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I can’t believe SamCart just did this to their customers. They’ve quietly switched from a fixed, fairly fair monthly fee to basically a percentage model. And some people’s bills have gone from their standard AU$220 a month (which to be fair was probably on the higher side of what people were wanting to pay for their checkout) to AU$1,300 a month or more.
If you’re a SamCart user and you haven’t checked recently, you might want to go check your bill and fingers crossed you don’t get a nasty shock. But if you have recently or you are just worried that they’re going to do the old switcheroo on you and you’re looking for a new checkout solution, then you need to hear this because I’m about to share the alternatives that are actually way better and way cheaper.
Why We Had to Leave SamCart
Look, it’s not just SamCart. I have a personal conspiracy theory that about 12 to 18 months ago, there was some kind of tech conference and someone got up and said, “Hey, you’re all undercharging, 10x your prices.” Because pretty much since then, that’s what’s happened for so many of the tools that we use. ActiveCampaign, LeadPages, Vimeo, and now SamCart have all jumped on the “let’s just become really expensive and unaffordable” bandwagon.
For us in particular, if you go and have a look on their pricing page right now, you’ll see it’s no longer just “do you want the basic or the advanced?” It’s now this horrific sliding scale. Once you get up to anything above AU$15,000-AU$30,000 a month (which most people are aiming to do), it starts to get up into the hundreds of dollars. Ours went from AU$220 to nearly AU$1,300 per month. That’s in Australian dollars, and that hurts.
When someone does that to their pricing without warning, I leave. So we went and did a deep dive to find the best alternatives.
What My Checkout Software Must Do
After being online for as long as I have, I’ve got a bit of a list of what my checkout needs to do:
Fixed Pricing
None of this percentage model nonsense, which they all seem to be jumping on. I want to know exactly what I’m paying each month.
Proven Track Record
I wanted something with a good track record for being stable. I wasn’t looking for any shiny new thing that was popping up for AU$30 or something. I’m happy to pay a reasonable amount, but I want you to actually be a quality product with big businesses using it.
Fast Loading and Mobile-Friendly
It had to look good and load fast, especially on mobile. Your checkout page is where you make money – it needs to work perfectly.
Direct Tech Stack Integration
This one was really important because we have a lot of different offers and they’re not always completely straightforward in how they’re delivered. I wanted something that had a direct integration with the rest of my tech stack. I didn’t want to be doing Zapier connections back and forth because that just becomes a logistical nightmare when the zaps fail.
Australian Tax Compliance
Being based in Australia, we have to be able to calculate GST on top of our sales for people who live in Australia. I didn’t want to have to find another plugin to do this and band-aid it all together. I wanted it just to be part of the software.
Payment Processing Options
I wanted to be able to use Stripe and PayPal as a minimum. If there were any extra payment processors, that was a bonus.
Professional Order Bumps and Upsells
It needed to have order bumps that looked good that I could edit, and one-click upsells that convert well.
Clear Reporting
Finally, clear reporting that shows me how offers are doing, how our upsells are performing, what our average order value is – basic stuff that, for some reason, so many checkout softwares just don’t have.
The Three Best SamCart Alternatives for 2025
After extensive research, I narrowed it down to three options that actually deliver on what course creators need.
ThriveCart – The Lifetime Deal Option
We actually have a licence to ThriveCart that we bought previously. One of the things I both like and don’t like about ThriveCart is that they have a lifetime licence pricing. You buy it once (between AU$580-AU$720 one-time), you own it forever.
This sounds good at the time, but about 18 months to two years ago, they had some real issues with reliability and buggy updates. That’s when we actually left ThriveCart the first time. However, since that time they’ve had new owners who seem really dedicated to going in, updating it, and making sure everything works smoothly.
ThriveCart ticks every box on my list apart from one crucial thing – they don’t currently have a direct integration with Circle, which I use for my online courses and programs. That was a bit of a deal breaker for me, but if you’re using different course platforms, this could be perfect for you.
Spiffy – The Hidden Gem (My Pick)
I’m in a wonderful mastermind group, and when I put my little rant in there about needing a new checkout, one of my friends mentioned Spiffy. There are actually two checkouts out there called Spiffy – one’s more for e-commerce, but the one I’m talking about is specifically for course creators.
Spiffy actually ticks every single box on my list, apart from the reporting (which is okay, but hopefully they’ll make some updates soon). It looks great, it’s really simple to use, it’s got one-click upsells, order bumps, automatic tax calculation, Stripe, PayPal – all great. It integrates with my entire tech stack directly, which is wonderful.
The icing on the cake? Amy Porterfield uses Spiffy. If anyone is going to be my canary in the mine to go ahead of me and test it, run millions of dollars of traffic through it, and give their thumbs up approval, I’m pretty happy for that to be Amy.
Pricing: The pricing plan we’ve gone for is AU$145 a month, and so far we’re super happy with it.
Stan Store – The Budget-Friendly Starter Option
For those who are more budget-conscious or in the beginner stage, I recommend Stan Store. It’s really inexpensive and simple. It doesn’t tick all of my boxes, but it ticks enough to be a good place to start. Quite often if you are just getting started with lower revenue levels, you don’t need all the bells and whistles yet anyway.
Then, if you find over time as you’re growing that you’re outgrowing it, you can move up to one of the other two options I mentioned.
Critical Warning for SamCart Users
Don’t go and cancel your SamCart right now because it could actually cost you money. This is like the warning on a packet of cigarettes – seriously important.
Here’s why: if you offer products that have payment plans (not recurring memberships, but maybe you’ve got an online course with a six-part pay or 12-part pay), and you have outstanding payments coming in from previous sales, those payment plans live inside SamCart. If you cancel your account right now, they will stop.
You’ll want to:
- Reach out to SamCart about migration options
- See if your new provider can migrate payment plans across
- Do the maths on whether staying on a lower plan temporarily makes sense while payments finish up
- Consider migrating customers manually if direct migration isn’t possible
Ready to Make the Switch?
The bottom line is this: you don’t have to put up with software companies that suddenly jack up their prices without warning. There are better, more affordable options out there that actually serve course creators properly.
If you want my complete tech recommendations (not just for checkouts, but for your entire online course tech stack), grab my free tech guide below. It’s got all my favourite tools specifically for course creators, including some great trials and discounts that can save you a ton of money.
Don’t let overpriced software eat into your profits. Choose a checkout solution that grows with your business without breaking the bank.
Ready to build a profitable online course business? Grab my free tech stack guide with all the tools you need to create, automate, and scale your online courses – including the best checkout solutions and special discounts to save you money. Get your free guide here
Have you been affected by SamCart’s pricing changes? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
