Less Annoying CRM vs Act
Side-by-side trajectory, velocity, and editorial themes.
Less Annoying CRM keeps shipping the small stuff users have asked for, and one big workflow piece.
LACRM is in steady customer-driven iteration mode — task customization, rich text fields, undo on destructive actions, twelve small requested features in a single release. The standout from the past six months is automations, which finally gives the product a workflow primitive comparable to higher-end CRMs without abandoning its simplicity-first positioning.
The product is broadening from contact management into light workflow tooling — automations, update forms, deeper Zapier hooks — while continuing to invest in the unglamorous quality-of-life work (relative date filters, undo merge, group search). It is positioning against feature-rich competitors by being the CRM that respects the user's time, not by matching feature surface area.
Expect automations to grow more triggers and conditions over the next quarter, especially around forms and pipeline movement, since the foundation just landed and Zapier integration coverage is being filled in. The next user-visible bet is likely a reporting or dashboard improvement, since visibility hasn't moved while the workflow surface has.
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.
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.
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.
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