GoHighLevel vs Kartra: Agency CRM or Creator Platform?
GoHighLevel and Kartra both bundle funnels, email, automation and memberships into one subscription. The difference is who they are designed for. GoHighLevel is built around agencies and client accounts. Kartra is built around one business selling its own products. That shapes pricing, limits and features on both sides.
Quick comparison
| GoHighLevel | Kartra | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Starter, $97/month | Essentials, $59/month |
| Mid plan | Unlimited, $297/month | Starter, $119/month |
| Higher plan | Agency Pro, $497/month | Growth, $229/month |
| Contacts | Unlimited on every plan | 500, 2,500 or 12,500 by plan |
| Users | Unlimited | 5 on Starter, 10 on Growth |
| Client sub-accounts | 3 on Starter, unlimited above | Not offered |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
Prices checked on each pricing page, October 2026. Both are cheaper on annual billing.
Pricing models
The two charge in different ways.
Kartra prices by contact count. Essentials is $59 per month for 500 contacts, with 10,000 emails a month and a 5% transaction fee. Starter is $119 for 2,500 contacts with unlimited email and SMS and no transaction fee. Growth is $229 for 12,500 contacts and adds automations, affiliates, surveys and helpdesk. Professional is $549 for 25,000 contacts.
GoHighLevel does not limit contacts or users. Starter is $97, Unlimited is $297 and Agency Pro is $497. Instead it charges for usage: phone numbers, text messages, emails sent and premium AI features are billed on top.
So a large list is cheap to hold in GoHighLevel and expensive in Kartra, while heavy sending is included in Kartra’s mid plans and metered in GoHighLevel.
CRM and communication
GoHighLevel is the stronger CRM. It has sales pipelines, a unified inbox for calls, texts, email and social messages, appointment calendars and review requests. This is what local-business agencies buy it for.
Kartra has lead tagging, scoring and calendars, and a helpdesk from Growth up. It is a marketing tool with CRM features, not a sales CRM.
Funnels, pages and memberships
Kartra is more polished here. Its page builder, pre-built campaigns, video hosting and membership areas are designed for selling courses and info products, and they look good with little work.
GoHighLevel has funnels, websites and a membership area as well. They are capable, though templates and design are less refined.
Agency features
Only GoHighLevel offers client sub-accounts. On Agency Pro, SaaS Mode lets you sell the platform under your own name and rebill usage with a markup. Kartra has nothing equivalent, since it is meant for a single business.
Which should you choose?
- Choose GoHighLevel if you manage clients, need calling and texting inside a CRM, or have a large contact list.
- Choose Kartra if you sell your own courses or memberships and want well-designed pages and campaigns ready to use.
Related: my Go High Level review, Kartra review and Kartra vs ClickFunnels.