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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 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 Pardot is 3.2%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HubSpot Marketing Hub10.0%
Pardot3.2%
Act-On Software2.1%
Other84.7%
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.
Vikram Rawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Pardot Consultant at Target
Offers an easy initial setup phase and good ROI
With Pardot, users can do the segmentation based on their requirements. You can segment your prospects based on their interests, locations, companies, or the sales cycle. You can also use the engagement studio to create a journey for the people you have segmented with the help of automation feature of the tool. The aforementioned area consists of the most useful features I found in the tool apart from its out-of-the-box features. The integration between Pardot and Salesforce is beneficial if you know how to share the leads that a company finds useful so that they don't have to invest in manual work or do anything blindly to reach out to leads. Users can segment the leads using the features that the tool provides. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. If a business is into B2B marketing and can afford to purchase Pardot, then they should buy it. If the product of a company is good, then Pardot can help multiply such an organization's ROI. Based on the product and how the sales and marketing team works, the tool can be useful. In short, the tool can be as good as the person who is using it. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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."
"HubSpot has been very useful for a startup when we didn't have marketing ops expertise."
"Collected all of our digital content and allowed us to repurpose and share with other relevant content over time."
"Technical support is helpful and responsive."
"Customer Service: Pretty good and very responsive support. Technical Support: Very good"
"The solution enables the customization of reports."
"With 18 companies to manage, manual handling would be impractical. HubSpot's automation facilitates pre-scheduling, greatly enhancing our efficiency."
"I'd offer my strong endorsement."
"Absolutely, hands-down the best platform of its kind that we've experienced."
"The solution can be easily integrated with Salesforce."
"However, you are going to receive good value for money."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Our ROI is huge, not just in cost avoidance, but also in increased sales."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"For me, the best thing is the Custom Redirect. That's one key thing I like because using that particular Custom Redirect, I can track a link wherever I'm sharing it. I can track how and when people are accessing it."
 

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."
"Years ago, these tools used to allow you to see the exact location of people that were clicking on things. I guess they quit doing it for privacy reasons, but that was very helpful information and I miss seeing it in those reports. I thought that this tool could do it when we left Act-On to go to HubSpot, but when we moved over they stopped doing it."
"Increase the CRM size for sole proprietors before increasing the fee."
"There are some issues with HubSpot Marketing Hub with receiving notifications. It was too difficult to understand, and it requires a lot of effort."
"There are some issues with HubSpot Marketing Hub with receiving notifications. It was too difficult to understand, and it requires a lot of effort. Configuration could be simplified."
"Increase the CRM size for sole proprietors before increasing the fee."
"I am not in a position to afford the CRM at this point."
"Analytics system could be better."
"They're not the cheapest."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"Needs to improve list building."
"Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"Needs to improve list building."
"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."
"When we compare it to other automation tools, in Pardot, I'm not able to see any drag-and-drop options. We have to work on an HTML template itself."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"For our organization, HubSpot was pretty affordable compared to Google Analytics."
"HubSpot Marketing Hub is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"Have sufficient content before signing up for the 30-day trial."
"The platform itself will typically cost anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000 per year."
"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."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Construction Company
13%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
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 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 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, HubSpot, Adobe and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: March 2026.
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