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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
58
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

"You can schedule reports, there's a lot of supporting tools, and you have access to all that information."
"The automation is great. It saves us a lot of time and it makes us move faster."
"It is easy to send emails and SMS's."
"Its ability to integrate data and provide a comprehensive view of customer engagement sets it apart."
"In Salesforce Marketing Cloud, the ability to send emails effectively is very valuable."
"I like the user interface it has a nice look and feel."
"Offers many great features and is intuitive."
"It has excellent lead and opportunity tracking."
"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."
"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."
"The most valuable features of Sugar Enterprise are the exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks."
"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."
"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is its low cost."
 

Cons

"The technicality of the solution can be streamlined."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive. The email functionality should be more modern and user-friendly."
"They can perhaps simplify the dashboards. In my opinion as an end-user, reports could also be simplified, but it also depends on how your company is set up. It depends on how the processes are set up within your company natively. It is linked to the way you do business. So, it varies."
"The solution can be difficult to set up for non-technical individuals."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud should include more point-and-click functionality."
"It should contain artificial intelligence, in my opinion."
"The cost is always a concern for anyone using a SaaS product."
"The quality of support for this solution has been decreasing over time and the support team are sometimes more focused on closing tickets that resolving issues. Often the support team is not well trained or aware of the new features or products released by Salesforce."
"You cannot include all your entities under one instance at the moment."
"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."
"In the next release, I would like to see personalization of information about customers or specific businesses or opportunities."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's normal pricing."
"The price is expensive."
"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"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."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"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."
"The licensing cost for the solution is on a yearly basis."
"My company pays to use this solution."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
55%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
25%
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
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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.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.