ClickFunnels vs Shopify – Which Is Best For Conversions?

Last Updated on 1st February 2024

I don’t know about you… But I found that a lot of the ClickFunnels vs Shopify comparisons seemed a little biased.

Some were hyping up ClickFunnels like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Others were saying it lacks the features you need for the dropshipping/eCommerce model.

Strange, that’s a big difference of opinion..!

And choosing the software you want to run your business on is pretty serious…

So, don’t make the mistake of choosing the wrong option — as this can harm your performance later down the line.

That’s why I decided to take a detailed look at both platforms to see which is best. Keep in mind, that this article mainly focuses on using ClickFunnels and Shopify for eCom. I’ll also talk about the many other ways you can use these platforms too.

Let’s get to it!

ClickFunnels vs Shopify Overview

Here are the main differences between ClickFunnels and Shopify:

• ClickFunnels is better equipped for building sales funnels, while Shopify is suited for full-navigation stores
• ClickFunnels has better tools for converting your visitors built-in, such as order bumps, one-click upsells and downsells
• ClickFunnels has an affiliate management tool built-in, whereas Shopify doesn’t
• ClickFunnels has (pre-recorded) webinars built-in, whereas Shopify doesn’t
• ClickFunnels lets you build membership sites, while Shopify doesn’t
• ClickFunnels has better email marketing tools
• Shopify has an app store where you can download applications from 3rd party developers
• Shopify has better options for order fulfillment
• Shopify’s pricing plans start at a more affordable price
• Shopify has a mobile app, whereas ClickFunnels doesn’t
• Shopify has more integrations

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What Is ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels is like that popular kid from high school that everyone loves. One of the reasons for this is the founder of the platform, Russell Brunson.

Russell’s always front and center explaining how to use funnels effectively and teaching important marketing concepts, which I think is why so many people love him.

Furthermore, ClickFunnels is known to help business owners increase their conversions by enabling them to build sales funnels in their business.

One way it does this is through its sales and marketing features that we’ll take a look at later.

However, what really sets ClickFunnels apart from Shopify in this ClickFunnels vs Shopify debate is its usability and laser-focused conversion tools.

You can create a sales funnel that will likely increase your conversions in as little as 20 minutes.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is like the Amazon of the eCommerce world, but for smaller-scale store builders.

Besides WooCommerce, there really aren’t many competitors that even get close to it when it comes to market share. Bear in mind that ClickFunnels is technically not in this particular race.

Like ClickFunnels, one of the big reasons it became so popular is its ease of use.

This is also why you hear so many stories of teens using it to build 6-figure stores out of seemingly thin air.

ClickFunnels Pros & Cons

Shopify Pros & Cons

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ClickFunnels Features

Now that we have had an introductory look at ClickFunnels vs Shopify, let’s look at their features. We’ll dive into ClickFunnels first and then do the same for Shopify to see how it compares.

ClickFunnels usually only offer a 14-day trial. Check my article here to see if the ClickFunnels 30 day free trial is currently available.

ClickFunnels’ Core Offering: The Funnel Builder + Templates

ClickFunnels’ core offering is its funnel builder, and it’s what the platform is mainly known for.

It allows you to build pretty much any type of funnel in just minutes:

• Lead funnels
• Sales funnels
• eCommerce funnels
• One-click order bump funnels
• Upsell funnels
• Membership site funnels
• Tripwire funnels
• Webinar funnels
• And many more

Here’s an image of the funnel library page inside ClickFunnels. As you can see there is a menu on the left-hand side where you can search by category.

Then, within each category are additional types of funnel templates that are high-converting for that type of business.

And ClickFunnels has templates for all of these types of funnels, plus the well-optimized landing pages.

For an eCommerce store, this is priceless, as it helps you promote your products very effectively. Sales funnels are usually best for promoting single products (or maybe two or three with upsells).

The way in which ClickFunnels funnels are laid outputs the entire focus on two critical things to get your customers to make a buying decision:

• What your product can do for them
• How they can get it

This is the main unique selling point of ClickFunnels because it lets you build these conversion-focused funnels in just under 20-30 minutes.

Most of the stores you build with other tools like Shopify aren’t built like this and risk distracting the user with menus, layouts, dancing widgets, etc.

And ClickFunnels also lets you share your funnels with any other user through a simple link.

This is a pretty useful feature for several reasons. You can use it if you want to migrate your funnel to a new account, sell your funnel, or if it is of some benefit to you to give your funnel away in order to incentivize a sale.

The ClickFunnels editor is really easy to use, and there are a ton of ‘how to videos that you can find on YouTube to help you out if you need them.

Checkout and Conversion Focused Tools

What goes hand in hand with ClickFunnels’ funnel builder is its checkout and conversion-focused tools. In this regard, ClickFunnels is better than Shopify.

ClickFunnels doesn’t only make your visitors focus on your product’s benefits and the steps they need to take in order to make a purchase. It also gives you the tools you need to make offers strategically and effectively.

What I’m talking about is:

• Order bumps: A little box your visitors can tick to add another product to their cart
• One-click upsells and downsells: A separate post-purchase page where your visitors can purchase another product with just one click. This works because your funnel already has their payment info saved)
• Two-step cart
• Coupons

Let me explain this with an example Checkout process

Imagine you were selling beard growth oil, and you built a funnel for it.

Step 1: In the checkout process, you ask them to enter their email to reveal the one-time pricing. If they enter it and don’t like the price, you can follow up with them and use discounts to push them toward the sale.

Step 2: With the reveal of the pricing also comes a little box that they can tick to purchase a related item (or the same one for a discount).

For this example, let’s assume they purchase here, but you can follow up with emails if not because you have their email address.

Step 3:  Here’s where the magic happens – Now your funnel sends them to a separate upsell page. You offer them a subscription to your monthly beard growth club that they can purchase with just one click.

Step 4: If they decline, you could send them to another upsell, or a downsell page.

With this example process, you’re turning that single initial sale into monthly sales. It’s pretty much the same strategy that the dollar shave club used to build its way to a $1 billion valuation.

Plus, if you go to Amazon, you’ll find that they have started using this subscription model too on supplements and similar products.

And there are so many ways you can use this, but I just wanted to give you an idea to show you what’s possible with ClickFunnels.

When using ClickFunnels for eCommerce, this is really the main benefit and what makes it unique compared to other options like Shopify.

Email Marketing

ClickFunnels also comes with some decent email marketing tools. For your eCommerce store, the most important is obviously the transactional emails, which ClickFunnels has.

However, ClickFunnels also has a complete autoresponder tool known as ‘Follow-Up Funnels’, which you can use on the ClickFunnels Platinum plan.

When comparing ClickFunnels vs Shopify for email marketing, ClickFunnels has more advanced automation sequences and segmentations. This means you’ll be able to send more targeted and automated emails, which should also lead to an increase in conversions.

However, ClickFunnels also has a fantastic list of 3rd party email integrations. So if you want the really advanced features of a dedicated platform, that’s an option.

Affiliate Management

Another benefit of ClickFunnels is its built-in affiliate management system.

Using this you’ll be able to recruit affiliates that promote your product for you in exchange for a commission.

Affiliate marketing can work great for eCommerce stores, especially if you have good margins, allowing you to pay out decent commissions.

However, it’s not right for every business, so you might want to check out some competitors and see what they’re doing before implementing an affiliate program. But if you do want one, ClickFunnels lets you do so.

Webinars

One feature that you might not need to use for eCommerce is webinars. You might do, but I personally haven’t seen a lot of eCommerce stores use webinars.

The exception to this might be if you also have some high ticket products that need an introduction and explanation of all the benefits.

Another way webinar funnels can be useful for eCommerce is if you are launching a new product or hosting an event where you’re showcasing some of your products.

Something to keep here in mind is that ClickFunnels only lets you host live webinars, not pre-recorded ones. However, live webinars are great for building trust and leading people to make a high ticket purchase.

Membership Sites

Another great feature of ClickFunnels is its membership sites. But again, you’re unlikely to use this for your eCommerce store, although you could do—still, it’s a nice feature to have.

If you’re not sure what this is, it’s the ability to host content behind a locked wall, usually videos. Most users who employ this feature use it to host a course, but you could also certainly use it to house specific products.

For example, you might want to create a private members subscription where they get access to your member’s area.

In the member’s area, you could offer a selection of products with special offer price tags, including a free product each month. You could also include some digital resources such as eBooks or videos on how to get the most out of your product range.

You could also offer your members a unique link to share with their friends to introduce them to your products, in exchange for discount coupons to use for their own purchases.

A private members area is also a great way to introduce customers sot your high ticket products.

Just an idea!

Anyway, ClickFunnels’ membership sites are not far from dedicated platforms like Kajabi, but there’s still room for improvement.

Educational Material (FunnelFlix)

Finally, ClickFunnels comes with a ton of educational material that you can use to grow your business, or train your team:

• FunnelFlix (The Netflix of sales funnels, as the name suggests)
• Funnel Hack-A-Thon
• Additional paid options

I mention this because it should be helpful for you, especially if you’re looking to make the most out of your sales funnels.

Russell Brunson and the team will teach you the concepts and use cases of sales funnels in more detail, so you can take them and apply them to your own store.

What ClickFunnels Has That Shopify Doesn’t

To recap, I have explained what ClickFunnels has that Shopify doesn’t have, below:

Checkout and Funnel Features

The main selling point for ClickFunnels vs Shopify is the checkout and funnel features.

Again, this is the way the sales funnel is built, and of course, the conversion features such as:

• Order bumps
• One-click upsells
• Downsells
• Two-step carts
• Two-step cart

With Shopify, you’ll need a 3rd party app to get these features, and that can get quite costly when you add everything up. Plus, it would also not be as easy to use as ClickFunnels.

Other Built-in Features

Besides the funnel builder and the cart checkouts, ClickFunnels also has the following features that Shopify doesn’t:

• Webinars
• Affiliate management
• Membership sites
• Better email marketing

I would describe these as “big features,” as dedicated platforms for these can cost you $50+ per month.

If you do need them, using ClickFunnels might actually be the more affordable option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-zunbz3Z6w

If you still want more detailed info on ClickFunnels then you can read my in-depth ClickFunnels review here.

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Shopify Features

Now that we have taken a look at ClickFunnels’ features, let’s dive into how a Shopify store compares.

Shopify Core Offering; eCommerce Store Builder + Templates

Shopify’s core offering is its eCommerce store builder. Similar to ClickFunnels’ funnel builder, this is what Shopify is known for. However, the key difference compared to ClickFunnels is that it’s not suited for sales funnels, but instead, full navigation stores.

This means if you are looking to build an online store with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of products, a Shopify store will be better suited. This is also because of the fulfillment integrations that it has, which ClickFunnels doesn’t.

I also found that Shopify’s templates will be better suited for most eCommerce stores. You simply have a wide variety of styles, and it’s more tailored towards them. Then again, that is because Shopify was made for eCom, while that isn’t ClickFunnels’ core purpose.

That being said, if you have a large store with lots of product lines, but you also want to improve the conversions of a few top sellers, you can build your store on Shopify AND also use ClickFunnels for the advanced funnel features.

After all, Shopify does integrate with ClickFunnels for a reason!

App Store

Next is Shopify’s app store, which is similar to WordPress plugins.

In my opinion, this is one of the best Shopify features. This is because it gives you so much flexibility in what you can do with the platform. With ClickFunnels, you’re limited to the features it has, and its integrations list.

On the other hand, Shopify allows you to install 3rd party apps, which means you can add functions to the platform.

For example, you can add an app for managing and displaying customer reviews in real-time for social proof, whereas, with ClickFunnels, this isn’t possible.

You can even get an app that adds order bumps and one-click upsells to your Shopify store. However, those still aren’t quite the same as ClickFunnels, as your store isn’t as optimized for conversions.

But back to the app store, this is one of the biggest benefits of using Shopify over ClickFunnels.

Email Marketing

The next feature inside Shopify is the email marketing tool. Similar to ClickFunnels, it also lets you send transactional emails. However, that’s pretty much it, but of course, you can use an app and integration for email marketing.

I recommend using an integration for this if you choose to use Shopify. Doing this will allow you to make the most out of your email marketing campaigns. One of the most popular ones for Shopify is Klaviyo.

 Commerce

Shopify comes with a range of commerce features to help you run your online business.

Some of these features include:

• Analytics
• Sales and payment processor integrations
• Sales tax calculation
• Coupons
• Reports

In this area of features, I think Shopify is slightly superior to ClickFunnels.

ClickFunnels has the basics, but Shopify’s reports and sales tax calculation should be useful, especially as you scale your business.

The reports are much more comprehensive than the analytics inside ClickFunnels, and you can download them via PDF format.

Security

Another area where Shopify goes beyond the basics is security. It has all the standard stuff like SSL certificates, but I was impressed by the fraud protection.

Shopify has built-in tools to prevent fraudulent chargebacks, which can harm your revenue or just be a headache to deal with.

As you scale your store, problems like these will be more common, so it’s great to see that Shopify has tools to prevent them.

What Shopify Has That ClickFunnels Doesn’t

Let’s look at what Shopify has that ClickFunnels doesn’t.

More eCommerce Full Navigation Templates

ClickFunnels has sales funnel templates, and Shopify has full navigation eCommerce templates.

If you’re looking to create a store with many products, Shopify might be the better choice. It’s simply what it is made for, while ClickFunnels is made to create sales funnels.

You might want to consider using Shopify for your store and creating sales funnels with ClickFunnels. Doing so will allow you to get the best of both worlds, and if it can have a big impact on your revenue, then the cost is probably worth it.

App Store

Having 3rd party developers’ apps available in a store is priceless, as you can add almost any feature you can imagine to Shopify. This is one of my favorite benefits of Shopify, but you also shouldn’t underestimate the cost of these apps.

Some of them can cost you an extra $20-$30 per month, and that can add up pretty quickly.

Some Commerce and Security Features

Shopify has a few little features that ClickFunnels doesn’t, including:

• Fraud protection
• Sales Tax Calculation
• Reports

As you scale your eCommerce store, these features will be beneficial because they’ll help you save time.

With ClickFunnels, you will have to rely on external software for this, a potential added cost.

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ClickFunnels Integrations

Payment integrations:

• Stripe
• PayPal
• JV Zoo
• ClickBank
• Warrior Plus
• OntraPort
• Recurly
• Apple Pay
• Infusionsoft
• EasyPayDirect
• Bluesnap
• NMI (Gateway Funnel Pros)

ClickFunnels Email Integrations:

• GetResponse
• Drip
• Infusionsoft
• AWeber
• Constant Contact
• ConvertKit
• Hubspot
• ActiveCampaign
• SendLane
• Ontraport
• Salesforce
• Market Hero
• MadMimi
• MailChimp

ClickFunnels SMTP Integrations:

• Sendgrid
• Mailgun
• Mandrill
• SparkPost

ClickFunnels Webinar Integrations:

• Zoom Webinar Integration
• GoToWebinar Integration
• EverWebinar Integration
• WebinarJam Integration

Other

• Shopify
• Zapier
• Zoho
• G Suite

Shopify Integrations

Shopify has a whopping 3370+ integrations. So no, I’m not going to sit here and list them all.

However, I have listed the main categories alongside some of the most known integrations for that category:

• Store design (Shopify Chat, Product reviews, SEO integrations)
• Sales and Conversions (Emails, Discounts, Subscriptions, etc.)
• Marketing (Facebook and Google ads, SMS and email marketing, etc.)
• Orders and Shipping
• Reporting
• Finances (Tax, Payments, etc.)
• Places to sell (Amazon channel, Google, Facebook, etc.)
• Trust and Security (GDPR, etc.)

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ClickFunnels vs Shopify: Pricing

Now that we have seen what type of value they both provide, let’s look at ClickFunnels vs Shopify at the pricing level.

Besides the prices listed below, you may also want to check out my article on the 4 ClickFunnels discount options.

ClickFunnels Cost

There are 3 ClickFunnels price plans starting at $97 per month.

The next one up is the platinum plan which costs $297.

Lastly, there is also the Two Comma Club X option, which mainly just comes with additional team members.

While this may sound costly compared to Shopify, it’s also worth keeping in mind that it comes with a range of built-in features that you would have to pay extra for with Shopify. I’ve listed the full pricing for you below.

ClickFunnels Starter ($97 per month)

Resources:

• 20 sales funnels
• 100 pages
• 1 sub-user
• 3 payment gateways
• 3 domains

Features NOT INCLUDED in this plan:

• Affiliate management
• Follow-up Funnels
• Funnel Hack-A-Thon
• Some FunnelFlix Videos
• Priority Supports

ClickFunnels Platinum ($297 per month)

Resources:

• Unlimited funnels and pages
• 3 sub-users
• 9 payment gateways
• 9 domains

Features included: Everything

ClickFunnels Two Comma Club X ($2,497)

• Unlimited funnels and pages
• 10 sub-users
• 27 payment gateways
• 27 domains
• Features: All + Hours of additional FunnelFlix training

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Shopify Cost

Shopify has three main pricing plans:

• Basic Shopify: $29 per month
• Shopify: $79 per month
• Advanced: $299 per month

One of the key differences between the plans is the transaction fee percentages – As you can see in the screenshot below.

Because of this, it will usually make sense to upgrade once your revenue hits a certain income level anyway.

Besides the transaction fees, the main other differences come in the reports and localization. The higher plans give you more options to adjust your pricing, currencies, and languages to more locations.

Plus, they also give you options for more detailed reports to help you analyze your business’s performance.

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ClickFunnels vs Shopify: Final Thoughts

As you have seen throughout this ClickFunnels vs Shopify comparison, they’re both great for their own purpose.

While ClickFunnels is perfect for stores with a small product line or high ticket items, Shopify is ideal for traditional full navigation stores.

I don’t even want to pick a winner between the two because the main features of the platforms are so different. It really depends on what your store needs.

Having said that, my final verdict is; if you need to build a large store with lots of product lines, then use Shopify. If you want to maximize sales of a few target products, then use ClickFunnels.

But…

If want to build a large store in the way that Shopify offers, AND you also want to improve the conversions of a few of your top sellers, then you can use both Shopify and ClickFunnels together for the advanced funnel and conversion-optimized features.

After all, Shopify does integrate with ClickFunnels for a reason!

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