ThriveCart is an industry-leading sales and checkout page builder with a refreshingly ‘unique‘ one-time payment model — there are no subscriptions, no monthly payments and a full 14-day money-back guarantee. It’s something that I’ve used to sell digital products and courses for several years now.

It’s robust, well-connected

But the one-time payment is steep and may certainly be a roadblock for many.

Let’s dive in to this ThriveCart Review for 2024 and outline the pros and cons.

What is ThriveCart?

ThriveCart is a web-based shopping cart software designed to maximise conversions from the checkout page. Built for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes, it offers a suite of features aimed at selling products and managing services online effectively.

In simple terms, ThriveCart allows you to create beautiful checkouts for selling your business assets — both physical and digital — and uses a suite of tools, such as upsells, downsells and order bumps, to maximise the number of people that complete a purchase, while making the process easy, straightforward and achievable with no developer experience.

Key Features of ThriveCart

• Optimised Checkout Pages: ThriveCart offers customisable, conversion-optimised checkout pages that feature bump offers, upsells, and even A/B testing capabilities.
• Affiliate Management: It includes a robust affiliate management system that allows me to track, manage, and optimise my affiliate marketing efforts with ease.
• Subscription and Payment Flexibility: ThriveCart supports various payment models including one-time payments, subscriptions, and pay-what-you-want pricing, making it versatile for different sales strategies.

How ThriveCart Works

Using ThriveCart, you can setup products and configure settings like pricing, payment options, and follow-up actions after purchase. The platform integrates seamlessly with other tools such as email marketing software, membership sites, and webinar platforms, which automates much of your sales and marketing processes.

As example, I could setup a landing page, followed by a Sales page that connects with Stripe to capture payments immediately, then you can connect to an email marketing platform like ActiveCampaign to trigger your purchase notifications or start abandoned cart workflows. With no exaggeration, you could setup your purchase experience — if you have the copy and imagery ready — in as little as 15 minutes.

ThriveCart Sales Page & Checkout Builder

For anyone with a passing interest in website UX and UI, you know that there’s a wealth of tools and options out there. Out of the box, Thrivecart features an array of templates for landing pages, sales pages, cart pages, upsell pages and checkout pages.

Pages can be hosted through the platform, or embedded on your existing site.

Each can be designed with a relatively straightforward builder. Hover over an element to interact and edit it, easily adding copy, adding brand colours, and matching fonts to your brand. Then when you need to add something new, you can drag a component from the left sidebar onto the page. It’s very easy, and, crucially, the pages load very quickly — which is essential for maximising conversion opportunities.

ThriveCart builder’s features

• Drag and drop
• Add HTML elements
• Customise fonts and colours
• Add photo and video assets
• One-click upsells and order bumps

How to Analyse ThriveCart Performance

ThriveCart’s dashboard immediately presents a simple yet customisable report of your core funnel metrics, enabling you to see conversion rates, revenue, refunds, affiliate orders and average order value (AOV) in one ease-to-understand lens.

It may seem simplistic, but I can’t stress how important it is to be able to access and understand these metrics about business performs without the need for seperate dashboards and reporting subscriptions. Sure, you could connect Stripe to Databox; sure, you could tell the story in GA4 — but I find the simplicity of this dashboard to communicate key data immediately, and it enables me to spot trends based on the small charts underneath each key metric.

What Third-Party Integrations connect to ThriveCart?

When searching for a checkout experience, integrations should be one of the very first things that you look for.

Does it connect to your email marketing platform? Does it connect to your payment gateway? Does it connect to your course platform or digital product platform?

So far, every tool that I would want to connect to ThriveCart has been available, which includes:

• ActiveCampaign: For sending purchase confirmation emails, triggering abandoned cart emails and segmenting customers.
• Stripe: For all payment processing, enabling me to track payment statuses.
• PayPal: Similar to Stripe, where many customers like PayPal’s payment protection steps.
• Teachable (previously Thrive Architect): For adding customers to courses they have purchased.
• Google Analytics: For tracking customer source data, behaviour tracking and enabling conversion tracking in Google Ads.

Below you’ll find some of the tools that ThriveCart connects to…

And if your provider isn’t listed, ThriveCart also supports API and Webhook features, which is an excellent value-add if you work closely with developers to handle purchases offline or via a data lake.

Can I Use ThriveCart to Manage My Affiliates?

ThriveCart has a very robust affiliate management service, that allows you to empower your affiliates to sell your products with custom payment terms. The central dashboard also allows you to track the success of these affiliates.

For each affiliate, you can permission specific products, create unique affiliate links and set custom payout terms — it’s extremely straightforward, and affiliates can be imported in bulk for easy platform migration to ThriveCart.

And yes, ThriveCart does offer the old ‘MLM’, labelled ‘Second-tier’, where they can sub-recruit affiliates to sell your products in exchange for commission. Much like the standard affiliate settings, you can customise the payout amount, and you can specify an attribution window.

Why I Chose ThriveCart Over Others

I would choose ThriveCart because of its emphasis on boosting conversion rates at the checkout. Its one-time payment model for lifetime access was also a significant deciding factor, providing value without ongoing costs. I’m not a fan of the whole ‘subscription’ blight on modern SaaS platforms and so, while the upfront payment was a little intimidating at first, it’s one less thing to pay monthly for.

While there are alternatives like SamCart and integrated experiences in GoHighLevel or even Click Funnels, there’s a certain simplicity in ThriveCart that I just can’t live without. Not to mention, these providers all operate on that pesky subscription model.

Pros and Cons of ThriveCart

Pros of ThriveCart

• High Conversion Focus: Every feature from bump offers to detailed analytics is designed to increase sales conversions.
• Comprehensive Affiliate Management: The integrated system simplifies managing my affiliate network.
• Lifetime Access: No recurring fees, just a one-time payment for full access.

Cons of ThriveCart

• Limited Customization: While sufficient for most needs, the customization options for checkout pages are not as extensive as some competitors.
• Initial Cost: The upfront payment is substantial, which might be off-putting for smaller businesses or startups.
• Lack of Native Sales Tax Features: Requires third-party integrations to handle sales tax, adding complexity to the setup.

An overview of ThriveCart Use Cases

Selling Digital Products

Utilise ThriveCart’s secure and instant product delivery features for your e-books and courses, ensuring customers receive their purchases right away.

Managing Membership Sites

Integration with platforms like Teachable allows you to manage subscriptions efficiently, automating access to content based on the customer’s payment status.

Handling Physical Products

Even if your focus is digital products, ThriveCart’s ability to manage physical goods can help you to handle occasional merchandise sales without needing a separate system.

Offering Consulting Services

The platform supports scheduled bookings and variable pricing, which are crucial for selling any consulting services.

Who is ThriveCart for?

In my opinion, ThriveCart can be used for any business, large or small, that is looking to sell products online. Whether you’re an online creator, a brick-and-mortar store, or an established SaaS business, ThriveCart is a robust platform with a very low learning curve that can get your business selling in just minutes. (I was able to build a sales funnel in just 15 minutes).

How much does ThriveCart cost?

Pricing

ThriveCart offers a lifetime deal, which currently stands at $495 for the standard version and an additional $195 for the Pro version. This pricing is upfront but grants lifetime access to all current and future features without any additional subscription fees.

I would call out the fact that their ‘timed’ lifetime discount is misleading; the price has not changed in the last year, and I expect it probably won’t, so do bare that in mind.

Common Questions About ThriveCart

• Is ThriveCart mobile-friendly? Yes, it supports all mobile platforms and includes native support for mobile payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• How does ThriveCart handle customer support? Customer support is provided through email and a detailed knowledge base. There is no live chat or phone support at this time.
• Can ThriveCart handle international sales? Absolutely. It supports multiple currencies and integrates with international payment processors, making it ideal for global sales.

Final Thoughts on ThriveCart

ThriveCart is an indispensable tool in any digital marketing team’s arsenal, particularly valuable for anyone serious about maximising their online sales. While the initial investment is considerable, the range of features and the lifetime access provide tremendous long-term value.

So, if you do want to get your feet wet with ThriveCart, get lifetime access today for $495.