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Oracle Eloqua 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 August 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Oracle Eloqua is 6.2%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pardot is 2.7%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 11.1%, down from 22.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud11.1%
Oracle Eloqua6.2%
Pardot2.7%
Other80.0%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Madhan Krishnamoorthy - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Functional Consultant at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Integration with CRM and third-party systems significantly boosts campaign management
The native integration could be improved, as Oracle Eloqua has decommissioned it. Manual uploads require changing the data priority order to top priority. Sometimes form capturing data fails, and campaign response issues occur. The pricing of Oracle Eloqua is quite high as it is an Oracle product. Compared to other marketing automation platforms such as Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and Pardot, the price point is higher. The technical support is rated at eight because it can be difficult to get in touch with them after working hours. Support is only available during business hours, so if assistance is needed outside of the nine-to-five window, users must wait until the next day.
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

"E10 is a slick easy to use tool that is also robust for those automation experts."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution's engine framework is quite simple, giving you the agility you need in the business."
"Eloqua's marketing automation tool has made me not only a better marketer but has given me a new outlook on marketing."
"I find Oracle Eloqua to be a highly useful tool for clients and easy for developers, which I believe makes it one of the best options available for B2B marketing."
"I love that this product takes the guesswork out of marketing."
"Powerful, solid platform that enables modern marketers to execute best in class nurture programs, lead scoring and campaigns that drive revenue."
"We have seen tremendous year after year growth of revenue tied to marketing because of campaigns, events, and promotions we have run through Eloqua."
"Our ROI is huge, not just in cost avoidance, but also in increased sales."
"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"The solution is very fast, it's easy to create email templates and landing pages, and it is very good at score lists and sending signals to a salesperson for outreach purposes."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"Email automation is most valuable."
"The automation is great. It saves us a lot of time and it makes us move faster."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud's integrations are seamless since it is a native application. It helps us with B2B and B2C send-outs and can handle large columns."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides an edge for my organization by tracking the budget, how it is spent, where we stand, and how many cold calls or nurtured calls have been converted into sales."
"I like that Salesforce allows for the integration of different data sources."
"I sincerely recommend the SFMC platform and advise you to hire a Solutions Architect to set it up."
"The solution is completely scalable, the sky really is the limit, and if a company needs to expand it, it can do so as much as it wants."
"It has excellent lead and opportunity tracking."
 

Cons

"The reporting features should be improved."
"Crashes can occur due to integration with different systems, including third-party tools such as Zapier and SixSense."
"The solution does not have a good database architecture."
"The product's initial setup process could be better."
"The UI of the reporting tool (Insight) is a bit dated."
"Some times new features get rolled out too soon, but the good thing is they constantly adapt to the demands of their customers."
"Not suited for small companies."
"Eloqua doesn't have built-in features for WhatsApp marketing or SMS functionality."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"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."
"Needs to improve list building."
"In terms of marketing, I don't think Salesforce invests the same level of intensity in promoting Marketing Cloud...Pricing is a concern and needs improvement, as some customers find the product a bit too expensive."
"Data protection and region specfic customization."
"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."
"We need a development environment for Marketing Cloud. Currently, there is no development environment for this solution."
"The quality of support for this solution has been decreasing over time and the support team are sometimes more focused on closing tickets that resolving issues. Often the support team is not well trained or aware of the new features or products released by Salesforce."
"The product takes too long to manage a large volume of data, it lacks that capacity."
"The technicality of the solution can be streamlined."
"I think it's not easy and it's expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's quite expensive."
"Oracle Eloqua can be expensive compared to alternatives."
"Oracle Eloqua's pricing is medium."
"The tool is pricey compared to products like Marketo."
"Our licensing costs are yearly."
"The solution is expensive."
"Oracle Eloqua is quite an affordable solution."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"This is a low cost solution suited to larger organizations."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"It is a license per user."
"We have two types of licensing. We have a yearly license for end users and we have a concurrent login for selling."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Healthcare Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise21
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 Oracle Eloqua?
Some areas of Oracle Eloqua that could be improved include enhancements for campaign features, such as the ability to...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Eloqua?
In my company, I work with Oracle Eloqua and do not use it internally. My usual use cases for Oracle Eloqua include d...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Eloqua?
I am not sure how to answer that. We take care of emails and fetch the data regarding that only. I have not explored ...
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 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

Eloqua, Oracle Marketing Cloud
No data available
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Thomson Reuters, The Dow Chemical Company, Avid, LifeSize, and Avalara.
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, HubSpot, MoEngage and others in Marketing Automation. Updated: July 2026.
909,647 professionals have used our research since 2012.