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Act-On Zapier integrationAutomate Act-On with Zapier.

The Act-On Zapier integration gives you 3 triggers and 6 actions, with no search step. All three triggers are instant, so a form or a program reaches Zapier at once, even on the free plan. Here is what each one does, what it costs and where it breaks.

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Overview

What the Act-On Zapier integration actually does

The Act-On Zapier integration links your Act-On account to Zapier, the tool that chains apps together without code. Act-On can start an automation when a form is submitted, when a program calls out or when an outgoing webhook fires. Zapier can also write into Act-On: add contacts to lists or segments, update them, or post a form submission.

Three results people build first. A clean contact record after every demo request: New Form Submission starts the Zap and Update or Create Contact in All Contacts by Email keeps one record per address instead of a duplicate. A sales list that fills itself: when an automated program reaches a step that calls out, New Automated Program External Call passes the contact on, and Add Contact to Marketing List drops it into the list your reps work from. A form entry from another tool: a sign-up captured elsewhere lands in Act-On through Create Form Submission, so the form's own reporting still counts it.

What Zapier does not do here. There is no search step for Act-On, so a Zap cannot look up an existing contact before acting on it. No action removes a contact or takes one out of a list. And every trigger is instant: there is nothing to tune on the timing side.

If you are weighing other tools for the same job, start with the n8n vs Zapier comparison and the Zapier review.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words come back on every line of this page. Here they are in plain English.

Zap
The automation itself: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes, sends or moves something for you.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action the Zap completed successfully, and your plan counts those.
Instant vs polling
An instant trigger is reported by the app the moment it happens. A polling trigger is checked by Zapier on a timer.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Connection
Your Act-On account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step that talks to Act-On.
Cost

What an Act-On Zap really costs

Act-On is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan. The bill depends on actions, never on triggers.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only
  • Premium appNo, available on the free plan
  • Act-On triggers3 instant, 0 polling
  • What is billedEach successful action, never the trigger

The trigger costs nothing. Each action that succeeds counts as one task, and a failed action is not counted. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month but only two-step Zaps: one trigger, one action. Add a second action or a filter and you have a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. The interval grid below only matters for polling triggers, and Act-On has none. In short, a single-action Act-On Zap stays free, and each extra step moves you to a paid plan.

Connect

Connect Act-On to Zapier in 3 steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    Go to the Apps page of your Zapier account and click + Add connection. You need an Act-On account, plus rights on any list, form or program you do not own but want the Zap to use.

  2. 02

    Pick Act-On

    Type Act-On in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. A new browser tab opens on the Act-On sign-in screen, ready for the next step.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to Act-On in that tab and allow Zapier to access the account. The connection then shows up in Apps, and every Act-On step of every Zap reuses it.

First Zap

Your first Act-On Zap: a form that files new leads into a list

GoalEach time someone submits a chosen Act-On form, make sure the contact exists in All Contacts, then add it to a marketing list.

  1. 01

    Build: set the trigger

    Create a Zap, pick Act-On and the New Form Submission event, then choose the form in the required Form field. The Zap will listen to that form only.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent submissions of the connected account, so you map the next steps on a real one rather than on a blank.

  3. 03

    Add the contact update

    Add Update or Create Contact in All Contacts by Email. Set the required Contact update policy, which decides what happens when a contact already uses that address.

  4. 04

    Add the list step

    Add Add Contact to Marketing List, choose the list in the required List field, and map the fields you need from the form submission.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test each action and read what came back. Then click Publish to switch the Zap on. With two actions this is a multi-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan.

Triggers

Act-On triggers on Zapier

3 events start a Zap when something happens in Act-On, and 3 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

Act-On Outgoing Webhooks

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an Act-On outgoing webhook is received.”

Starts a Zap whenever Act-On sends out one of its outgoing webhooks, the message an app pushes to another tool when something happens. It is the most open-ended of the three triggers, since what arrives depends on how the webhook was set up on the Act-On side.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
your Act-On admin already sends an outgoing webhook and you want Zapier to pick it up and hand it to another app.
Watch out
test it with a real webhook sent from Act-On, so the mapping in later steps rests on actual data.
2

New Automated Program External Call

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an automated program sends out external API data.”

Fires when an Act-On automated program reaches a step that hands its data to an outside tool. In practice the program does the targeting and the timing, and Zapier takes over at the exact point where the program calls out.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a nurture program should hand warm contacts to sales at a given step, and the handover lives outside Act-On.
Watch out
the Program field is required, so the program has to exist in Act-On before you can set up the trigger.
3

New Form Submission

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a form is submitted.”

Runs the Zap each time someone fills in and submits an Act-On form. This is the most common starting point: webinar sign-ups, demo requests, content downloads, anything a visitor types into a form you host on Act-On.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a demo request should reach your CRM or your team chat without anyone exporting a list.
Watch out
the Form field is required and covers one form; several forms means one Zap per form.
Actions

Act-On actions on Zapier

Act-On gives you 6 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add Contact to Direct Select Segment in All Contacts

Action

In Zapier“Adds a contact to a direct select segment in All Contacts. Go to Zapier’s help page to get more info.”

Puts an existing contact into a direct select segment, the hand-picked kind of segment in All Contacts.

When to use it
a contact should join a VIP or partner segment once a deal reaches a stage in your CRM.
Watch out
the Contact field expects the Data ID returned by the Add Or Update Contact in Act-On Contacts action, so place that action earlier in the Zap.
2

Add Contact to Marketing List

Action

In Zapier“Add a contact to a specific marketing list”

Appends a contact to the marketing list you pick in the required List field. It adds; it does not check for an existing entry first.

When to use it
a one-way feed, such as trial sign-ups flowing into a dedicated onboarding list.
Watch out
if the same person can come in twice, the upsert action above is the safer choice.
3

Create Form Submission

Action

In Zapier“Add contact's submission to a form list”

Records a submission in an Act-On form list as if the person had filled in the form themselves, which keeps the form's own reporting complete.

When to use it
a lead captured on a landing page builder or at a trade show should still count toward the Act-On form.
Watch out
the selected form needs a Form Post URL defined in Act-On first.
4

Update or Create Contact in All Contacts by Email

Action

In Zapier“Updates an existing contact or creates a new one if not found in All Contacts. A contact is identified by their email address. Go to Zapier’s help page to get more info.”

Looks for the email address in All Contacts, updates that record if it exists and creates a new one if it does not. One address, one record.

When to use it
leads arrive from several tools and you want a single clean contact per person.
Watch out
the required Contact update policy decides what happens to an existing contact, so read it before you publish.
5

Update or Create Contact in All Contacts by External ID

Action

In Zapier“Updates an existing contact or creates a new one if not found in All Contacts. A contact is identified by their unique ID in the source object. Go to Zapier’s help page to get more info.”

Same logic as the email version, except the contact is matched on the unique ID it has in the source tool, not on its address.

When to use it
people change email addresses in your billing or CRM tool, and you still want the same Act-On record to follow them.
6

Update or Create Contact in Marketing List by Email

Action

In Zapier“Updates an existing contact or creates one if not found in a target list. A contact is identified by their email address.”

Works on one marketing list rather than on All Contacts: it updates the person if the email is already on the list and adds them otherwise.

When to use it
an event list should stay current as registrations change in your ticketing tool.
Watch out
List and Email (To Identify Contact) are both required.
When it breaks

When an Act-On Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to Act-On, so the traps below are the general ones, plus two that come from required fields.

Most broken Act-On Zaps fail for a reason that can be spotted before publishing. Four cases cover nearly everything. For anything else, see Zapier troubleshooting.

  • Old submissions never arrive

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. Forms submitted last month stay where they are; moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps restarting itself

    If the Zap posts a form submission to the very form its trigger watches, each run fires the next one and burns through your task count fast.

  • A bulk import gets held back

    When a trigger suddenly delivers a huge batch, after a migration or a mass import, Zapier's flood protection can pause it instead of running everything.

  • The segment step finds no contact

    Add Contact to Direct Select Segment needs a Data ID from an earlier contact action. Map it from that step, or the Contact field stays empty.
Need help

Need help automating Act-On with Zapier?

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FAQ

Act-On Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the Act-On Zapier integration free?
Yes, as far as access goes. Act-On is not a premium app, so it works on the free Zapier plan. That plan gives 100 tasks a month and limits each Zap to two steps, one trigger and one action. A form that updates a contact fits inside it. A Zap that updates a contact and then adds it to a list does not, because the second action makes it a multi-step Zap, and multi-step Zaps need a paid plan. Your Act-On subscription is a separate matter that Zapier does not cover.
02How many Zapier tasks does an Act-On Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, per run. The Act-On trigger costs nothing, whether it is a form, a program call or a webhook. A Zap with two Act-On actions uses two tasks each time a form comes in, so a busy form doubles the count. An action that fails is not billed. Keep in mind that a few apps and actions on Zapier take more than one task when they complete, so the task history of your account is the place to confirm the real figure.
03Does Act-On trigger Zaps in real time?
Yes. All three Act-On triggers are instant: Act-On tells Zapier the moment a form is submitted, a program calls out or a webhook is sent, and the Zap starts right away. The polling interval of your plan, such as 15 minutes on the free plan, does not apply to them. In the editor, a Zap built on an instant trigger shows a lightning bolt. That makes Act-On one of the apps where a free account loses nothing on speed.
04What does it take to connect Act-On to Zapier?
An Act-On account you can sign in to, and access rights on whatever the Zap will touch, such as lists, forms or programs owned by colleagues. The connection itself takes three moves: open Apps in Zapier, click + Add connection and choose Act-On, then sign in to Act-On in the tab that opens and grant access. The connection is then reused by every Act-On step, so nothing needs to be repeated when you build the next Zap.
05Why does Create Form Submission fail on an Act-On form?
Usually because the form has no Form Post URL. The Create Form Submission action needs one defined in Act-On, under Content then Form Post URLs, before it can post anything to that form. Set it up there, come back to the Zap, select the form again and rerun the test. The same logic applies to other required fields on this integration: a list, a segment or a program has to exist on the Act-On side before the Zapier step can point to it.
06What if the Act-On operation you need is not on Zapier?
Then the integration as published will not cover it, and no setting changes that. Act-On on Zapier has no search step, so a Zap cannot look up an existing contact, and no action deletes a contact or removes it from a list. The options are to rethink the flow around the upsert actions, which handle the update or create case in one step, or to look at a tool that lets you build the missing connection to Act-On yourself.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Act-On?
It depends on your criteria rather than on a winner. Zapier gives you 3 instant triggers and 6 ready-made actions for Act-On, set up without code, and it bills per successful action. If the missing search or delete operations matter, a tool that lets you build the request to Act-On yourself fills that gap at the cost of more setup. Team skills, hosting preferences and expected volume weigh more than the tool name. Compare those three points against the operations listed on this page before you choose.
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