Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
7.3
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), 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

"The most valuable features of Salesforce Marketing Cloud are the ease of use of the basic features."
"The tool is flexible and helps us with insights and reports. Salesforce Marketing Cloud has improved our organizational functions by creating an environment where clients and internal staff can access information about various solutions. For instance, clients can apply for different projects, and internal staff can approve them based on donor requirements. This simplifies communication between clients, donors, and our company,"
"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."
"The Journey Builder and the Email Studio features are most valuable."
"It is easy to use."
"It's a software-as-a-service solution. Everything is managed centrally from the cloud. As far as I can tell, installation is relatively simple."
"The most valuable feature is the 'Accelerators', which are expert-taught subject matter webinars on items such as personalization of emails and SMS to contacts and prospects."
"This is a very powerful and scalable solution."
"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 aspect of this solution is its low cost."
"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."
"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."
"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."
 

Cons

"In the SMS area, it is not up to the mark, compared to what has been developed for email."
"User management could be better."
"We would like an improvement to the 'Einstein Engagement Frequency'; the optimal range of emails that our subscribers will engage with."
"We have struggled to get resolution of support tickets from the Salesforce team."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive. The email functionality should be more modern and user-friendly."
"The processing speed, the way information displays, and scrolling options can be improved."
"Salesforce could benefit by implementing further integration with more platforms."
"The dashboards should be more intuitive, as there are far too many items on them. You're not always sure what you're looking for."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is expensive."
"It's not cheap, which is why I recommend that you use Marketing Cloud to create automated journeys. If you plan to use Marketing Cloud just to send emails, use another tool."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."
"This is a low cost solution suited to larger organizations."
"The licensing cost for the solution is on a yearly basis."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Marketing Automation solutions are best for your needs.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
27%
Engineering Company
16%
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
No data available
 

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.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.