Sharpspring Alternatives (Sep 2017)

By: Puranjay Singh   Last updated: 20 Sep 2017

Sharpspring is an all-in-one marketing software with a built-in CRM, marketing automation, blogging and analytics. It is designed for agencies and can handle large amounts of contacts. For some users, however, the design and features might not be a good fit. For these users, the following tools can be good alternatives to Sharpspring.

Recommended

1 HubSpot

Screenshot of HubSpot homepage
Rating:
Price: $200/month
Best for: Established small businesses

HubSpot has most of the features Sharpspring offers, and then some more. You get built-in blogs, analytics, CRM and landing pages. You also get strong email and marketing automation capabilities.

But HubSpot goes beyond that. It also gives you a built-in on-page SEO tool, a keyword research tool, a content management system, pipeline management and content personalization. These features are simply missing from the Sharpspring feature stack.

Further, HubSpot is also agency friendly and has a number of partner programs to help agencies get on board.

The only problem is pricing. Sharpspring isn't cheap at $400/month, but HubSpot will likely cost twice as much for 10k+ contacts...Full HubSpot Review

PROS

  • Great inbound marketing features for capturing leads
  • Great - and continuously improving - CRM and sales features
  • Tons of educational content and vibrant community

CONS

  • Expensive - expect to pay thousands annually for mid-tier plans
  • Marketing automation capabilities are average at best
  • Feature bloat impacts user-experience

Other Alternatives

2 Infusionsoft

Screenshot of Infusionsoft homepage
Rating:
Price: $199/month
Best for: Established small businesses

Infusionsoft is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that aims to handle every stage of your marketing and sales, from lead acquisition to eventual conversion.

Infusionsoft has most of the features Sharpspring has, minus built-in blogs and landing pages. But these are easy problems to fix - WordPress is free and LeadPages is quite affordable.

Minus the missing features, Infusionsoft is clearly a better marketing automation software. It also has feautres to help with sales automation, including built-in e-commerce pages.

Even in terms of pricing, Infusionsoft is a better choice ($199/month vs. $400/month), though some might not appreciate the mandatory onboarding and annual contract...Full Infusionsoft Review

PROS

  • Complete funnel management, from lead acquisition to conversion
  • E-commerce capabilities complement automation features
  • Top-notch training, support and community

CONS

  • Feature bloat is a problem; can be hard to use for some
  • Expensive; all plans require annual commitment
  • No built-in split-testing capabilities

3 Ontraport

Screenshot of Ontraport homepage
Rating:
Price: $79/month
Best for: Small businesses and infopreneurs

Ontraport has most of the features in Sharpspring - built-in CRM, in-depth automation and split testing. The only thing it lacks is a built-in blogging tool. But if you're going to blog, you'll be better off using WordPress anyway.

In addition to the above, Ontraport also gives you order forms to sell products. You also get SMS marketing and even automated postcards built right into the software.

Additionally, Ontraport is cheaper than Sharpspring ($279/month vs. $400/month). There is no annual commitment, nor are you required to pay any onboarding fee.

The only downside is that Ontraport isn't nearly as agency friendly as Sharpspring. Else, it is one of the best Sharpspring alternatives you can find...Full Ontraport Review

PROS

  • Customizable with powerful marketing automation capabilities
  • Order forms and upsells make selling easy
  • Built-in membership sites, postcards are a big plus

CONS

  • Lack of visual campaign builder impacts usability
  • Custom objects in CRM are hard to use
  • Poor reporting capabilities; dashboard design lacks finesse

How to Choose Your Sharpspring Alternative

Sharpspring is designed to give you a single dashboard to control all your marketing. This is why there is a built-in CRM, blogging tool, landing page builder. There is also a built-in lead identification tool called "VisitorID" which helps identify who is acutally visiting your site.

If you're looking for a Sharpspring alternative, you'll want something that does all of the above, but offers more power, flexibility or ease of use.

In that case, be prepared to skip the built-in blogging tool - few alternatives offer that. You'll have to use WordPress which is more powerful but less integrated into the main platform. Also be prepared to sacrifice the VisitorID - lead identification is a feature in few Sharpspring alternatives.

Keeping this in mind, I recommend the following Sharpspring alternatives:

  • HubSpot, if you want all of Sharpspring's features along with better marketing and social media automation<./li>
  • Infusionsoft, if you want more powerful marketing automation and ease of use.
  • Ontraport, if you want better marketing automation at a lower price point.


Need help finding the right alternative to Sharpspring? Get in touch with us on our contact page to get personalized recommendations.