The question should have been: Which should you use in your business?
Should you grab…
The Lifetime deal of ThriveCart.
Stumbling on this page indicates that you’re in search of the BEST platform between Kartra vs ThriveCart.
Correct?
Let me, first of all, assure you that this is the BEST place to be right now because in less than 2 minutes you shall find out which is the ideal online marketing software for you.
That’s not all.
We shall also find out the best solution when it comes to:
- Funnel building
- Page editor
- Shopping cart and checkouts
- Templates
- Integrations
- User Friendliness
- Pricing and value
- Unique features
- And lots more…
Meanwhile, before we proceed, if you’re in a hurry to know the BEST – I will break it down now:
ThriveCart vs Kartra summary:
ThriveCart is KING when it comes to building converting checkouts (better than Kartra) WHILE Kartra is better when it comes to building out your marketing funnels and pages plus other features that lets you operate your business from one end.
ThriveCart can be integrated into a part of the whole sales funnel process, as for on Kartra you can carry everything out.
So?
Keep reading to see the complete features of both and WHY…
Here’s what we shall be covering in this comparison post:
- ThriveCart vs Kartra – Overview
- ThriveCart vs Kartra – Similarities
- ThriveCart vs Kartra – Differences
- Cost of Kartra and ThriveCart
- Which is PERFECT?
Part #1: Complete Overview of ThriveCart and Kartra
To get you a little bit familiar with both tools, we shall be starting with what they offer and the minds behind them.
Starting with ThriveCart:
ThriveCart Software Overview
ThriveCart is software for creating professionally looking checkout pages that convert visitors into buyers.
An easy-to-use, master, and implement platform with lots of pretty cool features added almost every now and then, and also supports many integrations.
Some of the key features inside ThriveCart include:
- A/B testing
- Affiliate center
- One-click Upsell
- Order bumps
- Checkout templates
- Embeddable templates
We shall take a look at other functionalities as we dive deeper into this comparison.
ThriveCart was founded by Josh Bartlett back in 2016. Ever since Josh and the ThriveCart team has managed to transform this shopping cart tool into the best one.
With close to 500 updates so far.
Unbelievably true!
ThriveCart SHINES the most when it comes to producing greatly converting checkout pages for online business owners.
Kartra Software Overview
Kartra is currently known to be the best sales funnel building platform on earth.
Even better than the ‘famous’ ClickFunnels.
It houses close to a dozen inbuilt tools every online entrepreneur out there needs to host their business, market, sell and make money.
Kartra was founded by Andy Jenkins and Mike Filsaime, back in 2018.
Within this short while, Kartra has transitioned to be an amazing choice for marketers, dominating the sales funnel industry.
With INSANE features combined into it.
Some of these features include:
- BAM (Behavioral Adaptive Marketing): Personalization and automation feature
- Video hosting: Marketing-oriented video platform. Replaces Youtube, Vimeo, etc
- Affiliate center: Makes managing of your affiliate easy
- Helpdesk: Replaces your ticketing, knowledge base, and customer support app
- Calendar: Internal feature for booking meetings and appointments
- Shopping cart: This replaces your checkout tool
- Memberships: No need for a course hosting platform
- Affiliate marketplace: Place your products to be promoted and apply for other’s
This is a software specially designed for building both simple and complicated sales funnels.
With lots of funnel and page template designs for almost every industry.
Part #2: Kartra vs ThriveCart – Similarities
Obviously, Kartra and ThriveCart serve different purposes, which we are going to look into in a jiffy.
However, there are a few similar things I have to show that are on both platforms:
#1: Upsell & Order Bumps
If you’ve gone through the Dotcom Secrets or any modern marketing book – you must have come across or seen the impact and science behind adding upsells, downsells and order bumps to your offers.
More money.
They help put more money into your bank account by boosting sales, increases your average cart value and takes customers up to your value ladders for more conversions.
Who doesn’t like more sales money?
ThriveCart and Kartra come with these cool features and it’s a must-have for every funnel builder and shopping cart out there.
#2: A/B Testing
This is a feature present on both ThriveCart and Kartra.
Even though the way A/B split testing happens on both tools differs a bit, the idea behind it is the same. Testing variations of pages/funnels to get the winner or a more converting one.
Kartra and ThriveCart A/B testing help maximize more on your winning page or funnel design, price or whatever part you desire to test.
#3: Affiliate Center
Affiliate management solution is another inbuilt online marketing solution you get as a user of ThriveCart and Kartra
If you ask me, I would say the ThriveCart affiliate management platform is better than that of Kartra.
Big time!
I know this because I’m both platforms as an affiliate of several products and services.
While both of the affiliate centers help you accomplish the basic goal of recruiting, managing, assigning and paying out affiliates…
…Kartra affiliate center looks a little bit confusing to me. As I find myself getting lost when trying to filter affiliate statistics.
Maybe it’s my non-techie nature. But I’m getting to use it already.
For ThriveCart I find it very easy to access the programs and viewing stats. Apart from that, ThriveCart’s automatic bonus-sending feature is worth salivating for. Haha
All in all, they both come with an inbuilt affiliate management system and that’s the point.
#4: Supports Lots of Integrations
You’ll agree with me when I say that – it’ll be hard to see software without integration support in this new age.
Which online marketing tool doesn’t allow you to connect other apps?
Or maybe I’m not even supposed to add this as a similarity of both softwares, right?
ThriveCart and Kartra allow you to add your favorite digital marketing software into its operation so you can get the best from your business.
Since Kartra is an all-in-one platform, you’ll hardly need lots of third-party tools for your business. But if need be – it’s pretty easy to connect them.
For ThriveCart – since it’s not really an all-in-one, the team made it even much easier to integrate your favorite marketing solution.
Like solutions for:
- Email marketing
- Memberships
- Webinars
- Payments etc.
#5: Community and Support
When it comes to customer support, both are fairly responsive. No LiveChat but you can create a ticket and get attended to within 24 hours. They have helpful documentation and a knowledgebase area filled with support articles.
Both great in my humble opinion.
What about ThriveCart and Kartra community?
It’s over a year since I joined the Kartra official Facebook community and I must say that it’s quite organized and less noisy than ClickFunnels’.
No question asked in the group ever go unanswered. Always supportive and helpful.
Let me add that there’s also the Kartra marketplace community and a “Done For You” campaign community where users can download funnels from fellow marketing experts on the platform.
Nice?!
I’m also a member of ThriveCart’s FB group (ThriveCart Academy) and the support over there is quite immense as well. No self-promo threads and bashing of users.
Due to the fact that ThriveCart is still in the pilot phase – you’ll always see new feature update posts from Josh Bartlett once in a while.
Related: Shopify and Thrivecart comparison
Part #3: Kartra vs ThriveCart – Differences
This is where we cut the two amazing platforms to go their separate ways. This is the main reason why I had to write this post for you.
As a guide:
ThriveCart is known as (undoubtedly) the best special shopping cart and checkout tool for online business WHILE, on the other hand, Kartra is one of the best funnel building solutions and an all-in-one tool that houses everything you need to host your business online.
Let’s go in deeper!
#1: All-in-one Versus Shopping Cart
I have to start with this because it’s the biggest difference between ThriveCart and Kartra.
Kartra is not just a tool for building and connecting several marketing pages, it is a solution on its own.
It houses several tools that communicate with each other to help you get results in your businesses. Simply call it a tool suite.
While ThriveCart is good at helping you create converting check out pages – you can’t build a complete sales funnel with it.
This means that the stuff ThriveCart offers is part of a sales funnel process. With Kartra you can build it all out within.
#2: Membership Site Platform
Another obvious difference between Kartra and ThriveCart is the member’s area functionality.
Kartra has a feature that allows online course owners to build out their content and enable access to those that need it.
With the members’ area inside of Kartra, you can house your paid content and give restrictions to those that are not permitted.
It’s called Kartra memberships.
On the other hand, you can’t do this on ThriveCart. You can only integrate membership software and use its checkout feature.
#3: Difference in Templates
Just like I said above – Kartra serves as a funnel building tool and while ThriveCart is used for creating checkout pages.
So, Kartra has more room for templates than ThriveCart has.
You get various prebuilt funnels or campaigns for several industries, different goals, and all that. If you need a sales page, squeeze page, webinar page, blog page, and membership funnels for your business – you will get that.
From Kartra.
In fact, hundreds to choose from.
Whereas in ThriveCart, there are only about four pre-built checkout templates to choose from (at the moment).
#4: Checkout Flexibility
No doubt that the ThriveCart shopping cart feature is the best out here!
The inbuilt Shopping experience you get on Kartra isn’t advanced as that of ThriveCart. There are lots of tweaks you can do on checkout pages created on ThriveCart.
One of the key areas is the ability for you to embed Checkout on any website you desire. Pretty slick if you ask me!
There is no way you can do this on Kartra. You can only use Kartra checkout pages inside of Kartra-created pages.
Bummer, right?
You can use ThriveCart on literally any web page on any webpage on the web. I think this is a cool area to consider too.
Related: Thrivecart vs Sendowl review
#5: Smart Automation and Follow-up
While you can connect or integrate your favorite email automation tool on both ThriveCart and Kartra via integrations…
…Kartra also has an inbuilt automation capability.
There is an automation workflow builder called the Sequence Builder in Kartra and NOT forgetting the awesome BAM technology feature.
Called Kartra BAM.
Behavioral Adaptive Marketing in Kartra allows you to collect your customer’s and visitors’ profile intelligence, then adapt the contents of your page dynamically for each particular visitor, then further create the most unique and personalized experience.
Automatic personalized follow-up.
You don’t get such features on ThriveCart.
In summary:
Kartra makes it fantastically simple for you to construct automated marketing campaigns that do absolutely all the work for you – email sends, follow-ups, opt-ins, sales, post-sales follow-ups, subscriptions, tagging, analytics tracking, even split-testing, and optimization — all on intelligent autopilot.
More about Kartra Mails: https://home.kartra.com/feature-mail
#6: ThriveCart Advanced Affiliate Center
Do you remember we discussed in the previous section that both tools have an inbuilt affiliate management system?
Well, now I want to emphasize more on that of ThriveCart and why I love it more than Kartra’s.
First of all:
i. JV Partner Profit Split Inside ThriveCart:
This lets you split your profits with your partners on your products, like 50/50. When you make a sale, the partner gets half and you get half automatically (after fees and affiliates).
ii: Instant Digital Bonuses for Your Affiliates
As an affiliate marketer myself, I can attest to the impact of bonuses when participating in an affiliate contest.
A way to incentivize customers and BOOSTS conversions.
Thrivecart lets your affiliates upload their own digital bonuses and they get delivered when someone buys from their link automatically.
iii: Connect Coupon Code to Affiliates
Enabling and giving coupon codes is another huge feature that will boost the efforts of your affiliates and promoters.
Give them a discount that they can share in various places for more sales and conversions
Video Hosting
Kartra has an inbuilt video hosting solution and ThriveCart doesn’t have such.
Kartra hosts your marketing videos with a customizable player, complete with advanced in-video actions so you can get more conversions, shares, and sales.
You can also add compelling CTAs and opt-in forms at any point while the video is playing, as well as automatically tags viewers based on their behavior.
You can see more about Kartra videos: https://home.kartra.com/feature-videos
Kartra Calendars
This is yet another Kartra inbuilt feature where your customers can check, schedule, and self-manage their appointments on their own inside of Kartra.
And this works together with the rest of the funnels. No hassles!
No, this can’t be found on ThriveCart.
Kartra Helpdesk
Kartra’s Helpdesk lets you quickly deploy a customer service HUB to help you satisfy your customer’s needs without the headaches of integrating a third-party system.
It includes a Ticket System, Agent Chat System, and Knowledge Base Management System so you can help your customers at multiple levels.
Another difference between Thrive Cart and Kartra includes the Kartra share Funnels capability which lets you share a funnel with a friend or client with the click of a button.
That’s not all!
This next part is one area you’ll probably be interested in the most. Pricing.
Part #4: Cost of Kartra and ThriveCart
Firstly, the pricing of ThriveCart and Kartra are of two separate paths
Kartra comes as monthly and yearly pricing while ThriveCart still remains a lifetime deal, this is for a fact that ThriveCart is still on their pilot phase.
Let’s go further!
ThriveCart Cost
You can ThriveCart at a one-time lifetime fee of $495 for all the standard shopping cart and checkout features and $690 for PRO features.
With access to future upgrades.
This checkout software is only available through the current pilot program at this heavily discounted price.
There is also a 30days money-back guarantee.
This is a badass offer at the moment for a dedicated shopping tool.
From my research and the recent announcement in the ThriveCart community – the pilot program is supposed to end soon and ThriveCart will be priced starting from $95/mo.
Click Here To Explore The Pilot Program Details
Kartra Cost
Kartra has 4 plans and they are all differed by the count of individual features after the $1 14-days trial period:
- The Starter plan – $99/mo
Gives you access to send 15,000 emails per month, have up to 2,500 contacts, 2 membership sites, 100 pages, one custom domain, etc.
- The Silver plan – $199/mo
Here you are given access to up to 12,500 leads, send 125,000 emails per month, stream 125GB bandwidth, 3 custom domains, and unlimited other stuff.
- The Gold plan – $299/mo
The third Kartra package allows you to send 250,000 emails per month, 25,000 leads, 5 custom domains, 200GB bandwidth, and unlimited pages, visits and members area.
- Platinum plan – $499/mo
Kartra gives you access to send 500,000 emails, have 50,00 leads, 500GB video bandwidth, 10 custom domains, and unlimited number stuff.
You can also get a discount on all the plans when you decide to own access to the software for a whole year (25%).
Click Here To Start Your Kartra Trial!
Which Is the Perfect Choice for You?
It’s no doubt that Kartra wins with a lot of features – Helpdesk, Calendars, Membership sites, Video hosting and a lot of other tools built within.
But that doesn’t paint ThriveCart as the bad option here.
No!
ThriveCart is far more amazing and far more preferred when it comes to checkout pages.
ThriveCart is a one-time deal – hence the cheaper one here.
If you ask me, I’d say it all depends on what you want more from online marketing software.
Another thing is I love Kartra a lot but I’d got Thrivecart, especially for my payment processor because Kartra didn’t allow bump orders and upsells with Paypal checkouts.
For a killer checkout experience in your business – go with ThriveCart!
==> https://thrivecart.com/private-pilotprogram/
For an all-in-one solution – try out Kartra for 14days!
==> https://home.kartra.com/free/
Check Out My other Kartra Comparison Posts:
Hi Khris, I am currently using Kajabi to host my courses, ThriveCart for the checkout (linked to Kajabi with Zapier to give access to the courses), and Active Campaign for email marketing. However, the funnel creation in Kajabi is not as good as in Kartra, the course and membership features in Kajabi are better than in Kartra, and Active Campaign gets expensive soon.
I am thinking of replacing Active Campaign with Kartra in this equation, using Kartra for funnels and email marketing, Kajabi to host the courses, and ThriveCart for the checkout. The idea is to have the best system for funnels, email marketing, courses and checkout.
What do you think about this, does it make sense in your opinion, or do you think it is not possible to integrate the three systems?
I would really appreciate your opinion. Thank you in advance!
Hey Emilio,
Yes it is very possible to use Kartra and Kajabi, but as for integrating ThriveCart – Kartra does not have an integration with ThriveCart and as ThriveCart doesn’t have an integration on Zapier’s website, it appears that you won’t be able to connect the two systems.
But for your email marketing and automation needs – Kartra is email features are killer. Especially the BAM (Behavioral Adaptive Marketing) that helps boost engagement and conversions with extreme personalization.