Keap vs HubSpot in 2026: Pricing, Automation, and Which One Fits

Quick answer: choose Keap if you run a small service business and want email, automation, payments and booking in one tool at a predictable price. Choose HubSpot if you want to start free, expect to add people, or need marketing, sales and service teams working from the same reports. Most businesses don't outgrow Keap's features. They outgrow its fit, usually when the team, and the reporting that team needs, gets bigger.

We're a Keap Certified Partner, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We also build and repair HubSpot portals, and the right answer depends on your team. The prices below are what each vendor published when we checked in September 2026, promotions included.

What is the difference between Keap and HubSpot?

Keap is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform built for small businesses. One subscription covers contacts, email and text marketing, the visual campaign builder, pipelines, landing pages, appointments, invoices and payments. Keap is the company formerly called Infusionsoft, which rebranded in 2019; the original Infusionsoft software lives on as Keap Max Classic. Thryv has owned Keap since that acquisition closed on October 31, 2024.

HubSpot is modular. Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub and the rest share one CRM, and you pay for the hubs, tiers and seats you use. The free CRM is genuinely useful. The HubSpot most people picture, with multi-step workflows and custom reporting, starts at the Professional tier.

How much do Keap and HubSpot cost in 2026?

Sources: Keap pricing, Keap implementation services, Keap free trial, HubSpot Marketing Hub pricing. Both vendors change pricing from time to time, so confirm current numbers before you sign.

The short version: HubSpot is cheaper to start, and Keap is cheaper once you need real automation. For a two-person team with a small list that wants automated follow-up, year one comes to roughly $3,500 on Keap's annual plan with the discounted implementation package (about $4,500 if it's back at $1,500), against roughly $12,600 for HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional on an annual commitment including its onboarding fee. HubSpot Starter costs far less than either, but it caps email automation at 10 automated actions; HubSpot's omni-channel marketing automation starts at Professional.

Where Keap wins

• Small teams. Two users are included, and plenty of owner-led businesses never need more.
• One bill for the whole front office. Email, text, invoices, payments and appointment booking share the same contact record, so a paid invoice can start a follow-up sequence without an integration in between.
• Follow-up automation. The campaign builder is designed around the small-business routine of tagging a lead, nurturing it, booking the call and following up after the sale, and it comes with the base price.
• Predictable cost. The bill moves with contacts and users, not with a stack of hub upgrades.

Where HubSpot wins

• Growing teams. Seat-based pricing makes adding sales reps and support staff simple, and each hub is a strong product on its own.
• Reporting. Dashboards and attribution are a genuine strength, especially from Professional up.
• A free starting point. You can run a basic CRM for up to two users without paying anything.
• AI connections. HubSpot's remote MCP server became generally available to all HubSpot accounts on April 13, 2026, and it has official connectors for ChatGPT and Claude. Keap has a Thryv-published connector for Claude that is still in beta, and no official ChatGPT app.

Is Keap easier to use than HubSpot?

For a team of one to three people, usually yes. Keap's pieces come pre-connected, and the required implementation package walks you through a working setup instead of handing you a blank platform. HubSpot's free and Starter tiers are friendly too, but at Professional the surface area grows quickly. It rewards a team where someone owns the platform, which is also exactly why growing companies like it.

Can you migrate from Keap to HubSpot?

Yes, and the records side is easier than it used to be. HubSpot's Smart Transfer tool lists Keap as a supported source and moves contacts, companies, opportunities (as deals), notes, products, tasks and users. Keap tags come across once, converted into a custom contact property. HubSpot also publishes a free Keap integration that can sync records one way or both ways while you transition.

What doesn't move is the part that makes Keap useful. Campaigns, sequences, email templates, forms and landing pages aren't part of either vendor's transfer tools, so they get rebuilt in HubSpot's workflow logic. The migrations that go badly are the ones treated as an export and an import. The ones that go well are scoped like a small software project:

• Decide what each Keap tag means before mapping it. Some become HubSpot properties, some become lists, and some should simply be retired.
• Rebuild automation from what it is supposed to do, not click for click. Most older accounts have campaigns nobody remembers building.
• Plan for order and payment history. If Keap processed your payments, decide what needs to live in HubSpot and what stays in the payment processor.
• Verify counts before you switch. Records in, records out, and a sample checked by hand against the source.

Moving the other way, from HubSpot to Keap, is less common but follows the same rule: records move with import tools, and the logic gets rebuilt.

How to decide

Three questions settle most cases.

1. How many people will log in a year from now? Under five, and mostly the owner, points to Keap. Hiring reps or a support team points to HubSpot.
2. Do you take payments inside the CRM? Keap's built-in invoices, payment plans and order forms are a real advantage for coaches, consultants and service businesses. HubSpot can handle commerce, but it is a bigger setup.
3. Who will own the platform? Keap runs fine with a part-time admin. HubSpot Professional does best with someone whose job includes it.

If you are already on Keap and unhappy, check whether the problem is the platform or the setup before you move. A lot of "Keap doesn't work for us" turns out to be years of unmaintained tags and campaigns built by three different people. That is what a Keap audit is for, and it costs far less than a migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HubSpot cheaper than Keap?

At the entry point, yes: HubSpot has a free CRM for up to two users and inexpensive Starter seats. Once you need automation on the level of Keap's campaign builder, HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional runs $800 a month on an annual commitment plus a $3,000 onboarding fee, so for a small team Keap is usually cheaper to run.

Is Keap the same as Infusionsoft?

Mostly. Keap is the company formerly called Infusionsoft, which rebranded in 2019. The original Infusionsoft software is still supported as Keap Max Classic, alongside Keap's newer platform, and Thryv has owned Keap since October 2024.

Does Keap have a free plan?

No. Keap offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, but no permanent free plan. HubSpot's free CRM covers up to two users.

Which is better for email automation, Keap or HubSpot?

For small-business follow-up (tag a lead, nurture it, book the call, follow up after the sale), Keap's campaign builder is excellent and included in the base price. For multi-channel automation across marketing, sales and service with detailed reporting, HubSpot Professional is more capable. HubSpot Starter caps email automation at 10 automated actions.

Can I move from Keap to HubSpot without losing my automations?

Your records can move with HubSpot's Smart Transfer tool, but your automations can't. Campaigns, sequences, email templates, forms and landing pages have to be rebuilt in HubSpot, so budget for that rebuild as the main cost of the migration.

Can Keap and HubSpot be used together?

Yes. HubSpot publishes a free Keap integration that syncs contacts, companies, deals, tasks, notes and products one way or both ways. It works well as a bridge during a transition, but running two CRMs long term doubles the places your data can drift.