Review of Wave Accounting
I expected free accounting software to feel like a trap, because usually free means the useful button is hiding behind a paywall. Wave Accounting is better than that. Invoicing, income and expense tracking, receipts, and basic reports are all practical enough for a small business that does not need a giant finance stack.
Still, it is not some miracle machine!!! If your process needs deeper approvals, inventory, or complicated controls, you will probably hit walls. For freelancers and small teams, though, it handles the boring money work without making everything weirdly expensive for now.
Review of Act-On
Act-On is a capable marketing automation platform with a workflow builder that makes campaign planning easier to follow. The visual approach helps when you need to map out nurture programs, lead scoring, and multi-channel communication without everything feeling fragmented. Reporting is useful, and the platform seems best suited to teams that already have some marketing operations structure in place. My reservation is that it looks more comfortable in a mature team than in a small group that just wants something very simple. If you can take advantage of the automation and reporting features, it has real value. If not, it may feel heavier than you need.