HighLevel Starter: $97/Month With Unlimited Contacts—What Costs Extra?

Verdict

HighLevel Starter is currently $97/month and advertises unlimited contacts and unlimited users. That simplifies the base subscription, but it does not make communications or AI usage free. LC Email, phone numbers, SMS/MMS, A2P registration, some workflow executions, and optional AI plans can all add separate charges. The real buying question is therefore not “Are contacts unlimited?” but “What will my actual usage add to the $97 base?”

What the $97 Starter subscription includes

Current HighLevel pricing pages list Starter at $97/month with a 14-day trial, unlimited contacts, unlimited users, workflow and campaign builders, pipelines, calendars, sites/landing pages, email tools, social scheduling, reputation management, and other core CRM/marketing functions.

An annual option is currently displayed at about $80.83/month, or $970/year. Twelve monthly payments would cost $1,164, so the current annual saving is $194. This article registers the monthly plan because it is the cleaner reference while you validate usage-based costs.

Unlimited contacts does not mean unlimited usage

**LC Email is usage-based.** HighLevel currently charges $0.675 per 1,000 emails. Sending 50,000 billable emails would therefore be about $33.75 at the current rate. Email verification is separately listed at $2.50 per 1,000 checks, and forwarding is billed at the sending rate.

**Phone and SMS are separate.** Current US/Canada pricing lists a local number at $1.15/month and toll-free at $2.15/month. Base SMS is $0.00747 per segment inbound or outbound before carrier fees; A2P registration and campaign fees are separate.

**AI and premium workflows can add more.** HighLevel currently lists AI Employee Growth at $50/month per enabled location and AI Employee Unlimited at $97/month per enabled location. Premium workflow executions can also be usage-based, with a current $0.01-per-execution reference outside optional Workflow Pro bundles.

Unlimited contacts/users therefore remove one common SaaS pricing meter, but they do not create an all-inclusive communications bill.

The Starter sub-account limit is currently inconsistent

HighLevel's current plan cards and several product pages say Starter includes up to three sub-accounts. However, the FAQ on the current pricing-info page still says Starter includes two sub-accounts. Both are official current pages.

Do not design a client-account rollout around either number without checking the live account entitlement or checkout. If unlimited sub-accounts or API access is required, HighLevel currently positions the $297/month Unlimited plan as the upgrade path.

Trial, cancellation, refunds, and data retention

Current HighLevel product pages advertise a 14-day trial and state that a card is required; the selected plan is charged when the trial ends unless you cancel.

HighLevel's June 2026 Terms say subscription fees, communication surcharges, and other fees are generally nonrefundable. Subscriptions auto-renew until canceled. Do not buy the annual plan assuming unused months will be prorated.

Current support says canceled account data is retained for 90 days, but phone numbers and A2P registrations follow a shorter 14-day deletion timeline. Export what you need before cancellation instead of relying only on the 90-day retention window.

Market context

ClickFunnels Launch costs the same $97/month or $970/year but caps Launch at 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails/month while bundling a funnel/course stack. HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter currently starts at $20/month with 1,000 marketing contacts.

ActiveCampaign Starter is currently referenced at $15/month for 1,000 contacts, with a 10× send allowance and five actions per automation. systeme.io Startup is $17/month or $170/year with 5,000 contacts and unlimited email sends. These are billing-and-capacity comparisons, not CRM or deliverability rankings.

Next step

Use the 14-day trial with a representative sub-account and estimate real monthly usage: emails, SMS segments, phone numbers, A2P, AI, and premium workflow actions. If the extra wallet charges still fit the budget, unlimited contacts/users can be valuable. Before choosing Starter, verify the current sub-account entitlement because HighLevel's own pages conflict.

HighLevel's official affiliate program currently pays 40% recurring commission on qualifying direct referrals, with a 90-day attribution window and a 45-day good-standing qualification period. Toolnavia approval is unverified, so affiliate tracking remains disabled.