The Ontraport pricing model is very straightforward. It comes in four levels, Basic, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise. Functionality and price increases as you move from Basic to Enterprise. Custom pricing plans are available for users who have requirements exceeding the Enterprise plan limits.
A 14-Day free trial allows prospective users to assess the application.
Ontraport Pricing Overview
There are four pricing levels:
- Basic at $79 per month
- Plus at $147 per month
- Pro at $297 per month
- Enterprise at $497 per month
Ontraport Annual Pricing
An annual pricing plan is also available. Simply put, it is ten times the monthly cost. In other words, buy ten months, get two free. As an example, Basic is $790 per year, a saving of $158.
Customers can negotiate annual pricing plans as part of an individual pricing plan.
In comparison with other annual plans, the Ontraport offer is ahead of its competitors.
Ontraport Plan & Feature Overview
Ontraport offers four purchase levels, Basic, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise. The Basic level supports most business activities except for online commerce. The features available increase as you move up levels, as do the various operational limits applied in the system.
Basic
The Basic plan is a suite of functions to provide a CRM platform for small businesses.
It provides basic Business Process Automation functionality and a full Email Marketing function, supplemented by almost full Marketing Automation. Users can apply Landing Page Management and derive simple market analytics. Finally, there is the ability to provide essential referral link management. Fulfillment lists are supported.
However, there are some downsides, the greatest of which are the absence of E-Commerce and payment gateway integration.
A further limitation for some users could be no support for Membership Sites or Partner and Referral programs. If sales force management is essential, the features offered at the Basic Level for sales force management, while adequate, can be limited.
At a technical level, there is only one user profile available. This situation might be acceptable if you have only one user type, but could be a problem if you need users with varying security levels. Adding more is not possible in the Basic profile.
There are two other considerations when looking at the Basic level. First, Ontraport provides no free support during installation and configuration. On the plus side, there is an active user group, and the online support center has step-by-step guides and other resources.
Second is that of poor scalability. The Basic Plan supports 1,000 contacts. The first upgrade is to the Plus Plan, supporting 2,500, but at twice the cost. Beyond 2,500 requires the Pro Plan at just short of $300 a month. When running email marketing, it is easy to surpass 1,000 or 2,500 contacts.
Plus
The Plus Plan provides all the features of the Basic plan at twice the monthly price. A significant benefit of the additional features is account setup assistance. Simply put, this is two calls to Ontraport Customer Service. The first two calls are free and are chargeable after that.
The first significant upgrade is the inclusion of the full Ontraport Ecommerce Platform, including payment gateway automation. All standard banking and online payment methods are supported. Ontraport tells us that they are adding others as required.
A second upgrade includes additional modules supporting Business Process Automation, including order bumping. Ontraport has recognized the increasing requirement for social media integration with the addition of a Facebook interface. Again, the addition of other interfaces will happen in due course.
The addition of a custom invoicing module improves personalization.
New features include Membership Site support and Partner and Referral Programme support. The new Automated Task Management module improves individual productivity, and additional users and permission profiles enhance security.
The limited analytic functions of the Basic level are built on with additional analytic options, in particular a customizable metrics dashboard. The final element of this upgrade is more Sales Force Automation functions.
A significant benefit is an increase from the 1,000 contacts of the Basic plan to 2,500.
Pro
The Pro Plan provides all the features of the Basic and the Plus plans at $297 per month and extends the features, functions, and limits further. As an example, the number of available contacts increases to 10,000.
There are some new modules, and others have increased functionality. In particular, significant improvements in marketing management will improve management control over marketing programs.
Many users need customized documents such as emails in their marketing campaigns. Ontraport will provide these, and at the Pro level, extends the capability to other documents.
The custom objects feature allows users to create and link various records relating to the data you need. Typical examples include companies, prospects, bid management details, and perhaps personal data.
Improvements to the ability to monitor and cost marketing programs flow from the addition of tracking and performance metrics and analysis.
On the support side, Pro level users have unlimited free email consultations with Ontraport.
Many small to medium businesses will find the Pro level perfectly adequate in meeting their marketing and CRM needs.
Enterprise
The Enterprise Plan level completes the available options and provides the full range of functions and services available.
There are no additional software features over the Pro plan, but the main benefits are personalized support from a dedicated Personal Account rep and an increase to 20,000 contacts. However, on the downside is the introduction of an email sending limit.
All levels up to Enterprise allow the user to send unlimited emails from Ontraport. However, there is a limit of 200,000 per month at the Enterprise level. Some users have pointed out that this could be a severe restriction.
Given the contact limit of 20,000, the email limit is equivalent to 10 emails per month per Ontraport contact, or about two per week. Most users find it adequate, but in some environments needing daily communication, it is not sufficient. There are get-rounds but at an additional cost.
Ontraport Add-On and Services Pricing
Ontraport provides other services, which can add to the account level subscription for some users.
Bulk Emailing
Some users may have a regular or intermittent need to send out bulk emails. That could exceed Ontraport limits at the Enterprise level.
There are three options for Enterprise account holders here:
If the use case merely demands an occasional excess of the limit, there is an option to automatically increase your account limit by 100,000 for the billing period. The cost is a one-off charge of $99, and the option lapses after being exercised.
If you foresee a need for a permanent limit Increase, an optional service is available for $399 a month for 500,000 or $99 a month for 100.000 additional email sends. Billing is monthly.
For the heavy senders, some Internet Service Providers limit the number of emails sent in a month. Exceed that limit, and they will block your account, and you could be blacklisted. That means all the emails you send, not just your Ontraport mails, are blocked and will not be sent.
The Ontraport Private IP service gets around that by providing an IP address dedicated to your account. The Enterprise email limit increases to 700,000 at a monthly cost of $399 and a setup fee of $500.
Users
User security and the ability to restrict users to specific functions are limited. The Basic level has one user profile. No additional users are allowed. User security granularity increases through the levels, but may not be sufficient at specific levels for some users.
To get around this, above the Basic level, add additional users at $47 per month per user. Each user can have a specific user profile with the associated individual security options.
Contacts
Enterprise-level accounts are charged $99 per month for every 100,000 contacts above the 20,000 level limit. Exceed the ceiling in a lower-level tier, and the account will automatically upgrade to the next higher level. Of course, billing automatically increases as well.
Email Tracking and Testing
It is an essential component of email marketing to know when your emails are delivered and if and when your customers read them. Ontraport provides facilities to do this using the 250ok Email seed tests.
Five tests per month cost $99, 15 cost $199, and 30 will cost a total of $299
Data Import
If you are moving to Ontraport, you will need to either import or re-enter your data. In most cases, this will not be a trivial task, and it will be vital to your becoming productive with Ontraport as quickly as possible. It can also provide the opportunity to consolidate and clean data.
Ontraport provides a data concierge service. Data management add-on services, such as data import, are carried out by the Ontraport team at $150 per hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Ontraport Provide a Free Trial?
They do. A fully-functional free trial of the platform is available.
How Long Is the Free Trial?
The free trial lasts for 14 days.
Do You Need a Credit Card to Sign up for a Free Trial?
No credit card is needed.
Is There a Money-Back Guarantee?
Yes, there is. If you are dissatisfied, then you can request a full refund within the first 90 days.
Do I Have to Commit to a Long-Term Contract?
No. All contracts are on month by month basis, with cancellation at any time. The Ontraport website sets out the requirements and terms.
Will I Be Able to Upgrade My Plan Later On?
Yes. You can upgrade online with immediate effect. You should also look at the add-on options. For example, if all you need is an increase in the number of emails you want to send for a one-off marketing campaign, there is the option of using the Overlimit facility for that month.
Bottom Line
Ontraport is one of the leading business automation software packages for entrepreneurs. It provides a range of features that exceed those of its closest competitors, and usually at a better price. One point consistently made in its favor is the quality of its support, which is especially important for new users. For entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, or small businesses just getting into business automation, Ontraport’s no-risk free trial will let you get started without even handing over your credit card.
