Act-On Software vs Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

Act-On Software and Salesforce are both solutions in the Marketing Automation category. Act-On Software is ranked #16, while Salesforce is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.4. Act-On Software holds a 1.5% mindshare in MA, compared to Salesforce’s 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Act-On Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Act-On Software

Read 7 Act-On Software reviews

228 Views
228 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Pardot

Read 12 Pardot reviews

726 Views
719 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Read 60 Salesforce Marketing Cloud reviews

3,606 Views
2,488 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Act-On Software

Pardot

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Act-On Software, Pardot, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot and others in Marketing Automation.

To learn more, read our detailed Marketing Automation Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Marketing Automation

August 2025

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Helped 867,341 peers since 2012

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 September 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Act-On Software is 1.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pardot is 3.3%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 20.6%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Marketing Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud	20.6%
Pardot	3.3%
Act-On Software	1.5%
Other	74.6%

Marketing Automation

Featured Reviews

it_user82449

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.

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Vikram Rawani

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.

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Napitch K

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at growth innovation

Integration challenges impact workflow efficiency

The features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that I have found most valuable are the Journey Builder and Flow. These capabilities are valuable because they make managing automation easy. Automating customer journeys saves time when scheduling content through every channel, and we can set the automation in advance when planning marketing content. The AI-powered tools such as Salesforce Datorama and Einstein save time and have an impact on marketing strategy decisions for my customers. I have noticed a positive impact from Salesforce Marketing Cloud through customer feedback. For example, a customer mentioned after project completion that it had a significant impact on their marketing team by eliminating the need to hire additional staff for marketing content and planning.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

21%

Healthcare Company

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	28

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Pardot?

It has no limit for sending marketing emails.

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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.

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What needs improvement with Pardot?

Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design s...

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What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

I did not work on any pricing or implementation aspects but learned on my own when dealing with Revenue Cloud products.

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What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

An area of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that could be improved is the connectivity between Sales Cloud and Marketing Cl...

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Comparisons

Zift Solutions vs Act-On Software

Compared 38% of the time

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Act-On Software

Compared 35% of the time

Marketo vs Act-On Software

Compared 28% of the time

More Act-On Software Competitors

Oracle Eloqua vs Pardot

Compared 44% of the time

Marketo vs Pardot

Compared 21% of the time

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Pardot

Compared 17% of the time

More Pardot Competitors

Marketo vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 13% of the time

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 10% of the time

Zeta Marketing Platform vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

SAP Marketing Cloud vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Eloqua vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Marketing Automation

August 2025

Download Act-On Software product report

Buyer's Guide

Pardot

August 2025

Download Pardot product report

Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

August 2025

Download Salesforce Marketing Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

ExactTarget

Overview

Act-On Software is a marketing automation company delivering innovation that empowers marketers to do the best work of their careers. Act-On is the only integrated workspace that powers the customer experience from end-to-end, from brand awareness and demand generation, to retention and loyalty. With Act-On, marketers can drive better business outcomes and see higher customer lifetime value. Act-On is squarely focused on the success of its customers and offers consultant level quality with everyday customer support. Act-On Software has been recognized for its superior product and rapid business growth by Deloitte, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine. For more information, visit www.act-on.com.

Act-On Software

Pardot, a salesforce.com Company, is an easy-to-use B2B Marketing Automation suite that helps sales and marketing teams maximize efficiency and increase revenue. Pardot's lead management software features CRM integration, email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and ROI reporting to help marketing and sales teams work together to generate and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, and demonstrate marketing accountability.

Salesforce

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that enables businesses to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

With its robust set of tools and features, marketers can easily manage and automate their email marketing, social media advertising, mobile messaging, and customer journey mapping.

The platform offers advanced segmentation capabilities, allowing marketers to segment their audience based on various criteria and deliver tailored messages to each segment.

Additionally, Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides powerful analytics and reporting features, enabling marketers to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

With its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud offers a seamless and efficient marketing automation solution for businesses of all sizes.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

NYU, Tableau, Xerox, ASPCA, Lego Education, Hoopla, Avery Dennison and SolarWorld.

Arketi Group

American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips

Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: August 2025.

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