SamCart is one of the foremost online checkout and sales page platforms.
Not only does it have extensive checkout page features, payment integrations, and subscription protector tools, it can also be used to build opt-in forms and funnels.
We’ve broken down and reviewed each feature and tool to help you understand the platform’s capabilities and if it suits your needs.
Key Takeaways:
- The plans start from $59 per month and all include a 30-day free trial
- SamCart is one of the best platforms dedicated to checkout pages and forms
- SamCart checkout forms can be embedded on other platforms
SamCart Review at a Glance
SamCart has dozens of powerful sales pages and checkout features for users. These include a drag-and-drop builder, dozens of pre-made templates, and the ability to customize sales pages with elements, widgets, and media.
Other features the platform offers include payment integration that includes credit and debit cards and digital wallets such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft Pay.
In addition, SamCart offers several apps that have been designed as add-ons, which include courses, the subscription saver, cart abandonment, and its affiliate center app.
The platform also offers basic reporting and analytics tools that give customers a broad and in-depth look into how their business is performing.
Overall, SamCart has many great checkout and sales page features that can be used to create and sell all types of digital and physical products and services.
The main limitation we found was that it lacked any advanced course tools such as SCORM/HTML5, didn’t have a website builder, and had no email and marketing tools.
Therefore, we rated SamCart as a 4.6/5.
We found the platform to be very easy to use and straightforward. For example, when we were designing a checkout page for our webinar funnel, we could easily customize the page using the drag-and-drop editor.
This positive experience was replicated across other tools and elements we used. For instance, when setting up a native integration, we navigated to the one we wanted to use and were given prompts to complete the process.
Prompts, instructions, and the easy-to-figure-out nature of SamCart make for a great user experience; therefore, we rate it a 4.7/5.
SamCart has four pricing plans starting at $59 per month, and their highest disclosed plan is $299 per month.
Overall, we think these plans are priced appropriately, and as you exceed one plan’s features, you can move up without a huge price jump.
Moreover, compared to other platforms with similar features and tools, the pricing seems in line with them.
Also, since customers can reduce the price by 33% when they subscribe to an annual plan, we rate the SamCart pricing at 4.8/5.
What Is SamCart?
SamCart is primarily a sales page and checkout platform designed for all types of digital and physical products and services.
The platform’s checkout feature can be used on a sales page built on the platform and on a third-party platform such as WordPress or LeadPages to integrate payment collections.
In addition to the sales page, checkout, and payment features, SamCart also has course creation, hosting, and selling. Content can be directly uploaded to the platform, where subscribers can organize their videos into lessons, modules, and courses.
SamCart Pros
After testing the platform, we came up with a list of key pros and benefits of using SamCart:
- All Types of Products – SamCart supports selling all types of products, including both digital and physical. Moreover, users can also sell services through the platform.
- Billing Types – The platform has many payment options, including one-time payment, recurring, limited-subscription, and pay-what-you-want pricing.
- Templates – They also have an extensive range of templates for customers to easily create sales and checkout pages.
- Embed Checkout – Customers can also embed a checkout pop-up on a landing page or website built on a third-party platform such as WordPress.
SamCart Cons
To help you also understand the limitations of SamCart, we’ve also created a list of cons:
- Community – SamCart currently doesn’t have a community feature; therefore, if a course seller also wants to sell community access, they will need to host it on another platform.
- Website Builder – SamCart is limited to sales and checkout pages; no website builder exists.
- Third-Party Platform – Due to the limited tools for hosting and delivery, it’s likely that SamCart users will also be using another platform in some capacity, which can be frustrating.
SamCart Review of Features
Page Creation
SamCart is chiefly focused on page and checkout creation; therefore, when testing out the features, we were very impressed.
When creating a page on SamCart, we started by creating a product. After entering the details, we were then redirected to create a page.
We really liked that over 40 pre-made sales and checkout page templates have been designed for all types of businesses. Some examples include webinars, subscriptions, and physical products.
After selecting a template, we used the drag-and-drop editor to replace the content and tested adding different widgets and elements.
Overall, the process was very straightforward. When creating a product, there were descriptions at each step to guide us through the process.
Additional features that we tested and thought were good:
- Embedding pop-up templates on WordPress and LeadPages
- Creating funnels
We also liked that you can add post-purchase order bumps and order bump collections to maximize your revenue.
To summarize our SamCart page creation experience, we found it easy to use and it had all of the features and tools we required to create great-looking pages.
Payments
One of the good things about SamCart is that it charges 0% transaction fees as a core feature.
We also liked that there were many payment options that users could offer customers, such as:
- One-Off Payment – You set the price for customers.
- Pay-What-You-Want Pricing – A customer decides how much they pay.
- Recurring – Ongoing subscriptions that are billed monthly.
- Limited Subscription – You can set a subscription charge and bill customers monthly for a set period of time.
- Free and Paid Trials – Let customers try your product for a limited time.
Regarding accepting and processing payments, we found SamCart to have a complete solution: SamPay, their native processor.
This allowed us to accept credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets (Apple, Google, and Microsoft Pay).
Moreover, we like the fact that they offer native integrations with several other processors, which include Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, and EasyPayDirect.
Overall, we can’t fault SamCart regarding its payment features and tools. Users can offer different pricing options to customers to suit their business and integrate the best payment gateway for them.
Apps
SamCart has five native apps that each give users a range of extra features:
- Courses
- Subscription saver
- Cart abandonment
- Affiliate center
We thoroughly tested the Courses app, and here’s what we liked about it:
- Intuitive Builder – Each course creation step had descriptions to guide you.
- Multi-Media – The platform lets users upload videos, text, and audio.
- Drip Scheduling – You can let customers access the content based on the number of days after enrollment or on a specific date.
- Cross-Selling – Subscribers can sell additional products to their course customers.
- Gamification – The platform also lets you create quizzes and worksheets to assign your students.
After using the other SamCart apps, here are our thoughts:
- Subscription Saver – This is good for subscription products as it helps reduce the unsubscribe rate by reminding customers to pay.
- Cart Abandonment – To increase your sales, this app lets you identify who didn’t complete their checkout, which allows you to contact them to get a sale.
- Affiliate Center – This app is great for setting up and building a network of affiliates, as you can create offers and track sales.
The SamCart apps are great additional tools for users to expand the products they can offer as well as the potential revenue increase.
Business Management
SamCart includes all its integration and API tools under the business management category and some smaller features, such as admin user roles and customer sub-accounts.
We’ve broken down each integration tool below:
- Integration Engine – This feature gives users access to around 30 third-party platforms for users to link their accounts and integrate them. We like that this is a core feature and that many popular platforms are included, such as MailChimp, ShipStation, and Klaviyo.
- Advanced Integrations – This integration tool lets users set up basic triggers and actions to automate functions. We liked that they have some level of automation native to the platform and that you don’t necessarily have to use Zapier.
- CRM Integration – This tool lets you integrate a CRM with the platform and is available to Scale Plan subscribers. As this feature is required for many businesses, we’d have liked to have seen it included in a lower-priced subscription plan.
- Custom API Integrations – The last integration tool they offer is Custom API access, an advanced tool available to those needing it. We like that they offer the option to gain API access.
Regarding the previously mentioned admin user roles and customer sub-accounts, we thought these are great features for larger companies and agencies that manage multiple accounts and businesses.
Customer Management
The customer management features focus on helping subscription businesses retain customers and improve retention.
Here are the features and our thoughts:
- Customer Hub – This dashboard is available for students to view and manage their subscriptions; it also provides access to invoices that can be downloaded. We really liked that customers can do it themselves as it will save business owners a lot of time.
- Subscription Charge Reminders – This tool sends a notification to customers to remind them about the charge so that they can update their billing information if they have insufficient funds.
- Advanced Subscription Cancellations – We like that this feature gives access to specific tools to reduce churn and retain subscribers.
- Customer Self-Cancellations – This tool allows users to cancel their subscriptions without requesting you do it for them. Unfortunately, this is only available on the Grow Plan and above, which we found frustrating.
Reporting and Analytics
The platform had all of the main reporting and analytics tools we’d expect: a performance dashboard, smart pixel tracking, and UTM tracking.
These gave us a high-level overview of how the business was performing and enabled us to correctly track the conversion events.
Another tool the platform has is A/B testing. This powerful feature allowed us to split test elements within our sales and checkout pages, such as offers, pricing, and text.
We noticed that there were limited course analytics; if added, they would be very helpful for identifying how we could improve our content.
Education and Support
The last set of features we reviewed were the education and support category.
These seemed all very standard: customer help and support with response times dependent on the subscription plan, webinars hosted by the platform, and an uptime guarantee of 99.9%
A few more advanced features that VIP plan holders can access include technical setup support, a dedicated account manager, subscription migration support, and product roadmap prioritization.
In summary, these education and support features were comparable to other platform’s features and nothing stood out to us.
SamCart Pricing Plan Review
SamCart has four pricing plans; however, only three have their prices disclosed on the website. Customers interested in the fourth, the VIP Plan, must contact the sales team for pricing.
The Launch Plan
SamCart’s entry-level plan, the Launch Plan, is priced at $59 per month but can be reduced to $39 if paid annually.
We feel that this plan offers excellent value for money, as it gives users access to the following features:
- Page Creation
- Unlimited products and pages
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited memberships
- Unlimited video uploads
- Drag-and-drop page builder
- Full library template
- Payments
- 0% processing fees
- Apple and Google Pay
- “Pay-What-You-Want” pricing
- Coupons and discounts
- Sales and VAT tax support
- Apps
- SamCart courses
- Other features
- Integration engine
- Sales reporting dashboard
- Smart pixel tracking
- Email support
This represents great value for money because you can sell an unlimited number of products, including courses, with 0% transaction fees on this plan.
When compared to other platforms with similar capabilities, they often limit the number of products that entry-level subscribers can create.
The Grow Plan
The second subscription plan available to SamCart customers is the Grow Plan, which costs $119 per month or $79 when paid annually.
In addition to the previous plan’s features and tools, customers also gain access to the following:
- Page Creation
- Email customizations
- Custom thank you pages
- Free and paid trials
- Order bump collection
- Post-order upsells
- White-label branding
- Payments
- Multiple payment options
- Additional Tools
- Advanced integrations
- Customer hub
- Subscription reminders
- Advanced subscription cancellations
- UTM tracking
- Priority email support
The doubling in price from the previous plan is too big of a gap. We believe SamCart should offer a plan between these prices, as the additional features don’t justify this price point.
The Scale Plan
The third plan SamCart offers is the Scale Plan, which costs $299 per month or $199 per month if paid annually.
In addition to all the Grow Plan’s features, subscribers will also gain access to the following:
- Apps
- Subscription saver
- Cart abandonment
- Affiliate center
- Business Management
- CRM integrations
- Custom API integrations
- Admin user roles
- Additional Features
- Customer self-cancellations
- A/B testing
The key features that you’ll have are the integrations and A/B Testing. This would be the minimum required plan if your business sells high-ticket items and needs a comprehensive CRM solution.
Other than these tools, this plan has no other benefits; therefore, we would only recommend this plan to businesses that need more integration tools.
The VIP Plan
The premier SamCart subscription plan is the VIP Plan; unfortunately, the platform does not disclose the price of it – to find out, customers have to contact the platform’s sales team.
Although we don’t know the pricing, we do know the additional features and tools customers have access to:
- Multiple sub-accounts
- Custom reporting and exports
- Dedicated account manager
- Technical setup support
- Subscription migration support
- Product roadmap prioritization
Given that the pricing is likely very high, the only businesses we’d recommend this SamCart plan to are those that already have a subscription business and are looking to migrate to the platform.
This is because they will have access to the subscription migration support. Changing platforms for businesses with subscribers can be extremely daunting, and the last thing they want to do is mess it up.
SamCart User Reviews
SamCart has a very poor review score on Trustpilot, rated 1.6 out of 5 stars.
To help you understand the low score, we’ve summarized the reviews into two categories for you below:
- Cancellation – Many negative reviews state that it was difficult to cancel their subscription, and some even claim that they were billed after they thought they’d already canceled.
- Customer Service – Another common theme among the reviews was poor customer service.
Although SamCart has received many negative reviews, we felt differently when subscribing and unsubscribing to the platform – at no point did we find it hard to cancel or were we incorrectly billed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do Customers Rate SamCart?
SamCart received a 1.6 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot. The main issues cited for the poor score were poor customer service and difficulty in canceling subscriptions. However, despite these apparent issues, when testing the platform, we never experienced them.
How Good Is SamCart?
SamCart is a great platform for selling products online. Users can create standalone checkout and sales pages or embed a checkout onto a third-party platform such as LeadPages or WordPress. The platform also has a range of tools to increase order value and reduce unsubscribe rates.
Is SamCart the Best Platform for Selling Online?
SamCart is one of the best sales and checkout page builders for online selling. The range of features lets users create pages quickly and sell all types of products. Moreover, they have a native course app that lets users create, host, and deliver courses.
