Act-On Software vs. FreshMail

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)
FreshMail
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
FreshMail is a browser based email marketing solution used to create and send newsletter campaigns. This solution leads users from campaign planning and creation to final reports.N/A
Pricing
Act-On SoftwareFreshMail
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-OnFreshMail
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredRequired
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.FreshMail is absolutely free if you send less than 2000 emails to up to 500 subscribers per month.
More Pricing Information
Features
Act-On SoftwareFreshMail
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
FreshMail
8.4
3 Ratings
3% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor8.1112 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Dynamic content8.192 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.292 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Landing pages8.1108 Ratings9.02 Ratings
A/B testing8.195 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.2103 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.1112 Ratings10.03 Ratings
List management8.1111 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.187 Ratings8.53 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
FreshMail
-
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
FreshMail
-
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
FreshMail
-
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
FreshMail
8.2
3 Ratings
6% above category average
Dashboards8.1109 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Standard reports8.1112 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Custom reports8.184 Ratings8.53 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
FreshMail
-
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
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
FreshMail
8.4
2 Ratings
1% below category average
URL Validation00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Act-On SoftwareFreshMail
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 out of 10
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareFreshMail
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(219 ratings)
8.5
(3 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 SoftwareFreshMail
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
FreshMail
The platform works very well for sending emails with simple layouts, it also allows you to keep track of the opening data of those who receive the emails. The platform could improve its ability to modify databases and integrate with other platforms in order to automate some of the marketing actions.
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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
FreshMail
  • Location targeting to filter people based on their region
  • Auto responding to questions and similar inquiries related to content
  • Engaging and building interest in the product
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
FreshMail
  • My campaign got delayed because of their moderation process. When I wrote them to ask what was going on they said they have some kind of anti-spam moderation process that was taking longer than usual.
  • I don’t like the fact that you can’t edit your template in HTML in their editing program (FreshMail Designer). This is probably isn’t a big deal for most people but some of us like to take over every detail of the template.
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
FreshMail
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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
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
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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
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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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
FreshMail stands out for its ease of email design. Being a specialised email tool, it is more versatile when it comes to obtaining data from users, it is more intuitive, as the amount of time that needs to be invested in learning how to design emails, landing pages, a/b testing and others, is much less than the competition
Read full review
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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
  • Better Outreach
  • Hitting the objective of marketing prospects qualified
  • Return on cost
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

FreshMail Screenshots

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