The short version
Scorpion sells what its own FAQ calls marketing technology, marketing services and digital advertising, built for trades like HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing, and for law firms. The price is set by your goals rather than a public list, and the marketing technology typically comes with a 12 month contract. Gold Strategics gets a business found, answered and followed up, with a managed website and a small set of tools around it, at published prices, month to month, with the site and domain in your name. If you want an agency running paid ads on Google, Meta and Microsoft for you, Scorpion does that and we do not. If you want a website that belongs to you outright, a bill you can predict, and the freedom to leave without a rebuild, that is the gap we exist to fill.
Where Scorpion is strong
Fairness first. Scorpion specializes. Its site is organized around specific trades and practice areas, it shows partner badges from Google, Meta and Microsoft Advertising, and it says it has helped more than 20,000 businesses. It has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2016. Its FAQ is also more candid than most about what you own and what you do not, which deserves credit. Positive reviews on Trustpilot mostly praise account managers who check in regularly and explain the numbers. None of the criticism below is about whether Scorpion is a legitimate company. It is.
Why people search for an alternative
Read through Scorpion's complaint records on the Better Business Bureau and reviews on Trustpilot and the same few themes come up. The BBB file is small for a company this size, which is to its credit. We are deliberately not quoting a star rating here, because scores shift and cherry-picking one is not honest. The patterns are what matter.
The contract. Scorpion's FAQ says it typically requires a 12 month contract for its marketing technology and services such as SEO, while advertising is usually month to month. That split is easy to blur on a sales call, and a complaint filed with the BBB describes a customer who believed the whole engagement was month to month and later learned part of it carried a 12 month commitment. Ask which line items carry the term, and get it in writing.
Results against spend. Trustpilot reviewers who left describe spending heavily on campaigns and receiving leads that did not fit their business, or fewer jobs than the reported numbers suggested. Paid advertising carries that risk with any agency, since you pay for the clicks either way, but it is the most common reason reviewers give for not renewing.
The handoff. Scorpion says you own your website once the contract term is complete, along with your domains, content and imagery, but not the proprietary platform it runs on, so moving means a rebuild by someone else. Complaints on the BBB describe too little time to move a site after cancelling and delays getting control of a Google Business Profile back, and some Trustpilot reviewers report a site going offline when the agreement ended. Your own contract governs your situation, so read it, and ask the ownership question in writing before signing with anyone, us included.
How the two models compare
| Question | Scorpion | Gold Strategics |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | No, set by your goals | Yes, $80/mo Gold, $349/mo Business Operating System, on the site |
| Contract | Per its FAQ, typically 12 months for technology and SEO; ads usually month to month | Month to month, no cancellation fee |
| Who owns the site | Per its FAQ, yours after the term: domains, content, imagery and static files, not the platform | You. Domain in your name, files handed over if you leave |
| Paid ads management | Yes, Google, Meta and Microsoft | No, we do not run ads |
| Industry focus | Home services, legal, healthcare, franchises | Local service businesses |
| Scale of company | Large national agency | A small Central Florida growth partner, founded 2024 |
| Who does the work | Assigned account managers and specialist teams | The person you emailed |
The rows about ads and scale are not spin, they favor Scorpion for some buyers. A multi-truck operation with an ad budget and a goal of filling the schedule gets more from a specialist ad agency than from us. The rows about pricing, contract and ownership favor the smaller model.
What our alternative looks like in dollars
Gold is $80 a month plus a $250 one time build fee: a custom built site, hosting, security, backups, intake forms, the visitor analytics dashboard, and the AI chatbot. The Business Operating System is $349 a month plus a one-time $500 build fee and includes a fully custom, multi-page website that is SEO optimized and AI optimized, with intake forms, career forms and an AI chatbot, a CRM with the automated follow-up and reminder tool inside it, a visitor analytics dashboard, online booking and scheduling with deposits, two-way texting, a review builder, a knowledge management system, an online presence audit, Google Business Profile optimization and priority website changes.
None of it is billed one tool at a time. The Operating System includes getting found in search and AI assistants, automatic follow-up and the rest of the list above at one price, and if you are mid-contract with Scorpion, we can plan the switch around the date your contract ends.
Who is better served by Scorpion
You should stay, or choose Scorpion over us, if advertising is what you are buying: a team managing Google, Meta and Microsoft campaigns on a meaningful monthly budget, with technology and reporting built for your trade or practice area. We do not manage paid ads, we do not post to social media, and we do not run call tracking or missed-call text-back, and a provider that pretends that does not matter would be selling you short. If that is you, get the contract length for each line item and the exit terms in writing, and you can be a happy customer there.
You should look at us, or any smaller managed provider, if the website itself is the point: you want it built well, kept fast and secure, owned by you, and priced in public, with tools that answer the phone traffic your reputation already generates. That describes most one-location trades and local service businesses we talk to.
Leaving Scorpion without losing your footing
If you decide to move, the order of operations matters. First confirm in writing who controls your domain, because the domain is the one asset you cannot rebuild. Scorpion's FAQ says domains are yours, so make sure the registrar account is in your name. Second, find your term end date and give notice in writing well before it. Third, ask for ownership of your Google Analytics property, which Scorpion's FAQ says it transfers back, primary owner access to your Google Business Profile, and the static files, design assets and content. Fourth, have the new site built before the old one goes dark; we build on a staging address and switch the domain over in one step, so there is no gap where searchers find nothing. We do not charge extra for any of that, it is just the $250 build fee and the first month.
Want a written quote to compare?
Tell us what you do and we send exact numbers in writing, plus a free demo of what your site could look like. No sales call unless you ask for one.
Questions people ask when comparing
Is Scorpion a legitimate company?
Yes. Scorpion is a large marketing technology and advertising company focused on home services, legal and healthcare businesses, and it is accredited by the Better Business Bureau. The recurring criticisms in public reviews are about contract length, results relative to spend, and the handoff when a client leaves, not about whether the company is real.
Do I keep my website if I leave Scorpion?
Scorpion's own FAQ says you own your website after your contract term is complete, and that the domains, content and imagery are yours, but that you do not own the underlying system, its proprietary content management platform. In practice that means you get the files and assets and need another provider to rebuild the site on a new platform. Some reviewers on Trustpilot report sites going down at the end of an agreement, so plan the move before the term ends. With Gold Strategics your domain is registered in your name and you get the files if you leave.
How much does Scorpion cost compared to Gold Strategics?
Scorpion does not publish a price list. Its FAQ says the investment depends on your business goals. Our pricing is public: Gold is $80 a month plus a $250 one time build fee, The Business Operating System is $349 a month plus a one-time $500 build fee, and the tools and services are included in the Operating System, never billed one at a time. Neither of our plans includes ad spend, because we do not run ads.
Can you take over a site Scorpion built for me?
If you own the domain, yes. Scorpion says it hands over static files, design assets and content, and we rebuild from those rather than trying to move the old platform. You point the domain at the new site when it is ready, so there is no gap where you have nothing.
Does Gold Strategics do everything Scorpion does?
No. Scorpion manages paid advertising across Google, Meta and Microsoft, runs SEO and marketing programs, and builds technology aimed at specific trades and law practices. We do not manage paid ads, post to social media or run call tracking. We build and run the website, the structured data that gets you found in search and AI assistants, the CRM, follow-up, online booking and reviews, and the person you email is the person doing the work. If you want an agency spending a sizable ad budget for you, that is a real difference in Scorpion's favor.
Keep reading
Weighing more than one provider? We wrote the same straight comparison for the Hibu alternative, the Townsquare Interactive alternative, the Thryv alternative, the LOCALiQ alternative, the Web.com alternative, the Footbridge Media alternative and the Vivial alternative. To put any monthly quote in context, what a website costs in 2026 lays out the whole market, and do I own my website explains how to check before you sign or cancel. Our own plans and prices are on the build page.