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IBM MobileFirst vs Salesforce Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

IBM MobileFirst
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Mobile App Platforms (5th)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (8th), Rapid Application Development Software (5th), Low-Code Development Platforms (6th), No-Code Development Platforms (2nd), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM MobileFirst is 4.9%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 6.6%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Platform6.6%
IBM MobileFirst4.9%
Other88.5%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

MT
Senior Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Streamlines development of hybrid applications, and has ability to integrate device-native code
It was a cakewalk for us to develop mobile apps for three different platforms using IBM MobileFirst. Since it was a consumer application built for large-scale events, it was very crucial for us to manage application compatibility with all sort of devices. With MobielFirst, we could actually achieve this with very little trouble. With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming. App development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product.
Sharmila-K - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Transformations and Infrastructure Delivery Manager at a university with 10,001+ employees
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

"One of the most valuable features is that we are using the IBM MobileFirst, which is actually providing a gateway to all the mobile resources either for the employees or for the consumers."
"With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming technology, and app development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product."
"We use it as a secure proxy server for a mobile app using public internet as well as for its mobile app support features."
"IBM MobileFirst has one of the most feature-rich admin panels."
"I like Its capability for developing hybrid applications, with an ability to integrate device-native code as well"
"Salesforce Platform is very good at what it does."
"We have hundreds of users all across our company, it is being used extensively in our organization, and that's how we run our sales here."
"The biggest benefit is seamless usage in terms of an easy-to-use interface and GUI that makes it easy to interact with the entire platform and generate reports effortlessly."
"The stability has been great."
"Stability of the platform is important, as are security and flexibility."
"The reporting capabilities are pretty user-friendly."
"Salesforce Platform is effective as it provides frameworks and pre-built components."
"Salesforce Platform has helped streamline our sales operations, which has essentially increased the effectiveness of our sales operations."
 

Cons

"There are issues with push notifications, especially for Windows mobile apps. JSONStore also crashes abruptly at times."
"I would like to see improved support for native device functions."
"It may be slow, but that is relative. When compared to Siebel CRM, which was large, clunky, and extremely slow, Salesforce seemed fast to me."
"They should provide access to data quality tips and tricks to make it better."
"It may be slow, but that is relative."
"The reporting functionality is very granular and you can do a lot with it, but unfortunately, it's not very intuitive."
"Salesforce's mobile app could be better. Also, it could integrate more seamlessly with Gmail."
"Although the platform is already set up for you, there's a lot of customization that needs to be done, especially for any new component we start using. For whatever solution we wanted, we had to think for ourselves and design it all on our own. And, unfortunately, there were some components that were not really mature in the beginning, like Tableau for example."
"Salesforce also did not integrate well with some of the other systems that we had."
"I think the interface should be enhanced and more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cost depends upon various factors. Size of the overall application and product usage matter a lot. For an enterprise-grade application, this certainly comes out as an economical solution. However, for small-scale applications, it can turn out to be on the higher side."
"Pricing and license differ and depend on how much license you are purchasing from them."
"It is quite expensive. Its developers come at a premium cost, which makes it expensive."
"It is expensive."
"The cost of this solution depends on negotiations. It is somewhere between expensive and reasonable. There is always additional costs for consulting services. It's the kind of solution that requires consulting, but it is not a licensing cost. It is a consulting cost. It is CAPEX versus OPEX."
"Salesforce charges double the rates, or almost three times, compared to its competitors. Our company does incur additional charges for maintenance and support."
"The licensing is per user per month, which we took out a contract on a long time back. It's really an okay price for what solutions are available and for how many features and what kind of functionality you get."
"The cost is reasonable for the corporations I work for. I would say an average would be around $100 per month per user."
"Costly, but it is the top product in SaaS/PaaS. Pricing is more for large to enterprise level companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise44
 

Questions from the Community

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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

MobileFirst, Worklight
Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions, Gruppo Unipol, Raymond James Financial, Toshiba GCS, CST, ABK-Systeme GmbH, BNP Paribas
ADP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM MobileFirst vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.