Clickfunnel and Shopify are both known as a popular ecommerce platform. Cickfunnel emphasizes product page setup and building, whereas Shopify provides a complete ecommerce solution. Both are ecommerce platforms, but they have different purposes, processes, and uses.
In this blog, we will tell you that if you have to choose between Clickfunnel and Shopify, then keep these things in mind, and by understanding the uses and differences, you can make a better choice as per your requirements.
ClickFunnels and Shopify: A Basic Overview
What is ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnel guides you in building a sales funnel; if you know the series of steps in the purchasing process of your product, then it can define your customer’s purchasing journey step by step from the beginning without any technical glitch. It describes your sales process from A to Z and allows you to automate its process. ClickFunnels is perfect for people who want to sell digital products, courses, or services.
Ideal Users:
- Coaches
- Consultants
- Digital marketers
- Info-product sellers
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that allows you to create and manage your online store. Here, you can make an e-commerce website with all the necessary facilities, such as product management, shipping management, and payment gateway integration.
This is a very user-friendly platform; even if you do not know how to code, you can create your website or store with the help of its themes and drag-and-drop features. Shopify supports many plugins, so even if you are not a technical expert, you can still start selling online by opening your online store. Shopify provides easy integration facilities for shipping, payment gateways, and inventory management.
Ideal Users:
- Product-based businesses
- Dropshippers
- Retailers
- Brands with a wide range of products
ClickFunnels vs Shopify: Key Features Comparison
1. Ease of Use
ClickFunnels: ClickFunnels provides a user-friendly interface; just by using the drag-and-drop functionality, you can create a perfect sales funnel for your customers without coding knowledge.
Shopify: Shopify also provides an easy-to-use interface where, to build up a complete ecommerce website, you will have to customize your themes, define your categories, and add products. After some pain, it is easy to manage once it is set up.
Verdict: Both platforms are easy to use, but it depends on your requirements that which platform you choose. For an Ecommerce store Shopify will be a good choice as it has lot of ecommerce features to support while you are looking for a specific product or services ClickFunnel will be a great choice.
Since both the platform provide drag and drop features so both are easy to use according to their specific needs.
2. Design and Customization
ClickFunnels (Design and Customization):
Focused on creating funnels (sales pages, landing pages, etc.). The drag-and-drop editor is simple and fast, but deep customization is limited. Pre-built templates are available, bu t they can be challenging to customize highly. There is less flexibility for developers.
Ideal for: If you want a conversion-focused sales funnel, then ClickFunnels’ design system is sufficient.
Shopify (Design and Customization):
Provides options to create a fully customizable store (through themes). A wide range of free and paid themes is available. You can do advanced customization with Liquid programming language. Shopify provide many themes and templates which can provide an option of ready to use with basic customization.
Ideal for: Shopify is the best option for creating a complete eCommerce store with high-level customization.
Verdict:
ClickFunnel provide ready to use templates which is suitable for specific product or service page while Shopify provide themes to build a complete ecommerce website.
3. Sales Funnels vs Online Store
ClickFunnels (for Sales Funnels):ClickFunnels’ SEO support is limited. You can customize basic features like meta tags, page titles, and URLs, but
Specialized for sales funnels: If you need to create a step-by-step funnel (landing page →, upsell →, down-sell →, thank you page), this is the perfect tool.
Provides conversion-focused design templates.
There are built-in features such as email marketing and A/B testing.
This is not ideal for creating a pure eCommerce store; This is used for more targeted selling (e.g., single product or limited product campaigns).
Best for: To create high-conversion sales funnels, especially if you are collecting leads or selling a product or service.
Shopify (for Online Store):
Full-fledged eCommerce platform: You can create your multi-product online store with inventory management, product pages, and a checkout system working seamlessly.
You must use apps (e.g., Zipify, Funnel Builder) to create sales funnels, but they will not be as specialized as ClickFunnels.
It is ideal for multiple products and categories and a better option for long-term scaling.
Shopify is quite advanced if you need a complete online store with multiple products and a long-term brand-building focus.
Verdict:
ClickFunnel is the best choice for a sales funnel, while Shopify is suitable for an online store.
4. Payment Processing
ClickFunnels (for Payment Processing):
Multiple payment gateways are supported, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net.
The payment integration process is simple, but advanced options (e.g., multiple currencies and detailed tax handling) are limited.
Recurring payments feature can be easily set up for subscription-based products.
Transaction fees are not charged (only payment gateway fees are), but you have to pay the ClickFunnels subscription fee (which is high).
Best for: Basic payment handling and collecting payments during sales funnels.
Shopify (for Payment Processing):
Shopify Payments has its payment system, which is integrated with Stripe. This eliminates the need for a 3rd-party gateway (depending on region-specific availability).
Multiple 3rd-party payment gateways supported (200+ gateways like PayPal, Razorpay, etc.).
Advanced features like multi-currency support, detailed tax settings, and fraud analysis are available.
There are no additional transaction fees if you use Shopify Payments, but Shopify charges additional transaction fees if you use a 3rd-party gateway (0.5% to 2%, depending on your plan).
Best for: Advanced payment handling, multiple currencies, and global transactions.
5. Pricing
ClickFunnels: ClickFunnels is a bit expensive. Its starting price is $81/month (Startup Plan) and $248/month(Pro Plan).
Shopify: The starting price of Shopify goes up to $22.79/month (BasicPlan), $85.13/month(ShopifyPlan),$344.82/month(AdvancedPlan), and $2000.50/month (PlusPlan).
Verdict: If budget is your priority, then Shopify is more affordable for startups.
6. Integrations and Third-Party Tools
ClickFunnels (for integrations and third-party tools):
ClickFunnels provides integration facilities with most marketing tools rather than eCommerce tools. Where integration with email marketing tools (e.g., Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Kit) and CRM platforms (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce), Webinar tools (e.g., Zoom, WebinarJam), and automation tools (e.g., Zapier) is available, ecommerce tools are limited.
Best for: If you need marketing and automation tools to create sales funnels, then ClickFunnels’ integrations are very effective.
Shopify (for integrations and third-party tools):
Shopify’s focus is mainly on eCommerce tools that fulfill all your eCommerce tools requirements (e.g., shipping, inventory management, SEO, product sourcing, etc.).
Best for: Shopify is unmatched if you need integrations and third-party tools for a complete eCommerce ecosystem.
Verdict:
ClcikFunnel is best if you are looking to integrate sales and marketing tools, while Shopify is the best choice for eCommerce.
7. SEO and Marketing
ClickFunnels (for SEO and Marketing):
SEO:
ClickFunnels’ SEO support is limited. It provide basic SEO support like you can easily update meta title and description, and page titles but for an advance SEO you have to look other options.
Marketing:
ClickFunnels is very strong for email marketing, lead generation, and high-conversion funnels.
Built-in tools such as A/B testing, upselling, downselling, and one-click order bumps are available.
It is more effective for paid ad campaigns and social media but less intense for organic traffic.
Best for: If you are working on paid marketing campaigns, lead generation, and conversion-focused strategies, then ClickFunnels is quite powerful.
Shopify (for SEO and Marketing):
SEO:
Shopify’s SEO is quite strong. You get features like:
Clean URLs and customizable meta tags.
Mobile-friendly themes (responsive design).
Built-in blog functionality for content marketing.
Advanced features like XML sitemaps and schema markup.
This is ideal for growing organic traffic.
Marketing:
Shopify provides easy integration with third party tools for marketing purpose like social media activity or managing Google Ads.
Best for: Looking for an Organic traffic and Brand establishment then Shopify is for you.
Verdict:
ClickFunnel serves different purpose compare to Shopify. ClcikFunnel used for short term sales or lead generation strategy while Shopify is good for long term goals.
ClickFunnels vs Shopify: Use Cases
Best Use Cases for ClickFunnels:
1. If you want to promote a specific product or service.
2. If you sell digital products, courses, or coaching services.
3. If you want to create high-converting sales funnels quickly.
Best Use Cases for Shopify:
1. If you want to create a complete online store.
2. If you are selling physical products.
3. If you need inventory management and order tracking.
Pros and Cons
ClickFunnels:
Pros:
• Creating sales funnels quickly.
• Pre-built templates available.
• Perfect for digital marketers.
Cons:
• Expensive pricing.
• Limited design options.
• Not suitable for creating an entire online store.
Shopify:
Pros:
• Affordable pricing.
• Facility to create a complete online store.
• 6000+ apps and integrations.
Cons:
• Setup takes some time.
• Different tools are required to create sales funnels.
Final Verdict: Who is perfect for you?
• If you choose ClickFunnels:
You have created sales funnels.
You are selling digital products, courses, or services.
You must launch quickly.
• Choose Shopify if:
You must create a complete online store.
You are selling physical products.
You must focus on long-term business growth.
Both platforms are perfect in their place, but choosing the right platform for your business needs is essential. If you want to combine the features of both platforms, you can even use them together!
