Decision page
Should I build a cheap clone of ClickFunnels?
Verified · editorial policy
Verdict
Verdict: No
No. Cloning an entrenched tool with no specific edge — different audience, different price, different positioning — is the most-attempted and least-rewarded indie SaaS pattern. The right move is positioning, not pricing.
The reasoning
The 'I will build a cheaper ClickFunnels' bet has been attempted hundreds of times since 2018. The graveyard is large. The pattern fails because the moat in tools-of-this-shape is brand plus ecosystem plus founder content plus integrations — not features. Cloning the features clones the smallest part of the moat.
When cheaper clones do work, they are not really cheaper clones. They are repositioned products with a different audience (indie founders vs course creators), a different surface (drag-and-drop vs templated), or a different price model (one-time vs subscription). The repositioning is the product.
The honest indie-SaaS edge against an entrenched competitor is almost never price. It is audience focus, integration depth, or a feature subset done dramatically better for one specific job-to-be-done.
Pre-revenue: write down the one sentence that completes 'Use us instead of ClickFunnels because ___'. If the sentence is 'we are cheaper', stop building. If the sentence names a specific job-to-be-done you do dramatically better, keep going.
When the verdict flips
- Flip to YES if you have a specific audience the incumbent does not serve well and you are charging on a different axis (one-time, usage-based, freemium).
- Stay NO if the only differentiator is price.
What to do instead
- Build for a specific funnel archetype (tripwire-only, webinar-only) and own that one slice instead of the full surface.
- Build the missing integration the incumbent does not have, sold as a companion product.
Related niches
Related Brunson terms
Frequently asked
- What about cloning a tool that is no longer actively maintained?
- Different question. Cloning a tool with users but no maintenance can work — you inherit demand without inheriting the brand fight. Validate that the users will switch to you specifically (not just complain about the original) before building.
More decision pages
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