Thrivecart Review 2024: Is It Worth It? (My Experience)

ThriveCart is one of the most recommended carts by merchants, but is it really worth trying and investing your money?

I tested ThriveCart myself. Surprisingly, the platform gave me a whole new perspective on owning an online shopping cart. 

After thoroughly testing its online selling capabilities and features, I am ready to share my hands-on experience with ThriveCart. Keep reading to find out whether this platform delivers as it promised. 

ThriveCart Review: In A Nutshell

• ThriveCart is great for selling different types of products online but doesn’t offer an all-in-one eCommerce solution.
• Its A/B testing feature allows merchants to create highly convertible checkout pages and funnels.
• The platform offers a lifetime plan, but it requires a high upfront cost
• Design templates are customizable, but the numbers are limited
• Streamlined payment options with zero transaction fees
• Integrations are required to add advanced features
• There’s a money-back guarantee but no free trial

What makes ThriveCart Stand Out?

• Lifetime Plan with Free Updates: Compared to other top shopping carts, ThriveCart offers a lifetime plan at an upfront cost of what others charge annually. There are no recurring fees. Plus, all future updates are completely free. 
• Automation Features: Most of the ThriveCart features, such as sales funnels and dunning notifications, work on autopilot. All you need to do is set your own custom rules and customize them whenever you want. 
• No learning curve: ThriveCart is pretty straightforward and simple to use compared to other platforms. Even if you face any problems setting up checkout pages or sales funnels, the beginner-friendly help desk will solve most of your problems on the go. 
• Complete Control: ThriveCart lets you get creative with different templates and split testing. You can save your previous setup and try new things without worrying about losing your data and customization. This gives you complete control over your online shopping cart. 
• In-built LMS platform: If you want to sell online courses or videos, you don’t have to integrate other third-party apps into your store. ThriveCart has a built-in LMS tool that allows creators to create and sell courses online. 
• Multiple Payment Options: With ThriveCart, you can accept payments through credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. On top of that, the platform doesn’t charge any processing or transaction fee. 

Aspects Where It Disappoints

• No industry-level features: ThriveCart doesn’t include advanced features like Kartra or Kajabi. Most of the features are related to shopping carts and sales. If you need community or email marketing features, you will have to depend on third-party add-ons. 
• Limited template library: You won’t get a huge library of templates for checkout and landing pages on ThriveCart. For simplicity, ThriveCart is a great deal, but some merchants might miss templates related to their specific niches. 
• Requires integrations for ultimate growth: If you want to expand your business internationally, you may need to integrate dozens of third-party apps. If you are on a budget, integrating multiple apps quickly adds up to capital investment, which seems a bit irrelevant.

What Is ThriveCart?

ThriveCart is an eCommerce shopping cart solution founded by Josh Bartlett in 2016. The platform provides access to all the necessary eCommerce features that merchants need to sell physical/digital products, courses, and subscriptions. 

According to the founder, the idea behind creating Thrivecart was to improve the cart solutions that were present at the time. Being a software engineer and online seller himself, it was just a matter of time until he would come up with his own solution to the problem. 

The initial launch of Thrivecart was quiet, but it soon gained momentum, and by the end of 2021, it became one of the top checkout services available in the market. 

ThriveCart catered to more than 230k online merchants from all over the world and helped them sell more than 16.4 million products worth $2.6 billion. 

Who Is ThriveCart For?

ThriveCart is a suitable platform for:

• Business consultants who handle a huge number of clients
• Companies that sell membership services such as news, music, ebooks, etc
• Individual online vendors who sell physical and digital products
• Online courses and training platforms
• Digital marketing companies working for small enterprises
• Software solution companies
• Online businesses that need to ship the products by themselves

ThriveCart Key Features Explained

Though ThriveCart is not an all-in-one eCommerce solution for online sellers, it offers much-needed features to sell products without having to launch a fully-fledged online store. Let’s closely look at the features the platform has for sellers. 

1. Checkout Pages

If you have an existing website, you can choose from 10 customizable templates to create high-converting checkout pages. 

Like sales funnels, you can play with multiple templates to create the finest checkout page. You don’t need to have extensive programming or design skills to build a stunning cart page. The platform uses a simple drag-and-drop tool to design the page on top of default templates.

Here are some of the checkout options you can choose: 

• One-step Checkout (Standard) – if you want to highlight all the checkout information on a single page, you can use the One-step checkout template. It’s the most straightforward way to direct the buyers to an easy checkout. 
• Two-step Checkout (Sales cart) – if you are willing to gain additional business information from the customers, such as mailing address, credit card details, etc., you can try the two-step checkout templates. This also gives you an opportunity to use sales and promotional strategies on the initial page before the checkout. 
• Modal – Also known as a “Popup” cart, these checkout pages can be embedded directly into your website. It has a customizable button that can be clicked to open the checkout modal on the website on which it is embedded. This option is great for impulsive buyers. 
• Embedded – You can use the Embedded checkout template if you want the buyers from other websites to land on your checkout page. The website where you are using the checkout must support the Thrivecart integration. 

A “My Templates” option allows users to import old designs from their website and save newly made designs. Here, you can quickly pick designed templates (also restore your previous design) and use them for different product pages. 

My Verdict: You don’t need to have extensive programming or design skills to build a stunning cart page. The platform uses a simple drag-and-drop tool to design the page on top of default templates. The headings and texts on the templates are self-explanatory, which is convenient for new users. 

2. Sales Funnel 

Once your products are listed and ready to sell, merchants can create sales funnels and launch them to sales pages. Every time you build a funnel, you actually create a page. ThriveCart allows you to test with multiple sales funnel pages so you can choose the best one that brings potential sales. 

The process is much easier when you create funnels with checkout pages. Funnel pages directly lead to checkout pages, so they need to be customized accordingly. 

In case you don’t know how the sales funnel works, here’s an example:

While creating a sales funnel with ThriveCart, consider adding upsell, downsell, and bump offers to the cart. It will ensure visitors don’t leave your cart abandoned and purchase at least one product. 

You can edit cart pages step-by-step according to your customer behavior and interests. For upsells and downsell offers, there’s an additional section. You can only add a downsell offer if you have already added an upsell product. However, adding any of them is optional.

My Verdict: Creating funnels with ThriveCart is easy–just pick a template and edit it according to your products. However, ThriveCart’s funnel builder is basic compared to other top funnel builders. 

3. A/B Testing (Split Testing)

The main goal of split testing is to eliminate all the possible aspects that might slow your sales down. 

With ThriveCart, merchants can set up two versions of the same page (funnels, checkout, and payment pages) to see which one is more convertible. 

All you have to do is go to the Funnels section and create one for any product you want. You can also use the same funnel for different products if you have a lot of products to sell. 

My Verdict: The split testing feature sets ThriveCart apart from competitors. For online merchants, the platform helps you create conversion-focused pages with this feature, leaving no room for errors.

4. Course Creation

ThriveCart also hosts an LMS platform for course creators – ThriveLearn. I am not a professional course creator, but the user interface of ThriveLearn was simple compared to so-called platforms like Teachable. 

Instructors can add pre-built courses using the exclusive dripping feature. If you are a beginner, you will get access to tools to create courses from scratch. 

ThriveLearn is unique because you can use it as a sole membership platform. You can add a custom domain to set your courses apart from your initial selling products. This way, visitors won’t think that you are forcing them to purchase courses. 

My Verdict: ThriveLearn is a bonus from ThriveCart. The platform has your back if you ever need to sell a course or video bundles for your customers. You can add it as a down-sell or bump offer along with the checkout pages. 

5. Affiliate Center

On ThriveCart, you get a comprehensive in-built affiliate management system where you can monitor your affiliates’ performance, set payment rules, and make payments to them.

Furthermore, you can add your affiliates to a group and apply certain rules such as bonus payments, adding them to the mailing list, inviting them to a webinar, and much more. 

The same goes for the payment rules. You can increase/decrease their profit margins, set the autopayment rules (time, sales, etc), and add/remove affiliates based on their performance. 

Apart from affiliate programs, ThriveCart has a JV Contract (Joint Venture) option where multiple partners can share revenues based on their partnership. 

For example, you are two partners. Your shopping cart makes a sale of $100. This feature will split the payment in half (based on 50-50 partnerships), and you both get $50 each. Even if you have hired affiliates at a 10% commission, both will receive $45 on the sale.

You can set the payment process to automatic and manual. The best part is that both partners can view their revenue dashboards individually. However, this amazing feature is only available with the Pro subscription. 

My Verdict: An affiliate program is a good way to boost our business and improve sales with the help of third-party promoters. With Thrivecart, you don’t need to purchase an alternate affiliate service, which will save you both time and money.

6. Payment Gateways

This is the area where Thrivercart really excels. It allows you to sell one-time payment products, memberships, installment payments, and more. For membership customers, it creates automatic alerts for card expiration, to renew their subscription, or to pay due amounts.

If you are planning to offer discounts, Thrivercart has the provision for that as well. You can either directly add coupon codes or place the URL of coupons that are valid until a certain period of time. 

Additionally, the platform also supports fixed discounts, shipping offers, a percentage discount, restricted coupons, etc. You can also set the alert every time the coupon is cashed in a successful sale.

My Verdict: ThriveCart supports nearly all major payment gateways and payment processors, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. As of now, it supports 22 international currencies. No transaction fee is the cherry on top. 

7. Tax Reporting 

Thrivecart also lets you collect sales tax from your customers. The tax estimation feature is bundled with both plans, and no additional cost or third-party integration is required. The tax amount depends on the location where the prospect is checking your website.

It automatically calculates the tax, and based on the price you have set for the item, the tax will be added to it, and the final price will be highlighted on the website. 

No manual intervention is needed in this whole process, which is a big advantage, especially for beginners who don’t know much about international taxation.

My Verdict: Enable the automatic tax calculation and collection option if you are not aware of the tax rules of certain regions. ThriveCart automatically adds taxes to the final purchase based on the customer’s location. 

8. Subscription Saver (Dunning)

Collecting dues from online customers is not everyone’s cup of tea. What will you do if the customer’s card is expired or they forgot to pay for the subscription? 

With ThriveCart, you won’t be losing your revenue for this issue. 

I love that it offers a built-in dunning feature that allows merchants to notify their customers for: automatically

• Card Expiry Notice – 3 to 30 days before/after 
• Upcoming Card Expiry Reminder – 3 to 30 days before/after
• Upcoming Payment Notice – 3 days before/after
• Overdue Payment – 3 days before/after

You can set up behavior rules to send customized emails to your customers regarding payment dues. The autoresponder will follow the sequence and notify the customer – no manual work is needed. 

My Verdict: Dunning is essential for recovering payment dues and setting up reminders for upcoming payments or card expiry. However, you will need to add an email marketing app to use this feature. You can use MailChimp or ActiveCampaign.

9. Third-Party Integrations

When it comes to third-party integrations, Thrivecart doesn’t disappoint. It supports numerous platforms that you can use Thrivecart on or vice versa. 

Here is a detailed integration list. 

Autoresponders and Email Marketing Services

Emails are one of the best ways to connect with your customers. Thrivecart supports more than enough email marketing platforms that allow you to reach out to your buyers, contact them about their due payments, send them payment alerts and product marketing, and much more. 

Here are the top email marketing services supported by Thrivecart:

• ActiveCampaign
• GetResponse
• Keap
• Hubspot
• Mailchimp

Payment Services

From the buyers’ point of view, having as many payment options as possible increases your chances of closing down a sale. While Thrivecart supports Paypal, the biggest payment processor in the world, the company has promised it’s working towards bringing in more payment gateways and providers. 

As of now, Thrivecart accepts payments through:

• Google Pay
• PayPal
• Apple Pay
• Stripe
• Authorize.net

Subscription/Membership Services

For digital products such as music, ebooks, and movies, it’s essential to have a membership service. Apart from the platforms Thrivecart supports, you can use other membership services through Zapier.

Here are the membership integrations supported by Thrivecart:

• Digital Access Pass
• Membermouse
• LifterLMS
• Thrive Apprentice Wishlist Member

Fulfillment Services

You need a fulfillment service if you are selling physical products that require shipping. Thrivercart integrates well with one of the largest fulfillment services – Shopify.

Thrivercart supports the following.

• Kunaki
• Lulu
• Shopify
• Shipstation
• Google Sheets
• Printful

Notification and Sync Platforms

Thrivecart also supports notification and sync services, which allow you to document information regarding orders, cancellations, etc. You can also set alert notifications for new orders, delivery, and so on. 

• Slack
• Google Sheets
• Zapier

10. Reporting & Analysis

Thrivecart allows you to extract valuable market information that can help you set the agenda for future sales. You get access to accurate live metrics and business projections so you can plan accordingly to avoid order canceling and refunds.

With Thrivercart, you can also target the buyers who have left the cart, visited your store multiple times, or have a payment due. This is done by using pre-defined rules you set. For example, you can analyze the number of clicks on a certain page or product and place a strategic ad for the particular customer on the checkout page. 

The pre-defined rules also help you contact the customer using text, emails, and notifications. 

Furthermore, you can also get the product performance report and estimated daily revenue and manage customer subscriptions. With Thrivecart, it’s easy to chase the due payments and analyze customer details such as card expiration, lifetime purchases, most recent activity, etc.

ThriveCart Pricing & Plans

My personal favorite ThriveCart feature is its pricing. Its plans are available as a one-time purchase service only. 

They offer two plans: Standard and Pro. Both plans are available for a lifetime. Here’s a complete breakdown of both ThriveCart plans.

Features	Standard Lifetime Plan	Pro Lifetime Plan
Price	$495 one-time	$690 one-time
Lifetime Updates	✓	✓
Business Insights Dashboard	✓	✓
Custom Behavior Rules	✓	✓
Unlimited Checkout Pages	✓	✓
ThriveLearn Access	✓	✓
Affiliate Center	X	✓
JV Contracts	X	✓
Subscription Saver	X	✓
Custom Domain Name	X	✓

If you are already on the Standard ThriveCart plan, you will only need to pay $195 to upgrade it to Pro. This way, you won’t miss the additional features that the Standard plan doesn’t include. 

Note: To know whether ThriveCart is truly unlimited or not, read the complete truth here. 

What do Customers Say About ThriveCart?

ThriveCart is used by thousands of sellers. Here’s what actual customers say about this platform. 

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(Source: Trustpilot)

Thrivecart Alternatives

Here are a few alternatives to Thrivecart that you can check out:

Features	ThriveCart	SamCart	SendOwl	PayKickStart
Pricing	$495 one-time	$79/month	$9/month	$99/month
Free plan/trial	No	7-day trial	First 3 months free	14-day trial
Transaction Fees	0%	0%	5%	1%
A/B Testing	Yes	Yes (require a higher subscription)	Yes (Basic split testing features)	No
Payment Gateways	Supports 22+ payment gateways	Apple, Google Pay, Buy Now Pay Later	Stripe and PayPal	Accept all major gateways
Integrations	100+ 3P integrations, Zapier	26+ 3P integrations	Zapier integration	3000+ app integrations

1. Samcart – Provides hosted shopping cart pages and marketing automation for digital products and services. Offers beautiful templates, 1-click upsells, and abandoned cart recovery. Integrates with payment processors and email tools. More advanced features than Thrivecart.

Note: Samcart is the #1 alternative to ThriveCart. I have made a detailed comparison of Thrivecart vs Samcart here. Compare and check which one is superior. 

2. SendOwl – Specialized checkout platform built for selling digital goods like ebooks, online courses, and audio files. Includes affiliate tools, global payments, and bundle creation. They are focused specifically on digital products.

3. PayKickstart – Shopping cart optimized for recurring billing, subscriptions, and SaaS sales. It also handles one-time purchases. It Includes advanced affiliate and commission management capabilities.

Conclusion: Thrivecart is Worth It!

After using the ThriveCart tool, I can say–you don’t need anything else. 

ThriveCart checkout pages are enough to boost sales and reduce abandoned carts. Apart from that, you will get access to plenty of tools such as A/B testing, dunning, affiliate manager, and many more. Small and medium-sized businesses can benefit the most from these built-in features. 

The huge one-time payment might itch a little bit, but the lifetime access and free updates will cover it up. However, you need the Pro plan to unlock its advanced features, which cost an additional $195. 

The good thing is that it offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk in trying the tool. 

FAQs