Same-subcategory comparison

Act-OnvsAdobe Marketo Engage

Compare buyer fit, pricing, capability depth, and purchase constraints within one buying category. A higher score is not a universal winner.

Comparison summary

How to choose

These conclusions apply to this subcategory and the buyer conditions shown here. They do not make one product universally better.

Act-On

Consider when

Midsize and enterprise lifecycle-marketing teams that want a broad automation suite rather than a single-channel tool.
Demand-generation and marketing-operations teams that need nurturing, segmentation, scoring, multichannel campaigns and attribution.

Check before choosing

Buyers that require month-to-month purchasing with no annual commitment.

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Adobe Marketo Engage

Consider when

B2B lifecycle marketing, demand-generation and marketing-operations teams that need sophisticated automation, scoring, personalization and CRM alignment.
Mid-market and enterprise organizations that need scalable lead/account databases, campaign automation, analytics and multi-channel nurturing.

Check before choosing

Buyers restricted to Growth, Select or Prime who require Marketo Measure included in the base package.
Buyers restricted to Growth or Select who require Advanced Journey Analytics, Sandbox and Workspaces & Partitions included in the base package.

Full profile

Dimension	Act-On	Adobe Marketo Engage
Pricing and trial	Professional $900 USD · per subscription · per month · Professional US 2,500-active-contact starting-price state · starting at · one-year commitment · Observed current US calculator state at 2,500 active contacts per month. Act-On states that displayed pricing is an anticipated starting figure and actual pricing varies with add-ons, configuration, implementation, and contact needs. Enterprise Requires quote · Enterprise US quote state · custom quote · one-year commitment · Current Enterprise edition sold through a sales quote. The pricing FAQ states that Act-On contracts require a year-long commitment or longer. Professional has an observed USD 900/month starting state at 2,500 active contacts/month. Enterprise is quote-based. Both current editions are subject to Act-On's required annual contract. The pricing FAQ says actual price varies with selected add-ons, configuration and implementation. The current agreement states that, unless an order form says otherwise, subscriptions renew for successive 12-month terms with a 5% fee increase. Deterministic implementation, add-on and invoice-schedule amounts were not publicly established in the reviewed sources. Full profile	Growth Requires quote · Marketo Engage Growth US customized-pricing state · custom quote · Current Adobe Marketo Engage Growth package. The current US pricing route provides Get pricing/customized pricing rather than a public numeric amount. Select Requires quote · Marketo Engage Select US customized-pricing state · custom quote · Current Adobe Marketo Engage Select package. The current US pricing route provides Get pricing/customized pricing rather than a public numeric amount. Prime Requires quote · Marketo Engage Prime US customized-pricing state · custom quote · Current Adobe Marketo Engage Prime package. The current US pricing route provides Get pricing/customized pricing rather than a public numeric amount. Ultimate Requires quote · Marketo Engage Ultimate US customized-pricing state · custom quote · Current Adobe Marketo Engage Ultimate package. The current US pricing route provides Get pricing/customized pricing rather than a public numeric amount. All four current Marketo Engage packages require customized pricing. Growth includes 10 users and 20,000 daily API calls; Select, Prime and Ultimate each include 25 users and 50,000 daily API calls. The current page does not publish currency-denominated amounts, billing cadence, minimum purchase, minimum contract commitment, renewal terms or implementation price. The dated official package guide says pricing is based on database size, while current package pages retain multiple optional extra-cost capabilities. Full profile
Best for	Midsize and enterprise lifecycle-marketing teams that want a broad automation suite rather than a single-channel tool. Demand-generation and marketing-operations teams that need nurturing, segmentation, scoring, multichannel campaigns and attribution. Salesforce and other CRM-centric organizations that need bidirectional marketing-sales data flows.	B2B lifecycle marketing, demand-generation and marketing-operations teams that need sophisticated automation, scoring, personalization and CRM alignment. Mid-market and enterprise organizations that need scalable lead/account databases, campaign automation, analytics and multi-channel nurturing. Teams that need account-based marketing, journey analytics and predictive audiences from Prime upward.
Not for	Buyers that require month-to-month purchasing with no annual commitment.	Buyers restricted to Growth, Select or Prime who require Marketo Measure included in the base package. Buyers restricted to Growth or Select who require Advanced Journey Analytics, Sandbox and Workspaces & Partitions included in the base package.
Source check	99/100	99/100
Key features	Lifecycle marketing automation and automated engagement programs. Lead scoring, behavioral and demographic segmentation, and targeted messaging. Email, SMS, web, social, event and direct-mail campaign orchestration. Landing pages, forms, templates, web visitor tracking and reporting dashboards. CRM integrations including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, SugarCRM and NetSuite.	Lead and account database with native CRM integration. Audience segmentation, targeting, personalization and dynamic content. Campaign and journey automation with intelligent cross-channel nurturing. Lead scoring, routing and alerts. Email, social, landing pages, forms, SEO and paid-media targeting.
Cons	The public Professional amount is tied to a specific active-contact calculator state and should not be treated as the price for every contact volume. Enterprise pricing is quote-based. An annual contract is required.	Subscription price is quote-based and no public numeric current rate card was captured. Database size is a pricing driver, but current package-specific rates and thresholds are not published on the reviewed live pricing page. Billing cadence, minimum commitment, renewal and implementation amounts require commercial confirmation.
Category buying score	82Higher category-fit score	79
Rank	#5	#6
Context	Marketing & SEO / Marketing Automation Software	Marketing & SEO / Marketing Automation Software
Campaign orchestration depth	87Automated engagement programs and lifecycle campaigns support multistep marketing operations; buyers should align their required CRM and advanced capabilities with Professional add-ons or Enterprise inclusions.	79Campaign and journey automation supports nurturing across stated channels, while the package record places Advanced Journey Analytics in Prime and Ultimate and lists it as an extra for lower packages; buyers should confirm the journey controls and analytics their lifecycle requires.
Segmentation and personalization	85Behavioral and demographic segmentation, targeted messaging, and AI audience features support audience-specific programs; fit depends on the buyer's contact data and chosen edition.	85Segmentation, personalization, dynamic content, and account-list targeting support tailored audience programs; Predictive Audiences and Target Account Management are identified with Prime and Ultimate, so buyers needing those functions should check the edition boundary.
Lead lifecycle management	83Lead scoring, nurturing, and account-based scoring support qualification and lifecycle work; CRM integration and ABM are Professional add-ons and included in Enterprise.	84Lead and account nurturing, scoring, routing, and alerts address qualification and handoff workflows; teams should validate how their own lifecycle stages and CRM handoffs map to the configured campaigns.
Revenue and campaign analytics	76Analytics and dashboards support campaign monitoring, while Data Studio is an add-on in Professional and included in Enterprise; buyers should confirm the reporting and attribution views required for pipeline decisions.	80Campaign reporting includes revenue, cost, pipeline, conversion, ROI, and marketing-impact views; Advanced Journey Analytics is listed for Prime and Ultimate, so buyers should verify the reporting depth and attribution requirements in their chosen package.
Cross-channel activation	82Email, SMS, web, social, events, and direct mail can be coordinated, with SMS available as an add-on and channel-specific workflows to validate before launch.	77Email, social, forms, landing pages, SEO, paid-media targeting, and plan-dependent webinars cover several activation routes; Vibes SMS is separately licensed and region-limited, so buyers should confirm channel availability and how each route is coordinated.
Data governance and sync	72Named CRM connections and marketing-sales data flows support CRM-connected operations, but buyers should validate their required field mappings, synchronization behavior, and deduplication process.	68Adobe documents continuous Salesforce sync and bidirectional sync for leads, contacts, and Salesforce campaigns, which supports defined CRM data flows; buyers should verify field governance, deduplication, and sync behavior for their broader data model.
Deliverability and compliance safeguards	84Subscription and opt-out controls, GDPR and CCPA protections, and SMS consent handling support compliance-oriented campaigns; SMS is separately licensed and buyers should confirm applicable channel safeguards.	67Marketing email unsubscribe text and links, privacy-request handling, and regulation fields provide documented compliance-related controls; buyers should confirm how consent, suppression, and sender-reputation workflows meet their policies.
Full profile	Full profile	Full profile

Comparison summary

Most material score differences

These are the stored dimension rationales returned with each score. They explain the buyer conditions behind the gap without speculating about hidden model reasoning.

Deliverability and compliance safeguards

17 pts

Act-On · 84/100: Subscription and opt-out controls, GDPR and CCPA protections, and SMS consent handling support compliance-oriented campaigns; SMS is separately licensed and buyers should confirm applicable channel safeguards.
Adobe Marketo Engage · 67/100: Marketing email unsubscribe text and links, privacy-request handling, and regulation fields provide documented compliance-related controls; buyers should confirm how consent, suppression, and sender-reputation workflows meet their policies.

Campaign orchestration depth

8 pts

Act-On · 87/100: Automated engagement programs and lifecycle campaigns support multistep marketing operations; buyers should align their required CRM and advanced capabilities with Professional add-ons or Enterprise inclusions.
Adobe Marketo Engage · 79/100: Campaign and journey automation supports nurturing across stated channels, while the package record places Advanced Journey Analytics in Prime and Ultimate and lists it as an extra for lower packages; buyers should confirm the journey controls and analytics their lifecycle requires.

Cross-channel activation

5 pts

Act-On · 82/100: Email, SMS, web, social, events, and direct mail can be coordinated, with SMS available as an add-on and channel-specific workflows to validate before launch.
Adobe Marketo Engage · 77/100: Email, social, forms, landing pages, SEO, paid-media targeting, and plan-dependent webinars cover several activation routes; Vibes SMS is separately licensed and region-limited, so buyers should confirm channel availability and how each route is coordinated.

Research basis

This page uses stored product facts, official evidence, and category scoring rationales. It is not an account-based hands-on test, and third-party user ratings are not folded into the category buying score.

Act-On: Fact confidence: 99% · Fact checked: 2026-10-04
Adobe Marketo Engage: Fact confidence: 99% · Fact checked: 2026-10-03