Act! vs lemlist: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Act! and lemlist to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Act!
5.4/10
Act! is a long-running CRM with contact management, sales pipelines and built-in marketing automation, sold to small and midsize businesses in cloud and Windows desktop editions.
lemlist
6.5/10
lemlist is a multichannel sales outreach platform that automates personalized cold email, LinkedIn, phone and SMS sequences for sales teams, agencies and startups.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.4/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $30/user/mo Act! Premium Cloud | $69/mo Email |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $300/mo Act! Premium Cloud | $69/mo Email |
| Features | ||
| Mobile Access | ||
| Contact Management | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Lead Management | ||
| Marketing Automation | ||
| Reporting & Analytics | ||
| Sales Automation | ||
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Collaboration | Not listed | |
| Customer Support Management | Not listed | |
| Opportunity Management | Not listed | |
Act! vs lemlist cost by team size
Act! costs less at 1 user; lemlist costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Act! | lemlist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $30/moAct! Premium Cloud | $69/moEmail |
| 5 users | $150/moAct! Premium Cloud | $69/moEmail |
| 10 users | $300/moAct! Premium Cloud | $69/moEmail |
| 25 users | $750/moAct! Premium Cloud | $69/moEmail |
| 50 users | $1,500/moAct! Premium Cloud | $69/moEmail |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Act!
- Higher Cost score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Includes Mobile Access, which lemlist lacks
Why choose lemlist
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $69/mo vs $300/mo
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (5/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Act!
Pros
- Contact management is detailed and copes with large contact databases and big imports.
- A desktop and hybrid deployment allows offline work, which most cloud-only CRMs do not offer.
- Basic marketing automation is included in Premium, with drip campaigns, lead scoring and web visitor tracking.
- Fields and sales processes are highly customisable.
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android are included at no extra cost for Premium Cloud subscribers.
Cons
- Reviewers describe the interface as dated and dense, comparable to older Windows software.
- Pipeline and profit reporting is a recurring complaint, and the date-based pipeline can hide open deals.
- Users report freezing and slowness, especially with remote databases.
- There is no native Mac desktop app.
- Enhanced support and several capabilities cost extra on top of the per-user fee.
lemlist
Pros
- Image and video personalization are frequently praised in G2 reviews as stronger than in rival tools.
- A single sequence can run across email, LinkedIn, SMS, WhatsApp and calls.
- Two-way sync with HubSpot and Salesforce, plus connectors for Pipedrive, Attio, Close, Zoho, Zapier, Make and n8n.
- Warm-up, a 650M+ contact database and AI message agents come bundled into the plans.
- G2 rates it 4.6/5 from about 1,345 reviews, and reviewers often call support responsive.
Cons
- Costs climb with seats, extra senders, credits and add-ons, which is the second most common complaint in reviews.
- Reporting is described as basic, and there is no mobile app.
- Some users report a learning curve, a heavy interface and clunky contact handling across campaigns.
- Some Reddit and Trustpilot users report deliverability drops and billing or cancellation disputes.
- It is not a full CRM: there is no deal pipeline or support ticketing, so most teams still need a separate CRM.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Lemlist scores higher on our CRM criteria: 6.5/10 against 5.4/10 for Act!. The largest gap is in Integration: 5/10 for Act! and 8/10 for lemlist.
Lemlist costs less for 10 users: about $69/mo on its Email plan, against about $300/mo on its Act! Premium Cloud plan for Act!, billed monthly.
No, neither Act! nor lemlist lists a free plan.
Lemlist is the better fit for startups: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 5/10 for Act!.
Act! has Mobile Access, which lemlist lacks.
