Act! vs Closely: CRM Platform vs Sales Engagement Platform Comparison
Compare Act! (CRM platform) and Closely (sales engagement platform) side by side. See pricing, features, and integrations to decide which one, or both, your stack needs.
Act! is a CRM platform for customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking, priced from $30/mo. Closely is a sales engagement platform for multichannel outreach across LinkedIn and email, priced from $49/mo. Act! suits teams organizing contacts and forecasting revenue, while Closely suits teams coordinating outreach across channels. Many teams run both together.
Key takeaways
- Act! Advantage Standard starts at $30/mo and includes 2,500 email sends per month.
- Closely Starter starts at $49/mo and includes 1 LinkedIn account with unlimited email accounts.
- Act! offers 5 pricing tiers while Closely offers 4 pricing tiers.
- Closely lists a conditional sequence builder, Smart Inbox, LinkedIn account warmup, and a dedicated residential IP for each LinkedIn account.
- Act! lists full-featured CRM and mobile app, email marketing, lead scoring, and project management among its features.
Reviewed and updated September 4, 2026
Act! vs Closely: CRM Platform vs Sales Engagement Platform Comparison
Sales teams building an outbound stack often weigh Act!, a CRM platform for customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking, against Closely, a sales engagement platform for multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking. They cover different parts of the workflow, so this comparison covers what each one does, what each one costs, and where they overlap.
The Quick Answer
Act! is a CRM platform for customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking; Closely is a sales engagement platform for multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking. By each vendor's own wording, Act! lists full-featured crm and mobile app and email marketing, and Closely lists multichannel campaigns across linkedin and email and conditional sequence builder.
Act! offers a lower entry point at $30/mo compared to Closely at $49/mo.
If your priority is organizing contacts, tracking deals, and forecasting revenue, Act! is the one built for it; for coordinating outreach across email, phone, and social channels, that is Closely. Many teams run one of each.
Understanding the Core Difference
Act! is Act! is a CRM and marketing automation platform for small and midsize businesses that unites sales, marketing and customer management in one platform. It is sold as Act! Advantage cloud plans and an Act! Premium Desktop on-premises edition.
Closely is Outbound platform that runs automated campaigns across LinkedIn and email from a shared sender, with a conditional sequence builder, unified inbox, contact enrichment and AI personalization agents.
The two platforms take different approaches to solving the same core challenge.
Pricing Comparison
Act! Advantage Standard
Starter
Act! Pricing (as of September 2026)
| Plan | Price | Emails |
|---|---|---|
| Act! Advantage Standard | $30/mo | Basic Email Marketing (includes 2,500 sends/mo) |
| Act! Advantage Professional | $45/mo | Email Marketing Plus (includes 25,000 sends/mo) |
| Act! Advantage Ultimate | $60/mo | Marketing Automation (includes 50,000 sends/mo) |
| Act! Premium Desktop | $40/mo | - |
| Enterprise Engagement | Contact Sales | - |
Source: Act! Pricing
Closely Pricing (as of September 2026)
| Plan | Price | Contacts |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49/mo | 1 LinkedIn account, unlimited email accounts |
| Growth | $127/mo | 3 LinkedIn accounts, unlimited email accounts, 3,000 bonus credits/mo |
| Essential | $205/mo | 5 LinkedIn accounts, unlimited email accounts, 5,000 bonus credits/mo |
| Custom | Contact Sales | Unlimited seats, custom LinkedIn accounts and credits |
Source: Closely Pricing
Pricing Analysis
Act! is more affordable at the entry level ($30/mo vs $49/mo). For teams with tight budgets or those just getting started with customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking and multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking, this price difference matters.
Act! offers 5 pricing tiers compared to Closely's 4, giving you more granularity as you scale.
Features Breakdown
- Full-featured CRM and mobile app
- Email marketing
- Interactive quotes and payments
- Online appointment scheduling
- Forms, surveys, website chat and event management
- Reports and interactive dashboards
- and 4 more listed below
- Multichannel campaigns across LinkedIn and email
- Conditional sequence builder
- Smart Inbox unifying LinkedIn and email replies
- LinkedIn account warmup
- Dedicated residential IP for each LinkedIn account
- OAuth Gmail and Outlook connection plus custom SMTP
- and 4 more listed below
Act! Key Features
- Full-featured CRM and mobile app
- Email marketing
- Interactive quotes and payments
- Online appointment scheduling
- Forms, surveys, website chat and event management
- Reports and interactive dashboards
- Marketing automation
- Lead scoring
- Project management
- Accounting integration
Closely Key Features
- Multichannel campaigns across LinkedIn and email
- Conditional sequence builder
- Smart Inbox unifying LinkedIn and email replies
- LinkedIn account warmup
- Dedicated residential IP for each LinkedIn account
- OAuth Gmail and Outlook connection plus custom SMTP
- Email finder with a multi-step fallback process
- Phone number finder
- AI lead scoring and personalization agents
- Export from Sales Navigator, LinkedIn posts and events
The two lists below are a diff of each vendor's own feature list by exact wording, so a capability both tools offer can appear on either side under a different name.
Listed only by Act!
- Full-featured CRM and mobile app
- Email marketing
- Interactive quotes and payments
- Online appointment scheduling
- Forms, surveys, website chat and event management
- Reports and interactive dashboards
- Marketing automation
- Lead scoring
- Project management
- Accounting integration
Listed only by Closely
- Multichannel campaigns across LinkedIn and email
- Conditional sequence builder
- Smart Inbox unifying LinkedIn and email replies
- LinkedIn account warmup
- Dedicated residential IP for each LinkedIn account
- OAuth Gmail and Outlook connection plus custom SMTP
- Email finder with a multi-step fallback process
- Phone number finder
- AI lead scoring and personalization agents
- Export from Sales Navigator, LinkedIn posts and events
Integration Ecosystem
Act! Integrations
Act! connects with: Outlook, Google Contacts, Slack, Eventbrite, SurveyMonkey, Wufoo, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Shopify, Volusion, Facebook, Freshdesk, Zendesk, FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online, Xero.
Closely Integrations
Closely connects with: Salesforce, Pipedrive, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, SMTP, Webhooks.
Integrations listed only by Act!: Outlook, Google Contacts, Slack, Eventbrite, SurveyMonkey, Wufoo, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Shopify, Volusion, Facebook, Freshdesk, Zendesk, FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online, Xero.
Integrations listed only by Closely: Salesforce, Pipedrive, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, SMTP, Webhooks.
Use Case Recommendations
Best Fit for Act!
- Budget-conscious teams looking for an affordable CRM platform
- Organizations with complex tech stacks needing broad integration support (16 integrations)
- Enterprise buyers who prefer custom pricing and dedicated support
Best Fit for Closely
- Budget-conscious teams looking for an affordable sales engagement platform
- Enterprise buyers who prefer custom pricing and dedicated support
- SDR teams running multi-channel outreach sequences
- Sales managers tracking team engagement metrics
Feature Comparison Summary
| Feature | Act! | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $30/mo | $49/mo |
| Top Tier Price | Contact Sales | Contact Sales |
| Total Features Listed | 10 | 10 |
| Integrations | 16 | 8 |
Getting Started Checklist
- Define your customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking and multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking requirements and monthly budget
- Estimate your expected contacts and deals and sequences and engagement actions to find the right tier
- List the integrations your team currently relies on
- Sign up for free trials or demos of both platforms
- Run a small test with each tool before making a commitment
- Evaluate the onboarding experience and support quality
Final Thoughts
Act! serves the customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking side of an outbound stack and Closely the multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking side. Act! offers a more accessible entry point at $30/mo, while Closely starts at $49/mo. Your decision should weigh pricing against the specific features that matter most for your workflow.
Start with a trial of each to see which platform fits your team's daily process. The best tool is the one your team actually uses consistently.
Pricing and features verified as of September 2026. Visit Act! and Closely for current information.
Frequently asked questions.
Frequently asked questions- What's the main difference between Act! and Closely?
- Act! is a CRM platform built for customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking, while Closely is a sales engagement platform built for multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking across LinkedIn and email. They cover different parts of the sales workflow, so many teams use both together rather than choosing one.
- Which is cheaper, Act! or Closely?
- Act! is cheaper at the entry level, starting at $30/mo compared to Closely's $49/mo starting price. Act! also offers 5 pricing tiers versus Closely's 4, giving more granularity as a team scales, according to the pricing pages of each vendor.
- Does Closely support LinkedIn outreach?
- Yes, Closely runs multichannel campaigns across LinkedIn and email from a shared sender. It includes a conditional sequence builder, LinkedIn account warmup, and a dedicated residential IP for each LinkedIn account, according to its listed features.
- Can Act! and Closely be used together?
- Yes, the article notes that many teams run one of each. Act! handles organizing contacts, tracking deals, and forecasting revenue, while Closely handles coordinating outreach across email, phone, and social channels.
- What does Act! offer besides CRM features?
- Act! lists email marketing, interactive quotes and payments, online appointment scheduling, forms and surveys, website chat, event management, reports and interactive dashboards, marketing automation, lead scoring, project management, and accounting integration among its features.
About the author.
Tim Carden is CMO / CTO at RevenueFlow, which builds and operates outbound revenue engines for B2B companies. Studied at McGill University.
Tim Carden · CMO / CTO
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