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Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud 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

Pardot
Ranking in Marketing Automation
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Pardot is 3.2%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 11.9%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud11.9%
Pardot3.2%
Other84.9%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

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

"The product is stable."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"Our ROI is huge, not just in cost avoidance, but also in increased sales."
"The solution can be easily integrated with Salesforce."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"Email Studio is one of the core parts of Salesforce Marketing Cloud."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the ability to sell the products we have made to customers. Overall the solution is very useful for business."
"I think the product's best feature is its analytics, as that's where customers derive value. The second thing is its ease of implementation."
"I like the user interface it has a nice look and feel."
"We use Marketing Cloud for marketing campaigns and engaging customers. It is a business-focused application for a specific area of business, which is acquiring customers."
"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,"
"We haven't had any issues with integration."
"In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the ability to send emails effectively is very valuable."
 

Cons

"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"The reporting features of the Pardot system could be improved to provide better and more data."
"Needs to improve list building."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"I would like to see more ways to accomplish specific tasks."
"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."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive; it can be more affordable, but it doesn't matter where we implement or use it for our organization since we are able to manage well so far."
"I found that the tool is more complex than expected. It requires a deeper understanding to utilize its capabilities thoroughly."
"Managing large volumes of data takes too long."
"The main action I want to do in Salesforce Marketing Cloud is to export data into Excel and use it. My company may have that feature locked down, or if the Excel data exporting function still isn't available in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, that's the feature I want."
"An additional feature needed would be better capacity for personalization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"It is a license per user."
"The price is expensive."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"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."
"It's normal pricing."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a highly expensive solution, it needs to be less expensive. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Retailer
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise31
 

Questions from the Community

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 needs improvement with Pardot?
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design studio, limiting our ability to perform various design activities efficiently. Yo...
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?
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?
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 ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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 Pardot vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.