BEST-OF · 2026

Best Software for Agencies That Need Sales, Projects, and Automation

Agencies rarely need just a CRM. They need to win work, deliver it without chaos, and automate the repeatable admin around clients, campaigns and follow-up. We ranked this list by the site’s fixed index score, then narrowed it to the five tools that best cover sales, projects and automation together: GoHighLevel, HubSpot, Monday.com, ClickUp and ActiveCampaign. The order stays fixed, but the right pick depends on where your agency is blocked. If client marketing operations are the centre of the business, GoHighLevel is the first place to look. If project delivery is the daily pain, Monday.com or ClickUp may be the better anchor, with HubSpot or ActiveCampaign handling the sales and marketing layer.

Reviewed by Marcus Taylor · how we score · Last updated 2026-06-30 · compare tools · affiliate disclosure

PICK

GoHighLevel 91/100 · EXCEPTIONAL EDITOR'S CHOICE

GoHighLevel is the closest thing the agency world has to an operating system. It bundles a CRM, email and SMS marketing, landing pages and funnels, calendars, pipelines and a deep automation builder into one account — and then lets you slap your own logo on it and sell it to clients as software. For agencies whose business is running marketing for other businesses, that combination is hard to beat.

✓ PROS

Replaces a stack of separate tools with one login
True white-label — sell it as your own product
CRM, email, SMS, funnels and automations in one place

✕ CONS

Steep learning curve — expect a slow first month
Can feel overwhelming until you turn features off

Best for: Agencies that want to run client marketing and resell software under their own brand

AT A GLANCE

Ease of use7.8/10

PricingFrom $97/mo

Agency fitWhite-label / resell

from $97/mo

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PICK

HubSpot 89/100 · EXCEPTIONAL BEST FOR SCALING

HubSpot started as a marketing tool and grew into a full CRM platform, and for agencies that lean inbound it is the safe, scalable choice. The free CRM is good enough to run a small pipeline on, and as clients grow you layer on the Marketing, Sales and Service hubs without moving systems. Everything ties back to a single contact record, which makes reporting genuinely useful.

✓ PROS

Genuinely good free CRM to start on
Marketing, sales and service in one record
Strong, well-rewarded agency partner program

✕ CONS

Professional tiers get expensive fast
Contact-tier pricing can surprise you

Best for: Agencies scaling inbound and managing their own plus clients pipelines

AT A GLANCE

Ease of use8.2/10

PricingFree CRM + paid hubs

Agency fitAgency partner program

Free, then $15/seat/mo

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PICK

Monday.com 86/100 · EXCELLENT BEST WORK OS

Monday.com is a work OS rather than a single-purpose tool. You start with boards and shape them into whatever the agency needs: a project tracker, a content calendar, a client pipeline, a dashboard for retainers. That flexibility is its strength and its trap, because the same blank canvas that adapts to your process will sprawl into chaos if nobody owns the setup.

✓ PROS

Bends to almost any workflow
Colourful boards the whole team will actually use
Doubles as projects and a light CRM

✕ CONS

Per-seat pricing adds up across a team
Can sprawl without setup discipline

Best for: Agencies wanting a customisable hub for projects plus light CRM

AT A GLANCE

Ease of use8.6/10

PricingFrom $9/seat (3 min)

Agency fitProjects + light CRM

from $9/seat/mo

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PICK

ClickUp 85/100 · EXCELLENT BEST VALUE PM

ClickUp tries to be the one app an agency runs its delivery on, and on value it largely succeeds. Tasks, docs, goals, whiteboards and native time tracking all live in one place, so the path from a brief to tracked, billable work never leaves the tool. For a price-conscious agency, that consolidation is the whole pitch.

✓ PROS

Packs projects, docs and time tracking into one app
Generous free plan that small teams can live on
From about $7/user/mo when you do pay

✕ CONS

Feature overload can overwhelm new users
Occasional performance lag on big workspaces

Best for: Agencies that want project management, docs and time tracking in one cheap tool

AT A GLANCE

Ease of use7.6/10

PricingGenerous free plan

Agency fitPM + docs + tracking

Free, then $7/user/mo

Try free ↗ Read full review →

PICK

ActiveCampaign 85/100 · EXCELLENT BEST EMAIL AUTOMATION

ActiveCampaign is where email gets serious. The automation builder is the best in this set — branching logic, conditional waits, behavioural triggers and segmentation deep enough to run genuinely sophisticated client campaigns. For an agency whose value is in clever lifecycle and nurture sequences, it gives you room the simpler tools do not.

✓ PROS

Best-in-class automation builder
CRM and email in one platform
Handles complex client campaigns well

✕ CONS

Automation builder has a learning curve
Pricing scales with contact count

Best for: Agencies running sophisticated email automation for client campaigns

AT A GLANCE

Ease of use7.4/10

PricingFrom $15/mo

Agency fitEmail + CRM automation

from $15/mo

Start free trial ↗ Read full review →

At a glance

Tool	Index	Ease	From	Free	Best for
GoHighLevel	91	7.8	from $97/mo	—	Agencies that want to run client marketing and resell software under their own brand
HubSpot	89	8.2	Free, then $15/seat/mo	✓	Agencies scaling inbound and managing their own plus clients pipelines
Monday.com	86	8.6	from $9/seat/mo	✓	Agencies wanting a customisable hub for projects plus light CRM
ClickUp	85	7.6	Free, then $7/user/mo	✓	Agencies that want project management, docs and time tracking in one cheap tool
ActiveCampaign	85	7.4	from $15/mo	—	Agencies running sophisticated email automation for client campaigns

Popular comparisons from this list

GoHighLevel vs HubSpot

The all-in-one resale platform vs the inbound CRM giant. Which should run your agency?

Monday.com vs ClickUp

The flexible work OS vs the all-in-one value pick.

GoHighLevel vs Monday.com

The white-label marketing platform vs the customisable work OS.

HOW TO CHOOSE

Choosing the right tool

Start with the bottleneck, not the feature list. If the problem is client acquisition and follow-up, favour GoHighLevel or HubSpot; if delivery is slipping, start with Monday.com or ClickUp instead.

Decide whether you need one system or a two-tool stack. GoHighLevel is strongest when agencies sell and operate client marketing systems, but it is weaker for deep internal project management than ClickUp or Monday.com.

Do the fee maths before rollout. GoHighLevel starts from $97/month, but usage-based costs can apply for phone, email, AI and workflow premium features, so high-volume automation needs a usage budget.

Check capacity limits, not just headline prices. Monday.com uses seat buckets and automation limits, while ClickUp’s Free Forever plan includes unlimited tasks but only 60MB storage.

Treat HubSpot as a serious CRM database, not a cheap catch-all. The free tools can suit a small team, but credits, paid seats and payment platform fees can change the total cost as the agency scales.

Use ActiveCampaign as the automation engine, not the whole agency OS. It is strong for email workflows and nurture logic, but agencies still need a project hub for delivery, resourcing and client work.

FAQ

What is the best software for agencies that need sales, projects and automation?

GoHighLevel ranks first here if the agency wants sales automation, funnels, client sub-accounts and marketing operations in one platform. The trade-off is project management depth, so delivery-heavy teams may still pair it with ClickUp or Monday.com.

Should an agency use one platform or build a stack?

Use one platform if your work is mostly client marketing operations and the team can live inside that system. Build a stack if sales, project delivery and email automation each need specialist depth, because one tool usually becomes thin somewhere.

Is HubSpot better than GoHighLevel for agencies?

HubSpot is the better fit if the agency is scaling inbound, reporting and revenue operations around a serious CRM database. GoHighLevel ranks higher for agencies that want to run and resell client marketing systems under one agency-oriented setup.

Can ClickUp or Monday.com replace a CRM?

They can cover light pipeline tracking, especially for small teams with simple sales processes. If the agency needs advanced sales automation, lead nurturing or lifecycle reporting, pair them with GoHighLevel, HubSpot or ActiveCampaign.

Which tool is ranked first on this list?

GoHighLevel is ranked first here because it has the strongest overall fit for this use case in our current scoring model.