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ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels: Which Is Better For Your Business?

Shopping for new marketing software? If you’ve done any research, there’s a good chance you’ve come across ClickFunnels and ActiveCampaign. And now, you need a loyal review of ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels

These two platforms have become incredibly popular in their respective niches, but they serve different purposes.

Both pieces of software have ardent fans and success stories to back them up. But which one is right for your business?

In this post, I will compare these two juggernauts side-by-side. We’ll look at:

By the end, you’ll have all the info you need to confidently pick the platform that aligns best with your goals and budget.

AdeotiDigital is supported by readers like yourself. I may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through my links. Of course, this won’t increase the cost of your subscription.

I want to tell you that this post ended up being long, with over 4,000 words. So you can quickly jump to the summary if you are in a hurry.

But you will gain a lot if you dedicate about 12 minutes to read it all.

Let’s keep it moving.

ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels  – Quick Comparison

Before we dig into the details, let’s quickly check how  ActiveCampaign and ClickFunnels stack up.

Their Core Purpose

ActiveCampaign focuses on email marketing automation, CRM, and other marketing tools for small to medium businesses across industries.

ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder and online course platform designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses who want to sell products or services online.

Key Features

ActiveCampaign’s main features:

ClickFunnels’ core features:

Use Cases

ActiveCampaign helps you:

You would use ClickFunnels to:

Ratings

In terms of user reviews, ActiveCampaign has a slightly lower overall rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars across 2,311+ Capterra reviews.

ClickFunnels has an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 640+ reviews on Capterra.

So in general, both have very positive feedback and reputations amongst users.

Pricing

ActiveCampaign’s pricing is based on your number of contacts:

ClickFunnels has two main tiers:

So ActiveCampaign can be more affordable for smaller lists. But ClickFunnels offers more features upfront.

Bottom Line

ClickFunnelsActiveCampaign
Best ForEmail marketing automation CRM and contact management. Winning back lost leads. Detailed customer analyticsEmail marketing automation CRM and contact management. Winning back lost leads. Detailed customer analytics
Primary CapabilitiesSales funnelsLanding pagesWebinarsAffiliate managementEmail marketing. Workflows and automationCRMAnalytics
Pricing$127 – $208/month$29 – $149/month
User Reviews4.5/5 (642+ reviews)4.6/5 (2311+ reviews)
Best For Business SizeSolo entrepreneurs & early stage startups, Small businessesSmall to medium businesses

Both platforms are leaders in their own categories. The best choice comes down to your specific business goals.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Keep reading as I explore the features, use cases, and other factors in more detail.

Detailed Feature Comparison

Now let’s do a deeper dive into the key features and capabilities of ActiveCampaign and ClickFunnels.

Website & Landing Page Builders

Both platforms offer intuitive drag-and-drop builders to create landing pages, sales pages, and more.

ActiveCampaign has a landing page creator as part of its automation toolkit. It’s easy to link landing pages to campaigns. However, the templates and customization options are more limited compared to ClickFunnels.

ClickFunnels has a very flexible page editor. With over 100 templates and integrations, you can easily customize page templates or build from scratch.

For quickly setting up high-converting landing pages, ClickFunnels has more advanced functionality.

Sales Funnels

Sales funnels are at the core of ClickFunnels. It offers a visual funnel builder to map out your customer journey from awareness to purchase.

You can choose from pre-built funnel templates and customize them as needed. Funnel types include:

ActiveCampaign focuses more on email marketing automation. It doesn’t offer visual funnel mapping or templates. You can create basic sales funnels through its workflow builder. But the functionality is not as robust as ClickFunnels for this purpose. Got it?

eCommerce Capabilities

ActiveCampaign does not provide built-in e-commerce store functionality. It can integrate with platforms like Shopify to support online sales. However, it does not have a native shopping cart or product management capabilities.

ClickFunnels has tools to build e-commerce sites and shopping carts directly through its platform. You can easily sell physical or digital products.

It integrates with providers like Shopify and Amazon for more advanced storefronts.

My Take: For selling products directly through your site, ClickFunnels is the better choice.

Email Marketing

Both ClickFunnels and ActiveCampaign offer email marketing, but this is where ActiveCampaign really shines.

ActiveCampaign provides:

It offers more email customization and advanced automation compared to ClickFunnels. With ActiveCampaign, you can set up complex autoresponder sequences.

ClickFunnels lets you design email templates, create sign-up forms, and integrate with providers like AWeber. However, its core features are not email-focused.

Marketing Automation

Along with robust email marketing features, ActiveCampaign provides visual workflow builders to automate your marketing.

If you choose ActiveCampaign, you will be able to create sequences like:

ClickFunnels has an email/SMS follow-up sequence tool called Actionetics. It is useful for automating messages but not as full-featured as ActiveCampaign’s workflow builder.

My Take: For complex behavioural marketing automation, ActiveCampaign is the superior choice.

CRM & Contact Management

ActiveCampaign offers full-fledged CRM capabilities for managing contacts and interactions. Key features include:

ClickFunnels also provides contact management and lists as part of its email marketing features. However, it does not have an integrated CRM solution.

You would need to connect ClickFunnels to a separate CRM like Salesforce.

Again, for baked-in CRM, ActiveCampaign wins out.

Analytics & Reporting

ActiveCampaign provides real-time reporting to track metrics like:

In ClickFunnels, you can view funnel analytics and page-level conversion data. It shows customer journeys through your sales process.

And again, ActiveCampaign has more extensive tracking and analytics capabilities overall.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Integrations

Both platforms connect with thousands of popular software tools via integrations and APIs.

For example, ClickFunnels integrates with payment processors, webinar platforms, CRMs, email providers, and more.

ActiveCampaign also integrates with third-party solutions like CRMs, e-commerce platforms, messaging apps, CMS tools, and other marketing apps.

The ability to connect these platforms is a major benefit of both solutions.

Bottom Line

For core features like email marketing automation, contact management, and in-depth tracking, ActiveCampaign is the stronger choice.

But for building sales funnels, custom landing pages, and natively selling products/services online, ClickFunnels offers superior functionality.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Sales Funnels – ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels

If your primary goal is to create sales funnels, ClickFunnels is undoubtedly the better choice between these two software platforms.

Let’s compare some of the key advantages ClickFunnels has for building high-converting funnels.

Funnel Builder

The main reason businesses use ClickFunnels is for its powerful visual Funnel Builder. It lets you map out your entire sales process step-by-step.

With ClickFunnels, you can easily:

With ActiveCampaign, you’d have to create funnel-like workflows using a mix of automation, landing pages, forms, and tags. It takes more work to set up funnel flows.

Funnel Templates

Another massive time-saver is ClickFunnels’ library of pre-built funnel templates.

Templates are available for:

ClickFunnels allows you to deploy proven high-converting funnel frameworks in just minutes.

ActiveCampaign has some automated email templates but nothing replicating full sales funnel flows.

Funnel Analytics

ClickFunnels provides deep analytics on your funnel performance with its Funnel Flare feature.

You can see key metrics like:

This helps you identify leaks in your funnel and optimize it.

ActiveCampaign has contact-level analytics, but it does not offer visual funnel mapping or analytics.

Funnel Sharing

With ClickFunnels, you can easily share funnels or even sell access to them.

For example, you could:

ActiveCampaign does not have functionality for sharing or licensing automated workflows or landing pages.

Split Testing

ClickFunnels allows A/B testing of different funnel variations to see which converts better. You can test:

This takes the guesswork out of optimization.

While you can A/B test ActiveCampaign landing pages, you cannot split-test full sales funnel flows.

One-Click Upsells & Downsells

To maximize revenue, ClickFunnels offers one-click “order bumps” to upsell customers or offer downsells if they decline.

You can increase average order value with strategic upsell offers in your funnel flow.

ActiveCampaign does not have native upsell or downsell functionality.

A Quick Recap

For all aspects of creating high-converting sales funnels, from builders to templates to sharing and split testing, ClickFunnels is simply unmatched.

ActiveCampaign focuses more on generalized email marketing automation rather than specialized funnel functionality.

So if you want to implement proven funnels that convert, ClickFunnels is the clear winner.

Pricing and Affordability

Pricing is often a major factor when choosing between platforms. Let’s look at what each solution costs.

ClickFunnels Pricing

ClickFunnels has three core pricing plans:

ClickFunnels Basic

ClickFunnels Pro

ClickFunnels Funnel Hacker

You can try ClickFunnels for 14 days to determine if it’s the best match for your needs.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign has 4 main packages based on your number of contacts:

Lite Plan

Plus Plan

Professional Plan

Enterprise Plan

ActiveCampaign also allows you to try its basic plan without pulling out your credit card.

Volume Discounts

Both platforms offer discounts if you pay annually rather than monthly. This can save you 10-15%.

ActiveCampaign also provides discounted rates at higher contact volumes above 25,000.

ClickFunnels does not openly publish volume discounts. But you may be able to negotiate custom pricing for large plans.

Which Is More Affordable?

For smaller lists under 500 contacts, ActiveCampaign is more affordable at $29/month.

Once you exceed 500 contacts, ClickFunnels becomes the cheaper option at $127/month.

With ActiveCampaign, you pay based on contacts. So costs scale up steadily as your list grows into the thousands.

ClickFunnels’ billing is not based on list size. So beyond the 5,000 contact mark, their $127 flat fee is very competitive.

Of course, affordability depends on which features you actually need. But all else being equal, ClickFunnels offers good value for medium-sized businesses.

That said, large enterprises sending millions of emails per month are better served by ActiveCampaign’s Enterprise tier.

A Quick Recap

At lower contact volumes, ActiveCampaign is more affordable. But ClickFunnels becomes the cost-effective choice as your list size grows into the thousands and beyond.

To identify the best value, consider the specific features you need for your business alongside the pricing.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Marketing Automation – Which is Better?

When it comes to robust marketing automation capabilities, ActiveCampaign is the superior choice over ClickFunnels.

Before concluding, let me quickly take you through the analysis of some of ActiveCampaign’s key strengths for automating complex marketing workflows and campaigns, as well as ClickFunnels.

Visual Workflow Builder

The cornerstone of ActiveCampaign’s automation is its intuitive drag-and-drop Workflow Builder. This allows you to visually map out multi-step campaigns based on contact behaviours.

For example, you could create workflows like:

With ClickFunnels, automation revolves around email/SMS follow-up sequences. While useful, this does not provide the adaptability of a true visual workflow builder.

Segmentation and Lists

ActiveCampaign makes it easy to segment your audience into lists and subgroups based on any attribute or behaviour.

You can then target workflows and campaigns to specific lists for more personalized, relevant messaging.

ClickFunnels also lets you categorize contacts, but its list management and segmentation capabilities are far more limited compared to ActiveCampaign.

Lead Scoring

Assigning lead scores in ActiveCampaign helps you quantify and track buyer readiness. You can score contacts based on:

ClickFunnels does not offer comparable lead-scoring functionality.

Lifecycle Marketing

With ActiveCampaign’s intelligent automation, you can walk contacts through an entire customer lifecycle journey. 

Send targeted messages at each stage, from:

This level of personalized lifecycle marketing is not feasible in ClickFunnels without extensive custom development.

Event-Triggered Campaigns

In ActiveCampaign, you can launch campaigns in response to specific events like:

ClickFunnels allows some post-purchase upsells but minimal other event-based automation.

Cart Abandonment

You can create cart abandonment automation to re-engage and win back customers who started but did not complete a purchase.

For e-commerce sites, this is a powerful technique to increase revenue. ClickFunnels does not provide comparable abandon cart automation.

In Summary

With its visual workflow builder, intelligent lead scoring, lifecycle campaigns, and other advanced capabilities, ActiveCampaign is far better suited for complex marketing automation scenarios compared to ClickFunnels.

If you want to automate multi-step journeys and hyper-personalize messaging, ActiveCampaign is the clear winner here.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

CRM Capabilities

When it comes to built-in CRM functionality, ActiveCampaign is far more robust than ClickFunnels.

Let’s explore some of ActiveCampaign’s key advantages for managing contacts and interactions.

Unified Contact Profiles

In ActiveCampaign, all information about a contact is aggregated into a single unified profile. This overview includes:

This provides a 360-degree view of each contact for more personalized outreach.

ClickFunnels does not have unified contact profiles. Contact data is spread across various areas of the platform.

Timeline and History

You can view a visual timeline of all past interactions with a contact in ActiveCampaign. This history includes:

At a glance, you can see your historical engagement with a contact.

ClickFunnels does not offer full interaction timelines and histories for contacts.

Contact Scoring

In ActiveCampaign, you can define custom scoring criteria to automatically score contacts based on engagement and behaviours. This identifies hot leads.

Here are examples of some scoring factors:

And again, ClickFunnels has no comparable contact scoring functionality.

Deals Pipeline

ActiveCampaign lets you track deals through a sales pipeline with stages like:

You can view deal values, statuses, and next steps right in the platform.

While ClickFunnels offers some basic sales tracking, it does not have full-featured pipelines for managing deals.

Task Management

Within each contact profile, you can create tasks for the next actions like:

Task management is not included in ClickFunnels.

Call Logging

In ActiveCampaign, you can log details of calls with contacts like:

This provides helpful records of past discussions accessible in the platform.

ClickFunnels has no call logging functionality.

A Quick Recap

With its unified profiles, interaction timelines, scoring, pipeline, and other features, ActiveCampaign provides a complete CRM solution.

ClickFunnels focuses on sales funnel capabilities rather than robust contact relationship management.

For built-in, fully-featured CRM, ActiveCampaign is clearly the superior choice here

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Email Marketing and Automation

While both platforms offer email capabilities, ActiveCampaign has far more advanced and robust options for email marketing and automation.

Let’s look at some of ActiveCampaign’s key advantages in this area too.

Email Design and Templates

ActiveCampaign provides hundreds of professionally designed email templates you can customize with your branding. It provides you with options like:

With ClickFunnels, your email design options are more limited. It does not offer the breadth of templates and customization that ActiveCampaign does.

List Segmentation

ActiveCampaign makes it easy to organize your contacts into segmented lists and subgroups. You can then target campaigns to specific segments for more relevant messaging.

For example, you may create lists for:

ClickFunnels has basic list management but lacks ActiveCampaign’s robust segmentation capabilities.

Automated Journeys

With ActiveCampaign, you can set up sophisticated email journeys that adapt based on subscriber behaviours.

For instance:

This level of adaptive, multi-branch automation is not possible in ClickFunnels without extensive custom development.

Lead Scoring

You can automatically score subscriber engagement in ActiveCampaign using metrics like:

Higher-scoring leads can be routed through priority workflows.

ClickFunnels does not offer native lead-scoring functionality.

A/B Testing

When sending campaigns in ActiveCampaign, you can A/B test different:

This allows you to optimize your emails for higher open and click rates.

A/B testing is not available for emails sent through ClickFunnels.

Email Analytics

ActiveCampaign provides detailed analytics on your emails including:

With ClickFunnels, you have access to high-level email metrics but not the deeper insights within ActiveCampaign.

In Summary

With its extensive templates, automation, segmentation, A/B testing, and analytics, ActiveCampaign dominates when it comes to advanced email marketing capabilities compared to ClickFunnels.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

Landing Pages – ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels

Both ClickFunnels and ActiveCampaign provide intuitive drag-and-drop landing page builders. But ClickFunnels offers superior design flexibility and conversion optimization features.

Let’s analyze some of ClickFunnels’ key advantages for creating high-converting landing pages.

Landing Page Editor

ClickFunnels’ landing page editor makes it incredibly easy to customize templates or build new pages from scratch. You can quickly:

Compared to ActiveCampaign’s editor, ClickFunnels provides far more design flexibility and template options for crafting landing pages.

A/B Testing

ClickFunnels allows you to set up A/B tests for different variations of your landing pages. It allows you to test changes like:

This takes the guesswork out of optimization.

While ActiveCampaign has basic A/B testing, you cannot test full-page design variants like in ClickFunnels.

Lead Capture Forms

ClickFunnels’ Form Builder makes it quick and easy to create custom lead capture forms for your landing pages.

You can add fields for:

And more. Styling and layout options are very flexible.

ActiveCampaign’s form customization and functionality are more constrained compared to ClickFunnels’ Form Builder.

Page-Level Analytics

ClickFunnels provides page-specific analytics to see:

With ActiveCampaign, you can only view site-wide aggregated analytics rather than page-specific metrics.

Custom Domains

You can use custom domains with both platforms. But domain mapping is more seamless in ClickFunnels.

For example, you can design micro-targeted landing pages and map domains like

With ActiveCampaign, you typically embed landing pages on your primary marketing domain.

Integrations

ClickFunnels easily integrates landing pages with external platforms like

Expanding functionality is streamlined.

ActiveCampaign page integrations are more limited.

Bottom Line

ClickFunnels is the superior platform for creating fully optimized, high-converting landing pages compared to ActiveCampaign.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

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Summary – ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels

So which is better overall – ClickFunnels or ActiveCampaign?

The truth is that both platforms are leaders in their respective niches. Choosing the right solution depends on your specific business needs and goals.

Let me give you some determining factors to clearly see when you need which.

ClickFunnels is better if you want to:

ActiveCampaign is better if you need:

Before we go, let me give you a quick recap comparison:

ClickFunnelsActiveCampaign
FocusSales funnels &marketing pagesEmail marketing &automation
Best ForDriving online salesComplex automation &customer journeys
StrengthsLanding page builder, Membership sites & courses, Affiliate managementWorkflows & lifecycle campaigns, CRM capabilities
Top FeaturesSales funnels, Webinars, Membership sitesEmail marketing, AutomationCRM
Pricing$127 – $208/month$29 – $149/month

👉 Ultimately, your unique business goals should drive which platform you choose.

You may even find value in using both ClickFunnels and ActiveCampaign together in some cases.

The two integrate well, so you can leverage ClickFunnels for sales funnel pages and ActiveCampaign for email/CRM. This “best of both worlds” approach is worth considering.

Try ActiveCampaign
Try ClickFunnels

ActiveCampaign vs Clickfunnels – FAQs

What is ClickFunnels used for?

ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder used to create optimized landing pages, membership sites, courses, webinars, and other marketing assets to drive online sales. It provides templates and tools to map out your conversion funnel.

What does ActiveCampaign do?

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform focused on email, CRM, and automation workflows. It helps businesses design email campaigns, score leads, personalize messaging, manage contacts, track interactions, and automate complex customer journeys.

Is ClickFunnels better than ActiveCampaign?

ClickFunnels is better for building sales funnels and high-converting landing pages. ActiveCampaign is superior for email marketing automation, contact management, and advanced CRM capabilities. The best platform depends on your specific goals.

Can you use both ActiveCampaign and ClickFunnels?

Yes, many businesses use both ActiveCampaign and ClickFunnels together by integrating them. You can leverage ActiveCampaign for email and CRM while using ClickFunnels for sales pages and funnels. The two platforms complement each other nicely.

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than ClickFunnels?

ActiveCampaign can be more affordable than ClickFunnels for smaller contact lists under 5,000 subscribers. But ClickFunnels becomes the cheaper option for larger lists of 5,000+ contacts at its flat $127/month starter pricing.

What’s better for webinars – ActiveCampaign or ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels is better for hosting webinars and virtual summits. It seamlessly integrates with webinar software like WebinarJam and EverWebinar. ActiveCampaign focuses more on email automation rather than webinar capabilities.

Can you make membership sites with ActiveCampaign?

No, ActiveCampaign does not have membership site creation tools. ClickFunnels offers far better support for building protected membership sites, courses, and communities compared to ActiveCampaign.

Is ClickFunnels easy to use?

Yes, ClickFunnels provides a very user-friendly and intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Even non-technical users can comfortably build sales funnels and pages with a little training. Pre-built templates accelerate the process further.

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