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Marketo vs SugarCRM Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 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

Marketo
Ranking in Marketing Automation
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Marketing Management (4th)
SugarCRM Platform
Ranking in Marketing Automation
8th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (8th), CRM (23rd), Sales Force Automation (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Marketo is 12.9%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SugarCRM Platform is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Anika Gaur - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Styliana Araouzou - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable, easy to configure, and reliable
My company is considered a customer and an end-user. I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using right now. It's a company that offers lots of user manuals and you can find most of your stuff there before starting development. I'd advise potential new users to go through everything. I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. By default, it comes with a really good model where you can start working with it without having a lot of developers in your team. It's a system that includes everything related to the client and you can see everything under one screen without having a different product or system. It's been great, for the most part.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The valuable features are list uploads, email campaigns, generating reports,source tracking, and lead attribution."
"I like that the solution is flexible."
"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."
"Marketo is excellent in terms of hands-on usability and lead database management."
"The smart campaign looks quite interesting and useful."
"The main highlights of Marketo are its support structure, the documentation available, and the features mainly related to forms, landing pages, and leads. Although other platforms like Oracle Eloqua have similar features, Marketo's support structure, lead generation, and segmentation features are easier than those of different platforms."
"It is a very user-friendly solution. I'm mainly working on Design Studio, which is useful for companies in tracking repeat users. The progressive proofing is also useful. It is not available in other solutions."
"The most valuable features are the Marketo emails, both sending and tracking."
"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."
"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is its low cost."
"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."
"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."
"The most valuable features of Sugar Enterprise are the exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks."
 

Cons

"There is a bit of room for improvement in the level-one support team. It relies too much on documentation."
"Customer support could be more helpful."
"The user interface could be improved."
"Its APIs need to be more flexible because there are some things that are not available in the API."
"Adobe, the parent company, needs to improve on getting more information published to allow users to educate themselves on how to use the solution."
"The user experience needs improvement, particularly in terms of ease of use and navigation between projects."
"It could be more scalable."
"Segmentation in Marketo is limited to a maximum of 20 segments. Depending on the company's specific needs, these segments can be based on various attributes such as company, industry, or other values. Sometimes, there's a lag when sending data from Marketo to any CRM. It can take around five to fifteen minutes for the report to sync."
"It lacks customization, and this is the main reason that we are switching to a different solution."
"I would like to see more integration on a mobile platform in the next release."
"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."
"In the next release, I would like to see personalization of information about customers or specific businesses or opportunities."
"You cannot include all your entities under one instance at the moment."
"While it is already user-friendly, a slight enhancement in UI design, especially in terms of color combinations, could make the platform more visually appealing and comfortable to use."
"Sugar Enterprise could improve by removing bugs and glitches. For example, a comment was made but in the comment section, it was never displayed. However, the problems we faced might not be the fault of the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The fee for Marketo includes the number of users and the database size. If we ask for a unique feature, it will cost extra."
"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."
"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."
"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."
"The licensing cost usually depends on the users."
"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."
"It is expensive. We have a yearly license."
"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Engineering Company
20%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 rules. For example, with Marketo, I won't accidentally target audiences without...
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 confidently say that the primary use case for Marketo lies in empowering businesses wit...
What do you like most about Sugar Enterprise?
The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sugar Enterprise?
All are almost the same pricing. Maybe the cheapest is Salesforce, I believe.
What needs improvement with Sugar Enterprise?
The only challenge was that we implemented it in our on-premise data center instead of using it in the cloud. That was a little bit of a challenge. But it was overcome with the help of SugarCRM com...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
Redglaze Group, TengoInternet, Hilco, Bancvue, Vet Adivsor
Find out what your peers are saying about Marketo vs. SugarCRM Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.