SamCart vs ThriveCart

by Gralio Apr 30, 2025

SamCart and ThriveCart are both shopping cart platforms aimed at boosting online sales, but they cater to slightly different needs and preferences. SamCart focuses on simplicity and ease of use for creators selling digital products via a subscription model, while ThriveCart offers a broader feature set, including advanced affiliate and tax tools, with a popular lifetime access license.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 252 reviews and 60 websites, saving 1 hour, 54 minutes of reading.

Logo of SamCart
Logo of ThriveCart

About

SamCart is a shopping cart platform designed specifically for creators selling digital products. It focuses on boosting sales with features like one-click upsells, pre-built checkout templates, and detailed sales analytics. SamCart integrates with various payment processors and offers tools for subscriptions, affiliate marketing, and recovering abandoned carts. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to set up and customize your online store without needing technical expertise.
ThriveCart is a shopping cart platform for businesses selling online. It allows you to create and customize checkout pages, upsell funnels, and manage affiliate campaigns. The platform integrates with popular marketing and business tools, and includes features like sales tax calculation, subscription management, and detailed sales reporting. ThriveCart offers a lifetime access license for a one-time fee.

Summary

Main difference
The key distinction is their pricing structure and feature depth: SamCart offers yearly subscriptions and emphasizes ease of use with pre-built templates, whereas ThriveCart provides lifetime access for a one-time fee and includes more advanced features like integrated sales tax calculation and a more robust affiliate center.

Relative strengths of SamCart (compared to ThriveCart)

  • Emphasis on Ease of Use: SamCart provides a very user-friendly drag-and-drop builder and pre-designed templates, potentially offering a quicker setup for beginners compared to ThriveCart.

  • Specific Niche Focus: SamCart is strongly focused on creators selling digital products and courses, tailoring its features and templates towards this specific market.

  • Lower Initial Investment: With yearly plans starting at $59, SamCart requires less money upfront compared to ThriveCart's $495 lifetime deal.

  • SamCart is better for you if you prioritize simplicity and pre-designed templates for selling digital products and prefer a lower initial cost through a subscription model.

  • ThriveCart is better for you if you prefer a one-time payment for lifetime access and need more advanced features like integrated sales tax, robust affiliate management, and subscription dunning tools.

  • What sets those products apart? SamCart's subscription model and focus on simplicity for digital creators contrasts with ThriveCart's one-time fee lifetime license and broader, more advanced feature set including sales tax and affiliate tools.

  • What are the three relative strengths of SamCart (vs ThriveCart)?

  • * SamCart offers a simpler setup with its intuitive drag-and-drop builder and pre-designed templates, making it potentially faster to get started, especially for less technical users.

  • * SamCart has a specific focus on creators selling digital products and courses, tailoring its core features and templates directly to this niche.

  • * SamCart's subscription plans offer a lower entry cost compared to ThriveCart's significant one-time payment.

  • What are the three relative weaknesses of SamCart (vs ThriveCart)?

  • * SamCart's recurring subscription costs can add up over time, and users report issues with unexpected price hikes and cancellation difficulties, unlike ThriveCart's single payment model.

  • * SamCart lacks some advanced features found in ThriveCart, such as built-in automated sales tax calculations, sophisticated subscription dunning tools (Subscription Saver), and a comprehensive affiliate center (available in ThriveCart Pro).

  • * SamCart users frequently report significant issues with billing practices and customer support regarding subscription management and refunds, which appear more severe than the occasional slow support noted for ThriveCart.

Relative weaknesses of SamCart (compared to ThriveCart)

  • Recurring Cost & Pricing Issues: SamCart's subscription model can be more expensive long-term, and users report issues with unexpected price increases and difficult cancellation processes, unlike ThriveCart's one-time payment.

  • Fewer Advanced Features: ThriveCart includes more advanced capabilities like built-in sales tax functionality, subscription dunning (Subscription Saver), detailed affiliate management (Pro), and intelligent behavior rules which are less developed or absent in SamCart.

  • Reported Billing and Support Issues: Users frequently mention problems with SamCart's billing practices and customer support responsiveness concerning subscriptions and cancellations, which seems more problematic than the slow support times sometimes reported for ThriveCart.

Who should use SamCart VS. ThriveCart

SamCart is a platform built for creators and businesses wanting to sell digital products online. We find it's particularly useful for those who appreciate a quick setup and easy-to-use tools. Users often mention the simple drag-and-drop builder and features like one-click upsells which help boost sales. It seems best suited for entrepreneurs and businesses focusing on digital goods, courses, or memberships who want a streamlined checkout process without needing tech skills.

We've observed ThriveCart is a popular choice for online businesses wanting a comprehensive shopping cart and funnel builder. Users often praise its lifetime access deal and user-friendly interface for creating checkouts, upsells, and affiliate programs. While some report occasional glitches, its value, especially for digital product sellers, is frequently highlighted in reviews we've seen as a key benefit for getting started without recurring fees. It's a solid option for streamlining online sales processes effectively and affordably for many users we talk to.

  • We observe SamCart works well for a wide range, from solo creators to small and medium businesses, and even larger enterprises selling online.

  • In our experience, SamCart is primarily built for creators and Ecommerce businesses focusing on selling digital products, memberships, or courses.

  • We find ThriveCart fits excellently across the board, from small startups and creators to medium businesses and even larger enterprises.

  • In our experience, ThriveCart shines for Ecommerce ventures, course creators, coaches, and anyone marketing digital products or services online.

SamCart and ThriveCart features

Supported
Partially supported
Not supported
Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

  • Pre-Designed Templates
    Partially supported

    Pre-designed email templates are not supported directly, but available via third-party integrations.

    Not supported

    ThriveCart primarily offers templates for sales pages and checkouts, not email templates.

  • Drag and drop builder
    Supported

    SamCart supports creating landing pages with a drag-and-drop builder.

    Supported

    ThriveCart offers a drag-and-drop builder for creating and customizing landing pages.

  • Shopping cart
    Supported

    SamCart offers a streamlined checkout flow that functions like adding products to a cart.

    Not supported

    ThriveCart is not designed for traditional shopping carts.

  • Website builder
    Not supported

    SamCart does not offer website building with a product catalog.

    Partially supported

    ThriveCart is not a website builder and requires integration with website builders to create a product catalog.

  • One-click checkout
    Supported

    SamCart supports one-click checkout via Stripe and Apple Pay.

    Not supported

    Thrivecart does not offer one-click checkout, but it offers one-click upsells after the initial purchase.

  • Cart abandonment recovery
    Supported

    SamCart offers automated cart abandonment recovery via email and other channels.

    Supported

    ThriveCart offers cart abandonment recovery through behavior rules and email marketing integrations.

Qualities

  • Value and Pricing Transparency
    -0.56
    Rather negative sentiment
    +0.4
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Customer Service
    +0.33
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.33
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Ease of Use
    +0.88
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +0.82
    Strongly positive sentiment
  • Reliability and Performance
    +0.33
    Rather positive sentiment
    +0.43
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Ease of Implementation
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
  • Scalability
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
    No data

SamCart and ThriveCart Pricing

All plans include a 7-day free trial. Core features included with all plans are: Embedded Checkout capabilities, Express Checkout capabilities, Unlimited products and pages.
Plans

User sentiment

Rather negative
-0.56

See full Pricing page

ThriveCart offers a lifetime access for a one-time payment. There are two options available: ThriveCart Lifetime Account and Pro Upgrade. The Pro Upgrade option provides additional features such as Affiliate Center, Subscription Saver Functionality, Sales Tax Functionality, Business Projections, JV Contracts, Advanced User Management, Client Usage Rights and Custom domain name functionality.
Plans

User sentiment

Rather positive
+0.4

See full Pricing page

SamCart and ThriveCart review insights

165 reviews analysed from and

Users love

  • Fast and easy setup for selling digital products and courses.
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for creating sales pages.
  • Useful features like one-click upsells and order bumps.
  • Helpful training resources and courses for online selling.
  • Seamless integration with payment processors like Stripe.
  • Lifetime access license for a one-time fee, offering significant value for money.
  • User-friendly interface and intuitive design make it easy to set up and manage products, sales funnels, and affiliate campaigns.
  • Seamless integration with popular marketing and business tools, including payment gateways, email providers, and course platforms.
  • Robust sales funnel features, including upsells, downsells, bump offers, and A/B testing.
  • Comprehensive reporting and analytics dashboard provide valuable insights into sales data.

Users dislike

  • Sudden, unexpected price increases after the first year.
  • Difficulty canceling subscriptions, often leading to unwanted charges.
  • Misleading marketing and hidden subscription terms.
  • Lack of clear communication about recurring billing.
  • Poor customer support responsiveness, especially regarding refunds.
  • Occasional glitches and bugs reported, particularly with duplicate transactions and event tracking.
  • Limited customization options for invoice design, such as inability to remove download buttons.
  • Some users find the subscription management features to be limited, specifically regarding price changes on existing subscriptions.
  • Customer support, while generally helpful, can be slow at times, often taking several days to respond.
  • Lack of comprehensive multi-product purchase options for customers.

SamCart and ThriveCart Ratings

  • G2
    4.3/5
    (94)
  • Capterra
    4.4/5
    (44)
  • Glassdoor
    3.9/5
    (74)
  • G2
    4.6/5
    (27)

Company health

Employee growth

17% decrease in the last year
43% increase in the last year

Web traffic

9% increase in the last quarter
3% increase in the last quarter

Financing

October 2021 - $95M
September 2022 - $35M

How do ThriveCart's lifetime access and SamCart's subscription model affect long-term costs?

ThriveCart's lifetime access model requires a higher initial investment ($495 one-time, plus optional upgrade), but translates to significantly lower long-term costs because there are no ongoing subscription fees. In contrast, SamCart's subscription model ($59-$239 annually) offers a lower entry price point but results in continuously accumulating expenses year after year, making it substantially more expensive over the long term, particularly considering user reports of unexpected price increases after the initial period which adds cost unpredictability.

Which platform better integrates with existing marketing automation tools for my business?

Both SamCart and ThriveCart mention integrations with marketing tools such as email marketing providers, CRMs, or autoresponders. However, ThriveCart specifically highlights its integration with Zapier, a platform that connects thousands of different applications. This suggests ThriveCart may offer broader compatibility with a wider range of existing marketing automation tools through Zapier, compared to SamCart which relies on direct integrations.

What are the advantages of SamCart?

SamCart's advantages lie in its focus on creators selling digital products, offering an intuitive drag-and-drop builder and pre-designed templates for fast and easy setup without needing technical expertise. It excels at sales optimization with features like one-click upsells, order bumps, and membership levels designed to increase average order value. Users also appreciate its ease of use, helpful training resources, and seamless integration with payment processors.

What are the disadvantages of SamCart?

SamCart users report several disadvantages, primarily concerning its pricing practices and customer support. Many experience unexpected and significant price increases after their initial term, coupled with misleading marketing about subscription terms and difficulties canceling, leading to unwanted charges. Customer support is frequently described as poor and unresponsive, especially regarding refund requests. Additionally, users rate reliability and performance as highly negative aspects of the platform.

Is SamCart cheaper than ThriveCart?

SamCart offers annual subscription plans starting at $59 per year, while ThriveCart offers lifetime access for a one-time payment of $495 (with an optional $195 Pro upgrade). Therefore, SamCart has a lower initial cost per year, but ThriveCart becomes significantly cheaper over the long term as it does not involve recurring fees after the initial purchase.

Alternatives to SamCart and ThriveCart

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Page co-authored by
MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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