Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) bundles CRM, email and SMS automation, and built-in invoicing for small service businesses, priced as a paid platform. Orbit is a simple all-in-one CRM for one person with an AI assistant, Hiro, that drafts follow-ups, writes proposals, and manages invoices on your approval. Keap automates your marketing campaigns. Orbit keeps the personal relationship work simple.
Keap is a heavyweight in small-business marketing automation. Its strength is the campaign builder: visual, branching automations that move a contact through emails, SMS, tags, and tasks based on what they do. Pair that with built-in invoicing and payments, and a service business can run lead capture, nurture, booking, and billing inside one platform.
For a business that genuinely runs on automated marketing, think a clinic, a course seller, or an agency with repeatable funnels, Keap removes a lot of glue work. The trade-off is that it is a real platform with a real learning curve and a real price, but for the right use it pays back. Check their site for current plans.
Side by side on what a one-person business actually needs.
| Orbit | Keap | |
|---|---|---|
| AI assistant that drafts and does the busywork | Hiro drafts follow-ups, proposals, and invoices on your approval | Marketing automation on rules, not one assistant that acts for you |
| Email and SMS automation | Campaigns and sequences on Pro, Hiro drafts, you approve | Strong campaign builder, a core strength |
| Built-in invoicing and payments | Invoices and proposals included, 10 on free | Yes, invoicing and payments included |
| All-in-one: proposals and booking pages | Included, free plan covers the basics | Booking and invoicing included, check their site |
| Nothing sends without your approval | Every Hiro draft waits for you to approve first | Automations run on rules, not approvals |
| Built for one person | Yes, solo-first | Built for small service businesses |
| Built-in MCP server to connect Claude | Yes, on Pro | |
| Free plan | Free CRM plan, no credit card | Free trial, then paid platform, check their site |
| Pricing model | Free CRM, Pro $14/mo or $112/yr, AI included free | Paid monthly platform, check their site |
Keap and Orbit both want to take work off your plate, but they take different work. Keap automates marketing: a contact triggers a campaign, and emails and tags fire on rules. Orbit keeps the CRM simple and puts one assistant on the human-feeling tasks. Ask Hiro to draft a bump for a quiet thread, write a proposal, or send an invoice reminder, and it returns a draft you approve.
The honest line is this: if your business lives on automated funnels, Keap is purpose-built for that. If your business lives on personal follow-up where every message should sound like you, Orbit fits better, because Hiro drafts and you approve. You still get invoicing: Orbit includes invoices and proposals, and chasing overdue invoices is a job you can hand Hiro as approval-gated drafts.
Nothing auto-sends without your yes, and Orbit does not make phone calls. The CRM is free, with 250 contacts, one pipeline, unlimited tasks, a built-in email inbox (100 sends a month), and 10 invoices. Hiro runs on free monthly AI credits, included on every plan, far lighter than a full automation platform for one-to-one work.
Keap automates your marketing funnel. Orbit keeps the personal follow-up simple, with an assistant that drafts and you approve.
It depends on the work. If your business runs on personal one-to-one follow-up, Orbit fits well: one assistant, Hiro, drafts outreach, proposals, and invoice reminders with your approval, and invoicing is built in. If your business runs on automated marketing funnels with branching campaigns, Keap is purpose-built for that.
Keap is a paid platform with a free trial rather than a permanent free tier. Check their site for current pricing. Orbit has a free CRM plan with no credit card: 250 contacts, one pipeline, unlimited tasks, a built-in email inbox, and 10 invoices. Pro is $14/mo or $112/yr, with an optional 30-day free trial (card required).
Differently. Keap runs rule-based campaigns that fire automatically. Orbit includes campaigns and sequences on Pro, and Hiro can draft the messages, which wait for your approval before sending. That suits one-to-one relationships more than mass funnels. Orbit is not a full marketing-automation platform.
Yes. Orbit's free plan includes invoices and proposals (10 each), and Hiro can draft polite collection reminders on a schedule you set, for example day 3 and day 14. Every reminder lands as a draft you approve before it sends. Pro removes the limits.
AI credits are included free every month on every plan, with no API key to paste and nothing to configure. You can top up with credit packs, and paid plans can bring their own AI key. It costs far less than a full automation platform for light, one-to-one work.
Orbit's CRM is free, no credit card. Start a 30-day Pro trial (card required), let Hiro draft with the AI credits already included, and approve every draft before it sends.
Free forever plan. No credit card. No spam.