Act-On vs HubSpot Marketing Hub (2026)
The decision is whether marketing should sit alongside an existing CRM or become part of a broader CRM platform. Act-On connects demand generation to Salesforce, Dynamics, SugarCRM and NetSuite, with billing centered on contacts emailed during the month. HubSpot Marketing Hub builds campaigns and reporting around HubSpot records while also offering a detailed Salesforce connection. Their similar looking midmarket subscription levels conceal different cost drivers. The two Professional tiers start close together, but Act-On's allowance counts 2,500 active contacts while HubSpot's counts 2,000 marketing contacts and adds mandatory onboarding. Act-On's optional modules and HubSpot's contact, credit and edition limits affect the configured total. AI use also separates the purchases. Act-On excludes submitted input from training but treats it differently from confidential customer content. HubSpot enables certain internal training uses by default with a prospective opt out, while restricting external provider training. Neither promises complete campaign reconstruction after export. Act-On favors an existing CRM stack; HubSpot favors shared CRM operations.
- The established CRM should remain the center of sales operations.
- Many stored contacts are not emailed in a typical month.
- Adaptive Send and True Open bot filtering are central to email optimization.
- Marketing and CRM reporting need to share HubSpot's underlying records.
- Salesforce synchronization needs named company, deal and ticket mappings.
- The team wants Marketing Hub's broader workflow and reporting configuration.
This comparison is published by GTM Tech Index, an independent research platform that compares go to market software vendors objectively. Act-On and HubSpot Marketing Hub are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials, under the GTM Tech Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Act-On | HubSpot Marketing Hub | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Marketing Automation & ABM | Marketing Automation & ABM |
| Founded | Not published | Not published |
| Headquarters | Not published | Not published |
| Website | act-on.com | www.hubspot.com/products/marketing |
Side by Side
| Axis | A Act-On |
H HubSpot Marketing Hub |
|---|---|---|
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AI Capability
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| Autonomy and Oversight Model | ||
| AI Disclosure and Model Transparency | ||
| Operational and Outcome Evidence | ||
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Compliance and Risk
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| Outreach Compliance Posture | ||
| Data Privacy Posture | ||
| Data Licensing and Provenance | ||
| Platform Terms Exposure | ||
| AI Safety and Data Stewardship | ||
| Recipient Disclosure and Authenticity | ||
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Integration and Deployment
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| Ecosystem and Integration Depth | ||
| Deployment Model and Data Residency | ||
| Security Certifications and Trust Center | ||
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Commercial and Operational
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| Commercial Transparency | ||
| Exit and Data Portability | ||
| Deliverability and Sending Discipline | ||
| Segment and Market Coverage | ||
The short version of each
Act-On
Act-On serves a demand generation team that wants marketing automation alongside an established CRM. Named connections include Salesforce, Dynamics, SugarCRM and NetSuite, while active contact pricing counts the people emailed during the month. On the GTM Tech Index, that gives Act-On a different cost model from HubSpot Marketing Hub for a large database with a smaller regularly mailed audience. Adaptive Send and True Open bot filtering support email optimization, while optional modules add costs. HubSpot offers a broader shared CRM operating model, and Act-On keeps its focus on demand programs running beside the CRM a team already owns.
Source: GTM Tech Index, 2026
HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub builds campaigns, automation and reporting around CRM records, with a detailed Salesforce integration for teams using both systems. Against Act-On in the GTM Tech Index, HubSpot's strongest case is shared marketing and CRM operations rather than active contact billing. Similar starting subscriptions conceal a practical price difference: Professional adds a mandatory onboarding fee, and marketing contact tier changes follow specific timing rules. Act-On counts contacts emailed during the month instead. HubSpot's AI training settings also distinguish its own eligible uses from external model providers, with a prospective opt out for the former.
Source: GTM Tech Index, 2026
Common questions
Are Act-On and HubSpot Professional priced similarly?
Their starting subscriptions are close, but the allowances differ. Act-On is $900 monthly on annual billing for 2,500 active contacts. HubSpot Professional is $890 a month on an annual commitment paid monthly, or $800 paid up front for the year, with 2,000 marketing contacts and $3,000 onboarding. Optional modules, contact changes and credits alter the total. Graded by GTM Tech Index against seventeen capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
How do active contacts differ from HubSpot marketing contacts?
Act-On counts contacts emailed during a month. HubSpot bills marketing contact tiers, with increases taking effect immediately and reductions at renewal. A stored audience and a regularly mailed audience can therefore produce different costs. Graded by GTM Tech Index against seventeen capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Which fits an existing Salesforce setup?
Both connect to Salesforce. Act-On can turn Salesforce marketing lists into campaigns and optionally add those records as Leads, though that path does not support its unified All Contacts list. HubSpot maps contacts, companies, deals and tickets to corresponding Salesforce objects, with additional synchronization settings. The desired object scope determines the relevant configuration. Graded by GTM Tech Index against seventeen capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Do both keep customer data out of AI training?
Act-On excludes submitted AI input from training but treats that input separately from confidential customer content. HubSpot has a prospective opt out for its own eligible training uses and a separate restriction on external provider training. Those are different arrangements. Graded by GTM Tech Index against seventeen capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Marketing Automation & ABM page.
HubSpot Marketing Hub does not include every Sales Hub or Service Hub capability. Act-On's planned Banzai acquisition was terminated in 2025. Neither offers a complete executable migration of campaigns into another platform. Their different AI training and input terms are separate from the ordinary contact export paths.