Hi, I’m Kayla. I build funnels for small brands. I also sell my own tiny digital things. I used ClickFunnels for a year. It got the job done. But it felt heavy. Pricey too. So I went hunting—my full play-by-play of real alternatives to ClickFunnels is tucked away if you want every nut and bolt.
I didn’t just peek at landing pages. I ran paid traffic. I took payments. I sent emails. I broke things. And I fixed them. Here’s what stuck, what flopped, and what I still use day to day.
Why I Looked Past ClickFunnels
I paid $147 a month for the basic plan. It added up. The editor lagged on my old laptop. Pages were fine, but not very fast. Some days I lost blocks. Poof. I like simple. I like clean. I like speed.
So I made a short list. I needed:
- A page builder that loads fast
- A checkout with bumps and one-click upsells
- Email with tags and simple rules
- A/B tests without tears
- Clear numbers so I can see what won
Now let me tell you what I used instead—on real projects, with real money on the line.
Systeme.io — My Weekend Pop-Up Store Hero
Use case: My sister’s candle launch. Two-page funnel. One simple bump. A tiny email series.
What I built:
- Landing page with a sign-up form
- Sales page with a bump (wax melts)
- One checkout
- 5-email welcome series with a cart open/close
Results from one weekend:
- 312 visitors
- 61 email sign-ups
- 28 orders
- $1,184 gross
- The bump got a 22% take rate
What I liked:
- It’s all in one. Pages, email, checkout, and a basic affiliate area.
- The free plan covered me for that launch.
- Automations were simple. If tag = buyer, send thank you. Easy.
What bugged me:
- Templates look plain. Good bones, but not fancy.
- Analytics felt thin. I used UTM links in Google Analytics to double check.
You know what? For a fast pop-up, it just worked. I built it on a Saturday morning in a coffee-stained hoodie. No tech drama. For the full story of how the platform stacks up on price, feature depth, and real-world performance, see my comprehensive review of Systeme.io.
Leadpages + Stripe + MailerLite — My Fast Webinar Pages
Use case: A live workout class. I needed a sign-up page and a “thank you” page. I took payments after the class.
What I built:
- Leadpages sign-up page with a countdown
- Thank-you page with a calendar link
- MailerLite handled the reminders
- Stripe took payments from a simple pay link
Numbers from one week:
- 1,046 visits from Instagram and a small ad spend
- 452 sign-ups (43% rate)
- 97 buyers after the live class
- Pages loaded fast on mobile (under 2 seconds on my tests)
What I liked:
- The builder is smooth. Drag, drop, done.
- Pop-ups and alert bars were handy for last-minute pushes.
- Split tests took me two clicks. No tears.
- I also kicked the tires on Unbounce for similar campaigns—my ClickFunnels vs Unbounce hands-on notes show where that one shines (and stumbles).
What bugged me:
- It’s not all-in-one. I glued tools together.
- The checkout flow was basic. No one-click upsell.
Instapage is another slick landing-page tool I trialed; my full Instapage vs ClickFunnels breakdown lays out how it compares on price and page speed.
I paid $49 a month on an annual plan that year. Worth it for speed and clean pages.
ThriveCart — My Checkout Workhorse
Use case: A $9 recipe ebook that led to a $39 bundle. I wanted bumps and a one-click upsell.
What I built:
- A simple landing page elsewhere
- ThriveCart checkout with a $7 bump
- One-click upsell to the $39 bundle
- Affiliate links for two foodie friends
Results after 30 days:
- 1,902 visits to the landing page
- 338 front-end sales
- 46% took the $7 bump
- 21% took the $39 upsell
- Average order value went from $9 to $23.80
What I liked:
- The checkout is fast and clean.
- Bumps and upsells are easy to set up.
- The affiliate center did the job. Payouts were simple.
What bugged me:
- It’s checkout-first. You still need a page builder for the front end.
- Support is email only, and replies took a day or two.
If you’re weighing email-centric platforms, GetResponse gets mentioned a lot—my candid ClickFunnels vs GetResponse comparison digs into how their funnel feature set stacks up next to a dedicated cart like ThriveCart.
I bought a lifetime deal years back, so my cost is now zero per month. That still feels wild. If you’d like a deeper dive into every knob and lever, my in-depth analysis of ThriveCart maps out the pros, cons, and best-fit use cases.
Kajabi — My Course Home Base
Use case: My beginner photo course. Videos, worksheets, and a cozy student area.
What I built:
- Sales page and checkout
- Drip content over 4 weeks
- A small email series and a community space
First launch numbers:
- 92 students
- 4 refunds
- 61% course completion (tracked inside Kajabi)
What I liked:
- The student area is clean. Folks stayed engaged.
- Email and pages are built in. Fewer moving parts.
- Live chat support helped me fix a quirky form fast.
What bugged me:
- Price. I paid $149 a month for the basic plan.
- The page builder had limits. Fine for me, but not fancy.
- The checkout felt plain. It worked, just not very flexible.
Curious how another “all-in-one” tool stacks up? My ClickFunnels vs Kartra deep dive shows where Kartra overlaps with Kajabi and where it takes a different path.
If you teach, Kajabi feels calm. Everything fits. It’s not cheap, but it’s steady.
WordPress + Elementor + FunnelKit — Full Control for a Local Shop
Use case: A bakery pre-order rush before Mother’s Day. I needed full control and strong checkout flows.
What I set up:
- WordPress on a $10/month host
- Elementor Pro for the pages
- WooCommerce for products
- FunnelKit for one-click bumps and post-purchase offers
- Autonami (by FunnelKit) for email rules
Results from a 10-day push:
- 4,318 visits
- 612 orders
- Average order value: $31.40
- 18% took the frosting upgrade bump
- 9% took a post-purchase butter cookie upsell
What I liked:
- Total control. Design, speed, checkout logic.
- FunnelKit made bumps and upsells feel like Lego blocks.
- Costs were upfront, not monthly for everything.
What bugged me:
- Setup took time. Plugins need care.
- Updates can break styles if you’re not careful.
- You wear the “site admin” hat. Not fun on vacation.
When I need custom stuff and fast pages, this stack wins. It feels heavy at first, but it flies once set. I even trialed Pipeline Pro briefly—my Pipeline Pro vs ClickFunnels field test explains why I stuck with WordPress for the bakery launch.
If WordPress is on your radar and you’re wondering how it squares up to ClickFunnels in funnel land, skim my ClickFunnels vs WordPress showdown for the gritty details.
Quick Compare From My Desk
- Fast pages, no fuss: Leadpages
- All-in-one on a budget: Systeme.io
- Strong checkout math: ThriveCart
- Teaching and memberships: Kajabi
- Full control and advanced flows: WordPress + FunnelKit
If you want an expanded side-by-side look at even more options, the in-depth reviews on WebsiteBuilderTools are worth a skim.
What I Actually Use Now
I keep it simple:
- Systeme.io for quick funnels and weekend launches
- ThriveCart for checkout-heavy offers
- Kajabi for courses that need a calm student space
- Leadpages when I need a fast page right now
I still keep my ClickFunnels account paused. I may turn it on for a client who demands it. But