Twenty
Twenty 2.52 lets apps run their own account-connection flows and adds inbox sharing.
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 2.53 lets apps lock field permission actions, a day after role-aware relation pickers.
Twenty shipped 2.53.0 and 2.53.1 on Oct 28, a day after 2.52.0. The 2.53.0 notes list only docs translations; 2.53.1 lets applications disable field permission actions on the fields they own. 2.52 had made relation pickers offer only targets the current role may update, and 2.51 replaced BlockNote with TipTap and put custom roles behind a billing entitlement.
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 2.53 lets apps lock field permission actions, a day after role-aware relation pickers.
◆ Current state
Twenty shipped 2.53.0 and 2.53.1 on Oct 28, a day after 2.52.0. The 2.53.0 notes list only docs translations; 2.53.1 lets applications disable field permission actions on the fields they own. 2.52 had made relation pickers offer only targets the current role may update, and 2.51 replaced BlockNote with TipTap and put custom roles behind a billing entitlement.
◆ Where it's heading
Releases are arriving almost daily now, and the visible changes keep landing on roles and permissions, both in the CRM UI and in what installed applications can control. The SDK is tagged in lockstep with each server version, so the app platform and the permission model are evolving together.
◆ Prediction
Expect 2.53.x patches with more app-level permission controls; the published notes are too thin to say what else 2.53 contains.
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.
- 23h agoTwentyTwenty 2.53.1: apps can disable field permission actions
- 23h agoTwentySDK 2.53.1 tag matching the server release
- 23h agoTwentySDK 2.53.0 tag (notes list only docs translations)
- 23h agoTwentyTwenty 2.53.0 (notes list only docs translations)
- 2d agoTwentynpm publish dry run for Twenty 2.52.0
- 2d agoTwentyTwenty 2.52: relation pickers respect role permissions
- 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?
Both compete on the same themes — crm — within CRM. 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-crm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.