Marketo vs Pardot comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Marketo
Ranking in Marketing Automation
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Marketing Management (5th)
Pardot
Ranking in Marketing Automation
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Marketing Automation category, the market share of Marketo is 15.3% and it decreased by 3.6% compared to the previous year. The market share of Pardot is 2.4% and it decreased by 35.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
Unique Categories:
Marketing Management
9.1%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

MrinalSharma - PeerSpot reviewer
May 15, 2024
User-friendly, good fit for mid-scale businesses, gives you smart campaigns, and it also has an engagement map
Marketo is user-friendly. It gives you smart campaigns, and it also has an engagement map now. It's easy to see which campaign is calling which campaign. It was kind of difficult before, but now it's easy, just like HubSpot or Pardot, where you can have a chain-like structure connecting one to another. The engagement map provides that now. In terms of email, it's pretty good at handling customization and templates. We can put in different variables, so even someone without coding knowledge can create and develop emails that look good on different browsers. They are fully responsive emails. So if they are not touching anything on the template, it's pretty good and handy. In terms of that, Pardot or HubSpot don't provide that functionality. The engagement map was an area that needed improvement. Earlier, if you were creating multiple programs, it was difficult to see how they connected to different campaigns. The engagement map helps visualize that, so that's a good improvement. They have also introduced dynamic chat. Earlier, we had to use third-party tools. They have been creating and introducing new sub-apps that are easy to integrate with Marketo. So they are doing that. For example, using Bizible, we can also track the source. It's pretty handy in Marketo.
Joy Xu - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 20, 2023
The solution is stable and can be easily integrated with Salesforce, but it is not scalable, and the initial deployment is not easy
I use the product to build a landing page to send emails The solution can be easily integrated with Salesforce. I do not like the solution. The product must enable users to make a smart list and embed it into each program instead of building it independently. The tool should provide tag fields…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One feature I like is the user interface. Compared to other tools I've used, it's much more friendly and easy to navigate. Additionally, it offers a wide range of features, which makes tasks like segmenting data much simpler."
"The product has been stable."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Smart Campaigns."
"The most valuable feature is the scoring."
"It is a very user-friendly solution. I'm mainly working on Design Studio, which is useful for companies in tracking repeat users. The progressive proofing is also useful. It is not available in other solutions."
"I like that Marketo is user-friendly and has an easy view. It's like a one-stop solution for everyone. It is very good, and you can categorize leads in different ways. You can also create your custom objects and enjoy good connectivity."
"The smart campaign looks quite interesting and useful."
"The main highlights of Marketo are its support structure, the documentation available, and the features mainly related to forms, landing pages, and leads. Although other platforms like Oracle Eloqua have similar features, Marketo's support structure, lead generation, and segmentation features are easier than those of different platforms."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"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."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"For me, the best thing is the Custom Redirect. That's one key thing I like because using that particular Custom Redirect, I can track a link wherever I'm sharing it. I can track how and when people are accessing it."
"The product is stable."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
 

Cons

"There is a bit of room for improvement in the level-one support team. It relies too much on documentation."
"Adobe, the parent company, needs to improve on getting more information published to allow users to educate themselves on how to use the solution."
"I had an issue while integrating JavaScript with forms. When you embed JavaScript, you can either embed it in a landing page or some other self-contained management system like WordPress. Currently, it provides you access to CSS, where you can customize your form design, but there is no option for JavaScript modification for a particular form. This area needs to be improved where you can integrate JavaScript, and it has the JavaScript functions for that particular form. There are a lot of other areas of improvement. In the design area, they can give us more testing options instead of relying on email testing alone. It would be great if they can provide responsive testing where email clients can be tested within Marketo. It would be also helpful if they can implement some in-built options for users or forms for blocking a generic email ID such as Yahoo or Gmail. Similarly, it would be helpful to have JavaScript features and forms as well as the option to add Google analytics and a header and footer for the landing pages."
"One limitation is the user limit. For bigger organizations with large audience sizes exceeding, let's say, 500k, the solution may not be as efficient as larger enterprise platforms like Salesforce or Oracle Eloqua. However, Marketo is one of the best platforms for mid-scale and small-scale organisations."
"Revenue management, attribution, and ABM can all be improved."
"Marketo's reporting and dashboarding features could be better. Compared to other tools, the visualization options with charts and graphs seem somewhat limited."
"I have encountered issues when I had to use filters repeatedly. It would have been helpful if I could duplicate them directly, instead of dragging them. Also, having an option to save filters for future use would have saved a lot of time, especially when dealing with multiple filters."
"Marketo should give more power to the users for data manipulation."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"Needs to improve list building."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"The solution lacks integration with Instagram, which is our top problem with the product."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive. We have a yearly license."
"Marketo is too expensive for a small-sized company but more affordable for a larger-sized company."
"The pricing is not cheap, but it's not that expensive either."
"I'm not sure about the cost because I don't get into this aspect. Clients normally take care of that. I only know that it is costly, and I don't think there are any additional costs to the licensing."
"The solution is expensive compared to others."
"Marketo is used a lot because it's cheaper and preferred by many firms."
"The initial pricing was excellent, but the pricing for renewals is not as good."
"Marketo's pricing depends on the number of contacts and the level of features you need. Compared to other platforms like Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo is generally more affordable. Like other platforms, it offers different packages based on your needs."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"We pay about $4000 a month."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Educational Organization
64%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Marketo?
One of the most important things about Marketo is its focus on GDPR compliance. It helps you follow GDPR and CAN-SPAM rules. For example, with Marketo, I won't accidentally target audiences without...
What needs improvement with Marketo?
Marketo's reporting and dashboarding features could be better. Compared to other tools, the visualization options with charts and graphs seem somewhat limited.
What is your primary use case for Marketo?
I basically use it for email marketing. I track the performance of campaigns and get customer feedback. It's for sending regular lead nurturing emails as well as promotional emails. We also integra...
What do you like most about Pardot?
I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pardot?
It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides. Pardot can easily integrated with Salesforce since the data syncs in a fairly easy manner without any issues. Most of the compani...
What needs improvement with Pardot?
Pardot needs many improvements in terms of email design and design studio functionalities. It lacks a robust design studio, limiting our ability to perform various design activities efficiently. Yo...
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marketo has a customer base of thousands of companies, including Sony, Citrix, BrightTALK, Curves International, HootSuite, Hyundai, SanDisk, and Samsung Electronics.
Arketi Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Marketo vs. Pardot and other solutions. Updated: June 2024.
787,061 professionals have used our research since 2012.