TL;DR: ClickFunnels Review | Should Coaches and Course Creators Use It?
ClickFunnels builds the whole sales side of a course, coaching, or consulting business. Opt-in and sales pages, checkout with order bumps, one-click upsells and downsells, email follow-up, and automations all live in one place. ClickFunnels can also host courses and communities, but delivery is its weaker half.
Pricing: Launch $97/mo ($81/mo billed annually), Scale $197/mo, Optimize $297/mo, and Dominate $5,997/yr
Free trial: 14-day free trial, no credit card, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee
Standout features:
– Funnel builder with templates for lead magnets, webinars, challenges, and applications
– Smart Checkout with order bumps, one-click upsells, and downsells
– Payments AI with automatic retries for failed subscription payments
– Email, workflows, CRM pipelines, and appointments in one account
– No percentage taken from your sales
Use ClickFunnels when: Selling is your bottleneck and you want upsells, follow-up, and booking calls automated.
Skip ClickFunnels when: Teaching is your priority and you need quizzes, a student app, or a polished learning experience (pick Kajabi or Thinkific).
Try ClickFunnels for free
If you’re like me, you’ve always thought of ClickFunnels as a sales tool. Russell Brunson built it in 2014 so entrepreneurs could launch funnels without stitching together page builders and checkout tools, and selling is still where it shines.
For course creators, coaches, and consultants, that matters more than most feature lists suggest. A great course with a weak sales process earns little, while a simple course behind a well-built funnel, with an order bump, an upsell, and a week of follow-up emails, can earn several times more from the same traffic.
In this ClickFunnels review, I show what ClickFunnels does for each step of your sales process, where its course and coaching tools fall short, what each plan includes, and when another platform fits better.
What Is ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is a funnel builder and sales platform for online businesses. Users build a sequence of pages that move someone from stranger to buyer, such as an opt-in page, a sales page, and a checkout, then connect email, payments, and automations so the whole sequence runs on its own.
Who it’s for: Course creators, coaches, and consultants who sell with funnels, launches, webinars, challenges, or sales calls, and who want upsells and follow-up handled automatically.
Not a fit for: Educators who need quizzes, graded assignments, a student mobile app, or deep learning analytics.
High-ticket programs have used ClickFunnels for years to run their sales, including Amazing’s ecommerce training, which sells through a ClickFunnels funnel. Compared with Kajabi, ClickFunnels gives you sharper funnel and checkout tools but a plainer course experience. Compared with HighLevel, it’s easier to start with but offers fewer agency and CRM features.
What the New ClickFunnels Offers
ClickFunnels now covers nearly every step of an online sale, plus basic product delivery.
- Sales funnels: Build opt-in, webinar, challenge, application, tripwire, and product launch funnels from templates.
- Smart Checkout: Add order bumps, one-click upsells, and downsells, with saved payment details for returning buyers.
- Payments AI: Take payments through Stripe, PayPal, NMI, or the built-in processor, with automatic retries for failed charges.
- Email and automations: Send broadcasts and sequences, split test subject lines, track revenue per email, and build multi-step workflows that react to opt-ins, purchases, and abandoned carts.
- CRM and sales tools: Track deals in pipelines, answer leads in Message Hub, and book calls with Appointments.
- Courses, memberships, and community: Host courses with drip content and certificates, and run private or paid groups.
- Website, blog, and store: Run your whole site here.
- ClickFunnels AI (beta): Describe your offer, and AI researches your market and drafts a full funnel with copy and images.
What ClickFunnels Still Does NOT Offer
Even now, ClickFunnels isn’t a learning platform, and a few gaps matter for course creators.
- No quizzes or assignments: The course tools list no tests, homework, or graded assessments.
- No branded student app: Students take courses in the browser, since ClickFunnels offers no mobile app with your brand on it.
- No live video or webinar hosting: Live sessions still run on Zoom, GoTo Webinar, or another tool.
- No deep learning analytics: Reports show course progress, not video engagement or time on lesson.
In short, ClickFunnels is a sales engine with delivery tools attached. If selling is the hard part of your business, that’s the right order of priorities. If teaching is, it isn’t.
If you need agency-grade CRM and automation, read my HighLevel review
Who Is ClickFunnels For, and Who Is It Not For?
Here’s where I draw the line.
| ClickFunnels is for | ClickFunnels is not for |
|---|---|
| Course creators who sell through launches, webinars, or challenges | Educators who need quizzes, grading, or learning paths |
| Coaches who book sales calls for high-ticket programs | Creators who want a branded mobile app for students |
| Consultants selling productized offers or workshops | Corporate trainers who need SCORM or LMS reporting |
| Sellers who want order bumps, upsells, and downsells | Bloggers who rely mostly on SEO traffic |
| Teams running several brands from one account | Beginners who only need a simple course storefront |
My position is clear. ClickFunnels is worth its price when selling is your bottleneck. If you already have buyers and need a better place to teach them, a course platform will serve you better and cost less.
ClickFunnels Product Snapshot
Here’s a quick look at what ClickFunnels offers.
| ClickFunnels | |
|---|---|
| What it is | A funnel builder and sales platform with email, CRM, payments, courses, and community |
| Founded | 2014, by Russell Brunson |
| Best for | Course creators, coaches, and consultants who sell with funnels |
| Pricing | Launch $97/mo, Scale $197/mo, Optimize $297/mo, Dominate $5,997/yr |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card |
| Transaction fees | None from ClickFunnels, only payment processing fees |
| Payments | Payments AI with Stripe, PayPal, NMI, and a built-in processor |
| AI features | ClickFunnels AI funnel builder (beta), AI copywriting with word limits by plan, and AI coaching |
| Scale | More than 100,000 users and over 1 million funnels created, according to ClickFunnels |
| Key limitations | No quizzes, no student app, automations and appointments locked on Launch, affiliate tools only on Optimize and up |
ClickFunnels Pricing | How Much Does It Cost?
ClickFunnels has four plans, and all of them include unlimited funnels, unlimited visitors, email marketing, courses, community, CRM pipelines, and Payments AI. The 14-day free trial, no credit card works on every plan, and a 30-day money-back guarantee covers your first payment.
ClickFunnels pricing plans:
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually (per month) | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | $97 | $81 | 10,000 contacts, 3 courses |
| Scale | $197 | $164 | 75,000 contacts, 6 courses |
| Optimize | $297 | $248 | 150,000 contacts, 10 courses |
| Dominate | – | – | 400,000 contacts, 20 courses |
ClickFunnels features by plan:
| Feature | Launch | Scale | Optimize | Dominate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funnels | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Contacts | 10,000 | 75,000 | 150,000 | 400,000 |
| Emails per month | 50,000 | 300,000 | 750,000 | 1.2 million |
| Courses | 3 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| Workspaces | 1 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| Team members | 2 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| Custom domains | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI tools (words) | 1 million | 2 million | 5 million | 10 million |
| Email marketing, CRM pipelines, Payments AI, courses, community | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automations (workflows) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced workflows | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Appointments | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Calendars | None | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| Countdown funnels and conversion boosters | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Affiliate Center | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom code editor, webhooks and API | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Support | Standard | Priority and live chat | Priority and live chat | VIP and live chat |
| Onboarding calls | Group | Group | Group plus private 1 hour | Group plus private 3 hours |
- Launch: Funnels, email, courses, and checkout, but no automations or appointments.
- Scale: Adds workflows, appointments with 5 calendars, countdown funnels, conversion boosters, and API access.
- Optimize: Adds advanced workflows, the Affiliate Center, and a private onboarding call.
- Dominate: Annual only, with a dedicated email IP, SSO, VIP support, and 3 hours of private onboarding.
Look closely at Launch before you pick it. The ClickFunnels pricing page lists no automations and no appointments on that plan, so a coach who wants abandoned-cart emails or booked sales calls needs Scale at $164/mo billed annually. For most course creators and coaches, Scale is the real starting point.
ClickFunnels takes no cut of your sales, but Stripe or PayPal still charge their usual processing fees. ClickFunnels also labels unlimited funnels a limited-time offer, so check the plan details when you sign up. Run your numbers through my course revenue calculator before you commit.
How ClickFunnels Works | Sales Funnels & Business Apps
Everything in ClickFunnels starts with a funnel. A funnel is a guided series of pages, such as an opt-in, a sales page, a checkout, and an upsell, built to get one specific action, like a sign-up, a purchase, or a booked call.
Apps then plug into each funnel. A purchase can enroll a buyer in a course, add them to a community group, tag them in the CRM, and start an email sequence, all without third-party tools. The rebuilt funnel builder also shows page views, opt-ins, orders, and revenue for every step, so you can spot where buyers drop off without opening a separate report.
If you’re used to Kajabi or Thinkific, where you build the course first, ClickFunnels feels reversed. Here you build the sales process first and attach the product to it.
How Course Creators, Coaches, and Consultants Use ClickFunnels
Here’s what ClickFunnels looks like in practice for the three businesses it suits best. Each example uses tools built into the platform.
Course Creators: Lead Magnet to Course Sale
Offer a free checklist on an opt-in page, then send a 5-email sequence that leads to your course sales page. At checkout, add a $27 workbook as an order bump. After purchase, show a one-click upsell for a $297 group coaching add-on, and if the buyer declines, show a downsell for a $97 recorded version.
Payments AI retries failed payment-plan charges automatically, the purchase enrolls the buyer in the course, and an automation sends onboarding emails. Upsells and downsells like these are exactly where ClickFunnels earns its price, since most course platforms offer them in a simpler form or not at all.
Coaches: Application Funnel for High-Ticket Programs
Send ad or social traffic to a short video page that explains your program. Interested visitors fill out a survey workflow that asks about their goals and budget, qualified leads book a call through Appointments, and each new lead lands in a CRM pipeline stage.
Message Hub lets you answer leads from one inbox, and automations send booking reminders. After the call, a payment link closes the sale, and the client gets instant access to a private community group and course materials.
Consultants: Workshop or Productized Offer
Sell a $497 strategy workshop through a countdown funnel that closes registration on a fixed date. Buyers get a recording in the course area afterward, and a follow-up sequence invites them to apply for a done-for-you engagement.
The same account can run a second brand in its own workspace on Scale and higher, which helps consultants who sell to two different markets.
Read my step-by-step guide to creating a sales funnel
ClickFunnels Core Features | Sales Funnel Builder & Automation Platform
Below, I start with a summary table and then go through each feature in order of how much it matters for selling, with its limitations.
ClickFunnels Features at a Glance
| Feature | What it does | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Sales funnels | Templates and a drag-and-drop editor for every funnel type | Design flexibility below dedicated page builders |
| ClickFunnels AI | Researches your market and drafts full funnels | In beta, and drafts need editing |
| Smart Checkout | Order bumps, one-click upsells, and downsells | Some checkout options sit behind settings, not features |
| Payments AI | Multiple gateways with failed-payment retries | Processing fees still apply |
| Email and automations | Broadcasts, sequences, and workflows | No automations on Launch, advanced workflows from Optimize |
| CRM and appointments | Pipelines, Message Hub, and booking | No appointments on Launch, calendars capped by plan |
| Courses and memberships | Modules, drip, certificates, and access rules | No quizzes, no student app |
| Community | Groups, topics, paid access, and moderation | No gamification or live events |
| Website and blog | Full site, blog, and store | Basic SEO and blogging tools |
| Affiliate Center | One- and two-tier affiliate programs | Only on Optimize and Dominate |
ClickFunnels Feature #1: Sales And Marketing Funnels
Funnels are the reason to use ClickFunnels. Instead of hoping visitors find their way to a purchase, a funnel walks them through one step at a time, from a free offer to a paid one.
ClickFunnels gives you two ways to build them.
1. ClickFunnels AI Funnel Builder
ClickFunnels AI, in open beta, builds a funnel from a description of your business. Quick Mode asks a few questions and starts building, while Research Mode first studies your niche, trends, and customer avatar, then recommends a funnel type before writing pages, copy, and images.
The drafts save time, but treat them as a starting point. Whether the funnel converts still depends on your offer, proof, and voice.
2. ClickFunnels Funnel Editor
With the funnel editor, you can build any funnel with drag-and-drop elements, from scratch or from templates for webinars, lead generation, product launches, coaching offers, course enrollments, and memberships.
ClickFunnels recently rebuilt the funnel builder for speed, adding stats for every step and a tab bar that opens workflows, opt-ins, orders, and stats without leaving the funnel. The editor itself stays familiar, though designers will find it less flexible than dedicated page builders.
ClickFunnels Feature #2: Smart Checkout, Upsells, and Downsells
ClickFunnels makes most of its money for you at checkout. Smart Checkout adds order bumps, such as a $27 workbook next to the buy button, and one-click upsells after purchase that charge the saved card without re-entering details.
Downsells catch buyers who say no to an upsell, or customers who want to cancel a subscription, by offering a lower-priced option instead. Returning customers see their payment and shipping details filled in automatically, and the Discounts app handles coupons and special offers.
One quirk is that order bumps sit inside checkout settings rather than as a headline feature, and conversion boosters require Scale or higher.
ClickFunnels Feature #3: Payments AI
Payments AI handles payments across your funnels and store. Connect Stripe, PayPal, or NMI, or use the built-in processor, then set your billing and currency settings once.
For memberships and payment plans, the most useful part is dunning. When a card fails, Payments AI retries the charge on a schedule you control, notifies the customer, and offers a backup payment method, so fewer students drop off because of an expired card. ClickFunnels takes no percentage of sales, though gateway fees still apply.
ClickFunnels Feature #4: Email Marketing & Automation
ClickFunnels includes email marketing, so you can send broadcasts, run sequences, and segment contacts by funnel step, purchase, course, or lifetime value. Subject line split tests send the winner to the rest of your list, and a dashboard reports opens, clicks, and revenue per email.
Workflows automate the rest. Triggers include opt-ins, purchases, course completions, and abandoned carts, and actions include sending emails, tagging contacts, enrolling buyers in courses, and sending appointment reminders.
Plan limits matter here, since Launch doesn’t include automations and advanced workflows start on Optimize. Triggers also center on sales events, so I couldn’t find a built-in way to email students who stop logging in to a course. If email drives most of your business, compare it with the dedicated email marketing platforms, or connect one through the native integrations for ActiveCampaign, Kit, Mailchimp, and others.
ClickFunnels Feature #5: CRM, Appointments, and Sales Calls
Coaches and consultants who sell through calls get a full sales toolkit. Opportunities tracks each deal through pipeline stages, Message Hub collects conversations with leads and customers in one inbox, and Appointments lets prospects book calls with branded booking pages, buffer times, and automatic meeting links.
Appointments can also collect a fee when someone books, which suits paid strategy sessions. The catch is the plan, because Launch includes no appointments or calendars, Scale gives you 5 calendars, and Message Hub seats rise from 2 to 20 agents across the plans.
ClickFunnels Feature #6: Online Course & Membership Hosting
ClickFunnels lets you create, sell, and deliver courses without another platform. Build modules and lessons with themes and the page editor, drip content on a schedule, upload videos, and turn on downloadable completion certificates.
The real advantage is the connection to your funnels. A course can be a lead magnet, a main offer, a bundle, or an upsell, and a purchase enrolls the buyer automatically.
Course delivery is where ClickFunnels falls behind. The course tools include no quizzes or assignments, progress tracking stays basic, and students have no branded mobile app. Plans also cap courses at 3 on Launch, 6 on Scale, 10 on Optimize, and 20 on Dominate, which can pinch creators with large libraries. If you sell through ClickFunnels but want a better learning experience, you can deliver in Thinkific or another platform instead.
ClickFunnels Feature #7: Community and Private Groups
The Community app lets you run private or secret groups with topics, posts, comments, and moderation controls such as post and comment approval. Access ties to a product, membership, or course, so a $47-a-month inner circle is easy to sell and deliver from the same account.
Community features stay basic. ClickFunnels doesn’t mention gamification, live events, or a mobile app for members, so engagement depends on you posting and prompting discussion. Platforms like Skool or Circle do more for community-first businesses.
ClickFunnels Feature #8: Website & Blog Builder
ClickFunnels includes a full website builder for homepages, about pages, and sales-focused sites, plus a blog, custom domains, and a store for physical products.
The blog covers basic SEO settings like titles and descriptions, but it lacks the plugins, categories, and content tools of WordPress. If organic traffic drives your business, keep your blog on WordPress and use ClickFunnels for funnels on a subdomain.
ClickFunnels Feature #9: Affiliate Center
With the Affiliate Center, you recruit affiliates through a sign-up funnel and give them a dashboard with referral links, commission tracking, and promotional assets. Programs can be single-tier or two-tier, with product-specific commission rates.
ClickFunnels now advertises automated payouts, though it doesn’t explain how they work, so confirm the payout process before you launch. Only Optimize and Dominate include the Affiliate Center.
Other Useful ClickFunnels Features
A few smaller tools round out the platform.
- Analytics and A/B testing: Track funnel performance and test page or email variations.
- Countdown funnels: Add deadlines to offers to drive urgency, on Scale and up.
- Survey workflows: Collect answers from leads and route them to the right offer.
- Short links: Create branded, trackable links for your funnels.
- Customer Center: Give buyers one place to access their purchases.
- AI coaching: Get text guidance on every plan and voice guidance from Scale up.
- Integrations: Connect Zapier, ActiveCampaign, Kit, HubSpot, Pipedrive, GoTo Webinar, Slack, and more.
ClickFunnels Pros And Cons | What Are Its Main Strengths & Weaknesses?
Here are the strengths and weaknesses that matter most for course creators, coaches, and consultants.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Funnel templates for launches, webinars, challenges, and applications | No quizzes, assignments, or learning paths |
| Order bumps, one-click upsells, and downsells built into checkout | No branded mobile app for students or members |
| Payments AI retries failed charges and supports several gateways | Automations and appointments missing on Launch |
| Email, workflows, CRM, and booking in one account | Advanced workflows and affiliates only from Optimize |
| No percentage taken from your sales | Course limits per plan, starting at 3 on Launch |
| Unlimited funnels and visitors on every plan, for now | Unlimited funnels labeled a limited-time offer |
| Several brands in separate workspaces from Scale up | Community has no gamification or live events |
| AI funnel builder drafts pages, copy, and images | Blog and SEO tools stay basic |
ClickFunnels Alternatives
Here’s how the main alternatives compare with ClickFunnels.
| Platform | Starting price | Where it’s better | Where ClickFunnels is better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | $143/mo billed annually | Course delivery, branded mobile app, and polished design | Upsells, downsells, and funnel flexibility |
| HighLevel | $81/mo billed annually | CRM, SMS, and agency tools | Easier funnel setup for solo creators |
| Thinkific | $82/mo billed annually | Quizzes, learning experience, and course structure | Sales funnels and checkout optimization |
| Kartra | $52/mo billed annually | Lower entry price with similar all-in-one tools | Funnel templates, community, and Payments AI retries |
| Leadpages | $79/mo billed annually | Simple landing pages at a low price | Full funnels, checkout, email, and courses |
For a head-to-head breakdown, see my Kajabi vs ClickFunnels comparison and my list of the best online course platforms.
Verdict | Who Should Use ClickFunnels? Is It Worth Your Money?
Overall I recommend ClickFunnels for course creators, coaches, and consultants whose biggest challenge is selling. Bumps, upsells, payment retries, email follow-up, and booked calls all run from one account, and that system can lift revenue from the traffic you already have.
Pick Scale rather than Launch if you need automations or appointments, and pair ClickFunnels with a course platform if your students need quizzes, an app, or a richer learning experience. If teaching matters more than selling, start with Kajabi or Thinkific instead. Otherwise, use the 14-day free trial, no credit card to build one complete funnel for your best offer before you pay.
Jeff Cobb, Founder of Learning Revolution
Jeff Cobb is an expert in online education and the business of adult lifelong learning. Over the past 20+ years he has built a thriving career based on that expertise – as an entrepreneur, a consultant, an author, and a speaker. Learning Revolution is a place where Jeff curates tips, insights, and resources to help you build a thriving expertise-based business. Learn more about Jeff Cobb here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are answers to the questions people ask me most often about ClickFunnels.
Does ClickFunnels offer a free trial?
ClickFunnels offers a 14-day free trial on any plan, with no credit card required on the standard trial. After the trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee covers your first payment. Some partner links offer a 30-day trial on the Scale plan, but those usually require a card.
Which ClickFunnels plan should a coach choose?
Most coaches should choose Scale, not Launch. Launch includes no automations, appointments, or calendars, so you can’t automate follow-up emails or book sales calls inside ClickFunnels. Scale adds workflows, appointments with 5 calendars, countdown funnels, and API access for $197 a month.
Does ClickFunnels support upsells and downsells?
Upsells and downsells are ClickFunnels’ strongest feature. Smart Checkout adds order bumps at checkout, one-click upsells after purchase that charge the saved card, and downsells that offer a cheaper option when buyers decline or try to cancel. Course platforms rarely match this level of control.
Can I host my online course on ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels hosts courses with modules, drip content, videos, and completion certificates, which you sell through your funnels. The platform lacks quizzes, assignments, and a branded student app, though, so many creators sell with ClickFunnels and deliver courses in Thinkific or Kajabi instead.
Does ClickFunnels take a percentage of sales?
ClickFunnels charges only its monthly or annual plan price and takes no cut of your sales. Processing fees still go to your payment gateway, such as Stripe or PayPal, which typically run around 3% per transaction, depending on your country and card type.
Does ClickFunnels work with Stripe and PayPal?
Payments AI connects Stripe, PayPal, and NMI, and ClickFunnels also offers a built-in payment processor. Payments AI retries failed charges on a schedule you set and offers backup payment methods, which helps memberships and payment plans keep more paying customers.
Can I host a webinar on ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels can build webinar registration, reminder, and replay funnels, but it doesn’t host live video. Run the live session on Zoom, GoTo Webinar, or WebinarFuel, then use ClickFunnels pages, emails, and checkout to handle registrations and sales around the event.
Is ClickFunnels good for beginners?
Beginners can launch a funnel quickly with templates and the AI funnel builder, without code. Learning the full platform takes longer, since email, workflows, CRM, and checkout settings all connect. Start with one funnel for one offer, then add automations once it makes sales.
Table of Contents
ClickFunnels used to be great — now it’s a mess.
Constant bugs, poor reactivity, and overpriced compared to newer tools that do the same job 6x cheaper.
They call themselves “premium,” but when something goes wrong and you ask for support or a refund, you just get silence.
Can you suggest a better alternative to ClickFunnels in your experience? And what aspects of the platform do you think are overpriced or underwhelming?