Hosted Act! and Act! Advantage Cloud both let your team reach Act! from anywhere, but they are built differently, and each one gives something up. Hosted Act! runs the full Act! Premium Desktop on a managed cloud server, so you keep every desktop feature and simply reach it remotely. Act! Advantage Cloud is Act!’s own browser-first edition, hosted by Act!, with automatic upgrades and no hardware to manage, in exchange for a lighter, more rigid feature set. Neither is universally better. The right pick depends on which trade-off you can live with, so here is exactly what each one asks you to give up.
Two ways to get Act! in the cloud
It helps to be precise about what each option actually is. Hosted Act! means your licensed Act! Premium Desktop, the complete Windows application, runs on a cloud server a provider manages for you. You reach it from any device, and it behaves exactly like the Act! you know, because it is the same software, just not sitting on an office PC. Act! Advantage Cloud is the subscription edition Act! hosts itself. You work mainly in a web browser, with an optional offline Windows client that syncs back to the hosted database, and Act! handles backups, maintenance, and upgrades. Both give you anywhere access. What differs is who runs it and how much of the desktop’s depth comes along. Worth knowing: Act! Premium Desktop itself ships with a web client too, and Act! Advantage Cloud includes an offline Windows client, so neither is purely one or the other. The real dividing lines are who hosts your database and which feature set you end up with.
What each one gives up
Every deployment trades something away. Here is the honest ledger for each.
The pattern is clear. Hosted Act! gives up a little modern convenience, since Act! manages upgrades and cloud features on Advantage Cloud first. Act! Advantage Cloud gives up depth, the power-user tools that heavier Act! users lean on daily. For a team that lives in mail merge, custom reports, and a finely tuned layout, that list on the right is not a minor sacrifice.
A concrete case makes it real. Say your office sends templated engagement letters through Act!’s mail merge, runs a custom month-end activity report a partner built years ago, and uses a layout tailored to your industry. On Act! Advantage Cloud today, the mail merge and the report-building are not there, and the layout will not transfer cleanly. On hosted Act!, all three keep working untouched. That single scenario is why so many established Act! users land on hosting.
Where the gap is narrowing
To be fair to Act! Advantage Cloud, the distance is closing. Act! is putting its newest development into the cloud edition, so features arrive there first and the web experience keeps improving. If your needs are straightforward today and you expect them to stay that way, betting on the direction the vendor is investing in is a reasonable call. The catch is timing: the power-user features still favor the desktop right now, and “coming to the cloud eventually” does not help a team that needs mail merge and custom reporting this quarter.
Which should you choose?
- You rely on mail merge, custom reports, deep customization, or add-ons: hosted Act! Premium Desktop keeps all of it, and hosting adds the anywhere access.
- You want a pure browser and mobile experience with zero IT: Act! Advantage Cloud fits, as long as the lighter feature set covers how you work.
- You want desktop power and anywhere access: that is exactly what hosted Act! delivers, the full product, reachable from any device.
Put simply, hosting exists so you do not have to trade depth for access. If the only reason you were considering the cloud edition was to work from anywhere, hosting the desktop gets you there without giving up the features on that right-hand list.
Hosting Act! Premium, done for you
CloudTop Office has worked with Act! since 1994, so we host the full Act! Premium Desktop and know the product itself, not just the server it runs on. Your database runs on Microsoft Azure in U.S. regions with managed daily backups, multi-factor authentication, encryption, and 24/7 U.S.-based support, and your team reaches every desktop feature from anywhere. If your database needs cleanup or a version upgrade first, our Act! consulting team can handle that as part of the move. Learn more about Act! hosting, or, for a setup matched to how your team actually uses Act!, get a personalized quote.
Common questions on hosted vs cloud
Is hosted Act! the same as Act! Advantage Cloud?
No. Hosted Act! is the full Act! Premium Desktop running on a managed cloud server you reach remotely. Act! Advantage Cloud is Act!’s own browser-first edition that Act! hosts. Both give anywhere access, but hosted Act! keeps the complete desktop feature set.
What does the cloud edition not do that the desktop does?
The web edition currently gives up the built-in Word Processor and mail merge, the ability to create and edit custom reports and dashboards, deep layout and field customization, and full add-on and SDK extensibility. You can view reports online, but not build them the way the desktop allows.
Will the cloud edition catch up to the desktop?
The gap is narrowing. Act! is adding new features to the cloud edition first, so it keeps improving. But the power-user tools still favor the desktop today, so the question is whether you can wait for parity or need those features now.
Can I keep my customizations and add-ons if I host the desktop?
Yes. Because hosted Act! runs the full Premium Desktop, your custom fields, layouts, reports, mail merge templates, and add-ons all come with you. That is the main reason heavier Act! users choose hosting over the web edition.
Do I need IT staff to run hosted Act!?
No. With hosting, the provider runs the server, backups, security, and updates for you, so you get the desktop’s depth without managing infrastructure. It is the middle ground between a self-managed install and the vendor’s fully managed cloud.
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