The best sales funnel software for anyone who sells on paid traffic is ElasticFunnels. It is the whole funnel in one system: pages and an AI builder, split tests under one URL, a checkout with order bumps and one-click upsells, subscriptions, routing across your merchant accounts, a CRM and call center, and the sale tied to the ad that paid for it. Every feature is on every plan.
The other six each do one part well. ClickFunnels, Systeme.io and Kartra are all-in-ones for selling to your own list, GoHighLevel is an agency CRM, SamCart is a checkout, and Kajabi is a course host.
As CTO of a direct-response company, I spent years trying to buy one platform for our pages, checkout, CRM, attribution and call center. Nothing fit how we sold, so every funnel ran on a pile of tools taped together, and the tape is where sales went missing. In 2023 I left to build ElasticFunnels as the one system I couldn't buy. This list compares it with the funnel tools people most often weigh it against, and every competitor fact comes from that vendor's own pages.
The best sales funnel software at a glance
Entry prices are monthly, on monthly billing, from each vendor's pricing page on 25 September 2026. Most cap contacts, products or team seats per plan, and several hold features back for higher tiers, so check the plan you would actually need.
| Software | Starts at | Free plan or trial | Split tests | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElasticFunnels | $97 a month, every feature | 14-day trial | Every plan, any page, up to 5 variants under one URL | Best overall: vendors, media buyers and affiliates on paid traffic |
| ClickFunnels | $97 a month | 14-day trial | One variant per funnel step | One offer sold to your own list |
| GoHighLevel | $97 a month | 14-day trial | Variants on their own URLs | Agencies reselling a CRM |
| Systeme.io | Free, then $17 a month | Free plan | Capped by plan | A first offer on a small budget |
| Kartra | $59 a month, plus a 5% fee | 14-day trial | Up to four versions of a page | Coaches selling to a list |
| SamCart | $79 a month | 7-day trial | Checkout tests, on Pro | A checkout for digital products |
| Kajabi | $179 a month | Trial of up to 14 days | Landing pages only | Courses and communities |
What sales funnel software has to do
A sales funnel is the path from the first click to the order and what comes after it (the sales funnel explained covers each stage). The software's job is to build that path and tell you where it leaks. Whatever you choose, it should do five things well.
- Build pages fast. Landing, presell, VSL, checkout and thank-you pages, with AI or by hand, on your own domain.
- Split test them. Versions of a page on the same traffic, judged on sales. How the test is served matters if you run ads (more below).
- Take the order. A checkout on your payment processor, with order bumps, taxes and the receipt.
- Raise the order value. One-click upsells and downsells after the checkout, charged without asking for the card again.
- Measure it. Revenue per page, per test and per ad, not just visits and opt-ins.
Then there's what happens after the first order: subscriptions and failed-payment recovery, a CRM that holds every order and call, follow-up email, and an affiliate program. Most tools below cover some of the five and bolt the rest on with integrations. ElasticFunnels covers all five and the after-sale layer in one system, which is why it's first.
The seven tools, one by one
ElasticFunnels comes first because it is the only tool here built for all five jobs on paid traffic. We make it, and every competitor fact below comes from that vendor's own pages. If something here is out of date, email [email protected] and we will fix it.
1. ElasticFunnels: best sales funnel software overall
ElasticFunnels is built for people who buy traffic and sell their own offers or promote others'. It isn't a page builder with a checkout bolted on. It is the whole system from the ad click to the repeat order, on one customer record, so every test can be judged on sales and every sale traced to the ad, page and variant that made it.
Best for: direct-response vendors, media buyers, affiliates, and info, ecom and supplement sellers on paid traffic. Especially if you process on several NMI merchant accounts.
- Pages: an AI page builder that builds any page you describe, a visual and a code editor, an AI page cloner, custom domains with SSL, a visual funnel builder with upsell and downsell branches, exit popups and quiz funnels.
- Split tests: up to 5 variants served under one URL on any page, the checkout and upsells included. The ad keeps its link, so Meta and Google never re-enter learning, and each variant is judged on purchases with revenue per variant. Page events route visitors by UTM, country or device on the same URL.
- Checkout: a checkout on Stripe, NMI, PayPal, Klarna and Authorize.net, with order bumps, coupons, Apple Pay and Google Pay on Stripe and NMI, and one-click upsells and downsells on Stripe, NMI and PayPal.
- Subscriptions: rebills with dunning and retention offers at cancellation, and MRR, churn and LTV reports.
- MID routing: orders split by weight across your NMI MIDs, filtered by card brand, product and amount, with daily and monthly caps and a per-MID sales, revenue and refunds report.
- Customers: a CRM with custom pipelines, a built-in call center that works abandoned checkouts and failed payments, and your own affiliate program with commissions and payouts.
- Attribution: revenue per ad, campaign, UTM and variant, ad spend next to it, and server-side conversions to Meta, Google Ads and TikTok (plus Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, X and Outbrain).
- Email and automation: automations that send email and SMS, tag buyers and fire webhooks, an email builder on your own SMTP for receipts and subscription emails, and 50+ integrations, Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign included.
- AI agents: the ef CLI and an MCP server, so Claude Code or Codex can build pages and launch tests.
- Pricing: from $97 a month (Starter), then $197 and $497. Every feature is on every plan; plans differ by page views, brands and other usage limits, with a 0.5% fee only on orders taken through the EF-hosted checkout. 14-day free trial.
- Pros: the whole funnel on one record; tests on every page judged on sales; no feature held back by plan; the sale sent back to the ad.
- Cons: more in the box than a single opt-in page needs; you can start with one funnel and switch on the rest later.
Build one real funnel in the trial. Pages, checkout, an upsell and a split test under one URL, then watch which ad makes the sale.
2. ClickFunnels: an all-in-one built around one offer
ClickFunnels bundles pages, funnels, email, courses, a community and a store under one login. Its pricing page lists Launch at $97, Scale at $197 and Optimize at $297 a month, and Dominate at $5,997 a year, with plans capped by contacts, team members and courses (see what you get on each ClickFunnels plan). There is a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Strong at: one login for an online business built around one offer and its email list. Payments AI connects its own gateway plus Stripe, PayPal, NMI and others.
- Watch for: its help docs say each funnel step can hold one variant page, and later steps are served at their own page paths, which is what resets an ad's learning. The Affiliate Center is on Optimize and Dominate only.
- Bottom line: built for list-driven launches, narrow on testing for paid traffic. Full comparison: ClickFunnels vs ElasticFunnels.
3. GoHighLevel: an agency CRM
HighLevel is an agency platform: a CRM with pipelines, SMS, calendars and funnels, sold per agency with sub-accounts for clients and a white-label app to resell. Starter is $97 a month with 3 sub-accounts, Unlimited is $297 and Agency Pro is $497, with a 14-day trial. Messaging is billed on usage.
- Strong at: running and reselling a CRM for local or service businesses, with booking, SMS and reviews.
- Watch for: split tests send visitors from one entry URL to the control's or the variation's own URL. Routing a declined card to another merchant account is not publicly stated.
- Bottom line: a CRM for agencies, not a funnel for paid-traffic offers. Full comparison: GoHighLevel vs ElasticFunnels.
4. Systeme.io: a free all-in-one
Systeme.io is the low-cost all-in-one: funnels, email, courses, a blog and an affiliate program in one account. The free plan has 2,000 contacts and 3 funnels with no card and no expiry. Paid plans are $17, $47 and $97 a month, with no transaction fee.
- Strong at: price, with unlimited email sends on every plan.
- Watch for: A/B tests, order bumps and upsells are capped by plan. Its own site says a native AI page builder is on the roadmap, and routing between several Stripe accounts is not publicly stated.
- Bottom line: fine for a first offer to a small list; thin once you buy traffic. Full comparison: Systeme.io vs ElasticFunnels.
5. Kartra: an all-in-one for coaches
Kartra bundles pages, email, SMS, courses, a helpdesk, calendars and webinars. Essentials is $59 a month with 500 contacts and a 5% transaction fee; Starter ($119), Growth ($229) and Professional ($549) have no fee and larger contact limits. There is a 14-day trial.
- Strong at: one login for a coaching business, with email and SMS unlimited from Starter up.
- Watch for: page tests compare up to four versions; whether they share one URL is not publicly stated. Its one-click upsells rely on a browser cookie on the same device, and the affiliate program starts on Growth.
- Bottom line: a list-selling toolkit, with a transaction fee on the entry plan. Full comparison: Kartra vs ElasticFunnels.
6. SamCart: a checkout for digital products
SamCart starts from the checkout: checkout pages for digital products, with courses and AI page tools added. Core is $79 a month and Pro is $199, with a 7-day trial. Order bumps, one-click upsells, A/B testing, Subscription Saver and the affiliate center are on Pro.
- Strong at: a checkout that is quick to set up, with payment routing between processors on Pro.
- Watch for: the checkout tools most funnels rely on are the upgrade to Pro, and tests cover checkouts and upsell funnels, not the pages before them.
- Bottom line: the order page, without the funnel in front of it. Full comparison: SamCart vs ElasticFunnels.
7. Kajabi: a course and community host
Kajabi hosts the course, the community and a branded app, with funnels and email around them. Basic is $179 a month, Growth $249 and Pro $499, capped at 5, 50 and unlimited products and 2,500, 25,000 and 100,000 contacts. Its help center describes a trial of up to 14 days.
- Strong at: delivering courses and running a community, with unlimited marketing emails on every plan.
- Watch for: A/B tests cover landing pages; checkout and sales-page tests are not publicly stated. Each offer uses Kajabi Payments or Stripe, not both.
- Bottom line: a course platform first, a funnel second. Full comparison: Kajabi vs ElasticFunnels.
One system or a stack of specialists?
The seven tools fall into three groups. SamCart does the order page and little before it. ClickFunnels, Systeme.io, Kartra, Kajabi and GoHighLevel bundle email, courses or a CRM for a business that sells to its own list or its clients. ElasticFunnels is the all-in-one for paid traffic: the pages, testing, checkout, subscriptions, MID routing, CRM, call center and attribution that a funnel on bought traffic needs, in one system.
When ads do the selling, the gaps between tools cost more than any subscription: a test judged on clicks instead of sales, an upsell that asks for the card again, a sale that never reaches the ad platform. That's the case for one system built for paid traffic, and it's the case for ElasticFunnels.
How to choose sales funnel software
Price is easy to compare, and it is the least useful number on the page. Weigh it against the tools you will use every week.
- Where do your sales come from? If ads do the selling, testing, checkout and attribution come first.
- How are tests served? If a variant lives on its own URL, pointing an ad at it can reset the ad's learning. Ask whether every step can be tested under the URL the ad already uses, and whether the test is judged on sales. Our guide to split testing landing pages explains why.
- What does the checkout do? Bumps and one-click upsells on your plan, your processor, subscriptions and what happens to a declined card. High-risk sellers with several MIDs should ask about MID routing.
- What is the meter? Contacts, products, team seats, visits, a transaction fee, or features held back for a higher plan. Price the plan you would need at twice your current volume.
- Can you see which ad made the sale? Revenue per ad and per variant, and whether the sale is sent back to Meta, Google and TikTok server-side.
- Start with a trial. Build one real funnel in the trial, not a demo page, and run a little traffic through it.
Head-to-head comparisons
If you have narrowed it down to two, these side-by-side pages go deeper, sourced from each vendor's own pages and dated:
- Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels
- ClickFunnels vs GoHighLevel
- ClickFunnels vs Kartra
- ClickFunnels vs SamCart
- ClickFunnels vs Kajabi
- Systeme.io vs GoHighLevel
- GoHighLevel vs Kajabi
- Leadpages vs ClickFunnels
- ClickFunnels vs Unbounce
Every comparison, including the ones against ElasticFunnels, is on the compare hub. New to funnels? Start with how to create a sales funnel.
- If you run paid ads, a tool whose split tests send traffic to a second URL can cost you ad learning whenever the ad has to point somewhere new. That is the one limitation I wouldn't accept.
- Judge every test on sales. A tool that can't see the order can't tell you which page made money.
- Price the whole stack, not one subscription: the page builder, the checkout, the upsell tool, the tracking and the CRM.
- Switching tools later means rebuilding pages and tracking, so choose for the volume you expect a year from now.
The expensive mistake is choosing by the pricing table and finding out three months in that the one thing you needed was an upgrade, a workaround or missing. For paid traffic, ElasticFunnels puts every feature on every plan, so the trial shows you the whole system. Build one real funnel in it.
