Since the discontinuation of the Act! Pro product on September 15, 2023 my mailbox has been flooded with the same question: “Where can I buy an Act! Perpetual license?” In a nutshell, the answer is “nowhere.” Act Pro users are furious that they were once able to “buy” their Act Pro license and use it for years and years without additional costs. That begs the question: how can any company stay in business with only occasional sales? It’s just not realistic.
Most Act Pro users ignored the warnings about Act! Pro’s demise; it isn’t until they find that their version of Act Pro won’t properly install on a new machine that they get the message.
- End User License Agreement (EULA): Most software has a EULA and Act is no exception. The EULA is that legal jargon that most of us ignore by clicking NEXT when installing software. Act’s EULA states that the software can be installed two times for each license you purchase.
- Act Perpetual License: Quite simply, this allows end users to use the software without further payment as long as the end user complies with the terms of the End User License Agreement (EULA).
Act’s EULA did not state that the manufacturer would continue to support the software forever, nor did it state that the software would continue to work even if you changed your operating environment. It also stated that you could install your Act license a total of TWO times. After the second install you will not be able to register Act.
If you have additional questions about purchasing an Act! Perpetual License please don’t call me. I didn’t create this policy and no, I don’t have a warehouse of “older” Act products sitting in my back office. In fact, Act! hasn’t been sold in a box for years as few modern computer come with a CD drive. However, if you are looking to get good pricing on an Act Premium Desktop subscription, or would consider another low cost alternative to Act Premium Cloud, send me an email or add a comment below.
Is it worth calling Swiftpage, as I have an invoice for my purchase and theoretically they should honour their sold products, even though the support may have stopped?
Is there any way I can purchase a copy of perpetual ACT that will work?
Hi Gary,
V21 might register if you’ve only registered it once before. I have no idea if Swiftpage will help you. And, no, there is NO way that you can currently purchase an Act! Perpetual license. Period.
I am looking to buy Act perpetual licence software
Hi Chris,
Act! Pro v24 was the last Act! Perpetual License and it was discontinued on 9/15/23. If you want to remain with Act! your options are either an Act! Premium Desktop subscription or an Act! Premium Cloud subscription. I have also converted countless Act databases to other CRM products. Zoho Bigin has lots of great features and starts at $7/month.
I’ve been an ACT user since Win 3.1, and my wife and I have been using it strictly for our personal use over the past 10+ years, to manage/sync our family contacts, calendar and tasks. Does ACT have a more cost effective option for users like us? Suggestions for other solutions? Thanks, Jim
Don’t mean to be a PIA, but, I owned, yes I understand, owned is past tense, a desktop license.
So after the 20th my desktop/ACT will go dark?
Unless I pay the extortion fee?
George, most software, Act! included, is governed by an “End User Licensing Agreement.” That the fine print the manufacturer tries to get you to read when you install the software. A licensing agreement states that you have a license to use the software according to their terms. It’s not extortion; it’s the licensing agreement for the software. No pay, no play. I honestly don’t know of a single CRM product that doesn’t work that way.
The best option for you if you want to remain in Act! is to go with the cloud product. That is $360/year. You and your wife could share a license and just mark the calendar accordingly. There would be a bit of cleanup that I’d recommend just to make sure you don’t get hit with any size overages.
George, most software, Act! included, is governed by an “End User Licensing Agreement.” That the fine print the manufacturer tries to get you to read when you install the software. A licensing agreement states that you have a license to use the software according to their terms. I always put on my invoices that a yearly renewal is required.
It’s not extortion; it’s the licensing agreement for the software. No pay, no play. I honestly don’t know of a single CRM product that doesn’t work that way. The bottom line is that software manufacturers can’t stay in business without R&D to stay up with every changing technology. Quicken, QuickBooks, Adobe, Microsoft – they’ve all moved to yearly subscriptions.
Again, you can move to the free edition of Zoho if you don’t need any custom fields and can limit your migration to 1,000 rows at a time. CRM versions range from 168-276. Zoho one is $444.
I’m thinking of buying an old version of ACt on ebay and then upgrading to something newer for a discount. I used Act a loooooong time ago
Dan, do NOT purchase an old copy of Act on Ebay unless you are just looking to throw money out the window. First of all, any version prior to v18 comes with old serial numbers that can no longer be registered on a computer. Newer copies were probably already installed and there is a limit to 2 installs/license. If that’s not bad enough, there are no special “upgrade” specials. You already qualify for a promotional pricing if you are moving to a subscription.
Hi I have an an Act Pro db 2013 perpetual license, but its currently running on Windows 8.1 I am thnking about upgrading windows to 10 or 11 and therefore will most likely need to upgrade. I dont want to have a subscription can you get a new perpetual license?
Hi Leigh,
Sorry to disappoint you but there are no longer any Perpetual licenses for Act. I do have some great offers available for both the Desktop and Cloud products but they all require an annual renewal.