Thryv vs HighLevel: two all-in-one platforms sold in very different ways

Thryv or HighLevel: what is the real difference?

On paper they overlap. Both put a CRM, email campaigns, review requests, a website builder and payments behind one login. The difference is who they sell to. Thryv sells to the owner of a local business and also sells its own staff's time: its pricing FAQ calls Thryv Boosts "done-for-you marketing services delivered by Thryv experts." HighLevel sells mostly to marketers and agencies, who set the platform up for clients and often resell it under their own name. If an agency gave you a CRM with a login you don't recognize, our guide on whether your agency's CRM is really HighLevel shows four ways to check.

Thryv describes HighLevel in its own marketing. Thryv's comparison page, which says its feature details are as of October 9, 2025, calls Thryv "Built for Service Businesses Looking to Grow" and HighLevel "Built for Marketers and Agencies." Thryv's AI fact page goes further, saying GoHighLevel is "built to be configured and resold by agencies," not used by owners directly. That is a competitor talking. HighLevel's own pricing page pitches its Starter plan as "Perfect for smaller businesses and solo marketers", and owners do run it themselves. One more caution about Thryv's comparison page: it describes bundles named Kickstart, Ignite and Accelerate that don't appear on Thryv's current pricing page, so take Thryv's prices from the pricing page.

This page sets out each company's prices and terms from its own pages, read on October 31, 2026, plus what reviewers say. We don't rate how well either product works, because the fair test is a trial on your own business.

What does Thryv sell, and what does it cost?

Thryv's pricing page lists two published plans and a quoted one:

• Starter, $99 a month: one user, an AI website builder, listings on 60+ directories, AI review management, trackable phone numbers and 24/7 chat support.
• Signature, $399 a month (marked Recommended): five users, social media management, an SEO and AEO custom website, advanced listings, AI lead insights, and 24/7 phone and email support.
• Custom: Signature plus Thryv's Boosts for ads, brand, search and social, priced by sales.

Prices sit under an Annual and Monthly switch with a 15% savings callout, and the page doesn't say whether annual billing is paid up front. Thryv's AI fact page lists a free 30-day trial and ThryvPay processing at 2.60% plus $0.30, and says "Some plans include one-time onboarding or implementation fees" and that contracts and terms "can vary depending on the package." Ask for the order form, with the term on it, before you start a trial.

Two lines on that fact page are worth reading before a demo. Thryv puts its ideal customer at "$500K-$3M annually" in revenue with "5-25 employees", and it says it supports scheduling and appointments but "is not a full field service management platform", so it isn't meant for heavy crew routing, fleet tracking or dispatch. Its AI Call Assistant "answers the calls you can't take, captures what customers need," and turns the call into a lead in Thryv. We found no booking claim on that page. Our AI receptionist guide explains why booking on the call matters for trades.

What does HighLevel sell, and what does it cost?

HighLevel's pricing page puts Starter at $97 a month for up to three sub-accounts and Unlimited at $297 for any number of them, plus a $497 tier the page calls Founder (its FAQ calls it Pro). Each starts with a 14-day free trial, and its FAQ states: "There are no long-term contracts." Enterprise is priced by its sales team. Its home page lists a long run of features, from pipelines, calendars and funnels to missed-call text-back, text-to-pay, invoicing and AI replies to reviews.

Usage is billed on top through a prepaid wallet. HighLevel's AI pricing article (modified October 29, 2026) lists AI Employee add-on plans at $50 a month per sub-account (Growth) and $97 (Unlimited), with Voice AI at $0.045 a minute for the voice engine, plus speech and model charges, and phone charges separate. Its terms say accounts on the $297 or $497 plan are enrolled in rebilling automatically and that the card on file is charged to top up the wallet when the balance drops below $10.

If you reach HighLevel through an agency, none of those prices are yours. The agency sets its own price, which can fairly include setup, support and marketing work. Ask which part of the bill is the software.

What do their terms say about leaving?

This is where the two differ most for an owner. Everything below is from each company's published terms and help pages as read on October 31, 2026. A signed order can change the details, so read yours.

Thryv (Thryv Terms, as posted October 31, 2026 and marked effective December 1, 2026, and the Professional Website terms, last updated July 1, 2026):

• Annual subscription periods "automatically renew for successive annual periods"; shorter ones renew month to month.
• To stop, written notice is due no later than 30 days before the next period begins, sent through Thryv's Contact Us page.
• A full refund is available only "within three (3) days of purchase." After that, "no refunds will be provided."
• Website: Thryv calls "the composition and design of the products we create" its "sole and exclusive property." On termination, Thryv will "release Client Content and your Website's URL if it was your domain originally."
• Texting numbers Thryv provides: ownership "cannot be transferred to you," and at the end the number "will be disconnected or may be reassigned to another business."
• Data: Thryv may keep it "for up to thirteen (13) months from the date of termination" to provide transition services, or delete it immediately at its discretion. We found no general self-serve export right in the terms.
• Disputes go to binding AAA arbitration in Dallas County, Texas, and class actions are waived.

HighLevel (Terms of Service, last updated June 2026, and two help articles):

• Subscriptions renew automatically, charged at "the then-current rates."
• Its fees are non-refundable, whether or not the account was used.
• After cancellation, data is kept for ninety days, then may be permanently deleted.
• Numbers obtained through the platform are released within fourteen days. A number your business brought in by porting stays with the sub-account owner.
• For a domain bought through HighLevel, HighLevel is the registrant on record, and leaving means transferring the domain to another registrar.
• Its cancellation article says funnels stop being accessible, and its export article says a contact CSV carries just the most recent note (255 characters at most) and no past emails or texts.

Side by side, Thryv's terms hold your data longer but take more notice to end and lock the design in; HighLevel's let you stop in any month but delete sooner. Either way the safe exit is the same three steps: keep the domain in your own registrar account, port the number before you cancel, and take a full export while you still have access. For the website side in more depth, see what happens to your website when you cancel.

What do reviewers say about each?

Read on Trustpilot on October 31, 2026, and paraphrased.

Thryv had a 2.6 TrustScore, labeled Poor, from 448 reviews: 58% one-star and 33% five-star. Praise centers on named onboarding staff who walk owners through setup. The complaints repeat: cancellation requests that go unanswered, charges or collections after canceling, support that is hard to reach, and managed marketing that reviewers say brought no calls.

HighLevel had 4.9, labeled Excellent, from 15,268 reviews, 97% of them five-star. Most of the five-star reviews we read describe one support session that fixed a problem. The few critical reviews we saw describe a promised follow-up that never came and support quality that varies by agent.

A rating reflects who gets asked to leave one, so read the last month of one-star reviews for each before you decide, and ask the sales rep about the ones that worry you.

Who is each one a good fit for?

Thryv tends to suit:

• owners inside its stated range ($500K to $3M in revenue, 5 to 25 staff) who want listings, reviews, social posting and a website from one vendor, and the option of done-for-you Boosts from Thryv's staff;
• companies comfortable with an annual term and a 30-day notice window;
• businesses that schedule appointments but don't dispatch crews.

HighLevel tends to suit:

• hands-on owners who will build their own forms, pipelines and automations;
• agencies serving many clients from one account;
• anyone who wants month to month and a low base price, and can keep an eye on a usage wallet.

Neither is built for a company whose day runs on routing crews and dispatching jobs. Thryv says so in writing, and HighLevel's home page groups its features under capture, nurture, close, evangelize and reactivate, with no dispatch or routing tools listed. Field service software or a custom CRM fits that work better; our build vs buy CRM guide walks through the choice.

Where we fit

We sit in the last column because this comparison is about Thryv and HighLevel. Our work is building the systems themselves for service businesses: website, CRM, phones, AI reception and email. Everything is opened in your company's name, so the domain sits in your own registrar account, the site files sit in your own hosting, and the number is ported to you. The CRM's code and its database, with every customer record, belong to your company. Nothing locks you into a term. Recurring costs such as hosting, numbers and email sending are each billed as a separate line, and any of them can be dropped. We don't post prices and don't have reviews yet; what you can judge is a written quote, line by line, and the CRM our own service businesses use every day. See our custom CRM page and how pricing works.

Frequently asked questions