7 Best Directive Consulting Alternatives for B2B SaaS in 2026

Directive is a strong full-funnel B2B agency for mid-market and enterprise teams. If you only need part of its service mix, or a published price, these 7 alternatives are worth a call.

Last updated: November 3, 2026. Pricing, services and results checked on each agency’s own website and on Clutch.

The best Directive Consulting alternatives for B2B SaaS in 2026 are DerivateX, Powered by Search, Omniscient Digital, Refine Labs, Kalungi, SimpleTiger and Hey Digital. Which one fits depends on the part of Directive you are replacing: DerivateX for SEO and AI search from $5,000 a month with a 90-day pilot, Refine Labs or Hey Digital for paid demand generation, and Powered by Search or Kalungi to keep paid, SEO and RevOps with one vendor. Omniscient Digital and SimpleTiger sit in between, with organic and AI search at their core.

Directive is a large B2B performance agency, founded in 2013, that runs content, SEO, GEO, paid media, creative, RevOps, PR and commerce under one methodology. That breadth is the reason teams hire it, and also the reason many shop around: some only need one or two of those services, some want a published price before the first call, and some want a team that works only with software companies. This guide compares seven alternatives on fit, published price, terms and named proof, using what each agency publishes about itself.

What does Directive Consulting offer, and what does it cost in 2026?

Directive is a B2B performance marketing agency that sells a full-funnel system it calls Customer Generation. Its homepage lists 130+ marketing strategists, 700+ brands served and $1B+ in revenue generated, with offices in Orange County, Austin, New York, Mexico City, London and Toronto. Its Our Story page says Garrett Mehrguth founded it in 2013 and describes a 150+ person agency across North America, LATAM and Europe.

The work is organized into three divisions. Performance covers content (SEO and GEO), paid media, performance creative, programmatic, RevOps and a startups offer. Commerce serves commerce brands, and Communications covers influencer, organic social, paid social and PR. Its AI search framework is DiscoverabilityOS, and reporting runs through Stratos, which Directive describes as a platform that unifies CRM, paid media, SEO and ops data with “over $461M in channel intelligence.” Its performance page also says Directive holds the #1 position for LLM visibility share across the agency prompts it tracks.

Its published proof is strong. Its success stories page says 250+ B2B companies have used Customer Generation, a Case Status study reports a 20% lift in bookings from AI search, and another study reports page 1 rankings up 190% and $2.87M in non-branded revenue.

How much does Directive charge?

Directive does not publish prices for its agency services. Three public signals help you budget:

• Its pricing page sells the Customer Generation Playbook, a $399 DIY course pitched as the methodology “without the retainer.” It is a course, not a managed service.
• Its Clutch profile lists a minimum project size of $250,000+ and an hourly rate of $300+, while reviewed projects most often fall between $10,000 and $49,000 (41 reviews). The client mix is 55% mid-market and 35% enterprise.
• The meta description of its startup package page reads “$6,5000/month”, which looks like a typo for $6,500. The visible page asks startups to see if they qualify and shows no price.

In DerivateX’s own tracking of how AI answers describe SEO and GEO agencies, Directive has 21.5% visibility, and answers describe it as enterprise in 44% of cases, pipeline-focused in 37% and integrated with paid and revenue operations in 22%. That lines up with its positioning, and it explains why growth-stage SaaS teams often shortlist Directive and then look for a narrower fit.

Why do B2B SaaS teams look for Directive alternatives?

Most teams leave the Directive shortlist over scope and budget, not quality. Clutch reviewers rate Directive 4.8 out of 5 across 56 reviews. The reasons below come from Directive’s own pages and Clutch profile:

• You only need part of the system. Directive is built to run several channels together. If you only want organic and AI search, or only paid, a specialist puts the whole budget into that channel.
• The budget does not stretch. One testimonial on Directive’s own success stories page, from Owen Ray at Invoca, praises the team and says the decision to leave was “primarily based on budget considerations.”
• No published price. With no rate card and a $250,000+ minimum on Clutch, it is hard to budget before a sales call.
• Enterprise orientation. 90% of Directive’s Clutch client mix is mid-market or enterprise, and Clutch reviewers mention account team changes as a recurring friction.

Which part of Directive are you replacing?

Map the services you actually use before you compare agencies. No single alternative matches Directive line for line, so the right pick depends on whether you are replacing its search work, its paid work or the whole multi-channel team. The map below shows which services each agency names on its own site.

• Replacing SEO and AI search only: DerivateX, Omniscient Digital or SimpleTiger.
• Replacing paid demand generation only: Refine Labs or Hey Digital.
• Replacing the whole multi-channel team: Powered by Search or Kalungi, and SimpleTiger if you do not need ad creative as a separate service.

The 7 best Directive Consulting alternatives compared

The order reflects fit for the most common switching reason in B2B SaaS: a growth-stage team that wants organic and AI search tied to pipeline, at a budget it can see before the first call. Multi-channel and paid-only options follow. Every price and claim comes from the agency’s own website, and anything not published is marked “not published” rather than estimated. DerivateX is held to the same standard as everyone else.

Agency	Best for	Published starting price	Terms	Main channels
Directive (baseline)	Mid-market and enterprise B2B wanting paid and organic in one team	No rate card; $399 DIY course	Scoped per engagement	SEO, GEO, paid, creative, RevOps, PR, commerce
DerivateX	$5M to $50M ARR B2B SaaS, SEO and GEO tied to pipeline	$5,000 a month plus $1,000 to $1,200 placement	90-day pilot, then no lock-in	Google, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude
Powered by Search	B2B teams spending $15K+ a month on growth	SEO and LLM from $9,000 a month; paid from $6,000	$14,900 audit credited if you upgrade within 30 days	SEO, LLM visibility, paid, creative, RevOps, digital PR
Omniscient Digital	B2B organic growth across AI and search	Full service from $120,000 a year	Not published	Content, SEO, AI search, digital PR, analytics
Refine Labs	Series B+ B2B tech running paid demand generation	Paid media from $14,000 a month	6-month minimum	Paid media, creative, marketing ops
Kalungi	SaaS wanting an outsourced marketing team	Full Service at $50,000+ a month	Not published	Content and SEO, paid, brand, RevOps, PR
SimpleTiger	SaaS SEO and AEO plus paid, email and RevOps	From 5% of revenue or funding	Custom packages	SEO, AEO, PPC, content, links, digital PR, RevOps
Hey Digital	Paid-only B2B SaaS performance marketing	Not published	Not published	Paid search, paid social, creative, landing pages

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1. DerivateX: Best for $5M to $50M ARR B2B SaaS Replacing Directive’s SEO and GEO Work

DerivateX is a full-service SEO and GEO agency for B2B SaaS. It is a founder-led team based in Bengaluru, founded in January 2024 by Apoorv Sharma and Shivanshi Bhatia, and it works with software companies between $5M and $50M ARR, from Series A to Series C. One team covers Google, Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, and reports results against pipeline rather than rankings.

Compared with Directive, DerivateX is deliberately narrow. It does not run paid media and does not compete on enterprise scale. It fits the SaaS team that already handles paid in house or with a paid specialist, and wants every dollar of the agency budget going to organic and AI search. For a full head-to-head, see Directive vs DerivateX.

Services

• Prompt and query mapping, technical SEO (schema, site architecture, crawlability and llms.txt) and commercial pages.
• Comparison and alternatives pages, third-party placements and digital PR, and entity consistency work.
• Citation tracking across all six surfaces, with competitor displacement tracking from the $8,000 tier.
• Pipeline attribution, from AI-referred sessions to demo requests and, on the top tier, closed revenue.

B2B SaaS proof

• REsimpli became the most cited and recommended real estate CRM for investors in ChatGPT within 90 days.
• Gumlet traced close to 20% of inbound revenue to AI discovery, and the first ChatGPT-referred demo came about 12 weeks after kickoff.
• Verito grew from about 932 average monthly Google clicks to a peak of 2,775 in February 2026, with average position moving from 47.4 to 9.9.

Pricing

DerivateX pricing has three published tiers. Rank and Get Found is $5,000 a month plus a $1,000 to $1,200 off-site placement budget, so about $6,000 to $6,200 all in. Own Your Category is $8,000 plus $1,500 to $2,000 (about $9,500 to $10,000), and Market Leader is $12,000 plus $2,000 to $3,000 (about $14,000 to $15,000). The first two start as a 90-day pilot with no lock-in after it; Market Leader has a 6-month minimum. A $3,500 diagnostic and a free AI visibility audit are lower-commitment ways in.

Best for: Series A to C SaaS between $5M and $50M ARR that want Google and AI search run by one accountable team, with paid media handled elsewhere.
Skip it if: You want one agency to run paid, organic and RevOps together, or your budget is under $5,000 a month.

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2. Powered by Search: Best Multi-Channel Match With Published Prices

Powered by Search is a B2B marketing agency that sells three levers with published floors: paid media, SEO and LLM ranking, and fractional RevOps. It works with B2B companies on pipeline and ARR goals and says on its pricing page that it is a fit if you spend $15K+ a month on growth and have a VP or director of marketing or RevOps in house. Its pods are senior-only, with a stated average of 10+ years of experience.

Of all seven, Powered by Search is the closest to Directive’s mix of paid, SEO and RevOps, with the difference that you can see the price of each lever before you talk to sales. It also offers to bundle the three for integrated execution.

Services

• SEO and LLM ranking, with Answer Engine Optimization included from the middle tier and digital PR at the top tier.
• Paid media management across Google, LinkedIn and Meta, with creative and CRO in the higher tiers.
• Fractional RevOps: GA4, HubSpot and Salesforce cleanup, lead scoring, routing and attribution.

Pricing

SEO and LLM Ranking starts at $9,000 a month, then $14,400 and $21,600. Paid media starts at $6,000 a month and RevOps at $7,200. A “Save 20%” option on the page shows lower figures, such as $7,500 for the SEO entry tier; the page does not spell out the billing terms behind it. Lower-commitment entry points are a $2,500 Power Hour and a $14,900 Pipeline Audit, both credited in full to the first retainer invoice if you upgrade within 30 days.

Best for: B2B teams that want Directive’s paid plus SEO plus RevOps mix with published prices.
Skip it if: You only need organic and AI search, or your total growth spend is under $15K a month.

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3. Omniscient Digital: Best for Content-Led Organic Growth Across AI and Search

Omniscient Digital is an organic growth agency for B2B brands that aims to get them recommended across AI and search engines and turn that visibility into pipeline. Its programs run across four vectors: strategy, owned content, digital PR, and analytics and revenue optimization. Research starts with interviews of sales and customer success teams and recorded sales calls rather than a keyword export. It has offices in Austin, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.

Omniscient is the alternative for teams replacing Directive’s content and SEO work with a more editorial program. For other options in this camp, see Omniscient Digital alternatives.

Proof

• OnBoard: +88% AI visibility.
• Convert: LLM visibility up 81% and AI citations up 140% in 60 days.
• Teambridge: $400,000 of qualified pipeline through SEO.
• Order.co: blog organic sessions up 2117% and blog conversions up 39x.

Pricing

Its homepage states that full-service engagements start at $120,000 a year, about $10,000 a month. Contract length is not published.

Best for: B2B brands that want a content-led organic and AI search program with editorial depth.
Skip it if: You need paid media from the same agency, or you want a short pilot first.

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4. Refine Labs: Best for Replacing Directive’s Paid Demand Generation

Refine Labs is a B2B demand generation agency focused on paid media, creative and marketing operations. Its homepage says it has helped 300+ mid-market and enterprise B2B tech companies with $50MM+ ARR, and its pricing page says it works with B2B SaaS companies at Series B and beyond. It reports a 41% average increase in high-intent demo requests across its portfolio, and it has acquired MOBI Solutions to expand marketing operations and analytics.

Refine Labs replaces the paid side of Directive, not the SEO side. Pair it with a search specialist if organic and AI search matter to your pipeline.

Pricing

Its pricing page is fully published: Paid Media Management from $14,000 a month and Full Demand and Media Service from $26,000 a month, both with a 6-month minimum; Creative Only from $5,000 a month with a 3-month minimum; and a 6-week Revenue Performance Assessment from $35,000.

Best for: Series B+ B2B tech teams replacing Directive’s paid media and demand generation work.
Skip it if: You want SEO or AI search from the same vendor.

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5. Kalungi: Best for an Outsourced SaaS Marketing Team

Kalungi is a B2B SaaS marketing agency that acts as an outsourced marketing department. It says it has scaled 280+ SaaS companies and describes itself as the team behind T2D3 and Syntropy, its senior GTM leadership offer for $1M to $5M ARR teams. Its Full Service engagement covers content and SEO, paid media, branding and design, RevOps and HubSpot, and PR and analyst relations, and says it replaces 10+ hires with one accountable team.

Kalungi is the closest SaaS-only match to Directive’s whole-team model. It names DataGuard (330% MQL growth and $4M in pipeline) and CPGvision ($4.7M in pipeline) among its results.

Pricing

Its Full Service page states the cost is $50,000+ a month and positions it for SaaS leaders at $5M to $50M ARR who want pay-for-performance and speed. Contract length is not published.

Best for: SaaS companies that want to outsource most of the marketing function, not just one channel.
Skip it if: You only need one or two channels, or your monthly budget is well below $50,000.

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6. SimpleTiger: Best for SaaS SEO and AEO Plus Paid in One Contract

SimpleTiger is a B2B SaaS marketing agency that ties AI and traditional search, content, paid and email to pipeline. It highlights 15+ years in B2B SaaS marketing and a 4.9 out of 5 Clutch rating with 30+ reviews. Its services include SEO and AEO, PPC, content, link building, digital PR, web design, email and pipeline intelligence with RevOps. Its homepage cites $3M in revenue with a 41:1 ROI in less than 10 months through AI and organic search, and lists Gainsight, Firecrawl, Jotform and Invoca as clients.

SimpleTiger suits SaaS teams that want search-led growth plus paid from one vendor, at a smaller scale than Directive. For other options, see SimpleTiger alternatives.

Pricing

Its pricing page lists SEO plus GEO/AEO and Pipeline packages, customized to each client. Its FAQ says its SEO packages start at 5% of revenue or funding at the growth stage each package targets. Dollar prices are not shown.

Best for: SaaS teams that want organic, AI search and paid ads under one agency.
Skip it if: You want a fixed published dollar price before the first call.

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7. Hey Digital: Best for Paid-Only B2B SaaS Performance Marketing

Hey Digital is a B2B SaaS performance marketing agency that runs paid ads only. It handles strategy, creative, experimentation and reporting for paid search and paid social, says it has worked with 200+ B2B SaaS companies, and manages $2.3M+ in monthly ad spend for B2B SaaS clients. One featured result reports a 52% reduction in ad spend and a 159% increase in deal value.

Hey Digital is the SaaS-only option for teams replacing Directive’s paid work. It does not list SEO or AI search services, so it pairs naturally with a search specialist.

Pricing

Not published. Its site does not have a pricing page, so ask for a quote and minimum term on the first call.

Best for: B2B SaaS teams replacing Directive’s paid media with a SaaS-only paid specialist.
Skip it if: You need organic search, AI search or RevOps from the same vendor.

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How do you choose the right Directive alternative?

Start with the services you are replacing, then match budget and stage. A $6,000-a-month search retainer and a $50,000-a-month outsourced marketing team solve different problems, so compare what you get, not only the price. DerivateX recommends matching your main need to the table below first.

If your main need is…	Look first at
Google and AI search tied to pipeline at $5M to $50M ARR	DerivateX, Omniscient Digital, SimpleTiger
Paid, SEO and RevOps from one vendor with published prices	Powered by Search, Kalungi
A whole outsourced SaaS marketing team	Kalungi
Paid demand generation only	Refine Labs, Hey Digital
A scoped test before a long commitment	DerivateX (90-day pilot), Powered by Search (credited audit)
Enterprise scale across many channels and regions	Directive itself, or Powered by Search’s top tiers

What should you ask on every discovery call?

1. Which of Directive’s services does this replace, and which stay with another vendor?
2. What is the full cost of the first 90 days, including ad spend, placement or link budgets?
3. What is the minimum term, and what are the exit terms in writing?
4. Who implements changes on the site and in the CRM: your team or ours?
5. How will AI-referred and paid pipeline show up in our CRM?

For more context, see GEO agencies that publish pricing, iPullRank alternatives and RevenueZen alternatives.

Which Directive alternatives publish their pricing?

Five of the seven publish a starting price. DerivateX publishes three dollar tiers from $5,000 a month plus a placement budget. Powered by Search publishes floors for each lever, from $6,000 a month for paid and $9,000 for SEO and LLM. Omniscient Digital starts at $120,000 a year, Refine Labs at $14,000 a month for paid media and Kalungi at $50,000+ a month for Full Service. SimpleTiger prices from 5% of revenue or funding without dollar figures, and Hey Digital does not publish prices. Directive itself publishes only its $399 course.

Directive Consulting Alternatives FAQs

What is the best Directive Consulting alternative for B2B SaaS?

It depends on what you are replacing. For SEO and AI search at $5M to $50M ARR, DerivateX fits, from $5,000 a month plus a placement budget with a 90-day pilot. For paid, SEO and RevOps from one vendor, look at Powered by Search or Kalungi. For paid only, look at Refine Labs or Hey Digital.

How much does Directive Consulting cost?

Directive does not publish a rate card for managed services. Its pricing page sells a $399 DIY Customer Generation course, and its Clutch profile lists a $250,000+ minimum project size and $300+ hourly rate, with reviewed projects most often between $10,000 and $49,000. Ask for a written quote that includes ad spend and minimum terms.

Who are Directive Consulting’s main competitors?

Agencies that overlap with Directive include Powered by Search and Kalungi on multi-channel B2B work, Refine Labs and Hey Digital on paid demand generation, and DerivateX, Omniscient Digital and SimpleTiger on SEO and AI search. Each covers a different part of Directive’s service mix.

Which Directive alternatives publish their pricing?

DerivateX, Powered by Search, Omniscient Digital, Refine Labs and Kalungi publish starting prices. SimpleTiger prices from 5% of revenue or funding, and Hey Digital does not publish prices.

Does DerivateX run paid ads like Directive?

No. DerivateX does not run paid search, paid social or custom development. It sells SEO and GEO for B2B SaaS across Google, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, so teams that switch usually keep paid in house or with a paid specialist.

Why is DerivateX listed first on a list DerivateX published?

The list is ordered by fit for the most common reason SaaS teams look past Directive: a growth-stage budget and a need for search work without paying for other channels. DerivateX was held to the same published-facts standard as every agency, and its limits are listed, including no paid media, no enterprise-scale programs and no work under $5,000 a month.

The Bottom Line

Directive is a strong choice for mid-market and enterprise B2B teams that want paid and organic run by one large agency, so the right alternative depends on which part of that system you need. For SEO and AI search at $5M to $50M ARR, DerivateX fits. For the closest multi-channel match with published prices, Powered by Search. For a whole outsourced SaaS team, Kalungi. For editorial organic growth, Omniscient Digital. For search plus paid at SaaS scale, SimpleTiger. For paid only, Refine Labs or Hey Digital. Whichever you shortlist, get the full 90-day cost, the minimum term and the exit terms in writing before you sign.

Want to see whether DerivateX fits? Book a discovery call with a founder, or start with a free AI visibility audit to see which buyer prompts name your competitors instead of you.

Related reading

• Directive vs DerivateX
• 7 best iPullRank alternatives for B2B SaaS
• Best B2B SaaS SEO agencies
• DerivateX SaaS SEO agency
• DerivateX GEO agency