Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Act-On
Score 8.4 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
Swrve
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
VerticalResponse is an email campaign management software and services platform from Deluxe. In addition to providing email marketing tools, VerticalResponse offers fully managed email marketing services from campaign launch and management to reporting and analysis.
$11
per month
Pricing
Act-On SoftwareSwrveVerticalResponse
Editions & Modules
Professional
$900
per month
Enterprise
$2,000+
per month
No answers on this topic
Basic
$11.00
per month
Pro
$16.00
per month
Pro Plus
$196.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Act-OnSwrveVerticalResponse
Free Trial
NoNoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo 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.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Act-On SoftwareSwrveVerticalResponse
Considered Multiple Products
Act-On
Chose Act-On
Mailchimp is a joke in my opinion. Super manual and feels too sparse. Not designed by programmers. ConvertKit is even worse. Super limited templates for a company that...is selling email templates. Shitty integration options.
Chose Act-On
Act-On pairs better with our internal CRM and provides exactly what we need. The price is better, and the working relationship with Act-On has traditionally been a good one.
Chose Act-On
We chose Act-On for its ability to support our customers within a single account. The Marketing Network is a huge benefit to our business and the offerings we provide to our customers. In previously working with Hubpsot and Salesforce, we found the support to be lacking - often …
Chose Act-On
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
It's got way more bells and whistles, and we really just trust it more. Sure the Dynamics automated platform could help us, but we chose not to use it as Act-On Software sold us on their ease of use. We haven't regretted our decision and are now in the 6th (or maybe 7th) year …
Chose Act-On
Superior in every way at a competitive cost.
Chose Act-On
To improve the system, Act-On is developing custom reports and workflows. It is incredibly flexible as well as functionally sound and reliable. The other features that our team enjoys the most are the features such as all contacts. Creating landing pages and web forms is a snap …
Chose Act-On
Act-On has been committed to improving the system and performance through customized reports and workflows to motivate customers and track their progress and participation.
Chose Act-On
We investigated heavily into automation platforms prior to purchasing. Act-On was easily the stand out because:
  1. Interactive reporting. Getting behavioral data and other analytics is critical for us making the educated decisions we need for our business to continue to succeed.
  2. Enh…
Chose Act-On
Hootsuite allows me to add a month's worth of content to all of our social media platforms at one time. My problem with Act-On is it would not connect our accounts and when it did it would not use the company account. It would only use my personal account. Hootsuite also gives …
Chose Act-On
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
Acton does really well in ease of setup, quality of support, and also does a decent job in dashboard creation. These features are something that drove us to opt for Act-on.
Chose Act-On
I am a relatively new HubSpot user and have only used a few different things on there but so far, the UI/UX is much more pleasant, seems more organized, seems more capable in general. I had heard rave reviews about HubSpot from my former coworkers who were using Act-On with me, …
Chose Act-On
I think that if you're just starting out in email marketing, you'll probably navigate to a tool like MailChimp. When you've gotten a good base of what the industry is and you want to do a little bit more, then you'll upgrade to Hubspot and then to Act-On. I feel like Act-on is …
Chose Act-On
I would select Act-On over competitors in the marketing space. While it can be used for sales outreach, I would not select it as a sales tool.
Chose Act-On
Act-On is the scrappy little program that could. One of the biggest problems of the larger ESP and ABM services is that companies have to meet a high standard with their other software and IT in order to use them. I think this is a big failing on their part, considering that …
Chose Act-On
We used to use a combination of SugarCRM and Inbox25, but we moved to a Microsoft platform and had to go to a compatible platform. Act-On was the perfect fit since it was compatible with both Sugar CRM and Dynamics CRM, which made our change over and integration relatively …
Chose Act-On
Many more, too^^^

The best after any free one. Once a company has a budget it's time for Act-On.
Chose Act-On
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
A colleague used iContact but it did not offer us the ability to build content as efficiently as ActOn. In addition, the survey, landing page and automated program functionality was not available or not as advanced.
Chose 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 …
Chose Act-On
We like to know a variety here, and we know multiple marketing automation platforms to help provide the best direction to our clients. We need to provide the know-how in many different use cases. Sometimes, Act-On isn't always the best solution for a company's needs. Marketers …
Chose Act-On
Act-On was decided upon by the Marketing and Operations team. I am part of the Development team and was consulted on the aspects of reporting. However, our Marketing/Operations team were very pleased with the way you could personalize and create your own emails and campaigns …
Swrve
Chose Swrve
Localytics' Analytics interface was more simple to use, but we chose Swrve primarily for the messaging capabilities and the analytics were a bonus. We found Swrve's messaging to be far superior to Localytics and really benefitted from the Eloqua integration so that we could …
Chose Swrve
There's some overlap with other products, but Swrve's segmentation and push management are its key differentiators.
VerticalResponse
Chose VerticalResponse
In addition to using Vertical Response personally I also manage email marketing for clients that already use Mailchimp, Robly and Constant Contact. While most of these platforms all offer similar features I choose Vertical Response first if the client does not have a platform …
Chose VerticalResponse
Vertical Response is most akin to Constant Contact. No frills, agile, easy to use. The one advantage that it has over Constant Contact is that you don't need to be locked into a month-to-month plan, which is what I needed. Salesforce and HubSpot aren't fair comparisons--these …
Chose VerticalResponse
This was the first bulk emailing system that I tried. I looked into Constant Contact.
Chose VerticalResponse
I think Vertical Response is a lot more user-friendly than Constant Contact and allows for more features that constant contact does not. I like the email WYSIWYG feature better on here and it allows us to preview our emails before we send them out to our entire customer base.
Chose VerticalResponse
Vertical Response was already in use when I joined the organization. It was selected for affordability. In comparison to other email marketing platforms, it was harder to use for an end user, but we were able to hire a developer to create some custom templates, and that worked …
Chose VerticalResponse
Pardot is a good tool but with the cost you will get a better value from Vertical Response and easier design capabilities. MailChimp is a widely used tool but I found the list segmentation and general template at Vertical Response to be better.
Chose VerticalResponse
I am a true believer in Vertical Response. So much so, that this is the first and only software I have used for this type of marketing. When this program was first launched it was a godsend - truly innovative for its time. And in the years since, I have continued to implement …
Chose VerticalResponse
VR, MailChimp and Constant Contact all provide similar experience and provide the same function. I use many different tools.
Chose VerticalResponse
Marketo covered more scope than we needed at the time.
Chose VerticalResponse
ExactTarget, MailChimp. I liked VerticalResponse's integration with Salesforce. We used MailChimp before and it says on their website they have integration with Salesforce, but we were never able to find it on the Force.com website.

For ExactTarget, we used that in the past and …
Chose VerticalResponse
Constant Contact, MailChimp. Vertical Response covered our basic needs - contacts management, newsletter and marketing email activity analysis, templates/wizards, etc. and was free for non-profits up to 10,000 contacts/month.
Features
Act-On SoftwareSwrveVerticalResponse
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.2
Ratings
7% above category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
9.9
Ratings
21% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor7.60 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Dynamic content8.20 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.10 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Landing pages8.20 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
A/B testing8.10 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.30 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.30 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
List management8.70 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences8.60 Ratings00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
8.2
Ratings
5% above category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.50 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.30 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.20 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.80 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.5
Ratings
1% above category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Calendaring6.80 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing8.20 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.3
Ratings
1% below category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.30 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration7.30 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.5
Ratings
2% above category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
10.0
Ratings
26% above category average
Dashboards7.60 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Standard reports7.60 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Custom reports7.40 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
7.7
Ratings
3% above category average
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
-
Ratings
API8.20 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.50 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.70 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com8.50 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM7.00 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM6.80 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations7.40 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Act-On Software
-
Ratings
Swrve
-
Ratings
VerticalResponse
10.0
Ratings
21% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
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Flurry Analytics (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Flurry Analytics (discontinued)
Flurry Analytics (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
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Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
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User Ratings
Act-On SoftwareSwrveVerticalResponse
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Act-On SoftwareSwrveVerticalResponse
Likelihood to Recommend
If you have MS Dynamics CRM, this is the automation platform for you and your operations. Act-On Software easily syncs with dynamics, and we've never had a problem with this since we set ours up years ago. If you use a different CRM, I'd check to see if other options might make more sense. Having that ability for the systems to seamlessly talk is critical.
Read full review
If you're looking for mobile segmentation, CRM, multivariate testing, then Swrve is the way to go. It's not a great analytics platform, but it's improving on that front.
Read full review
For businesses requiring advanced email marketing features like sophisticated automation, in-depth analytics, and extensive customization, VerticalResponse might fall short due to its limited featuresVerticalResponse is ideal for small businesses or freelancers who need a simple, straightforward email marketing tool. Its ease of use and basic features make it suitable for those without extensive technical expertise in email marketing
Read full review
Pros
  • 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
  • Setting up and managing multivariate tests
  • Applying segments/cohorts set up for one campaign or test to another
  • Serving different config data files to different player segments
Read full review
  • The tools that they provide you with for building out emails are particularly easy to use. I love the drag and drop ability that gives anyone the opportunity to build professional looking emails without any extensive experience.
  • With the majority of people checking emails on mobile, it is necessary to have highly responsive designs and this tool does all the work for you, no developer is needed and that is a MAJOR plus.
Read full review
Cons
  • Building email and landing page templates are difficult, the drag and drop builder is not straightforward, and requires coding knowledge
  • The workflow tool is cumbersome and not as intuitive as I'd expect a best in class marketing software's to be
  • Domain connections and domain management functionality made it difficult to manage multiple company domains and subdomains for pages
Read full review
  • Ability to customize the main dashboard
Read full review
  • The type face is small. Not sure if this is to avoid overwhelming the reader, but I could see this being an issue with vision-impaired people or people who don't see small print well.
  • Sometimes I find it takes multiple clicks to make one simple change. I wish there was a search field at the top of the screen that allowed me to jump directly to a client's entry to update it there.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
No answers on this topic
Product is easy for both technical and non-technical people to use. A cost effective solution for sending out large number of messages. We can manage unsubscribes by individual accounts, so we can have multiple multiple accounts combined to maximize our buying power on credits. Effective API for sending/receiving data makes tool a valuable asset.
Read full review
Usability
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
No answers on this topic
I truly love this product. We are moving to an all-in-one system next year and my greatest fear in doing so is how much I will miss this platform. Although we are excited for things ahead, I will always keep Vertical Response in my back pocket incase I don't love the new platform as much
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Reliability and Availability
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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No answers on this topic
Never had an issue with uptime
Read full review
Performance
Sometimes the server loading speed is a little slow but most often runs fine and if it doesn't their tech support is quick to respond
Read full review
No answers on this topic
No issues
Read full review
Support Rating
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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No answers on this topic
At Vertical Response the help desk associates are courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. You can tell they enjoy what they do. And clearly, they are well trained because most times, the first point of contact is able to resolve any issue you may have. There have been very few times where an associate has needed to get back to me or escalate me to a supervisor
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In-Person Training
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
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Online Training
The system is very user friendly, I think we were up and running within a day or so of having the product. It took very few online training for me to learn a large chunk of the functionality of this system.
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No answers on this topic
Basic functions and online help...we used what was needed, at the time, and will continue to explore other online trainings as our functional needs expand
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Implementation Rating
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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No answers on this topic
Salesforce integration never worked right. We had to abandon.
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Alternatives Considered
We chose Act-On for its ability to support our customers within a single account. The Marketing Network is a huge benefit to our business and the offerings we provide to our customers. In previously working with Hubpsot and Salesforce, we found the support to be lacking - often being referred to a forum or landing page rather than getting hands-on guided help from a knowledgeable person on their team. We LOVE Act-On and the team that they have servicing our account!
Read full review
Localytics' Analytics interface was more simple to use, but we chose Swrve primarily for the messaging capabilities and the analytics were a bonus. We found Swrve's messaging to be far superior to Localytics and really benefitted from the Eloqua integration so that we could control all our communications from the same platform
Read full review
I am a true believer in Vertical Response. So much so, that this is the first and only software I have used for this type of marketing. When this program was first launched it was a godsend - truly innovative for its time. And in the years since, I have continued to implement this software at three other winery properties because there is nothing else I want to use
Read full review
Scalability
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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No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Positive- quick setup for webinars between 3 different tools, made it easy to do in high volume
  • Negative- lots of processes with the designer tools that made email/landing page design take longer than it should have, costing man hours
  • Positive- email automation with different types of campaigns we could have flowing at once or could span across multiple audience segments made it so we could consistently create touch points and increase our engagement, thus our ROI over time
Read full review
  • Our app usage and engagement has increased since implementing Swrve.
  • We solved a major business need of giving users real time push alerts for important account actions.
  • Increasing our communication channels and focusing on a more holistic cross-channel strategy led to an increase in email success also.
Read full review
  • We were able to blast out promotions our company was having to customers which created an increase in business.
  • By blasting out any service issues, it keeps our customers informed so that they are not wondering what is going on.
  • Allows us to store unsubscribed emails so that we are not constantly pestering people who do not want to be emailed.
Read full review
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.