Why I’m Leaving ClickFunnels

By Posted on 3 min read 1643 views

I’ve used ClickFunnels since they first launched. At the time, like a lot of people, I was using LeadPages.

Then ClickFunnels launched. They seemed to offer a fix for everything that was irritating about LeadPages.

Primarily more customisation, and the ability to build out the complete funnel and see how it converted.

Now, a number of years on, I’m leaving ClickFunnels.

I have 20 funnels in there, 103 pages, and they get around 50,000 visitors a month.

So why the hell am I leaving?

There are two primary reasons:

1) I can’t justify the expense (more on that in a minute)

2) I’m not really in control

Don’t get me wrong, ClickFunnels is an awesome tool. It does what it says on the tin, and I’ve been very happy with it.

But let’s break it down a bit.

A funnel is a series of between two and five web pages.

There’s nothing fancy about it. It’s a very simple website.

You have a:

* Lead page

* Sales page

* Upsell page

* Thank you pagea

At least that’s the most common structure. You can have more upsells and downsells, or none. But basically that’s how it works.

And if you’re wondering about webinars, they’re exactly the same. A webinar is effectively a sales page.

With the cheapest plan at ClickFunnels, you get 100 pages for $97 per month.

That’s $0.97 per page per month.

Doesn’t seem too bad.

But, when you consider that hosting can cost you less than $2 per month and you can buy Thrive Content Builder for $67 outright.

It suddenly looks pretty damn expensive for what it does.

Secondly, the bit I really liked about it, was the funnel conversion tracking.

Unfortunately, it’s buggy at best.

In the years I’ve had it I’ve come to stop looking at the figures down the side, because they simply don’t work.

Yeah, you can get in touch with support and they’ll fix it. But to be honest, I can’t be bothered to do that with every single funnel I make.

It should just work.

When a product first launches, you expect some bugs. But years later and the same bugs haven’t been fixed. That’s just poor.

However, I could even put all that aside if I had complete control. But, due to the nature of software, you don’t.

And the biggest bug bear for me, is that I can’t offer my customers a range of ways to pay.

I want to be able to offer Paypal, Skrill and Credit Card. Heck, I want my customers to be able to pay me anyway they feel most comfortable!

You can only offer one option with ClickFunnels, and I know that’s not going to change anytime soon.

If there was an API, things may be different, I may be able to code into it and do what I want.

But there isn’t. And I can’t.

Does it do what it says on the tin? Yes.

Is it good at what it does? Generally, Yes.

But when you’re just using it to host web pages, as I am now, it’s sure as hell not worth the money.

What am I moving to?

Thrive Content Builder.

It gives you a load of templates, you can build your own from scratch, you are in complete control of them because they’re hosted on your site, and…

…it’s just sixty seven bucks once!

https://michaelwilding.com/recommends/?id=thrvlndpg

Michael

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3 Comments
  • Jeremy Brooks
    January 6, 2017

    I’ve had major frustrations too. Strange bugs that are just basic ecommerce needs… Support is really hit or miss. Sometimes you get some one that cares / has a clue. Sometimes you get someone that doesn’t even read your request before telling you something completely stupid and unrelated. 50% defensive and clueless 50% helpful and nice. If I wasn’t already engaged in building a company, I’d build a competitor. Russel is leaving the screendoor on his marketing battleship….

  • Jeremy Brooks
    January 6, 2017

    …That said, Thrive Content Builder is not even remotely similar to CF. Where Thrive is an apple, CF is a whole fruit basket. …With a couple sour grapes and manky banana

    • Michael Wilding
      January 6, 2017

      That is true, depending on what you’re using ClickFunnels for. I use it primarily for the funnels and nice order forms, I don’t use their autoresponders, in-built payment processing, affiliate program etc… TBH a lot of that didn’t exist when I joined anyway. So the only thing I use it for that Thrive Content Builder can’t do is order forms, which I am going to be using ThriveCart for (different company to Thrive Content Builder)