Act-On Software vs. Sage CRM

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)
Sage CRM
Score 7.6 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Sage CRM is an SMB-oriented CRM platform offered in both SaaS and on-premise editions. Unlike the Sage SalesLogix product, the SaaS version is a true multi-tenant offering. The platform offers excellent integration with Sage ERP and accounting products. It is also a good global solution and is available in many languages and is used by over 12,000 customers worldwide, with many customers in Europe.
$33
per month
Pricing
Act-On SoftwareSage CRM
Editions & Modules
Professional
$900
per month (starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Enterprise
$2,000
per month ( starts at 2,500 active contacts)
Sage CRM (cloud)
$45
Per User per Month
Sage CRM (on premise)
Lifetime License per Seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act-OnSage CRM
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo 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 package starts at 2,500 active contacts, 6 marketing users, 100 sales users and 30,000 API calls per day. Annual contract required.Tiered pricing is available for multiple users.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Act-On SoftwareSage CRM
Considered Both Products
Act-On

No answer on this topic

Sage CRM
Chose Sage CRM
I believe that Sage CRM is superior to Salesforce, having worked with both I found Salesforce tedious to work with, not very logical set up and key information was hard to find. I know that people that have not had the pleasure of working with Sage CRM were satisfied with …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Act-On SoftwareSage CRM
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sage CRM
-
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
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.8
17 Ratings
14% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings9.017 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings8.616 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings8.917 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings8.514 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings9.216 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings8.716 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.1
16 Ratings
8% above category average
Case management00 Ratings8.016 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings8.215 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings8.214 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.7
16 Ratings
14% above category average
Lead management00 Ratings8.816 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings8.715 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
9.0
17 Ratings
17% above category average
Task management00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings9.015 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings9.113 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.6
17 Ratings
12% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings8.716 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.416 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings8.717 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.6
17 Ratings
13% above category average
Custom fields00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings8.516 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings8.314 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
8.7
17 Ratings
5% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.717 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.813 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
9.4
13 Ratings
25% above category average
Social data00 Ratings9.513 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings9.313 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
9.0
14 Ratings
23% above category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings9.114 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings8.912 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Sage CRM
7.8
16 Ratings
4% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings7.816 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Act-On SoftwareSage CRM
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareSage CRM
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(219 ratings)
8.9
(28 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(112 ratings)
5.1
(11 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(32 ratings)
8.9
(11 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(13 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(39 ratings)
7.9
(8 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(4 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(22 ratings)
8.0
(1 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 SoftwareSage CRM
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
Sage
as it is a very flexible software that can be adapted to any business model, other functions human resource management, manufacturing and supply chain planning, all these functions are housed in a highly technological interface. I liked this system because it made automating accounts payable so much easier.the control of the basic accounting of any type of company
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
Sage
  • When in client profile, it is very intuitive, allowing you to easily transcribe notes in the clients profile.
  • Sage allows 3rd party plugins, so if you utilize a particular phone services or would like to import something as simple as google drive, its compatible.
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
Sage
  • Reliance on Apache Tomcat causes a lot of headaches. There are common issues trying to start up the server, resulting from Apache Tomcat misconfigurations, or Java. Some forum posts on Sage City address common issues, but digging into server logs seems to be an often occurrence.
  • Support is somewhat lacking, less user install base means error messages are sometimes hard to find quick answers for. Most of the knowledge found on the internet is in the Sage City forum.
  • Integration with Microsoft 365 causes you to have to turn off some security features. This will result in your 365 tenants running lower security standards than recommended, it may put you at risk for targeted attacks.
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
Sage
There are really no other words to say, it is a very easy to use application that is more straightforward and has provided better results with the bulk of features that appeal to a very broad amount of users. There may be other CRM platforms out there that are more prevalent, but I have found them to be much more clunky and less intuitive than Sage CRM.
Read full review
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
Sage
Excellent integration with the most important social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) to get leads. The mobile app is quite useful for speeding up the tasks at hand and not relying on the computer or being in the office to get them done.
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
Sage
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
Sage
Sage works very quickly based on the network you are using it on. It is internet based so if your network is slow, it will perform slowly. Reports seem to run reasonably fast, if there is too much information it is trying to populate that could slow it down a little. When Sage CRM is integrated with a Sage ERP product it doesn't tend to slow down either system at all
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
Read full review
Sage
Support team is really slow and they need to work on this really. Sometimes it takes days to resolve a simple query and there is no way to get it expedited. Rest the product is is amazing but the team should look into the costumer support and get it working
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
Sage
Most training would come after a upgrade. Otherwise we would self teach new employees. Training was with a Sage Software partner SWK technologies.
Read full review
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
Sage
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
Sage
The implementation and upgrades were rather quick and straight forward. Attempting to link Sage CRM with Sage 100 ERP however was a nightmare and will be avoided by us in the future due to numerous issues.
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
Sage
Whilst SAGE CRM was selected around 10 years ago and we became a partner, the main contenders would have been at the time Sales Logix and MS CRM 4.0. However, we had extensive experience of the mid-market CRM's and decided on SAGE CRM since it had a clean, easy to understand interface and importantly offered both workflow automation and Self Service capability, all of which across both the Case and Sales and Marketing functionality was seamless and saved time. As it was pure browser based, access was from anywhere we wanted. In my view, SAGE CRM still stacks up well against all the other mid-market CRM systems and offers good value for money, but more importantly, it is an easy to operate and customisable solution which user like. Again, we can teach administration users very quickly to support and customise themselves since the admin. function are clear as well.
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
Sage
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
Sage
  • It is very affordable in pricing, compared to competitors
  • Lead management and convertion into prospects is also a very easy process
  • Lead capture from web pages should be available, and better ways to capture leads from tradeshows by uploading directly from scanned business cards
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