Act! CRM vs. Act! Pro
Act! Software has 2 product editions; Act! CRM and Act! PRO. We are always asked by potential customers which product is right for their business.
Act! has previously published the below image to outline the general product differences (NOTE: Act! Premium has been renamed to Act! CRM), but we want to provide more information to compare and contrast the products and features for Act’s latest version.
Comparing Act! CRM vs Act! Pro in order to assist in selecting the right product for your business, below are 10 things to know before you buy:
1. The number of active users is a determining factor, the Pro product has a limitation of 10 active users in a database. This means if you have more than 10 users you will need the Act! CRM product. If you purchase the Pro product and need to add the 11th user or more you will need to purchase Act! CRM subscriptions for the existing Pro licenses. Therefore, if your business is growing it would make sense to purchase the Act! CRM product over the Act! Pro at the on-set.
2. The Pro product has Windows only software, Act! CRM has dual functionality for both Windows & Web (including Web Mobile) access that can be hosted by Act! or self-hosted. Act! CRM allows you to do your own web hosting (without the monthly fees of other competing products) where you can deploy the web product with database access through your intranet or internet. With Act! CRM Mobile you can travel light and stay connected by accessing your Act! CRM contact, calendar and opportunity details from your iPhone®, iPad® or Android™ device.
3. The Act! CRM product has Field Level Security that allows you to limit the access to certain Contact, Opportunity, Group and Company fields by users and teams. You can grant full access to those that need to update the field information, read only to those that need to see the information but cannot change the data, or no access to a field which means they cannot see the field within the database or reports. This is a valuable feature if your business works with social security numbers, credit card information or other sensitive data.
4. The Act! CRM product has Record Level Security that allows you to limit the access to Contact, Opportunity, Group and Company records by users and teams. This is a powerful feature if you want your salespeople to see only their records, sales managers being able to see the records for their direct reports, by territories or if you want to divide the records by different departments or job responsibilities.
5. Both the Act! CRM and Pro products have the database synchronization feature in which you can create remote databases that synchronize to your master database for disconnected/offline data access. The Pro Product only allows Application Synchronization which means that when a remote synchronizes to the master the Act! program needs to be open and logged into master database – this is not ideal if the master database is hosted on a server or an unattended machine. The Act! CRM product comes with Synchronization Services (network and internet) which allow the synchronization to occur without the Act! program being open, the service runs on a host machine/server and listens for the synchronization connection.
6. The Dashboard is available in both products but the Pro version has a limitation of being only able to view the current user activity and opportunity information, filtering for a different user or multiple users is not an option. With the Act! CRM product you can create Dashboard with multi-user, team, territory, region, and/or department views.
7. With the Act! CRM product, network users have an additional feature of being able to include other users and resources in their activity scheduling and checking on their availability. This is a helpful feature if your business has meetings or calls with your customers or prospects that involves more than one of your users of Act!.
8. The Act! CRM product has the Web API platform that allows users to connect Act! to other business productivity tools to increase productivity and streamline aspects of your business. The Web API platform provides users with the ability to develop new applications and is only available to Act! CRM deployments with an Active Subscription. With the Web API you can take advantage of some cool features:
- Act! Companion – a native mobile app designed for iPhone®, iPad®, and Android™
- Act! Insight – interactive, graphical dashboards where you can see dynamic, visual snapshots of real-time metrics
- Ask Act!™ With Amazon Alexa – interact with Act! through simple, verbal requests
- Act! Connect – simple integrations with hundreds of popular business apps
- Act! CRM Contact Link – streamline your workflow between Act! and Outlook®
9. Act! CRM Subscription includes Act! Software Updates and Act! Technical Support for your subscription term. Act! Pro does not include software updates or Act! Technical Support, Pro customers have the ability of purchasing software upgrades with any new release and there is a 30 Day Act! Tech Support Package available for $40 per license on your account.
10. Act! CRM Subscription has Custom Tables as an available Add-on, this allows you to create additional tables in your database to capture information that is unique to your business. Act! CRM Subscribers can easily add the Custom Tables feature to their Act! CRM Subscription. This feature is not available in Act! Pro.
Compare Act! CRM Products
| Act! Pro | Act! CRM | Act! Growth Suite | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM features & benefits | |||||
Contact management  |
• | • | • | ||
Groups & companies  |
• | • | • | ||
| Activity tracking & alerts |
• | • | • | ||
| Sales process automation |
• | • | • | ||
| Opportunity tracking |
• | • | • | ||
| Reports |
• | • | • | ||
| Unlimited customizations |
• | • | • | ||
| Act! Insight |
• | • | |||
| Act! Companion mobile app |
• | • | |||
| Act! Web Mobile |
• | • | |||
| Act! Connect |
• | • | |||
| Integration with Office, Outlook®, & more |
• | • | • | ||
| Ask Act!™ with Amazon Alexa |
• | • | |||
| Act! Contact Link |
• | • | |||
| eCommerce Connections |
• | • | |||
| Act! API |
• | • | |||
| Team sharing |
• | • | |||
| Advanced security |
• | • | |||
| Instant online access |
w/ Cloud | w/ Cloud | |||
| Automatic nightly backups & recovery |
w/ Cloud | w/ Cloud | |||
| Secure Cloud hosting |
4GB storage w/ Cloud | 4GB storage w/ Cloud | |||
| Private Cloud hosting |
20GB storage w/ private Cloud | 20GB storage w/ private Cloud | |||
| Custom Tables Manager Add-On Learn more |
Additional Cost | Additional Cost | |||
| Industry Template Library Add-On Learn more |
Additional Cost | Additional Cost |
Act! CRM vs. Act! Pro – You can purchase the latest Act! CRM Software products with current discounts and promotions from our Act! CRM eStore at www.actplatinum.com and if you have any additional questions please send us a Contact Us form.