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Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs Salesforce Essentials comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Dynamics CRM enhances operations and efficiency, outweighing high costs with improved sales, automation, and data collection.
Sentiment score
8.0
Salesforce Essentials offers good ROI with easy implementation, accelerating sales and benefits realized in about three years.
I recommend that those considering Microsoft Dynamics CRM conduct an ROI exercise to determine scalability and complex business needs because it is indeed a fantastic tool, especially if Microsoft can provide a better commercial model, which can significantly impact cost-effectiveness.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
The ROI was always in a positive direction.
Growth Adviser at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
Microsoft Dynamics CRM service receives mixed reviews; praised for responsiveness but criticized for delays and varying technical expertise.
Sentiment score
6.3
Salesforce Essentials offers responsive service with minimal issues; users praise its reliability and effective customer support.
I would rate customer support as ten out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
While the support operates within their standard SLA, it can be difficult to speak directly with someone over the phone.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Sometimes the technical support for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not qualified enough, and in some situations, we know the tool better than they do.
Head Of Development at Aleman Software Group
Their service and uptime is phenomenal.
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
Salesforce Essentials has excellent customer service.
Senior Learning Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I would evaluate their support and customer service with Salesforce Essentials as pretty decent, diligent, and to the point.
Growth Adviser at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers strong scalability and adaptability, despite challenges with customization and costs, enhancing sales and marketing departments.
Sentiment score
6.9
Salesforce Essentials is highly scalable, supporting diverse teams from small to large, and is praised for easy user addition.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is highly scalable, rated at ten, even fifteen out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I would give it a ten out of ten for scalability.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is scalable; it's easy to scale, but when customizations become extensive, maintainability can become challenging.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
It is one of the most scalable systems available.
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is stable and reliable, handling workloads well, with Azure integration enhancing resilience despite occasional peak load issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
Salesforce Essentials is highly stable and available, with few bugs or downtimes, though occasional automation delays occur.
I would rate it ten out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
There have been instances where issues with Microsoft Azure have affected Dynamics due to the infrastructure layer.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Salesforce Essentials has proven stable, with no downtime that affects my work.
Senior Learning Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs better integration, user-friendliness, expanded AI, customization, and cost-effective options for small business adaptability.
Salesforce Essentials struggles with integration, UI, and pricing, needing improvements in analytics, mobile interface, and automation features.
More use-case-oriented material should be provided to help users and implementers learn how to do more, faster.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs improvement in simplifying the setup and configuration process, which can be relatively complex when we want all features to work properly.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Instead of requiring users to think about system navigation and clicking procedures, they can simply follow a workflow that guides them through the process.
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
There are other competitors, like Zoho CRM, that offer similar features at a lower cost.
Senior Learning Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Salesforce Essentials operates in a table format where the entire user interface is based on tables, more specifically pivot tables.
Growth Adviser at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is considered pricey, with flexible licensing but possible high costs for small to medium businesses.
Salesforce Essentials licensing is costly but valued for flexibility and add-ons, with some finding additional professional expenses burdensome.
The pricing of Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be complex due to Microsoft's complicated licensing model.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Dynamics CRM costs about $110 to $115 per user per month, following a recent price increase.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Although it is a good tool, it is costly.
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
The cost of running Salesforce Essentials is significant.
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
The costs associated with Salesforce Essentials are substantial, which is a drawback compared to competitors who offer similar services for less.
Senior Learning Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers customizable, user-friendly features with seamless Microsoft integration, robust security, and enhances customer management and operational efficiency.
Salesforce Essentials offers robust features and user-friendly design but may be costly for some businesses.
The backend storage integrates seamlessly with OneDrive, and the solution offers robust security features, including Azure integration, two-factor authentication (2FA), and comprehensive audit trails.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
The CRM is very fast, which is the most important aspect, and it's very handy.
Data Scientist at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is its integration with Outlook and other Microsoft products like Microsoft 365, which includes emails, Teams, and SharePoint.
Head of Digital Transformation at Simplified Consulting
Their reporting and analytics features have a very significant impact on my company's operational efficiency.
Growth Adviser at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Salesforce Essentials is excellent because it is one of the most flexible CRMs available.
Senior Learning Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
It is very customizable to specific needs.
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Ranking in CRM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (1st), Local Government CRM (1st), Marketing Management (2nd), Sales Force Automation (2nd)
Salesforce Essentials
Ranking in CRM
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the CRM category, the mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is 2.5%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Essentials is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
CRM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM2.5%
Salesforce Essentials0.6%
Other96.9%
CRM
 

Featured Reviews

NavinJacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Has enabled seamless integration across platforms while supporting advanced analytics for customer insights
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it. A lot of custom work is needed if you have to integrate heterogeneous technologies with the Microsoft suite, but if you are using the Microsoft suite, then it's quite seamless. Microsoft Dynamics CRM should add commercial models that allow smaller companies to use it because it can get pretty expensive. Better commercial options for smaller implementations may be helpful. There should be commercial options for smaller companies, as the overheads and costs of Dynamics can be quite high.
AA
Head of Commercial Excellence at Sartorius AG
Has provided a reliable service with responsive support and offers valuable features, though pricing could be more affordable
We are a large organization with 14,000 people. As a user, Salesforce Essentials is extremely easy to use. The complete rollout from minimum viable product to final acceptable product took two years for our global deployment. The business operations for our 14,000 people are managed by approximately 10 people on the business side. These business admins are responsible for sales operations, troubleshooting, training, and driving features and requirements from the sales and marketing organizations. Additionally, we work with product owners on the IT side and a team of programmers. Daily operations require about five people for IT work, security programming, system connections, and development execution. For day-to-day user support, we need eight to ten people in the business. We operate on Microsoft Azure private cloud infrastructure. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Salesforce Essentials a 9 out of 10.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
The most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are all the filters and possible reports.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
Microsoft Dynamics CRM doesn't provide solutions that allow you to transform easily if you have a heterogeneous mix of technologies or if your contact center is on analog and you try to digitize it...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
I have been working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for five or six years for various customers. I work with CRM and some amount of Microsoft communication server to integrate it. I focus on the area o...
What do you like most about Salesforce Essentials?
Salesforce provides the best they have with the current version. Most of the features we need are already there, and it's very easy to use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Essentials?
Salesforce Essentials is very expensive, but it delivers exceptional value. It is a good platform to have if you can afford it because it has numerous add-ons and modules. Anything that Salesforce ...
What needs improvement with Salesforce Essentials?
The mobile access can be improved in several ways. Salesforce Essentials operates in a table format where the entire user interface is based on tables, more specifically pivot tables. This is not v...
 

Also Known As

Dynamics CRM, MS Dynamics CRM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Metro Bank, Nissan, Pandora, Delta, Haynes International, City of London, Trek and many more market leaders.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce Essentials and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.