The ThriveCart Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about ThriveCart in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
ThriveCart
The Insider’s Guide
Checkout, funnel and course platform with a lifetime licence option
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among tools for selling digital products, read from ThriveCart’s own pages.
Made by ThriveCart · checked Oct 18, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from ThriveCart’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on ThriveCart’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 6 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade
ThriveCart builds branded checkout pages and sales funnels for digital products, physical goods, subscriptions, courses and coaching, with order bumps, upsells and A/B tests. Every subscription includes ThriveCart Academy for courses and communities. It takes no cut of sales, and alongside monthly and yearly plans it still sells a one-time lifetime licence.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about ThriveCart, taken from its own pages and our grades.
A visual editor helps, but you're building checkouts, funnels and courses and linking Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net before anything sells.
- 1
Best for paying once for checkouts, funnels and courses
ThriveCart does checkouts, upsell funnels, subscriptions and course hosting in one, with no cut of sales.
- 2
Paid plans start at $37 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $37 per month, billed annually ($47 monthly).
- 3
You can try it first
30-day free trial on the monthly and yearly plans
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Checkouts and funnels
Modal, single-page or multi-step checkouts, order bumps, one-click upsells and downsells, and a visual page editor for whole funnels.
- 6
Payment options
Cards, PayPal, buy now pay later through Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm or ThrivePay Installments, multi-currency pricing and crypto on Pro+.
- 7
Subscriptions
Trials, renewals, upgrades and cancellations, a fixed monthly billing date, subscription bumps at checkout and retention offers before cancelling.
- 8
A 2.6 GPA, above 6 of 14
That is against the other tools for selling digital products we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
The plain part of ThriveCart you could make: digital downloads and online courses. What surrounds it you could not. The 6 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
ThriveCart at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $37 per month, billed annually ($47 monthly)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial on the monthly and yearly plans
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- ThriveCart
- Category
- Selling Digital Products
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
The report card
Best for paying once for checkouts, funnels and courses
ThriveCart does checkouts, upsell funnels, subscriptions and course hosting in one, with no cut of sales. What makes it unusual is the lifetime Standard licence: $495 once instead of a subscription. Affiliates, multiple order bumps and custom domains need Pro+, though, at $87 a month or $790 up front plus $295 a year.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | The lifetime Standard licence is $495 once, with no cut of sales. Spread over two years, as we do for one-off prices, that's well under the yearly plan's $888 for the same two years ($444 + $444) and under two years of this category's middle price. Processor fees aren't counted. |
| Free plan and trial | C | No free plan, but a 30-day free trial on the monthly and yearly plans, longer than most here. The listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. |
| Features | B | Checkouts, order bumps, one-click upsells, A/B tests, subscriptions with retention offers, buy now pay later, sales tax, and courses and communities through Academy. Nothing's missing from the job; affiliates and custom domains need Pro+. |
| Ease of use | C | No App Store rating on record. A visual editor helps, but you're building checkouts, funnels and courses and linking Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net before anything sells. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web, with Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Zapier, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Mailchimp and HubSpot. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who ThriveCart is for
- Great if you'd rather pay once than pay every month
- Handy when you sell courses and want checkout, funnels and hosting together
- Good for sellers who live on order bumps and upsells
Who it is not for
- Pricey if you need affiliates or custom domains, which need Pro+ at $87 a month
- Not for you if you just want a simple store page, as it's built around checkouts and funnels
Good to know
Good for
- Course sellers who want checkout, funnels and course hosting together
- Creators who would rather pay once than pay every month
- Sellers who run affiliate programs and upsell funnels
Worth knowing
- ThriveCart takes 0% of sales, but payments run through your own Stripe, PayPal or Authorize.net account, whose processing fees apply.
- The affiliate center, multiple order bumps, dunning and custom domains all need Pro+ at $87 a month or $804 a year.
- The lifetime Standard licence costs $495 once; Pro+ bought outright costs $790 and then $295 a year from year two.
- Checkout pages offer paid add-ons, such as $69 courses and a $19 one-time offer, which are optional.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$37
A month to start
ThriveCart is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $37 per month, billed annually ($47 monthly).
The listing doesn't say whether it needs a card.
Standard
$37
per month, billed annually ($47 monthly)
Unlimited products and funnels, 1 order bump, upsells, A/B tests, cart recovery, sales tax tools, and Academy Starter for 2,000 community members.
Pro+
$87
per month ($804 billed yearly)
Adds multiple order bumps, the affiliate center with automatic payouts, dunning, custom domains, team permissions and the Academy Growth plan.
Standard lifetime
$495
one-time
A ThriveCart Standard account for a single payment with no subscription, offered beside the monthly and yearly plans.
Pro+ hybrid
$790
one-time, then $295 a year from year 2
Pro+ bought on its own page for a one-time $790, followed by a $295 yearly subscription from the second year.
Enterprise
Custom
For high-volume sellers: volume-based processing rates, unlimited team seats, a dedicated account manager, migration and white-glove setup.
Trying it first
30-day free trial on the monthly and yearly plans
Read from thrivecart.com on Oct 18, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
Save 20% on Standard with yearly billing
ThriveCart's checkout lists Standard at $444 a year ($37 a month) as a 20% saving on $47 a month; Pro+ is $804 a year instead of $87 a month.
Stated on checkout.thrivecart.comLifetime license
Lifetime Standard licence for $495
ThriveCart sells a Standard account for a one-time payment of $495 instead of a monthly or yearly subscription.
Stated on checkout.thrivecart.comNonprofit
Special pricing for schools and charities
Schools and registered charities can fill in a form on ThriveCart's site, and its support team will be in touch about special pricing.
Stated on pages.thrivecart.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Checkout, funnel and course platform with a lifetime licence option. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: online courses, community, affiliate tracking, digital downloads, a/B testing.
Nothing's missing from the job; affiliates and custom domains need Pro+.
- Checkouts and funnels
- Modal, single-page or multi-step checkouts, order bumps, one-click upsells and downsells, and a visual page editor for whole funnels.
- Payment options
- Cards, PayPal, buy now pay later through Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm or ThrivePay Installments, multi-currency pricing and crypto on Pro+.
- Subscriptions
- Trials, renewals, upgrades and cancellations, a fixed monthly billing date, subscription bumps at checkout and retention offers before cancelling.
- ThriveCart Academy
- Courses with drip content, quizzes and certificates, plus branded communities, included with every subscription; limits rise from Starter to Growth.
- Affiliates on Pro+
- Recruit affiliates, set commissions, track referrals and pay affiliates automatically, with joint venture contracts for partners.
- Digital delivery and tax
- Instant delivery with expiring download links, plus sales tax calculation and collection with tax-inclusive pricing.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Authorize.net
- Zapier
- ActiveCampaign
- ConvertKit
- Mailchimp
- HubSpot
ThriveCart is made by ThriveCart.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
6/14
Other tools for selling digital products it is graded above
ThriveCart's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 6 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 13 of 14) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $37 a month, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 7 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 15 tools for selling digital products we grade, cut by the letter each got. ThriveCart’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 13 of 14
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 14
- BFeaturesAbove 6 of 14
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 14
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 14
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 14 tools for selling digital products. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. ThriveCart is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of ThriveCart you could make: digital downloads and online courses. What surrounds it you could not. The 6 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It costs $444 a year.
What you could make
- Digital downloads and online courses: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to.
- Every click and sale traced back to the right partner.
- Splitting visitors between versions and telling you which won.
- It plugs into other products, Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net among them.
- People on the other end: coaches. No app builder makes those.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. ThriveCart’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
SamCart, SendOwl, Kajabi, Stan and Payhip
The 5 tools ThriveCart is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
SamCart
Free trial · from $79/mo
Checkout and sales page builder with courses and an AI assistant.
- ThriveCart also covers community.
- 2.4GPA
SendOwl
Free trial · from $32.50/mo
Checkout and delivery for downloads, licenses and subscriptions.
- ThriveCart also covers online courses, community and a/B testing.
- SendOwl also covers online store.
- 2.0GPA
Kajabi
Free trial · from $143/mo
All-in-one platform for selling courses, coaching and communities.
- Only Kajabi lists iOS and Android apps.
- ThriveCart also covers affiliate tracking, digital downloads and a/B testing.
- Kajabi also covers marketing automation, email campaigns and paid newsletters.
- 2.4GPA
Stan
Free trial · from $29/mo
Link-in-bio store for creators selling downloads, courses and calls.
- Only Stan lists an iOS app.
- ThriveCart also covers a/B testing.
- Stan also covers email campaigns and appointment booking.
- 2.6GPA
Payhip
Free plan · from $29/mo
Store for downloads, courses and memberships, with a free plan.
- Payhip has a free plan. ThriveCart does not, though it has a free trial.
- ThriveCart also covers community and a/B testing.
- Payhip also covers online store.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
13
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is ThriveCart free?
No, ThriveCart is a paid product, but you can try it first. 30-day free trial on the monthly and yearly plans.
How much does ThriveCart cost?
ThriveCart lists 5 plans. Standard: $37 per month, billed annually ($47 monthly).
What platforms does ThriveCart work on?
ThriveCart is available on Web.
Does ThriveCart offer any discounts?
ThriveCart publicly lists the following: Save 20% on Standard with yearly billing; Lifetime Standard licence for $495; Special pricing for schools and charities.
Does ThriveCart have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. ThriveCart is listed for Web.
Does ThriveCart have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. ThriveCart is listed for Web.
Is ThriveCart open source?
ThriveCart is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
What does ThriveCart integrate with?
ThriveCart's listing names Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Zapier, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Mailchimp and HubSpot.
Who makes ThriveCart?
ThriveCart is made by ThriveCart.
What are the alternatives to ThriveCart?
The closest alternatives to ThriveCart in our directory are SamCart, SendOwl, Kajabi, Stan and Payhip.
How does ThriveCart compare with other tools for selling digital products?
ThriveCart's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 6 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade, and level with 5.
Is ThriveCart good value for money?
ToolGPA grades ThriveCart B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $37 a month, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 7 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of ThriveCart?
The plain part of ThriveCart you could make: digital downloads and online courses.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from ThriveCart’s own pages on Oct 18, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 18, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from ThriveCart's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by ThriveCart. Prices change, so check thrivecart.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
2,281
Tools graded, in 73 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
2,281
tools graded
73
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- ThriveCart, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/thrivecart
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "ThriveCart: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 18, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/thrivecart
Know someone choosing between tools for selling digital products?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/thrivecart/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded tools for selling digital products after ThriveCart, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Selling Digital Products Insider's GuideEvery one of the 15 tools for selling digital products we grade, compared
- Whop Insider's GuideStorefront, checkout and payouts for paid communities and products3.4 GPA
- Patreon Insider's GuidePaid memberships, a shop and community for creators and their fans3.0 GPA
- Lemon Squeezy Insider's GuideMerchant of record checkout for software, subscriptions and downloads2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what ThriveCart’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. ThriveCart is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by ThriveCart. Prices and plans change: check thrivecart.com before you buy.