What Is ClickFunnels and How Does It Work? (2026)

ClickFunnels is online software for building sales funnels: sequences of pages that guide a visitor from first click to purchase, such as an opt-in page, a sales page, a checkout and an upsell. The current version, ClickFunnels 2.0, also includes email marketing, online courses, communities, simple stores and a CRM, so a business can run its marketing and sales from one account. Plans cost $97 to $297 a month, with a 14-day free trial.

What Is a Sales Funnel (or "Click Funnel")?

A sales funnel is the path someone follows from discovering you to buying from you. It is called a funnel because many people enter at the top and fewer reach each later step. A typical online funnel looks like this:

1. Traffic: an ad, email, social post or search result sends a visitor.
2. Opt-in page: the visitor gives an email address in exchange for something useful, such as a guide or webinar seat.
3. Sales page: the visitor learns about a paid offer.
4. Checkout: the visitor buys, sometimes adding a small extra offer (an order bump).
5. Upsell and thank-you pages: a further offer, then confirmation and access.
6. Follow-up emails: people who did not buy receive reminders and offers.

Because ClickFunnels popularized this model for small businesses, people often call any sales funnel a "click funnel".

How ClickFunnels Works, Step by Step

1. Choose a funnel type and template: lead magnet, webinar, product launch, course sales or store funnels each come with prebuilt page sequences.
2. Edit the pages: change copy, images and forms in the drag-and-drop editor.
3. Add products and payments: connect a payment processor, create products and set up checkout pages, order bumps and upsells.
4. Set up emails: build follow-up sequences and broadcasts inside ClickFunnels.
5. Deliver the product: host a course or community in ClickFunnels, or send buyers elsewhere.
6. Publish and track: put the funnel on your domain, send traffic and watch conversions and sales across each step.

What ClickFunnels Includes

• Funnel and page builder with templates for common funnel types.
• Checkout pages, payments, order bumps and upsells for selling products and services.
• Email marketing and automations, with monthly sending limits by plan.
• Courses and communities for delivering digital products and memberships.
• Stores for selling a small catalog of products.
• A/B testing for funnels and email campaigns.
• CRM and contacts, with contact limits by plan.
• Affiliate Center for running your own affiliate program (Optimize plan and up).

The ClickFunnels review covers how well each part works.

Common Funnel Types

• Lead magnet funnel: an opt-in page and thank-you page that trade a free resource for an email address.
• Webinar funnel: registration, confirmation, reminders and a replay or offer page.
• Sales letter funnel: a long sales page leading straight to checkout.
• Application funnel: a page that qualifies prospects for a high-ticket service before a call.
• Low-cost offer funnel: a small paid product with an order bump and upsells, often used to recover advertising costs.
• Membership or course funnel: a sales sequence that delivers access to a course or community after purchase.

Funnel Terms Explained

ClickFunnels builds all of these steps; a landing page builder typically handles the first two well and links to a checkout for the rest.

ClickFunnels 2.0 vs ClickFunnels Classic

The original ClickFunnels, now called Classic, focused on funnels and pages, and many businesses paired it with separate email and course tools. ClickFunnels 2.0 rebuilt the platform to include email, courses, communities, stores and a CRM. The older Classic plans, such as Basic, Pro and Funnel Hacker, are retired for new customers, and ClickFunnels says existing subscribers on legacy plans are grandfathered. New accounts sign up to the 2.0 plans: Launch, Scale, Optimize and Dominate.

What ClickFunnels Is Used For

• Course creators selling and hosting online courses.
• Coaches and consultants running webinar and application funnels.
• Digital product sellers using order bumps and upsells to raise order value.
• Small physical-product sellers running single-product or small-catalog funnels.
• Agencies building funnels for clients across several workspaces.

Who Founded ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels was launched in 2014 by Russell Brunson, a marketer and author known for books on funnels, and software developer Todd Dickerson. It was founded in Idaho, and its Terms of Service list the operating company as Etison LLC, doing business as ClickFunnels. Brunson's books and events helped make "funnels" a mainstream idea in online marketing.

How Much Does ClickFunnels Cost?

ClickFunnels has three monthly plans: Launch at $97, Scale at $197 and Optimize at $297, with annual billing at $970, $1,970 and $2,970. Dominate is annual only at $5,997. There is a 14-day free trial that requires a card. Every plan includes unlimited funnels, pages and visitors, while contacts, emails, courses, stores and team members increase by plan. Full details are in the ClickFunnels pricing guide.

ClickFunnels Pros and Cons

Sales Funnel vs Website vs Landing Page

A website presents your whole business, with many pages and paths. A landing page focuses on one action, such as joining a list. A funnel links several focused pages and emails into a sequence that ends in a sale. ClickFunnels is built for funnels. If you only need landing pages and a simple site, a dedicated builder such as Leadpages is simpler and cheaper; see Leadpages vs ClickFunnels.

Does ClickFunnels Replace Your Website?

For some businesses, yes: course creators and coaches often run their entire online presence through funnels. Businesses that need a traditional multi-page website, a blog or detailed information pages usually keep a separate website and use ClickFunnels for campaigns and sales.

How Long Does It Take to Build a Funnel?

A simple lead magnet funnel from a template can be live in an afternoon: one opt-in page, one thank-you page and a short email sequence. A full sales funnel with a product, checkout, order bump, upsell, follow-up emails and course delivery usually takes several days, mostly spent on the offer, copy and testing the purchase path. The software is rarely the slowest part; deciding what to sell and how to describe it is.

Does ClickFunnels Work With WordPress or Shopify?

ClickFunnels runs on its own hosting, so you do not need WordPress, and many users point a domain or subdomain at their funnels while keeping an existing website elsewhere. For larger product catalogs, a dedicated ecommerce platform remains the better home, with ClickFunnels used for specific campaign funnels. Scale and higher plans add webhooks and the full API for connecting other systems.

ClickFunnels Alternatives

The most common alternatives are Systeme.io, a low-cost all-in-one platform with a free plan, and dedicated landing page builders such as Leadpages, Unbounce and Instapage, which focus on pages and integrate with separate email tools. Leadpages starts at $29 a month with unlimited traffic, a website builder and Stripe checkouts. Compare options in ClickFunnels vs Instapage and the Leadpages alternatives guide.

Is ClickFunnels Right for You?

ClickFunnels makes sense if your business runs on multi-step sales funnels with upsells, email follow-up and course delivery, and you want all of that under one login. If your main goal is collecting leads, promoting webinars or selling a few offers from a single page, a landing page builder costs far less and is quicker to learn.