When agencies and digital entrepreneurs search for an all-in-one marketing platform, two names constantly collide at the top of the list: HighLevel and Kartra. Both claim to simplify the messy tech stack. Both want to be the central command center for funnels, automation, payments, tracking — everything. But only one of them has truly been engineered for scaling outward — powering multiple businesses, creating packaged services, and unlocking new revenue streams.
So which platform actually grows with you (not against you)?
Let’s zoom in on what matters most: speed of scaling, cost efficiency, automation depth, and real-world agency use cases.
Buckle up — things may get a little spicy.
Quick Background: Why These Two Keep Getting Compared
Kartra has been around longer — built to replace funnel builders like ClickFunnels for solopreneurs selling online products. It focuses on conversions, customer experience, and done-for-you templates.
HighLevel is newer — but laser-focused on agencies, not just marketers. It aims to eliminate the entire marketing tech stack (and the invoices that come with it).
They overlap heavily in:
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Funnels and landing pages
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Email automation
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Membership capabilities
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Checkouts and invoicing
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Calendars and forms
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Tracking dashboards
Yet… similarity ends right where scaling begins.
Who Each Platform Was Built For
Kartra
Designed for one brand growing one business. Think:
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Coaches
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Course creators
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Solo marketers
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Online storefronts selling digital products
Kartra says: Give us one brand — we’ll help you grow it correctly.
HighLevel
Built for agencies managing clients — many clients. Think:
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Marketing agencies
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SaaS resellers
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Local-business service providers
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Automations-as-a-service entrepreneurs
HighLevel says: Why grow just one business… when you can scale dozens at once?
This difference changes everything: pricing, features, speed of scaling, and revenue potential.
Pricing: Single Brand vs Unlimited Brands
Let’s not dance around it — pricing reveals intentions.
Kartra Pricing
| Plan | Monthly Price | Domains | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | ~$99 | 1 | 2,500 |
| Silver | ~$199 | 3 | 12,500 |
| Gold | ~$299 | 5 | 25,000 |
| Platinum | ~$499 | 10 | 50,000 |
Kartra charges per brand, per contact, and per growth milestone. The bigger you get, the more you pay.
HighLevel Pricing
| Plan | Monthly Price | Clients | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $97 | 1 | Unlimited |
| Unlimited | $297 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SaaS Pro | $497 | Sell your own branded software | Unlimited |
HighLevel doesn’t punish scale. More clients = same price. More revenue = same price. More domains = same price.
In agency math:
HighLevel wins so fast it isn’t a competition.
Scaling Power: Which Platform Lets You Grow Faster?
Kartra’s Scale Strategy
Grow a single brand → sell more products → upgrade plan → keep paying more.
Great for one business.
Dead weight for a multi-brand agency trying to scale horizontally.
HighLevel’s Scale Strategy
Duplicate the entire business system → launch into multiple accounts → grow clients in parallel.
That’s the secret:
HighLevel doesn’t just help you scale marketing… it helps you scale a business model.
You’re not just automating a business.
You’re multiplying one into many.
Automation Showdown: Who Dominates the Workflow Game?
Kartra has solid automation — emails, tagging, behavior triggers, sequences. It’s clean but can feel tightly confined inside the platform’s own logic.
HighLevel delivers a multichannel automation powerhouse:
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SMS
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Phone calls
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Voicemail drops
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Email
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Social DMs
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Pipelines
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Webhooks and custom events
A lead can book an appointment → get a confirmation text → kick off a drip → trigger pipeline changes → notify a sales rep → send a personalized voicemail… automatically.
Kartra can’t touch that level of cross-channel orchestration.
Winner: HighLevel — by quite a distance.
Funnels & Pages: Who Converts Better?
Kartra funnels look beautiful straight out of the box. Their templates often require minimal work to feel premium.
HighLevel funnels are extremely flexible and modern — but depending on your taste, you may need to build more from scratch.
Which is better?
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Want plug-and-play elegance → Kartra
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Want total freedom and client-brand control → HighLevel
That said… HighLevel funnels can be replicated across many clients with a click. That’s a scaling superpower.
Client Management: The Biggest Deal-Breaker
Kartra = one business per account
HighLevel = unlimited client sub-accounts
If you onboard 3 new clients in Kartra?
That’s 3 new paid accounts disguised as “additional domains.”
If you onboard 30 new clients in HighLevel?
That’s just Tuesday.
This is why agencies move to HighLevel the moment they scale beyond one client.
White-Labeling: Truly Scaling Into SaaS
Here’s the killer feature:
HighLevel lets agencies become software companies.
Brand the platform as your product:
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Your logo
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Your support URL
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Your pricing tiers
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Your onboarding
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Your revenue
Clients log into your platform — not HighLevel.
You literally sell software without building software.
Kartra doesn’t offer anything remotely close.
Game over for scaling advantages.
Support & Learning Curve: Who Helps You Faster?
Kartra:
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More polished onboarding
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Less technical overwhelm
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Better for beginners
HighLevel:
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Steeper learning curve in week one
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⭐ Massive community support and templates
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Coaches, snapshots, agency knowledge shared everywhere
Kartra eases you in… then caps your growth.
HighLevel challenges you early… then explodes your growth.
Real-User Experience Highlights
| Platform | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Kartra | Simple. Sleek. Strong pages & checkouts. | Scaling = expensive. Limited automation channels. |
| HighLevel | Built to scale fast. Automates everything. White-label SaaS. | Requires setup time. Updates roll out constantly. |
Both have strengths.
Only one has long-term domination baked into its DNA.
Which Platform Scales Faster? The Verdict
Here’s the truth in one sentence:
Kartra scales a business. HighLevel scales an enterprise.
If your goal is to:
✔ Manage multiple clients
✔ Reduce tech subscriptions
✔ Sell your own branded services
✔ Automate everything from lead capture to follow-up
✔ Grow without paying more every time you succeed
There’s only one answer…
HighLevel wins. Every. Single. Time.
Kartra still rocks for:
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A solopreneur selling courses
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A coach wanting simple funnels
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A marketer focused on one personal brand
But if you’re building something bigger…
Kartra quickly becomes the ceiling, not the foundation.
Action Plan: Choose the Right Tool for Your Goals
| Your Future | Best Option |
|---|---|
| You want to scale clients and recurring revenue | HighLevel Unlimited / SaaS |
| You want to grow one brand without complexity | Kartra Starter / Silver |
| You plan to resell automation as a product | HighLevel SaaS Mode (no contest) |
Tie your growth potential to a platform that doesn’t charge you extra for winning.
Call to Action: Start Scaling Like an Agency
The fastest way to see the difference is simple:
➡️ Build your next system inside HighLevel.
➡️ Clone it to a second account.
➡️ Feel that shift everyone talks about:
“No platform has ever let me scale this fast.”
You’re not just adding tools —
You’re building a software-driven business model that grows on autopilot.
Ready to unlock the version of your agency that doesn’t rely on more hands — only smarter systems?
🚀 Take GoHighLevel for a spin.
Explore funnels. Build workflows. Automate everything.
And discover why agencies are never going back.
Call to Action: Don’t waste another minute sending emails manually. Start your HighLevel free trial today and unlock the power of automated email sequences, multi-channel workflows, and analytics that drive results. Turn your email marketing from time-consuming to revenue-generating—effortlessly.
