Keap Alternatives: 10 Cheaper CRM and Automation Tools for 2026
Keap Alternatives: 10 Options Compared for 2026
Short answer: ActiveCampaign is the best all-round Keap alternative if email automation is what you mostly use (from $15/month billed yearly for 1,000 contacts). Ontraport is the closest like-for-like swap, with CRM, automation, payments and membership sites from $83/month billed annually. HighLevel suits agencies that run marketing for several clients. HubSpot is the pick if you want a free CRM to start. And EngageBay or systeme.io are the budget options. Mautic and EspoCRM are there if you'd rather self-host.
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) now sells one plan. It's $299/month billed monthly or $2,988 a year billed annually, which works out to $249/month. That includes 2 users, and each extra user is $39/month. Onboarding is required, and the pricing page doesn't list what it costs. Annual contracts carry a $299 early termination fee. And the free trial is limited to 25 emails with no payments or texts, so it's hard to test properly before you commit.
For a 5-person team on annual billing, that's $2,988 plus 3 extra users at $39/month, roughly $4,400 a year before onboarding and text marketing add-ons. Keap does a lot for that money. But most small businesses use a fraction of it, which is why "keap alternatives" keeps getting searched. Ten options below, from all-in-one suites to plain CRMs and open-source tools.
Related reading: ActiveCampaign alternatives, HubSpot alternatives and Pipedrive alternatives.
Building your own CRM or email tool? Start with the frontend
The CRM Dashboard Kit gives you 42 screens of CRM frontend: a drag-and-drop Kanban pipeline, contacts and companies with CSV import, deal tracking, sales forecasting, four analytics dashboards and an email inbox with sequences. The Email Marketing Kit covers the other half of what Keap does: 38 screens with a block-based email editor, a visual automation canvas, subscriber segments and a deliverability dashboard. Both are Next.js frontends you wire to your own backend. CRM kit $165 solo, Email kit $149 solo.
Get the CRM Dashboard Kit → or get every kit (18 total) for $749 via All UI Kits →
TL;DR: Quick Picks for 2026
| Need | Top pick | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Email automation first, CRM second | ActiveCampaign | $15+/mo billed yearly (1,000 contacts) |
| Closest all-in-one swap for Keap | Ontraport | $83+/mo billed annually |
| Agencies running many client accounts | HighLevel | $97+/mo |
| Free CRM, marketing tools later | HubSpot | Free (2 users), Starter $20/seat/mo monthly |
| Budget all-in-one suite | EngageBay | Free, $13.79+/user/mo billed yearly |
| Funnels, email and courses in one | systeme.io | Free, $17+/mo |
| CRM depth on a budget | Zoho CRM | Free (3 users), $14+/user/mo |
| Sales pipeline only | Pipedrive | $14+/seat/mo |
| Open-source marketing automation | Mautic | Free (self-host) |
| Open-source CRM | EspoCRM | Free (self-host) |
| CRM and email screens in your own product | CRM Dashboard Kit + Email Marketing Kit | $165 + $149 one-time |
Prices are billed annually unless noted. All checked on vendor pricing pages in October 2026.
What Keap Actually Does Well
Keap's strength is putting the whole small-business sales loop in one place. Contacts, pipeline, email and text marketing, automations, appointment booking, quotes, invoices and payments all live on the same record. A lead fills in a form, gets a sequence, books a call, receives a quote and pays, and you never export a CSV. For a coach, consultant or local service business that wants one login, that's real value.
It also includes onboarding and done-for-you migration help, which matters if nobody on your team wants to build automations from scratch.
When to Leave Keap
Three signals:
- You mostly send emails. If the CRM and payments go unused, you're paying $249+/month for an email tool. ActiveCampaign or systeme.io do that part for a fraction of the price.
- You need more than 2 users. Every extra seat is $39/month on top of the base plan. Seat-heavy teams often do better on a per-user CRM.
- You want to try before committing. Keap's trial caps you at 25 emails. Most alternatives here offer a free plan or a full-featured trial.
1. ActiveCampaign
The automation-first pick.
Strengths:
- Multi-step marketing automation with 950+ recipes
- Starts far cheaper than Keap for small lists
- Pro adds predictive sending, conditional content, advanced segmentation and attribution tracking
Weaknesses:
- The pipeline CRM is an add-on, sold separately
- Price scales with contact count
- No built-in payments like Keap's
Pricing: Starter $15, Plus $49, Pro $79, Enterprise $145 per month, billed yearly for 1,000 contacts. Starter and Plus include 1 user, Pro 3, Enterprise 5. Pipelines and sales engagement are add-ons.
Best for: Businesses that used Keap mainly for email automation. Our ActiveCampaign alternatives guide covers the next step if it doesn't fit.
2. Ontraport
The closest like-for-like replacement.
Strengths:
- CRM, marketing automation, email and SMS, websites, membership and payments in one tool
- Invoicing, order forms and subscription billing built in
- Smart pipelines and task automation
- 14-day free trial, no credit card
Weaknesses:
- Starting prices rise with your contact count, and extra users are $49/month each
- Shared Inbox, webchat and SSO are paid add-ons
- A lot of tool to learn, just like Keap
Pricing: Plus from $83, Pro from $124, Enterprise from $249 per month billed annually ($990, $1,490 and $2,990 a year at the entry contact tier). Optional "Done-With-You" setup is $897 one time.
Best for: Coaches, course creators and service businesses that want everything Keap does at a lower entry price.
3. HighLevel
The agency platform.
Strengths:
- CRM, funnels, email and SMS built for running many client accounts
- Sub-accounts per client, unlimited from the Unlimited plan
- Flat pricing instead of per-seat
- 14-day free trial
Weaknesses:
- Built for agencies, so it's a lot of tool for a single business
- Telecom and third-party usage fees on top
- Steep learning curve
Pricing: Starter $97/month (3 sub-accounts), Unlimited $297/month, Agency Pro $497/month, billed monthly. Annual is $970, $2,970 and $4,970 a year.
Best for: Marketing agencies that set up Keap-style automation for clients.
4. HubSpot
The free start that scales up.
Strengths:
- Free CRM for up to 2 users
- Marketing, sales and service hubs share one database
- Marketing Hub Starter is cheap for small lists
- Easy to learn
Weaknesses:
- Marketing Hub Professional starts at $800/month billed annually, plus a $3,000 onboarding fee
- Marketing Hub pricing grows with your contact list
- Payments and invoicing aren't as tightly built into the marketing flow as Keap's
Pricing: Free for 2 users. Marketing Hub Starter and Sales Hub Starter are each $20/seat/month billed monthly (the pages currently show $7 on an annual commitment). Marketing Hub Professional $800/month billed annually with 3 seats. Sales Hub Professional $90/seat/month billed annually.
Best for: Small teams that want free now and room to grow. See our HubSpot alternatives guide for the trade-offs at the top end.
5. EngageBay
The budget all-in-one.
Strengths:
- Marketing, CRM and helpdesk in one suite
- Free plan for up to 15 members (250 contacts)
- Paid plans start far below Keap
- Separate Marketing and CRM products if you only need one
Weaknesses:
- Contact limits are tight on lower plans (500 on Basic)
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- Less polished than ActiveCampaign or HubSpot
Pricing: All-in-One Free. Basic $13.79, Growth $59.79, Pro $110.39 per user/month billed yearly ($64.99 and $119.99 monthly for Growth and Pro).
Best for: Small businesses that want Keap's breadth for less and can live with a simpler tool.
6. systeme.io
Funnels, email and courses on a tight budget.
Strengths:
- Sales funnels, email marketing, automations and online courses in one place
- Free plan with 2,000 contacts
- Flat monthly pricing by contact count
- Annual billing includes 2 months free
Weaknesses:
- The CRM side is basic next to Keap's pipeline
- Built for creators and solo operators more than sales teams
- Fewer integrations
Pricing: Free (2,000 contacts). Startup $17, Webinar $47, Unlimited $97 per month billed monthly.
Best for: Solo coaches and course creators who used Keap for funnels and email.
7. Zoho CRM
CRM depth for much less.
Strengths:
- Free edition for up to 3 users
- Workflows, scoring and forecasting from mid tiers
- Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Books cover email marketing and invoicing next to it
- Per-user pricing, so small teams pay little
Weaknesses:
- Email marketing and invoicing are separate Zoho apps, not one tool
- Busy interface
- Setup takes real time
Pricing: Free for 3 users. Standard $14, Professional $23, Enterprise $40, Ultimate $52 per user/month billed annually ($20, $35, $50, $65 monthly).
Best for: Teams that want a proper CRM and don't mind stitching a few apps together. More in our Zoho CRM alternatives guide.
8. Pipedrive
The pick if you only used Keap's pipeline.
Strengths:
- The cleanest deal pipeline in the category
- Email sync and automations from Growth up
- Campaigns add-on for email marketing
- 500+ integrations
Weaknesses:
- No free plan (14-day trial)
- Marketing is an add-on, not core
- No built-in payments
Pricing: Lite $14, Growth $24, Premium $49, Ultimate $69 per seat/month billed annually.
Best for: Sales-led businesses that bought Keap for the CRM and barely touched the marketing. See our Pipedrive alternatives guide.
9. Mautic
Open-source marketing automation.
Strengths:
- Open source; self-host it on your own infrastructure
- Visual drag-and-drop campaign builder
- Email, landing pages and point-based lead scoring
- REST API and plugin ecosystem
Weaknesses:
- You run the servers, email delivery and upgrades
- No sales pipeline as strong as Keap's
- Needs a developer to set up well
Pricing: Free to self-host. You pay for hosting and your email sending service.
Best for: Teams with technical help that want Keap-style automation without a monthly license. Pair it with EspoCRM for the CRM side.
10. EspoCRM
The open-source CRM.
Strengths:
- Free to download and self-host
- Accounts, contacts, leads and opportunities, plus custom entities
- Cloud plans include the Advanced Pack and all official extensions
- Docker install on Windows, macOS and Linux
Weaknesses:
- No built-in marketing automation at Keap's level
- Older-feeling UI
- Cloud plans have user minimums
Pricing: Self-hosted free. Cloud Basic $15/user/month (3-user minimum), Enterprise $25 (5-user minimum), Ultimate $69 (10-user minimum).
Best for: Businesses that want to own their CRM data and run it themselves.
11. Build Your Own with Our CRM and Email Marketing Kits
Some businesses leave Keap because they want this inside their own product: a client portal, a vertical CRM for one industry, or an email tool under their own brand. Our custom CRM development guide walks through when building beats buying.
Three starting points:
- The CRM Dashboard Kit is frontend only: 42 screens covering the sales dashboard, Kanban pipeline, contacts, companies, deals with forecasting, tasks, reports, an email inbox with sequences, and settings. $165 solo. Live demo.
- The Full-Stack CRM Kit adds the backend: 45 routes on Supabase with a 19-table database using row-level security, Supabase Auth (email, Google and GitHub) and Server Actions for every change. $332 solo. Live demo.
- The Email Marketing Kit is the marketing side: 38 screens with a block-based email editor, an automation flow canvas, subscriber management with segments and tags, A/B testing and a deliverability dashboard. It's frontend only, so you connect a sending service like SendGrid, AWS SES or Resend. $149 solo. Live demo.
None of these process payments or send texts. If those Keap features matter, you'd add a payment provider and an SMS service yourself.
Recommendation by Profile
| You | Pick |
|---|---|
| Use Keap mostly for email automation | ActiveCampaign |
| Want everything Keap does, cheaper | Ontraport |
| Agency managing client accounts | HighLevel |
| Want a free CRM to start | HubSpot |
| Tight budget, want all-in-one | EngageBay |
| Solo coach selling courses | systeme.io |
| Want a deeper CRM | Zoho CRM |
| Only used the sales pipeline | Pipedrive |
| Want to self-host automation | Mautic |
| Want to self-host the CRM | EspoCRM |
| CRM or email tool inside your own product | Our CRM and Email Marketing kits |
Pricing at a Glance (Entry Paid Tier, Annual)
| Product | Entry plan | What it covers | ~Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keap | Single plan | 2 users | $2,988 |
| ActiveCampaign | Plus | 1 user, 1,000 contacts | $588 |
| Ontraport | Plus | 1 user | $990 |
| HighLevel | Starter | 3 sub-accounts | $970 |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | Starter (monthly billing) | Per seat, 1,000 marketing contacts | $240 per seat |
| EngageBay | Growth | Per user, 5,000 contacts | ~$717 per user |
| systeme.io | Startup (monthly billing) | 5,000 contacts | $204 |
| Zoho CRM | Professional | Per user | $276 per user |
| Pipedrive | Growth | Per seat | $288 per seat |
| Mautic | Self-hosted | Unlimited | Hosting and email sending only |
| EspoCRM | Cloud Basic | Per user, 3-user minimum | $540 minimum |
| Our CRM + Email kits | Solo | One-time | $165 + $149 once, plus your backend |
List prices from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026. Contact-based tools (ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub, systeme.io) cost more as your list grows, so price them at your real contact count.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Infusionsoft?
Infusionsoft rebranded as Keap. The product now sells as one Keap plan at $299/month billed monthly, or $2,988 a year billed annually, with 2 users included.
What is the cheapest Keap alternative?
For a hosted all-in-one, systeme.io (free up to 2,000 contacts, then $17/month) and EngageBay (free plan, paid from $13.79/user/month billed yearly). For email automation, ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/month billed yearly for 1,000 contacts. Mautic and EspoCRM are free if you self-host.
Which Keap alternative has payments built in?
Ontraport is the closest, with invoicing, order forms and subscription billing on every plan. systeme.io also handles selling courses and products through its funnels. Most CRMs on this list need a separate payment tool.
Is ActiveCampaign better than Keap?
For email marketing and automation, most small businesses find ActiveCampaign does more for less money. Keap is stronger if you use its built-in payments, quotes and appointment booking alongside the CRM, since ActiveCampaign sells its pipeline CRM as an add-on.
How do I migrate off Keap?
Export contacts, tags, companies and opportunities to CSV and import them into the new tool. ActiveCampaign, HubSpot and Ontraport all have importers. Automations, campaigns and payment subscriptions don't transfer, so list the sequences that actually earn money and rebuild those first. Watch the timing on annual contracts, since leaving early costs $299. If you want help moving data and reconnecting your other tools, our CRM integration services cover that.
The Honest Take
Keap is a capable all-in-one, and if you use the CRM, automation and payments together, it can still be worth the price. Most people searching for alternatives use one or two of those parts.
Work out which part you actually use. Email automation points to ActiveCampaign, the full bundle to Ontraport, agency work to HighLevel, a free start to HubSpot, a tight budget to EngageBay or systeme.io, and a plain sales pipeline to Pipedrive or Zoho. And if you want the CRM or email tool inside your own product, start from the frontend and keep the data on your own backend.
Want it shipped without hiring a developer?
The build path above assumes you have engineers. If you don't, the team behind thefrontkit does done-for-you launches: we deploy the kit, apply your branding, and wire it to your stack. Fixed quotes, most builds ship in 2-4 weeks, from $1999.




