· Norm Strassner
The ACT! Alternative Small Businesses Are Switching To
ACT! built a loyal following for decades, but its shift to subscriptions left many users looking for a better deal. Here's what they're finding.
For a long time, ACT! was the small business CRM. Millions of businesses used it to manage contacts, track follow-ups, and run their sales process. If you've been in business for more than 20 years, there's a good chance ACT! was your first real CRM.
Then Swiftpage acquired the product from Sage in 2013 and, over the following years, phased out the perpetual license model that ACT! users loved. Today it's a subscription product, and many longtime users are re-evaluating whether they're getting what they're paying for.
What Made ACT! Great
ACT! earned its reputation honestly. It was the first mainstream contact manager to combine contact records, calendar, tasks, and email history in a single view. For solo reps and small teams, that was genuinely powerful. The perpetual license model meant you owned your software, paid once, and moved on.
What Changed
The transition to subscription pricing changed the value equation. Users who had paid once for a tool they relied on now faced recurring fees for software that, in many cases, hadn't evolved dramatically. For businesses that were used to paying nothing after their initial purchase, the subscription model felt like a step backward.
Cloud hosting, mobile access, and modern integrations are now table stakes for any CRM. ACT!'s legacy architecture made those additions slower and more awkward than they should have been.
What Small Businesses Are Looking For Instead
When ACT! users start shopping for alternatives, they tend to want the same things that made ACT! work: simple contact management, activity logging, follow-up reminders, and a view of their full relationship history. They don't want Salesforce complexity or HubSpot's upsell ladder.
They want something that just works.
Why ContactHoney Fits That Profile
ContactHoney was built with exactly that user in mind. Simple, fast contact management. Two-way email that logs your communications automatically. A task system that keeps follow-ups from falling through the cracks. Native mobile apps for iOS and Android.
At $19.95/month for your whole team -- not per seat -- it's predictable pricing without the complexity of enterprise CRM platforms.
If you're an ACT! user who's been wondering whether there's a better option, the answer is yes. And getting started takes an afternoon, not a month.