Act! CRM Review 2024

Taking a look at the pros and cons of CRM software is a great way to analyze the software’s abilities quickly. Below are some of the strengths and weaknesses of Act! CRM.

• Integrated email marketing features 
• More affordable than most comparable CRMs
• A powerful marketing automation workflow builder 
• Easy-to-use dashboard designer

• The UI is a little old-fashioned and clunky in some places 
• Email integration requires an external email client

Act! CRM offers two pricing plans for its cloud-based solution and one pricing plan for its on-premise solution. To help you decide which of these plans is best suited for your needs, let’s take a look at the pricing and notable features of all three.

Notable Features:

• Customer management
• Task and activity management
• Opportunity management
• User management
• Unlimited contacts
• 2 GB cloud storage
• 2,500 email sends/month
• 170+ email templates
• Partial preference customization
• Community customer support
• Live chat and support ticket access

Notable Features:

• Sales process management
• Integrations with Microsoft, Google, Zoom, DocuSign, Calendly, and QuickBooks products
• Full preference configuration
• 4 GB cloud storage
• 25,000 email sends/month
• Social media and survey campaigns
• Basic marketing automations
• Phone support

Notable Features:

• 6 GB cloud storage
• 50,000 email sends/month
• Asset and website activity tracking
• A/B testing
• Priority customer service support
• “Getting Started” consultation call

One great way to learn more about a software solution and receive unbiased feedback on it is to check out its customer reviews. On the popular software review platform TrustRadius, Act! CRM has an average rating of 6.3 out of 10 across 58 reviews and ratings. 

Here are some verified reviews from TrustRadius by people who used Act! CRM:

“If you are looking for a product that will probably fit your sales cycle right out of the box, then I would recommend ACT! Even if you have some specific things you are looking for, the program is pretty easy to modify, not only for the tables where you input the items, but also on the reporting side. When working with many different clients, everyone may need something just a little different and with ACT! you can make those changes.”

“Well suited for a small company database (store of information), but I think [in my opinion] it lacks in value on a full fledge[d] CRM system.”

“ACT! handles lots of data well, although its search function could be a little more flexible. It has, thus far, been bullet-proof as far as errors and backup (knock on wood). It isn't used to dealing with contacts that are 2 people (couples) with different last names, something specific to our business.”

One common complaint about Act! that shows up a lot in the software’s reviews is the fact that its UI feels a little clunky and outdated. This is somewhat to be expected out of a solution that has been on the market for more than three decades, but it’s a common issue that many users have with the software nonetheless. Another common complaint in Act! reviews is the quality of the company’s support. 

Still, plenty of other users praise Act! CRM’s ease of use and wide range of helpful features. Based on the majority of Act! reviews, it seems that Act! is a solution ideally suited for small to medium-sized businesses that are searching for CRM that offers plenty of functionality and useability right out of the box.

There are plenty of competitors out there that offer CRM software for startups. One of the more popular is Salesforce. We find that Act! compares to Salesforce in the following ways:

Salesforce CRM comes available in four different pricing plans, and all but the base Salesforce plan are more expensive than any of Act! CRM’s plans. Pricing for Salesforce plans ranges from $25 per user per month for the Essentials plan up to $300 per user per month for the Unlimited plan. Pricing for Act! CRM’s plans, meanwhile, ranges from $12–$50 per user per month.

One of the reasons the Salesforce CRM’s higher-tier plans are significantly more expensive than Act! CRM’s pricing plans is the fact that Salesforce’s higher-tier plans offer a much broader range of features and functionalities. While the primary focus of Act! is contact management, Salesforce offers a comprehensive list of CRM tools in its higher-tier plans, including features such as lead registration and rules-based lead scoring, collaborative forecasting, and advanced data analytics features.

Act! and Salesforce both tend to score relatively well when it comes to ease of use. As a much more feature-rich solution, Salesforce tends to come with a somewhat higher learning curve than Act! does. This is especially true for Salesforce’s higher-tier plans. However, Act! does lose some points when it comes to ease of use due to a UI that feels a little outdated.

On G2, Act! CRM has an average ease of use score of 7.8 out of 10, while Salesforce has an average ease of use score of 7.9 out of 10. For ease of setup, meanwhile, Act! has an average score of 7.1 out of 10 compared to Salesforce’s score of 7.2 out of 10.

According to GetApp, Salesforce offers a total of 1,319 integrations. This includes integrations with third-party solutions such as Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Zapier, and Zendesk Suite.

Act! CRM, meanwhile, only offers 44 integrations. Some of Act! CRM’s noteworthy integrations include integrations with Microsoft, Zoom, and QuickBooks.

Generally speaking, Salesforce offers far more room for customization and flexibility than Act! does. This is one key reason why Salesforce tends to be the more popular choice for larger organizations searching for a CRM that will be able to scale alongside their company easily.

Act! CRM allows you to run four categories of reports that are designed to assist with data analysis. This includes contact reports, group reports, company reports, and opportunity reports.

Salesforce, meanwhile, offers a reporting and analytics feature called “Einstein Analytics”. Unlike Act! CRM’s reporting and analytics tools, Einstein Analytics is a feature that is powered by AI and machine learning. Einstein Analytics utilizes AI to analyze data and provide key business insights, which is something that Act! can’t offer.

Both CRM products offer tiered levels of customer support to users. Act! CRM offers live chat and support tickets (during normal business hours) from its lowest plan, while phone support is only available with its Expert plan. With Salesforce, meanwhile, 24/7 support is only available on Salesforce’s Unlimited Plan.

With all that in mind, Act! still tends to score a little lower than Salesforce when it comes to customer support quality. On G2, Act! has an average quality of support score of 7.4 out of 10, while Salesforce has an average score of 7.9 out of 10.

There’s a lot to like about Act!, including its ease of use, the fact that 24/7 customer support comes included with all plans, and its relative affordability. However, Act! CRM does lack many of the tools and features found in a more comprehensive CRM such as Salesforce. Act! CRM’s UI is also a little lacking, and one of the most common knocks against Act! is the fact that its UI has been updated very little over the years.

Act! is a great starter CRM for freelancers and small businesses that are primarily interested in contact management and want a CRM that is ready to use out of the box. As your company grows, however, you will likely need to upgrade to a more advanced CRM.