Alternatives

Best Act! alternatives in 2026

Data compiled by Toolradar Updated October 15, 2026 How we rate

Cite this list: Toolradar, best Act! alternatives 2026, toolradar.com/alternatives/act-crm

4 direct alternatives to Act! and 4 more tools in the same category, compared on pricing, features, and best-for use cases. Pick the right replacement without the marketing fluff.

Quick answer

ActiveCampaign is the top alternative to Act! on our list, followed by Close and Nimble.
5 of the 8 alternatives have a free plan, starting with Insightly.
Highest rated: Close, 4.7 out of 5 from 2,089 ratings, Sep 2026.

Publications that cover the tools tracked here

8 alternatives
4 direct
5 with a free plan

ActiveCampaign
#1 Top pick
Autonomous marketing platform with AI-powered email, SMS, and WhatsApp automation.
Starting price
From $15 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026
4.5 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 17,363 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Best overall
Read the review
Close
#2
CRM for fast-moving sales teams to close more deals
Starting price
From $19 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026
4.7 /5 on G2 · 2,089 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Highest rated
Read the review
Nimble
#3
Your CRM for smarter AI email marketing, engagement, and growth, all from one simple AI-driven platform.
Starting price
From $10 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026
4.4 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 2,982 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Most affordable
Read the review

Act! vs 8 alternatives

Act! and its alternatives compared on starting price (cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of October 2026), free plan and average user rating, and how directly each replaces it.
Tool	Starting price (Oct 2026)	Free plan	Rating	Fit
Act! Compared tool	Price: $30/mo	Free plan: No	3.3 out of 5, from 2,008 ratings across G2, Capterra and SourceForge (2,008)
ActiveCampaign	Price: $15/mo	Free plan: No	4.5 out of 5, from 17,363 ratings across G2 and Capterra (17,363)	Direct alternative
Close	Price: $19/mo	Free plan: No	4.7 out of 5, from 2,089 ratings on G2 (2,089)	Direct alternative
Nimble	Price: $10/mo	Free plan: No	4.4 out of 5, from 2,982 ratings across G2 and Capterra (2,982)	Direct alternative
Insightly	Price: $29/mo	Free plan: Yes	4.1 out of 5, from 1,602 ratings across G2 and Capterra (1,602)	Direct alternative
HubSpot	Price: $20/mo	Free plan: Yes	3.9 out of 5, from 19,150 ratings across Trustpilot, TrustRadius, PeerSpot and more (19,150)	Same category as Act!
HubSpot Marketing	Price: $20/mo	Free plan: Yes	4.4 out of 5, from 14,991 ratings across SourceForge and G2 (14,991)	Same category as Act!
Mailchimp Transactional	Price: $11.09/mo	Free plan: Yes	4.3 out of 5, from 12,700 ratings on G2 (12,700)	Same category as Act!
Mailchimp	Price: $13/mo	Free plan: Yes	3.9 out of 5, from 31,997 ratings across Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra (31,997)	Same category as Act!

Why people consider alternatives to Act!

Act! is a CRM and marketing automation platform for small and midsize businesses. Manage contacts, automate workflows, and launch marketing campaigns from one place.

Teams most often switch away when one of these starts to bite:

Pricing at scale as usage or premium tiers add up.
Missing integrations with the rest of your stack.
Performance or scale limits as your needs grow.
A specific feature gap you have hit in marketing automation.

The 4 direct alternatives below cover the same core job (marketing automation) with different trade-offs. The 4 tools marked "Same category as Act!" fit the category but replace Act! less directly.

See full Act! review Best marketing automation tools How we rank

Act! by the numbers

Toolradar data: Act!'s entry paid plan ($30/mo, billed monthly) ranks #36 of 54 (joint) for price among the Email Marketing tools with a verified entry price and no stated unit, where the median is $19/mo. As of Oct 2026.

Act! compared with 107 Email Marketing tools on Toolradar, as of Oct 2026
Metric	Act!	Peer median	Position (1 is best)
Entry paid plan	$30/mo, billed monthly	$19/mo	#36 of 54 (joint) tools with no stated price unit, verified price
Free plan	No	58% have one	n/a
Listed as an alternative to	1 tool	2	#58 of 107 (joint)
User rating	3.3/5 (across the web, 2,008 ratings)	4.5/5	#67 of 69 tools with 20+ reviews

Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. A lower entry price ranks higher; prices are read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis. All Email Marketing data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position.

Cite this: Toolradar, “Act! by the numbers”, Oct 2026.

Marketing Automation leaderboards from Toolradar data

Toolradar ranks Marketing Automation tools on one measure at a time, only where at least 8 tools have data. As of Oct 2026.

CSV

Lowest entry price, plans with no stated unit

Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.

Counted among 149 tools with no stated price unit, verified price.

Lowest entry price, plans with no stated unit, Marketing Automation tools on Toolradar, as of Oct 2026
#	Tool	Entry plan
1	LadderFlow	$1.58/mo, billed yearly
2	Repostit	$4/mo, billed yearly
3	Moosend	$7/mo, billed monthly
4	Multilogin	$7.08/mo, billed yearly
5	Brevo	$9/mo, billed monthly

Lowest entry price, per-user plans

Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.

Counted among 8 tools priced per user, verified price.

Lowest entry price, per-user plans, Marketing Automation tools on Toolradar, as of Oct 2026
#	Tool	Entry plan
1	EngageBay	$14.99/user/mo, billed monthly
2	Nutshell	$16/user/mo, billed monthly
3	Top Producer	$25/user/mo, billed monthly
4	Insightly	$29/user/mo, billed monthly
5	Vero	$54/user/mo, billed monthly

A position exists only when at least 8 tools have data for that metric. 157 of 351 Marketing Automation tools have a verified price; the others publish none we could read (often "contact sales"). Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source. How we compute this. Cite this: Toolradar, “Marketing Automation leaderboards”, Oct 2026. Data licensed CC BY 4.0. All Marketing Automation statistics.

8 alternatives to Act!

Direct alternatives come first, ranked by G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editor review. Tools marked "Same category as Act!" follow, ranked the same way.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Act!?

Based on real-signal scoring (G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editorial review), the top alternatives to Act! are ActiveCampaign, Close, Nimble. Each solves the same core job with different trade-offs on pricing, features, and integrations.

Is there a free alternative to Act!?

There is no fully free alternative in this list. ActiveCampaign is freemium: a permanent free tier plus paid plans (Autonomous marketing platform with AI-powered email, SMS, and WhatsApp automation).

Why do people look for Act! alternatives?

Common reasons teams switch away from Act!: pricing that scales aggressively, missing integrations with the rest of their stack, performance or scale limits, or a specific feature gap in marketing automation. The alternatives on this page solve the same core problem with different trade-offs.

Side-by-side comparisons

In-depth comparison pages for Act! versus each alternative.

Act! vs ActiveCampaign Act! vs Close Act! vs Nimble Act! vs Insightly

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Top 3 alternatives to Act!

ActiveCampaign

Close

Nimble