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Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
12th
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
6.9
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (4th), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, 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%
Pardot2.7%
Other86.2%
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

"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The product is stable."
"The implementation process is easy, it's easy to learn, the dashboards are very convenient when you go from one option to another option, the dashboard is very neat, and the UI is very easy to understand."
"The solution can be easily integrated with Salesforce."
"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"Offers many great features and is intuitive."
"The most valuable of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is seeing the customer's journey."
"I like this solution because of its versatility."
"The Journey Builder and the Email Studio features are most valuable."
"The data management is great; we like how it is organized, and I am able to view the tickets in a well-organized manner, which is quite useful."
"We have found the solution to be scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the seamless conversion of lead to opportunity, in relation to orders is good. That seamless connection is beneficial and simple."
"A powerful platform with robust features for a seamless one-tool solution."
 

Cons

"The reporting features of the Pardot system could be improved to provide better and more data."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
"Pardot must be synced with Salesforce."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive. The email functionality should be more modern and user-friendly."
"Salesforce could benefit by implementing further integration with more platforms."
"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."
"In terms of improvements, it would be beneficial to enhance the Copilot actions. The issue lies with the internal language setup."
"The technicality of the solution can be streamlined."
"I think it's not easy and it's expensive."
"If someone wants to implement a best-of-breed solution, I'm uncertain whether Salesforce Marketing Cloud will be able to work, fit, or integrate smoothly."
"There could be easier tools to configure the product and to create landing pages to better handle large data sets."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"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."
"I don't know if my company pays for Salesforce Marketing Cloud monthly or yearly. It's a SaaS, so it's a recurring cost, but I have no information on its price."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"The price is expensive."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"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."
"My company pays to use this solution."
"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
Construction Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

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 Business20
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise34
 

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 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 notable challenge. Although the implementation partner highlighted these capabilitie...
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 engagement often begins pre-implementation, where I lead the requirements gathering proc...
 

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: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.