Act-On Software vs. Constant Contact

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Act-On
Score 8.0 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
Constant Contact
Score 7.8 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-On SoftwareConstant Contact
Editions & Modules
Professional
$900
per month
Enterprise
$2,000+
per month
Lite
Starting at $12.00
per month
Standard
Starting at $35.00
per month
Premium
Starting at $80.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act-OnConstant Contact
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
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 allows for much more customization, the package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 6 marketing users, 100 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. Annual contract required for all packages.The SMS Marketing tool can be added to any Standard or Premium Constant Contact account. SMS is only available in the US for Standard and Premium 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-On SoftwareConstant Contact
Considered Both Products
Act-On
Chose Act-On Software
We use multiple platforms for different clients. SharpSpring is great for clients that are new to the content marketing game and haven't had much of a business development / CRM tracking process in place while Act-On has a more robust platform with a larger suite of options. Str…
Chose Act-On Software
Act-On offers significantly improved functionality and a far more robust platform. It does numerous things that Constant Contact doesn't even try to accomplish. I can do everything I used to do in Constant Contact with Act-On, and have expanded my capabilities significantly.
Chose Act-On Software
Everything is better with Act-On Software. The landing pages, the email editing, the reporting, the campaigns, and the automated programs are just a few things I love more than Constant Contact. It's by far the best ESP out there and any sales company not using it is making a …
Chose Act-On Software
Superior in every way at a competitive cost.
Chose Act-On Software
We have been evaluating HubSpot and Zoho CRM. These 2 are more expensive and more robust. These include more of the sales side interactions like pipelines, tasks, marketing emails, etc. Our team uses ACT as more of a Rolodex then a tool. Because we do have an outside ticket …
Chose Act-On Software
Many more, too^^^

The best after any free one. Once a company has a budget it's time for Act-On.
Chose Act-On Software
Act-On has a much more hands-on customer support focus than any of the other companies that we have worked with that do similar things. They also have a really easy to use platform (however I know they all do). It's one of those products that you feel good when you are using it.
Chose Act-On Software
We chose Act-On because it was by far the easiest to use and has a streamlined interface. It's the only one I looked at and wanted to jump in and start using. It's also a bargain compared to similar solutions.
Chose Act-On Software

Sophisticated email design program

Act-On does not advertise themselves on your email

Added features of website tracking, SEO audits, lead management, additional account instances so you can share email templates.

Chose Act-On Software
Act-On was a much more price competitive product than Marketo and similair providers and had by far the best customer service and support. Act-On had no hidden costs and we were able to scale up when we needed to with ease. Other colleagues have advised that Act-On is also much …
Chose Act-On Software
Much more sophisticated with many more features. More professional looking output and better stats.
Chose Act-On Software
We are software selection advisers, therefore, we are constantly working with organizations searching for various tools to help them. That noted, the decision to go forward with ACT-On as opposed to others options was a bit unique. The key factor was we knew what we wanted and …
Chose Act-On Software
When compared to others, Act-On Software is:

  • User-friendly
Chose Act-On Software
Act-On allows us to more effectively manage our contact lists and use segments of the lists to send or exclude sending email campaigns. Most importantly, it integrates all the email response activity, as well as website activity, around the contact. So we, can look at a person …
Chose Act-On Software
We've gone through Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, Survey Monkey and some others. Mostly we found the other products weren't intuitive as far as designing templates the way we wanted them to look, but without a having an actual designer on staff.
Chose Act-On Software
Hubspot.

Hubspot is generally more expensive but barriers to entry are higher, even beyond pricing. Training costs, for example, are much higher.
Chose Act-On Software
I have used ConstantContact and MailChimp, Act-On has more to offer as far as ways to reach your client.
Chose Act-On Software
I used Constant Contact briefly but Act-On offers a much more complete package.
Chose Act-On Software
I've used MailChimp and Constant Contact (both on lower level versions, not the more robust enterprise versions). I've evaluated Marketo.

The former two are not full service automation, but I would prefer them over Act-On solely for email services. I'd love Marketo, but I wasn't …
Chose Act-On Software
Pardot
Marketo
Constant Contact
Constant Contact

No answer on this topic

Features
Act-On SoftwareConstant Contact
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.1
122 Ratings
6% above category average
Constant Contact
8.1
118 Ratings
1% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor7.4121 Ratings8.3101 Ratings
Dynamic content8.2100 Ratings7.7102 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.9100 Ratings8.582 Ratings
Landing pages8.2116 Ratings7.876 Ratings
A/B testing7.9104 Ratings7.271 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.2111 Ratings8.686 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.1121 Ratings9.0114 Ratings
List management8.6120 Ratings8.3116 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences8.596 Ratings7.260 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.2
122 Ratings
5% above category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.4111 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.1111 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.4110 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.8102 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.4
82 Ratings
1% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Calendaring6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing7.981 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.1
74 Ratings
5% below category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.172 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration7.166 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.7
122 Ratings
5% above category average
Constant Contact
8.1
115 Ratings
6% above category average
Dashboards7.8116 Ratings8.488 Ratings
Standard reports7.7120 Ratings8.3113 Ratings
Custom reports7.691 Ratings7.558 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.8
115 Ratings
5% above category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
API8.475 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.276 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability8.295 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com8.569 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM7.038 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM6.830 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations7.36 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Constant Contact
8.1
67 Ratings
1% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings8.231 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings7.934 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings8.932 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings8.635 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings7.928 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings8.154 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings6.026 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings9.366 Ratings
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User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareConstant Contact
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(227 ratings)
8.3
(133 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(112 ratings)
9.9
(23 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(43 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(14 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(13 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(39 ratings)
10.0
(9 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(16 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(22 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Act-On SoftwareConstant Contact
Likelihood to Recommend
Act-On
We often have quick turnaround time requests, and Act-On's new composer is great because it is easy to make an email look great in desktop or mobile views. This has been a huge time-saver for us! We have benefited from using Act-On for many years and are accustomed to where everything is and how to use it. For the new accounts we train, we will sometimes hear that the organization of where things are could be improved.
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-On
  • The templates are easy to use and set up campaigns.
  • It's simple to use, and the email editor features a drag-and-drop interface.
  • It's easy to set up a drip campaign or a series of scheduled emails.
  • It has the flexibility of having a variety of scheduling options and the use of user experience automation.
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-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
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-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
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-On
It's a great tool for our business, and we get a fantastic ROI on it every year based on wins for customer service and automation responses. It's save projects, repaired salesperson/customer relationships and generated new sales and interest yearly. We really wouldn't hesitate to recommend this platform at all.
Read full review
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
Read full review
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
Constant Contact
No major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics
Read full review
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
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
Read full review
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
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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.
Read full review
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
Constant Contact
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
Constant Contact
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
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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
Read full review
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
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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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ScreenShots

Act-On Screenshots

Screenshot of the Automated Journey Builder. Here, users can personalize customer interactions from awareness to loyalty.Screenshot of the Analytics Dashboard. This is used to compare performance over time, filter by segment, and export report components.Screenshot of the Email Composer. Here is where users design emails optimized for desktop and mobile with a drag and drop builder.

Constant Contact Screenshots

Screenshot of the AI Content Generator that can be used to create content for emails, social posts, or SMS.Screenshot of Curate Advanced Automation workflows to make sure your marketing is always on - even when you're not.Screenshot of Edit one of our hundreds of pre-built email templates or start from scratch with our simple to use drag-and-drop email editor.Screenshot of Plan and post your social media messaging across platforms with our Social Posting tool.Screenshot of Reach your customers wherever they are with SMS Marketing.Screenshot of Integrate with powerful  tools to grow more using Constant Contact.