📊 Our Test Results:
- 🎯 Task Management: ClickUp handles multi-project views and subtasks with ease vs Keap’s basic task features — ClickUp wins
- 📧 Email Marketing: Keap’s automation builder delivers hyper-targeted campaigns vs ClickUp’s limited email tools — Keap wins
- 💰 Pricing Value: ClickUp’s free plan + $7/user/month vs Keap’s $299/month flat rate — ClickUp wins
- 🤖 AI Features: ClickUp Brain tracks workloads and writes content vs Keap’s AI email drafting — ClickUp wins
- 🏪 Sales & CRM: Keap’s built-in pipeline, invoicing, and lead scoring vs ClickUp’s basic CRM add-ons — Keap wins
Are you stuck choosing between a CRM powerhouse and a project management giant?
Keap and ClickUp serve very different purposes. But many small business owners and teams use both — or wonder if one can replace the other.
I spent three weeks testing both platforms hands-on. This comparison breaks down every key difference so you can pick the right tool.
Overview
To give you an accurate comparison, I tested Keap vs ClickUp across five key areas.
I looked at task management, automation, CRM features, pricing, and AI tools.
My goal was to find out which tool gives small businesses and teams the most value in 2026.
What is ClickUp?
ClickUp is a cloud-based project management platform built for teams of all sizes.
It brings tasks, docs, goals, calendars, and chat into one workspace. Teams use it to plan projects, track progress, and collaborate without switching apps.
ClickUp is popular with marketing teams, developers, and operations managers who need flexible, customizable workflows.
ClickUp
ClickUp is an all-in-one project management tool with task views, AI automation, and built-in collaboration tools. Teams save hours every week by centralizing work in one platform. The free plan supports unlimited users.
ClickUp Pricing
Here’s what ClickUp costs in 2026. Let’s break it down.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Freelancers and solo users |
| Unlimited | $7/user/month | Small teams needing more storage |
| Business | $12/user/month | Growing teams with advanced needs |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large organizations with compliance needs |
Free trial: Yes — ClickUp offers a 15-day free trial on paid plans. No credit card required for the free forever plan.
Money-back guarantee: ClickUp offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans.
📌 Note: ClickUp upgrades your entire workspace at once. Every member is upgraded together — you can’t mix free and paid users in the same workspace.
⚠️ Warning: The free plan limits custom fields to 100 uses. If your team relies on custom fields heavily, you’ll hit this cap quickly and need to upgrade.
Key Benefits of ClickUp
Here’s why ClickUp stands out from the competition:
- Free Forever Plan: ClickUp’s free plan supports unlimited users at no cost. It includes task management, docs, and basic automation.
- ClickUp Brain AI: The built-in AI assistant tracks workloads, writes content, and answers questions about your projects. It works across the entire workspace.
- Multiple Project Views: ClickUp offers List, Board, Gantt, Calendar, and Timeline views. You can switch between them without losing any data.
- 100+ Automation Templates: ClickUp includes pre-built automations for common workflows. You can also create custom rules using triggers and actions.
- Built-in Time Tracking: Native timers and manual logging make it easy to track billable hours. You can view time against estimates and actual work.
- 1,000+ Integrations: ClickUp connects with Slack, Google Drive, Zoom, and over 1,000 other apps. This keeps your tech stack connected without extra tools.
ClickUp Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited users with core features
- Highly customizable with 15+ task view types
- ClickUp Brain AI handles task summaries and content writing
- 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans
❌ Cons
- Steep learning curve for new users due to feature overload
- No phone support — live chat only (requires AI chatbot first)
- Time tracking can feel clunky compared to dedicated tools
What is Keap?
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a CRM and marketing automation platform built for small businesses.
It combines contact management, email marketing, sales pipelines, invoicing, and payment processing in one place. Keap is designed to automate almost every stage of the sales journey.
Small business owners and solopreneurs use Keap to stop chasing leads and start closing deals automatically.
Keap
Keap is a powerful CRM and sales automation platform for small businesses. It automates email follow-ups, manages contacts, and processes payments — all from one dashboard. Users report saving 10 hours per week on average.
Keap Pricing
Here’s what Keap costs in 2026. Let’s break it down.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Keap | $299/month (Annually Billed) | Small businesses automating sales and marketing |
Free trial: Yes — Keap offers a 14-day free trial with access to all features. No credit card required.
Money-back guarantee: Keap does not publicly advertise a standard money-back guarantee. Contact support for refund requests.
📌 Note: Each additional user costs $30/month on top of the base plan. The plan price is based on the number of contacts — it increases significantly past certain thresholds. Keap also offers a one-time Expert Coaching service for $499.
⚠️ Warning: Keap’s $299/month starting price is billed annually. Monthly billing costs more. If you’re a brand-new small business, this price point may feel steep before you see ROI.
Key Benefits of Keap
Here’s why Keap stands out from the competition:
- Marketing Automation: Keap’s Campaign Builder uses a visual flowchart to build multi-step automated campaigns. You can trigger emails, texts, and tasks based on customer behavior.
- 99.5% Email Deliverability: Keap claims one of the highest deliverability rates in the industry. Your campaigns reach the inbox, not the spam folder.
- Sales Pipeline & Lead Scoring: Keap gives you a visual pipeline and scores each lead based on engagement. This helps your sales team focus on the hottest prospects first.
- Built-in Invoicing & Payments: Keap includes invoicing tools and integrates with major payment processors. You can collect payments without a third-party tool.
- Dedicated Business Line: Keap gives you a separate business phone number for calls and texts. This keeps personal and professional communication separate.
- 2,500+ Integrations: Keap connects with over 2,500 platforms and tools. This covers everything from e-commerce to accounting software.
Keap Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Powerful all-in-one CRM with automation, sales, and payments
- 99.5% email deliverability rate keeps campaigns out of spam
- Dedicated customer success manager included with every plan
- 14-day free trial with full feature access
❌ Cons
- Expensive at $299/month — not ideal for brand-new startups
- Project management features are basic compared to ClickUp
- Pricing scales up sharply as your contact list grows
Feature Comparison
Ready to dive into a detailed comparison of Keap vs ClickUp?
We’ll explore 9 key features to help you determine which platform best suits your needs.
| Feature | ClickUp | Keap |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free / $7/user/month | $299/month |
| Free Plan | ✅ | ❌ |
| Project Management | ✅ | ❌ |
| CRM & Sales Pipeline | Limited | ✅ |
| Email Marketing Automation | ❌ | ✅ |
| Invoicing & Payments | ❌ | ✅ |
| AI Assistant | ✅ (ClickUp Brain) | Limited |
| Time Tracking | ✅ | ❌ |
| Integrations | 1,000+ | 2,500+ |
| Best For | Teams managing projects | Small businesses with sales focus |
1. Project Management
ClickUp: ClickUp is built from the ground up for project management. It offers 15+ task views including List, Board, Gantt, Calendar, and Timeline. Teams can break work into Workspaces, Spaces, Folders, Lists, Tasks, and Subtasks for full control.
Keap: Keap’s project management features are basic. You can create tasks and assign them to contacts or team members. But there are no Gantt charts, Kanban boards, or multi-view project tracking.
⚠️ Warning: If project management is your main need, Keap will fall short. It’s designed as a CRM first — tasks are secondary to contacts and campaigns.
2. CRM & Sales Pipeline
Keap: Keap’s CRM is its core strength. You get a visual sales pipeline, lead scoring based on engagement, contact records with full history, and automated follow-up sequences. The platform tracks every customer interaction from first contact to closed deal.
ClickUp: ClickUp offers a basic CRM view with custom fields and pipeline stages. It works for simple deal tracking. But it lacks lead scoring, email deliverability tools, and the deep sales automation Keap provides.
3. Marketing Automation
Keap: Keap’s Campaign Builder is a standout feature. You build visual “when-then” automation flows that trigger emails, texts, and tasks based on customer actions. Keap also offers hyper-targeted campaigns using CRM tags and segments.
ClickUp: ClickUp’s automation focuses on task and workflow triggers — not email marketing. You can automate task status changes, assignments, and notifications. But it cannot send email campaigns, score leads, or manage a contact database.
✅ Test Result: Keap’s automation builder saved us time setting up a 5-step welcome sequence in under 20 minutes. ClickUp cannot replicate this for sales campaigns.
4. AI Features
ClickUp: ClickUp Brain is a native AI assistant that works across your entire workspace. It can summarize tasks, write content, answer questions about projects, and track team workloads. It’s one of the most integrated AI tools in project management software.
Keap: Keap’s AI tools are more limited. The platform uses AI to draft email copy and suggest automation based on natural language prompts. It’s helpful for email marketers but not as broadly capable as ClickUp Brain.
5. Time Tracking
ClickUp: ClickUp includes built-in time tracking with native timers and manual logging. You can track billable hours against estimates, build timesheets, and view workload across the team. This is ideal for agencies and freelancers.
Keap: Keap does not offer built-in time tracking. The platform is focused on sales and marketing activities rather than employee productivity tracking. You’d need a third-party integration to add this feature.
6. Email Marketing
Keap: Keap’s email marketing tools are built for conversion. You can send targeted campaigns based on CRM tags, contact behavior, and purchase history. Keap claims a 99.5% deliverability rate, which means your emails actually reach the inbox.
ClickUp: ClickUp does not include email marketing capabilities. It is a project management tool, not a marketing platform. You would need to connect a dedicated email tool like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign for campaigns.
7. Collaboration Tools
ClickUp: ClickUp has a full suite of collaboration tools. It includes Docs for shared writing, a built-in team Messenger, whiteboards for brainstorming, and real-time task editing. Multiple people can work on a document simultaneously.
Keap: Keap’s collaboration features are limited to task assignment and internal notes on contact records. It’s not designed for team collaboration in the way ClickUp is. Most businesses use Keap solo or with a small sales team.
8. Invoicing & Payments
Keap: Keap includes built-in invoicing and integrates with multiple payment processors. You can send invoices directly from a contact record and accept payments without leaving the platform. This is a major time-saver for service businesses.
ClickUp: ClickUp does not include invoicing or payment processing. It is focused on task and project management. You would need to integrate a tool like FreshBooks or Stripe to handle billing.
⚠️ Warning: If you need invoicing and payments in the same tool as your CRM, Keap is the clear choice. ClickUp simply does not offer this functionality natively.
9. Pricing & Cost
Let’s compare the pricing plans side by side.
| Plan | ClickUp | Keap |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (unlimited users) | ❌ No free plan |
| Starter / Entry | $7/user/month | $299/month (all users) |
| Mid-Tier | $12/user/month | $299/month base + $30/user |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
ClickUp: ClickUp is far more affordable for most teams. A 5-person team pays $35–$60/month on paid plans. The free plan works for unlimited users with solid core features.
Keap: Keap’s $299/month flat rate includes CRM, automation, email marketing, and invoicing. For an established business doing active marketing, this price is justified. But it’s a tough entry point for new entrepreneurs.
Different Scenarios
| If You Need… | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tight budget or free plan | ClickUp | Free forever with unlimited users |
| Email marketing automation | Keap | Built-in campaigns and 99.5% deliverability |
| Multi-project team management | ClickUp | 15+ task views and collaboration tools |
| Sales pipeline and lead scoring | Keap | Visual CRM with engagement-based scoring |
| Invoicing and payment collection | Keap | Built-in invoicing — no third-party needed |
| AI-powered workspace assistant | ClickUp | ClickUp Brain works across all tasks |
| Beginner-friendly setup | Keap | Dedicated success manager and 20-min setup |
💰 Your Budget
ClickUp wins on price by a wide margin. The free plan handles most needs for small teams, and paid plans start at just $7/user/month. Keap’s $299/month is better suited to businesses already generating revenue from their sales pipeline.
🔌 Your Tech Stack
Keap integrates with over 2,500 tools — ideal for e-commerce and service businesses with complex stacks. ClickUp connects with 1,000+ apps including Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom, which covers most team collaboration needs.
📝 Your Business Type
ClickUp is best for teams managing deliverables, deadlines, and collaborative work. Keap is best for solo operators or small sales teams who need to automate follow-ups, send campaigns, and close more deals.
🎓 Your Experience Level
Keap offers a dedicated customer success manager and can be set up in as little as 20 minutes. ClickUp has a steeper learning curve due to its many features, but ClickUp University and live training help new users get started.
🆓 Free Trials and Demos
Both tools offer free trials. ClickUp’s free forever plan lets you test core features indefinitely. Keap’s 14-day trial gives you full access — use it to test the Campaign Builder with a real project before committing.
🛟 Support Options
Keap includes 24/7 chat, email, and phone support Monday–Friday plus a dedicated success manager. ClickUp offers 24/7 live chat but requires going through an AI chatbot first — and there is no phone support available.
Switching Guide
Already using one of these tools? Here’s what to expect if you switch.
🔄 Switching from Keap to ClickUp?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Free plan with unlimited users — massive cost savings for small teams
- 15+ task views including Gantt charts and Kanban boards
- ClickUp Brain AI assistant for task summaries and content writing
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Email marketing automation and campaign builder
- Built-in invoicing and payment processing
- Lead scoring and dedicated business phone line
📋 How to switch:
- Export your contacts from Keap as a CSV file
- Create a ClickUp workspace and set up your project spaces
- Import tasks and contacts using ClickUp’s import tool or CSV upload
🔄 Switching from ClickUp to Keap?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Fully integrated CRM with visual sales pipeline and lead scoring
- Email marketing automation with 99.5% deliverability
- Built-in invoicing, payments, and dedicated business phone line
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Advanced project views like Gantt charts and Timeline
- Built-in time tracking and team collaboration tools
- Free forever plan — Keap starts at $299/month
📋 How to switch:
- Export your contact and task data from ClickUp as CSV
- Sign up for Keap’s 14-day free trial and use the onboarding checklist
- Import contacts and set up your first automation campaign in the Campaign Builder
Final Verdict
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| 💰 Pricing | ClickUp |
| 🚀 Project Management | ClickUp |
| 📧 Email Marketing & Automation | Keap |
| 🎯 CRM & Sales Pipeline | Keap |
| 🤖 AI Features | ClickUp |
| 👶 Ease of Onboarding | Keap |
| 🔌 Team Collaboration | ClickUp |
| 🏆 Overall Winner | ClickUp |
🏆 WINNER: ClickUp
ClickUp wins 5 out of 7 categories.
Best for: Team project management, budget-conscious teams, AI-powered workflows
Keap and ClickUp are built for completely different problems.
ClickUp is a project management platform that helps teams organize work, track time, and collaborate in one place.
Keap is a sales and marketing CRM that helps small businesses automate follow-ups, send campaigns, and process payments.
Keap is excellent for solopreneurs and service businesses that need to close more deals without hiring a bigger team.
However, if you need a flexible, affordable tool that your whole team can use — ClickUp is the better choice.
Now, go pick the right tool and start building a more productive business!
More of ClickUp Compared
Here’s how ClickUp stacks up against other competitors:
ClickUp vs Asana
ClickUp wins on: Free plan value, custom views, built-in docs and whiteboards
Asana wins on: Cleaner UI, simpler onboarding, better task dependencies
ClickUp vs Monday.com
ClickUp wins on: Pricing, free plan, more customization options
Monday.com wins on: Visual dashboards, enterprise features, easier setup
ClickUp vs Trello
ClickUp wins on: Feature depth, AI tools, multiple project views beyond Kanban
Trello wins on: Simplicity, faster setup, better for solo users
ClickUp vs Notion
ClickUp wins on: Task tracking, time tracking, project management depth
Notion wins on: Document creation, knowledge base management, flexibility for personal use
ClickUp vs Wrike
ClickUp wins on: Price, free plan, UI customization and AI features
Wrike wins on: Enterprise reporting, resource management, approval workflows
More of Keap Compared
Here’s how Keap stacks up against other competitors:
Keap vs GoHighLevel
Keap wins on: Ease of use, dedicated success manager, faster onboarding
GoHighLevel wins on: Agency features, white-labeling, broader marketing tools
Keap vs Pipedrive
Keap wins on: Email automation, invoicing, full CRM suite for small business
Pipedrive wins on: Sales-focused UI, lower starting price, pipeline simplicity
Keap vs ActiveCampaign
Keap wins on: Built-in payments, business phone line, all-in-one simplicity
ActiveCampaign wins on: Email automation depth, lower entry price, more email templates
Keap wins on: Pricing for feature set, invoicing tools, dedicated onboarding support
HubSpot wins on: Free CRM tier, content marketing tools, enterprise scalability
Keap vs ClickFunnels
Keap wins on: CRM depth, email marketing, contact management features
ClickFunnels wins on: Landing page builder, sales funnel creation, conversion tools
Keap vs Folk
Keap wins on: Automation power, email deliverability, payment processing
Folk wins on: Simplicity, modern UI, lightweight CRM for early-stage teams
Keap wins on: Full CRM suite, lead scoring, invoicing and sales pipeline
Instantly wins on: Cold email outreach at scale, lower price for email sending
Keap vs Monday CRM
Keap wins on: Email automation, payment tools, dedicated small business CRM features
Monday CRM wins on: Visual dashboards, team collaboration, project tracking
Keap vs Capsule CRM
Keap wins on: Automation depth, email marketing, payment processing
Capsule CRM wins on: Simplicity, lower price point, minimal learning curve
Keap wins on: Email automation, invoicing, small business focus and support
Insightly wins on: Project management integration, mid-market features, reporting
Keap wins on: Email marketing automation, invoicing, dedicated success manager
Freshsales CRM wins on: AI-powered lead scoring, free plan availability, built-in phone dialer
Keap vs Salesforce
Keap wins on: Simplicity, onboarding speed, pricing for small teams
Salesforce wins on: Enterprise scalability, customization depth, ecosystem size
Keap vs Zendesk
Keap wins on: Sales automation, email marketing, lead management tools
Zendesk wins on: Customer support ticketing, help desk features, enterprise service management
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Keap used for?
Keap is a CRM and marketing automation platform designed for small businesses. It helps users manage contacts, automate email and text follow-ups, track sales pipelines, and process payments — all in one place. It was formerly known as Infusionsoft.
What is ClickUp used for?
ClickUp is a project management tool that helps teams plan, track, and collaborate on tasks in a single workspace. It supports task management, goal tracking, time tracking, and team communication. It works for teams of all sizes from freelancers to enterprises.
Is ClickUp actually free?
Yes, ClickUp offers a free forever plan with unlimited users and core project management features. The free plan includes task management, docs, and basic automation. Paid plans start at $7/user/month and unlock more advanced features.
Is Keap a good CRM?
Yes, Keap is a strong CRM for small businesses that need sales automation and email marketing in one tool. It offers lead scoring, visual pipelines, and a 99.5% email deliverability rate. The main downside is the $299/month starting price, which can feel steep for new businesses.
What is better than Keap?
For project management, ClickUp is a better choice than Keap. For email marketing automation at a lower price, ActiveCampaign is a strong alternative. For broader CRM needs with a free tier, HubSpot is worth considering. The best alternative depends on your specific business needs.
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