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HighLevel or Kartra: client sub-accounts or your own all-in-one?
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HighLevel and Kartra solve different problems. HighLevel separates each client into its own sub-account, with unlimited contacts and users on every paid plan, though SMS, calls and AI usage are billed separately. Kartra is a single-account, all-in-one platform for your own offer, with plan price and contact limits scaling together from a 500-contact entry tier. Managing funnels for multiple client businesses: pick HighLevel. Running your own pages, email, checkout and membership under one predictable, contact-based price: pick Kartra.
Our pick for most readersHighLevel
Pick it for: Agencies running funnels for several clients; Client separation with their own logins
From $97/mo · 14-day trialStart the HighLevel trialPick it ifKartra
Pick it for: A business that wants helpdesk and membership next to the funnel; Replacing several tools with one bill
From $59/mo · paid plansSee Kartra plansOne account per client, or one account for your own offer
The structural difference decides this comparison before any feature list does. HighLevel is built so each client gets an isolated sub-account with its own contacts, pipelines, calendars and domains, all managed from one agency login. Kartra has no sub-account concept: it's one account, pages, email, checkout, membership and helpdesk, for one business selling one set of offers. An agency running several client businesses needs HighLevel's separation. A solo founder or small team consolidating their own offer onto one platform is better served by Kartra's single-account design. See the agency funnel builder guide if client separation is the deciding factor.
HighLevel: sub-accounts, unlimited contacts, usage billed on top
Every paid HighLevel plan includes unlimited contacts and unlimited users, per the official pricing page, tiers differ mainly by number of sub-accounts and resale features. $97 per month includes 3 sub-accounts, Unlimited removes that cap, and Agency Pro adds SaaS mode for reselling HighLevel under your own brand. Telecom usage (SMS, calls) and AI features are billed separately from the plan price.
| HighLevel | Starter | Unlimited | Agency Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $97/mo | $297/mo | $497/mo | custom |
| Billed annually | $970/yr | $2,970/yr | $4,970/yr | · |
| Sub-accounts | 3 | unlimited | unlimited | · |
| Contacts | unlimited | unlimited | · | · |
| Users | unlimited | unlimited | · | · |
| Api access | · | basic | advanced | · |
| Rebilling | · | phone and email at cost | with markup | · |
| Saas mode | · | · | included | · |
| Pricing | · | · | · | custom |
| White label mobile app | · | · | · | included |
| Hipaa compliance | · | · | · | available |
Annual billing equals 10x the monthly price (2 months free). Telecom (SMS, calls) and AI usage are billed separately on top of every plan. Current amounts: the official HighLevel pricing page.
Full detail: HighLevel plans.
Kartra: one account, pricing that scales with contacts
Kartra is an all-in-one marketing platform, pages, email, checkout, membership and a helpdesk, priced primarily by contact count rather than by sub-accounts or seats. $59 per month covers up to 500 contacts, 5 pages and 1 product, a narrow entry tier. $119 per month lifts that to 2,500 contacts with unlimited pages and products and unlimited email sending, and higher tiers keep raising the contact ceiling toward 25,000 on the Professional plan.
| Kartra | Essentials | Starter | Growth | Professional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $59/mo | $119/mo | $229/mo | $549/mo |
| Billed annually | $52/mo | $99/mo | $189/mo | $429/mo |
| Contacts | 500 | 2,500 | 12,500 | 25,000 |
| Emails per month | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| Custom domains | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Pages | 5 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Products | 1 | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Emails | · | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Team members | · | 5 | 10 | · |
Annual billing lowers the effective monthly price. 30-day money back guarantee. Current amounts: the official Kartra pricing page.
Full detail: the Kartra guide.
Total cost of the stack, not just the plan price
| At a glance | HighLevel | Kartra |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Agency-oriented CRM and funnel platform with sub-accounts per client, white label options and a SaaS resale mode. | All-in-one marketing platform (pages, email, checkout, membership, helpdesk) priced by contact count. |
| Plans | Starter: $97/mo Unlimited: $297/mo Agency Pro: $497/mo Enterprise: custom | Essentials: $59/mo Starter: $119/mo Growth: $229/mo Professional: $549/mo |
| Entry price | from $97/mo | from $59/mo |
| Billing notes | Annual billing equals 10x the monthly price (2 months free). Telecom (SMS, calls) and AI usage are billed separately on top of every plan. | Annual billing lowers the effective monthly price. 30-day money back guarantee. |
Amounts come from each provider's official pricing page and can change: the official HighLevel pricing page · the official Kartra pricing page.
Kartra's price is close to final once you know your contact count: the plan covers pages, email, checkout and membership together, with email sending unlimited from the Starter plan up. HighLevel's plan price is a floor, SMS, call and AI usage add a variable cost that depends on client volume and communication habits, on top of a per-sub-account structure Kartra doesn't have at all. Run your own contact count and expected usage through the cost calculator before comparing tiers on sticker price.
Reversibility: what you're locked into either way
Kartra's single-account design keeps everything, contacts, pages, checkout history, membership content, under one export-able account you fully control, closing or migrating it is a self-contained decision. HighLevel's sub-account model depends on which side you're on: your own account running your own offer behaves like Kartra's; a client's sub-account inside your agency's master account lives under your billing until it's transferred or exported, a scenario covered in the funnel migration checklist.
Verdict by profile
Agency, consultant or freelancer running funnels, CRM and calendars for several client businesses: HighLevel, because sub-accounts and rebilling exist for exactly that. Solo founder, small team or course business consolidating pages, email, checkout and membership for one offer under one predictable, contact-based price: Kartra. Running client work and a personal offer at the same time is common; when it happens, weigh the agency case on its own terms rather than stretching one account to cover both jobs.
What the two products actually look like
Questions people also ask
Does Kartra support separate client sub-accounts like HighLevel?
No. Kartra is a single-account platform built for one business selling its own offer. There is no sub-account structure for isolating several clients' contacts, pages or checkout data from each other.
Why does HighLevel's entry plan cost more than Kartra's entry plan?
$97 per month pays for sub-account infrastructure and unlimited contacts and users from the first paid tier, features a single-account business doesn't need. $59 per month reflects a narrow, single-account entry tier capped at 500 contacts and 1 product.
Does Kartra charge extra for email or automation like HighLevel charges for SMS?
Email sending is unlimited from the Starter plan up, per the official pricing page, with no separate metered fee described there. HighLevel's extra charges apply specifically to telecom usage (SMS, calls) and AI features, not to email.
Can a small agency use Kartra instead of HighLevel for a couple of clients?
Some do, by running one Kartra account per client rather than sharing one account. It works for a small number of clients but there's no central multi-client dashboard, so it gets harder to manage past a handful of active accounts.