Going to implement marketing automation and considering SalesForce? We advice to view similar platforms to make a decision.

When clients choose marketing automation software, in most cases they are looking for functionality for email builder, marketing lead database, landing page builder, lead scoring, segmentation etc.

Comparing SalesForce with competitors people pay attention to the automation builder, customer data platform, chatbots, conversations, survey builder, segmentation, number of triggers and actions and so on.

We’ve compiled a list of top 10 competitors that are very resembling in cost and features to SalesForce. The list is based on popularity, so if SalesForce doesn’t suit you in any way, here you can easily select the best variant for you.

E2 Shop System

Try for Free

We help shops and manufacturers of all kinds and sizes work smarter for improved efficiencies, greater flexibility and bigger profits.

EngageBay

Try for Free

With a limit of 1,000 contacts and 1,000 emails/month, Enagebay CRM suggests its users the cheapest paid plans of the 3 providers. The basic plan will cost you $12 a month per user, and it includes 10,000 contacts and the same amount of emails.

Practifi

Try for Free

Practifi is the business management platform powering growing financial advice firms around the world. We’re more than your average CRM. Unlock new insights, manage your pipeline, automate operations, monitor compliance and build deep client relationships, effortlessly.

SalesCRM

Try for Free

SalesCRM is the best CRM for Startups. SalesCRM is a sales CRM software specifically designed for meeting the needs of small businesses. This CRM software is a highly recommended CRM for startups, growing agencies, and is ideally suited for generating detailed reports and allowing better project supervision and management.

Roboeyelabs

Try for Free

Roboeyelabs is crm platform that helps grwing businesses in meaningful way with connecting their all customer and records in singe platform and manage them. It is used to automate you daily work routines and save your work and effort.

Capsule CRM

Try for Free

Capsule CRM is an online Customer Relationship CRM that is very simple to use. Capsule CRM is the ideal choice for small and medium-sized businesses. Capsule CRM helps you develop strong customer relationships, make more sales, and get a clear picture of your business so that you can make more informed decisions.

Telagus

Try for Free

Telagus is a business and marketing automation software developed by Telsa Media. You can manage all of your customer data, campaigns, projects and much more. Telagus includes many features and tools which can enhance your business and help you gain more leads. From email marketing and campaigns to form builders and live chats, Telagus can help organise your activity to help reach your business goals.

LeadMaster

Try for Free

Our CRM our philosophy is based upon taking complex applications than making them easy and affordable.  LeadMaster offers CRM solutions with personal guidance to help you get set up quickly and successfully. LeadMaster will be tailored according to your business' unique needs. The monthly subscription covers installation, upgrades, maintenance, and software licensing. There are 3 versions of the software: Lead-Xpress, CRM-Xpress and Professional, starting from $10/user per month.

Insightly CRM

Try for Free

InsightlyCRM started as a google app. Now InsightlyCRM is a standalone App. Insightly CRM for Small business harnesses the power of Google and Gmail Apps and brings projects and people together in one easy-to-use dashboard. Keep your projects moving and your leads high with a single point of focus to track your clients, projects and pursue an opportunity.

Malinko CRM

Try for Free

With Malinko CRM software it is possible to organize today’s plan for tomorrow. The CRM is customer-centric and allows you to hold your customer database, like data, dropdowns, notes, etc. The tool is ideal for powerful reporting, maintaining custom reports, employee reports, and contact-based reports.

Streak

Try for Free

Streak CRM has gathered more than 750K+ happy customers. Small businesses use this platform primarily for their hiring purposes. In 2018 Steak platform was recognized by Google as their Top Technology partner of the year.

How to choose SalesForce substitute

Many marketing automation platforms are resembling each other. Software with the same features can differ in cost by 2 times. The first feature you should look at is the availability of node interface. This is a basic feature of marketing automation apps and if it doesn’t include this feature, most likely this software isn’t ready yet. All node interfaces look almost identical. It's important not to pay attention to the UI, but look at the features.

In a month, you'll get used to the UI, but the missing features will always annoy you. Changing marketing automation software is very time-consuming. If you have the usual email chains set up, it's not that hard to change platform. But if you've already set up integrations, workflow, and have complex funnels, it can take years to replace the tool. That's why you should be attentive to study SalesForce competitors.

What to pay attention to when investigating the flow builder? It has 4 important features categories.

1. Triggers. For example, "Form submit" is a trigger that starts a funnel. The most often used triggers are: opening an email, clicking a link in an email, reaching a goal, adding or removing a tag, closing a deal, visiting a page, etc. In each system for marketing automation this set may differ. The more, the better.
2. Action. For instance, "Send email". This is the most standard action you can have. The most popular actions are: add or remove a tag, send a text message, send a messenger message, set a salesperson task, update a transaction, notify someone by email, move a transaction to another stage, etc.
3. Delay. For example, "Wait 3 days. Subscriber submit the form on the website and get in the marketing automation app (Trigger), the system sends a Welcome email (Action). After that the tool waits 2 hours (delay) and sends a second email. This is the most simple automation. But there are other variants. For example, "Wait until something happens". Or wait until January 20th, or wait until 10 PM in the subscriber’s time zone.
4. If/else. For example, "If a lead, has the tag "Purchased product #1", send the email, if the subscriber doesn't have the tag "Purchased product #1", wait 4 days and send the email. The most often used if/else parameters are: visited the site page, bought certain items, opened certain emails, user field the user card matches some requirements. This is information according to which you can segment the subscriber base.

Analyzing the automation builder, you should look carefully at all four categories of features. The more, the better. Usually it appears that powerful marketing automation software with the greatest number of features look uncomfortable. New platforms look nice, but they have few features. You look into the tool you want to use very deeply. Otherwise, it will be very hard to change it in the future.

After you've analyzed the automation builder, you need to whether there are integrations with the platforms you need. Fortunately, Apiway can help you. In most cases, apps like SalesForce are the core of business IT infrastructure. It's like a digital hub for all your customer. This type of app is like an tree, which is putting its tentacles into other software. Software like SalesForce has to integrate with most other ones. Or you’ll have to spend a lot of money and time making custom integrations.

Also those who are looking for alternatives to SalesForce use tools from other categories like chatbot software, helpdesk software, CRM system, lead management software