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Act-On Software vs HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Marketo comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Act-On Software is 2.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HubSpot Marketing Hub is 10.0%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Marketo is 9.9%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HubSpot Marketing Hub10.0%
Marketo9.9%
Act-On Software2.1%
Other78.0%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

it_user82449 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Systems Manager at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees
The adaptive nurturing, segmentation, multiple lead scoring rules, and simple CRM integration stood out the most.
The CRM integration with Act-On is better with Salesforce and had more value for sales representatives than it did with Microsoft Dynamics CRM; that was MS CRM's downfall. Act-On Anywhere is a nice feature for general users, but the tracking in CRM is lost, and Marketing team subject lines do not carry over on the email templates.
Xx Ee - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Content Marketing Strategist at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Has supported marketing and sales alignment while leaving room for better customization options
I have recommendations for making it easier to customize. I used to work in a tech company, so it's very easy to do that in-house, and our team did that. It's not easy to customize for a regular user though. In the world of generative AI where it's easy for you to connect different tools, APIs, etc., HubSpot Marketing Hub still requires some customization. For example, if you want to make sure it's connected with a custom CRM or some other CRM, there is some fair bit of modification that's required. Some main differences in my experience between HubSpot Marketing Hub and Salesforce are that Salesforce is a bit un-user-friendly. I have to be fair, I haven't used Salesforce too much, but I think HubSpot Marketing Hub is much more user-friendly.
Anika Gaur - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Digital Solutions Analyst at Rich Products
Effective lead management and useability with room for reporting improvements
Customer support could be more helpful. The reporting could be better, with more engaging reports and the ability to collaborate more objects, like opportunities. Incorporating AI features similar to tools like HubSpot and Salesforce account engagement would be beneficial. Additionally, Marketo should work on automating tools and updating the product since it looks similar to how it did five years ago.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Act-On is simple to use and it makes campaign development a breeze."
"Our organization was operating blindfolded before implementing Act-On."
"Before I joined, my company used a larger, more expensive but more popular software, and after switching to this, my team can still do everything it needs to for cheaper."
"It is now much easier for us to send and segment emails, analyze our results and make smarter decisions."
"Act-On has an outstanding customer support team and they escalate issues to their technical teams before the frustration level."
"I find HubSpot Marketing Hub's user interface very intuitive and easy to navigate, which is something I really appreciate."
"If we are having any difficulties, I can easily reach out to support executives and have a resolution. I am not sure if we paid for the technical support."
"It's my understanding that the initial setup is a straightforward process."
"Technical support is helpful and responsive."
"The contacts and the connection to sales as well as contact enrichment have been the most valuable aspects of the product."
"The product's initial setup phase was pretty easy."
"Very light solution with many types of marketing automation."
"Overall speed and ease of use, plus the sandbox environment that allows for real-time examples to test and share with clients, lets us shine with a deep understanding of the platform."
"The main feature of Marketo is sending out emails, so that would be the most valuable feature."
"Marketo gives me the toolset necessary to create automated drip email campaigns to my customers and prospects, delivering HUGE ROI with great customer service and a relatively nimble dev team always willing to help, even in special or one-off scenarios."
"I like that the solution is flexible."
"The smart campaign looks quite interesting and useful."
"Overall - I am very pleased with Marketo for email automation and lead management."
"It is a very user-friendly solution. I'm mainly working on Design Studio, which is useful for companies in tracking repeat users. The progressive proofing is also useful. It is not available in other solutions."
"Great ease of use creation for campaigns."
"Advanced capabilities for closed-loop lead management"
 

Cons

"One area of improvement would be ability to use dynamic content fields. It is available, but not to the fullest extent where it would help me."
"The CRM integration with Act-On is better with Salesforce and had more value for sales representatives than it did with Microsoft Dynamics CRM; that was MS CRM's downfall."
"It's not easy to customize for a regular user though. In the world of generative AI where it's easy for you to connect different tools, APIs, etc., HubSpot Marketing Hub still requires some customization."
"There are specific functions that we require that don't exist yet. The landing page building feature leaves much to be desired; we abandoned it and integrated with Unbounce."
"They should increase the ease of actually creating the contacts and the workflows and enhance that aspect."
"The way the staff uses the system sometimes leads to processes not being followed."
"Sometimes the product can be glitchy in the email marketing and landing page creation and I find myself having to refresh the page."
"HubSpot is mainly for enterprise clients and there is a lot of competition. There are better solutions, such as Eloqua and Marketo."
"While HubSpot Marketing Hub has shown increased functionality, there is still room for improvement, particularly in workflows."
"Analytics system could be better."
"Technical support is not good. I would rate them a two out of five."
"Its APIs need to be more flexible because there are some things that are not available in the API."
"The user experience needs improvement, particularly in terms of ease of use and navigation between projects."
"Some modern Marketo features could be improved."
"Customer support could be more helpful."
"Wish it had a better user interface"
"Marketo filters are not very efficient, and timely updates or features could improve this aspect."
"One limitation is the user limit. For bigger organizations with large audience sizes exceeding, let's say, 500k, the solution may not be as efficient as larger enterprise platforms like Salesforce or Oracle Eloqua. However, Marketo is one of the best platforms for mid-scale and small-scale organisations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."
"I believe an individual license costs $50 per month."
"HubSpot Marketing Hub provided me with the startup package with 90% off, but it's still hundreds of dollars a month instead of thousands of dollars a month. There is an additional cost for training and onboarding which is hundreds of dollars. It is expensive and should be reduced."
"Have sufficient content before signing up for the 30-day trial."
"Regarding pricing and licensing, I haven't directly handled it, but I assume Zoho might be cheaper. However, I would still prefer HubSpot due to its cleaner and more user-friendly interface."
"At present, the pricing seems reasonable, but with our plans to scale, I anticipate that it could become a bit steep."
"I'd rate the solution's pricing in the middle range. I want more regular communication from our customer service manager to help us improve our use of HubSpot Marketing Hub."
"The platform itself will typically cost anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000 per year."
"The licensing cost usually depends on the users."
"The initial pricing was excellent, but the pricing for renewals is not as good."
"Marketo's pricing depends on the number of contacts and the level of features you need. Compared to other platforms like Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo is generally more affordable. Like other platforms, it offers different packages based on your needs."
"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."
"I'm not sure about the cost because I don't get into this aspect. Clients normally take care of that. I only know that it is costly, and I don't think there are any additional costs to the licensing."
"It is expensive. We have a yearly license."
"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."
"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about HubSpot Marketing Hub?
I find HubSpot Marketing Hub's user interface very intuitive and easy to navigate, which is something I really apprec...
What needs improvement with HubSpot Marketing Hub?
The biggest thing HubSpot Marketing Hub needs to improve is to keep up with trends and continue innovating around AI ...
What is your primary use case for HubSpot Marketing Hub?
My main use case for HubSpot Marketing Hub is primarily for our website and all of our demand generation. A specific ...
What do you like most about Marketo?
One of the most important things about Marketo is its focus on GDPR compliance. It helps you follow GDPR and CAN-SPAM...
What needs improvement with Marketo?
The user interface could be improved. I would like to see an updated UI for 2025.
What is your primary use case for Marketo?
As a seasoned Marketo Expert with a decade of experience and a deep understanding of Adobe's ecosystem, I can confide...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NYU, Tableau, Xerox, ASPCA, Lego Education, Hoopla, Avery Dennison and SolarWorld.
Emyth, CRS, ClearPivot, Stitch Live, SoldOut, Waterfall, SnapEngage, Duo
Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: March 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.