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Magic xpa Application Platform vs Salesforce Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

Magic xpa Application Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (9th), Application Infrastructure (17th)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (8th), Rapid Application Development Software (5th), Low-Code Development Platforms (7th), No-Code Development Platforms (2nd), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Magic xpa Application Platform is 3.1%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 6.3%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Platform6.3%
Magic xpa Application Platform3.1%
Other90.6%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Mylsamy T. - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Associate - IT at Himalaya Wellness Company
Enables us to develop more than 90 applications in-house, which are used across our organization
It's a bit difficult to work with purely web-based applications to get the data and display it. There have been a few times when the connection was disconnected between the server and your browser. The connectivity on browser-built applications needs to be improved. The mobile application development could be easier. They could include different external applications, like finger sensors. I'm not sure whether it's in version 3.8 or not.
Sharmila-K - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Transformations and Infrastructure Delivery Manager at a university with 10,001+ employees
Integration processes improve but scripting requires effort
The updates, pricing part, and upgrades to the products are some of the most valuable features with the Salesforce Platform.With the Salesforce Platform, I have minimal experience of approximately one and a half years. I get minimal exposure, once every three or two months, especially during holidays. The Salesforce Platform is connected to the cloud, which is beneficial. When it is integrated with different tools such as Microsoft BI Analytics, it helps us analyze much better. Currently, the integration itself is tricky as we have to use extensive scripting. It should be more of a plug-in and use solution. That is the only issue I see, but otherwise, I appreciate it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"xpa gives us a fast development speed."
"The speed of development is the quickest for any tool on the market."
"Speed of development and database connectivity (MS SQL, Oracle, DB2, Btrieve/Pervasive PSQL, ODBC, MySql, and SQLite)."
"What I found most valuable in the Magic xpa Application Platform is that it has a client-server and web browser technology that's perfect for company users."
"The ability to use the same development environment for both Windows and Android applications. Magic xpa also supports iOS applications."
"The solution makes the managing and adapting of the software very easy."
"Typically an experienced Magic developer can do the work of two to three experienced C#/.NET developers. Customers are amazed at how quickly most new features can be added and bug fixes implemented. I have worked for four employers - including myself - using Magic, and in most instances, bug fixes are addressed and deployed in under six hours."
"Magic’s Database Gateway allows the logic of the program to be isolated from the underlying database. This provides the flexibility not only to move existing programs to different database environments without the need to change the logic in the program but also allows the programmer access to different databases without the need to know how to "talk" to them."
"We also use Salesforce to find trends to make informed decisions in terms of events and marketing campaigns."
"The updates, pricing part, and upgrades to the products are some of the most valuable features with the Salesforce Platform."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its overall ability to manage everything, including the sales pipeline and quick creation of sales reports."
"The most valuable aspect is that all data is stored in one place, making it easy to find what is needed and to report on it."
"You can put your clients' names in there along with their contacts and the opportunity for sales with them."
"Any issues it may have for example with integration are all minor when you compare it with the performance, scalability, and ease of use."
"The solution scales extremely well."
"The support is very good."
 

Cons

"The configuration of the xpa RIA mobile environment is complex and a discouragement to new developers."
"The company has now released version 4 for web development, but this new release is still pretty hard to use for mobile and web development because it was not improved as much as we expected in the areas of user-friendliness or development-friendliness."
"Magic has a tradition, when it adds new technologies/features to the Magic development tool, to provide either no documentation or documentation that does not provide an organized approach for bringing this new technology/feature to experienced Magic programmers."
"They want to be one toolbox for everything, but primarily, we are using xpa to develop desktop applications, and in that area they're lacking functionalities, flexibility, and modern stuff."
"The configuration of the xpa RIA mobile environment is complex and a discouragement to new developers. Also, Magic's documentation can be less than complete at times which leads to frustration for new developers. (I encourage new Magic developers to join the Magic Users Group)."
"When you have several tasks, you open a screen in a task in developing mode, and you don't see the parent screens. Debugging lacks the effects to solve problems. You have to do it first in a kind of studio. Then you have to be sure that you can do it in Magic because there is almost nothing to debug it. It's practically impossible to debug. You have to be sure before you put your snippets."
"Support is very bad."
"The user interface could be improved to be more friendly for developers."
"The initial setup is rather complex."
"With Salesforce, I do feel that I'm doing a lot of repetitive tasks."
"Salesforce could improve by offering AI features or functionalities to help business decision-makers analyze business history, suggest forward strategies, and participate in events."
"The interface could be more user-friendly and offer more customization."
"The solution offers upgrades at a slower pace. The solution needs to keep up with competitors."
"They should provide access to data quality tips and tricks to make it better."
"Customer Service: A three out of 10. Technical Support: A two out of 10."
"Salesforce Platform could improve by having better integration with Microsoft Azure. For development, we use Microsoft Azure and there was proper integration between the two solutions. We had issues with the customer and they were logged into the Salesforce Platform. We did not have any good way of integrating those issues into the R&D. The R&D mainly uses Microsoft Azure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My clients have to purchase additional licenses in order to use what I built. It's not a fair approach."
"It's not cheap. The licenses are not cheap. Not at all. They cost much money. There are other tools with free licenses but Magic asks for a lot of money."
"The licensing is too costly."
"The main problem with the Magic xpa Application Platform is pricing. You have to pay a lot of money for development, and you also have to pay a lot for the deployments and runtime, while in most competitors, you have to pay a lot for one of the two and not both."
"The licensing cost varies because nowadays Magic has tailor-made offerings for clients. I think the solution is worth the money."
"The cost for developers is high because you have to pay for licenses as well as runtime."
"Magic is not the cheapest IDE out there. If you are considering Magic xpa, you should do a cost-benefit analysis to feel comfortable with your decision. The Magic sales staff is very helpful in providing pricing."
"There are different licenses, we have the application and the online application. There are two different licenses for two different program sites for the Magic xpa Application Platform."
"Salesforce is cheap."
"It is expensive. Licensing is on an annual basis."
"It is expensive."
"It is an expensive program."
"The licensing is on the expensive side, but most clients engage in negotiations to reach a more favorable agreement. For stand-alone or medium-sized clients, it can be relatively costly."
"The licensing is per user per month, which we took out a contract on a long time back. It's really an okay price for what solutions are available and for how many features and what kind of functionality you get."
"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a monthly basis."
"The cost is reasonable for the corporations I work for. I would say an average would be around $100 per month per user."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise44
 

Questions from the Community

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How does Salesforce Platform compare with Azure?
Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations tha...
Do you build applications using low-code or pro-code builders on Salesforce Platform?
At my organization, we have only used Salesforce Platform's low-code builder. The reason for this is not because we do not like the pro-code option, but because we do not see the need of using it, ...
 

Also Known As

uniPaaS
Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ADD, Cape plc, Adecco, Kuno Kinzoku Industry Co., GE Capital, Dove Tree, CBS Outdoor, Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, Allstate Life Insurance Company, Titan Software Systems
ADP
Find out what your peers are saying about Magic xpa Application Platform vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.