---
title: "Best Keap Alternatives for 2026: How Keap, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign Actually Compare"
description: "Keap's pricing consolidated to a single $299/month plan in 2026 and it holds roughly a 3.8-star G2 rating from about 30 reviews — here's how it stacks up against HubSpot Marketing Hub and ActiveCampaign on price, features, and fit."
answer_summary: "Keap's pricing consolidated to a single $299/month plan in 2026 and it holds roughly a 3.8-star G2 rating from about 30 reviews — here's how it stacks up against HubSpot Marketing Hub and ActiveCampaign on price, features, and fit."
canonical: "https://nqz.ai/blog/alternative-keap-day2-28"
published_at: "2026-07-03T16:10:49.699Z"
updated_at: "2026-08-21T07:37:43.000Z"
author: "Soren Patel"
category: "Comparison"
tags: ["alternative","comparison","keap"]
image: "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-6726b3ff858f?w=1200&h=630&fit=crop"
---

# Best Keap Alternatives for 2026: How Keap, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign Actually Compare

# Best Keap Alternatives for 2026: How Keap, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign Actually Compare

Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) has spent two decades selling itself as the CRM-plus-automation platform for small businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets but aren't ready for enterprise software. In October 2024, Thryv Holdings acquired Keap for $80 million in cash, folding it into Thryv's broader small-business SaaS portfolio — a deal that has since changed how Keap is packaged, priced, and reviewed online (its G2 listing now runs under the "Thryv Keap" brand) ([Thryv Holdings acquisition announcement](https://www.thryv.com/news/thryv-holdings-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-keap/)).

If you're evaluating Keap in 2026, two things have changed since most of the "alternatives" roundups still circulating online were written: Keap dropped its old Pro/Max tier structure for a single unified plan, and the CRM-automation category has consolidated around a handful of platforms that are genuinely comparable on price and feature depth. This piece compares real, current data for Keap against two of its most-cited competitors, HubSpot Marketing Hub and ActiveCampaign, using vendor pricing pages and G2 review data rather than recycled marketing copy.

## Product Overview

**Direct answer:** **Keap** is a combined CRM and marketing/sales automation platform built specifically for small businesses and solo operators — think consultants, coaches, and small service firms — who want pipeline management, email/text campaigns, invoicing, and appointment booking in one tool without stitching together separate apps. Its differentiator has always been depth of pre-built automation "recipes" refined over 20+ years, plus phone support and a mandatory paid onboarding package, which reviewers consistently flag as both a strength (faster time-to-value) and a cost concern ([Keap G2 reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/thryv-keap/reviews)).

**HubSpot Marketing Hub** is the marketing arm of HubSpot's broader CRM platform (Marketing, Sales, Service, and Content Hubs share one underlying database). It's built for teams that want to start free and scale into enterprise-grade marketing automation, reporting, and personalization without switching platforms, though the jump from Starter to Professional pricing is steep ([HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/marketing)).

**ActiveCampaign** positions itself as a customer-experience automation platform — email marketing and workflow automation first, with CRM, landing pages, and lead scoring layered in at higher tiers. It's popular with marketing-led teams that want sophisticated segmentation and automation logic without HubSpot's price jump, though contact-based pricing means costs scale quickly as a list grows.

## Quick Answer

- If you're a solo operator or small service business wanting invoicing and booking bundled with CRM → Keap, because it's built specifically for that segment with pre-built automation recipes and native invoicing, despite the $299/month unified plan and required $500 onboarding fee.
- If you're starting on a tight budget and want to scale later → HubSpot Marketing Hub, because it offers a genuinely free tier and a $7/month per-seat Starter plan before the steep jump to $800/month Professional.
- If automation depth and customer satisfaction matter more than price → ActiveCampaign, because it posts the highest G2 rating of the three (4.4-4.5/5 across ~14,600 reviews) and includes unlimited automation actions from its Plus tier.
- If you're wary of required paid onboarding costs → avoid Keap, because its unified plan carries a mandatory $500 implementation package that HubSpot and ActiveCampaign don't require.

## Feature Comparison Matrix

| Feature | Keap | HubSpot Marketing Hub | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native CRM | Yes, core to the product | Yes, free CRM included at every tier | CRM/pipeline included from the Plus tier up |
| Email marketing | Yes | Yes | Yes, ActiveCampaign's original core product |
| Marketing automation / workflows | Yes, deep template library | Yes, automated actions capped by tier (10 on Starter, unlimited on Professional+) | Yes, unlimited automation actions from Plus up |
| Landing pages / forms | Yes | Yes | Yes, from Plus tier |
| SMS / text marketing | Yes, tiered add-on (500 messages included, scaling to 25,000) | Add-on | Available on select plans |
| Invoicing / payments | Yes, built in (Keap Pay or third-party) | No native invoicing | No native invoicing |
| Free plan | No | Yes (limited, HubSpot-branded) | No (14-day trial only) |
| Required paid onboarding | Yes, $500 implementation package | No | No |
| G2 rating (approx.) | ~3.8–3.9/5 (~30 reviews) | ~4.4/5 (~13,300 reviews) | ~4.4–4.5/5 (~14,600 reviews) |

Sources: [Keap pricing](https://keap.com/pricing), [Keap G2](https://www.g2.com/products/thryv-keap/reviews), [HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/marketing), [HubSpot Marketing Hub G2](https://www.g2.com/products/hubspot-marketing-hub/reviews), [ActiveCampaign pricing](https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing), [ActiveCampaign G2](https://www.g2.com/products/activecampaign/reviews).

## Pricing Comparison

**Direct answer:** **Keap** moved to a single unified plan in 2026: $299/month billed monthly, or $2,988/year (about $249/month effective) billed annually. That includes 2 user licenses (additional users are $39/month each), 1,500 contacts, and Tier 1 messaging (500 email/text sends, 100 voice minutes). All customers also pay a required $500 one-time implementation package for onboarding and data migration ([Keap pricing](https://keap.com/pricing)).

**HubSpot Marketing Hub** starts with a genuinely free tier (2,000 marketing emails/month, HubSpot branding, up to 2 users). Starter is $7/month per seat with 1,000 marketing contacts included. Professional jumps to $800/month for 3 core seats and 2,000 marketing contacts (additional seats $45/month), and Enterprise is $3,600/month for 5 seats and 10,000 marketing contacts (additional seats $75/month) ([HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/marketing)).

**ActiveCampaign** publishes four tiers — Starter, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise — priced against a base contact count (commonly cited around 1,000 contacts) and scaling from roughly $15/month at the low end past $49 and $79 to $145+/month for Enterprise, with costs rising steeply as contact volume grows since the model is contact-based rather than flat-rate ([ActiveCampaign pricing](https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing)).

The practical takeaway: Keap's entry price ($249–299/month) sits well above HubSpot's free-to-Starter range and above ActiveCampaign's Starter/Plus tiers, but below HubSpot Professional. Keap bundles CRM, invoicing, and automation into one flat price with no free tier; HubSpot and ActiveCampaign both let you start free or cheap and pay more as contact volume and feature needs grow.

## Who Should Choose What

**Choose Keap** if you're a small service business (consultants, coaches, local service providers) that wants CRM, invoicing/payments, appointment booking, and marketing automation in a single tool with hands-on onboarding, and you don't mind a flat, higher entry price with no free tier.

- **Choose Keap** if you're a small service business (consultants, coaches, local service providers) that wants CRM, invoicing/payments, appointment booking, and marketing automation in a single tool with hands-on onboarding, and you don't mind a flat, higher entry price with no free tier.
- **Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub** if you want to start free or cheap, expect to eventually need sales and service tools on the same CRM record, and are prepared for a steep price jump once you outgrow the Starter tier.
- **Choose ActiveCampaign** if email marketing sophistication and workflow automation are your priority over built-in invoicing/payments, and you want to control costs by keeping your contact list lean, since pricing scales directly with list size.

## Sources

[Thryv Holdings Announces Strategic Acquisition of Keap](https://www.thryv.com/news/thryv-holdings-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-keap/)

- [Thryv Holdings Announces Strategic Acquisition of Keap](https://www.thryv.com/news/thryv-holdings-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-keap/)
- [Keap official pricing page](https://keap.com/pricing)
- [Keap Reviews — G2](https://www.g2.com/products/thryv-keap/reviews)
- [HubSpot Marketing Hub official pricing page](https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/marketing)
- [HubSpot Marketing Hub Reviews — G2](https://www.g2.com/products/hubspot-marketing-hub/reviews)
- [ActiveCampaign official pricing page](https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing)
- [ActiveCampaign Reviews — G2](https://www.g2.com/products/activecampaign/reviews)