7 Best AI Automation Tools for Keap in 2026
Keap, the CRM that used to be Infusionsoft and is now a Thryv brand, is automation-first. Easy Automations cover the everyday when-then jobs, the Advanced Automations builder runs multi-path campaigns, and an AI Automation Assistant will draft a whole campaign for you. Few small-business CRMs automate more.
The catch is that a campaign runs the plan you drew. It sends step three whether the lead wrote back with a question or not, and Keap’s own pricing page lists implementation services as required, because building those campaigns well is real work. The one-to-one part (the lead asking about price, the client moving Thursday’s consult, the deal that needs a proposal today) still lands in your inbox. Below are seven tools that automate Keap, ranked by how much of that they take off your plate.
TL;DR: The best AI automation tool for Keap for most people is Carly. Connect Keap once and Carly handles the replies, reschedules and proposals your campaigns leave behind, working from your email and calendars and writing the result back to Keap. For extending Keap’s campaign builder, PlusThis. For moving Keap data between apps, Zapier or Make.
1. Carly
Carly is an AI agent with its own real email address that connects to Keap and thousands of other apps. Email or text it in plain language, or CC it on a thread, and it does the work:
- “Josh replied to the webinar follow-up asking whether the program covers payroll. Answer from our FAQ doc, tag him webinar-replied in Keap and show me the draft first.”
- “Emily wants to move Thursday’s consult. Find a time that works on all my calendars, send her the new invite and add a note to her Keap record.”
- “Every morning, list Keap contacts tagged hot-lead who haven’t heard from me in three days and draft a follow-up for each.”
What makes it different: Keap automates the one-to-many campaign. Carly takes the one-to-one work a campaign can’t script. It reads your Gmail and Outlook mailboxes and all of your calendars, so a reply turns into a tagged contact, a booked meeting or a sent proposal instead of a sticky note. It also runs on event triggers: when a new email, calendar event or form submission arrives, it acts right then. You can give lead replies their own dedicated agent, and hand prospects a booking page that checks every calendar you connect.
Best for: Owners and small sales teams whose campaigns run fine but whose inbox still decides the deal.
Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month
2. Keap’s own automations and AI
Keap ships Easy Automations for common jobs like new lead capture, appointment reminders and purchase follow-up, plus an Advanced Automations builder for multi-path sequences with decisions and delays. The AI Content Assistant drafts emails, and the AI Automation Assistant assembles a campaign from Keap’s proven templates.
What makes it different from Carly: It is the deepest native engine in small-business CRM, and it is still a plan you design, test and keep current. Sequences move on timers, tags, form fills and link clicks rather than on what a lead actually writes back. Carly picks up there, on the same Keap records.
Best for: The one-to-many nurture, onboarding and billing campaigns Keap is known for.
Pricing: Included in Keap, from $299/month plus required implementation
3. PlusThis
PlusThis is a library of 70+ no-code add-on tools for Keap, GoHighLevel and ActiveCampaign that slot into your campaigns, covering jobs the builder can’t do alone, such as syncing Facebook leads into Keap.
What makes it different from Carly: PlusThis makes the campaign builder more capable, so it deepens the part of Keap you already design by hand. Carly works the conversations those campaigns start.
Best for: Keap power users and consultants who live in the campaign builder.
Pricing: 14-day free trial; from $39/month
4. Zapier
Keap points its own customers to Zapier for triggering Keap automations from outside apps, so a booking or payment elsewhere can apply a tag and start a campaign.
What makes it different from Carly: Zapier carries a field from one app to the next when an event fires, and each Zap is yours to set up and repair when a tag or field gets renamed. Carly works out what the event calls for. See Zapier alternatives.
Best for: Tagging Keap contacts from the long tail of apps around it.
Pricing: Free plan; paid from ~$19.99/month
5. Make
Make maintains a Keap app with modules for contacts, tags, opportunities, orders and tasks, plus instant webhook triggers, all laid out on a visual canvas with routers and filters.
What makes it different from Carly: Stronger than Zapier when a Keap scenario branches, and every module run draws down your monthly credits. You still draw each path yourself, where Carly takes the request in a sentence. See Make alternatives.
Best for: Operators who want multi-step Keap syncs with real branching logic.
Pricing: Free plan; paid from ~$12/month
6. n8n
n8n has a Keap node, runs self-hosted or in n8n’s cloud, and lets you drop AI agent nodes into the middle of a workflow.
What makes it different from Carly: You control exactly where Keap data lives, and in return you own the server, the upgrades and the error handling. Carly is managed and takes its instructions by email or text. See n8n alternatives.
Best for: Technical teams that want Keap automations on their own infrastructure.
Pricing: Free self-hosted; cloud from ~$20/month
7. The Keap REST API and a script
Keap publishes a v2 REST API on its developer portal, so a developer can sync contacts, apply tags and move opportunities on a schedule.
What makes it different from Carly: No subscription beyond Keap, and every token refresh, rate limit and silent failure becomes your problem. There is no judgment in it unless you wire in a model. Carly reaches the same records from a message.
Best for: Businesses with a developer on hand and one very specific sync.
Pricing: Free, plus your time
Keap Automation Tools Compared
| Tool | Plain-language (no builder) | Acts on what a lead writes back | Reaches past Keap | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes | Yes | Yes, thousands of apps | From $35/mo |
| Keap automations + AI | Partial (AI drafts the campaign) | No (tags, forms, clicks) | Via integrations | From $299/mo + implementation |
| PlusThis | No (campaign add-ons) | No | Limited (campaign add-ons) | From $39/mo |
| Zapier | No (builder) | Only if you build it | Yes | Free; from ~$19.99/mo |
| Make | No (builder) | Only if you build it | Yes | Free; from ~$12/mo |
| n8n | No (builder) | Only if you build it | Yes | Free self-hosted; ~$20/mo cloud |
| Keap API script | No (code) | Only if you code it | Yes | DIY |
FAQ
Does Keap have built-in automation? Yes, and plenty of it. Easy Automations, the Advanced Automations builder and the AI Automation Assistant cover nurture campaigns, reminders, pipeline moves and billing follow-up. They run on tags, forms, purchases and timers, so the replies and one-off requests those campaigns generate still need a person or an agent.
What is the best way to automate Keap with AI? Split the work. Keep Keap’s campaigns for one-to-many nurture and give Carly the one-to-one jobs: replies, reschedules, proposals and record updates in Keap, each from a plain-language request. For pushing Keap data between apps, Zapier or Make.
Can Carly handle replies to my Keap campaign emails? Yes. Replies to Keap campaigns land in your own inbox, and Carly reads all of them. When a lead writes back, it answers from what you’ve told it, sends a booking page if they want to talk and updates the contact in Keap. To see it on your own campaigns first, book a call with the Carly team.
How do I connect Keap to Carly? Open carlyassistant.com/integrations, find Keap and sign in with your Keap account. Carly can then work in Keap alongside every mailbox and calendar you connect.
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"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
