The tools, and what they really cost
Grouped by the job they do in your stack. Each card shows the real monthly bill for a small team, sized for the job the tool does, with every add-on and usage fee counted: not the headline price.
Sticker price vs the real bill
For every tool we track: the cheapest paid plan as the vendor advertises it, next to what a small team really pays each month once seats, contact tiers, add-ons and usage are counted. A five-person business doesn't need five seats in every tool, so each bill is sized for the tool's job, shown under the figure and explained in how we check. Prices as verified on each tool's check date.
| Tool | Job | Cheapest paid plan | Real bill, small team | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | Grow | $15/moStarter (1,000 contacts) | $149/mo10,000 subscribers | |
| Ahrefs | Grow | $29/moStarter | $309/mo2 users, 1,500 keywords | |
| ClickFunnels | Sell | $97/moLaunch | $197/mo3 staff, $30,000/mo in sales | |
| ClickUp | Organize | $10/moUnlimited, per seat | $50/mo5 seats | |
| Framer | Site | $15/moBasic | $105/mo3 editors | |
| GoHighLevel | Run | $97/moStarter | $125.42/mo3 users, 5,000 contacts | |
| HubSpot | Run | $20/moMarketing Hub Starter, per seat | $1,100/mo3 users, 5,000 contacts | |
| Kajabi | Sell | $71/moKickstarter | $249/mo3 staff, $30,000/mo in sales | |
| Kit | Grow | $39/moCreator | from $79/mo10,000 subscribers · lowest possible | |
| Klaviyo | Grow | $20/moEmail (500 active profiles) | $150/mo10,000 subscribers | |
| Mailchimp | Grow | $13/moEssentials | $135/mo10,000 subscribers | |
| Notion | Organize | $12/moPlus, per seat | $60/mo5 seats | |
| Pipedrive | Run | $24/moLite, per seat | $189/mo3 users, 5,000 contacts | |
| SE Ranking | Grow | $129/moCore | $149/mo2 users, 1,500 keywords | |
| Semrush | Grow | $139.95/moSEO | $379/mo2 users, 1,500 keywords | |
| Shopify | Sell | $39/moBasic | $105/mo3 staff, $30,000/mo in sales | |
| Squarespace | Site | $25/moBasic | $39/mo3 editors | |
| Systeme.io | Sell | $17/moStartup | $47/mo3 staff, $30,000/mo in sales | |
| Webflow | Site | $25/moBasic | $167/mo3 editors | |
| Wix | Site | $17/moLight | $29/mo3 editors | |
| WooCommerce | Sell | Freeno paid plan | $45/mo3 staff, $30,000/mo in sales | |
| Zoho CRM | Run | $20/moStandard, per seat | $150/mo3 users, 5,000 contacts |
Sell — How do I take money?
ClickFunnels
Funnel, store, course and email platform sold in four tiers priced by workspaces, team seats and contacts, with no percentage-of-sales fee.
Small team: $197/mo · Score 3.6
Sell · Course, coaching, community and email platform with built-in checkoutKajabi
Course, coaching, community, email and checkout platform priced as three contact-tiered plans (Basic/Growth/Pro) with 0% revenue share and built-in payments.
Small team: $249/mo · Score 3.5
Sell · Ecommerce platformShopify
Hosted ecommerce platform for running an online store, selling in person with Shopify POS, and listing products on social, marketplaces and AI chats.
Small team: $105/mo · Score 4.4
Sell · Funnels, courses and email marketing platformSysteme.io
Sales funnels, email marketing, online courses, communities and a store in one account, with 0% transaction fees and a free plan for up to 2,000 contacts.
Small team: $47/mo · Score 3.9
Sell · Open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPressWooCommerce
Free, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress with no plan fees or revenue share. You pay separately for hosting, paid extensions and card processing.
Small team: $45/mo · Score 3.6
Site — Where does my business live online?
Framer
No-code AI website builder and CMS priced per site, where the Basic/Pro plan price itself scales with a monthly AI-credit tier, plus separate per-editor seat pricing.
Small team: $105/mo · Score 3.0
Site · Website builder and online storeSquarespace
Website builder with built-in online stores, invoicing and AI tools, priced per site with no per-contributor fee above the entry-level Basic plan.
Small team: $39/mo · Score 4.1
Site · Website builder and CMSWebflow
Visual website builder with a built-in CMS and hosting, billed as a Site plan for each published site plus a Workspace where extra editors are paid seats.
Small team: $167/mo · Score 3.1
Site · Website builder and online storeWix
Website builder with a free plan and four paid per-site tiers whose collaborator cap and storage rise by tier; the public page shows only the annual price.
Small team: $29/mo · Score 3.4
Grow — How do people find me and come back?
ActiveCampaign
Email marketing automation with a built-in CRM. Starter/Plus/Pro/Enterprise pricing scales with contact-list size; the public pricing page bills annually only.
Small team: $149/mo · Score 3.6
Grow · SEOAhrefs
SEO toolset built on its own web crawler: backlink and keyword research, site audits, weekly rank tracking and AI-answer brand tracking. Paid plans from $29/mo.
Small team: $309/mo · Score 3.7
Grow · Email MarketingKit
Email marketing platform for online creators: newsletters, automations, landing pages and digital products, free for up to 10,000 subscribers.
Small team: from $79/mo · Score 3.0
Grow · Email and SMS marketing platformKlaviyo
Email and SMS marketing platform priced by active profile count, with paid add-ons for an AI agent, an on-site customer hub, social and reviews.
Small team: $150/mo · Score 4.0
Grow · Email MarketingMailchimp
Email marketing and automation platform from Intuit, priced by contact-count band, with ecommerce features on every paid tier and a free plan for up to 250 contacts.
Small team: $135/mo · Score 3.7
Grow · SEOSE Ranking
SEO and AI-visibility platform for rank tracking, site audits and backlink research. Core is $129/mo ($103.20/mo annual); Growth is $279/mo ($223.20/mo annual).
Small team: $149/mo · Score 3.7
Grow · SEOSemrush
SEO and AI-search visibility platform: keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and backlinks, with paid toolkits for local, content, social, ads and PR.
Small team: $379/mo · Score 3.6
Run — How do I manage leads, clients and automation?
GoHighLevel
CRM, funnel and website builder, email/SMS marketing and workflows with unlimited users, from $97/mo plus metered texts, calls, email and AI.
Small team: $125.42/mo · Score 3.2
Run · CRM and marketing automationHubSpot
CRM with free tools and paid hubs; Marketing Hub runs from per-seat Starter to Professional, which adds contact tiers and a required onboarding fee.
Small team: $1,100/mo · Score 3.3
Run · Sales CRM and pipeline managementPipedrive
Sales-pipeline CRM billed per seat across four plans, with paid add-ons for lead capture, email marketing, web-visitor ID, projects and e-signatures.
Small team: $189/mo · Score 3.4
Run · CRM and sales automation softwareZoho CRM
Per-user CRM billed flat across five editions (Free through Ultimate); every paid edition costs 20-34% less per seat when billed annually instead of month-to-month.
Small team: $150/mo · Score 3.5
Organize — Where does the team's knowledge live?
ClickUp
Per-member project management and docs platform with an uncapped free plan; Brain AI and Everything AI are separate add-ons billed per Workspace member.
Small team: $50/mo · Score 3.5
Organize · Docs and project workspaceNotion
Per-member workspace for docs, databases, forms and simple sites; full Notion AI (Agent, Meeting Notes, Enterprise Search) starts at the Business plan.
Small team: $60/mo · Score 4.2