SamCart vs ThriveCart 2026: polished checkout or better value?

SamCart vs ThriveCart is one of the closest matchups in this space, because both are built around the same moment: the checkout. I set up a full test store in SamCart for my SamCart review, with products, an order bump, an upsell funnel, a course, a coupon and an affiliate program. I haven't run a ThriveCart account myself, so everything I say about ThriveCart comes from its own pricing page, help docs and policies, checked in October 2026. ThriveCart changed a lot this year, and most comparisons still describe the old version.

The short answer

If price matters and the tools you want are order bumps, one-click upsells and an affiliate program, ThriveCart is the better deal. Its $47 Standard plan already includes a bump, upsells and A/B testing, which SamCart keeps on its $199 Pro plan. Affiliates cost $87 a month on ThriveCart Pro+ against $199 on SamCart Pro.

SamCart earns its higher price if you want AI to draft your sales pages and products, a wider choice of payment processors on Pro, and a checkout that looks finished without much work. It's the more polished product, and you pay for that polish.

What each platform is built for

SamCart was built around the moment someone pays, and in the last few years it has added pages, a course app and AI tools around that checkout. The AI is the part it pushes hardest. You describe a product and SamCart drafts the product and a sales page for you.

ThriveCart was built around the same moment, and for years it was best known for selling itself as a one-time lifetime licence. In July 2026 it moved to monthly and yearly plans, bundled its ThriveCart Academy course and community tool into every plan, and kept the lifetime option on the side.

Same job at the till. One charges for polish, the other for features.

That explains most of the rows below. SamCart goes further on page building and payment processors. ThriveCart puts more of the selling tools on its cheaper plans.

Pricing compared

Both companies have changed their plans recently, and many comparisons online still quote the old ones. These are the current plans, checked against both pricing pages in October 2026. For every SamCart fee, see my SamCart pricing guide.

What it costs to get the feature you actually want

The sticker price only tells half the story, because the two platforms put the same features on different plans.

Read the table by the features you would use in your first year. A seller who wants a checkout with a bump and an upsell is comparing SamCart Pro at $199 with ThriveCart Standard at $47. A seller who wants an affiliate program is comparing SamCart Pro with ThriveCart Pro+ at $87. ThriveCart is cheaper either way.

The ThriveCart lifetime deal

ThriveCart says the lifetime option is still available, and it covers Standard. Its pricing page doesn't show the lifetime price, so check it before you buy. The catch is Pro+. ThriveCart's help docs describe Pro+ as an optional upgrade on top of a lifetime Standard account at $295 a year, so if you need affiliates or more than one bump, the "pay once" deal becomes a yearly bill anyway.

Free trials and refunds

SamCart gives 7 days on every plan. Its terms say monthly payments aren't refundable, and refunds on annual plans are only considered within 30 days. ThriveCart gives 30 days on every new plan. After that, you can cancel a monthly or annual plan at any time, but there are no refunds or credits for the current billing period. Lifetime refund requests are only reviewed within 7 days of purchase, case by case, for reasons like a duplicate purchase or a technical problem support can't fix. That's why I'd start on a monthly ThriveCart plan and only buy lifetime once you're sure.

What each costs over three years

Here's my own worked example of the plan fees only, using today's list prices on yearly billing. Card processing is left out because you pay it on both.

Compare like with like. For bumps and upsells, SamCart Pro against ThriveCart Standard is $5,370 against $1,332 over three years. Add an affiliate program and it's SamCart Pro against ThriveCart Pro+, $5,370 against $2,412.

Transaction fees and sales tax

SamCart takes no percentage of your sales. SamPay, its built-in processor that runs on Stripe, charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per sale.

ThriveCart takes no percentage either, with one new exception. From 8 October 2026, payments through its older Stripe connections, called Stripe Legacy and Stripe Enhanced, carry a 0.5% fee. The newer Stripe Connect+ stays at 0%, so use Connect+ if you set up ThriveCart now. On Connect+, ThriveCart bundles Stripe's charges into one fee per sale: Stripe's normal rate (for example 2.9% plus 30 cents for US cards), 0.7% on recurring charges, 7 cents for fraud screening and 0.08% for Adaptive Acceptance. On subscriptions, factor in that 0.7% before you compare.

Both will calculate and collect sales tax at the same rates: 0.5% on the cheaper plan and 0.35% on the top plan. On ThriveCart, the 0.35% applies to Pro+ accounts created after May 2026, and showing prices with tax included is Pro+ only with Stripe Connect+. In my SamCart account, tax setup works region by region, starting with the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom or the European Union.

Neither one is a merchant of record. Collecting tax at checkout is not the same as filing and paying it, and that part stays with you on both.

Checkout pages and page building

This is where SamCart is strongest. Its AI Assistant drafts a product and a sales page from a short description, and the checkout templates look modern without any tweaking. When I tried it, I got a usable first draft, so my time went on editing rather than designing. AI use is limited on Core and unlimited on Pro.

ThriveCart lists customised cart and checkout pages, checkout in over 100 countries and a landing page builder with AI graphics. I haven't built in it, so I can't judge how its templates feel next to SamCart's, and the 30 day trial is the place to check that. I haven't seen independent data showing one checkout converts better than the other.

Payments and processors

SamCart works with SamPay, Stripe and PayPal on every plan, and SamPay adds Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. Pro adds Braintree, Authorize.net and Easy Pay Direct. One thing I noticed in my account: PayPal isn't held back by your plan, it's held back by your address. Until you add your marketplace address, SamCart doesn't unlock every processor, PayPal included.

ThriveCart connects to Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net, and Pro+ adds crypto payments in USDC. It also has its own installment option, ThrivePay Installments, where customers pay over 3, 6 or 12 months and you are paid upfront on orders up to $65,000. ThriveCart takes a 15% fee for that and holds another 15% for 180 days to cover refunds and chargebacks, so read the numbers before you switch it on.

Order bumps, upsells, and order value

Both platforms offer the two classic order value tools: an order bump on the checkout and a one-click upsell after the purchase. The difference is which plan you need.

On SamCart, order bumps, one-click upsells and A/B testing are Pro features. In my account I set up a $9 order bump on a $27 course checkout. It's a ticked box under the payment form, and setting it up was one short form. I previewed the checkout in test mode rather than buying, because no payment processor is connected.

The upsell funnel was just as quick. You pick the product, choose which offer appears after checkout and add a downsell for buyers who say no. In 2026 SamCart also added conditional upsell funnels, which show a different offer depending on what was bought.

On ThriveCart, the pricing page puts one bump, one-click upsells and downsells, funnel automation and A/B split testing on the $47 Standard plan. More than one bump on the same checkout needs Pro+. If upsells are the reason you want a checkout tool, this is the main reason to pick ThriveCart.

Subscriptions and failed payments

Both handle subscriptions, payment plans and free trials. The difference is what happens when a card fails. SamCart Pro has Subscription Saver, which retries failed payments and emails the customer to update their card. In my test account it's a single screen of settings.

On ThriveCart, subscription billing, split pay and buy now pay later are on Standard. Dunning (the automatic retries and reminder emails), one-click upgrades and downgrades, pro-rated plans and subscription reports are Pro+. ThriveCart also lets customers cancel their own subscriptions from a customer hub. That's on by default, and only Pro+ users can turn it off for customers outside the EU.

Affiliate programs

You need the top plan for affiliates on both, SamCart Pro or ThriveCart Pro+, which makes an affiliate program $112 a month cheaper on ThriveCart.

Payouts work differently too. SamCart's Affiliate Center tracks commissions, but SamCart doesn't pay them. You export what's owed and pay affiliates yourself. In my account I set a 30% commission on the demo course, and new products start at 0% until you change them.

ThriveCart can pay commissions automatically through PayPal, straight away, after a delay or in two parts, as long as you and the affiliate both connect PayPal Business accounts. Its help docs say Stripe and Authorize.net can't pay commissions, so without PayPal you pay affiliates yourself and mark the commission as paid.

Courses and memberships

SamCart includes its Courses App on every plan, Core included. I built a demo course with two units, three lessons and a quiz with a 50% pass mark, and turned on drip so lessons unlock over time. It's simple, and it keeps your course next to your checkout.

ThriveCart bundles its Academy with each plan. According to the pricing page, Starter on Standard covers unlimited courses and students, up to 2,000 community members in up to 10 communities, quizzes, certificates and 100 GB of video storage. Growth on Pro+ raises that to 10,000 members, unlimited communities, custom domains and 500 GB of video. On paper that's more than SamCart's Courses App, which has no community area, but I haven't used ThriveCart Academy.

Ease of use

SamCart is quick to get selling. Setting up a product, a checkout, a bump and an upsell was a short, linear job in my account, and the AI drafts take care of the blank page. What it's worse at is value: the tools that make it worth having sit behind the $199 plan.

I can't give you a hands-on verdict on ThriveCart's ease of use, because I haven't built in it. It has more options on its pricing page, from JV contracts to crypto and its own installments, and more options usually means more to learn. The 30 day trial is long enough to find out for yourself.

Can ThriveCart replace SamCart?

For most sellers, yes. Both cover checkout pages, bumps, upsells, subscriptions, affiliates and courses, so ThriveCart can do the same core job for less. The things you would give up are SamCart's AI page and product builder, its wider list of processors on Pro and SamPay's built-in buy now pay later.

The reverse also works if you value polish over price. Either way, switching means rebuilding your products, checkouts and funnels on the new platform. Neither one runs alongside the other in a way that makes sense, because they overlap almost completely.

Which should you choose?

Match your situation to the row that fits best.

If none of those rows fits cleanly, use one question as the tie breaker: is about $150 a month more, SamCart Pro against ThriveCart Standard, worth AI page building and a more polished checkout to you? If yes, take SamCart. If no, take ThriveCart. If you're also weighing a full funnel builder, my SamCart vs ClickFunnels comparison covers that choice.

Common questions