--- title: Salesforce vs Keap as a Small Business CRM description: "Salesforce vs Keap (now Thryv) for small business: which CRM fits, the hidden costs of bolt-ons, and why process comes first. From The Sales Whisperer®." image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/salesforce-vs-keap-small-business-crm.png --- [Skip to content](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap#main-content) [![Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer®](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png?width=1560&height=360&name=wes-header-lockup.png)](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/) - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Fix Your Follow-Up](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/follow-up) - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Fix Your Follow-Up](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/follow-up) - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) - [Get The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) [Get The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) Jun 13, 2025 # Salesforce vs Keap as a Small Business CRM ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap) 2026 Update From Wes Infusionsoft became Keap, and Keap is now part of Thryv. The software changed its name three times. Why most owners struggle with it never changed: they bought the tool before they wrote down the process. Keep reading, and see the note at the bottom. ## Additional Salesforce vs. Keap Resources: - [Keap vs. Salesforce support](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-infusionsoft-support) model - [Keap vs. Salesforce for Trade Show Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap-trade-show-marketing) - [Salesforce vs. Keap: After The ExactTarget Purchase](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-Infusionsoft-after-the-exacttarget-purchase/) - [How much does Salesforce really cost?](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/how-much-money-is-your-salesforce-crm-making-you/) Is Salesforce really a viable platform for a small business CRM? What does a small business—any business, for that matter—need now? ## **Sales!** Not software. Not a repository of information. Not an online calendar. Not an online task-tracking and generating platform. Not a 2-hour to 48-hour email "support" process. ## **Sales!** And where do sales come from? - Advertising and marketing. - Building large, targeted lists. - Joint venture and affiliate partners. - Buzz creation. - Generating word-of-mouth referrals. ## Sales Grow From Systems and Automation How do you do all of the above? You advertise and market creatively and consistently, and you offer something of value to your prospects in return for their information. You then communicate with them in a manner and a tone they want, so a relationship and trust are built, forged, and crafted over a period of days or even months. But as a business owner, you don't get paid to educate. So you MUST be able to do all of this automatically. [![ABCDE Selling System by Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer®](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/ABCDE%20Selling%20System%20by%20Wes%20Schaeffer.jpg?width=519&height=389&name=ABCDE%20Selling%20System%20by%20Wes%20Schaeffer.jpg)](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/abcs-sales-and-marketing-automation-step-one-attract) That's where I think **Salesforce** misses the mark for the small business CRM market. ## Salesforce Pricing (Sales Cloud) Since forever, Salesforce has offered a whole heckuva lot of pricing options. It's a tad intimidating, and I've been using Salesforce since 2004! These friggin' edition names change every year. Essentials. Lightning. Platform Plus. Professional. Enterprise. Unlimited. I honestly can't keep up! AHHHHHH! So I'm not going to list their prices here. They'd be wrong by the time you read this. Check the Salesforce site for current numbers. Here's what hasn't changed: - **Per-user pricing, usually on an annual contract.** You pay upfront (or monthly on an annual commitment) and hope this is the right platform for your company for the year. - **The entry-level edition calls itself "all-in-one."** Run away from that claim! In 2008, Keap (then Infusionsoft) promoted itself as an "all-in-one" solution, and it was not, is not, and never shall be. It's not their fault. There's just no way to be "all-in-one" for everyone on the planet. Salesforce KNOWS this, so why are they blowing that smoke? - **Limits on the lower tiers.** Lists, users, customization, and mass email get rationed. The cheaper editions admit they are incomplete by selling you the next one up. - **Customization costs more.** If you want to "deeply customize" your CRM, you move up a tier, and you still can't do bulk email, e-commerce, affiliate marketing, or sales and marketing automation out of the box. - **Better support costs more.** The higher the tier, the more likely someone at Salesforce will actually talk to you. That IS NOT what small business owners need to grow sales. Salesforce lets you "kind of" capture web leads, but it's REALLY limited. Salesforce lets you "kind of" send mass emails, but it's REALLY limited. But Salesforce doesn't help you with eCommerce, and you can't run drip campaigns or nurture sequences that trigger automatically when certain events occur. If you want to do that, you must go to the Salesforce AppExchange and bolt on another product. These types of bolt-ons are what a prospect once described to me as... > "Salesforce's never-ending-tack-on-expenses." He said that because each one adds another monthly bill that grows with the size of your list, the number of products you sell, etc. Besides the money, though, you have to learn and integrate another system, which is EXACTLY what you do not want or need to do as a small business owner. **You need sales.** ## Keap (Now Part of Thryv) Pricing Keap went the opposite direction from Salesforce and simplified its pricing over the years. It retired the old Essentials, Deluxe, Complete, and Team editions, and it has raised prices along the way. Today Keap is part of Thryv. Plans are built around users and contacts, with email and automation included, and support comes with the paid plans. Check Keap's site for current plans and pricing. Both companies ship updates constantly, so check current features before you decide. ## Salesforce Knows CRMs Are Dead Salesforce was early to market in the online CRM SaaS space and evolved to become the 800-pound gorilla in the space. That made them the Kleenex or Coke of their market segment... but small businesses are not buying a one-cent tissue or a 50-cent soda to be consumed and immediately thrown away. You're buying a tool—a platform—that will become the engine of your business. Like your car's engine, it's useless to a commuter or a soccer mom without a gas tank, a transmission, a steering wheel, comfy seats, and an entertainment system for the kids, which is why Salesforce moved beyond the CRM. As I covered in **[Salesforce vs. Keap: After The ExactTarget Purchase](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-Infusionsoft-after-the-exacttarget-purchase/)**, Salesforce pushed into email marketing and marketing automation to address the evolving market. Sure, Salesforce is probably the best, shiniest filing cabinet on the market. They make nice pie charts and bar graphs and are the go-to CRM for Fortune 500 companies that have the size, scope, budget, and staff to run such a massive platform. But buying a pretty filing cabinet just because Apple or Ford might use it is not only foolish, it could put your small business out of business. ## Keap Has Always Known That Affordable Sales and Marketing Automation Is The Name of The Game The internet never sleeps. Your competition is no longer the guy in the strip center across the street or the gal across town. With smart marketing, relevant content, and timely delivery of targeted information at the moment of relevance, you can now compete with the provider across the country and across the ocean... but you need more than a pie-chart-creating CRM with expensive support and annual contracts. You need web forms that segment your visitors into leads you capture 24/7, automatically, and predictably. You need to track the actions—or inaction—of your leads to turn them into prospects. You need to schedule and send the right information—including calls, text messages, direct mail, and email—to those prospects to move them through your sales pipeline. You need online order forms and shopping carts to make sales while you sleep. You need affiliate marketing that helps your biggest fans promote you and get paid for their efforts... but only after they generate the sale. You need support on Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday before your big launch on Monday. That's why, if you're even asking "Salesforce vs. Keap" as a small business, I'd lean Keap (now part of Thryv). But only after you write down your process. More on that below. ## Does Your CRM Help You "Automate. Integrate. Dominate."? Automation, email marketing, web forms, affiliate marketing, and e-commerce all live inside one of these CRMs. (Hint: It's the one that is a lot more than a CRM, aka, a static, expensive Rolodex® in the sky.) In the ongoing question of Keap vs. Salesforce, why have so many business owners left Salesforce for Keap? So they can automate their business... among other reasons. More Salesforce vs. Keap resources here at The Sales Whisperer® include: - [Salesforce vs. Keap after the ExactTarget Email Purchase](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-Infusionsoft-after-the-exacttarget-purchase/) - [Keap Competition Matrix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/crm-quiz) - [Salesforce vs. Keap for Trade Show Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap-trade-show-marketing) - [How much money is your Salesforce CRM costing you?](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/how-much-money-is-your-salesforce-crm-making-you) - [Salesforce vs. Keap Support](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-infusionsoft-support) ## Why the CRM Didn't Fix It I've used Salesforce since 2004, Keap since 2008, and HubSpot and Ontraport since 2014. Every tool on this page works. Plenty of owners still give up on it. The tool was never the problem. A shiny CRM with no written process is just expensive dashboardery. Write down how a stranger becomes a customer first. Then pick the software that fits that process. [**Get a process before you get the software →**](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/process-first) Market like you mean it. Now go sell something. Want a sounding board while you fix it? 12 Weeks To Peak™ is 84 days of private coaching with me covering business, faith, family, fitness, and finance. I show up, I listen, and I tell you the truth. [See If We're A Fit →](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) Not ready for private coaching? [Join the Inner Circle](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/inner-circle). Would you rather have it built for you? [Meet Hank](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank). [Keap CRM Review](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/keap-crm-review) ## Related posts [![Master Keap to apply digital marketing best practices to grow your small business sales.](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog-files/lucy-chocolate-factory-sales-marketing-process-small.jpg?height=200&name=lucy-chocolate-factory-sales-marketing-process-small.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/the-key-to-keap-crm-mastery) [Small Business Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/small-business-marketing), [Email Marketing Best Practices](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/email-marketing-best-practices), [Marketing Automation](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/marketing-automation), [Digital Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/digital-marketing), [Keap Infusionsoft CRM](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/keap-infusionsoft-crm) ## [The Key To Keap CRM Mastery](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/the-key-to-keap-crm-mastery) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Dec 31, 2019 2026 Update From Wes Infusionsoft became Keap, and Keap is now part of Thryv. The software changed... [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/the-key-to-keap-crm-mastery) [![](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog-files/HubSpot%20vs%20Infusionsoft%20Race.jpg?height=200&name=HubSpot%20vs%20Infusionsoft%20Race.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hubspot-vs-keap-who-has-the-best-marketing-automation) [custom AI solution development](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/custom-ai-solution-development), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai) ## [HubSpot vs. Keap: Who Has The Best Marketing Automation?](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hubspot-vs-keap-who-has-the-best-marketing-automation) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 2026 Update From Wes Infusionsoft became Keap, and Keap is now part of Thryv. The software changed... [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hubspot-vs-keap-who-has-the-best-marketing-automation) [![Salesforce vs Keap for Trade Show Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Keap%20Trade%20Show%20Marketing%20Campaign%202.png?height=200&name=Keap%20Trade%20Show%20Marketing%20Campaign%202.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap-trade-show-marketing) [Keap CRM Review](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/keap-crm-review), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai) ## [Salesforce vs Keap for Trade Show Marketing](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/salesforce-vs-keap-trade-show-marketing) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 Easily 50-90% of trade show leads are wasted (because 70-90% of salespeople working the booths are... 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