Act! CRM vs monday CRM: Complete Comparison 2026
An in-depth comparison of features, pricing, and user experience to help you make the right choice.
Act! CRM
Legacy CRM with 35+ years of history offering desktop and cloud options for small business contact management.
monday CRM
8.5(3,200 reviews)
Visual CRM built on no-code platform with customizable pipelines, automation, and seamless monday.com integration.
Quick Comparison
| Aspect | Act! CRM | monday CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Small businesses needing reliable contact management for 2-10 users | Small to mid-market sales teams (10-100 reps) wanting visual pipeline management over complex features |
| Pricing Model | Free Trial | Subscription |
| Starting Price | $30/mo | $12/mo |
| Deployment | cloud, on premise | cloud |
| Platforms | WEB, WINDOWS, IOS, ANDROID | WEB, IOS, ANDROID |
| Rating | 7.0/10 | 8.5/10 |
Pros & Cons
Act! CRM
Pros
- 35+ years of proven contact management expertise
- Desktop version provides offline access and local data control
- Built-in marketing automation saves on separate tools
- Strong activity tracking with 14-day interaction history
- One-time purchase option available for desktop version
Cons
- Interface looks and feels dated compared to modern CRMs
- Mobile apps are limited and lack feature parity
- Third-party integrations require Zapier or workarounds
- Reporting capabilities are basic without add-ons
- Marketing automation feels bolted on rather than native
monday CRM
Pros
- Visual interface makes pipeline management intuitive - new reps productive in hours instead of days
- No-code customization lets non-technical users add fields, change workflows, and build automations without IT help
- Drag-and-drop deal management feels natural - move cards between pipeline stages like organizing sticky notes
- Built-in automation handles repetitive tasks (notifications, assignments, follow-ups) with 25,000 monthly actions on Pro tier
- Email integration with Gmail and Outlook syncs conversations automatically - no manual logging required
- Mobile app maintains full functionality - manage deals, update records, and respond to leads from anywhere
- Template library includes pre-built pipelines for different sales processes - start selling in minutes, not weeks
- Seamless integration with monday.com Work OS - perfect if your team already uses monday for project management
Cons
- Requires 3-user minimum ($36/month entry cost) - expensive for solo founders or two-person startups compared to free HubSpot or Zoho tiers
- Reporting and analytics less robust than dedicated CRMs - complex revenue forecasting or attribution modeling requires Excel exports
- No built-in calling or SMS features - must integrate with third-party tools unlike Close CRM or Freshsales
- Visual boards can become cluttered with 100+ active deals - larger pipelines may benefit from traditional list views
- Limited out-of-the-box sales features - lacks native CPQ, territory management, or advanced forecasting found in enterprise CRMs
- Learning curve if not already using monday.com - terminology and approach differ from traditional CRM concepts
- Automation limits on lower tiers (250 actions/month on Standard) restrict workflow complexity for active sales teams
- Third-party integrations sometimes require paid Zapier or Make.com connections - not all 200+ integrations are native
Pricing Comparison
| Product | Pricing Model | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|
| Act! CRM | free trial | $30/mo |
| monday CRM | subscription | $12/mo |
Our Verdict
Choose Act! CRM if...
You need Small businesses needing reliable contact management for 2-10 users and prefer free trial pricing.
Choose monday CRM if...
You need Small to mid-market sales teams (10-100 reps) wanting visual pipeline management over complex features and prefer subscription pricing.
Still Not Sure?
Explore more alternatives or read in-depth reviews to make your decision.