Salesforce is a CRM tool for Enterprise, offered as freemium ($25/mo). Founded in United States in 1999. Popular alternatives include Zoho CRM, Freshsales, Microsoft Dynamics 365.
About Salesforce
Salesforce Sales Cloud is the flagship CRM of Salesforce, the San Francisco company founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff that pioneered software as a service. It is the most customisable CRM on the market and the standard in enterprise sales organisations, and it sits within a wider platform that includes Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Data Cloud, Tableau, MuleSoft and Slack, all acquired or built over the past two decades.
Objects, fields, page layouts, Flow automation, approval processes and Apex code let companies model almost any sales process, and the AppExchange marketplace offers thousands of extensions. Sales Cloud covers leads, accounts, opportunities, forecasting, quoting, territory management and analytics, while Einstein and Agentforce add AI scoring, generative assistance and autonomous agents that can work on leads and service cases. A Free Suite covers basic use at no cost, and paid licences are per user per month, from Starter and Pro Suites for small teams up to the Core, Advanced and Max editions on annual contracts, with many paid add-ons.
Salesforce pays off when scale, process complexity and integration depth justify the investment, and when the company can afford admins or implementation partners. For small and mid-size businesses it is often slower and more expensive than necessary. HubSpot delivers faster time to value with an easier interface, Pipedrive is simpler for small sales teams, Microsoft Dynamics 365 suits Microsoft-centric enterprises, and Attio appeals to startups wanting a modern, flexible CRM.
Key features of Salesforce
- Fully customizable objects, fields, layouts and flows
- Forecasting, territories, quoting and CPQ
- Einstein AI scoring, Agentforce agents, Data Cloud
- AppExchange marketplace and MuleSoft integration
- Sandboxes, APIs and developer platform (Apex, LWC)
- Reports and dashboards with Tableau integration
Pros and cons
Pros
- Unmatched customization and ecosystem
- Scales to the largest sales organizations
- Rich AI roadmap with Agentforce
- Deep partner network for implementation
Cons
- Expensive licenses and add-ons
- Requires admin resources or partners
- User experience can be cluttered
- Long contracts and complex pricing
Salesforce pricing
Salesforce uses a freemium model. A 30-day free trial is available.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free Suite | $0 | Listed in Sales Cloud edition comparison |
| Starter Suite | $25 / user/mo | Billed monthly or annually; sales, service, marketing |
| Pro Suite | $100 / user/mo | Billed annually; quoting, forecasting, customization |
| Core | $195 / user/mo | Billed annually; Momentum, Slack Business+, Tableau Next |
| Advanced | $395 / user/mo | Billed annually; enhanced security, more AI |
| Max | $550 / user/mo | Billed annually; full Agentforce, Spiff, Sales Planning |
Source: www.salesforce.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Salesforce compares in CRM
- Rank by votes
- #2 / 19
- Starting price
- $25
- Free alternatives
- 2
0 votes from members
25% above the category median ($20/mo)
Free or open-source tools in CRM
Salesforce ranks #2 of 19 crm tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Enterprise sales with territories, forecasting and CPQ
- 2Complex B2B processes requiring custom objects
- 3Organizations standardizing marketing, service and sales on one platform
- 4Companies building custom apps on the Salesforce platform
Best for
Mid-market and enterprise companies with dedicated CRM administration and complex processes.
Not ideal for
Startups and SMBs; HubSpot, Pipedrive or Attio will be faster and cheaper.
Integrations
- Slack
- Outlook
- Gmail
- Tableau
- MuleSoft
- DocuSign
- Zoom
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- AppExchange 7,000+ apps
Our take
Salesforce earns its place at scale, but only there. Below a few dozen sales seats the setup cost outweighs the flexibility.
FAQ
- What is Salesforce?
- Salesforce is a CRM tool: The enterprise CRM standard.
- How much does Salesforce cost?
- Salesforce uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $25 per month.
- What are the best alternatives to Salesforce?
- Community-listed alternatives to Salesforce include Zoho CRM, Freshsales, Microsoft Dynamics 365.
- Does Salesforce have a free trial?
- Yes, Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial.
- What does Salesforce integrate with?
- Salesforce integrates with Slack, Outlook, Gmail, Tableau, MuleSoft, DocuSign and more.
- Which platforms does Salesforce support?
- Salesforce is available on web, ios, android.
- Who is Salesforce for?
- Mid-market and enterprise companies with dedicated CRM administration and complex processes.
Alternatives to Salesforce
Freshsales
▲ 0Sales CRM with built-in phone, email and Freddy AI for SMB teams
Paid · $11Small businessesEnterpriseMicrosoft's CRM and ERP suite with Copilot for mid-size and enterprise
Paid · $65EnterpriseSmall businesses
More CRM tools
Otobüs şu an nerede? Canlı harita üzerinden anlık konumu görün, güncel otobüs sa
FreeFreelancersSmall businesses
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share real experience.
Sign in to write a review.