Salesforce CRM Review and Pricing

Why We Chose Salesforce as the Best CRM for Customization

Unlike more rigid competitors, Salesforce CRM provides countless personalization and customization options, giving businesses of all sizes a high level of control over how the system looks and functions. We were particularly impressed by how Salesforce handles workflow automation and by its integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in CRM customization. 

Salesforce was an early adopter of AI tools, and its offering has only grown and evolved since the last time we reviewed the platform. Salesforce’s Einstein, which offers predictive analytics support, has been around for a while now, but in recent years the platform has added Agentforce. Agentforce serves as an AI agent integrated with the broader Einstein system and it can execute complex tasks independently, adding a powerful layer of automation that can help users save time and get more out of Salesforce.

Notably, Salesforce was also one of the first CRM platforms to open itself to third-party developers, giving it more apps and customization options than any other provider. If Salesforce doesn’t have a built-in function you need, there’s almost certainly an app to compensate. If not, a developer can create and deploy a tailored solution. 

Salesforce CRM’s initial setup requires time and technical expertise and its learning curve is steeper than that of many other CRM providers we reviewed. However, it delivers flexible CRM software designed to accommodate custom processes and adapt to your business’s changing needs. For all these reasons and more, Salesforce is our top CRM choice for customization.

Ease of Use

Despite its complexities, Salesforce is surprisingly easy to implement and use after the initial setup and customization. 

Pros

• Straightforward navigation: We like that Salesforce keeps the navigation process simple. The upper tab-style layout is common across business and personal software, making it easy to grasp; categories like “Home,” “Contacts,” “Accounts,” “Leads,” “Tasks,” “Reports” and “Opportunities” need no explanation. You can get instant help from the question mark icon in one of the corners of the screen — a handy feature we’ve seen on many other CRM packages.
• Robust onboarding help and support resources: We were pleased to see that Salesforce offers a wealth of support materials, webinars and guides to facilitate CRM implementation and resolve usability issues. Its global Trailblazer community is an excellent resource. You can also pay extra for a dedicated account manager and 24/7 phone support.
• Straightforward admin controls: While in-house administrators may need specific training, we appreciate that Salesforce provides excellent admin controls. If you have even moderate technical expertise and admin experience, you should have no trouble onboarding users, updating permissions or managing this CRM daily.

Cons

• Limited out-of-the-box usability: Because of its numerous features and customizations, setting up Salesforce CRM takes more time and expertise than other solutions we reviewed. However, we appreciate that Salesforce’s smart default setup options help businesses use the CRM out of the box. You can modify contact, opportunity, account, task and workflow elements gradually as you explore the software’s full scope over time.
• No practice data: Note that you’ll need data to practice on during onboarding; Salesforce doesn’t supply sample data. To get practice data, you can duplicate and isolate existing data or use a service like Mockaroo to create dummy data.

Salesforce Features

Here’s a look at Salesforce’s impressive array of essential CRM features and unique aspects. 

Comprehensive Business Ecosystem

We like that Salesforce’s business products seamlessly integrate, allowing organizations to grow with Salesforce CRM and gradually adopt new platforms, products and features as needed. Salesforce product categories include:

• Agentforce AI: Artificial intelligence and agentic AI technology
• Agentforce Sales: Tools to manage leads, opportunities and sales processes
• Agentforce Service: Customer service, case management and contact center platform
• Agentforce Marketing: Digital marketing automation across various channels
• Data 360: Real-time customer data platform for customer data management
• Agentforce Commerce: E-commerce platform for business-to-consumer and business-to-business commerce
• Tableau: AI-powered analytics and business intelligence platform
• MuleSoft: Integration platform for connecting applications and data
• Slack: Messaging and collaboration platform
• Net Zero Cloud: Platform for managing environmental, social and governance data
• Heroku: Application development platform for building and deploying applications
• Salesforce Platform: Tools for development, customization, analytics and built-in AI

Salesforce’s impressive range of third-party apps allows businesses to manage various functions, from marketing to fulfillment. Human resources (HR), data analytics, workforce collaboration and finance apps plug directly into Salesforce CRM. You can even integrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) software with Salesforce to build a system similar to the ERP platform described in our review of Oracle NetSuite CRM.

We also like how Salesforce’s AgentExchange organizes AI agents, apps and other partner solutions across categories, including finance, human resources, sales, customer service, marketing and analytics.

Customization

We were impressed by Salesforce CRM’s vast customization capabilities, which truly stand out among the competition. While many CRMs we reviewed offer options for customizing deal and contact fields, email templates and dashboards, Salesforce lets you do much more. 

Here are some highlights we found when putting Salesforce’s customization to the test:

• Page customization: You can change how pages look and function to suit your needs. Use CSS settings to adjust spacing between page elements, colors and fonts. You can also modify customer records to display only the lists, sections and fields specific co-workers need to see, improving employee collaboration.
• Object control: Salesforce CRM’s object control is superior to that of other CRMs we tested. Objects are fields within databases, such as name, address and email. Salesforce makes it easy to add objects to capture exactly the information you need on accounts, contacts and leads. You can set permissions on records and fields to control who can view and edit them. You can even make objects actionable by adding buttons, actions, triggers and links to streamline processes such as adding a new customer, supplier or co-worker to the database.
• Developer console to create custom apps: We liked Salesforce’s developer console. Many businesses hire freelance developers to create custom functions within Salesforce and the platform provides a developer console where they can write, test and debug code for custom applications. We found the inclusion of Apex triggers particularly helpful, as they can shorten development cycles in most cases. A developer sandbox and an app builder are included with every plan. 

Integrations and Add-ons

We like that CRM users can build customizable systems and integrate their favorite business apps via the Salesforce AgentExchange store. Other CRM software companies we reviewed have similar online stores for add-ons, but Salesforce’s is far more comprehensive, with more than 10,000 available integrations. Unlike other add-on stores, AgentExchange is also a unified marketplace bringing together the former Salesforce AppExchange, Slack Marketplace, and the old Agentforce ecosystem. 

This unified ecosystem is intended to allow users to seamlessly discover and deploy tools across the entire business from a single, trusted point of truth. 

AgentExchange’s offerings have grown to encompass a broad range of solutions, including the following:​

• Apps: Over 10,000 AgentExchange direct, preprogrammed plug-ins that interact with Salesforce. Apps add new functions or improve and augment existing functions on your platform.
• Agents: Over 1,000 agents, subagents, tools, and MCP servers from trusted companies for next generation work capabilities and applications across your business. 
• Collections: The marketplace features a robust assemblage of Collections, which are curated groupings of apps based on product, industry, and theme. 
• Consultants: Tailored consulting expertise, available through the marketplace, matched across Salesforce products, user industry, and services offered. 

Intuitive Productivity Tools

We were pleased to see Salesforce’s intuitive productivity-boosting tools, particularly its built-in project management features. (Freshworks has similar tools; read our Freshworks CRM review to learn more.) Once implemented, sales and marketing teams and managers can easily build workflows, assign and track tasks and manage permissions. 

Salesforce’s visual dashboards allow sales reps to check key performance indicators and track their progress toward quotas, facilitating productivity and accountability. We like that you can add meetings straight from the calendar tab and see an instant overview of your schedule. 

Additional add-on productivity tools are available through the AgentExchange.

AI

Salesforce’s AI advancements have significantly outpaced many competitors:

• Einstein: As a pioneer in CRM-AI integration, Salesforce introduced its high-profile AI tool, Einstein, in 2016. 
• Einstein GPT: In 2023, it launched Einstein GPT, a generative AI service that integrates with CRM data. It helps users create AI-driven content, automate tasks, analyze data and more.
• Agentforce: Salesforce also introduced Agentforce in 2024. This platform of autonomous AI agents is designed to assist with customer service, develop marketing campaigns and coach sales teams. Agentforce also helps users build custom AI agents. ​

Einstein can perform the following tasks after gathering data from system usage and user input:

• Help salespeople with call prompts
• Handle web chats via the Service Bot chatbot
• Recommend products to clients to facilitate upselling and cross-selling
• Create excellent product presentations
• Generate workflows to make companies more efficient 
• Predict with a high degree of accuracy which deals will close
• Deep dive into social media and present you with sentiment analysis about your brand
• Help CEOs with decision support systems that give advice based on live analytics 

Einstein is available in some functionality across all Salesforce plans, with higher-tier plans offering expanded uses. Its current form is impressive and we anticipate further enhancements in future iterations. AI tools like Einstein are poised to become integral to corporate operations and CRM adoption in the coming years.​

Trailblazer Community

Nearly every CRM vendor we reviewed has some form of an online community. However, Salesforce’s Trailblazer community is particularly impressive, replete with documentation invaluable for admins. You can find step-by-step guides on everything from creating custom CRM reports to turning on user notifications.

There’s also an extensive members-only forum for direct communication with other admins and CRM users, as well as a comprehensive Trailhead learning platform featuring product-related courses, upskilling opportunities and official Salesforce certifications.

Salesforce Pricing 

Salesforce has an extensive range of offerings and plans, many of which contain some amount of overlap. For the purposes of this review, we’ll focus on Salesforce’s CRM plans, although some businesses may also be interested in the capabilities and plans offered within Salesforce’s more expensive — but also more robust — Sales Cloud offerings. 

The Salesforce CRM plans are: 

While the Free Suite offers a range of basic functionality and Starter Suite is reasonably priced, add-ons and customizations can increase costs, making Salesforce one of the pricier CRMs we’ve reviewed. 

For example, you may want to add the Premier Success plan. This provides 24/7 support, health checks and recommendations, and a bundle with Unlimited and Agentforce 1 editions; however, it costs an additional 30% of net license fees and is only available with the Pro Suite.

We recommend taking advantage of Salesforce’s 30-day free trial to ensure this CRM meets your business needs.

Onboarding and Implementation

Implementing CRM software always takes care and patience. However, due to its breadth of customization options, Salesforce CRM’s implementation process can vary drastically, taking anywhere from a few days to several weeks. While that may seem alarming, users will see quickly that this CRM is worth the effort once set up. Keep the following in mind:

• Implementation assistance: Salesforce and third-party agencies can manage your initial implementation and launch. However, this assistance comes at an additional cost, depending on your company size, number of employees, data volume and complexity, third-party integrations and customization level.
• Out-of-the-box functionality: Fortunately, you don’t need to create a complex solution immediately. Salesforce CRM can be used out of the box, allowing businesses to start with basic functionality and customize it over time as needs evolve. Thanks to Salesforce’s intuitive design and robust features, the learning curve isn’t steep for nonadmin users after implementation.
• Ongoing guidance: In addition to a vast library of training materials, Salesforce offers adoption guidance and coaching services for an extra cost. These add-ons may be worth it for business owners concerned about setting up the CRM and onboarding users.

Customer Support

Salesforce includes its Standard Success Plan on all service tiers, which primarily offers self-guided resources like:

• Access to the Trailhead online training platform
• Participation in the Trailblazer Community
• Access to Salesforce’s Help documentation 

If you want 24/7 support and more personalized assistance, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premier Success Plan.

When we contacted Salesforce during our testing, we experienced a delayed response. However, when we did connect with representatives, they were highly knowledgeable and provided helpful guidance. They used real-life scenarios to explain the product’s features and answer our questions. Their explanations were clear and they offered multiple solutions to enhance our understanding.

Salesforce has an A-minus rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) but isn’t an accredited BBB business.

Limitations

Salesforce CRM is an excellent solution; however, we did identify some limitations: 

• Complex customizations: Salesforce’s biggest strength — its customization capabilities — is also a potential downside. Setting up a fully customized CRM tailored to your business’s specific sales funnel, structure and workflows requires time and, ideally, a dedicated IT team. Entrepreneurs and smaller companies might be better off with a more user-friendly yet customizable solution like Zoho. (Learn more in our detailed Zoho CRM review and Zoho vs. Salesforce comparison.)
• Highly technical: Many of Salesforce CRM’s customization features require some basic technical knowledge of CSS and HTML. However, this is improving with tools like the Lightning App Builder and Salesforce Flow. For example, Lightning Email Templates now offer interactive drag-and-drop functionality, similar to what some rival CRMs provide. While Salesforce still has a learning curve, its interface is becoming more intuitive.
• Confusing pricing: Due to the wide range of add-ons and platforms, estimating the final price of your CRM solution can be challenging. However, Salesforce’s sales and support teams can provide a tailored quote based on your business’s specific needs.

Methodology

When evaluating the best CRM software, we conducted extensive comparative research on dozens of software solutions in this category. Our product review process was designed to help you achieve CRM success with the right platform. It included communication with customer support teams, trials to evaluate product functionality and an evaluation of each provider’s tutorials, webinars and support materials. We also considered pricing. When looking for the best CRM for customizability specifically, we examined customization options, available integrations, reporting and analytics and sales automation.

Bottom Line

We recommend Salesforce CRM for …

• Businesses that need a flexible and highly customizable CRM solution.
• Companies that want access to an extensive collection of integrations and add-ons to suit their processes and industries.
• Businesses looking for a CRM that can expand with their evolving needs.

We don’t recommend Salesforce CRM for …

• Businesses that want advanced CRM functionality at an affordable price.
• Entrepreneurs and small businesses with limited IT resources.
• Companies that need a straightforward CRM system that works right out of the box, is easy to customize and does not require technical skills.

Anna Baluch contributed to this article.