Marketo vs Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

Adobe and Salesforce are both solutions in the Marketing Automation category. Adobe is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Salesforce is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.4. Adobe holds a 11.9% mindshare in MA, compared to Salesforce’s 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Adobe users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

Marketo

Read 26 Marketo reviews

1,731 Views
1,437 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Pardot

Read 12 Pardot reviews

726 Views
719 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Read 60 Salesforce Marketing Cloud reviews

3,606 Views
2,488 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Marketo

Pardot

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Marketo, Pardot, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot and others in Marketing Automation.

To learn more, read our detailed Marketing Automation Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Marketing Automation

August 2025

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Helped 866,685 peers since 2012

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 September 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Marketo is 11.9%, down from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pardot is 3.3%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 20.6%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Marketing Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud	20.6%
Marketo	11.9%
Pardot	3.3%
Other	64.2%

Marketing Automation

Featured Reviews

Anika Gaur

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.

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Vikram Rawani

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.

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Napitch K

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at growth innovation

Integration challenges impact workflow efficiency

The features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that I have found most valuable are the Journey Builder and Flow. These capabilities are valuable because they make managing automation easy. Automating customer journeys saves time when scheduling content through every channel, and we can set the automation in advance when planning marketing content. The AI-powered tools such as Salesforce Datorama and Einstein save time and have an impact on marketing strategy decisions for my customers. I have noticed a positive impact from Salesforce Marketing Cloud through customer feedback. For example, a customer mentioned after project completion that it had a significant impact on their marketing team by eliminating the need to hire additional staff for marketing content and planning.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One feature I like is the user interface. Compared to other tools I've used, it's much more friendly and easy to navigate. Additionally, it offers a wide range of features, which makes tasks like segmenting data much simpler."

"The smart campaign looks quite interesting and useful."

"The most valuable feature is the scoring."

"The main feature of Marketo is sending out emails, so that would be the most valuable feature."

"We are scoring based on behavior without pressure, and it keeps producing excellent results."

"The most valuable features are the Marketo emails, both sending and tracking."

"I like that Marketo is user-friendly and has an easy view. It's like a one-stop solution for everyone. It is very good, and you can categorize leads in different ways. You can also create your custom objects and enjoy good connectivity."

"I have a good special setup and a huge NetFlow to the sales channel."

More Marketo pros

"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."

"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."

"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"For me, the best thing is the Custom Redirect. That's one key thing I like because using that particular Custom Redirect, I can track a link wherever I'm sharing it. I can track how and when people are accessing it."

"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."

"The product is stable."

"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."

"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."

More Pardot pros

"The user interface is easy to use, especially for my staff who use assistive technology."

"We are satisfied with the Salesforce Marketing Cloud products, which is why we have extended and acquired the Data Cloud as integration."

"The automation is great. It saves us a lot of time and it makes us move faster."

"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the seamless conversion of lead to opportunity, in relation to orders is good. That seamless connection is beneficial and simple."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"It is very easy to use from a marketing standpoint."

"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the ability to sell the products we have made to customers. Overall the solution is very useful for business."

"In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the ability to send emails effectively is very valuable."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pros

Cons

"It could be more scalable."

"Marketo filters are not very efficient, and timely updates or features could improve this aspect."

"The user experience needs improvement, particularly in terms of ease of use and navigation between projects."

"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's reporting and dashboarding features could be better. Compared to other tools, the visualization options with charts and graphs seem somewhat limited."

"I had an issue while integrating JavaScript with forms. When you embed JavaScript, you can either embed it in a landing page or some other self-contained management system like WordPress. Currently, it provides you access to CSS, where you can customize your form design, but there is no option for JavaScript modification for a particular form. This area needs to be improved where you can integrate JavaScript, and it has the JavaScript functions for that particular form. There are a lot of other areas of improvement. In the design area, they can give us more testing options instead of relying on email testing alone. It would be great if they can provide responsive testing where email clients can be tested within Marketo. It would be also helpful if they can implement some in-built options for users or forms for blocking a generic email ID such as Yahoo or Gmail. Similarly, it would be helpful to have JavaScript features and forms as well as the option to add Google analytics and a header and footer for the landing pages."

"I have encountered issues when I had to use filters repeatedly. It would have been helpful if I could duplicate them directly, instead of dragging them. Also, having an option to save filters for future use would have saved a lot of time, especially when dealing with multiple filters."

"Customer support could be more helpful."

More Marketo cons

"Pardot must be synced with Salesforce."

"Needs to improve list building."

"Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities."

"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."

"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."

"Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."

"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."

"When we compare it to other automation tools, in Pardot, I'm not able to see any drag-and-drop options. We have to work on an HTML template itself."

More Pardot cons

"The majority of my clients are happy, but when it comes to the CDP of Salesforce, the client gets confused. They have no clue that Salesforce has a CDP platform too. If my clients want to go ahead with the same vendor, Salesforce, they get confused about the different marketing suites which are available. There is no clear marketing done for the suites available for the clients, this is where the client is facing the real challenges."

"The product could use a little bit of BI in the sense of rule-based building."

"When you use your iPhone or Android phone, Salesforce is not as user-friendly as it could be. That UX needs to be improved."

"The general setup and understanding of how to use it can be improved. There should be easier self-service for setting up dashboards. Currently, we have someone setting them up for us. I wish it was easier."

"The main action I want to do in Salesforce Marketing Cloud is to export data into Excel and use it. My company may have that feature locked down, or if the Excel data exporting function still isn't available in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, that's the feature I want."

"The UA could be better designed for a mobile connection."

"I would like to see more ways to accomplish specific tasks."

"An additional feature needed would be better capacity for personalization."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive. We have a yearly license."

"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."

"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."

"I'm not sure about the cost because I don't get into this aspect. Clients normally take care of that. I only know that it is costly, and I don't think there are any additional costs to the licensing."

"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."

"The solution is expensive compared to others."

"The initial pricing was excellent, but the pricing for renewals is not as good."

"The licensing cost usually depends on the users."

More Marketo pricing and cost advice

"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."

"We pay about $4000 a month."

"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."

"Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need."

"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."

"Salesforce is an expensive solution."

"It is a license per user."

"The price is expensive."

"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."

"It's normal pricing."

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	28

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Marketo?

One of the most important things about Marketo is its focus on GDPR compliance. It helps you follow GDPR and CAN-SPAM...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Marketo?

The user interface could be improved. I would like to see an updated UI for 2025.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Pardot?

It has no limit for sending marketing emails.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pardot?

Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design s...

See all answers

What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

An area of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that could be improved is the connectivity between Sales Cloud and Marketing Cl...

See all answers

Comparisons

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Marketo

Compared 21% of the time

Oracle Eloqua vs Marketo

Compared 16% of the time

SAP Marketing Cloud vs Marketo

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs Marketo

Compared 6% of the time

Adobe Campaign vs Marketo

Compared 3% of the time

More Marketo Competitors

Oracle Eloqua vs Pardot

Compared 45% of the time

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Pardot

Compared 17% of the time

More Pardot Competitors

HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 11% of the time

Zeta Marketing Platform vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

SAP Marketing Cloud vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Eloqua vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

BloomReach vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

More Salesforce Marketing Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Marketo

August 2025

Download Marketo product report

Buyer's Guide

Pardot

August 2025

Download Pardot product report

Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

August 2025

Download Salesforce Marketing Cloud product report

Also Known As

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ExactTarget

Overview

Marketo is an all-in-one marketing solution that was created by marketers for marketers. Founded in 2007, Marketo is branded as marketing software that is easy, powerful and complete.

Organizations have access to multiple marketing and sales tools when they use this solution, such as Marketing Automation, Consumer Engagement Marketing, Real-Time Personalization, and Marketing Management.

Adobe

Pardot, a salesforce.com Company, is an easy-to-use B2B Marketing Automation suite that helps sales and marketing teams maximize efficiency and increase revenue. Pardot's lead management software features CRM integration, email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and ROI reporting to help marketing and sales teams work together to generate and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, and demonstrate marketing accountability.

Salesforce

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that enables businesses to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

With its robust set of tools and features, marketers can easily manage and automate their email marketing, social media advertising, mobile messaging, and customer journey mapping.

The platform offers advanced segmentation capabilities, allowing marketers to segment their audience based on various criteria and deliver tailored messages to each segment.

Additionally, Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides powerful analytics and reporting features, enabling marketers to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

With its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Salesforce products, Marketing Cloud offers a seamless and efficient marketing automation solution for businesses of all sizes.

Salesforce

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: August 2025.

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