Best for
Best for small businesses that want CRM and email marketing from one vendor, with the option of a self-managed desktop edition.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
CRM Comparison
Act! vs. HubSpot
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for growing sales and marketing teams that want to start on a free CRM and scale into automation, forecasting and a large app ecosystem.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Act! | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $30 / user / month Act! Advantage Standard, billed annually. Act! Premium Desktop is $40 per user/month and the Enterprise Engagement tier is quoted by the vendor. Prices in US dollars. | lower value Free plan for 2 users; paid from $7 / seat / month Sales Hub Starter at $7 per seat/month billed annually ($20 billed monthly). Professional is $90 and Enterprise starts at $150 per seat/month, each with a one-time onboarding fee ($1,500 and $3,500). Prices are in US dollars. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free CRM plan for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no expiry and no credit card required |
| Users | Not stated | 299,000 customers |
| API | Yes, the Act! Web API, a JSON REST API with OData querying and an OpenAPI (Swagger) 2.0 description, plus a .NET native SDK | Yes, public API and a marketplace of more than 2,000 integrations |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) on AWS, or self-managed on-premises with Act! Premium Desktop | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | United States | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Contacts and companies | Yes, contacts with notes, history, documents and activities, plus companies, secondary contacts, call lists ranked by engagement and an AI history summary | Yes, contact and company records with full communication history and activity logging, up to 1,000 contacts on the free plan |
| Deal pipeline | Yes, opportunity management with a drag-and-drop pipeline view, in-context KPIs, an interactive sales funnel and a configurable sales process | Yes, customizable deal pipelines to store, track, manage and report on opportunities |
| Email and calendar | Yes, two-way contact, calendar and email integration with Microsoft Outlook, Office 365 and Google, on Windows and Mac | Yes, email tracking, a meeting scheduler and calendar sync |
| Workflow automation | Yes, a visual workflow designer for drip and nurture campaigns on every plan; marketing automation with lead scoring, progressive profiling and prioritised activity scheduling on Act! Advantage Ultimate | Yes, workflow automation and task tracking, with the Breeze AI assistant on paid plans |
| Reporting and forecasting | Yes, reports and interactive dashboards on every plan, plus a welcome-page productivity dashboard showing top deals and key activities | Yes, reporting dashboards with pipeline visualization and sales forecasting |
| Integrations and API | Yes, the Act! Web API on every plan (JSON REST with OData and OpenAPI 2.0) plus Microsoft Office, Outlook and Google integrations and .csv data import | Yes, public API and a marketplace of more than 2,000 integrations |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars, Guided onboarding, Personal consulting | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Gmail, Google Contacts, Google Calendar | more entries Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Salesforce, WordPress, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Act! From $30 / user / month HubSpot Free plan for 2 users; paid from $7 / seat / month
- Free trial Act! 14-day free trial, no credit card required HubSpot Free CRM plan for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no expiry and no credit card required
- Deployment Act! Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise HubSpot Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Hosting Act! Cloud (SaaS) on AWS, or self-managed on-premises with Act! Premium Desktop HubSpot Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Act! Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat HubSpot Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Act!
Strengths
- Cloud and self-managed on-premises editions from the same vendor
- CRM, email marketing, web forms, surveys, website chat and appointment booking in one subscription
- Act! Web API included on every plan, with OData querying and an OpenAPI description
- 14-day free trial without a credit card
Limitations
- Prices are quoted per user billed annually
- The entry tier includes 2,500 email sends a month; larger allowances require a higher tier
- SMS text messaging is a paid add-on starting at $19 per month
HubSpot
Strengths
- Free CRM for up to 2 users with contact management, deals and email tracking
- Scales from free tools to a full sales, marketing and service platform
- Marketplace of more than 2,000 integrations plus a public API
- Breeze AI assistant on paid plans
Limitations
- Professional and Enterprise carry one-time onboarding fees ($1,500 and $3,500)
- Costs rise quickly as you add seats and hubs
Plans
Pricing
Act!
- Act! Advantage Standard $30 Per user/month billed annually. Full CRM and mobile app, basic email marketing with 2,500 sends a month, Office 365 and Gmail integration, standard forms, surveys, website chat and event management, reports and dashboards, 15 GB cloud storage.
- Act! Advantage Professional $45 Per user/month billed annually. Adds Email Marketing Plus with 25,000 sends a month, turnkey and nurture campaigns, AI history summary and AI writing assistant, accounting integration, project management and 25 GB storage.
- Act! Advantage Ultimate $60 Per user/month billed annually. Adds marketing automation with 50,000 sends a month, lead scoring, progressive profiling, an additional email domain, custom industry tables, an online customer portal, enhanced support and 35 GB storage.
- Act! Premium Desktop $40 Per user/month billed annually. Self-managed on-premises deployment with networked and offline access, self-managed security and full control of updates.
- Enterprise Engagement Not stated Quoted by the vendor. Private hosting and custom deployment, a dedicated project manager, custom scoping and enhanced security and compliance.
HubSpot
- Free Tools $0 Free for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no credit card required.
- Starter $7 Sales Hub Starter, per seat/month billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Professional $90 Per seat/month billed annually ($100 monthly), plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.
- Enterprise $150 Starting price, per seat/month, plus a one-time $3,500 onboarding fee.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Act!
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
HubSpot
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Act! https://www.act.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
HubSpot https://www.hubspot.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.