I’m Kayla. I sell a small digital planner line and a tiny candle side gig from my garage. I also run a short video class for beginners. I’m busy, a little scrappy, and I work while my kid naps. So tools have to earn their keep.
I spent one month with GetResponse and two big launches with ClickFunnels. I built real pages. I sent real emails. I paid real bills. Here’s what actually happened.
(If you want my longer, nuts-and-bolts comparison, I laid out every test in this ClickFunnels vs GetResponse deep dive.)
Quick vibe check
- ClickFunnels felt like a “sell now” machine. Fast builds. Strong checkout. Big on upsells.
- GetResponse felt like an “email brain.” Clean sends. Smart tags. Great for long games and webinars.
I liked both. I also got annoyed at both. Let me explain.
My ClickFunnels week: sell fast, tweak later
(Considering another contender? I also pitted ClickFunnels against Kartra and shared the candid results in this hands-on story.)
I built a 3-step funnel for my $27 digital planner bundle.
- Page 1: a simple sign-up page with a short video and big button
- Page 2: sales page + checkout with Stripe
- Page 3: thank-you page with a one-click upsell for a $47 mini video class
- Plus a cute $9 “sticker pack” order bump at checkout
Build time: about 3 hours with coffee and a dog at my feet. The drag-and-drop editor was quick. I used one of their bold templates. Fonts were a touch loud, but I tuned them.
Real numbers from my first push:
- Ad spend: $200 on Facebook
- Visitors: about 1,000
- Sales: 24 of the $27 bundle
- Order bump: 10 people grabbed the $9 pack
- Upsell: 6 people took the $47 class
Revenue in two days: around $1,020. I was happy. My average order got a nice lift from the bump and upsell. That’s the ClickFunnels sauce.
What bugged me:
- Mobile spacing got weird. I had to tweak “mobile only” settings on a few rows. Not hard—just fussy.
- Page load on my older Android felt slow—about 4–5 seconds on cell data. I cut image sizes and that helped.
- Price. My plan ran me $147 per month. Fine for launch weeks. Painful when I wasn’t pushing hard.
Support chat was super friendly, but a bit salesy. They nudged me toward higher plans. I get it, but still. Curious how other small businesses rate their experiences? Browse the aggregated reviews on G2. And just like software, local services live or die by candid ratings—if you ever find yourself vetting massage spots while passing through northern Nevada, this Rubmaps Sparks directory lays out honest customer reviews, prices, and safety notes so you can make a quick, informed choice.
My GetResponse month: email brain with steady hands
I moved my list and set up a welcome flow, weekly tips, and a small webinar.
What I built:
- A sign-up page with a clean, calm look
- A 5-email welcome series with tags like “warm” and “new buyer”
- A live webinar called “Plan Your Week in 30 Minutes”
- A simple funnel to sell the same $27 planner bundle after the webinar
Real numbers from that month:
- 350 people signed up for the webinar
- 220 showed up live
- My reminder emails hit about 42% opens and 9% clicks (nice bump for me)
- I sold 18 copies live, then 11 more from the replay emails over 7 days
Total from the webinar push: 29 sales x $27 = $783, with no ad spend. Most sign-ups came from Instagram Stories and a pinned post.
What I liked:
- Emails landed well in Gmail and Outlook for my list.
- The automation map was clear. If someone clicked the planner link but didn’t buy, I sent a gentle follow-up two days later.
- The webinar tool saved me from juggling three apps. Fewer tabs, fewer oops moments.
What bugged me:
- The landing page builder felt a bit stiff next to ClickFunnels. Fewer loud templates. Fewer fancy blocks.
- Finding things took clicks. Lists. Tags. Workflows. Then goals. It’s tidy, but the menu maze made me sigh.
- Cost grows with contacts. I started free at first. When I hit around 5,000 people and turned on automation, my bill landed around $59 that month. Still fair, but it creeps.
Support was calm and thorough. Not as fast as my ClickFunnels chat on busy days, but they sent clear steps and screenshots.
Head-to-head: where each one shines
ClickFunnels won for:
- Fast funnels and bold sales pages
- Easy upsells and order bumps that boost cart value
- Launch weeks where speed and checkout matter most
GetResponse won for:
- Clean email sends and tagging
- Webinars without another tool
- Evergreen selling and steady list growth
Ease of use:
- ClickFunnels felt quick right away. But I had to fix mobile spacing and watch page weight.
- GetResponse took longer to set up. Once it clicked, my weekly sends ran like a smooth train.
If you want a side-by-side feature grid and pricing table beyond my own experiments, check out this in-depth review on Website Builder Tools. You can also see how the two tools compare in this Forbes Advisor analysis.
Money talk (the part that hurts or helps)
- ClickFunnels: my bill was $147 per month. Worth it for launches. I paused once when I wasn’t selling much.
- GetResponse: first I was on the free tier (tiny list). Then I paid about $59 once my list grew and I used automation and webinars.
Could you run both? Yeah. I did. I kept ClickFunnels for two launch windows and ran GetResponse all year for email and webinars.
Little things that mattered to me
- Editing on phone: ClickFunnels editing on mobile is rough. I used my laptop. GetResponse has an app for checks, so I peeked at stats while waiting in the car line.
- A/B tests: In ClickFunnels, I split-tested headlines on the front page. In GetResponse, I split subject lines. Both helped.
- Tracking: I used Stripe for payments and a simple Google Sheet via Zapier for a quick sales log. Not fancy. But it worked.
- Design: ClickFunnels pages felt big and hype-y. That matched ads and launch energy. GetResponse pages looked calm. That matched my weekly email vibe. (Curious how ClickFunnels pages stack up against a DIY WordPress setup? I shared what actually worked for me in this ClickFunnels vs WordPress comparison.)
Real example: one week vs one month
Launch week with ClickFunnels:
- Day 1: build funnel and connect Stripe
- Day 2: test mobile, cut image sizes
- Day 3–4: run ads and a small warm list blast
- Day 5: swap headline after a split test
- Day 6–7: watch sales and tweak button copy
One month with GetResponse:
- Week 1: move list, tag buyers, set welcome series
- Week 2: build webinar and reminders
- Week 3: host, sell softly, send replay
- Week 4: weekly tips, two plain-text emails, a few more sales trickled in
Different rhythm. Both worked.
So… which one did I keep?
Both, but not full-time.
- For heavy launches or a new product push, I turn on ClickFunnels. I want the upsell power and that bold sales flow.
- For daily life, I live in GetResponse. It keeps my list warm, runs webinars, and keeps my voice steady.
Choosing marketing software can feel a bit like choosing a dating app: each platform promises connections, but the real chemistry only shows once you’re inside clicking around. If you’d like to see how that plays out in the swipe-world, take a peek at this in-depth Zoosk review that breaks down real user experiences, pricing, and success tips so you can understand how thoughtful courting (or careless tapping) affects results.
If you sell one product hard and want bigger carts fast, go ClickFunnels. If you live on email and want steady growth with less drama, go GetResponse. And if you’re me? You time them. You use each when it shines.
Tiny tips that saved me
- Keep images light. My ClickFunnels page got faster when I shrank hero pics under 200 KB.
- Plain-text emails sell more than you think. My short note with a simple P.S.