Every solopreneur knows the drill. You start with one tool, then another, then another. Suddenly you're spending $165/month on software before making a single dollar.
Here's the stack I was running — and the single platform that replaced all of it.
The Old Stack ($165/month)
- ClickFunnels — $97/month for sales funnels
- ConvertKit — $29/month for email marketing
- Teachable — $39/month for course hosting
- WordPress + hosting — $15/month for the blog
Four logins. Four dashboards. Four bills. Four things to break.
The New Stack ($0/month)
I replaced everything with Systeme.io.
On their free plan (not a trial — permanently free), you get:
- 3 sales funnels with drag-and-drop builder
- 2,000 email contacts with unlimited sends
- Full email automation (sequences, tags, segmentation)
- 1 online course with video hosting
- Blog with custom domain
- Affiliate program management
- Evergreen webinar funnels
What I Actually Built
Funnel 1: Lead Magnet Funnel
Opt-in page to 5-email welcome sequence to tripwire offer ($7) to core product ($47)
Funnel 2: Product Launch
Sales page to checkout to upsell to thank you + onboarding sequence
Funnel 3: Webinar Funnel
Registration page to reminder emails to evergreen webinar to offer
All running on autopilot. All on the free plan.
The Honest Trade-offs
Systeme.io isn't perfect:
- Page builder: Good, not great. ClickFunnels has better templates and more design flexibility.
- Email editor: Functional but basic. ConvertKit's visual automations are prettier.
- Course player: Clean but simple. Teachable has more community features.
But here's the thing: none of those differences matter when you're starting out. A slightly prettier email template doesn't justify $29/month when you have 200 subscribers.
The Math
- Month 1: Old Stack $165 vs Systeme.io $0 = $165 saved
- Month 6: Old Stack $990 vs Systeme.io $0 = $990 saved
- Year 1: Old Stack $1,980 vs Systeme.io $0 = $1,980 saved
- Year 1 (paid plan): Old Stack $1,980 vs Systeme.io $324 = $1,656 saved
Even when you upgrade to the $27/month paid plan (at 2,000+ contacts), you're still saving $1,656/year.
Getting Started
- Sign up for Systeme.io free (no credit card)
- Pick a funnel template
- Set up your email sequence
- Start driving traffic
Bonus: I created a free automation starter kit with 15 workflow templates (Zapier/Make.com/n8n) that integrate with any funnel builder. Grab it if you want to automate the boring stuff.
What's your current SaaS stack? Curious if anyone else has made a similar switch.
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