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Marketo vs Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Marketo is 10.4%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pardot is 2.9%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 12.3%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud12.3%
Marketo10.4%
Pardot2.9%
Other74.4%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Anika Gaur - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Digital Solutions Analyst at Rich Products
Effective lead management and useability with room for reporting improvements
Customer support could be more helpful. The reporting could be better, with more engaging reports and the ability to collaborate more objects, like opportunities. Incorporating AI features similar to tools like HubSpot and Salesforce account engagement would be beneficial. Additionally, Marketo should work on automating tools and updating the product since it looks similar to how it did five years ago.
Vikram Rawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Pardot Consultant at Target
Offers an easy initial setup phase and good ROI
With Pardot, users can do the segmentation based on their requirements. You can segment your prospects based on their interests, locations, companies, or the sales cycle. You can also use the engagement studio to create a journey for the people you have segmented with the help of automation feature of the tool. The aforementioned area consists of the most useful features I found in the tool apart from its out-of-the-box features. The integration between Pardot and Salesforce is beneficial if you know how to share the leads that a company finds useful so that they don't have to invest in manual work or do anything blindly to reach out to leads. Users can segment the leads using the features that the tool provides. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. If a business is into B2B marketing and can afford to purchase Pardot, then they should buy it. If the product of a company is good, then Pardot can help multiply such an organization's ROI. Based on the product and how the sales and marketing team works, the tool can be useful. In short, the tool can be as good as the person who is using it. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
GauravSingh2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Targeted email journeys have boosted campaign insight and now need better data access and support
I feel that Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be improved in how the data views are accessed; it would be better to have something more physical. With data extensions, you can view them directly, but for data views, it is very difficult as you can only send it out or load it into data extensions. Improvements can also be made in the connections to different external tools such as Azure or AWS. Customer support can be improved in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, as sometimes it is not clear what the issue is or how to approach solving it, and it also takes time to resolve issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The smart campaign looks quite interesting and useful."
"Overall - I am very pleased with Marketo for email automation and lead management."
"The most valuable features are the Marketo emails, both sending and tracking."
"Automated customer outreach from sign up to upgrade"
"It's pretty good at handling customization and templates. We can put in different variables, so even someone without coding knowledge can create and develop emails that look good on different browsers."
"One of the most important things about Marketo is its focus on GDPR compliance. It helps you follow GDPR and CAN-SPAM rules. For example, with Marketo, I won't accidentally target audiences without their consent. Firstly, the Marketo Insights system will highlight new customer segments that I should engage with."
"With the scoring and how we deploy it, we have a greater integration between Marketo and Salesforce, which allows our sales team to focus on people we believe are ready for conversations, rather than everyone they had to talk to before."
"I like that the solution is flexible."
"The implementation process is easy, it's easy to learn, the dashboards are very convenient when you go from one option to another option, the dashboard is very neat, and the UI is very easy to understand."
"The solution can be easily integrated with Salesforce."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"Our ROI is huge, not just in cost avoidance, but also in increased sales."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"The product is stable."
"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the reporting engine. Reports are very good and easy to build."
"I think Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a sustainable and reliable system."
"The ability to automate processes is one of the most valuable features of Salesforce. This sets it part from other systems. We use the journey builder to design a fully automated journey."
"Offers many great features and is intuitive."
"The ability to automate processes is one of the most valuable features of Salesforce, which sets it apart from other systems, and we use the journey builder to design a fully automated journey."
"It is easy to use."
"I would definitely recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"Marketo's reporting and dashboarding features could be better. Compared to other tools, the visualization options with charts and graphs seem somewhat limited."
"Adobe, the parent company, needs to improve on getting more information published to allow users to educate themselves on how to use the solution."
"Marketo filters are not very efficient, and timely updates or features could improve this aspect."
"This solution also doesn't scale for the large enterprise - a huge downside for them."
"Marketo is still very slow."
"Technical support is not good. I would rate them a two out of five."
"Some modern Marketo features could be improved."
"Our experience with the renewal process has been frustrating. Marketo bakes a substantial price increase into each contract which has required renegotiation every year."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"Pardot must be synced with Salesforce."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"Salesforce could benefit by implementing further integration with more platforms."
"Marketing Cloud should change the script language that it uses because it's not good. It's tricky and difficult to develop."
"The performance is sometimes sluggish, but I think that's to be expected with a heavy CRM tool because they're running reports in real-time on the data that you have entered."
"To improve user experience, there should be clear workflows to assist the user through the setup processes."
"There is a lot of room for improvement in Salesforce Marketing Cloud's dashboards and the visualization of information in each journey."
"It's a very good solution, but the way the prices are structured is not always good, and I feel like that is a problem."
"I've noticed on one-to-one leads, the customer objection option is not available."
"If you want to use advanced features in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, they are extremely difficult to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The initial pricing was excellent, but the pricing for renewals is not as good."
"Marketo's pricing depends on the number of contacts and the level of features you need. Compared to other platforms like Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo is generally more affordable. Like other platforms, it offers different packages based on your needs."
"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."
"The solution is expensive compared to others."
"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."
"It is expensive. We have a yearly license."
"The licensing cost usually depends on the users."
"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"It's not cheap, which is why I recommend that you use Marketing Cloud to create automated journeys. If you plan to use Marketing Cloud just to send emails, use another tool."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"It's normal pricing."
"My company pays to use this solution."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"This solution is priced in the medium to high price range."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
6%
Construction Company
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Marketo?
The user interface could be improved. I would like to see an updated UI for 2025.
What is your primary use case for Marketo?
As a seasoned Marketo Expert with a decade of experience and a deep understanding of Adobe's ecosystem, I can confide...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Marketo?
The solution is cheaper than Alacor. That said, I do not know the exact price.
What do you like most about Pardot?
It has no limit for sending marketing emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pardot?
Pardot was somewhat costly for our requirements, nonetheless, the capacities of the item were limited.
What needs improvement with Pardot?
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
I did not work on any pricing or implementation aspects but learned on my own when dealing with Revenue Cloud products.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Regarding areas for improvement, the realization of value from Salesforce Einstein's predictive AI features is a nota...
What is your primary use case for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
As a consultant, I partner with organizations to optimize their use of Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC). My engageme...
 

Also Known As

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ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
Arketi Group
American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: May 2026.
896,467 professionals have used our research since 2012.