# Salesforce

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is the CRM leader behind Sales Cloud, rated 4.4/5 on G2 (25,832 reviews) and 4.4/5 on Capterra. Profile: revenue, pricing, news.

**Category:** CRM / sales force automation (Sales Cloud)  
**Vendor:** Salesforce, Inc.  
**Founded:** 1999  
**HQ:** San Francisco, California, US (Salesforce Tower)  
**Website:** https://www.salesforce.com/sales/  


## About

Salesforce is the company behind Sales Cloud, the CRM product that built the modern software-as-a-service market. It was founded in 1999 in San Francisco by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff with Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez, and went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRM in June 2004. The platform now spans Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Data Cloud, Tableau, MuleSoft, and Slack, with the Agentforce AI layer added across products in 2025. Salesforce reported $41.5 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue (year ended January 31, 2026), up 10% year over year, and Marc Benioff remains Chair and CEO. Sales Cloud, the original product, is its sales force automation suite for lead, opportunity, pipeline, and forecast management.

## Ratings

| Source | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.4/5 | 25,832 |
| Capterra | 4.4/5 | 18,785 |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 4.4/5 | 2,472 |
| TrustRadius | 8.8/10 | 3,463 |

## Funding

Public company (NYSE: CRM); $41.5B FY26 revenue, ~$124B market cap

| Round | Amount | Date | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPO | ~$110M raised on NYSE at $11/share | June 23, 2004 | Public offering under ticker CRM |
| FY2025 revenue | $37.9B (year ended Jan 31, 2025) | Feb 2025 | 9% year-over-year growth |
| FY2026 revenue | $41.5B (year ended Jan 31, 2026) | Feb 2026 | 10% year-over-year growth |

## Viability

Very low risk. Salesforce is a profitable, publicly traded mega-cap on the NYSE (ticker CRM) with $41.5 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue, up 10% year over year, and a market capitalization of roughly $124 billion as of June 2026. It posted a 20.1% GAAP operating margin for FY26, $15.0 billion in operating cash flow, and $7.5 billion in GAAP net income for FY26 (year ended January 31, 2026), and it carries $72.4 billion in remaining performance obligation (contracted future revenue). Co-founder Marc Benioff is still Chair and CEO, the company is the long-standing CRM market-share leader, and it owns Slack, Tableau, MuleSoft, and (as of late 2025) Informatica. The realistic watch-item is not solvency but total cost of ownership: real year-one spend on a Salesforce deployment routinely runs several times the per-seat sticker once you add admins, an implementation partner, and add-ons, which is the most consistent theme in reviews.

## Pricing

Sales Cloud's $25 Starter Suite looks competitive, but it is deliberately thin, and most teams move to Pro Suite ($100/user/mo) within months once they need forecasting, custom reports, and automation. Enterprise ($175) unlocks advanced pipeline management, deal insights, and conversation intelligence; Unlimited ($350) and Agentforce 1 Sales ($550) add predictive AI, sandboxes, and the agent layer. Einstein AI and many features are add-ons, and the real first-year bill is usually several times the per-seat list price once you add a dedicated admin, an implementation partner, and AppExchange tooling. On compliance, note that Sales Cloud is not HIPAA-eligible out of the box: a Business Associate Agreement is available only on Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance editions and must be signed explicitly, so Starter and Pro Suite cannot legally hold protected health information. Re-check the live pricing and BAA terms before you budget.

| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Suite | $25/user/mo | Small teams needing basic lead, account, contact, and opportunity management |
| Pro Suite | $100/user/mo | Growing teams needing forecasting, customizable reports, quoting, and more automation |
| Enterprise | $175/user/mo | Larger orgs needing advanced pipeline management, deal insights, conversation intelligence, and HIPAA BAA eligibility |
| Unlimited | $350/user/mo | Teams wanting predictive AI, sales engagement, premier success, and full sandbox |
| Agentforce 1 Sales | $550/user/mo | AI-native orgs wanting the agent layer, Data Cloud, revenue intelligence, and Slack collaboration |

## What reviewers say

_25,832 G2 reviews at 4.4/5, 18,785 Capterra reviews at 4.4/5 (90% positive sentiment), plus 2,472 Gartner Peer Insights ratings at 4.4/5 and a TrustRadius 8.8/10_

**Praised:**
- Customization and flexibility are the most-cited strength: reviewers say Sales Cloud can model almost any sales process, with custom objects, fields, and workflows on every paid tier
- Sales and activity tracking is a repeated highlight: reviewers describe centralized oversight of leads, opportunities, pipeline, and forecasting in one view
- The ecosystem and reporting depth are repeatedly praised: the AppExchange marketplace, Tableau and Einstein analytics, and enterprise-grade reporting that smaller CRMs do not match

**Complaints:**
- High and escalating pricing is the dominant complaint (63% of negative Capterra reviews on that theme); features, support, and scaling add cost, and many small teams call it over-priced
- Steep learning curve and admin overhead: reviewers say it is powerful but complex, hard for new users, and effectively needs a dedicated admin to configure and maintain
- Mixed support and occasional bugs: some reviewers report slow replies, being routed to long help articles, and performance issues, alongside upsell pressure

## Compliance

- **SOC 2:** Yes (SOC 2)
- **GDPR:** Yes
- **HIPAA:** Limited: a BAA is available only on Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance editions; Starter and Pro Suite are not HIPAA-eligible and an explicit written BAA is required
- **SSO:** Yes (SSO / SAML; granular access controls)

## Integrations

- Gmail
- Outlook
- Slack
- Google Workspace
- Mailchimp
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Tableau
- MuleSoft
- WordPress

## FAQs

### Is Salesforce a public company?

Yes. Salesforce, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRM, having gone public in June 2004 at $11 per share. It reported $41.5 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026 (year ended January 31, 2026), up 10% year over year, with a 20.1% GAAP operating margin and a market capitalization of roughly $124 billion as of June 2026.

### How much does Salesforce Sales Cloud cost?

Sales Cloud starts at $25/user/mo for Starter Suite. Pro Suite is $100/user/mo, Enterprise is $175, Unlimited is $350, and the top Agentforce 1 Sales tier is $550/user/mo. There is no free tier, only a 30-day trial. Einstein AI and many capabilities are add-ons, so model the real first-year cost including an admin, implementation partner, and tooling rather than the seat sticker.

### Does Salesforce Sales Cloud have a free version?

No. Sales Cloud does not have a permanent free tier. Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial, after which the lowest paid plan is Starter Suite at $25/user/mo.

### Is Salesforce HIPAA compliant?

Only conditionally. Sales Cloud is not HIPAA-eligible out of the box. Salesforce signs a Business Associate Agreement only on Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance editions, and the BAA must be requested and signed explicitly. Starter Suite and Pro Suite cannot hold protected health information, and a BAA for one product does not automatically cover others like Marketing Cloud or Tableau. Salesforce maintains SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR support across the platform; check the Salesforce compliance site for current scope before a regulated deployment.

### Who is Salesforce Sales Cloud best for?

Sales Cloud fits organizations that need deep customization, enterprise reporting, and a large integration ecosystem, and that have the budget and admin capacity to run it. Reviewers consistently say it is powerful when properly configured and over-built for small teams that just want a simple pipeline. Smaller or budget-sensitive teams often weigh it against HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho CRM, which are cheaper and faster to onboard.


## Sources

- [G2: Agentforce Sales (formerly Salesforce Sales Cloud)](https://www.g2.com/products/agentforce-sales-formerly-salesforce-sales-cloud/reviews): rating 4.4/5 and review count 25,832, read live
- [Capterra: Salesforce Sales Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/61368/Salesforce/): rating 4.4/5, 18,785 reviews, sub-scores (4.0/4.1/4.4/4.0), 90% positive sentiment, demographics, deployment, support, training, pricing tiers, read live
- [Gartner Peer Insights: Salesforce Sales Cloud](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/product/salesforce-sales-cloud): rating 4.4/5 across 2,472 ratings, Customers' Choice 2026, read live
- [TrustRadius: Agentforce Sales (formerly Salesforce Sales Cloud)](https://www.trustradius.com/products/salesforce-agentforce-sales/reviews): score 8.8/10 across 3,463 reviews, read live
- [Salesforce IR: Record Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260225325122/en/Salesforce-Delivers-Record-Fourth-Quarter-Fiscal-2026-Results): FY26 revenue $41.5B up 10%, GAAP operating margin 20.1%, $15.0B operating cash flow, $72.4B RPO, Benioff Chair & CEO, Robin Washington President & CFO/COO
- [Salesforce sales pricing page](https://www.salesforce.com/sales/pricing/): Sales Cloud tiers: Starter $25, Pro $100, Enterprise $175, Unlimited $350, Agentforce Sales $550 per user/month, read live
- [StockAnalysis: Salesforce (CRM)](https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/crm/): market cap ~$124.3B, net income TTM ~$8.0B, 83,334 employees (June 18, 2026)
- [Wikipedia: Salesforce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce): founding 1999, founders, HQ, IPO 2004 (NYSE: CRM), leadership, subsidiaries (Slack, Tableau, MuleSoft, Informatica)
- [Salesforce: SEC FY2025 Q4 results (8-K)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001108524/000110852425000002/crm-q4fy25xexhibit991.htm): FY2025 revenue $37.9B up 9%
- [Salesforce compliance site](https://compliance.salesforce.com/en/categories): SOC 2, ISO 27001/27017/27018, GDPR coverage
- [Salesforce Help: HIPAA BAA & Salesforce Compliance](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000394847&language=en_US&type=1): BAA available on Enterprise/Unlimited/Performance editions; Sales Cloud not HIPAA-eligible by default
- [Salesforce: Parker Harris bio](https://www.salesforce.com/company/parker-harris-bio/): co-founder; now Chief Engineering Officer of Slack
- [LinkedIn: Salesforce company page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salesforce/): industry (Software Development), HQ, specialties, employee band