Salesforce publishes its prices, which surprises people who expect a "contact sales" wall. The catch is the shape of the ladder: a free plan for two people, a cheap Starter Suite, and then a fourfold jump to Pro Suite, with every step after that billed annually on a contract. AI, extra sandboxes and premium support are sold on top.
The prices below are Salesforce's US dollar list prices, taken from its own pricing pages with the currency selector set to USD at the time of our last update. Salesforce notes that the pages are for information only and that a sales representative has the detailed pricing, so the quote is the final word.
Salesforce pricing at a glance
| Edition | Price per user per month | Billing | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Suite | $0, up to 2 users | No charge | Two founders replacing a spreadsheet |
| Starter Suite | $25 | Monthly or annually | Small teams that want sales, service and email marketing in one app |
| Pro Suite | $100 | Annually, contract required | Growing teams that need quotes, forecasting and custom objects |
| Sales Cloud Core | $195 | Annually | Sales teams that need territories, approvals and full APIs |
| Sales Cloud Advanced | $395 | Annually | Larger teams that need more security, storage and AI |
| Sales Cloud Max | $550 | Annually | Companies buying the full AI and sales planning stack |
Free Suite, Starter Suite and Pro Suite are Salesforce's "suites" for small businesses: each one bundles sales, service, marketing and commerce tools in one app. Core, Advanced and Max are the Sales Cloud editions proper, which Salesforce presents as the upgrade path "to scale with Sales Cloud". Salesforce's own FAQ lists Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Core, Advanced and Max as the Sales Cloud plans.
Free Suite: what you get for nothing
Salesforce describes Free Suite as a no-cost CRM for up to two users. It is not a trial: it has no expiration date, as long as someone logs in at least once every 60 days. It includes:
- Account, contact, lead and opportunity management, plus case management.
- Customizable reports and dashboards.
- Custom landing pages for lead capture and up to 100 marketing emails a month from ready-made templates.
- Built-in AI that summarizes records and drafts emails.
- 10 GB of data storage for the whole org.
The two-user limit is the whole story. Once a third person needs to log in, you move to a paid suite. Our CRM for startups guide compares Free Suite with HubSpot's and Zoho's free plans, and our free CRM comparison covers the free plans in more depth.
Starter Suite: the cheap step up
Starter Suite costs $25 per user per month, billed monthly or annually, and Salesforce says there is no user maximum. Over Free Suite it adds:
- Built-in sales flows, lead assignment and routing, and AI that syncs emails, events and contacts.
- Email campaigns with segmentation, a drag-and-drop builder and campaign analytics. Starter includes 2,000 marketing emails a month; the Marketing Email Sends Bundle adds 1,000 more for $10 a month.
- The Salesforce mobile app.
- A storefront, payment links and checkout. These carry transaction fees; Salesforce's example rate for US credit card payments is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
- A free Slack workspace connected to the CRM.
A five-person team on Starter Suite pays $125 a month, or $1,500 for the year.
Pro Suite: where the bill jumps
Pro Suite costs $100 per user per month, billed annually, with a contract: four times Starter's price for the same seat. What it adds, according to Salesforce's comparison tables:
- Quotes, contracts and orders, and sales forecasting.
- Custom apps and custom objects, the Lightning App Builder and access to AppExchange apps.
- Process automation with Flow Builder (Salesforce's Sales Cloud table lists 5 flows per org on Pro Suite).
- A developer sandbox for testing and training.
- Service extras: macros, omni-channel routing and in-app and web messaging.
Two costs hide in the Pro Suite column. API access is not included: the Web Services API is an add-on at $25 per user per month, which takes the real price to $125 a user if you connect other software through the API. And Premier support is "available for purchase" rather than included.
For five users, Pro Suite is $6,000 a year, or $7,500 with the API add-on.
The Sales Cloud editions: Core, Advanced and Max
Core, at $195 per user per month billed annually, is where Salesforce bundles the tools larger sales teams expect. Salesforce describes it as everything in Pro Suite plus advanced pipeline management and forecasting, opportunity scoring, conversation intelligence and APIs. Its comparison table adds sales territories, opportunity splits, approval processes, Flow Builder, a partial sandbox, Slack Business+, Tableau Next, the Premier Success Plan and 500,000 Flex Credits per org per year for AI actions. Storage is 10 GB per org plus 20 MB per user.
Advanced, at $395, adds enhanced security (Backup & Recover, Archive, Data Detect and Security Center), a full sandbox, lead scoring, predictive forecasting, Sales Programs, 1 GB of data storage per user and 1 million Flex Credits a year.
Max, at $550, includes Agentforce for Sales, Salesforce Spiff, Sales Planning, Salesforce Maps, Slack Enterprise+ and 2.75 million Flex Credits a year. Salesforce asks you to contact sales for Max.
Most small businesses never need these editions. If you do, it is usually because you have territories, approval chains or a full-time Salesforce administrator.
What a team of 3, 5 or 10 pays in year one
| Team | Starter Suite | Pro Suite | Pro Suite + API | Sales Cloud Core | Sales Cloud Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 users | $900 | $3,600 | $4,500 | $7,020 | $14,220 |
| 5 users | $1,500 | $6,000 | $7,500 | $11,700 | $23,700 |
| 10 users | $3,000 | $12,000 | $15,000 | $23,400 | $47,400 |
Each figure is users × monthly list price × 12. Pro Suite + API adds the $25 Web Services API add-on to the $100 Pro Suite price ($125 a user). Taxes, other add-ons and any partner fees are not included.
Salesforce first-year cost by team size
- 3 users
- 5 users
- 10 users
Show the numbers
| 3 users | 5 users | 10 users | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Suite | $900 | $1,500 | $3,000 |
| Pro Suite | $3,600 | $6,000 | $12,000 |
| Sales Cloud Core | $7,020 | $11,700 | $23,400 |
Add-ons and hidden costs
Salesforce prices some extras on its pages and leaves others to a quote:
- Agentforce AI. The Agentforce for Sales add-on starts at $125 per user per month and can be added to Core and Advanced; Max includes it. For a five-person team on Core, that turns $11,700 a year into $19,200 (5 × $320 × 12). Salesforce also sells usage-based Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 credits; a standard Agentforce action uses 20 credits, which works out to 10 cents an action. Salesforce Foundations, the free add-on through which Core gets Agentforce, is listed at $0 and includes a limited number of credits.
- API access on Pro Suite: $25 per user per month, as above. Core and above include it.
- Other Sales Cloud add-ons: Sales Programs from $100, Revenue Cloud from $200 and Revenue Intelligence from $220 per user per month; Partner Relationship Management from $10 per login per month.
- Marketing automation. Starter's extra email sends cost $10 per 1,000 a month. Salesforce's B2B tool, Account Engagement Growth, starts at $1,250 a month for up to 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
- Support. The Standard Success Plan (documentation, Trailhead and the community) is included in every license. Premier Success is included with Core, Advanced and Max and available for purchase on Pro Suite; Salesforce does not publish its price. Signature Success is through your account executive.
- Sandboxes. Pro Suite includes a developer sandbox; Core includes one partial sandbox; Advanced and Max include a full sandbox. A Developer Pro sandbox (Pro Suite and Core) and a full sandbox on Core are available for purchase at prices Salesforce doesn't list.
- Storage. Free, Starter and Pro Suite get 10 GB of data storage per org. Salesforce doesn't list the price of extra storage, so check your record count before you import years of history.
- Implementation. Salesforce lists no setup fee and says Starter Suite needs no implementation fees. It does not publish prices for its Professional Services or for certified partners, and on Pro Suite and above that outside help is where a first-year budget often goes. Get it quoted in writing.
Billing terms and the annual contract
Starter Suite is the only paid suite you can pay month to month, and the price is $25 a user either way. Pro Suite is billed annually and Salesforce's small business page says a contract is required; Core, Advanced and Max are billed annually too. Salesforce's FAQ says most of its products use annual contracts, but that terms vary, so ask about the length, the renewal price and whether you can reduce seats at renewal before you sign.
Free trial
Salesforce says it offers a 30-day free trial of all Sales Cloud editions, with no credit card and nothing to install; its pricing page shows a trial button for every edition except Max, which says "Contact us". There is also a 30-day trial of Starter Suite for up to 10 users. Free Suite is separate: it is a permanent free plan for two users, not a trial.
Startup and nonprofit programs
Salesforce Launchpad is the startup program. It is free to join and open to venture-backed startups, which Salesforce verifies with proof of funding within five business days. Salesforce says members get free and discounted products, including special offers on Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Sales Cloud Core, Agentforce, Tableau and Slack, plus implementation support. It does not publish the size of the discounts or how long they last, so treat any figure you see elsewhere as unconfirmed. Our CRM for startups guide compares Launchpad with HubSpot for Startups and the free plans.
Power of Us is the nonprofit program. Eligible nonprofits get 10 Nonprofit Cloud Core licenses at no cost, and Salesforce discounts additional licenses. Nonprofit Cloud's list prices start at $70 per user per month for Sales & Service Core and $125 for Advanced, billed annually. Our CRM for nonprofits guide covers what those free licenses still cost to set up.
Insurance agencies and other financial firms are sold a separate product, Financial Services Cloud, which starts at $325 per user per month billed annually for Sales Core; we compare it with agency CRMs in our CRM for insurance agents guide.
Salesforce vs HubSpot on price
At the entry level the two are close: HubSpot's Sales Hub Starter lists at $20 a seat a month against $25 for Salesforce Starter Suite, and HubSpot shows a promotional price from $7 a seat for new customers only. One step up, HubSpot Sales Hub Professional starts at $90 a seat plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee, so five seats cost $6,900 in the first year against $6,000 for Salesforce Pro Suite, or $7,500 once Salesforce's API add-on is included. Full details are in our HubSpot CRM pricing guide.
Is Salesforce worth it for a small business?
Start on Free Suite if you are two people; it costs nothing and has no time limit. Starter Suite at $25 a user is fairly priced for a small team that wants sales, service and email in one place, and you can pay it monthly. Think hard before Pro Suite: it quadruples the per-user price, locks you into an annual contract, and still charges extra for API access.
If Pro Suite is out of reach, our best CRM for small business roundup sets Starter Suite against the other entry plans for 5 and 10 users, and our Salesforce alternatives guide compares HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Bigin, Pipedrive and monday CRM on price, and Zoho CRM's editions start at $14 a user billed annually.