Clickfunnels Alternative: 4 Cheaper Sales Funnel Builders
Since you are here, you are probably looking for a cheaper alternative to Clickfunnels.
While I think that Clickfunnels is a great funnel builder, I find it to be too expensive for “the ordinary guy.”
The higher plan of Clickfunnels costs $297/month and besides unlimited funnels, pages, and visitors, it also includes two additional tools called “Actionetics” (email automation platform & autoresponder) and “Backpack” (enables you to create your own affiliate marketing management platform).
Clickfunnels is more than a simple landing page builder, but even so, you will still need to purchase additional tools in order to run your business and the monthly costs of the needed tools can quickly add up.
Personally, I think you should consider paying for Clickfunnels only when you have a business that’s already generating profit. Until that point, you can use a cheaper funnel builder till your business takes off.
I’ll introduce you to a few cheaper alternatives to Clickfunnels.
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1. Thrive Architect
I think Thrive Architect is the best deal you will find in terms of software quality/price ratio.
Thrive Architect is a plugin for WordPress that enables you to create landing pages using a visual drag & drop page builder.
With Thrive Architect there are no monthly commitments. You pay a one-time fee and you can continue to use the plugin as long as your website exists.
I’ve been using Thrive Architect plugin since 2017 for several websites. I initially purchased the one-website license, but later, I have upgraded to a 5-website license.

As you can see from the screenshot above, I have also purchased the 5-website license for Thrive Leads, which is an exceptional WordPress plugin for building your email list.
Besides the convenient price point, I’d recommend this software to any beginner who wants to get into funnel building.
Because Thrive Architect it’s a WordPress plugin, you’ll automatically need a WordPress installation (the self-hosted version from WordPress.org, not WordPress.com).
If you already have WordPress installed, then you can just install the plugin and you’ll turn your website into a funnel builder in no time.
In case you don’t have a WordPress website yet, you’ll additionally need:
– A domain name
I recommend and use Namecheap for all my domain names. You can usually register a .com for about $10 per year.
– Web hosting
I recommend Siteground or A2Hosting (both are very good, A2Hosting is a bit cheaper).
The cheapest hosting plan costs about $4/month if you purchase a yearly plan.
Don’t worry, installing WordPress is easy. I’ve covered every step of the way in my step-by-step WordPress website building guide.
How much Thrive Architect costs?
Thrive Architect is available under two one-time licenses:
- Single License ($67)
- 5 License Pack ($97)
The prices above are one-time fees, not monthly. Depending on your country of residence, VAT may be added to the checkout.
There is also a yearly membership option for $19/month. This option will give you access to all the cool WordPress plugins and themes sold by Thrive Themes, plus unlimited support.
Even though the customer support for the one-time licenses is limited to one year (with the possibility to be renewed for a small fee), I love the fact that this plugin is frequently updated and you get lifetime updates without being forced to pay for updates.
Do I need to know how to code?
Not at all.
Thrive Architect has been built with the goal of being completely beginner-friendly and it’s using a visual drag & drop builder.

You can choose to edit the content area of your WordPress posts, start from a blank page, or editing one of the available professional-looking templates that come with the plugin. All the templates and the pages you create with this plugin are responsive (look good on the mobile devices and tablets).

Clickfunnels vs Thrive Architect (price comparison)
Let’s see how much money you can save if you choose Thrive Architect instead Clickfunnels.
Clickfunnels Yearly Costs
Cheapest Clickfunnels license:
$97/month * 12 months = $1164 per year
Most expensive Clickfunnels license:
$297/month * 12 months = $3564 per year
That’s a lot of money.
Thrive Architect Yearly Costs
Thrive Architect 1-website License:
$67 one-time fee + $60/year web hosting from A2Hosting + $10/year domain name from Namecheap = $137 per year (the second year you’ll only have to pay the web hosting and the domain name)
Thrive Architect 5-website License:
$97 one-time fee + $60/year web hosting from A2Hosting + $10/year domain name from Namecheap = $167 per year (the second year you’ll only have to pay the web hosting and the domain name)
Thrive Architect Membership:
($19/month * 12 months) + $60/year web hosting from A2Hosting + $10/year domain name from Namecheap = $298 per year
So, there’s a huge difference in price between the yearly expenses of Thrive Architect and Clickfunnels.
Note: These are estimated numbers. The final prices can include VAT, the web hosting/domain price will vary from one provider to another, current discounts, etc.
For more info about Thrive Architect and a demo, watch the presentation video from the sales page of the plugin.
Thrive Architect is definitely an option which is worth considering especially when you are getting started and you need a quick software to build your landing pages and sales funnels at a lower cost.
2. Leadpages
LeadPages is probably one of the most well-known landing page building services.
Unlike Thrive Architect, where you need a domain name and web hosting in order to use the plugin, LeadPages is a hosted service, which means that you don’t need additional products in order to use the service.
Even though buying a domain name is not required because you receive a subdomain at registration (something like “antreno.lpages.co”), it’s preferred.
The disadvantage of LeadPages is, of course, the fact that it operates on a monthly/yearly subscription plan just as Clickfunnels.
This advantage is that LeadPages is cheaper than Clickfunnels but doesn’t give you all the options that Clickfunnels make it available for you at one click distance.
I like the simple user interface and the fact that LeadPages have many pre-made templates that you can start with and edit as you like.
The visual editor is also very simple to use and works flawlessly.

It’s true that LeadPages integrates very well with many popular services, but that automatically means that you’ll also have to pay for these tools if you need them.

LeadPages has a “STANDARD,” “PRO,” and an “ADVANCED” plan.
The longer the period you pay for, the bigger the monthly discount will be. You can choose to pay monthly, annually, or for 2-year in advance.
If you choose to pay on a monthly basis, the “Standard” plan costs $37/month, while the “Pro” plan costs $79/month.

Unfortunately, the Payment Gateways feature is only available to the Pro and Advanced plans.

That means that if you need a quick way of accepting payments from your customers, you are forced to upgrade to one of these plans or use an external service.
I consider LeadPages to be a valid alternative to Clickfunnels only if you need a quick solution for creating professional looking landing pages and opt-in pages.
If you need more advanced options (like payment gateways, A/B Split Testing, Sub Accounts, SMS campaigns, priority phone support, etc.), you’ll have to upgrade to a more expensive plan and the monthly costs can add up quickly.
3. BuilderAll
BuilderAll is another hosted funnel builder and marketing tool suite.
BuilderAll platform includes a set of marketing tools and services for a very affordable monthly price. However, after trying BuilderAll, I have the sensation that this tool is trying to achieve too many things without excelling at something specific.
Once you get access to the members’ area, you might get overwhelmed by the variety of options available.
There are like three landing page builders, but still, I didn’t find one that is as easy-to-use and as efficient as the visual editor of Clickfunnels or Thrive Architect.
Many times, your pages won’t look great on the mobile devices without having to do some tweaks, the page elements won’t go where you want to put them, etc.
Overall, I think that Clickfunnels has a better editor, is a more stable service, and the process of creating a sales funnel is way easier than when using BuilderAll.
The cheapest plan of BuilderAll is only $9.90/month, but this plan comes up with some missing features that you might need.
I found it that the best value for your money lays in the $29.90/month plan. This pricing plan gives you access to all the tools provided by the platform.
There’s also a $49.90/month plan.
This only targets the people interested in becoming an affiliate of BuilderAll and earning commissions by promoting the platform to other marketers. BuilderAll has a two-tier affiliate payment plan which can become very lucrative if you know how to promote the business opportunity side of the platform to other affiliates.
You get the same tools for the $29.90 and the $49.90 plan. The only difference is that you can’t promote BuilderAll at the $29.90 plan. Additionally, the $49.90 plan contains several done-for-you sales funnels that promote BuilderAll and marketing training material for the affiliates.
Below is a list of the tools you get access to for only $29.90/month.

I think BuilderAll can be a good choice for beginners, but because the page visual builder is not very good, you might end up spending a lot of time trying to make your pages to look decent on mobile.
Also, most of the tools just look very basic and I had the feeling that they lack certain features.
4. Instabuilder
I no longer recommend Instabuilder.
Instabuilder has been a great product in the past, but sadly, the person behind this company has passed away in 2018. Even though the sales page of Instabuilder is still live, the future of this product is uncertain.
Just as Thrive Architect, Instabuilder is a WordPress plugin that allows you to use landing pages using a drag & drop interface. Therefore, you’ll also need a domain + web hosting + a WordPress installation to use this software.
Instabuilder is available under three different licenses.

You also need to know that after one year, you will have to pay $37/year if you want to get access to the future plugin updates and support for Instabuilder.
After one year, if you don’t pay that $37/year fee, you will also won’t be able to activate your license for new domain names even if you’ve purchased the “Unlimited License.”
Unfortunately, I’ve only realized that after one year when I couldn’t use my “unlimited” license key for new domain names.
Conclusion
Without any doubt, Clickfunnels is one of the best funnel building services available and there aren’t any free or too many cheap alternatives that can compete with it.
Clickfunnels price can be a bit intimidating for the people who are just starting out a business. I would rather say that it’s a software inclined more towards the experimented business owners than for the beginners.
My favorite alternative to Clickfunnels is Thrive Architect and that’s what I’m currently using to build sales funnels and landing pages.
I hope I was able to give you several cheaper alternatives to Clickfunnels. Now choose the option that you think best suits your needs and start building your landing pages and sales funnels.
As a WP developer, you know the Page Builder BEAVER Builder that is assessed as the superior tool for developers, compared to DIVI or even THRIVE (although Thrive Architect is superb for the semi-professional level, let us say, no need to discuss this). And, to come to the point, you forgot that there is a UK based group of developers , that made a WP plugin called BEAVER FUNNELS, with which you can draw the logic and relationships between the different WP pages, connect your WP installation to a mail system of your choice (most think of ACTIVECAMPAIGN here) and handle the FUNNEL building service under one WP installation.
In terms of doing one page at a time, I developed a WP Multisite installation in 2015 which is built upon BEAVER BUILDER as well) which however does not take new customers due to repositioning.
My idea was that making a major upgrade by installing the upcoming Beaver Funnels as well. I am not sure if this is a winner for the market of professional marketers. My gut feeling is that professionals want their own licenses and hosting and not depend on managed hosting, but the success of Leadpages and Clickfunnels speak a different language. The niching down and offering dedicated training for that niche is probably the most feasible way.
The main WP related idea is, however, that services as above are not necessary, you build funnels starting with WP site, build certain stand-alone WP pages and connect them in an appropriate onboarding way.
What do you think?