Phorest
Phorest lets salons price the stylist, not just the service
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.
Shared themes:crm
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's ORM v2 migration is down to permission and repository edge cases
The two newest tags are single-line fixes on the ORM v2 rewrite: an orphaned mirrored-field permission blocking relation field updates, and findAndCount missing from the ORM v2 workspace repository. They follow the same-day cluster pattern this feed always shows, where the version tag carries a one-line title and the substance sits in the referenced PR.
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
7.5CRM
Twenty's ORM v2 migration is down to permission and repository edge cases
◆ Current state
The two newest tags are single-line fixes on the ORM v2 rewrite: an orphaned mirrored-field permission blocking relation field updates, and findAndCount missing from the ORM v2 workspace repository. They follow the same-day cluster pattern this feed always shows, where the version tag carries a one-line title and the substance sits in the referenced PR.
◆ Where it's heading
Nearly every tag in this window traces back to the ORM v2 migration — relation-keyed where clauses, quoted aliases, dropped validator specs, repository methods being backfilled as callers hit them. That is the signature of a rewrite in its long tail: the shape is settled and what remains is discovering which methods and permission paths were missed.
◆ Prediction
On this pattern the ORM v2 fixes keep arriving one missing method or permission path at a time until the callers stop finding gaps; no new feature surface is visible in the release stream.
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.
Woodpecker
Woodpecker's public feed is an SEO content engine, not a changelog.
Vendasta
A daily SEO blog pitching AI service lines to agencies, with no product releases in it.
Thryv
Two weeks after the platform relaunch, Thryv's feed is all demand generation for it.
Recruiterflow
Staking the AI-native ATS claim in editorial while shipping nothing visible.
NetHunt CRM
NetHunt's feed is evaluation-stage SEO content, with no product releases visible in it.
Recent activity from Act and Twenty
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 21h agoTwentyOrphaned mirrored-field permission no longer blocks relation field updates
- 2d agoTwentyfindAndCount added to the ORM v2 workspace repository
- 3d agoTwentyORM v2 learns relation-keyed where clauses
- 4d agoTwentyORM v2 record-identifier query gets its alias quoted
- 4d agoTwentyAutomated-trigger service spec dropped after the ORM v2 backport
- 5d agoTwentyValidator service specs removed in ORM v2 cleanup
- 3mo agoActAccept Payments with Act! Advantage ⚡
- 3mo agoActAccept Payments with Act! Advantage
- 4mo agoActNotification Center and List Experience Enhancements
- 4mo agoActNotification Center and List Experience Enhancements Date of Release 02/27/26 This update enhances usability across Act!
- 4mo agoActNotification Center and Added Email Campaign Support
- 4mo agoActNotification Center and Email Campaign Support
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Act and Twenty?
Both compete on the same themes — crm — within CRM. Twenty is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 6.3), 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. Twenty is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 6.3), 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.