If you're running a marketing agency or scaling a business on Kartra, you've likely hit the ceiling. Kartra works for basic funnels and email, but when you need white-label capabilities, advanced automations, contact management at scale, and a platform that grows with your agency, GoHighLevel is the move.
The problem? Migration feels risky. You're juggling contacts, courses, sales funnels, automation sequences, and customer data you can't afford to lose. One mistake and your revenue-generating workflows go silent.
That's why I've built this complete migration guide. Over the next 15 minutes, I'll walk you through every step—from auditing your Kartra setup to decommissioning it safely. By the end, you'll have a clear roadmap to transition your entire operation without losing a single contact or breaking a workflow.
Ready to get started? Start your FREE 30-day GoHighLevel trial (that's double the standard trial) and follow along.
Audit Your Current Kartra Setup Before Migration
You don't migrate blind. Before moving a single contact or workflow, you need a complete inventory of what you're moving.
Create a simple spreadsheet with these categories:
- Contacts: Total number, segmented by list, tags, and custom fields
- Courses: Number of courses, lessons, modules, and completion tracking logic
- Funnels: Sales pages, order forms, upsells, downsells, and their conversion paths
- Email Sequences: Automation workflows, trigger-based sequences, and broadcast lists
- Products & Payments: Payment integrations (Stripe, PayPal), subscription products, one-time offers
- Custom Fields: Any custom contact properties you've built in Kartra
- Integrations: Zapier, webhooks, third-party apps connected to Kartra
Log into your Kartra dashboard and export each section. This audit serves two purposes: (1) it ensures nothing gets left behind, and (2) it gives you a baseline to test against after migration.
💡 Pro Tip
Create a "Kartra Migration" folder in Google Drive or Dropbox and save all exports with dates. If something breaks during migration, you'll have the original source files to reference and retry.
Step-by-Step: Exporting and Importing Contacts to GoHighLevel
Your contacts are your business. Here's how to move them safely.
Step 1: Export Contacts from Kartra
In Kartra, go to Contacts > All Contacts and use the export function to download a CSV file. Make sure your export includes:
- Email address (required)
- First and last name
- Phone number (if available)
- Custom fields
- Tags
- List membership
Save this file with a clear name: kartra_contacts_[DATE].csv
Step 2: Clean and Format Your CSV
Open the exported file in Google Sheets or Excel. GoHighLevel requires specific column headers. Your CSV should include:
email(required)firstNamelastNamephonetags(comma-separated)
Remove any duplicate rows (check for duplicate emails). Remove test contacts you created during Kartra setup. Save the cleaned file as CSV.
Step 3: Import into GoHighLevel
In your GoHighLevel dashboard, go to Contacts > Import Contacts. Select your cleaned CSV file and map the columns to match GoHighLevel's fields. Review the preview and confirm the import.
Pro tip: Import in batches if you have over 50,000 contacts. This helps you spot errors early without having to re-import your entire database.
Migrating Courses, Funnels, and Landing Pages
Unlike contacts, you can't simply export and import courses or funnels. These require manual recreation or strategic workarounds.
For Courses: Kartra courses are tightly coupled to its platform. GoHighLevel has course functionality, but the structure is different. Your best approach is to:
- Export your course content (lessons, videos, PDFs) from Kartra
- Rebuild the course structure in GoHighLevel using its course builder
- Update any redirect links in your funnels to point to the new GoHighLevel course pages
For Sales Funnels and Landing Pages: GoHighLevel includes a landing page and funnel builder. You have two options:
- Option 1 (Recommended for agencies): Rebuild your top-converting funnels in GoHighLevel. This takes time but gives you the chance to optimize using GoHighLevel's split-testing and advanced features.
- Option 2 (Quick migration): Keep your Kartra pages live during the transition. Update your domain DNS to point to GoHighLevel, but maintain Kartra pages as a fallback until you confirm everything works.
Focus migration effort on your revenue-generating funnels first. Lower-priority landing pages can be rebuilt later.
This is built into GoHighLevel. Try it free for 30 days →
Recreating Automation Workflows in GoHighLevel
This is where GoHighLevel shines. Its automation builder is more powerful than Kartra's, but the logic is different.
Document your current Kartra automations first. For each workflow, note:
- Trigger (e.g., "new contact added to list," "product purchased")
- Conditions (e.g., "if tag = VIP")
- Actions (e.g., "send email," "add to course," "assign to user")
- Delays and timing
Then rebuild in GoHighLevel's automation builder. GoHighLevel's workflow system is visual and drag-and-drop, making complex automations easier to set up than Kartra.
Start with your most critical automations:
- Welcome sequences for new leads
- Payment confirmation and delivery workflows
- Re-engagement campaigns for inactive contacts
Test each workflow with a test contact before enabling it on your live database.
💡 Pro Tip
GoHighLevel's API is robust. If you have complex integrations (like custom webhooks from your app), test them in GoHighLevel's sandbox environment first. Use Zapier as a bridge if direct integrations aren't available—it's often faster than rebuilding custom workflows.
Data Integrity Checks and Final Verification
Before you kill your Kartra account, verify everything works.
Run these checks:
- Contact count verification: Compare total contacts in Kartra vs. GoHighLevel. They should match (minus any you intentionally excluded).
- Sample contact audit: Pick 20-30 random contacts and verify their data (name, email, phone, tags) transferred correctly.
- Automation testing: Send test leads through your migrated workflows. Confirm emails send, tags apply, and products are delivered.
- Payment processing: Test a live transaction through your new GoHighLevel funnel to confirm payment processing works.
- Email deliverability: Monitor email bounce rates for 48 hours after enabling broadcasts. Spikes indicate a migration issue.
Document all tests and results. Keep this record for compliance and troubleshooting.
Safe Decommissioning of Your Kartra Account
Only after everything is verified—and working for at least 2 weeks—should you decommission Kartra.
Decommissioning checklist:
- Download and archive all Kartra data (contacts, course content, funnel pages, reports)
- Update any public-facing links pointing to Kartra pages (redirect them to GoHighLevel equivalents)
- Notify your team of the platform change and provide GoHighLevel training
- Update your email sending domain if you've changed platforms—verify SPF/DKIM records in GoHighLevel
- Cancel your Kartra subscription (make sure you're outside any contract terms)
- Monitor your email deliverability for 7 days post-cancellation—sometimes ISPs temporarily flag IP changes
Don't rush this step. The two-week buffer catches edge cases that aren't immediately obvious.
The bottom line: Migrating from Kartra to GoHighLevel is methodical but straightforward. The key is planning, documentation, and testing. If you follow this guide step-by-step, you'll move your entire operation without losing data or breaking revenue-generating workflows.
Start your migration today—your future self (and your customers) will thank you.