Act-On Software vs. Bound

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Act-On
Score 8.2 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Act-On is an adaptive marketing platform designed to drive personal and purposeful multi-channel marketing. Its foci are inbound and outbound marketing, for enabling a tighter alignment with sales and turning data into actionable insights.
$900
per month (starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Bound
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Bound (formerly Get Smart Content) is a website segmentation and targeting platform that enables marketers to read a website visitor's digital body language and serve relevant content based on the person's stage in the buying journey. Using behavioral, demographic, and firmographic data, Bound creates personalized web experiences for both anonymous and known website visitors to increase the effectiveness of marketing efforts and dramatically reduce the buyer's path to conversion. Bound partners…N/A
Pricing
Act-On SoftwareBound
Editions & Modules
Professional
$900
per month (starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Enterprise
$2,000
per month ( starts at 2,500 active contacts)
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act-OnBound
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredOptional
Additional DetailsThe Professional package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 3 marketing users, 50 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. The Enterprise package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 6 marketing users, 100 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. Annual contract required.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Act-On SoftwareBound
Considered Both Products
Act-On
Chose Act-On Software
I chose Act-On for their industry leadership in three main areas:
1. How they support their product
2. Innovative, user-centered development of the product
Chose Act-On Software
Act-On concentrates on marketing aspects and provides excellent functionality, where as Sugar CRM's focus is on CRM DB functionality, and their user interface and historical reporting does not come ready made. Act-On provides easy download of latest information from CRM and …
Bound

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Act-On SoftwareBound
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.8
113 Ratings
0% above category average
Bound
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content8.192 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.292 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages8.1108 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.2103 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
List management8.1111 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.187 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
113 Ratings
5% above category average
Bound
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.1104 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.1104 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.1102 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.5
77 Ratings
2% below category average
Bound
-
Ratings
Calendaring6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing8.176 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
71 Ratings
8% above category average
Bound
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns8.169 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration8.163 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
114 Ratings
8% above category average
Bound
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.1109 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.1112 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.184 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.9
107 Ratings
4% above category average
Bound
-
Ratings
API8.167 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.171 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability8.189 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com8.165 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM8.136 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM7.129 Ratings00 Ratings
Testing and Experimentation
Comparison of Testing and Experimentation features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Bound
9.7
1 Ratings
15% above category average
a/b experiment testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Split URL testing00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multivariate testing00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multi-page/funnel testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Cross-browser testing00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Mobile app testing00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Test significance00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Visual / WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Advanced code editor00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Page surveys00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Visitor recordings00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Preview mode00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Test duration calculator00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Experiment scheduler00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Experiment workflow and approval00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Dynamic experiment activation00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Client-side tests00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Server-side tests00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Mutually exclusive tests00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Audience Segmentation & Targeting
Comparison of Audience Segmentation & Targeting features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Bound
9.8
1 Ratings
13% above category average
Standard visitor segmentation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Behavioral visitor segmentation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Traffic allocation control00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Website personalization00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Results and Analysis
Comparison of Results and Analysis features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Bound
9.4
1 Ratings
11% above category average
Heatmap tool00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Click analytics00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Scroll maps00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Form fill analysis00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Conversion tracking00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Goal tracking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Test reporting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Results segmentation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
CSV export00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Experiments results dashboard00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Act-On SoftwareBound
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 out of 10
Convert Experiences
Convert Experiences
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareBound
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(219 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(112 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(32 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(39 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(22 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Act-On SoftwareBound
Likelihood to Recommend
Act-On
Act-On simplifies the creation of landing pages, web forms, email campaigns, and other types of marketing automation. Designing a customer journey using the workflow builder (a nurturing flow) is possible. It is used in various ways and in a variety of contexts. Tactical's knowledgeable support team helped us unlock Act-On's potential for complex integrations and marketing campaigns. In some areas, it would be beneficial to improve functionality.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
I think the customer service and relationship we have with Get Smart Content is great
Read full review
Pros
Act-On
  • Establishes a simple but very decisive way of how to perform specialized marketing work.
  • It includes the monitoring of advertising networks or account management on digital platforms and social networks.
  • The support is solid; it takes all the suggestions and doubts I have regarding the software.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
  • Connects easily with other APIs such as Demandbase and Google Analytics.
  • Easily create segments.
  • Easily create segmented content.
Read full review
Cons
Act-On
  • The designer tools, especially for emails, were often difficult to use. The formatting of the text would be all over the place and change / refuse to change at random. Moving boxes around was shifty and sometimes nearly impossible. It just wasn't customizeable enough. No "undo" functionality either.
  • The only way to collect information expansively over time (there's a term Act-On uses for it, I can't recall) where it adds questions to the form each time a user fills it out, is if the person were to fill out the same form multiple times. I know this does happen for some websites/resources, but as a company that wanted to collect new information each time someone filled out any form, regardless of the resource or the URL, that was simply not an option, and that doesn't really make a lot of sense. I know it's not really possible to track someone but if they filled out the first part of the form and then it added new questions to answer, and then they submitted and got through the gating, that would actually be helpful.
  • There was no "trash can" of sorts in case you deleted something by mistake. This could be so stress-inducing if it was a major project. My coworker did this once, contacted Act-On, they couldn't even recover it.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
  • When you set up a campaign you should be able to set up content while in the campaign.
  • You should be able to set up new segments while in the campaign.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Act-On
It's my single biggest asset in my current role. With limited resources, its enabled Anachron to punch well above our weight marketing wise and although we're still at the beginning of our journey I know the system can scale with us
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Usability
Act-On
It's good, but not quite brilliant. Some parts of the interface are still a bit outdated. The product has been evolving very fast, though, and I believe in a few months it will be up there with the best of them, interface wise as well.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Act-On
I have always found them quick to respond to my query by web inquiry. In those instances when I call, I have always reached help quickly. They are conscientious and skilled in discussing my concern and finding a solution to my problem. Other tech organizations should use Act-On as a model for top-notch customer service.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Performance
Act-On
Great for the most part. Sometimes there are little lags, but that's likely because I'm requesting to see a lot of data at one time.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Act-On
Since we start using Act-on for ourselves and our clients, we have been supported very well. Often we need to integrate with legacy systems and we find the support team on our side during the whole endeavor. Always asking if they can help us further, always willing to do a better job. The support of Act-On is one of the main differentiators
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Act-On
Dan D. was great. He took the time to understand how I needed the program to run, and was very flexible to our special CRM setup.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Act-On
Act-On had a lot of resources, and their staff was great at answering any questions I had to make sure we got started on the right foot. Looking back, I would have preferred some additional training sessions since we didn't have any previous experience with Marketing Automation and best practices.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Act-On
What impressed me most is that Act-On showed full committment in making our implementation successful, even when it required additional support from their team. This gave me a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings. Most other software software vendors are not anywhere close to being this responsive and effective
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Act-On
Act-On is easier to use than Marketo, but not as visually appealing and user-friendly as HubSpot. It's much better than Pardot, as Pardot feel clunky every step of the way. SharpSpring is comparable because of its price point but surpasses Act-On in its tools and intuitive interface. We selected Act-On because of the pricing model and thought all things would be close to parity with other options. It depends on the team you have. If you have developers and a marketing team that knows some html/css, you can get by with Act-On.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
It has the inability to export subject line or ISP complaints that require manual pulling by each campaign when needed. Results from variable tests are also reported only as a percentage of chosen KPI (opens, clicks, etc.). There's no ability to see hard numbers from the tests or other metrics to determine the statistical significance or unintended results (maybe opens increased per the test, but we saw clicks or conversions were lower). On the other hand, Bound performs absolutely great.
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Scalability
Act-On
Before I feel like I need more features, the Act-On customer service reps are contacting me telling about new features as part of my account.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Act-On
  • With the Automated Series, we were able to put in place campaigns that generated revenue that took no time to continue running once set up. This was a positive feature allowing employees to work on another project while the campaign ran on their own.
Read full review
Bound Systems, Inc.
  • We have seen more traffic going to revenue generating sites after using Get Smart Content. I'm not sure of the dollar amount since that's a separate department, but traffic increasing is great.
  • Engagement on our internal site has increased after implementing Get Smart Content. We are getting more views, comments and likes on our content than before.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Act-On Screenshots

Screenshot of List Segmentation - Segmentation using behavioral, demographic and/or firmographic dataScreenshot of the Quickstart PageScreenshot of Landing Page Composer - landing pages are designed with a drag and drop function

Bound Screenshots

Screenshot of Campaign viewScreenshot of Segment viewScreenshot of Segment list