Twenty years ago, hardly anybody had ever heard of a sales funnel. Even fewer had heard the term landing page.
Almost nobody knew how important those two terms would be in the world of digital marketing.
Today, most websites have some kind of process in place that allows them to generate and capture interest from potential customers, generated through landing pages as part of a sales funnel.
Whether that's a few pages they developed on their own through the website or it comes from third-party software, the point is that you have to cultivate the customer experience. Simply setting up shop and hoping the customer is ready to buy will almost certainly fail.
Assuming that you're prepared to invest in some tools to help you with this process, which one should you choose? Of the available options, Unbounce and ClickFunnels are two of the most popular, but neither will appeal to everyone.
Making the best choice between the two comes down to your business goals and marketing knowledge. Read on to help you decide!
Unbounce vs ClickFunnels: Introduction
In a lot of ways, Unbounce and Clickfunnels are very similar. They both include the essential parts of landing page builders, such as drag-and-drop editors, premade templates, and split testing capabilities.
They also train the reader to move towards a specific action, such as signing up for an email list or making a purchase. Either one will help your business in that regard.
What you're really looking for in a landing page software like this is the ability to create flow. You want to take the reader from awareness to action in a single page or throughout the sales cycle.
Whoever does that most effectively — with minimal headaches, competitive pricing, and most of all, the highest chance of success — will come out on top.
Overview of Unbounce
Unbounce is the granddaddy of landing page builders. Released in 2011, Unbounce launched a few years before ClickFunnels and cemented the need for a landing page in most people's minds.
Although the company has progressed quite a bit since its inception, it's remained true to its focus on landing pages. Whereas most have decided to branch out to offer additional services, Unbounce remains laser-focused on increasing your conversion rate and little else.
A few features are missing, such as an autoresponder email service, but with beginner-friendly pricing and solid support staff, you can do much worse than choosing Unbounce as a landing page builder.
Overview of Clickfunnels
The focus of ClickFunnels expands beyond landing pages, and more on the sales funnel at large. While you certainly can develop beautiful pages with ClickFunnels, the idea is more on creating a holistic marketing strategy that encapsulates the entire customer journey.
Led by its celebrity co-founder Russell Brunson, ClickFunnels was released in 2014 and has been on a meteoric rise ever since. The co-founder Todd Dickerson is the real brains behind the actual software development. Still, Brunson is a marketing genius, speaking at conferences and offering an incredible affiliate program to drive adoption.
ClickFunnels is undoubtedly the most visible option, but it's also more expensive than Unbounce.
Still, ClickFunnels ensures that everyone who signs up has as much support as possible and constantly adds more features that the user base loves.
TL;DR Overview of Unbounce vs Clickfunnels
ClickFunnels is a massive ecosystem that strives to handle the entire customer journey from beginning to end. Since it's catering to a wide variety of entrepreneurs — those that handle everything from e-commerce to bloggers — it's extremely accessible.
With ClickFunnels, you have everything you need to get started. They offer a massive online community to help, as well as website hosting. Their software handles everything from a membership site to email autoresponders, so you get more software right out of the box.
Unbounce, on the other hand, is determined to build the best landing pages possible. Their service is mostly geared toward people that already have a basic understanding of marketing, design, and software development. For that reason, their primary audience is agencies or SaaS companies.
Unbounce Vs. Clickfunnels: Features
Once you get past all the hoopla surrounding each software, it comes down to the unique features of each and the ease with which the average customer can deploy them.
For that reason, both Unbounce and ClickFunnels offer the features most customers expect while constantly refining each to ensure they are as efficient as possible.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: Drag-and-Drop Builder/Editor
Unless you are a software developer, a drag-and-drop builder is a virtual necessity. Anyone that signs up for either one of these software services should be able to start creating their first page within a few minutes, or they'll give up and look somewhere else.
But striking this balance can be difficult. You want to create enough customization options, so their customers feel they're in control while not making the learning curve too steep for the average user.
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels' visual editor is intentionally easy, but that doesn't mean that it skimps on features. You can move most objects anywhere inside the interface that you want, with certain boundaries to prevent you from unintentionally going against best practices.
One of the things that most customers love the most about ClickFunnels is how easy it is to use.
You can create landing pages or entire sales funnels in a few minutes, whereas the same development can take hours with Unbounce.
Unbounce
By comparison, Unbounce is geared more towards a more experienced audience. Those who understand marketing or are in the space already can design what they want using one or two-step forms, complete with radio buttons, checkboxes, drop downs, and hidden fields.
There's also an option to launch a pop-up as soon as the visitor arrives on the webpage.
Users' major complaint about Unbounce is the generic look of most of the available templates. Although you can spice these up with CSS and HTML, that customization isn't usually intuitive for the beginner user.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: Templates
While advanced users will undoubtedly want to create their own templates from scratch, it's always helpful to have a starting point to build off of.
Available template selection plays a huge part in many customers' buying decisions; the quicker they can take a landing page live, the more likely they will use the service.
This saves marketers a ton of money on time wasted and hiring an outside developer to create templates for you.
Both Unbounce and ClickFunnels have professionally designed templates for their customers, but the availability and customization options differ quite a bit.
ClickFunnels
Undoubtedly, the wider selection of templates will be available on ClickFunnels.
With over 100 templates to choose from (but only 20 available on the basic plan), you're sure to find something that suits your business.
To help with this, ClickFunnels allows you to filter the available templates by industry and customize them to your liking. You can also filter by intent, such as lead capture, sales page, events, or even product launches. Whatever your goal is, ClickFunnels most likely has a template for you.
What sets ClickFunnels apart from other landing page builders is their third-party marketplace. Other designers have contributed templates for you, and other online communities have options.
Furthermore, since ClickFunnels is so widely used, you're sure to find developers skilled in explicitly creating templates for this interface if you decide to hire a freelancer.
Unbounce
Just because ClickFunnels has such a vast library of available templates doesn't mean Unbounce is lacking in that regard. On the contrary, the platform has various layouts and palettes free to choose from. Additionally, several add-ons to the existing templates take the functionality up a notch.
Unbounce has a remarkable amount of landing page templates with particular niches in mind. Your landing page can include everything from local event registration to pricing tables. This minimizes the headache of looking for examples to customize on your own.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: Support
No matter how experienced you are with software, you'll run into some rough patches here and there. And when you do, the quality of support from the in-house team will matter more than ever.
Although both tools have their plusses and minuses, there's a pretty large gap on TrustPilot.com between these two companies. Unbounce has 151 reviews with an average ranking of 2.0 (out of 5), whereas ClickFunnels has a 4.8-star rating over almost 1800 ratings. Based on that, it appears that ClickFunnels does a much better job of following up with their customers' support issues.
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels does an excellent job of ensuring its customers have as much support as possible. They have a support team on call and documentation that explains many of their products.
Additionally, they also have a service called FunnelFlix that provides video training on a variety of different topics. There are also daily “hackathons” where coaches build funnels in real-time.
Due to the sheer popularity of ClickFunnels, a vast third-party community is available. There are Facebook groups and online forums dedicated to helping ClickFunnels members succeed. There is also a marketplace where you can purchase and edit additional templates.
Unbounce
By comparison, the support offered by Unbounce isn't nearly as impressive. They do offer chat support, but curiously enough, it's not technically 24/7. It's available from 9 AM to 9 PM PST on weekends and from 1 AM to 8 PM PST on weekdays. As an added disclaimer, they also admit that there are usually support delays on the weekends.
If you're interested, Unbounce does have a lot of training available to help you get started, as well as a forum where you can interact with other customers. Most of the time the questions can be answered a lot quicker than by opening a support ticket.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: A/B Testing
One of the most critical features of any landing page builder is the ability to split test placement, copy, and images (among others). You have to be able to test specific features to optimize your page.
Both ClickFunnels and Unbounce offer this feature, but that doesn't mean they do the same thing. Depending on your business model, there are significant advantages to one over the other.
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is designed for people new to the concept of sales funnels, so it makes sense that their native landing pages are already optimized.
That being said, not only does ClickFunnels allow you to split test features into individual pages, but you're also able to test the sales funnel itself. You can test whether or not a certain page works better at a different stage of the sales cycle. ClickFunnels makes it extremely easy — and seamless for the site visitor – to test this.
Unbounce
Whereas ClickFunnels' advantage is in the ability to look at the entire sales cycle, Unbounce gives unmatched data and reporting to use during your split tests. You can integrate Unbounce with your Google analytics to track performance at a granular level.
Unfortunately, Split testing capabilities are only available on the medium plan. Their most basic plan (at nearly $100 a monthly subscription) doesn't include this feature.
Recently, Unbounce has also unveiled a feature called Smart Traffic, which uses artificial intelligence to show you the highest-performing landing page automatically.
While you can still be involved in split testing various features, Smart Traffic works in the background to learn which landing page performs the best and shows those more often.
This is a great feature for people who are managing a variety of different sites at the same time. It also helps those who don't have a lot of experience with split testing.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: Integrations
Chances are that neither one of these landing page builders will be the only software you use in your business. Integrations allow you not only to keep your business flow moving from point to point but augment each individual point.
Automation, for instance, needs to be integrated with the landing page builder and your email list. If you have deliverables that are given to your customer, whatever service you use needs to work with your landing page builder.
That's why integrations are so important. Software is designed to make your life easier, but if you can't connect them, it makes everything more frustrating.
ClickFunnels
As one of the biggest names in the software market, ClickFunnels boasts an impressive amount of integrations. They use APIs to connect things like email autoresponders with payment processors, which is both secure and fast.
A full list of integrations is impossible to list here, but one thing you'll notice is their association with “smaller” companies. These businesses aren't insignificant, but their niches are so small that ClickFunnels has gone out of their way to create an integration with them.
They know that their audience exists in these micro spaces and want to serve that user base.
Unbounce
You won't see as many integrations with Unbounce as with ClickFunnels, but most of the major ones are listed. Unless you're in an extremely narrow niche or have a specific purpose for certain software, you can find an integration that works.
The good news is that if you don't have a direct integration with something, you can use Zapier or another service to make the connection. It might be a little clunkier, but it should still accomplish your goals regardless.
Unbounce vs Clickfunnels: Pricing Plans
Many entrepreneurs will skip over most of the features on this list and head straight to pricing. I don't blame you; no matter how successful your business is, you must manage expenses wisely.
Fortunately, these services have several different pricing plans that should be relatively accessible to most people. They're certainly not cheap, but their prices are justifiable when you think about the number of features and the potential increase in ROI.
Unbounce and ClickFunnels offer discounts if you pay for the entire year instead of month by month. Both also offer a free 14-day trial. But if you decide not to continue the service, your data will be deleted unless you save a backup.
Fourteen days is usually enough for a solid test drive, though. In that period, you should get a feel for each service's capabilities.
Unbounce
Unbounce offers three different pricing plans: $90, $135, and $225. The smaller plan offers limited features with limited usage, whereas the enterprise plan is virtually unlimited. For businesses that require even more bandwidth, customized pricing is available.
All the plans for Unbounce include unlimited landing pages, apps, pop-ups, and sticky bars. The primary difference is in the total number of conversions all your landing pages can pull. There's also a cap on how many domains you can install the pages on.
The top two plans also include the Smart Traffic feature and various AI capabilities, whereas the lower plan does not. There is also less reporting features and no A/B testing available at the basic plan. If those are required for your business, you'll need to opt for at least the “Optimize” plan, which costs $135 a month.
Clickfunnels
Instead of limiting you by a number of landing pages, ClickFunnels restricts how many funnels you can build. They also limit the number of pages you can use them on and total monthly visits.
Technically speaking, ClickFunnels only has two plans: the $97 a month “Basic” plan, and the $297 a month “Platinum” plan.
Whereas the basic plan offers 20 total funnels spread out over 100 pages and 20,000 monthly visits, the Platinum plan is unlimited. It also allows for more payment gateways, domains, and “follow-up funnels” to grow your business further.
If you can scale your business past the $1 million mark using ClickFunnels, you can apply to become a part of the “Two Comma Club.” It costs $450 to join and includes a $2500 monthly fee. With this though, you'll get access to masterminds, advanced training, meetings with other “Two Comma Club” members, and more.
What are landing pages?
A landing page is a single webpage that has a single purpose. Usually, that purpose is to get a site visitor to subscribe to an email list or opt-in to an offer. Sometimes these landing pages will stretch on for miles with lots of copy and images, but this audience is rarely cold. By the time they reach a landing page, they're ready to convert.
Designing the perfect landing page is an art unto itself. The best landing page builders utilize current best practices to drive the visitor towards an action. An online business with enough capital may decide to hire a designer to create custom landing pages to create a complete marketing funnel.
Sometimes called sales pages, landing pages are just a piece of marketing funnels, not the whole thing. They are best used with other marketing tools to create an effective buying experience.
What are sales funnels?
The buying journey is the process of taking a customer from awareness to purchase (and possibly a few upsells and cross-sales along the way). Sales funnels refer to every part of that journey, letting the customer know who they are and (hopefully) driving a decision.
High converting sales funnels are worth their weight in gold. Mostly automatic but never perfected, sales funnels have a mix of sales pages, opt in pages, and any additional web pages they need to convert visitors.
The best software — such as Unbounce and ClickFunnels- helps optimize the experience by keeping customers engaged and encouraging them towards an action.
Most online marketers view a sales funnel in three broad stages: early, middle, or late (or top, middle, or bottom). The customer is initially unaware of your brand, but as they move through the middle and late stages, their interaction with your brand is cultivated by constantly building trust. At the end, you have a paying customer.
Unbounce Vs Clickfunnels: Which is Better For Your Business?
There's no right answer to determine which one of these software services is right for you. It boils down to pricing, purpose, and overall experience with marketing funnels.
If you're comfortable enough with marketing that you just need a few high-quality tools to finish the job, Unbounce is probably right for you.
If you're unsure of your skills and want a completely out-of-the-box experience to do most of the heavy lifting for you, ClickFunnels is a great choice.
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you generate the most return for your business activities. Whichever tool allows you to do that to the most efficiently is the one you should choose.
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