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Salesforce Marketing Cloud 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

Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (2nd), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
SugarCRM Platform
Ranking in Marketing Automation
8th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (8th), CRM (24th), Sales Force Automation (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 22.4%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SugarCRM Platform is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

SantoshKrishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable
The encryption and decryption have room for improvement. We need to be confident that the customer's data is secure when shared outside of the organization. I would like to request additional mobile app features that go beyond push notifications. As the mobile development industry continues to advance with new technologies, such as AI components, it is important to consider these advancements when setting up campaigns. Currently, campaigns are scheduled to be sent to customers at a prescribed time, but they may not be relevant to the customer unless they see them as valuable. For example, if I want to run a campaign offering loans, I would need to consider the customer's needs and balance. In the future, I hope Salesforce can incorporate an AI component that utilizes the shared data, rather than just scheduling campaigns.
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

"Salesforce is constantly evolving and have a good release cycle."
"You can schedule reports, there's a lot of supporting tools, and you have access to all that information."
"In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the ability to send emails effectively is very valuable."
"Marketing Cloud offers a 360 customers experience as it integrates with Service Cloud and Sales Cloud, the CRM portion of Salesforce. The different platforms integrate easily which makes it easy to manage customer communication using a single point of truth."
"It is easy to use."
"I like that I can constantly add leads to Salesforce Marketing Cloud and look at accounts there. I also like that the solution lets me set up meetings."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to get quotes out in a timely manner."
"The solution is very, very scalable."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Sugar Enterprise are the exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks."
"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."
"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."
"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."
 

Cons

"User management could be better."
"When you use your iPhone or Android phone, Salesforce is not as user-friendly as it could be. That UX needs to be improved."
"Technical support is good but could be faster, maybe more knowledgeable, and more customer friendly."
"Clarity around new features could be improved when they are released."
"In the SMS area, it is not up to the mark, compared to what has been developed for email."
"The cost is always a concern for anyone using a SaaS product."
"It's a very good solution, but the way the prices are structured is not always good, and I feel like that is a problem."
"We need a development environment for Marketing Cloud. Currently, there is no development environment for this solution. Other Salesforce products, such as Sales and Service Cloud, have a development environment in which the developers can do some things and then post them in production. Currently, everything happens in the production for Marketing Cloud. There is only one environment, and the developers and the end-users have to work in the same environment, which seems to be challenging. If Salesforce can bring a developer environment for Marketing Cloud, it will be good."
"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."
"It lacks customization, and this is the main reason that we are switching to a different solution."
"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."
"I would like to see more integration on a mobile platform in the next release."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's normal pricing."
"The price is expensive."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"It is a license per user."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a highly expensive solution, it needs to be less expensive. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
"We did a yearly license. We negotiated and got a great deal. I don't think we would have gotten far with the regular price, but they negotiated, so it was worth that."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
26%
Engineering Company
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Salesforce is one of the most expensive tools. The pricing is around $10,000 per annum per user. It is a very expensive solution that I would rate a nine out of 10 in terms of cost.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
I would like to see improvements in the integration between Salesforce platforms and AgentForce. There are inaccuracies in how AgentForce retrieves information or interprets data. It still shows so...
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...
 

Also Known As

ExactTarget
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Redglaze Group, TengoInternet, Hilco, Bancvue, Vet Adivsor
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce Marketing Cloud vs. SugarCRM Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.