Act! CRM vs. Constant Contact

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Act! CRM
Score 6.9 out of 10
N/A
Act! CRM (formerly Swiftpage) aims to empower small businesses to build and manage client relationships and leads, so the user always has a pipeline of new, repeat, and referral business under control. Users can manage their businesses with Act! CRM every day, since it’s more than a CRM – it’s designed to present everything needed to stay on top of relationships, see what’s most important and actionable, and run sales and marketing in one place.
$22
per month
Constant Contact
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Constant Contact is a full-featured email marketing solution with capabilities such as social media integration, drag-and-drop editing, and real-time reporting. It is a bulk email tool designed for SMB customers. Since 2019, Constant Contact also offers marketing automation features, a website and landing page builder, and other tools to support midsize businesses.
$12
per month
Pricing
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$22
per user, per month
Act! Premium - Basic
$37.50
per user, per month (billed annually)
Standard
$40
per user, per month
Expert
$55
per user, per month
Select - Extra Features
$79
per user, per month (billed annually)
Complete - Extra Features
$199
per user, per month (billed annually)
Advanced - Extra Features
$399
per user, per month (billed annually)
Lite
Starting at $12.00
per month
Standard
Starting at $35.00
per month
Lead Gen & CRM
Starting at $449.00
per month
Premium
Starting at $80.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor SaaS version, discount available for annual subscription.The SMS Marketing tool can be added to any Core or Plus Constant Contact account. SMS is only available in the US for Core and Plus paid plans. SMS can be added when logged in to an account after purchase. Plans start at $10/month for up to 500 messages.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Considered Both Products
Act! CRM
Chose Act! CRM
ACT! CRM is more cost effective than like a Salesforce, but that is for a reason, it lacks a lot of the functionality that a Salesforce has. Pipedrive is actually another cost effective platform I've been evaluating as a potential ACT! CRM replacement. I like it's modern day …
Constant Contact

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
6.5
3 Ratings
17% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Customer data management / contact management9.83 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.42 Ratings00 Ratings
Territory management8.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Opportunity management9.53 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)1.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Quote & order management4.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Interaction tracking9.42 Ratings00 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management1.42 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
6.0
2 Ratings
22% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Case management1.92 Ratings00 Ratings
Call center management8.22 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk management8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
2.1
3 Ratings
113% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Lead management2.13 Ratings00 Ratings
Email marketing2.13 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
4.0
2 Ratings
62% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Task management8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management1.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting3.02 Ratings00 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
4.8
3 Ratings
45% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Forecasting4.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Pipeline visualization4.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports5.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
3.2
3 Ratings
81% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Custom fields7.83 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom objects2.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Scripting environment2.01 Ratings00 Ratings
API for custom integration1.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
8.0
2 Ratings
4% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
1.8
3 Ratings
119% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Marketing automation1.83 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
2.1
3 Ratings
112% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Mobile access2.13 Ratings00 Ratings
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
-
Ratings
Constant Contact
8.0
114 Ratings
2% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings8.198 Ratings
Dynamic content00 Ratings7.999 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings8.382 Ratings
Landing pages00 Ratings8.073 Ratings
A/B testing00 Ratings7.069 Ratings
Mobile optimization00 Ratings8.586 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings9.1110 Ratings
List management00 Ratings8.3112 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings7.157 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
-
Ratings
Constant Contact
8.0
111 Ratings
2% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.388 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.3109 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.458 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Act! CRM
-
Ratings
Constant Contact
8.0
63 Ratings
6% below category average
URL Validation00 Ratings8.231 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings7.934 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings8.832 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings8.535 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings7.928 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings7.950 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings6.026 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings9.162 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Small Businesses
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Likelihood to Recommend
2.3
(18 ratings)
7.8
(129 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(2 ratings)
9.7
(23 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(7 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
1.9
(14 ratings)
10.0
(9 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Act! CRMConstant Contact
Likelihood to Recommend
ACT! LLC
Swiftpage ACT! would be well suited if you are using a desktop computing environment. ACT! is an old product and they were on the desktop for many years (and still are). Also, ACT! would also be well suited if you are not as concerned about implementing a CRM product that might require a little more training (e.g. if you had employees/salespeople that needed to be trained). Also, ACT! seems to be more generic than some of the industry focused products you see nowadays. For example, MethodCRM works well with non-profits that are on the cloud.
Read full review
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an excellent tool for sending out flyers and newsletters. However, I feel the content's appearance is typically all the same. When I receive an email from Constant Contact, I can immediately identify it - the templates usually all look the same. When sending out communications with images, it is easy to use Constant Contact and link webpages. However, the email layout is always vertical and can get very lengthy. I prefer a more flip-book approach with options to flip the page.
Read full review
Pros
ACT! LLC
  • Integrated Email Marketing: For a small business, you can have a strong method to handle email marketing in an integrated non-disparate solution.
  • Tailoring: There are no limits on what data you can store in the system and the ease of making changes can be done by a nontechnical person.
  • User Interface: The tool is easy to get around in both the desktop (fat client) and (webclient) which both are quite similar in functionality.
  • Integration: The tool integrates with Word, Excel, and Outlook nicely. And, it integrates with Google Mail and Contacts. There is a nice selection of third party tools available for various needs like AddressGrabber which allows for easy input of contacts from various sources such as email signatures, webpages, etc.
  • Templates: I have enjoyed being able to store tons of various templates for letters which we use over and over for various communications like sales proposals, quotes, and nudging clients along the funnel and sales process.
  • Automation: SwiftPage ACT! has a small business automation engine which allows for reminders and workflow to be administered by the system. It's not as sophisticated as some enterprise workflow automation solutions but for the price it's an awesome addition.
  • Maintenance: Very rarely have a problem which needs to be dealt with and costs to upgrade are minimal at best. We hosted the system internally for the web client and implemented it ourselves initially but had upgrades subsequently done by a local partner simply due to time/cost scenario. In other words, less to have someone else do it.
Read full review
Constant Contact
  • Market segmentation is great: my main segmentation is by region because that's how our sales team is divided.
  • Lists: making customized email lists is easy and intuitive; the custom fields allow some flexibility in case our fields don't exactly line up with Constant Contact's.
  • Campaigns: creating campaigns is quick and simple. I especially appreciate the 'resend to non-openers' option. I am constantly using this feature.
  • Subject line generator: I like using the recommended subject lines. I'm able to plug in their recommended ideas, or sometimes, this feature helps me generate my own ideas.
Read full review
Cons
ACT! LLC
  • Not intuitive to use. I will have to contact support for help if I haven't used some functions in a while.
  • It's near impossible to delete duplicates as they have to be deleted individually. This is a problem if you have more than 5000 contacts.
  • Reporting is difficult.
Read full review
Constant Contact
  • It would be nice if we had more customizable options for emails - like moving around pictures and text boxes, rather than a set spot for everything to go.
  • I would like it if multiple people could work on a document at one time. So if I'm in charge of graphics, I can get those updated while someone else is entering content, etc.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
ACT! LLC
There are a lot of good SaaS options on the market but SwiftPage ACT still has a place in the mix today. It depends on your needs, goals, processes, and people
Read full review
Constant Contact
There is no doubt that we are going to renew Constant Contact. We have not just invested a lot of time in learning and creating a great looking product but we have developed a strong database of information that allows us to track how we are doing for each newsletter. This supports our goals of creating products that residents desire and are excited to receive.
Read full review
Usability
ACT! LLC
Try printing reports with each record's notes section - really awful output that you are embarrassed to show anyone. Want to add a new record to a group, ACT will present another record for the group assignment. Want to work seamlessly with email? Forget it!
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Constant Contact
There is always room for improvement. I don't know how they test their systems, but they should invite not-so computer savvy people to test it. If I, as an expert have problems, they need to think like the technophobe. Since I've used Constant Contact in the past as part of my former employment, I have not viewed any of the tutorials and just jumped in to work on my client's newsletter. With that said, I found some areas easy and some a bit cumbersome
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Reliability and Availability
ACT! LLC
No answers on this topic
Constant Contact
No major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics
Read full review
Performance
ACT! LLC
No answers on this topic
Constant Contact
The system seemed quite slow sometimes. Specifically, there was sometimes a delay in sends if it was during a high traffic period. There were time-outs when uploading new code for an email, and a lag in reporting analytics which was sometimes as long as 72 hours
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Support Rating
ACT! LLC
There has been an ongoing problem with Google synchronisation which no one seems to be bothered about fixing, even though it clearly states on the website that the software synchronises with Google. When the customer-facing support team are on the phone, they are brilliant, it's the back-end development support which is severely lacking.
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Constant Contact
I think the overall support for Constant Contact has always been incredible; I have nothing negative to say. Our customer support representative was attentive, easy to understand, and very knowledgeable. I never felt like I wasn't a priority of his and my issues, while very small, were fixed in a very short time frame.
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Implementation Rating
ACT! LLC
Delay your upgrades! ACT appears to ship out new software with virtually no checking and no concern about bad installs do to their customers.
Read full review
Constant Contact
Implementation is very easy for someone who wants to send out the “batch and blast” type newsletters. If you want to use their templates with no customizations, the product works fine. However, the more customizations you get into involving link color, etc, that’s where things can get tricky for someone who may not be familiar with coding
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Alternatives Considered
ACT! LLC
ACT! CRM is more cost effective than like a Salesforce, but that is for a reason, it lacks a lot of the functionality that a Salesforce has. Pipedrive is actually another cost effective platform I've been evaluating as a potential ACT! CRM replacement. I like it's modern day look and feel versus ACT!.
Read full review
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is much more intuitive for people who are not tech-savvy. Also, while sendgrid offered more options in it's drag and drop interface, it displayed differently across different email clients, which made it very cumbersome to use. It also took much longer to upload contact lists and it was harder to manage existing contacts. Performance in sendgrid was much slower as well, and the Preview feature was quite buggy. Our team initially chose sendgrid because of the integration options that it's API offered, but we ultimately switched to Constant Contact because it was much easier to build campaigns and better suited our requirements.
Read full review
Scalability
ACT! LLC
No answers on this topic
Constant Contact
Very reliable in sending email campaigns and controlling the recipients so that no contact is sent the same email more than once, even if they are on a resent list
Read full review
Return on Investment
ACT! LLC
  • It's been easy to keep track of progress of goals with the software. This provides the opportunity to know what is working and what is not.
  • We have had to adjust a lot of things since the Virus issue took a foothold, but it is providing invaluable to make those adjustments.
  • Our ROI has increased at least 30%.
Read full review
Constant Contact
  • I have had nothing but positive impacts from using Constant Contact.
  • The church is large, and there are many subgroups and axillary groups within the church. Setting up specific groups based on responsibility, interest, member goals, and service needs allows me to send information quickly, saving valuable time for other tasks.
  • Constant Contact allows leadership to stay personally engaged with the members I work with, without over-taxing my time. It feels so seamless.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Constant Contact Screenshots

Screenshot of The AI Content Generator can be used to create content for emails, social posts, or SMS.Screenshot of Advanced Automation workflows make sure marketing is always on.Screenshot of Hundreds of pre-built email templates are available or a simple drag-and-drop email editor is available to start from scratch.Screenshot of The Social Posting tool is used to plan and post Social media messaging across platforms.Screenshot of SMS Marketing can reach customers wherever they are.Screenshot of E-commerce tools can be integrated with Constant Contact to sell more.