Any eCommerce operation is easily one of the most complex businesses in the online world. Whether you want to run a dropshipping business or capitalize on the entire value chain for your business, right from production to fulfillment, you need tools, platforms, and software to help you get there.
Kartra and Systeme.io are two of the many options with many features that you’ll find out there. But do many features imply worth for your many? Can such features meet your needs?
In this article, I hope to answer these questions by delving deeper into what each provides and its worth for your money. Let’s get straight at it!
What is Kartra?
Kartra is a 360 all-in-one online marketing and automation platform designed to help both organizations and individuals build their online empires and healthy client relationships, and manage the business systems without the need for duct-taping or fixing so many platforms to make the operations work.
You could say it is an alternative to Systeme.io, which is why we are comparing them to help you decide which one better serves your needs. Whether you are an individual or an established business looking for a home for all your online systems.
Other alternatives in this range of software include Lead pages, funnels software, Infusionsoft, and Kajabi.
Today, going online is almost a must for any business. But you would quickly realize that you need quite a lot of tools and platforms to make any meaningful progress in your online endeavors. This makes it difficult to get started as you have to learn a lot, take courses, or buy templates to get things to work.
Kartra makes it simple by putting almost all the tools you would ever need to run an online business or empire. It provides features and functionalities that involve management, automation, and analytics, critical aspects of any business.
Right from creating your products to creating funnels, sales pages, and building an email list, Kartra has all the features you need to get stuff done. One of the main benefits of all-in-one platforms like Kartra and Systeme.io is that they offer so much at a fraction of the cost if you are to buy all the independent tools.
The truth is that mostly half a decent product that works well with others is much better than a perfect product that costs a ton and still can’t work in your business system without other tools. A perfect example is buying Clickfunnels.
You can possibly run a full-blown eCommerce store with click funnels alone, yet it costs a lot. You will need an email tool like Mailchimp, a live chat, or a customer service tool like Zendesk or Zoho. These all need experts as they aren’t all the same.
This kind of operation is hardly ever suitable for any business, particularly not for a small business or individual that is still finding its way. So, to make your work much easier and centralized on one tool, Kartra has a set of awesome features.
In simple terms, email is key to eCommerce success, and Kartra is much better if you already have a list compared to other relatively cheaper options for building a list.
On the other end, if you have the budget for Kartra, even a new business will benefit on the cost side of things from using Kartra. They have far advanced eCommerce functions that make it smoother to run your business.
Main Features of Kartra
Before we look at the features of Kartra, think about all the features that your eCommerce business needs. Once you are done, read the rest of the article to determine if the features meet your needs.
Any eCommerce business needs pages to showcase products. The business also needs a well-optimized checkout system and payment system integration that doesn’t stand in the way of the sale.
Kartra allows you to have smooth operations in these regards with their checkout, sales, and landing page builders. They also have a checkout feature that makes adding checkout options to various pages easy.
With their email marketing and automation features, you can follow up, send notices, and give discounts to customers at the right time when they need them. There is also a membership management feature if you have digital products involving membership access.
You can create videos and forms and host quizzes and surveys on Kartra. You can sync activities with your calendar with Kartra calendars. As affiliate marketing is becoming huge, you can create your affiliate marketing program with Kartra.
It involves recruiting, managing, and payment systems integration, an all-in-one tool. If you want some extra functions that the platform doesn’t have, access to several AP integration options is available–chief among them are automate.io and Zapier.
Features of Kartra
- Kartra Checkouts
- Kartra Pages – Page builder
- Lead nurturing features
- Funnels and campaign builders
- Email Marketing
- Memberships
- Customer help desk
- Create forms, surveys, and quizzes
- Video hosting and playlist creation
- Calendar management
- Affiliate program management
- Marketplace
- Allows for various integrations
- Agency dashboard for managing several accounts
Advantages of Kartra
- Pretty good with each feature, and they work well together
- Good templates for pages, funnels, and automation sequences
- Help a ton in automation
- Intuitive and easy-to-use builder
- Autorepsonder works magic
- Tags buyers automatically.
- Video hosting feature
- Upsells, downsells, and order bumps are available. Very useful for eCommerce.
Disadvantages of Kartra
- The mailing system isn’t as user-friendly as it could be
- The general user interface could be improved
- Burns a hole in the pocket
- Needs a lot of time to learn and understand the platform. You may have to pay an agency to manage your account… Ironically, they have a feature for that.
- Easily complicated for beginners without a team or expertise to manage
- Does not have an evergreen webinar feature. You have to integrate.
Kartra Pricing
Kartra’s pricing starts at $99 per month. If you decide to go for a year run, you save $240. Compared to Systeme.io, you can clearly see that Kartra is on the expensive end of things.
As already mentioned, Kartra is highly based on leads and emails. You could say they have an email marketing service provider orientation to their pricing. You can get the platform at a trial fee of $1.
However, if you decide to go for the starter $99 per month package, you can nurture up to 2,500 leads and send 15,00 emails to them per month. In addition, you get 50GB bandwidth and can host 100 pages and 50 videos. But you are limited to only 20 products.
If you upgrade to the silver package, you get an enticing 12,500 leads and unlimited emails. With the basic starter package, you got 1 custom domain. That number goes up to 3 with the silver package.
There is unlimited access to pages, videos, products, membership sites, bandwidth, and almost everything listed for the silver package. You also get the agency features with the silver plan for $199 per month.
If this doesn’t meet your needs, or you outgrow the silver package and its features, you can get a gold package for $299 per month.
You get five custom domains, 25,000 leads under management, and unlimited features from the silver package. Like the silver package, you also get the helpdesk feature which allows you to create unlimited helpdesks.
That isn’t all that Kartra has for you. In their platinum package which goes for $499, you get 50,000 leads and ten custom emails. Everything else is unlimited at this point.
Kartra pricing, as you have seen, is built around the leads you want to nurture. If you are new, you could enjoy the $99 starter plan, but as your leads grow, so does your bill to Kartra increase.
This is unlike systeme.io pricing, which is built around increasingly providing more access to various features as the price goes up.
Who is Kartra For?
If you are a business owner, you’d always want to find a solution that costs less and provides you with all the support you require to make your online business succeed.
Kartra can assist you with your online goals and maintain an online database that you keep an eye on.
It also helps you keep a closer view of your relationships and your customers’ behavior to get more insight into the way your products are evolving or what changes can be made to your products to ensure that your customers are satisfied.
The ability to monitor your customers’ journey can make Karta one of the top platforms for your e-commerce business to get into. With each sale and changes in the buying habits of customers, it’s also possible to determine the marketing campaigns that are working better for your company.
Businesses that have been operating for many years and have a good reputation within their industry could benefit from Kartra since it assists them to keep pace and an eye on the business’s operations and processes, as well as different marketing tools.
If you’re starting your business for the first time and have just begun your company and have little to no experience in listing, then Kartra may not be the right choice for you.
The reason Kartra is an immense success for many companies is its active email list, which the new companies don’t have and, therefore, doesn’t bring in the profits as was expected. This is because eCommerce relies greatly on list building to build a customer base.
To get the most benefit from Kartra, it is recommended that you have an already built list. Then, you can reach them through the various marketing tools Kartra has on offer.
If you’re not a business, it is possible to wait until you’ve got an audience that can be used to the fullest extent for Kartra’s function. In this case, checking out systeme.io may be your best bet.
What is Systeme.io?
Systeme.io is an automation and marketing platform created as a complete solution for online marketers in 2010. Aurelian, who built and launched the platform in France, began his journey online as a blogger.
He began earning a profit of EUR 1000 from his blog on his own in six months. After that, he began to use webinars to increase his business and reach and then resorted to email marketing to manage his relationship with potential clients and customers.
While he could expand as a coach and grow an enterprise, he realized it was not easy to expand. It was also costly to follow the duct tape method of combining marketing tools. At that point, he decided to develop his own marketing and automation platform that could provide a single-source solution for all independent entrepreneurs and small-scale companies.
Systeme.io was launched initially in France but later expanded to encompass English-speaking countries. As a result, it currently has eight languages available.
The platform has many features that are difficult to discover in any other tool currently on the market. For example, it combines sales funnels, landing pages, email marketing, and eCommerce functions that allow dropshipping and affiliate marketing.
Main Features of Systeme.io
Systeme.io is one of the few platforms that try to offer everything to everyone and is quite good in each of them. It provides a wide range of functions and features that are ideal for solopreneurs and small-sized companies that are just launching.
It even has e-commerce and dropshipping features that allow you to sell stuff with affiliate program possibilities. However, the platform’s most crucial tool is the sales funnel feature that lets you build “Clickfunnels a quality” funnels that aren’t a burden for platforms like Kajabi, Leadpages, Clickfunnels, and Kartra.
It could also serve as an alternative to other marketing tools for email, including Mailchimp, Convertkit, and GetResponse.
It’s more equipped than the competition. It also offers competitive pricing, making you think about moving all of your marketing to Systeme. It also offers an efficient email marketing system that includes an automated responder and the ability to schedule your emails.
You can also track and improve the effectiveness of your assets. For example, when you have your sales funnel and landing pages, you also have features to expand your customer base and maintain your customers on the same platform, with autoresponders, email marketing, and other advanced e-commerce functions.
If you’re the owner of an eCommerce company, Systeme has got you covered by integrating drop shipping for eCommerce dropshipping and other options, including various payment integrations, such as Stripe and PayPal.
If you’re looking to build an effective marketing strategy and automation, Systeme has the features you require and A/B testing tools that can help you improve their performance over time.
In addition, it is possible to mix and match the numerous tools available on Systeme.io to streamline the entire process of business operations.
Systeme offers online course hosting, webinar hosting, and blogging. Therefore, as your company expands, you do not have to depend on different platforms that must be integrated into Systeme.io.
This is why Systeme.io does not have integrations other than payments. However, it is possible to start with their sales funnels to conduct affiliate marketing and then add dropshipping in the future.
Once you are an expert in the field of public, it is possible to take advantage of their email marketing tools as well as the product management and create online course tools to create additional streams of income.
In addition, it is possible to host webinars on this same system. Systeme.io makes it easy for those who are new to begin their journey fast!
Some of the options provided by other platforms do not provide all features from the beginning. Additionally, they require users to pay high prices as they move up. Systeme.io allows you to join and makes it easier to stay on board. Systeme provides almost all of the features an online business user requires.
Suppose you’ve created an online store or a course that’s been successful or even a business, and you’d like to allow other people to earn money as tour affiliates. In that case, you can add affiliate marketing to your product so that users can market your product and earn income through sales.
Considering the benefits and low cost, this one-stop-shop marketing tool is difficult to resist. It’s not difficult for even novices to appreciate the huge value that it offers. It’s three to ten times more expensive for similar functions on other platforms.
The money saved when you choose Systeme.io can be used to pay for advertisements, acquire assets, or even create content that will eventually boost profits for your business.
Features of Systeme.io
- Sales Funnels
- Ecommerce features
- Dropshipping
- Email Marketing
- Website Builder
- Affiliate Program Management
- Business Automation
- Evergreen Webinars
- Online Courses
- Blogging
- Sell Products
- Systeme.io Marketplace
Advantages of Systeme.io
- Suitable for Beginners, Individuals, and Small Businesses
- Ecommerce functions and marketplace
- Simple and Easy-to-Use Interface
- Lots of Marketing and Automation Tools to Choose From; All in One Platform
- The Systeme.io Free Plan Is Great for Beginners
- Start Your Own Affiliate Marketing Program
Disadvantages of Systeme.io
- Lack of some Third-Party Integrations
- Page Builder is a Work in Progress
- Features Could be Overwhelming
- Lack of Onboarding Process, Little Tutorials Available
Systeme.io Pricing
Systeme.io is one of the cheapest all-in-one e-commerce platforms out there. Period. You may be wondering what the starting price is, I’ve got you. The platform has 4 pricing plans for you but the most popular one is completely free.
When starting an eCommerce business, you may think the only thing you need is a page to showcase your products. But behind that page is massive machinery of features that make it possible to sell your products and get them processed, fulfilled, and delivered.
This involves lots of email marketing, payment processing, customer service, and more. This is what makes Systeme.io one of the best platforms. It is quite difficult to find a platform that charges as little as they do. For free, you can start using the platform.
The first paid plan is the startup plan which costs $27 per month for 5,000 contacts, unlimited email, and 5 courses. It has all other features but limited capabilities with a free migration if you are coming from another platform.
The next package offers a little more of each feature such as 10,000 contacts, 20 courses, and more. It costs $47 and is called the webinar plan.
The last plan is basically offering everything the platform has for a price of $97 per month. Everything is marked as unlimited in the pricing table featured on their website.
Who is Systeme.io For?
Systeme.io is an all-purpose for individuals, small and even large businesses. At its core, it’s a platform for starters. If you are just getting started with an internet business, eCommerce, or any of the various ways to make money online, Systeme.io is one of the best and easiest places to get started.
Their pricing plans are not only affordable, but their free plan is also large enough to get started without spending anything. If you want to sell products, you can start with the free package.
It works well for freelancers, indie business people, and beginners in general. For both the cost and the massive feature base, systeme.io is more than a bargain, really.
Systeme.io Vs Kartra: Feature Comparison
When we look at both products and platforms from a feature angle, we quickly realize that both are full of useful features necessary to run an eCommerce business and more. This is because they are designed for any online entrepreneur and they have e-commerce features to make it possible.
But looking deeper, you would realize that features aren’t always as simple as stating them. Two executions of an order checkout page may be different on two platforms.
Both platforms have email marketing, automation, funnel systems, and page builders, They also have eCommerce features that allow you to create and sell products. Systeme.io allows you to drop ship products easily. And so does Kartra.
If you want to use customer service practices, Kartra has an inbuilt help desk feature but Systeme.io does that through integrations such as Zapier for ManyChat. There are upsell, downsell, and order bump features for both.
Both systeme.io and Kartra have affiliate program management features that allow you to recruit, nurture, and profit from a massive affiliate marketing community.
But this is where it all starts to get different as Kartra leads with more features such as quizzes, video uploads, calendar, and agency. But are these extra features worth the extra cost between a $99 and $0 starter plan? Maybe not.
However, there is a large difference between a feature and its actual functionality. This is where systeme.io lacks some functionality. This is natural as Kartra is the more mature and more robust platform here.
They have finer templates, a more fluid page builder, done-for-you campaigns, and more. For a new business person who needs ease at every point, Kartra probably will give you much more support, especially with the racing community of creators and agencies that offer management services for Kartra users.
Systeme.io Vs. Kartra: Features Comparison Table
| Features | Systeme.io | Kartra |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Funnels | Yes | Yes |
| Page Builder | Yes | Yes |
| Lead Nurturing | Yes | Yes |
| Email Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Dropshipping | Yes | Yes |
| Business Automation | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate program management | Yes | Yes |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | Yes |
| Booking | No | Yes |
| Online Courses | Yes | Yes |
| Membership | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Support Features | No | Yes |
| Evergreen Webinars | Yes | No |
| Feedback tools | Yes | Yes |
| Blogging | Yes | No |
| Marketplace | Yes | Yes |
| Agency Dashboard | No | Yes |
| Sell Products | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Yes (a few) | Yes (Severa) |
Systeme.io Vs Kartra: Which is Good For Ecommerce?
On the basic premise of features, both platforms are great for eCommerce. On the premise of advanced features and functionalities, Kartra wins. And finally, on the cost, systeme.io definitely wins, hands down.
So, what matters most to you. Is it the depth of features, or the price?
Considering their feature differences, I will recommend Systeme.io if you’re just starting off and you need webinar and blogging features. Having a blogging feature is also essential to e-commerce success so you might want to consider that.
Besides, it cost you way less than the $99/month of Kartra. However, if your e-commerce business is well-developed and requires other sophisticated functions, then Kartra customer support features will be of great help to you.
Over To You!
Hi there! I hope you got some useful information to make your decision. If there is any similar comparison post that you’re interested in, kindly drop it in the comment box and I’ll check it up.
Until then, I hope your decision serves you well. Shalom!