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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 (16th)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (9th), Rapid Application Development Software (6th), Low-Code Development Platforms (6th), No-Code Development Platforms (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Magic xpa Application Platform is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 5.9%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Platform5.9%
Magic xpa Application Platform3.1%
Other91.0%
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

"Without the need to compile code, the time spent in the development cycle is greatly reduced, allowing the programmer to test modifications to a program immediately after they have been saved."
"The speed of development is the quickest for any tool on the market."
"My employees can develop and deploy something in a matter of hours."
"Speed of development and database connectivity (MS SQL, Oracle, DB2, Btrieve/Pervasive PSQL, ODBC, MySql, and SQLite)."
"Magic is rapid, it's a tool which we use to develop, change and maintain our programs, and xpa has a lot more features onboard and it gives us the opportunity to do such things so that we can easily adapt and maintain our programs, giving us certain benefits to stay with our customers and the market."
"The ability to use the same development environment for both Windows and Android applications. Magic xpa also supports iOS applications."
"Typically an experienced Magic developer can do the work of two to three experienced C#/.NET developers."
"The solution makes the managing and adapting of the software very easy."
"The most valuable features of Salesforce Platform are its analytics capabilities."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its overall ability to manage everything, including the sales pipeline and quick creation of sales reports."
"It works beautifully. I haven't had any errors."
"The scalability of the Salesforce Platform is good."
"he solution has improved over the years and the inputting of opportunity information is done a lot better and the GUI is good. The ability to customize dashboards and other elements was useful, we were able to move things around, for example, the forecasts. Most of the cells and input places were set, but we can customize the view and what we were looking at, such as on a daily, or weekly basis."
"Intuitive to work with and the overall fundamental of the platform is very strong."
"The biggest benefit is seamless usage in terms of an easy-to-use interface and GUI that makes it easy to interact with the entire platform and generate reports effortlessly."
"I like the reports and the dashboards. Since I'm a managing partner, I use the reports and dashboards to understand my team's contact management, opportunity management, and account management activities. We use Pardot for marketing campaigns."
 

Cons

"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."
"It is missing basic charting tools for bar/pie/series charts. It is left to the developer to acquire and deploy charting tools or the customer to purchase a third-party reporting tool to produce charts."
"Debugging .NET snippets is not possible, so it lacks the effects to solve problems. First you have to write and test your .NET code in VS, then you have to copy the .NET code in Magic xpa because there is almost nothing to debug it."
"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)."
"There is room for improvement in Magic's marketing and licensing. I would like to see more integration of web functionality."
"Support is very bad."
"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."
"The Android environment is missing a number of functions for file/folder manipulation, sending receiving text messages (SMS) and the menuing options are limited. For now, it is left to the developer to write his/her own Java functions to include in the APK."
"UI needs to be more intuitive and user friendly."
"Although the platform is already set up for you, there's a lot of customization that needs to be done, especially for any new component we start using."
"Areas of improvement can be around Engagement of Customers feature and approvals of transactional records."
"The pricing of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement since, right now, I am not sure if Salesforce Platform has any plans for start-ups or small businesses."
"Sometimes what will happen is we work on it and then we move to a different tab and work on something else. After five minutes, when we come back, it automatically signs out."
"The cost of data storage is an issue once the company grows."
"When it switched to lightning, it threw me for a loop. When they changed the look and feel, I had a hard time finding things and doing what I used to do."
"The cost of data storage is an issue once the company grows."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 is too costly."
"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."
"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."
"My clients have to purchase additional licenses in order to use what I built. It's not a fair approach."
"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."
"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."
"I rate this solution a six out of ten for pricing. Though the solution is on the pricier side, it still offers good value for money."
"The cost is reasonable for the corporations I work for. I would say an average would be around $100 per month per user."
"Salesforce charges double the rates, or almost three times, compared to its competitors. Our company does incur additional charges for maintenance and support."
"It is expensive. Licensing is on an annual basis."
"rice-wise, the solution is reasonable for what we're getting."
"Costly, but it is the top product in SaaS/PaaS. Pricing is more for large to enterprise level companies."
"Salesforce is cheap."
"It is a fair price for what it's offering, in comparison with other solutions that are available on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

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 Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

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Do you build applications using low-code or pro-code builders on Salesforce Platform?
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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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Magic xpa Application Platform vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.