Nathan Field
The main GoHighLevel alternatives are HubSpot, ClickFunnels, Keap, ActiveCampaign, Kartra and Systeme.io, and the right one depends on why you are leaving. We pay for GoHighLevel ourselves and build client systems in it, so this is not a list written to sell you one of the six. Every price below comes from that tool's own pricing page, checked on 5 October 2026.
The short answer
No single tool replaces all of GoHighLevel at the same price. Each alternative does one part better and leaves another part out. So pick by the job you need done:
| If you want | Look at | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| A polished CRM for a small sales team | HubSpot | $10 per user a month (new-customer offer, normally $20) |
| Funnels and checkouts for selling online | ClickFunnels | $97 a month |
| A setup done with you, with texting included | Keap | $299 a month |
| Deep email automation | ActiveCampaign | Priced by list size |
| Courses, memberships and video in one place | Kartra | $59 a month |
| The lowest cost | Systeme.io | Free, then $17 a month |
For comparison, GoHighLevel's Starter plan is $97 a month (GoHighLevel's pricing page, checked 5 October 2026). If you run a business that lives on calls, texts and bookings, read the section on what you give up before you move.
Why people look for GoHighLevel alternatives
Mostly for one of four reasons. Knowing which one is yours makes the choice much easier.
It is hard to learn
This is the big one. GoHighLevel does a lot, and the menus show it. In our GoHighLevel review we looked at what reviewers say on G2 and Capterra, and the learning curve was the most common complaint. If you opened it, felt lost and closed it again, you are not alone.
You only need one part of it
GoHighLevel is a CRM, a funnel builder, a texting tool, an email tool, a booking calendar and more. If all you need is a newsletter or a course, you are paying for a building and using one room.
The bill is more than the plan
The plan price is flat, but texts, calls, emails and AI are charged by use on top. None of it is hidden, but it surprises people. We broke down every charge in our GoHighLevel pricing guide.
One part of it is not good enough for you
We have been here ourselves. In September 2026 we moved our own website and blog off GoHighLevel's site builder and onto a separate host, because editing pages in the builder was slow for us. Our funnels, CRM and chat bot stayed. You do not have to leave all at once.
Most lists of GoHighLevel alternatives are written by a company that sells one of them. We still use GoHighLevel, and none of these six tools is ours.
GoHighLevel alternatives compared
Here is the cheapest paid plan of each tool, what that price covers, and whether you can text customers on it. Texting matters most for trades, clinics and anyone who books by phone.
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan | What that price covers | Texting on that plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoHighLevel | Starter, $97 a month | 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts, unlimited users | Built in, charged per text |
| HubSpot | Starter, $10 per user a month, or $7 billed yearly (offer for new customers, normally $20) | Priced per user. Marketing Hub Starter includes 1,000 marketing contacts | No. A paid add-on on certain plans only |
| ClickFunnels | Launch, $97 a month, or $81 billed yearly | 2 team members, 10,000 contacts, 50,000 emails a month | No. Needs your own Twilio or Bandwidth account |
| Keap | $299 a month, plus required setup services | 2 users. Extra users are $39 a month each | Yes. 500 messages a month included, marketing texts in the US only |
| ActiveCampaign | Starter. Price depends on your contact count | 1 user. Landing pages start on Plus | No. A paid add-on |
| Kartra | Essentials, $59 a month, or $52 billed yearly | 500 contacts, 10,000 emails a month, 5 pages, 5% fee on sales | No. Needs the Growth plan and your own gateway account |
| Systeme.io | Free, then Startup at $17 a month | Free: 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course | No. Needs your own Twilio account |
All prices are in US dollars, from each vendor's own page on 5 October 2026. Prices change, so check the link before you pay.
Texting is where the gap opens. Five of the six alternatives need an add-on, a bigger plan or a second company before you can text a customer.
The six alternatives, one by one
HubSpot: for a small team that wants a polished CRM
HubSpot's Starter Customer Platform is $10 per user a month, or $7 if you pay for a year. HubSpot's page says this is up to 65% off, for a limited time, for new customers. The normal price is $20 per user.
What you gain: a well-known CRM that is easier to find your way around, with email, deal pipelines and landing pages.
What you give up: texting. HubSpot's SMS page says it is "a paid add-on only available with certain HubSpot plans", and it sends from US-based numbers only. You also pay per user, where GoHighLevel does not. Five people on the normal price is $100 a month before any add-on.
Pick it if you sell by email and meetings, not by text. We go deeper in GoHighLevel vs HubSpot.
ClickFunnels: for selling online with funnels
ClickFunnels Launch is $97 a month, or $81 billed yearly. It covers 2 team members, 10,000 contacts, 50,000 emails a month and 3 courses. ClickFunnels says it does not take a cut of your sales, and it has a 30-day money back guarantee.
What you gain: a tool built around funnels, checkouts and upsells, which we find quicker to learn for that one job.
What you give up: built-in texting. ClickFunnels' help page for its SMS inbox lists "A Twilio or a Bandwidth account" as a requirement. Two more things to check: "Unlimited Funnels" is labelled "Limited Time" on the pricing page, and when we looked, the plan table showed the Appointments app from the $197 Scale plan up, not on Launch.
Pick it if you sell courses or digital products and do not need a phone line for customers. See GoHighLevel vs ClickFunnels.
Keap: for a US business that wants help setting up
Keap has one plan, from $299 a month with 2 users. Extra users are $39 a month each. Keap's pricing page also lists required implementation services, which is a paid setup. It did not show the price of that when we checked, so ask before you sign.
What you gain: texting is included. Keap's page says 500 messages and 100 voice minutes come with the plan. You also get people to help you set it up.
What you give up: a low price and freedom to leave. Keap says automated texts and text broadcasts are only available in the US. On a one-year contract, it charges a $299 early termination fee if you cancel before the term ends.
Pick it if you are in the US, have the budget, and would rather be walked through setup than work it out alone.
ActiveCampaign: for email-first businesses
ActiveCampaign prices by the size of your list, and its pricing page shows the numbers in a picker we could not read on the day we checked. So we are not quoting one. The page does show that Starter and Plus each include 1 user, that landing pages start on Plus, and that both SMS and its pipelines CRM are add-ons.
What you gain: some of the deepest email automation of any tool here. If your business runs on a list, this is its home ground.
What you give up: the all-in-one. Texting and deal pipelines cost extra, and your price climbs as your list grows.
Pick it if email is your main channel and booking and texting sit in other tools. We compared the two in GoHighLevel vs ActiveCampaign.
Kartra: for courses, memberships and video
Kartra Essentials is $59 a month, or $52 billed yearly. It covers 500 contacts, 10,000 emails a month, 5 pages, 1 product and 1 membership or course, with a 5% transaction fee on sales. The next plan, Starter, is $119 a month and adds unlimited pages and products, video hosting, 5 team members and calendars.
What you gain: pages, checkout, video hosting and a members area built to work together.
What you give up: texting, unless you pay more. Kartra's help page on SMS says it sends through third-party gateways like Twilio, and that gateway integrations are part of the Growth plan and up. Growth is $229 a month.
Pick it if your business is courses and memberships, not calls and bookings.
Systeme.io: for the lowest cost
Systeme.io has a free plan with 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 blog and 1 course. Its pricing page says the free plan "never expires and does not require a credit card". Paid plans start at $17 a month, and there are no transaction fees on any plan.
What you gain: funnels, email and a course for nothing. For a new business with no budget, that is hard to argue with.
What you give up: two-way texting. Systeme.io's SMS page says texts go out through your own Twilio account, and that if you need two-way conversation, "a dedicated SMS tool may be more appropriate". The free plan also has tight limits.
Pick it if you are a solo creator on a tight budget and your customers do not expect texts from you.
What you give up when you leave GoHighLevel
Three things, and they are the reason we have not left.
- Texting in the box. On their cheapest plans, only GoHighLevel and Keap let you text customers without an add-on, a bigger plan or an account with another company. GoHighLevel charges $0.00747 per text segment plus a small carrier fee (GoHighLevel's phone pricing page, checked 5 October 2026).
- No cap on contacts or users. GoHighLevel's $97 plan includes unlimited contacts and unlimited users. Every other tool in the table limits contacts, users or both at its starting price.
- One login. Lead form, text, booking, review request and pipeline all sit in one place. Move to a tool that drops one of those and you add a second tool, a second bill and a join between them that can break.
The cheapest tool is the one your team will open every day. A $17 plan nobody uses costs more than a $97 plan that follows up every lead.
When GoHighLevel is still the right choice
Stay, or give it a proper try, if you run a service business that wins work through calls, texts and bookings: a trade, a clinic, a law firm, a coach. That is the job it was built for, and the alternatives above each leave a piece of it out.
If the learning curve is what pushed you to look elsewhere, time may fix that better than a switch. Sign up on GoHighLevel's own site and you get the standard 14 days, with no bootcamp. Our special link gets you a 30-day free trial of GoHighLevel plus a free live bootcamp (we may earn a commission from this link). Texts and calls are still charged during a trial. Our GoHighLevel tutorial gives you the setup steps in order, so you build one useful thing first.
How to switch without losing leads
If you do move, do it in this order. It keeps leads from falling through the gap between the two tools.
- List what GoHighLevel does for you today. Every form, text, email, calendar and automation. Most people find one they forgot.
- Match each one to the new tool. If the new tool cannot do it, decide now what will.
- Export your contacts. Check that tags, notes and opt-out status come with them. An opted-out contact must stay opted out in the new tool.
- Sort out your phone number. If customers text or call a number that lives in GoHighLevel, plan where it goes before you cancel.
- Rebuild one automation and test it. Start with the one that touches new leads.
- Run both for a month. Cancel the old one only when a full month of leads has gone through the new one cleanly.
The risk in switching is not the new tool. It is the lead who filled in a form during the week nothing was connected.
Do you need a different tool, or someone to run it?
This is the question behind a lot of searches for GoHighLevel alternatives. Often the tool was fine. Nobody had the time to build the funnels, write the texts and keep the automations working, and the same thing would happen in any of the six tools above.
GoHighLevel is the tool. Someone still has to do the work. Setting up a CRM and its follow-up is part of what we do in our CRM and automations service. If you would rather hand the whole lot over, see how Havstock Unlimited works.
This will not suit you if you want to learn the software yourself and have the time. In that case a trial and a free weekend will take you further than we will.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to GoHighLevel?
It depends on what you need. HubSpot suits a small sales team that wants a polished CRM. ClickFunnels suits online sellers. Keap suits US businesses that want setup help and texting. ActiveCampaign suits email-first businesses, Kartra suits course creators, and Systeme.io suits anyone starting with no budget.
Is there a free alternative to GoHighLevel?
Yes. Systeme.io has a free plan with 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels and 1 course, and its pricing page says it never expires and needs no credit card. It covers funnels and email. It does not include built-in texting, which needs your own Twilio account.
Is HubSpot better than GoHighLevel?
HubSpot is easier to learn and more polished for email and deal tracking. GoHighLevel gives a service business more for a flat price, with texting, funnels and booking built in and no charge per user. HubSpot suits sales teams. GoHighLevel suits businesses that book jobs by phone and text.
Is ClickFunnels cheaper than GoHighLevel?
No, they start at the same price. ClickFunnels Launch and GoHighLevel Starter are both $97 a month. ClickFunnels Launch covers 2 team members and 10,000 contacts. GoHighLevel Starter has unlimited users and contacts, and texting is built in, where ClickFunnels needs your own Twilio or Bandwidth account.
Which GoHighLevel alternative has texting built in?
Of the six tools here, only Keap includes texting on its starting plan, with 500 messages a month, and its marketing texts work in the US only. HubSpot and ActiveCampaign sell texting as an add-on. ClickFunnels, Kartra and Systeme.io need an account with a texting company like Twilio.
Why do people leave GoHighLevel?
The reasons we hear most are the learning curve, paying for more tools than they use, and usage charges on top of the plan for texts, calls, emails and AI. Some leave only one part of it. We moved our own website off GoHighLevel's builder but kept its CRM and funnels.
The honest summary of GoHighLevel alternatives is that each one trades the all-in-one for doing one job well. Decide which job matters most, check the price on the vendor's page, and run both tools side by side for a month before you cancel anything. And if you have not given GoHighLevel a fair test yet, start a 30-day free trial before you rule it out.