If you were at IKON (or PartnerCon) a few months ago then you might have heard some rumblings about Keap Max.
But if you weren’t, or even if you were, you likely have some questions.
The tl;dr version is this:
- New name. Same product. More innovation. (All products are going to continue improving)
- Keap is unifying the product, brand, community. (We’re all Keap users)
In this post, and the video below, I’m going to answer as many Keap Max namechange questions as I can.
First up – what is Keap Max?
Simply put – Keap Max, or just Max, will be the new name for Infusionsoft.
Technically it’ll be ‘Max Classic’, more on that in a second.
Two years ago, at the start of 2019, Infusionsoft the company rebranded entirely to Keap (details here), but at the time they decided not to change the name of Infusionsoft, the platform.
So Keap, the company, had two versions of software that they offered: Keap and Infusionsoft.
Since then they’ve evolved a bit and their offerings now look like this:
Keap Grow >> Keap Pro >> Infusionsoft*
*for the last year or so, there have been two versions of Infusionsoft – the original, which looks like this:
And a version with a more modern interface, which looks like this:
Most users don’t know that, because – well, because most people only use the version that they use.
The vision behind this product line-up was to create versions of Keap that serve entrepreneurs at every business stage and sophistication level.
Businesses can start with the lighter version, and more graduate onto the more robust versions as their needs evolve.
Why change Infusionsoft’s name?
Three reasons:
- Unifying the products
- Unifying the Keap brand
- Unifying the Keap family
Changing Infusionsoft’s name creates a clearer cohesion within the family of products that Keap offers.
Instead of Keap Grow, Keap Pro, and Infusionsoft, it’ll be Keap Grow, Keap Pro, and Keap Max.
Or, Grow, Pro and Max (which is more likely how we’ll refer to them).
As much as I love the Infusionsoft platform, the reality is that a name is just a name; and for new users signing up I can totally see why they’d want to create more obvious alignment between their offerings.
And I want to underscore bullet three on the list of reasons above – they’re working hard to strengthen the sense of community that our user base has always been known for.
So, Infusionsoft is now Keap Max, that’s it?
Sort of. There’s one more twist.
Remember how I said earlier there are technically two versions of Infusionsoft?
There’s Infusionsoft, the timeless beloved product that most of us know and love; and then there’s also a version of Infusionsoft with an updated interface and slightly different feature set known as “Infusionsoft on the Keap Experience”.
In fact, if you contact support you can have them enable a toggle that allows you to switch between the two interfaces:
The one known as “Infusionsoft on the Keap Experience” is going to be called Keap Max, or just “Max”.
And the original version of Infusionsoft is going to be known as Keap Max Classic, or simply “Max Classic”.
Support, development, and updates on both will continue as we’ve been experiencing, but their names will be changed to create a more obvious family of products.
What is the difference between Keap Max and Keap Max Classic?
The two platforms have plenty of similarities, but each also have several features that are not available on the other.
Keap Max Classic is this one:
Keap Max is this one:
Here are the key feature differences between Max and Max Classic:
You can find more detail on these similarities and differences in the Keap help article here.
Update: Max has received a few updates since the article I linked to was published, and it now does have goal types for Product Purchase and Lead Score Achieved. Thanks to Scott Martineau who offered some clarifying details in the comments below.
It’s also worth noting that as the products continue to evolve the current discrepancies will change (for example, I hear native text messaging is coming to the campaign builder soon).
How does this affect me?
Depending on who you are, it might not really matter to you much at all.
Neither the software nor the improvements to them we’ve been enjoying are changing – this is just a new name.
If you’ve been an Infusionsoft user, then you’ll switch to saying “I’m a Keap user”.
And if you need to clarify the version you’re using, we’ll say “I use Max” or “I use Max Classic”.
If you’re a Keap Partner then this might mean updating your website, or your various offerings so that you’re promoting Max and Max Classic services – rather than Infusionsoft.
This kind of change probably matters most to content producers who have a body of content that are using the term “Infusionsoft”.
For folks like us we’ll have to do some serious work revising our content strategy, and updating what we can (blog posts, videos, courses) to make sure things are kept as relevant as possible.
But for everyday purposes – this is just a new name.
Same product, new name, more innovation.
Should I be alarmed by the word “Classic”?
No.
I mean, it’s a fair question. I can’t blame you for asking.
But no – you can have confidence that they are committed and innovating on all products, including Max Classic.
If you feel term “classic” sounds a little unsettling, you’re not alone. I asked about that too.
The answer I was given is that we should think of it less like “Classic cars” and more like “Classic Coke”.
In other words, a timeless favorite rather than a discontinued model.
And if you’re still skeptical – trust me, I get it. Here’s what Clate Mask, CEO and co-founder, had to say:
Over the past year we’ve worked hard to reduce bugs, add new features, make deliverability improvements, and organize the company to better serve Infusionsoft users. We will continue to show our commitment every week with continued innovation in the product you and I love.
If you have questions, ask them – the best thing we can do as a user base is let them know what we’re worried about, so they can respond directly to our concerns.
When is this change taking place?
Word on the street is that the new name(s) will go into effect in February. I’m sure there will be a handful of more formal announcements as this process unfolds.
The goal of this post was just to put it on the radar so we all knew it was coming, and can think through any relevant considerations.
Anything else?
One more thing – Keap Grow is being renamed to Keap Lite.
The product progression now looks like this:
But again, we’ll probably refer to them more familiarly – as Lite, Pro, Max, and Max Classic.
My Two Cents
As always, they don’t need my permission to do anything – so the following is just my personal opinion. But hey, this happens to be my blog, so here we go:
“Keap Max Classic” wouldn’t be my first choice for a new name, but I do think that renaming Infusionsoft is the right thing to do.
That isn’t easy for me to say.
I am or was an Infusionsoft employee, shareholder, user, and partner.
The company and the software have changed my life – and I, like many others, have a fair amount of emotional capital invested in the name “Infusionsoft”.
But the truth is that I’ve noticed a divide in the ecosystem ever since the rebrand. It has felt like the community fractured into two groups – those on Infusionsoft, and those using Keap.
And at the end of the day our goals are the same – serve more customers by designing systems that employ automation to grow our businesses .
This name change is intended to help unify the community, and that’s a goal I’m fully behind.
Video Summary
I recorded a quick video to try and clarify the new names and various versions. Enjoy:
More FAQs
Will the login process change?
When Infusionsoft becomes Keap Max and Keap Max Classic, I suspect they will change the logo in all the places it appears (in the app, the log-in screen, etc). But that’s just a visual change – users will log in using their current username and password like normal.
Will the name change affect existing APIs?
There is no expected disruption to any existing APIs. They’ll be unchanged.
If you notice difficulty or inconsistencies with your API connections then report that as quickly as you can – but there are no anticipated adverse effects.
Where can I read more about this?
Here’s an article from the Keap Help center discussing Keap Max, and answering some additional questions.
Informed Marketing Solutions Summary
Here’s another announcement video from a friend of mine, Jillian Kendrick. Jillian and her team support Keap users through their services at Informed Marketing Solutions.
Hey Greg, it’s a long time since we’ve communicated. Hope all is good in your world :-).
I have a quick question that I’d love your advice on…
I’m about to scale back my business, and it’s expenses. As a consequence I need to reduce my spend on a CRM.
I currently use the original version of Infusionsoft (including invoicing, which I can probably do through Xero).
If you were me, with the intention of reducing expenses as much as possible, would you change the version of the software I was using?
The other option I’m considering is to move to Hubspot CRM, for which there is no monthly/annual fee.
Thank you, in advance, for your help.
Cheers,
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn, nice to hear from you. 🙂
I’m still focused most heavily on Infusionsoft (soon to be called Keap Max Classic), but I just sent you an email introducing you to a friend of mine who I think can offering some advice!
Thanks for reading (and commenting)!
Hi Greg, Thanks for explaining this so well. Having been part of the Infusionsoft/Keap ecosystem for over a dozen years (and through at least 4 partner name changes), I have not always understood the differences.
Question, if our clients are heavily invested in the eCommerce or Affiliate modules of Keap Max Classic, there is no way that they can get some of the cool Max features like the mobile app, correct?
Also, Max Classic has check out pages, or are they different from the ones in Max?
While this goes some way towards clearing up the product confusion, it does not go all the way. If partners are confused (maybe I’m the only one?) how can prospects not be confused?
Thanks again,
Dom
All fair questions – and I expect the Keap mothership will continue to clarify things for the partner and user communities as they roll out these new names. My non-official understanding is that we’ll continue to see more of Max’s unique capabilities made available to Max Classic users as well. I think from a technical standpoint it’s a little easier/faster to release some of those things in the Max platform, but that they plan to also make it available in Max Classic as well. Thanks for reading, and for all you do to serve this community Dom.
Thanks for the heads up Greg. Glad you pointed this out because I’m not sure I would have known it was happening. I’m an Infusionsoft user from way back in 2015 I think so it’s good and scary at the same time to see the progression.
I read the article, and I’m interested in moving to the new experience but I’m curious if you know what happens to existing items that are not managed in Max. I see that in Max we lose:
Affiliate referral tracking
Shopping cart
Niche campaign goals and sequences*
Not sure what niche goals and sequences means but do you know if they have any plans to integrate shopping carts moving forward? They’ve never been great in the past anyway but just curious as I believe part of my monthly cost was paying for the e-commerce package.
I know your just the messenger but just curious to know what you’ve heard about those areas that are missing in Max.
Hey Josh – nice to hear from you. My understanding is that if you’re using Affiliate Tracking then you’ll want to stick with Max Classic.
Here’s the link to their functionality comparison chart, right below it you’ll see they’ve outlined the niche campaign features that are available in Max Classic, and aren’t available in Max. It says “The following Campaign Goals are not accessible in Keap Experience: Landing Page Submitted, Note Applied, Internal Forms, Lead Score Achieved, Product Purchased, Opportunity State Moved. The following Sequence Processes are not accessible in Keap Experience: Voice, Fax, Action Set, Letter, Fulfillment List, Create Opportunity”.
Probably worth noting that this is a current list and that it may change over time as features and functionality on both platforms continue to evolve.
I don’t know what shopping cart integrations are available on Max, but I know someone who does! I can connect you with my friend Jason if you’d like. He works extensively in the e-commerce integration space, and knows Keap’s API inside and out.
Wow, it seems a little unreasonable to me to call “Product Purchased” a niche goal.
Greg, great post. We need to update that article (in progress), because Landing Page Submitted, Product Purchased and Lead Score achieved are all now available in Max.
It’s also worth noting that Internal Form Submitted and Opportunity Stage Moved triggers both have a Max equivalent. A version of Internal forms exists in Max and Pipeline Stage Moved trigger is used to trigger automation as Deals are moved through the pipeline.
Thanks Scott.
For me as a long-time ISFT user, it would be helpful to have a better feeling that things I currently have setup will not “break” in moving over to Max. That is my biggest concern right now. Since I don’t use Affiliate Tracking or E-Commerce shopping cart as much right now ( i do use order forms though), that’s less of a concern to me, but I am worried about what I may unknowingly lose in the matter of flipping a switch if that makes sense.
Thanks Greg.
Yes, I looked over the support article and from that list it does concern me to move over but Scott’s post here makes me feel a little better. I want to try Max for sure but I’m scared to move on a whim and have something in a campaign stop working that I’m not aware of since I built the campaign years ago.
Hi Greg,
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Do we know if the plan is to move the missing features (that make sense) from Keap Max Classic to Keap Max?
I understand the idea of lite -> pro -> max but it makes little sense to me to keep max and max classic as separate products in the medium to long-term. I guess people may moan about the UI change, but that’s basically a one-off inconvenience that people will get over in a few months. Especially if the new UI has usability improvements over the old UI once you get used to it.
Maintaining/enhancing two separate UIs (if not completely underlying products) seems like wasted effort to me.
Great question – sorry I missed it when you first posted it. I’ll see what I can find out!
Great question, Stephen. You’ve got it right—over the mid to long term, Max and Max Classic will come together. That’s why they share their edition name. This convergence of Max and Max Classic will occur as:
– Missing Max Classic features are added to Max
– Max features are added to Max Classic
– Additional features are added to both, such as SMS Automation, and other new capabilities in Campaign Builder
Both versions of the Max Edition (Max and Max Classic) are built on the same back end. It’s the front end that’s different. The UI experiences have been coming together and will continue to do so.
The important thing to know is that we will continue innovating and enhancing Max Classic. We demonstrated that last year and will continue to do so. Over time, some Classic users will want to switch to Max, but we won’t force that. People can stay on Max Classic as long as they want.