Buttondown vs. Keap

Founded in 2010, Keap is one of the first all-in-one CRM and sales and marketing automation platforms built specifically for growth-minded entrepreneurs. Keap’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs by simplifying growth. Keap has recently been acquired by Thryv, another software company dedicated to helping small businesses grow. As of now, the companies state that all the Keap products and services will remain the same. The Keap and Thryv teams say that they are collaborating to develop better products for their users. Time will tell how Keap will evolve with the new partnership. Currently, Keap’s notable features designed to save time and supercharge sales and marketing efforts include:

• Design templates
• Automation
• Segmentation
• Reports 

Keap is one of the most robust CRM software on the market because of the power of these features. Keap is known for the software’s ease of use. Out of the top CRM softwares, it is one of the best softwares for beginners, which can be seen in their extensive design templates. Users don’t need to know how to code or build emails from scratch, which saves time. Their advanced automation features streamline campaign processes by allowing users to put tedious tasks on autopilot, from customer tagging and segmentation to email marketing. This feature is extremely small-business friendly because it eliminates repetitive tasks from their workflow, allowing businesses to focus their energy on higher-level tasks that foster connections and scale their growth through intricate marketing campaigns. 

On top of that, their segmentation tool is one of the most thorough on the market. Users can segment their contacts using the tagging tool. This tool is beneficial for personalizing your campaigns and contact outreach based on specific data: demographics, activity, channel, and behavior. These behavioral segments create triggers, an automation tool that automatically triggers follow-up tasks that are personalized for each contact. Triggers are important because they are a prominent tool used to nurture leads and skyrocket contact growth. On the analytical side of things, Keap’s reporting feature is organized so that all of your performance metrics are in one place. Additionally, the reporting dashboard is highly customizable. Users can drag and drop metrics on their dashboard that are most important to them, allowing them to track metrics in real time. With Keap’s reporting features, you can compare campaign effectiveness through tracking click rates, open rates, and other performance metrics, which helps businesses see which areas are successes and where more effort should be placed. 

There is no doubt that Keap is a dynamic marketing software for small businesses and large businesses alike. It's why it’s at the top of the market. That being said, there are a few downsides. The biggest and most prominent downfall of the platform is its heavy price tag. And we do mean heavy.  Similar to many ESPs, Keap bases its pricing on the number of contacts you have and the number of users you need (min. 2 users). Therefore, there’s no team option. You’ll have to pay for each user added to your package. This means that if you expand your team, you will have to shell out more money. Pricing starts at $299 per month for up to 1,500 contacts, and pricing increases based on the size of your contact list. You’ll have 17% off the monthly price if you choose annual billing. Keap also has a built-in implementation package that is a one-time payment of $1,500. This package includes basic data import, up to 15 hours of migration services, weekly calls with an implementation strategy manager for the first month, monthly strategy calls for months two through six, quarterly strategy calls for months seven through 12, and up to two third-party tools integrated. If you think that’s a lot of money for a CRM platform, it’s because it is. Small businesses, which Keap says they are designed to support, generally have limited budgets. If that is you, Keap is definitely a costly choice. 

Furthermore, unless you are an e-commerce business, you will not use a majority of the tools that Keap offers, like their sales features. Those features consist of sales automation, bookings, customer invoicing, a dedicated business line, and franchise growth tools. It doesn’t make sense to pay for what you won’t use. For email marketing, it might be more useful to work with a software that is specifically designed for email marketing campaigns. Where are the features that will foster community and nurture engagement with your audience? Cultivating relationships is highly impactful. Keap doesn’t provide features that truly allow you to connect with your audience to build the loyalty that really pushes newsletter growth.

Here at Buttondown, we are all about the humanity behind the screen. Your subscribers want to hear from you! We offer similar features to Keap. However, we focus on designing powerful core email marketing features that encourage connection while at the same time utilizing automation and data to elevate your newsletter–at a fraction of the cost! Our plans begin at a low cost of $9/mo. Your newsletter will continuously benefit from our intuitive editor, marketing automation, analytics, integrations, surveys, and segmentation tools. Personalization is key to standing out in an inbox. Our in-depth segmentation feature breaks down behavioral metrics such as platform usage, location, open rate, and click-through rates, making it simpler to drive conversions and engagement. By tailoring content to your audiences’ interests and preferences, you’re nurturing relationships, which decreases unsubscriber rates. Want to implement paid subscriptions with no service fees? You got it. You keep every dollar you earn. Want to keep your subscribers engaged? Use our comment feature to keep the conversation going and build community. Tempted to switch over but don’t want to deal with moving your list? We will do it for you! No extra cost. Privacy is a priority to us, which is why we will keep your and your subscribers' information to ourselves.

At Buttondown, we believe the best campaigns come from a collaborative effort, which is why we offer teams! Teams is the easiest way for you to invite friends and collaborators to proofread your emails, manage your subscribers, and set up administrative details like webhooks and custom domains. Unlike the majority of ESPs, Buttondown makes it easy to own your brand by offering whitelabeling. We don't need to advertise ourselves in your newsletter. It's your newsletter, not our business. Plus, Buttondown’s deliverability is among the highest in the industry, and our spam protection is best-in-class!

We prefer to keep everything transparent and straightforward, especially our prices. Check out how we compare to Keap.

At Buttondown, we aim to make building your newsletter easy, enjoyable, and affordable. Our biggest concern is your long-term satisfaction and success. You won’t find any other ESP more dedicated to your needs than Buttondown.