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Magic xpa Application Platform vs Salesforce Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Magic xpa Application Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (8th), Application Infrastructure (14th)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (8th), Rapid Application Development Software (5th), Low-Code Development Platforms (6th), No-Code Development Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Magic xpa Application Platform is 3.9%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 8.1%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Mylsamy T. - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables us to develop more than 90 applications in-house, which are used across our organization
It's a bit difficult to work with purely web-based applications to get the data and display it. There have been a few times when the connection was disconnected between the server and your browser. The connectivity on browser-built applications needs to be improved. The mobile application development could be easier. They could include different external applications, like finger sensors. I'm not sure whether it's in version 3.8 or not.
Yasser_Anter - PeerSpot reviewer
Has customization and integration capabilities which increase efficiency
Salesforce could improve by offering AI features or functionalities to help business decision-makers analyze business history, suggest forward strategies, and participate in events. The previous version had a complicated interface where multiple pages and data entries were required, which was not pleasant for sales teams or business users. Also, deploying Salesforce took a long time, about four to five months, which is not ideal for any business.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution makes the managing and adapting of the software very easy."
"Magic’s Database Gateway allows the logic of the program to be isolated from the underlying database. This provides the flexibility not only to move existing programs to different database environments without the need to change the logic in the program but also allows the programmer access to different databases without the need to know how to "talk" to them."
"Magic is rapid, it's a tool which we use to develop, change and maintain our programs. xpa has a lot more features onboard and it gives us the opportunity to do such things so that we can easily adapt and maintain our programs. It gives certain benefits to stay with our customers and the market."
"What I found most valuable in the Magic xpa Application Platform is that it has a client-server and web browser technology that's perfect for company users."
"The Magic xpa Application Platform is very suitable for production since it is easy to update. The program is simple to upgrade and deploy. The solution is convenient in production. You need to adjust the data, then adjust the program which is not difficult."
"Without the need to compile code, the time spent in the development cycle is greatly reduced, allowing the programmer to test modifications to a program immediately after they have been saved."
"The ability to use the same development environment for both Windows and Android applications. Magic xpa also supports iOS applications."
"Typically an experienced Magic developer can do the work of two to three experienced C#/.NET developers. Customers are amazed at how quickly most new features can be added and bug fixes implemented. I have worked for four employers - including myself - using Magic, and in most instances, bug fixes are addressed and deployed in under six hours."
"Marketing and Sales Lead, Forecasting, Campaign management."
"The solution scales extremely well."
"It is an easy product to use and does great things for our company. It keeps track of all of our sales activity."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the unit coordination between sales and marketing when it comes to lead management."
"When compared to Siebel, the Salesforce Platform is easier to use."
"What functions we don't get out of Salesforce, we typically receive from third-party applications that extend the capabilities. We integrate a lot of different products with Salesforce."
"What we like the most about it is the fact that it helps us track the record of our projects. It keeps everything on one interface, facilitating the operations and planning."
"The solution is used to track our customers."
 

Cons

"I would like to see a spell checker included with optional language support. Currently, this has to be purchased from a third-party."
"Magic has a tradition, when it adds new technologies/features to the Magic development tool, to provide either no documentation or documentation that does not provide an organized approach for bringing this new technology/feature to experienced Magic programmers."
"In the next version of the Magic xpa Application Platform, I want tables or small programs where I can directly add expressions. I can do it on SQL, but it would make life much easier if that specification were added to the platform."
"The user interface could be improved to be more friendly for developers."
"Support is very bad."
"It is missing basic charting tools for bar/pie/series charts. It is left to the developer to acquire and deploy charting tools or the customer to purchase a third-party reporting tool to produce charts."
"They want to be one toolbox for everything, but primarily, we are using xpa to develop desktop applications, and in that area they're lacking functionalities, flexibility, and modern stuff."
"There is room for improvement in Magic's marketing and licensing. I would like to see more integration of web functionality."
"Sometimes it would be a little bit slow, however, it's manageable."
"It could have a lot more customization options in terms of fonts and reports. There should be an even lighter version with just two or three fields. It could be a bit more light if the field guys want to use it on a mobile phone on the road. For deploying it for CRM, maybe we can have our customer database, project funnels, and projects to help us in managing our supply chain business."
"Some business functionalities could be improved."
"One area that could use improvement is the approval mechanism in the authenticator, which is unstable."
"The reporting for Salesforce could be approved. It is a manual process and it would be useful to have a guide or videos on how to generate reports or any other cool things that you could do with the platform."
"The solution's UI is horrible."
"Salesforce needs to be re-platformed, or re-architected, making it lighter."
"When it switched to lightning, it threw me for a loop. When they changed the look and feel, I had a hard time finding things and doing what I used to do."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost varies because nowadays Magic has tailor-made offerings for clients. I think the solution is worth the money."
"Magic is not the cheapest IDE out there. If you are considering Magic xpa, you should do a cost-benefit analysis to feel comfortable with your decision. The Magic sales staff is very helpful in providing pricing."
"The cost for developers is high because you have to pay for licenses as well as runtime."
"My clients have to purchase additional licenses in order to use what I built. It's not a fair approach."
"There are different licenses, we have the application and the online application. There are two different licenses for two different program sites for the Magic xpa Application Platform."
"The main problem with the Magic xpa Application Platform is pricing. You have to pay a lot of money for development, and you also have to pay a lot for the deployments and runtime, while in most competitors, you have to pay a lot for one of the two and not both."
"The licensing is too costly."
"It's not cheap. The licenses are not cheap. Not at all. They cost much money. There are other tools with free licenses but Magic asks for a lot of money."
"For the number of people that are using Salesforce Platform in my organization, I feel the price is reasonable."
"I rate this solution a six out of ten for pricing. Though the solution is on the pricier side, it still offers good value for money."
"It is a fair price for what it's offering, in comparison with other solutions that are available on the market."
"Salesforce charges double the rates, or almost three times, compared to its competitors. Our company does incur additional charges for maintenance and support."
"The cost of this solution depends on negotiations. It is somewhere between expensive and reasonable. There is always additional costs for consulting services. It's the kind of solution that requires consulting, but it is not a licensing cost. It is a consulting cost. It is CAPEX versus OPEX."
"I haven't had to buy Salesforce, however, I have heard it's $1500 a user."
"The price varies depending on the cloud."
"rice-wise, the solution is reasonable for what we're getting."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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Also Known As

uniPaaS
Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ADD, Cape plc, Adecco, Kuno Kinzoku Industry Co., GE Capital, Dove Tree, CBS Outdoor, Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, Allstate Life Insurance Company, Titan Software Systems
ADP
Find out what your peers are saying about Magic xpa Application Platform vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
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