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Act-On Software vs. Adobe Marketo Engage

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Act-On

    Score8 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

    Adobe Marketo Engage

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Marketo Engage (acquired by Adobe in 2018) is a marketing automation platform whose basic features include email marketing, drip nurturing, landing pages, and lead scoring, but other editions offer additional advanced features. Typical customers are B2B firms with complex sales cycles.N/A
    Pricing
    Act-OnAdobe Marketo Engage
    Editions & Modules
    Professional
    $900
    per month
    Enterprise
    $2,000+
    per month
    Growth
    Pricing based on database size.
    per month
    Select
    Pricing based on database size.
    per month
    Prime
    Pricing based on database size.
    per month
    Ultimate
    Pricing based on database size.
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Act-OnAdobe Marketo Engage
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    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-OnAdobe Marketo Engage
    Considered Both Products
    Act-On
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Many more, too^^^

    The best after any free one. Once a company has a budget it's time for Act-On.
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Act-On does most everything that Marketo and HubSpot can and Act-On does some of them better and some of them worse. I've outlined the strengths and weaknesses of Act-On already. I am familiar with Marketo and HubSpot but not familiar enough with them to create a matrix type …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    HubSpot's pricing tiers are much cheaper in some cases, and they provide some of the tools that are included with Act-On Software's premium tiers. I believe Act-On has more versatility in tracking conversion and other rates out-of-the-box compared HubSpot, which is why we chose …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Even though Act-On isn’t the easiest platform to understand, it’s still easier than Marketo and has more features for marketing/sales than Constant Contact.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    We looked at using Pardot and decided to use Act-On due to pricing and ease of use. Pardot had a better Salesforce connection since they are owned by Salesforce. Pardot was very expensive and didn't offer some of the functionality we were looking for. For example, Pardot does …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    The UI of Act-On was the main reason we decided to purchase Act-On as opposed to Marketo or ClickDimensions. Even though Marketo seems to be the most robust tool, with the most capabilities, many of these were add-on's or customization's that came with additional costs. Act-On …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    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.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    We were actually first leaning towards HubSpot, however they couldn't agree to our standard Code of Conduct (as a principle they never do) and since we have some strict purchasing routines that includes the supplier signing our CoC we were unable to go through with the deal. In …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Act-On prevailed over these because of a few reasons: ease of use and implementation, cost, features, and fit for a medium business.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    With some of the others we would have to maintain two databases. That wasn't feasible for us. In addition to that, price wise it was more money and I didn't recognize any clear cut features that really forced us to pay that much more for something that wasn't giving us that …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Act-On does all that other vendors like HubSpot and Marketo promise. With Act-On it is much easier to get started and to be productive. Compared with HubSpot, Marketo and other important vendors, Act-On's pricing and support are big differentiators. Because Act-On wants to be a …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    The cost of ownership vs. functionality and ease of use is second to none, add in the speed of implementation and their customer success programs and nothing comes close.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Act-on is much easier to use than the other systems.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    HubSpot was the only one that had an out of the box integration with Dynamics CRM and the integration works seamlessly. Act-On was one of the most inexpensive ones. Money well spent!
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Price, ease of use and customer service put Act-On ahead of Marketo for our business. The interface was easier, the implementation was quicker and the results were easier to track.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Act-On gives me everything I need to be a powerful marketer. I've evaluated Marketo and Eloqua (after having Act-On and told the price doesn't matter) and I could not find a reason to switch. They did not provide me any evidence that they could increase my productivity or help …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    I choose Act-On because of the price, simplicity and customer service reputation. After sitting through a few demos, I also felt Act-On had more to offer a small company like ours. Their niche is small to mid-size businesses, which made me feel like they understood our needs …
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Marketo was a far more expensive option that provided roughly the same services.
    Hubspot is the product we currently use for our client facing marketing.
    Incentivized
    Chose Act-On
    Easier to use and less expensive.
    Chose Act-On
    Act-On was much more cost effective than Eloqua or Marketo for our organization.
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo provides a more comprehensive marketing automation solution compared to Act-On or Oracle's Eloqua, however, the latter are more user-friendly. Once you've rounded the learning curve with Marketo, it provides many more opportunities for customization, and the level of …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo's customization options greatly outperformed Act-On and HubSpot. Its ability to integrate directly with other tools (i.e. Salesforce) helps streamline our efforts and maintain our data integrity.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo, in my opinion, is better than the others when working for a B2B or tech company. I felt like it gave us more control over how we distributed messaging to our customers and prospects that helped them easily understand complex tech and software products. Alternatives …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    After using multiple different systems for various applications: I find Marketo to be the best supported and the easiest to use for Enterprise multi-regional efforts.

    HubSpot works great for SMB / users new to digital marketing. Its ability to grow with an organization into …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I inherited this instance of Marketo so I wasn't involved in the selection process. However, we chose Marketo as our major partner, Microsoft is also a user. Due to our partner status and involvement with Microsoft's marketing team, we became a reseller of Marketo. Marketo is …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo is better than Act-On in every way in my opinion. I have used both for 5 years and Act-On is extremely limited if you want to do complex or strategic targeting and segmentation. The reporting features in Act-On or rudimentary compared to Marketo. You definitely get what …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I made this decision over 6 years ago when I purchased Adobe Marketo Engage as one of the first 100 customers. I then became a Marketo employee after using the solution for a year. I have now used the tool for two years since joining Apttus.
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I like how this tool gives our marketing and sales teams the ability to create more coordinated journeys with tools like Sales Connect, which run marketing data right into our CRM and other advanced lead generation, lead scoring and Account management tools.
    I like the AI driven …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Adobe Marketo seems to have the most robust features although may be a bit more complicated than some of the other systems I've evaluated and used in the past. Overall, the functionality seems to be similar although the overall system seems like it will be able to scale better …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I prefer the customization and template builder of ActOn. The new CMO moved us to Adobe Marketo Engage.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Selection depends on the client. I think out of all the tools, Marketo does the best job when it comes to workflows, but I don't like the email builder or their lack of reporting.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo was a perfect choice at the time - we were new to marketing automation and this allowed us to create a presence for ourselves and measure our progress. We only switched to Eloqua once we had grown beyond Marketo‘s capabilities and needed a more robust platform.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    At the end of the day, they all do the same thing. It's about how you utilize the features offered in the software and how they fit your business needs. Marketo is great for B2B marketing as it really understands the need to move customers from the beginning stages of buying …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo's ability to have multiple brands/business units within a company in a single instance with the respective governance from users-roles and permissions, independent databases, independent content but with the facility of creating templates from headquarters to be shared …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I have used Pardot and ActOn and SilverPop. Marketo is the most tailored and robust but I think ActOn and Pardot are easier for the novice user. They are easier to pick up and use than Marketo.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo was the only product that had the flexibility we need for our structure. Some of the other products did certain aspects well but not as well as Marketo. It had everything we were looking for in one tool.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo stands out above and beyond the platforms I've used. I haven't used anything like Oracle or Salesforce Marketing Cloud, however.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    #1, Marketo is ahead of the game and makes ease of use and workflows faster.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo was very flexible and gave us the most options for customization.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo is a much more robust tool when it comes to tracking engagements of a prospect, connecting with other platforms as well as an overall better user experience than the others.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    We evaluated numerous tools and ultimately decided on Marketo because of the scope of our marketing efforts. We wanted something fairly simple to use and for specific situations. We also needed something that could be easily integrated and Marketo's open API was a plus. …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    I've used smaller alternatives, like Constant Contact and Act-On, and evaluated larger competitors like Pardot. Marketo worked both at my current and former company because it was always malleable enough to meet every requirement, and because the ecosystem was strong enough …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Evaluated Pardot, ActOn, Eloqua and Hubspot. Marketo was the only one that offered a deep dive into real tracking and analytics we were looking for.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    Marketo is more user-friendly than Act-On, and it's more robust for an enterprise-level company than Hubspot.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Marketo Engage
    - Marketo has more attractive pricing for smaller database size (it appears the break-even point between the offerings is usually around 500,000 active leads/contacts).

    - Marketo's UI is a bit easier to user for people unfamiliar with marketing automation.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
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    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
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    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
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    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Act-OnAdobe Marketo Engage
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.6
    113 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    7.8
    993 Ratings
    WYSIWYG email editor9.1112 Ratings8.2902 Ratings
    Dynamic content9.192 Ratings6.8878 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content8.292 Ratings6.8857 Ratings
    Landing pages8.2108 Ratings7.8920 Ratings
    A/B testing9.195 Ratings8.3905 Ratings
    Mobile optimization7.1102 Ratings7.9877 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting9.1112 Ratings6.3961 Ratings
    List management9.1111 Ratings8.8958 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences8.287 Ratings9.1868 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.6
    113 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    7.8
    961 Ratings
    Lead nurturing automation9.1104 Ratings8.4936 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading9.1104 Ratings8.7911 Ratings
    Data quality management9.1102 Ratings6.6909 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks7.395 Ratings7.4863 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    7.1
    77 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    7.7
    889 Ratings
    Calendaring6.88 Ratings7.1719 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing7.376 Ratings8.4850 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    9.1
    71 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    7.5
    556 Ratings
    Social sharing and campaigns9.169 Ratings7.8547 Ratings
    Social profile integration9.163 Ratings7.2375 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.5
    114 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    8.0
    962 Ratings
    Dashboards8.2109 Ratings8.3904 Ratings
    Standard reports9.1112 Ratings7.9942 Ratings
    Custom reports8.284 Ratings7.8897 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Act-On Software and Adobe Marketo Engage
    Feature
    Act-On Software
    8.3
    107 Ratings
    Adobe Marketo Engage
    7.9
    953 Ratings
    API9.167 Ratings8.0821 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals9.171 Ratings7.8698 Ratings
    Customizability7.389 Ratings7.9844 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com9.165 Ratings9.3822 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM8.135 Ratings7.3283 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM7.128 Ratings7.2185 Ratings
    User Ratings
    Act-OnAdobe Marketo Engage
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.2
    (219 ratings)
    6.9
    (1145 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (112 ratings)
    9.0
    (146 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (33 ratings)
    8.0
    (98 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (14 ratings)
    9.0
    (25 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (13 ratings)
    9.0
    (30 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (39 ratings)
    8.6
    (89 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (12 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.3
    (16 ratings)
    6.7
    (29 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.6
    (22 ratings)
    10.0
    (37 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    6.0
    (6 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    1.1
    (9 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (10 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.4
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (7 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (6 ratings)