickFunnels is now an all-in-one platform for sales and marketing
- GoHighLevel is a more advanced alternative with better features
ClickFunnels Started Out as a Cult (Kind Of)
I asked ChatGPT who was the best at sales funnels!
To truly understand ClickFunnels, you need to know who Russell Brunson is.
It’s not hard to find the founder of the platform—his face is generally plastered all over the website. He likes to be seen, and he likes to make a big song and dance about everything he does.
Russell is about as obsessed with marketing as you can get. It started with junk mail, then transitioned online, and eventually evolved into ClickFunnels.
But ClickFunnels wasn’t just a platform. Oh no.
ClickFunnels was a belief system, a way of life.
“If you join us, you can be successful too…”
This is what you get when you type “is ClickFunnels…” into Google
If you’ve ever fallen for a pyramid scheme or multi-level marketing before, you’ll understand why this all sounds a bit familiar.
ClickFunnels was fed on hype—a loyal community, if you will—and an extensive army of ClickFunnels affiliate marketers.
From it sprang a bunch of “exclusive” clubs reserved only for the ClickFunnels elite and a series of live events filled with enough hype to see you into the next century.
Remember, no one does marketing quite as well as Russell Brunson, and boy, is he good at marketing his own platform.
“Funnels aren’t just a feature—they’re a mentality.”
The cult of ClickFunnels thrived despite the platform’s serious shortcomings in what it could actually do.
And it worked, for a while.
Until eventually, the excitement died down and the cracks began to show. People realized that ClickFunnels was not all it was cracked up to be, and other competitors started filling the gaps.
Eventually, the company was forced to make actual, meaningful changes.
Thankfully, the Platform Has Evolved
The first real change came about when ClickFunnels became ClickFunnels 2.0, and the original version was demoted to ClickFunnels Classic.
Classic is still around, by the way, but I have no clue why anyone would want to use it. The funnel templates look like early 2000s scam sites.
Eventually, at some point during 2024, 2.0 was dropped, and the platform underwent yet another revamp. This new reincarnation was exactly what it so desperately needed, and it made the platform something I could finally take seriously.
Focus on Value, Not Hype
Like a teenager growing up, ClickFunnels evolved into something reasonable and mature.
Its previous version totally relied on the frenzy to cover up the fact that the platform was vastly overpriced.
The cheapest plan set you back around $150 per month, and it simply wasn’t worth it. There were fewer features, and most of them had limits or didn’t work very well.
Thankfully, ClickFunnels has calmed the heck down and realized that its customers aren’t suckers and that they expect better value for their money.
And, it has finally delivered that.
It’s stripped down its plans to a mere (reasonably priced) two and vastly increased its feature range, improved functionality, and completely overhauled the platform’s look and feel.
I personally suspect that ClickFunnels’ customers were jumping ship to rival platforms (ahem… GHL, I’m looking at you). This was probably the key motivator that gave ClickFunnels the kick in the pants required to start improving.
That’s just speculation, though.
Don’t sue me, ClickFunnels, thanks!
It’s Cleaned Up Its Platform
Navigating your way around the platform is now a great experience.
In all honesty, the look and feel of the user interface is nothing new; it now follows the same setup as many similar platforms. But that’s because it works.
Feature menu down the left, settings in their own section. Neat, tidy, organized. Just how I like it.
However, ClickFunnels has reduced the clutter even further by separating everything into “apps.”
So, whatever you intend to use (automation, messaging, course building, etc.), you can go ahead and add the relevant app. If you don’t add it, it won’t appear in your menu bar.
When using the apps themselves, everything is laid out cleanly, and it tells you what you need to do. Buttons are clear, instructions are clear, and finding what you need does not require a degree in engineering.
With the old ClickFunnels Classic, I had a lot of “wtf” moments because the tools were quite challenging to use. Now, even your grandma could use it.
The Features Are More Rounded
ClickFunnels used to tell you that its features were great because its slick marketing told you they were.
I feel like that dynamic has now shifted, and the features are great because they work for the user.
What also tells me that is that I actually like using the features.
Some of them, like the course builder and survey apps, are (dare I say it) fun to use.
Funnels still very much take center stage, but they’re no longer the most developed part of the platform.
More tools have been introduced, and it seems like they’ve been thought through properly, including how they might work with other platform features.
I honestly believe that it’s now possible to run your entire business through the ClickFunnels platform without needing any integrations. There’s enough there for you to do that. You have:
- All your site, page, and funnel-building tools and a bunch of (thankfully) modern, updated templates
- The ability to sell physical and digital products (alright, it’s no Shopify, but it does the job)
- Other marketing and sales stuff like emailing, discounts, conversion boosters, and whatnot
- Inbuilt payment processor and proper CRM tools, including a live message hub
Whether it’s practical for you to solely use ClickFunnels for your business is another story. But if you want to, you definitely can.
It’s Updated Its Pricing
We all know that ClickFunnels was overpriced. Even ClickFunnels knew it was overpriced.
Eventually, when better value platforms emerged, there was no escaping the fact that ClickFunnels was a bit of a rip-off.
Back in 2024, the pricing was finally overhauled at the same time its platform was relaunched.
Now, you’ve got two options:
- $97 per month for all features, plus three workspaces and three team members
- $297 per month for all features, plus ten workspaces and ten team members
I don’t think that $97 is much to pay for an all-in-one platform, especially when you get unlimited features. It’s a lot cheaper than paying for each tool separately, that’s for sure.
Even the $297 plan is reasonably priced. It’s intended for larger companies that take on more than three clients, and I don’t think the cost is too high for this target audience.
Is it the cheapest platform going? No, not at all. But when you look at the cost versus value, I think it’s fairly balanced.
You’ll Probably Enjoy Using It
I want to enjoy doing my work. I don’t want to feel like I’m prepared to throw my laptop out of the window every time I fire up a bit of software.
ClickFunnels still has technical glitches (see below), but on the whole, it’s an enjoyable experience, even down to conversing with the support agents.
There’s something satisfying about seeing your funnel (or whatever you’re creating) come to life in real time; besides, most of it is already done for you anyway. You just have to pretty much drag, drop, tweak, and go live.
The templates are polished, and you’re constantly nudged toward taking action, which, let’s be honest, is half the battle when you’re building something online.
Do I sound lazy? Yes. But running a business is ridiculously time-consuming enough without having to deal with annoying platforms.
Why You Might Still Hate It
No rose-tinted glasses here—ClickFunnels definitely ain’t perfect.
The “Unique” Culture Persists
Granted, the ClickFunnels cult is nowhere near as in-your-face as previously. As far as I know, Russell has even stopped putting on the live events.
However, while the hype has died, the culture is still there, and you can observe it in many of the training videos and challenges. Russell also pops up in most of the feature tutorials that are scattered throughout the platform.
For him, funnels are life.
ClickFunnels is also a fervent social media advertiser. Once you start using the platform, you’ll probably get targeted with ads. And then you’ll see exactly what I mean!
For the most part, you can look past it and choose not to get involved in anything Russell puts out there. But it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.
There Are Still Issues
This should not be happening!
I was rooting for ClickFunnels to finally iron out its bugs. But like most infestations, it appears they are proving hard to get rid of.
Yes, the new platform is way, way better than the old one, and for the most part, it works super well. Yet, there are still problems that require several rounds of conversations with a customer service agent to get sorted.
For example, I set up a new ClickFunnels account, and immediately, I was unable to access and use any of the email settings, nor could I install the Automations app, even though I had full user access.
Great customer service, though
The service agent was perfectly great and helpful, but it still took several days to resolve and had to be escalated to the senior engineer team.
Erm, not great.
Now, if I’d had my entire business set up on the platform, this would have seriously impacted it. Luckily, it was just a trial account, so no harm done.
However, it did expose the fact that the platform is not as robust as it needs to be.
Not Everything Has to Be About a Funnel
ClickFunnels is built around the idea that everything should be a sales funnel. And despite the platform branching out considerably, funnels still take the center stage (I mean, the clue is in the name!).
The thing is, funnels don’t always align with how some people want to build their brand, run their business, or serve their audience. Funnels don’t even always work.
While I am certain that funnels still have their place, other marketing methods can work just as well, if not better.
So, if you don’t have a “funnel first” mindset, I reckon you’ll get annoyed with ClickFunnels.
It Does Everything Well, But Not Brilliantly
As the expression goes, “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Except funnels.
To call Russell Brunson anything less than a master of funnels would be a great insult. But, I digress.
I love that ClickFunnels has broken out of its lane and has become a real “all-in-one” platform. No one wants 50 subscriptions to 50 separate platforms and a bunch of integrations to deal with.
Although the features are high-quality, it’s not the same as what you’d get with a standalone platform.
For instance, ClickFunnels does websites. You can create a perfectly fine website. But is it WordPress, and can it do everything that WordPress can do?
Nope. Because it’s trying to do all those other things as well.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing. It’s not.
This dude is featured on the ClickFunnels homepage, but his website is WordPress.
However, if you plan to specialize in a specific area like e-commerce or customer service and don’t have a need for all the other features that ClickFunnels offers, you’re better off choosing a specialist platform for the job.
You’ll also find that many of ClickFunnels’ success stories don’t use ClickFunnels for a lot of their business components. Like, their website won’t be a ClickFunnels one, and I often see that a separate scheduling app has been used.
I Suspect ClickFunnels Is Trying to Be GoHighLevel
I alluded to this earlier in this article, and I stand by it.
I truly believe that Russell saw the meteoric rise of GoHighLevel and thought, I’m not having that!
The two platforms are starting to look eerily similar. When GoHighLevel introduces a feature, you can probably place a safe bet that ClickFunnels will follow suit.
Sounds a bit too much like a conspiracy?
Well, get this…
ClickFunnels is currently suing GoHighLevel for the allegations that GoHighLevel’s platform infringes upon two of ClickFunnels’ patents.
Julie Chennel, a former ClickFunnels manager and current head of a large GoHighLevel white-label agency, has said that GoHighLevel’s builder does resemble ClickFunnels’, but it was likely developed using different code.
Never mind that dozens of other platforms are out there that build funnels in a similar fashion.
But I guess they’re not as much of a threat.
Russell is probably pissed because users feel that GoHighLevel has leapfrogged ClickFunnels in terms of features, support, and pricing. That shift is more than certainly eating into ClickFunnels’ market share…
GoHighLevel Is a Better Alternative…
Look at all the updates happening in just a single day!
Sorry, ClickFunnels, but it’s true.
GoHighLevel introduces improvements, updates, and new features frequently. It genuinely cares about its users and listens to their needs.
The result is a platform with massive capabilities. You think ClickFunnels has a lot of features? GoHighLevel has ten times more, and better yet, they’re more advanced.
For the exact same pricing, you can have so much more, including unlimited clients and workspaces. Plus, you can upgrade and sell the entire platform as SaaS.
There’s no weird cult-like behavior to contend with, either. Of course, the platform relies on affiliate marketing (don’t they all?), but it comes from a base of users who genuinely love and use the platform.
…But ClickFunnels Is Easier to Use
That said, it’s hella technical. The more features a platform has, the longer it takes to master, and you’re going to be learning GoHighLevel for a good while.
Personally, I think it’s worth it because you’ll never need to jump ship to another platform ever again. However, if you want an easy life and an easy platform, ClickFunnels definitely has way less of a learning curve.
So, What’s My Final Verdict?
If ClickFunnels were a human, it would be that loud guy at a conference.
You know, the one wearing a branded t-shirt and a headset mic while shouting about 7-figure launches and frantically scribbling on a whiteboard.
He knows his stuff and can execute a deal, but he has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way.
This is, in essence, what ClickFunnels is like.
But here’s the thing: You might just need that guy in your corner.
Because, for all its quirks, ClickFunnels does actually get results.
Yes, it’s pushy. Yes, it’s going to make you roll your eyes. But if you’re serious about selling online and want a platform that guides you toward your goals, ClickFunnels ain’t half bad.
And if it’s not the one for you, try GoHighLevel.
Go on, you won’t regret it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ClickFunnels Really All-In-One?
Yes, ClickFunnels can be considered a true all-in-one platform for online sales and marketing. While its features are better suited to digital products than physical ones, it does include some capabilities for e-commerce.
Should I Buy a Course to Learn ClickFunnels?
No, you don’t need to buy a course to learn ClickFunnels. The platform has lots of free resources, including tutorials and walkthroughs to help you learn the features.
The ClickFunnels YouTube channel and Facebook group are good learning resources.
Is ClickFunnels or GoHighLevel Better?
GoHighLevel is better than ClickFunnels because it offers more features and a more advanced platform. It’s suitable for all businesses, including physical ones.
However, ClickFunnels is easier to learn, so it may be better for those seeking a more basic platform.
