SamCart vs ThriveCart
SamCart vs ThriveCart: which checkout tool should you choose?
SamCart and ThriveCart both build checkout pages with order bumps, one-click upsells and A/B tests. SamCart charges monthly and processes through SamPay; ThriveCart charges monthly or once for life and takes 0% of your sales. Each vendor’s figures come from its own pages, read on 2026-11-05, with Vonza alongside as a labelled third option.
Vendor figures read on 2026-11-05 from each vendor’s own pages.
SamCart or ThriveCart: the short answer
The two do the same job. They differ on how you pay for them and which plan unlocks what.
Choose SamCart if
- You want SamPay’s wallets, Venmo and buy now, pay later in one processor.
- You want AI product and page design and unlimited pages, products and checkouts on the entry plan.
- You can work on Pro, at $199 a month, for order bumps, 1-click upsells and A/B tests.
Choose ThriveCart if
- You would rather pay once: Standard is $495 as a lifetime licence.
- You want 1-click upsells, downsells, A/B tests and a bump offer on the entry plan.
- You want courses and a community through ThriveCart Academy with every plan.
Consider Vonza if
- You want checkout pages with up to five order bumps and a one-click offer after payment, beside courses, community, email and SMS in one login.
- You sell with instalments, flexible payments or pay what you want, through Stripe, PayPal or Paystack.
- You also need appointment booking and a CRM for the same buyers.
SamCart vs ThriveCart pricing
SamCart’s and ThriveCart’s figures as their own pages stated them on 2026-11-05. Vonza’s price is its live price today.
| Pricing | SamCart | ThriveCart | Vonza |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest monthly price | $79/month (Core) | $47/month (Standard) | $99/mo |
| Higher plans | $199/month (Pro); Done For You custom | $87/month (Pro+); Enterprise custom | Higher plans and their live prices are on the pricing page |
| Lifetime deal | Not listed on the pages we read | $495 one-time for Standard, on ThriveCart’s own checkout; the Pro+ lifetime price is not shown | Pay monthly, or save up to 30% with annual billing. |
| Annual billing | “Yearly (25% OFF)” toggle; the yearly figure is not shown | An annual tab; the annual prices are not shown | Pay monthly, or save up to 30% with annual billing. |
| Transaction fee | “No added fees on SamPay”; SamPay rate 2.9% + 30¢; tax collection 50 bps on Core, 35 bps on Pro | 0% on sales; processor fees passed on, such as Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 on a domestic card | Your payment provider’s own processing fee, plus a Vonza platform fee per transaction that depends on your plan (see the pricing page). |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial | 30-day free trial | Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. |
Sources: samcart.com (samcart.com/pricing and its order bump, upsell and processor pages, read on 2026-11-05); thrivecart.com (the thrivecart.com plan table, features, processor-fee and lifetime checkout pages, read on 2026-11-05). A copy of each page as read is kept so the figures can be checked. Vonza’s price is its live price on the day you read this page.
SamCart and ThriveCart feature by feature
Each column quotes that vendor’s own pages as read on 2026-11-05. “Not listed” means the pages we read did not mention it, not that the platform lacks it.
| Area | SamCart | ThriveCart | Vonza |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout pages | Unlimited pages, products and checkouts on Core, with AI product and page design | Customized cart and checkout pages in modal, single-page or multi-step layouts; ThrivePages visual editor | Checkout pages written by Vonza AI or started from 15 templates in three layouts; sell a course, product, membership, bundle or community, or a service you deliver yourself |
| Order bumps | On Pro (“1-Click Upsells + Order Bumps”) | 1 bump offer on Standard; multiple order bumps on Pro+ | Up to five order bumps on a checkout page, ticked by default if you like; up to five on a funnel too |
| One-click upsells | On Pro, with upsell templates | 1-click upsells and downsells on Standard | One offer right after payment, taken in one click on the card just used; upsell and downsell steps in funnels |
| A/B testing | A/B testing on Pro | A/B split testing of checkout pages or funnels on Standard | Split tests on funnel steps; not on standalone checkout pages |
| Payment plans | Subscriptions, with Subscription Saver on Pro; Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm through SamPay | Subscriptions, split pay and pay-as-you-like; ThrivePay Installments with a 15% fee paid by the merchant | One-time, recurring, instalments from 1 to 120 payments, flexible, pay what you want and free; up to six prices on one checkout |
| Payment methods | SamPay (powered by Stripe): cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo; Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net on Pro | Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.Net; Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm; crypto on Pro+ | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna through your own Stripe account, PayPal for one-time payments, and Paystack for sellers in NGN, GHS, ZAR or KES; each switched on or off per checkout |
| Coupons | Percentage off, dollar off or limited-use coupon codes | Coupon offers and analytics on Pro+ | Coupon codes at checkout, percent or fixed, checked against your coupons |
| Affiliates | Affiliate Center on Pro | Affiliate Center and automated payouts on Pro+ | An affiliate program for courses, communities, products, funnels and forms |
| Courses and community | Courses App on Core; community through integrations | ThriveCart Academy with every plan: unlimited courses, up to 2,000 community members on Standard | Vonza Courses and Vonza Community in the same login |
| Email marketing | Cart abandonment emails on Core; email tools through integrations | Not listed on the pages we read | Email and SMS marketing included, from the same contact list as your buyers |
| Pricing | Core $79/month, Pro $199/month | Standard $47/month or $495 one-time; Pro+ $87/month | $99/mo |
Where SamCart is stronger, and where ThriveCart is
From the same pages as the tables.
SamCart is stronger at
- One processor for everything: SamPay, powered by Stripe, with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo and buy now, pay later.
- Building pages fast: AI product and page design on Core.
- Keeping subscribers: Subscription Saver on Pro.
- Unlimited pages, products and checkouts on the entry plan.
ThriveCart is stronger at
- Cost over time: a $495 lifetime licence for Standard, and 0% ThriveCart fees on sales.
- The entry plan: 1-click upsells and downsells, A/B split testing and a bump offer on Standard, where SamCart keeps bumps and upsells for Pro.
- Courses and community: ThriveCart Academy with every plan.
- Payment range: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, ThrivePay instalments and crypto on Pro+.
A third option: Vonza
Vonza is our product, so it is labelled here rather than ranked. It fits creators who want the checkout and the business behind it in one place.
- Checkout pages built with Vonza AI or from 15 templates, with up to five order bumps and one offer after payment taken in one click.
- One-time, recurring, instalment, flexible, pay what you want and free prices, up to six on one checkout.
- Courses, community, email and SMS marketing, funnels and appointment booking in the same login.
- Free migration of courses, communities and calendar with any annual Pro or Business plan.
SamCart vs ThriveCart: your questions
Answered from each vendor’s own pages, with the date we read them.
ThriveCart gives more on its entry plan: a bump offer, 1-click upsells and downsells and A/B tests on Standard, plus a lifetime option. SamCart keeps order bumps, 1-click upsells and A/B tests for Pro, and offers its own processor, SamPay, with wallets and buy now, pay later. The right one depends on whether you prefer paying once or monthly and which processor you want.
On the pages we read on 2026-11-05, yes: ThriveCart Standard was $47 a month and Pro+ $87, against SamCart Core at $79 and Pro at $199. ThriveCart Standard was also sold for $495 as a one-time lifetime licence, about as much as ten and a half months of the monthly plan.
Yes. Its home page said “Ready to commit for life? Available as a lifetime option.” on 2026-11-05 and linked to ThriveCart’s own checkout, which showed “One-time payment ($495)” for a ThriveCart Standard account. The Pro+ lifetime price was not shown. Processor fees on each sale still apply.
SamCart: “No added fees on SamPay”, with a SamPay rate of 2.9% + 30¢ and tax collection at 50 basis points on Core and 35 on Pro. ThriveCart: “0% fees on sales”, with processor fees passed on from Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.Net, and a 15% fee paid by the merchant on ThrivePay Installments.
Yes. SamCart lists “1-Click Upsells + Order Bumps” on Pro. ThriveCart lists 1 bump offer and 1-click upsells and downsells on Standard, and multiple order bumps on Pro+. Vonza, the third option here, takes up to five order bumps on a checkout page and one offer after payment taken in one click.
Both list it. SamCart’s fee table shows tax collection at 50 basis points on Core and 35 on Pro. ThriveCart lists sales tax automation on Standard and says it can calculate and collect VAT, GST and sales taxes worldwide.
ThriveCart includes courses and a community through ThriveCart Academy, and SamCart has a Courses App; neither lists SMS marketing. Vonza, our own product, includes courses, community, email and SMS marketing and appointment booking beside its checkout pages, and migrates courses, communities and calendar for free on annual Pro and Business plans.
Want to see the third option?
Every Vonza plan starts with a free trial, so you can try it beside SamCart or ThriveCart before you decide.
