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Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs Salesforce Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 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

Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
5th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (9th), Mobile Development Platforms (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 7.5%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 5.9%, up from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Application Express (APEX)7.5%
Salesforce Platform5.9%
Other86.6%
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.
Sharmila-K - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration processes improve but scripting requires effort
The updates, pricing part, and upgrades to the products are some of the most valuable features with the Salesforce Platform.With the Salesforce Platform, I have minimal experience of approximately one and a half years. I get minimal exposure, once every three or two months, especially during holidays. The Salesforce Platform is connected to the cloud, which is beneficial. When it is integrated with different tools such as Microsoft BI Analytics, it helps us analyze much better. Currently, the integration itself is tricky as we have to use extensive scripting. It should be more of a plug-in and use solution. That is the only issue I see, but otherwise, I appreciate it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like how we can actively develop and customize APEX because it's on the same database."
"The most valuable applications within the organization are primarily data forms and extended reports."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"In our experience with Apex, we find that minimizing reliance on HTML and JavaScript is preferable, especially considering our background as seasoned programmers adept in PL/SQL. Incorporating HTML and JavaScript can pose challenges due to potential compatibility issues when updates are made to JavaScript. We also make use of JAPER report integration for generating reports, a practice integral to our reporting procedures."
"Quick development and the connection with the database are the most valuable and useful features. It is also very stable, scalable, and easy to set up. Its support is also good."
"The product is fast."
"It's stable and reliable for the most part."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward."
"The solution scales extremely well."
"It is very user-friendly, and intuitive, it will lead you and take you to the next steps."
"The most valuable aspect is that all data is stored in one place, making it easy to find what is needed and to report on it."
"They are already beginning to implement generative AI."
"I found the ease of use most valuable in the Salesforce Platform. I also found the platform pretty light."
"The low-code approach to Salesforce Platform is highly valuable."
"The activities, opportunities, follow-up of the opportunities, and business tracking are valuable features. It provides everything that we need. It works pretty well."
"Salesforce Platform has helped streamline our sales operations, which has essentially increased the effectiveness of our sales operations."
 

Cons

"We would like to see tighter integration with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure."
"It would be beneficial to include WebSockets so that you can see real-time updates."
"Regarding features, the solution lacks the ability to integrate with different databases. Also, I feel that Oracle Application Express (APEX) is exclusively designed for other Oracle tools."
"It has been reported that the technology is very hard to learn, and the service is expensive."
"Another issue I used to encounter was with the debugging functions. I believe this is an area where Oracle APEX could improve significantly in terms of displaying error messages or error pages. It is very difficult to detect bugs or which bugs you are having when it comes to errors or which errors you have."
"There is a problem with security because the applications store passwords in the configuration files."
"I don't like the URL syntax."
"You also need an APEX specialist for deployment because not many people use it."
"The integration of Salesforce with other solutions could be improved."
"I don't have any notes for improvement. It serves us well."
"Reporting could be better. Reporting is Excel-based, and it has sucked since the inception of the company. That's why I was excited about the fact of them bringing MuleSoft into the fold and Tableau."
"Identification management systems integration should be easier."
"Salesforce is a pretty cumbersome product. It's a product that you need to spend quite a bit of time customizing to your unique business model. Unless you have somebody in house that knows it really well, you're better off spending money with a consultant to get what you need."
"Salesforce's constant rebranding and name changes can be confusing for both customers and partners."
"There is a considerable effort required to load the data, involving processes like XML connections."
"The solution's UI is horrible."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a full Oracle E-Business Suite license, and we use that license to develop applications. There's no license required for developing Oracle applications."
"I would rate it around an eight in terms of price, with one being low and ten being high."
"The solution is free if you are using on Oracle database."
"I believe APEX comes bundled with the database, including autonomous database and other related database products, so the pricing is quite reasonable."
"When you have a licensed database in an Oracle environment, APEX is free."
"The tool is free with the Oracle Database license."
"APEX itslelf is a free product, but you will need to license peripheral components."
"I believe that the solution's pricing is high."
"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."
"Pricing for the Salesforce Platform is too expensive."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"Pricing and license differ and depend on how much license you are purchasing from them."
"The price of Salesforce Platform is very expensive. There are other solutions that are similar that cost a quarter of what Salesforce Platform does, such as HubSpot."
"The cost is reasonable for the corporations I work for. I would say an average would be around $100 per month per user."
"The price varies depending on the cloud."
"It is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
I consider Oracle Application Express (APEX) to be good value for the money because it has infinite quality for money since it's included in any Oracle database license. It's free once you have the...
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
One of the things that could be done to improve Oracle Application Express (APEX) is if Oracle decided to open it up to other databases. It needs to be an enterprise database; therefore, it needs t...
How would you choose between Microsoft PowerApps and Salesforce Platform?
I think it depends on your use case. If your organization uses Microsoft Enterprise products, PowerApps will work better in your environment. Similarly, if you have a Salesforce integration in pla...
How does Salesforce Platform compare with Azure?
Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations tha...
Do you build applications using low-code or pro-code builders on Salesforce Platform?
At my organization, we have only used Salesforce Platform's low-code builder. The reason for this is not because we do not like the pro-code option, but because we do not see the need of using it, ...
 

Also Known As

Oracle APEX
Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
ADP
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.