Twenty
Twenty 2.53 lets apps lock field permission actions, a day after role-aware relation pickers.
Comparison · CRM
Act vs Twenty
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Act and Twenty — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Act vs Twenty: at a glance
What is Act?
Act! pivots from CRM-only to payment processor while modernizing its Cloud UX.
Act! is in the middle of a methodical Cloud modernization, rebuilding list views, navigation, and notifications to match the consistency users expect from modern CRMs. Alongside that polish work, Act! has just shipped Act! Payments via Propelr — turning the CRM into a place where credit card transactions close, not just leads. The product is still recognizably a small-business CRM, but its surface area is widening.
What is Twenty?
Twenty 2.52 lets apps run their own account-connection flows and adds inbox sharing.
Twenty 2.52.0 has a breaking change: apps can now connect accounts through their own authorization flow, and members manage personal app connections from preferences. The release also adds inbox thread sharing, global chat commands, email approval review, and weekly AI credits shown in chat. Much of the rest rebuilds record-form editing for emails, phones, links, files and addresses, and brings back table and toggle controls lost in 2.51's TipTap switch.
Act vs Twenty: editorial side-by-side
Act
6.3CRM
Act! pivots from CRM-only to payment processor while modernizing its Cloud UX.
◆ Current state
Act! is in the middle of a methodical Cloud modernization, rebuilding list views, navigation, and notifications to match the consistency users expect from modern CRMs. Alongside that polish work, Act! has just shipped Act! Payments via Propelr — turning the CRM into a place where credit card transactions close, not just leads. The product is still recognizably a small-business CRM, but its surface area is widening.
◆ Where it's heading
The release cadence shows two parallel tracks: weekly UX rationalization (notification center, list parity, faster task editing) and category expansion through embedded financial services. Act! is following the same playbook HubSpot and Pipedrive have run — keep the legacy users happy with quality-of-life work while quietly bolting on revenue-bearing features that compete with Stripe-adjacent SMB tools. Payments is the most directional move in years.
◆ Prediction
Expect deeper payments integration next — recurring billing tied to opportunities, dunning workflows from the contact record, and likely a payments-driven pricing tier that monetizes transaction volume rather than seats.
Twenty
5.0CRM
Twenty 2.52 lets apps run their own account-connection flows and adds inbox sharing.
◆ Current state
Twenty 2.52.0 has a breaking change: apps can now connect accounts through their own authorization flow, and members manage personal app connections from preferences. The release also adds inbox thread sharing, global chat commands, email approval review, and weekly AI credits shown in chat. Much of the rest rebuilds record-form editing for emails, phones, links, files and addresses, and brings back table and toggle controls lost in 2.51's TipTap switch.
◆ Where it's heading
Twenty is pushing its app platform outward: third-party apps now own their auth and channels, and SDK packages ship in lockstep with core. Alongside it, the product is building a shared inbox and an AI chat with metered credits and human approval steps. The editor and form work shows a team still paying down 2.51's TipTap migration.
◆ Prediction
Expect a 2.52.x patch round for the new connection flow and record-form bricks, and more approval-gated AI actions in chat. Removal of the deprecated blocknote sub-field is still pending.
Alternatives to Act and Twenty
Other CRM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Act or Twenty.
IntegCRM
IntegCRM keeps building out invoicing, bookings, forms and email for service businesses.
Folk
folk ships a French interface weeks after moving its data storage to Europe.
GroupOffice
GroupOffice patches its current 26.0 line and the older 25.0 line on the same afternoon.
Close CRM
Close takes Chloe Chat out of beta for every customer, a month after OIDC SSO.
Corteza
Corteza 2026.9.0 goes final after a week of single-fix candidates.
Recent activity from Act and Twenty
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoTwentyTwenty 2.53.1: apps can lock permissions on their own fields
- 1d agoTwentyTwenty SDK 2.53.1: apps can lock field permission actions
- 1d agoTwentyTwenty 2.53.0: docs translation update only
- 1d agoTwentyTwenty SDK 2.53.0: docs translation update only
- 2d agoTwentyTwenty 2.52: app-owned account auth, inbox sharing, chat commands
- 2d agoTwentyTwenty SDK packages npm publish run (2.52.0)
- 6mo agoActAccept Payments with Act! Advantage ⚡
- 6mo agoActAccept Payments with Act! Advantage
- 6mo agoActNotification Center and List Experience Enhancements
- 6mo agoActNotification Center and List Experience Enhancements Date of Release 02/27/26 This update enhances usability across Act!
- 6mo agoActNotification Center and Added Email Campaign Support
- 6mo agoActNotification Center and Email Campaign Support
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Act and Twenty?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Act is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Act better than Twenty?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Act is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other CRM products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Act?
Top Act alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Act alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/act for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Twenty?
Top Twenty alternatives in CRM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Twenty alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/twenty for the full list with editorial commentary on each.