# SeldonFrame vs Kartra: Which Should You Choose? (2026)

> 500 contacts on the entry tier isn't a real local-business CRM. SeldonFrame gives every client an AI receptionist, website, CRM, and booking system for $29/mo flat, with no contact caps.

Last updated: July 2026. HTML version: https://www.seldonframe.com/compare/seldonframe-vs-kartra

## The short version

- **Kartra pricing:** Essentials **$59/mo** (500 contacts) / Starter **$119** / Growth **$229** / Pro **$549** — contact caps every tier
- **SeldonFrame pricing:** **$29/mo** **flat**, **unlimited workspaces**, first workspace **free forever**
- **Pick Kartra if:** You're a creator or coach selling courses or memberships
- **Pick SeldonFrame if:** You're a service business, not a course seller

## SeldonFrame vs Kartra: what you need to know

Kartra and SeldonFrame usually end up on the same shortlist for different reasons. Kartra is an all-in-one platform for creators and coaches selling courses, memberships, and video content, with contact-capped tiers. SeldonFrame comes at the same problem from the other direction: one flat $29/mo workspace where the AI receptionist, website, CRM, booking calendar and intake forms arrive pre-wired — generated from a single conversation in about 3 minutes.

Choose Kartra if you're a creator or coach selling courses, memberships, or video content and want built-in affiliate management and a helpdesk alongside checkout. SeldonFrame's case is the opposite one: when the outcome you're buying is answered calls, qualified leads and jobs booked into a CRM you own, that whole front office ships on day one and the economics stay flat as you grow. The rest of this page walks the differences row by row — pricing model, the AI receptionist, the business system behind it, whitelabel, and what switching actually takes.

We make SeldonFrame, so read this with that in mind — but we've tried to be specific about where Kartra genuinely wins, not just where it doesn't.

## Full feature & pricing comparison

| Feature | SeldonFrame | Kartra |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Agencies & builders running AI front offices for clients | Creators/coaches selling courses, memberships and video content |
| Pricing model | From **$29/mo** **flat** — **unlimited workspaces** (agency whitelabel from **$99/mo**) | Essentials **$59/mo** (500 contacts) / Starter **$119** / Growth **$229** / Pro **$549** — contact caps every tier |
| AI receptionist (calls, SMS, chat) | Native — AI receptionist answers, qualifies & books across voice, SMS & web chat | None — no phone, SMS or chat AI agent |
| Website, CRM & booking behind the agent | Included — multi-page website, CRM, booking calendar, intake forms, review requests in every workspace | Partial — course/membership/checkout pages and a helpdesk; no phone answering or client-service booking calendar |
| Whitelabel & client workspaces | Included — whitelabel client portal, per-client workspaces, custom domains, one-click multi-client deploy | None — no agency or sub-account model |
| AI usage costs | BYOK — bring your own AI (and Twilio) keys and pay providers at raw cost, zero markup | Not applicable — no native AI agent |
| Sell / resell what you build | Built in — publish agents to the marketplace or rent them via MCP (**5%** marketplace fee) | No native agency reseller program |

Prices checked July 2026 on [Kartra's pricing page](https://kartra.com/pricing/).

## Where Kartra wins

- Deep course, membership, and video tools for creator businesses
- Built-in affiliate management
- A native helpdesk alongside checkout
- All-in-one for a coach or course seller's exact needs

The honest take: Choose Kartra if you're a creator or coach selling courses, memberships, or video content and want built-in affiliate management and a helpdesk alongside checkout.

## Where SeldonFrame wins

- **No contact cap to outgrow** — Kartra's Essentials tier caps at 500 contacts. SeldonFrame is $29/mo flat, unlimited contacts, unlimited workspaces.
- **An AI receptionist for a phone Kartra ignores** — Kartra has no phone or SMS layer. SeldonFrame's agent answers calls, qualifies leads, and books real jobs into a calendar.
- **Built for service businesses, not just course sales** — SeldonFrame's booking calendar, intake forms, and CRM are built for scheduling client work, not just selling a membership.
- **Whitelabel for agencies** — Kartra has no agency resale model. SeldonFrame includes a branded client portal and per-client workspaces at $29/mo.

## Pros & cons, side by side

### SeldonFrame

- **Pro:** An AI receptionist that answers calls, SMS, and web chat — and books real jobs into a real calendar and CRM
- **Pro:** The whole front office included: multi-page website, CRM, booking, intake forms, review automation
- **Pro:** $29/mo flat with unlimited workspaces — bring your own key and AI and phone service run at raw provider cost
- **Pro:** Whitelabel built in: branded client portal, per-client workspaces, custom domains, one-click multi-client deploy
- **Pro:** Build it free before you sign up — paste a URL, get a working workspace in about 3 minutes
- **Pro:** Open core and portable — your agents are plain, editable skill files, and your data lives in your workspace
- **Con:** No funnel-builder or email-campaign suite — it's a front office, not a marketing automation platform
- **Con:** You bring your own key (Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, plus optional Twilio) — setup takes a few minutes
- **Con:** Newer platform — a smaller template library and community than decade-old incumbents
- **Con:** No native mobile app yet (the dashboard works fine on a phone browser)

### Kartra

- **Pro:** Deep course, membership, and video tools for creator businesses
- **Pro:** Built-in affiliate management
- **Pro:** A native helpdesk alongside checkout
- **Pro:** All-in-one for a coach or course seller's exact needs
- **Con:** Contact caps at every tier — Essentials caps at just 500 contacts
- **Con:** No phone, SMS, or chat AI agent
- **Con:** No white-label or sub-account option for agencies
- **Con:** No local-business tools — not built for service businesses

## How to switch from Kartra to SeldonFrame

1. **Build the replacement free (3 minutes)** — Paste the business's website into seldonframe.com. SeldonFrame pulls out services, FAQs, and business facts and builds the workspace: site, CRM, booking calendar, intake, and the AI agent. No account needed until you claim it.
2. **Bring what matters over** — Export your Kartra contacts to CSV and import them. SeldonFrame's booking calendar replaces any client-scheduling workflows you'd built around Kartra's checkout pages.
3. **Connect your keys and number** — Add your AI key (Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini — about 30 seconds) and, for phone, connect your Twilio number so calls and missed-call text-back run at carrier cost.
4. **Test the agent, then go live** — Every agent ships with automatic tests. Talk to it, watch it book into the calendar, then publish. Point your domain over when the site's ready.
5. **Run both in parallel for a week** — Keep the old tool running while SeldonFrame answers the phones. Cancel it once the CRM shows the bookings landing — cancel-anytime on both sides means zero risk.

## FAQ

**Does SeldonFrame sell courses or memberships like Kartra?**

No. SeldonFrame is built for local service businesses: an AI receptionist plus the website, CRM, and booking calendar behind it. It doesn't include course-hosting or membership-site tools.

**Will I hit a contact cap on SeldonFrame like Kartra's tiers?**

No. $29/mo is flat with no contact cap, at any tier.

**Is SeldonFrame a good Kartra alternative?**

For most agencies and builders, yes — SeldonFrame replaces the AI-front-office job (answering, qualifying, booking, tracking in a CRM) at $29/mo flat instead of Kartra's stacked pricing. See the full switching guide: /alternative-to-kartra.

**How much does Kartra cost compared to SeldonFrame?**

Kartra: Essentials $59/mo (500 contacts) / Starter $119 / Growth $229 / Pro $549 — contact caps every tier. SeldonFrame: $29/mo flat, unlimited workspaces, first workspace free forever, with AI and telephony on your own keys at raw provider cost — no per-minute or per-credit meter.

**How can SeldonFrame be $29/mo flat when competitors charge per minute or per credit?**

Because you use your own keys. Your agents run on your own AI key (Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini) and, for phone, your own Twilio account. You pay the providers at raw cost. SeldonFrame never marks up tokens or minutes. You pay for the platform, not a meter.

**Do you take a cut of what I charge my clients?**

SeldonFrame works like Shopify: $29/mo flat, plus 2% on sales made through SeldonFrame checkout, plus 5% when you sell agents on the SeldonFrame marketplace. Client retainers you bill outside SeldonFrame cost nothing extra.

**How fast can I see it working?**

Paste in a business's website (or just describe it in a sentence). SeldonFrame builds the whole workspace — site, CRM, booking, intake, and the AI agent — in about 3 minutes. It's free, and you don't need to sign up first.

## Get started

- Full switching guide: https://www.seldonframe.com/alternative-to-kartra
- Start free (build the workspace in ~3 minutes, before signing up): https://www.seldonframe.com/signup
- Book a 15-minute demo: https://app.seldonframe.com/book/seldonframes-workspace-7798/default
- All comparisons: https://www.seldonframe.com/alternatives