If you run a small agency with a handful of local clients, CallRail is usually the cheaper and simpler start: its Lead Tracking plan costs $50 a month billed yearly ($55 month to month), includes 5 numbers and 250 minutes, and lets you add as many client companies as you like. CTM, the tool most people still know as CallTrackingMetrics, makes more sense once you need proper client sub-accounts, unlimited logins, form tracking and resale billing. Its agency-ready plan, Marketing Pro, starts at $149 a month billed yearly, and numbers and minutes are billed on top.
How this comparison was made: it is research, not a hands-on test. We read both vendors’ pricing pages, plan pages, FAQs and help articles on October 28, 2026 and did the cost math ourselves. We have not run either tool for a client account, so there is no score here. If you are adding tracking because Google changed how it reports ad calls, read how to track Google LSA calls first, since both tools list a Google LSA integration.
First, the name: CallTrackingMetrics is now CTM
CTM’s own company page says it began as CallTrackingMetrics and adopted the CTM brand name in 2026, and the old calltrackingmetrics.com pricing address now sends you to ctm.com. That matters when you compare: many “CallTrackingMetrics vs CallRail” articles still quote older CTM plans that no longer appear on the pricing page. Today’s US plans are Marketing Lite, Marketing Pro, Sales Engage and Enterprise.
The agency question: one account per client, or one plan for all?
The two tools organize client work differently, and that decides most of the bill.
CallRail uses “companies”. Its help center suggests a marketing agency create a separate company for each client, says there is no cost to create one, and says each pricing plan includes an unlimited number of companies. Every client sits under one plan and shares that plan’s included numbers and minutes. You can give each client’s staff a login that only shows their own company’s reports.
CTM uses sub-accounts, and they are not on every plan. The Marketing Lite page says the sub-account structure, form tracking and premium integrations come with Marketing Pro. Pro includes 25 sub-accounts, and more come in packs of 25 for $50 a month. So an agency that wants each client separated in CTM should budget for Pro, not Lite.
Plans and prices for an agency, side by side
| Item | CTM | CallRail |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Marketing Lite: $79/mo monthly, $65/mo billed yearly, $60/mo billed every 2 years | Lead Tracking: $55/mo monthly, $50/mo billed yearly |
| Plan an agency needs | Marketing Pro: $179/mo monthly, $149/mo yearly, $135/mo every 2 years | Lead Tracking already covers unlimited client companies |
| Client accounts | 25 sub-accounts on Pro; +25 for $50/mo; unlimited on Sales Engage | Unlimited companies on every plan |
| Numbers | None included; US local from $2/mo, toll-free from $3/mo | 5 local included; extra local $3/mo, toll-free $5/mo |
| Minutes | None included; per-minute rate not printed on the public pricing pages | 250 included; extra local $0.06, toll-free $0.08 |
| Transcription | $0.02/min on Lite; Pro includes 3,000 minutes per sub-account that do not renew monthly | Included on Lead Tracking; extra transcription minutes listed at $0.025 |
| Users | Unlimited on all plans | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Form tracking | Pro: 5,000 submissions/mo, then $0.02 each | Lead Tracking Complete ($95/mo yearly): 1,000 submissions, then $0.02 |
| Trying it | First month’s plan fee waived; demos offered | 14-day free trial, no card; texting opens after the trial |
| Contract | Month to month; yearly and 2-year prepay discounts | Monthly or yearly; yearly base fee due up front; usage billed monthly and non-refundable |
Sources: CTM plans and pricing, plan pages and FAQ; CallRail pricing page and help center (listed at the end). US prices. Prices checked October 28, 2026.
What a small agency pays each month
To compare like with like, we priced three agency sizes. Each client gets 2 local tracking numbers (say Google Business Profile and Google Ads) and uses 100 minutes a month. All prices are billed yearly, before taxes and fees. Transcription extras and text messages are left out for both.
| Agency size | CallRail Lead Tracking | CTM Marketing Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 5 clients: 10 numbers, 500 minutes | $50 + 5 extra numbers ($15) + 250 extra minutes ($15) = $80 | $149 + 10 numbers ($20) = $169 + minutes |
| 10 clients: 20 numbers, 1,000 minutes | $50 + 15 numbers ($45) + 750 minutes ($45) = $140 | $149 + 20 numbers ($40) = $189 + minutes |
| 30 clients: 60 numbers, 3,000 minutes | $50 + 55 numbers ($165) + 2,750 minutes ($165) = $380 | $149 + 25-account pack ($50) + 60 numbers ($120) = $319 + minutes |
On month-to-month billing, add $5 to each CallRail total and $30 to each CTM total.
The open item is CTM’s per-minute rate. Its FAQ says plans include no numbers or minutes and that usage is billed on top, but the public pricing pages we read do not print a US minute rate. Every cent per minute adds $30 a month at 3,000 minutes. Ask CTM for the rate in writing before you decide; without it, the 30-client comparison can go either way.
For five or ten small clients, CallRail is clearly cheaper, mostly because CTM’s agency features start at a $149 plan.
Billing clients and white label
Most small agencies either bundle tracking into a retainer or pass the cost through with a markup. Both tools support the second route, in different ways.
- CallRail Customer Invoicing: you set a standard rate for every company, or a custom rate per company, covering a base charge, numbers, minutes, texts and transcription. CallRail builds the invoice from each company’s monthly usage. On white-label accounts the invoice drops CallRail’s logo, but CallRail does not email it to your client, so you send it yourself.
- CTM: sub-accounts can be billed directly or through the agency account, and agencies can set their own price markups and take payments through a Stripe integration. Full white label is listed at $65 per domain.
Where CTM is ahead
- Logins: unlimited users on every plan, so client staff, account managers and contractors do not cost seats.
- Cheaper numbers: local numbers from $2 a month against CallRail’s $3 once the 5 included numbers are used up.
- Forms included on the agency plan: Pro includes 5,000 form submissions a month. With CallRail you move to a Complete plan for form tracking.
- Integrations on Pro: the plan page lists HubSpot, Facebook, Reddit and Yext. Lite already lists Google Ads, Google LSA and GA4.
- No contract and a 2-year option: plans are month to month, with a lower rate if you prepay 2 years.
Where CallRail is ahead
- Lower starting cost: $50 a month billed yearly covers every client company, with numbers and minutes included.
- Predictable usage: one published rate for minutes ($0.06), so you can quote a client before you sign up.
- A no-card free trial: 14 days without a card, against CTM’s waived first month.
- Home service software: Jobber’s help center documents a CallRail app that matches callers to clients by phone number and creates a client and request in Jobber. If your clients are contractors on Jobber (see what Jobber costs), this saves manual entry.
Comparing CallRail with a cheaper per-call option instead? Our Nimbata vs CallRail comparison runs the same kind of cost math for single businesses.
For clients on Local Services Ads, also see what to do when LSA shows the Business Profile number, since it changes which tracking line rings.
Before you swap numbers on a client site
Whichever tool you pick, the setup work is the same: keep the client’s real number on the Google Business Profile as primary, put the tracking number in the right field, and only swap numbers on the website with care. Our guide to dynamic number insertion and local SEO covers which numbers Google can see. If a client already has a tracking number elsewhere, CTM’s FAQ says porting a US number in takes about two to four weeks, and that it charges no fee to port numbers away later.
So which one should your agency use?
- You have up to about ten small clients and mostly track phone calls: CallRail Lead Tracking. At 5 and 10 clients it comes in well under CTM’s agency plan, and minutes are included.
- Your clients are contractors on Jobber: CallRail, for the Jobber app.
- You need many logins, form tracking and HubSpot in one plan, or you resell with your own markup: CTM Marketing Pro, from $149 a month billed yearly plus usage.
- You are one business, not an agency: CTM Marketing Lite ($65 billed yearly) or CallRail Lead Tracking; Lite has no sub-accounts.
- You run 25 or more clients: get CTM’s US minute rate first, then redo the 30-client row above with your own numbers.
If a client answered calls in CallRail’s Lead Center, CallRail has retired it; our CallRail Lead Center alternatives guide covers what to use now. More call tracking guides are in our call tracking and lead gen hub. Read how we research and test for how comparisons like this one are put together.
