Salesforce Sales Cloud review

by the Fairly Compared editorial deskfacts checked how we verify

The enterprise standard, now with a free two-user suite; automation starts on Pro Suite ($100 per user, annual contract) and the full platform on Core ($195).

free planHIPAA BAAannual billing only
7.3fact score#24 of 39 tracked

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Disclosure: We may earn a commission when you sign up through links marked as affiliate links. That never affects scores or order: rankings are computed from documented facts and cannot read affiliate data. What each vendor pays us →

Honesty note: we have not run our own hands-on test of Salesforce Sales Cloud yet. Everything on this page is source-based research: the vendor's pricing, plan and help pages, each linked with the date we read it. Ease of use and support quality are not scored until we test.

Salesforce Sales Cloud in short

Salesforce Sales Cloud's core plan for a small team is Pro Suite at $100 per user per month with annual billing. For a team of 5, that is $6,000 in the first year. There is a free option: Free Suite: $0, 2 user licenses, no contract or credit card, no expiry as long as a user logs in at least once every 60 days; up to 100 marketing emails/month. Per the edition matrix on the Sales pricing page (source 1) the Free column has no Activity Capture, mobile app, Flow Builder, custom apps or API.

Choose it if

  • Very small teams that want a vendor-backed free start (Free Suite, 2 users) and a $25/user monthly-billed step up (Starter Suite)
  • Teams that need custom objects, flows, quotes and a sandbox at $100/user (Pro Suite) and expect to scale into AppExchange and Agentforce
  • Mid-size/enterprise sales orgs that want AI, Slack, analytics and Premier support bundled in the per-user price (Core $195 and up)

Skip it if

  • Teams that need custom objects, automation flows or API access on the cheapest paid plan: Starter Suite excludes all of them
  • Cost-sensitive teams that need approvals, territories or advanced forecasting: these start at Core ($195/user/mo annual)
  • Buyers who want transparent total cost: implementation and many add-ons are quoted via sales

How much does Salesforce Sales Cloud cost?

Prices in USD as published on Salesforce Sales Cloud's pricing page, read Oct 3, 2026. Pricing model: Per user; Pro Suite and above on annual contracts; many paid add-ons.

PlanBilled monthlyBilled annuallyUnitWhat it adds
Free Suitefreefreefree, 2 users · 2 users incl.Lead/account/contact/opportunity management, Gmail/Outlook email integration, reports and dashboards, case management, Slack Free; no mobile app, no flows, no API, no Activity Capture per edition matrix[1]
Starter Suite$25$25per user / month (monthly or annual, same price)Adds Activity Capture (AI email/event sync), Salesforce mobile app, lead routing, email campaigns, Slack Free; NO custom objects, flows, AppExchange, sandbox or API[1]
Pro Suitecore plan—$100per user / month, billed annuallyAdds quotes, contracts, orders, sales forecast management, custom apps/objects, Flow Builder (5 flows per org), AppExchange, developer sandbox, offline mobile; Web Services API only as +$25/user/mo add-on[1]
Core—$195per user / month, billed annuallyAPI included, Flow Builder, approval processes, sales teams/territories, advanced forecasting, opportunity scoring, conversation intelligence, Agentforce sales emails, Slack Business+, Tableau Next, Premier Success Plan, 500K Flex Credits/org/year[1]
Advanced—$395per user / month, billed annuallyEverything in Core plus lead scoring, predictive forecasting, account research agent, Trusted Services, Security Center, Sales Programs, Backup & Recover/Archive/Data Detect, 1M Flex Credits/org/year, full sandbox[1]
Max—$550per user / month, billed annually, contact salesEverything in Advanced plus Agentforce for Sales and Agentforce Coworker, Salesforce Spiff, Sales Planning, Maps, Slack Enterprise+, 2.75M Flex Credits/org/year[1]

Fees and add-ons

  • Web Services API add-on on Pro Suite: $25 per month per user (optional)

Monthly cost on Pro Suite by team size

UsersBilled annuallyBilled monthly
1$100n/a
5$500n/a
10$1,000n/a
25$2,500n/a

Per month, before tax. "—" means the vendor does not publish the price for that team size.

What each Salesforce Sales Cloud plan includes

What the core plan (Pro Suite) includes, and what costs more. Levels come from the vendor's plan comparison.

CapabilityAvailabilityDetails from vendor sources
Sales pipeline / deals✓ all plansyes, all editions incl. Free (opportunity management); pipeline inspection and waterfall chart from Core
Email sync & tracking✓ all plansGmail/Outlook email integration in all editions incl. Free; Activity Capture (automatic email/event/contact sync) from Starter Suite
Workflow automation✓ from Pro Suitenot on Free/Starter; Pro Suite: Flow Builder limited to 5 flows per org; Core and above: full Flow Builder plus approval processes; Flow Orchestration is an add-on
Email marketing✓ from Pro SuiteEmail campaigns, drag-and-drop builder, segmentation in Starter/Pro Suite; marketing email sends beyond included volume are an add-on; Free Suite up to 100 emails/month
Built-in callingnot documented—
AI assistant / AI featureshigher plans onlyAgentforce for Sales add-on from $125/user/mo on Core/Advanced; Core includes Agentforce sales emails, opportunity scoring, conversation intelligence; Advanced adds lead scoring, predictive forecasting, account research; Max includes full Agentforce for Sales. Flex Credits: Core 500K, Advanced 1M, Max 2.75M per org per year. Not available on Free/Starter/Pro Suite
Reports & dashboards✓ all plansCustomizable reports and dashboards in all editions incl. Free; advanced reporting, embedded forecast charts and Tableau Next from Core
Custom objects✓ from Pro Suitenot in Free/Starter Suite; Pro Suite and above (custom apps/objects)
API accesspaid add-onnot in Free/Starter; Pro Suite as +$25/user/month add-on; included from Core
Mobile app✓ from Pro SuiteSalesforce Mobile App from Starter Suite (not Free); full offline functionality from Pro Suite
HIPAA BAAavailableNo edition floor stated on Salesforce's BAA restrictions page; Sales Cloud and Service Cloud (incl. Field Service) and Lightning Platform are listed HIPAA Covered Services. BAA is contracted through the Salesforce account representative. · Coverage requires (1) a signed BAA that includes the specific service and (2) customer compliance with the BAA. Customer must encrypt PHI in transit and, where within its control, at rest. Listed exclusions/limits include Marketing Cloud Growth and Advanced (Einstein features), Platform Discover, Tableau Bridge/Server/Data Connect; Slack needs an Enterprise-level plan or the 'Slack - HIPAA Enabled' SKU; several AI services carry extra restrictions. Third-party sites claim Health Cloud BAA needs Enterprise or higher (not verified on official pages).
Gmail / Outlook—yes, all editions incl. Free

Salesforce Sales Cloud pros and cons

What holds up

  • Starter Suite is $25/user/month with the same price whether billed monthly or annually (no annual lock-in on that plan)[1]
  • Free Suite gives 2 users at $0 with no credit card; Starter Suite trial is 30 days for up to 10 users[3]
  • Pro Suite ($100/user/mo annual) already includes custom objects, Flow Builder (5 flows per org), quotes, forecasting, AppExchange and a developer sandbox[2]
  • Core and above include Slack Business+/Enterprise+, Tableau Next and the Premier Success Plan in the per-user price; API is included from Core[1]
  • Max ($550) bundles Agentforce for Sales, Coworker, Spiff, Sales Planning, Maps and 2.75M Flex Credits per org per year[1]

What to watch

  • Core costs $195 vs the former Enterprise list price of $175 (+11%); Advanced $395 vs former Unlimited $350 (+13%); Max $550 equals Agentforce 1 Sales[8]
  • Starter Suite has no custom objects, no Flow Builder, no AppExchange, no sandbox and no API; Pro Suite API costs an extra $25/user/month[2]
  • Approval processes, sales teams, territories, advanced forecasting and conversation intelligence start at Core ($195/user/mo)[1]
  • Agentforce for Sales is an add-on from $125/user/month on Core and Advanced; Flex Credits are capped per org per year[1]
  • Pro Suite is billed annually with a contract; most Salesforce products use annual contracts[1]
  • Premier Success Plan costs 30% of net license fees as an add-on on Pro Suite (bundled from Core; not available on Free/Starter per the edition matrix)[1]

How the 7.3 fact score is built

PartWeightPoints (0-10)
Cost for a small team30%4.3
Feature coverage (core plan)30%8.0
Pricing transparency20%8.0
Risk-free start10%10.0
Room to grow10%10.0
Ease of use, support, reliability—not scored yet

Same formula for every CRM; affiliate data cannot change it. Methodology →

Recent changes

  • 2025-08 List prices for Enterprise and Unlimited editions rose by an average of 6% effective Aug 1, 2025; Agentforce 1 Editions from $550 and Agentforce add-ons from $125 per user per month launched; no planned price change for Foundations, Starter or Pro[4]
  • 2026-09 On Sept 3, 2026 Salesforce launched Core ($195), Advanced ($395) and Max ($550) editions, replacing Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1 for Sales Cloud; each bundles Slack, Tableau Next, Premier Success Plan and Flex Credits. Existing legacy-edition customers keep current pricing; Agentforce 1 customers can move to Max at no added cost[5]

The money trail

Salesforce, Inc. has no public affiliate program (Closest thing is the solution/consulting/ISV partner program, NOT an affiliate program (rates not published)). We earn nothing when you choose it, and it is ranked exactly like the vendors that pay.

What every vendor pays →

What we could not verify

Listed so you know where to ask the vendor directly.

  • HIPAA/BAA coverage and plan requirements for Sales Cloud (no official source reached)
  • Built-in calling: no telephony row in the official edition matrix
  • QuickBooks integration: not listed (AppExchange apps not verified)
  • Whether Enterprise/Unlimited can still be bought by new customers after 2026-09-03
  • Exact Starter Suite trial terms vs Sales Cloud 30-day trial on the Sales pricing page (Starter trial: up to 10 users per search result, not read on page)
  • Per-user/org limits behind 'Available for purchase' items and Flex Credit conversion rates
  • Exact pre-2025 Enterprise/Unlimited list prices (official release only states an average 6% rise; legacy list prices $175/$350 come from 2026 secondary articles)

Sources

  1. Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing and edition matrix (USD, read from page DOM and text) · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
  2. Salesforce Starter Suite / Pro Suite comparison (small business pricing) · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
  3. Salesforce Free Suite page · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
  4. Salesforce 2025 pricing update (6% increase, Agentforce 1 and add-ons) · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
  5. Salesforce announces 3 replacement editions (SalesforceBen, 2026-09-03) · secondary · fetched 2026-10-03
  6. Salesforce partner program types · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
  7. Salesforce (Wikipedia): founding, HQ, listing · secondary · fetched 2026-10-03
  8. Salesforce rebuilds its price list (Salesforce Dictionary, 2026-09-03): Enterprise $175 to Core $195, Unlimited $350 to Advanced $395 · secondary · fetched 2026-10-03

Alternatives to Salesforce Sales Cloud

Highest fact scores among comparable tools.

Zoho CRM

Chennai, India; US office in Austin, TX · SMB to mid-market, value · facts 2026-10-03
9.9fact score
free planHIPAA BAA

Low-cost, deep CRM with a free plan for three users that already includes workflow automation; Standard adds email integration, built-in calling and custom modules.

Paid plans from
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HubSpot

Cambridge, MA, USA · SMB to mid-market, all-in-one · facts 2026-10-03
9.7fact score
free planmandatory setup feeHIPAA BAA

Free CRM for two users plus a broad paid suite; Sales Hub Starter adds workflows and calling, while Professional jumps to $90+ per seat and a required $1,500 onboarding.

Paid plans from
$20 per user / month
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Free option
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Freshsales

San Mateo, CA, USA · SMB sales teams · facts 2026-10-03
9.4fact score
21-day trial, no card

Low-cost sales CRM with built-in email, phone and basic workflows from the entry plan; Freddy AI scoring starts on Pro.

Paid plans from
$9 per user / month
5 users, year 1
$540 on Growth
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