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Act-On Software vs HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Pardot 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 May 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Act-On Software is 1.8%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HubSpot Marketing Hub is 10.0%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pardot is 2.9%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HubSpot Marketing Hub10.0%
Pardot2.9%
Act-On Software1.8%
Other85.3%
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.
PradeepKumar25 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Manager at Tech Mahindra Limited
Allows seamless integration but lacks email design
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design studio, limiting our ability to perform various design activities efficiently. You don't need to write any HTML code, but designing a banner for a website involves creating a landing page within Pardot. The platform's drag-and-drop features are not as advanced as those in other marketing platforms like Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, or Eloqua. Pardot's landing page and form-building features are pretty basic, requiring web developers or skilled users to build elements from scratch and perform extensive testing using tools like Litmus before deployment. This is a significant drawback of the platform. Additionally, Pardot's integration with third-party applications is limited because it operates on top of CRM systems. However, data integration between Pardot and CRM is seamless, reducing the need to worry about data errors once the configuration is complete.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Act-On has an outstanding customer support team and they escalate issues to their technical teams before the frustration level."
"Act-On is simple to use and it makes campaign development a breeze."
"It is now much easier for us to send and segment emails, analyze our results and make smarter decisions."
"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."
"Our organization was operating blindfolded before implementing Act-On."
"It saves a lot of time."
"The best feature of HubSpot Marketing Hub is that it's pretty easy to understand and easy to onboard."
"From my experience, just the ease of use and the user interface on HubSpot is phenomenal."
"Marketing Hub does an incredible job of tracking and updating client records. The reporting has been enhanced, so you can do just about any type of reporting with it and export to Excel if necessary. They just came out with a considerable upgrade a few months ago, which really helped on the reporting side."
"The contacts and the connection to sales as well as contact enrichment have been the most valuable aspects of the product."
"Collected all of our digital content and allowed us to repurpose and share with other relevant content over time."
"Even though I have worked only worked with the solution for a short time, I would recommend HubSpot to be used, as they are very reliable."
"Customer Service: Pretty good and very responsive support. Technical Support: Very good"
"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"However, you are going to receive good value for money."
"Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"There are issues with the consistency of notifications."
"They need to improve their report and the ability to customize them, especially as some of the more fancy reports they have are not available."
"The tool should improve email marketing solution. It is behind its competitors for bulk campaigns."
"The upcoming tasks feature could be better. With HubSpot, whenever I put the contact information into Microsoft Office or Microsoft Outlook, it automatically inputs it into HubSpot. For example, it keeps telling me to contact my Solaris representative as an upcoming task. I've tried changing the contact in it to "not a lead," but it keeps sending me that notification."
"The upcoming tasks feature could be better."
"The search and questions aren't as intuitive as I would expect from a platform like this."
"The solution is not recommended for launching investment."
"My experience with customer support has not been the greatest. Often, the support team provides generic answers that are not very helpful and can be found online."
"Needs to improve list building."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money."
"The reporting features of the Pardot system could be improved to provide better and more data."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"Needs to improve list building."
"Pardot must be synced with Salesforce."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."
"The licensing costs are around $4,800 per month. Initially, there's an onboarding fee of around $10,000 or $5,000, but after that, it's just the licensing fee."
"HubSpot Marketing Hub's pricing is reasonable. It is about 800-900 dollars a month. It may be pricey for smaller clients, but for the bigger ones, it's only a small part of their monthly revenue."
"Have sufficient content before signing up for the 30-day trial."
"HubSpot Marketing Hub is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"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."
"For our organization, HubSpot was pretty affordable compared to Google Analytics."
"We are on an annual license for this solution. There have many different versions to meet the needs of their customers, such as professional enterprise and basic versions. They charge for the particular feature or components which are available in the license you have."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
7%
Construction Company
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
 

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 Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

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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 advice do you have for others considering HubSpot Marketing Hub?
HubSpot Marketing Hub has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to execute more targeted campaigns, as ...
What do you like most about Pardot?
It has no limit for sending marketing emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pardot?
Pardot was somewhat costly for our requirements, nonetheless, the capacities of the item were limited.
What needs improvement with Pardot?
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design s...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NYU, Tableau, Xerox, ASPCA, Lego Education, Hoopla, Avery Dennison and SolarWorld.
Emyth, CRS, ClearPivot, Stitch Live, SoldOut, Waterfall, SnapEngage, Duo
Arketi Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: May 2026.
895,151 professionals have used our research since 2012.