ClickFunnels vs. GoHighLevel

Published May 15, 2025 | By Matt

Choosing the right platform to build sales funnels and manage marketing efforts is a pivotal decision for entrepreneurs and marketing agencies alike. Two prominent names that frequently surface in this discussion are ClickFunnels and GoHighLevel. While both offer robust funnel-building capabilities, they cater to slightly different primary audiences and come with distinct feature sets and philosophies. For a prospective buyer in 2025, understanding these nuances is crucial to selecting the platform that best aligns with their specific business model, operational needs, and growth ambitions. This in-depth comparison will dissect ClickFunnels and GoHighLevel, drawing on recent analyses to illuminate their strengths, weaknesses, and ideal user profiles.

As established by industry comparisons, such as insights from FreedomBoundBusiness.com, ClickFunnels is renowned as a dedicated website and sales funnel builder primarily targeted toward entrepreneurs and small businesses. Its core strength lies in simplifying the creation of high-converting sales funnels. GoHighLevel, on the other hand, is positioned as an all-in-one sales and marketing platform specifically built for marketing agencies. While it also features powerful funnel and website builders, its broader scope includes comprehensive agency-focused tools like white-labeling, advanced CRM for client management, and a wider array of integrated marketing services.

Core Offerings and Target Audiences: Setting the Stage

ClickFunnels: The brainchild of marketer Russell Brunson, ClickFunnels has long been a go-to for individuals and businesses focused on direct response marketing and selling products or services through structured sales funnels. Its ecosystem includes tools for email marketing (Follow-Up Funnels), affiliate management (Backpack), landing page creation, and basic e-commerce functionalities.
GoHighLevel: Founded with the agency model in mind, GoHighLevel aims to be the central operating system for marketing agencies. It seeks to replace a multitude of disparate tools by offering an integrated suite that includes CRM, funnel and website building, email and 2-way SMS marketing, appointment scheduling, call tracking, reputation management, and, critically, white-labeling capabilities.

Prospective Buyer Insight: If you are an entrepreneur or a small business owner primarily focused on creating effective sales funnels for your own products or services, ClickFunnels offers a specialized and relatively user-friendly environment. If you are a marketing agency looking to manage multiple clients, offer a branded software solution, and consolidate your agency’s tech stack, GoHighLevel is designed with your operational needs at the forefront.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown: Where They Shine and Diverge

Let’s explore how these two platforms compare across key functionalities vital for prospective buyers.

1. Funnel Builder and Page Builder:

This is a core strength for both platforms. Interestingly, many comparisons note that the funnel and page builder interfaces in GoHighLevel are remarkably similar, almost identical, to those in ClickFunnels. Both utilize a grid-based system for page editing, allowing users to drag and drop elements within rows and columns. Both offer templates and the ability to create multi-step funnels.

ClickFunnels: Excels in its singular focus on funnel creation, with a vast library of templates and extensive training resources dedicated to funnel strategy and optimization.
GoHighLevel: Matches ClickFunnels in the mechanics of funnel building and even allows for the import of funnels built on ClickFunnels, which can be a significant advantage for users considering a switch. Its builder is integrated within a broader suite of agency tools.

Prospective Buyer Insight: In terms of the raw funnel-building experience, both platforms are highly capable and share a similar user experience. The choice here might come down to the surrounding ecosystem of tools and the primary use case (individual business vs. agency serving multiple clients).

2. Website Builder:

Both platforms extend their page-building capabilities to allow for the creation of full websites, not just standalone funnels.

ClickFunnels 2.0: Significantly expanded its website building capabilities compared to its classic version, allowing for blogs, e-commerce storefronts, and more traditional website structures alongside funnels.
GoHighLevel: Also includes a robust website builder, enabling agencies to create sites for themselves and their clients, often integrated with its CRM and marketing automation features.

Prospective Buyer Insight: If building a comprehensive website with integrated marketing and sales tools is a priority, both platforms now offer solid options. The decision may hinge on which platform’s broader feature set (e.g., ClickFunnels’ e-commerce focus vs. GoHighLevel’s agency tools) better aligns with your needs.

3. Email Marketing and Automation:

ClickFunnels: Offers integrated email marketing (Follow-Up Funnels in Classic, expanded in 2.0) allowing for broadcasts and automated sequences tied to funnel actions. It also supports 1-way SMS in some contexts.
GoHighLevel: Provides comprehensive email marketing and automation, often with more advanced features like 2-way SMS conversations, a unified inbox, and the ability to manage campaigns for multiple client accounts from a central dashboard.

Prospective Buyer Insight: For basic email follow-ups within funnels, ClickFunnels is adequate. If you require more sophisticated email automation, robust 2-way SMS capabilities, or need to manage email marketing for multiple clients, GoHighLevel offers a more comprehensive and agency-centric solution.

4. CRM and Client Management:

ClickFunnels: Includes CRM features for managing contacts and tracking their journey through funnels. ClickFunnels 2.0 has enhanced these capabilities.
GoHighLevel: Features an advanced CRM designed for agencies to manage their own leads as well as their clients’ leads. Its sub-account structure is a key differentiator, allowing agencies to provide each client with their own isolated environment within the platform, often white-labeled.

Prospective Buyer Insight: If your CRM needs are primarily for your own business and funnel contacts, ClickFunnels can suffice. For agencies needing to manage multiple client CRMs, offer white-labeled CRM access, and utilize features like unlimited sub-accounts (on higher GHL plans), GoHighLevel is purpose-built for this.

5. Agency-Specific Features (White-Labeling, Sub-Accounts):

ClickFunnels: Primarily designed for a single business entity. While it allows for multiple users on higher plans, it is not structured for white-labeling or managing a large roster of distinct client businesses within one master account in the same way GoHighLevel is.
GoHighLevel: This is where GoHighLevel stands out significantly. Its strong white-labeling capabilities allow agencies to brand the entire platform as their own. The Agency Unlimited plan, for instance, typically offers unlimited sub-accounts, enabling agencies to onboard and manage numerous clients seamlessly.

Prospective Buyer Insight: If you are a marketing agency and a core part of your business model involves providing clients with access to a marketing platform under your brand, GoHighLevel is the clear leader. This feature is generally not a primary offering of ClickFunnels.

6. Ease of Use and Learning Curve:

ClickFunnels: Often cited as being easier to use, especially for entrepreneurs focused solely on funnel building. Its interface is generally considered cleaner and more intuitive for its core purpose.
GoHighLevel: Due to its extensive feature set encompassing a wide range of marketing and sales tools, GoHighLevel can have a steeper learning curve. It aims to replace many tools, which means there’s more to learn to leverage its full potential.

Prospective Buyer Insight: If simplicity and a quick learning curve for funnel building are top priorities, ClickFunnels might feel more approachable initially. If you are an agency willing to invest time in mastering a comprehensive platform that can manage most of your operations, GoHighLevel’s broader capabilities might be worth the learning investment.

7. Pricing and Value:

ClickFunnels: Typically offers a few tiered plans (e.g., starting around $97/month, with higher tiers like $297/month or more for ClickFunnels 2.0 with more features). The value is in its specialized funnel-building prowess and integrated marketing tools for a single business.
GoHighLevel: Also offers tiered plans (e.g., Agency Starter around $97/month, Agency Unlimited around $297/month). While the entry price might be similar to ClickFunnels, the value proposition for agencies is that it can replace a multitude of other software subscriptions (for CRM, email marketing, SMS, scheduling, funnel building for multiple clients), potentially leading to significant overall cost savings for an agency.

Prospective Buyer Insight: For an individual business, compare the features you need against the pricing tiers of both. For an agency, calculate the total cost of your current software stack and compare it to GoHighLevel’s pricing, considering the added benefit of white-labeling and client management features.

Who Should Choose ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels is generally the better choice for:

Entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses focused on building and optimizing sales funnels for their own products or services.
Users who prioritize ease of use and a streamlined experience specifically for funnel creation.
Businesses that need a strong funnel builder with integrated (though perhaps less extensive than GHL) email marketing and e-commerce capabilities for their own brand.
Those who value a large, active user community and extensive training resources focused on funnel marketing.

Who Should Choose GoHighLevel?

GoHighLevel is the superior option for:

Marketing agencies looking for an all-in-one platform to manage their own business and serve multiple clients.
Businesses that require white-labeling capabilities to offer a branded software solution to their clients.
Agencies needing to consolidate their tech stack and replace multiple tools for CRM, email marketing, SMS, funnel building, scheduling, and reputation management across numerous client accounts.
Users who need robust 2-way SMS marketing and advanced client management features like unlimited sub-accounts.

The Final Verdict: Tailoring the Platform to Your Purpose

Both ClickFunnels and GoHighLevel are powerful platforms, but they are optimized for different primary users. ClickFunnels excels as a specialized tool for businesses focused on building high-converting sales funnels for their own offerings, with an emphasis on user-friendliness for that core task. GoHighLevel shines as a comprehensive, agency-centric platform designed to provide marketing agencies with a vast, integrated toolkit to manage their operations and serve their clients effectively, often under their own brand.