Tool Comparisons

    Act! vs PhoneBurner: CRM Platform vs Sales Engagement Platform Comparison

    Compare Act! (CRM platform) and PhoneBurner (sales engagement platform) side by side. See pricing, features, and integrations to decide which one, or both, your stack needs.

    September 4, 20266 min read
    Share:
    The short answer

    Compare Act! (CRM platform) and PhoneBurner (sales engagement platform) side by side. See pricing, features, and integrations to decide which one, or both, your stack needs.

    Reviewed and updated September 4, 2026

    Act! vs PhoneBurner: 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 PhoneBurner, 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; PhoneBurner 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 PhoneBurner lists unlimited calling and workflow automation.

    Act! offers a lower entry point at $30/mo compared to PhoneBurner at $165/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 PhoneBurner. 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.

    PhoneBurner is Sales dialer platform that blends calls, email and SMS in one outreach workflow, with spam-flag remediation, connect scoring to prioritize likely answers, workflow automation and lead distribution. Includes reporting, live call monitoring and coaching.

    The two platforms take different approaches to solving the same core challenge.

    Pricing Comparison

    $30/moAct! entry plan

    Act! Advantage Standard

    $165/moPhoneBurner entry plan

    Standard

    Entry pricing for Act! and PhoneBurner, as published on each vendor's own pricing page.

    Act! Pricing (as of September 2026)

    PlanPriceEmails
    Act! Advantage Standard$30/moBasic Email Marketing (includes 2,500 sends/mo)
    Act! Advantage Professional$45/moEmail Marketing Plus (includes 25,000 sends/mo)
    Act! Advantage Ultimate$60/moMarketing Automation (includes 50,000 sends/mo)
    Act! Premium Desktop$40/mo-
    Enterprise EngagementContact Sales-

    Source: Act! Pricing

    PhoneBurner Pricing (as of September 2026)

    PlanPriceContactsEmails
    Standard$165/moPer userUnlimited Calling
    Professional$195/moPer userUnlimited Calling
    Premium$215/moPer userUnlimited Calling

    Source: PhoneBurner Pricing

    Pricing Analysis

    Act! is more affordable at the entry level ($30/mo vs $165/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 PhoneBurner's 3, giving you more granularity as you scale.

    Features Breakdown

    Act! lists
    • 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
    PhoneBurner lists
    • Unlimited Calling
    • Workflow Automation
    • Call Analytics
    • Softphone Dialing
    • Live Call Monitoring & Coaching
    • Open API
    • and 3 more listed below
    What Act! and PhoneBurner each list on their own pages. The split is by exact wording, so a capability both offer can appear on both sides under different names.

    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

    PhoneBurner Key Features

    • Unlimited Calling
    • Workflow Automation
    • Call Analytics
    • Softphone Dialing
    • Live Call Monitoring & Coaching
    • Open API
    • Custom Inbound Routing
    • Text Messaging
    • Lead Distribution

    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 PhoneBurner

    • Unlimited Calling
    • Workflow Automation
    • Call Analytics
    • Softphone Dialing
    • Live Call Monitoring & Coaching
    • Open API
    • Custom Inbound Routing
    • Text Messaging
    • Lead Distribution

    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.

    PhoneBurner Integrations

    PhoneBurner connects with: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, GoHighLevel.

    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 PhoneBurner: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, GoHighLevel.

    Use Case Recommendations

    Best Fit for Act!

    • Budget-conscious teams looking for an affordable CRM platform
    • Teams that need a wide feature set (10 capabilities listed)
    • Organizations with complex tech stacks needing broad integration support (16 integrations)
    • Enterprise buyers who prefer custom pricing and dedicated support

    Best Fit for PhoneBurner

    • Mid-market to enterprise teams with established multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking budgets
    • SDR teams running multi-channel outreach sequences
    • Sales managers tracking team engagement metrics
    • Revenue teams coordinating email, phone, and social touches

    Feature Comparison Summary

    FeatureAct!PhoneBurner
    Starting Price$30/mo$165/mo
    Top Tier PriceContact Sales$215/mo
    Total Features Listed109
    Integrations164

    Getting Started Checklist

    1. Define your customer relationship management and sales pipeline tracking and multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking requirements and monthly budget
    2. Estimate your expected contacts and deals and sequences and engagement actions to find the right tier
    3. List the integrations your team currently relies on
    4. Sign up for free trials or demos of both platforms
    5. Run a small test with each tool before making a commitment
    6. 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 PhoneBurner the multi-channel sales outreach and engagement tracking side. Act! offers a more accessible entry point at $30/mo, while PhoneBurner starts at $165/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 PhoneBurner for current information.

    Act!PhoneBurnerCRM PlatformSales Engagement PlatformComparisoncrmsales-engagement
    Byline

    About the author.

    Tim Carden

    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

    Connect on LinkedIn →
    Your next move

    Ready to scale your outreach?

    We build GTM engines that book real meetings. See the receipts.

    Further reading

    Related articles.