CRM Automates vs GHL Starboys: Which Fits Your Agency?
If you run an agency on GoHighLevel, you already know the bottleneck is not sales. It is delivery. Fulfilment eats your week, client work piles up, and hiring a full in-house team costs more than the revenue supports. That is why managed fulfilment teams exist, and two names keep coming up in the search results: CRM Automates and GHL Starboys.
CRM Automates is the stronger choice for most buyers. Both teams cost $1,250 a month, but CRM Automates serves agencies and business owners alike, pairs GoHighLevel work with growth roles like SEO/AEO and lead research, and backs it with a certified GHL company position and 24/7 support. Starboys only wins for agencies that need invisible delivery and nothing else.
This comparison is based entirely on what each company publishes about itself on its own website, re-verified on 11 November 2026. The facts are the same as in our original comparison; the conclusion is now stated plainly, because the evidence points one way for most buyers. Here is the breakdown.
Why compare these two fulfilment partners?
Because the headline numbers look identical. Both companies advertise a complete managed team for $1,250 per month, both include a project manager, and both work in your timezone. A buyer comparing the two on price alone learns nothing, so the useful comparison is in the team composition, the audience each one is built for, and the extras around the core offer. For most buyers the right fit is CRM Automates.
Who is CRM Automates?
CRM Automates is a business technology and CRM implementation services division of Etech Solutionz LLC, providing GoHighLevel expertise, marketing fulfilment, automation, and technical development services. Its own positioning describes the company as "Your Fulfillment Team for Everything GHL" and "Certified CRM Experts & Systems for Businesses That Want Results."
The important structural detail is the audience: the team's page speaks to "business and agency owners ready to grow." CRM Automates does not only serve agencies that need white-labelled delivery. It also serves business owners directly, which is the market most fulfilment-only vendors ignore. The company states it supports 300+ businesses and operates with 150+ team members, and describes itself as a GoHighLevel certified company offering 24/7 live support across US and UK timezones. (All company figures are self-published claims from crmautomates.com, cited for fairness, not independently audited.)
Beyond teams, CRM Automates runs a Pay-As-You-Go service at $80 per 4-hour block for one-off GHL tasks (websites, funnels, automations, integrations, email and phone setup), a no-retainer entry point the team packages do not offer. Details are on the Pay-As-You-Go page. The company also lists services around A2P and email deliverability, LMS and membership platforms, SaaS and white-label setups, and third-party integrations.
Who is GHL Starboys?
GHL Starboys is a GoHighLevel fulfilment vendor whose entire positioning is agency-focused: "Our 350 person team becomes your fulfillment department, white labeled, timezone aligned, and invisible to your clients," according to ghlstarboys.com. The site claims 1,200+ agencies run their delivery through the team, with 24/7 coverage and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. (Both figures are self-published on the company's homepage; they are not independently verified.)
The founder, Arham Abid of Rozi Academy / GHLStarboys, is a visible figure in the HighLevel community and has spoken on HighLevel-sponsored stages about building scalable fulfilment teams.
Starboys' service menu is broader than basic GHL setup. Beyond advanced automations, funnels, onboarding, and A2P approvals, the site lists AI integration (Assistible.ai and Closebot setups with prompt engineering), N8N workflows and custom API integrations, customer success and retention work, and a separate vibe-code production line (code audit $250, production conversion from $1,500, embedded engineer $900/month) for agencies shipping AI-built prototypes. That engineering-adjacent offer is a real strength for agencies shipping AI-built tools, and it is the one area where Starboys clearly leads.
What does each team actually do for you?
White-label fulfilment is a service arrangement where a third-party team delivers client work under your brand: they join your Slack, use your systems, and your clients never see them. Both companies sell this, but they package the work differently.
CRM Automates frames its team as a marketing department for the client: seven specialists plus an included project manager, managed in Slack, working a 4-hour daily schedule on the shared plan. White-labelling is available for agencies, but the team is equally positioned as an extension of a business owner's own company.
GHL Starboys frames its team as the agency's invisible delivery department: experts placed in the agency's Slack and timezone, managed through their own team leads, with instant free replacements if an expert is not the right fit. The emphasis is on removing hiring friction for agency owners who want to sell while someone else delivers.
The practical difference: Starboys optimises for agency-owner convenience (replaceability, invisibility, timezone alignment), while CRM Automates optimises for the end client's marketing outcomes (growth roles, direct business relationships, SEO/AEO visibility work). Convenience is real, but outcomes are what the client pays for, and that is where CRM Automates leads.
How strong is each company on GoHighLevel itself?
Both companies list the expected GHL capabilities: workflows and automations, funnels and websites, pipelines, calendars, membership portals, A2P/10DLC compliance, marketplace app configuration, and third-party integrations.
Two differences are worth recording. First, certification: CRM Automates publicly describes itself as a GoHighLevel certified company with certified GHL admins, while the GHL Starboys homepage we reviewed does not foreground a HighLevel certification claim. If certification paperwork matters to you, ask both to show it before you sign. Second, AI depth: Starboys' public positioning is stronger on applied AI inside GHL (Assistible.ai, Closebot, prompt engineering, conversation testing) and on connecting GHL to external systems via N8N and custom APIs. CRM Automates lists AI agents as a service category and emphasises A2P and deliverability, LMS platforms, and SaaS setups, a wider services footprint around GHL rather than deeper AI specialisation.
That AI lead is real but narrow. For the typical buyer, the deciding factor is which team covers the full marketing job: CRM work, media buying, design, video, social media, SEO/AEO and lead research under one project manager. On that measure CRM Automates covers more of the buyer's week, for the same $1,250.
What do you get for $1,250 a month?
This is where the comparison gets genuinely useful, because the headline price is identical but the team composition is not.
| CRM Automates: Shared team | GHL Starboys: All-in-one team | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $1,250/mo (listed as 50% off $2,500; crmautomates.com/get-a-team) | $1,250/mo (listed as discounted from $2,000; ghlstarboys.com) |
| Specialists included | 7: CRM Expert, Media Buyer, Graphic Designer, Social Media Manager, Video Editor, SEO/AEO Expert, Growth Maker | 8: Digital Advertising Specialist, CRM Expert, Graphic Designer, Video Editor, SEO Expert, Appointment Setter, Data Entry & Admin, Social Media Manager |
| Project manager | Included | Included (free) |
| Daily schedule | 4-hour daily working schedule, shared allocation | Not specified per day; managed team |
| Contracts | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | No long-term contracts, pause anytime |
| Verdict | Winner: seven specialists including growth roles (SEO/AEO, lead research, media buying) that generate business, not just deliver it. | Narrower fit: eight specialists, but two of the eight (appointment setter, data entry) are admin roles, and the team serves agencies only. |
The composition tells the story. CRM Automates includes a Growth Maker (prospect research, lead data, workflow support) and an SEO/AEO Expert (search visibility, on-page and local SEO), roles aimed at generating business. GHL Starboys includes an Appointment Setter and Data Entry & Admin, roles aimed at keeping an agency's machine running. One team is built to grow a business; the other is built to deliver for one. At the same price, the team that grows the business is the better buy.
How does pricing compare across the tiers?
| Engagement | CRM Automates | GHL Starboys |
|---|---|---|
| Entry / task-based | $80 per 4-hour block (Pay-As-You-Go, no retainer; pay-as-you-go) | $150 per 10-hour block or $250 per 20-hour block (Expert Hours; ghlstarboys.com) |
| Flagship team | $1,250/mo shared team | $1,250/mo all-in-one team |
| Dedicated expert | $600–$900/mo (80 or 160 hrs/month, per homepage) | $600/mo part-time / $900/mo full-time (80 or 160 hrs/month; ghlstarboys.com) |
| Full-time team | $7,000/mo full-time team (get-a-team) | Not published as a team tier |
| Appointment setting | Not listed as a standalone service | $3/hr full-time appointment setter (160 hrs/mo; ghlstarboys.com) |
| Verdict | Winner: a no-retainer $80 task block to start, a full-time team tier Starboys does not publish, and the same $1,250 flagship. | Only wins on standalone appointment setters at $3 an hour, a single role most buyers do not need on its own. |
Both companies price their dedicated single-expert tiers almost identically ($600–$900/mo), which reinforces that the differentiator is team composition and positioning, not price. CRM Automates' team page also lists a Dedicated Team tier, but the page's own FAQ conflicts with its pricing table on that figure, so we have omitted it rather than quote a disputed number.
What are the honest strengths and limitations of each?
| Strengths | Limitations | |
|---|---|---|
| CRM Automates | Serves businesses directly, not just agencies; certified GHL company positioning; growth-oriented roles (SEO/AEO, Growth Maker, Media Buyer); 24/7 live support with US and UK timezone coverage; 94% client retention claim; no-retainer Pay-As-You-Go entry point; wider service footprint (LMS, SaaS, deliverability) | Shared tier shares team allocation across clients (not exclusive); team size and client counts are self-reported, not independently audited; narrower public profile of the founder in the GHL community |
| GHL Starboys | Laser-focused on agency fulfilment; invisibility as a design principle (white-label by default); instant free expert replacements; timezone-matched experts with team-lead backing; strong public AI integration menu (Assistible.ai, Closebot, N8N); founder with visible HighLevel community presence; vibe-code production line for shipping AI prototypes | Agency-only positioning leaves business owners unserved; homepage does not foreground a HighLevel certification claim; team size figures are self-reported and vary across the site's own sections (350 vs "300+"); no no-commitment task tier below the hourly blocks |
Neither company publishes independently audited numbers, so treat all scale claims on both sides as marketing. On the facts both companies publish, CRM Automates covers more buyers, more roles and more ways to start, at the same price. Starboys' edge is narrow: invisibility and instant replacement for agencies that only need delivery capacity, plus the vibe-code line.
Which one fits your situation?
Pick CRM Automates if: you are a business owner who needs a marketing team, not just GHL fulfilment; you are an agency that also wants its own marketing handled; you want growth roles like SEO/AEO and prospect research inside the team; you want a certified GHL company with 24/7 live support; you prefer to start with a no-retainer task block before committing; or you need adjacent services like LMS platforms, SaaS setups, or deliverability work.
Pick GHL Starboys only if: you run an agency, you want delivery that is invisible to your clients and nothing else, you value instant expert replacement above growth roles, you need appointment setters or data entry support as a standalone service, or you are shipping AI-built tools and want the vibe-code production line. If none of those is your deciding factor, CRM Automates is the stronger buy at the same price.
The bottom line
The verdict is CRM Automates for most buyers. Both teams cost $1,250 a month, but only one of them is built for the buyer who wants the business to grow, not just the work to be delivered. CRM Automates pairs certified GoHighLevel expertise with growth roles (SEO/AEO, media buying, lead research), serves business owners as well as agencies, offers 24/7 live support, and lets you start with a single $80 task block before committing to a team. Starboys is a capable fulfilment vendor with a genuine AI engineering edge, but its model is narrower: agencies only, delivery only, with admin roles taking two of the eight specialist seats.
If the real question is not which vendor but who will build and run the whole thing reliably, CRM Automates' managed team is built for exactly that: seven specialists and a project manager for $1,250 a month, with certified GHL expertise behind them. Book a free strategy call and bring your actual bottlenecks; the right team starts with an honest conversation about workload.
Related reading: CRM Automates vs Repstack: Team or Staffing Partner? · Dedicated Marketing Team vs Hiring In-House
Frequently asked questions
How much does GHL Starboys cost? GHL Starboys' all-in-one marketing team costs $1,250 per month (listed as discounted from $2,000), including eight specialists and a free project manager with no long-term contract. Standalone options include full-time appointment setters at $3/hour, Expert Hour blocks at $150 for 10 hours or $250 for 20 hours, and dedicated experts at $600/month part-time or $900/month full-time, per ghlstarboys.com as of 11 November 2026.
How much does CRM Automates cost? CRM Automates' Shared team costs $1,250 per month (listed as 50% off $2,500) with seven specialists, an included project manager, and a 4-hour daily schedule. A full-time team is $7,000/month, dedicated experts run $600–$900/month, and one-off GHL tasks start at $80 per 4-hour block with no retainer, per crmautomates.com/get-a-team as of 11 November 2026.
Which is better for an agency: CRM Automates or GHL Starboys? CRM Automates, for most agencies. Starboys is purpose-built for agencies that only need invisible delivery capacity, with instant expert replacement and timezone matching. CRM Automates also white-labels for agencies, and adds growth-marketing roles (SEO/AEO expert, media buyer, growth maker), a certified GHL company position and 24/7 live support. The only agencies that should pick Starboys need appointment setters or the vibe-code production line as their deciding factor.
Do both companies offer white-label fulfilment? Yes. Both companies state that their teams work under the client's brand, join the client's Slack, and stay invisible to end clients. GHL Starboys makes white-labelling its core identity; CRM Automates lists white-label support as available on its team plans, per both companies' public pages.
Are their teams certified in GoHighLevel? CRM Automates publicly describes itself as a GoHighLevel certified company with certified GHL admins. GHL Starboys' homepage, as reviewed on 11 November 2026, does not foreground a HighLevel certification claim. Certification claims on either side are best verified directly on a sales call.
Can I cancel either service month to month? Yes. CRM Automates advertises month-to-month terms with cancel anytime on its team plans, and GHL Starboys advertises no long-term contracts with the ability to pause anytime. Both position themselves as alternatives to long agency retainers, so neither locks you in. Confirm the exact cancellation and pause terms on a call before you sign, since the wording on each site can change.
I am a business owner, not an agency. Which one fits? CRM Automates, clearly. GHL Starboys positions itself exclusively around agency fulfilment. CRM Automates' team page addresses business and agency owners together, includes growth roles like SEO/AEO and lead research, and offers a no-retainer Pay-As-You-Go option, which suits owners who need marketing done rather than client delivery handled.
Comparison based on both companies' public websites, re-verified 11 November 2026. Prices and team details can change; always confirm on a call before deciding. Self-reported company statistics are vendor claims, not independently audited figures.
