Salesforce

What it is

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the reference CRM, and its edition ladder spans a twenty-two-fold price range for what is nominally the same product. The two cheapest editions are the Starter and Pro suites, sold as small-business bundles covering sales, service, marketing and commerce; from Core upward the price reflects platform capability rather than extra apps, bringing Slack, Tableau and the Agentforce AI agents into the licence. The AI allowance is itself metered, published as Flex Credits per organisation per year, and the vendor states explicitly that the page is informational and that detailed pricing comes from a sales representative.

Key features

• Lead and opportunity management

  Accounts, contacts, leads and opportunities with built-in flows and routing.

• Agentforce AI

  AI agents for prospecting, pipeline and sales email, metered in Flex Credits.

• Forecasting and quoting

  Sales quoting and forecasting from Pro Suite, predictive forecasting higher up.

Strengths and trade-offs

Who it is for

Sales organisations that need a CRM their whole company can standardise on.

Pick it or skip it

Closest alternatives we track

Same category, ordered by verified starting price.

• folk

  $30/user/mo

  Lightweight relationship CRM.

• Microsoft Dynamics

  $65/user/mo

  Microsoft's CRM and ERP application suite for business operations.

• Attio

  Free tier

  Flexible, data-driven CRM.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Salesforce Sales Cloud cost?

Starter Suite is $25 per user per month, Pro Suite $100 billed annually, Core $195, Advanced $395 and Max $550. A Free Suite at $0 is also listed in the comparison table.

What is the difference between Salesforce Starter and Core?

Starter Suite at $25 covers core CRM plus bundled service, marketing and commerce. Core at $195 adds Slack Business+, Tableau Next, Momentum, Premier Success and the platform capability that AI can be added to.

Are Salesforce Flex Credits included?

Yes, as a yearly allowance per organisation: 500K, 1M, 2.5M and 2.75M Flex Credits across the higher editions. AI usage draws on that allowance.

Is Salesforce pricing on the website final?

No. The vendor states the pricing page is for information purposes only and subject to change, and that detailed pricing requires contacting a sales representative.

How much does Salesforce cost?

Salesforce publishes 5 plans: Starter Suite at $25/user/mo billed monthly, Pro Suite at $100/user/mo billed annually, Core at $195/user/mo, Advanced at $395/user/mo, Max at $550/user/mo billed annually. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.

Does Salesforce have a free plan?

No free plan is listed on the vendor's pricing page. Salesforce is sold as a paid subscription.

Who is Salesforce best for?

Sales organisations that need a CRM their whole company can standardise on.

What are the closest alternatives to Salesforce?

In the same category we track folk, Microsoft Dynamics and Attio. Each has its own review page with verified pricing, and the comparison links above show them side by side.

What are the main drawbacks of Salesforce?

The trade-offs we noted: Top edition is 22 times the entry price; Vendor states the page is informational only; Pro Suite and above are annual billing.

When should you not use Salesforce?

Skip Salesforce if: You are comparing on the $25 headline: the same product line runs to $550 per user per month, a twenty-two-fold spread; You want a firm quote from the website — the vendor states the page is informational and routes you to a sales representative; You need AI on a cheap edition; the vendor states AI can be added to Core and above.