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Pardot vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 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

Pardot
Ranking in Marketing Automation
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Marketing Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Pardot is 3.8%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 22.8%, down from 25.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Vikram Rawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers an easy initial setup phase and good ROI
With Pardot, users can do the segmentation based on their requirements. You can segment your prospects based on their interests, locations, companies, or the sales cycle. You can also use the engagement studio to create a journey for the people you have segmented with the help of automation feature of the tool. The aforementioned area consists of the most useful features I found in the tool apart from its out-of-the-box features. The integration between Pardot and Salesforce is beneficial if you know how to share the leads that a company finds useful so that they don't have to invest in manual work or do anything blindly to reach out to leads. Users can segment the leads using the features that the tool provides. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. If a business is into B2B marketing and can afford to purchase Pardot, then they should buy it. If the product of a company is good, then Pardot can help multiply such an organization's ROI. Based on the product and how the sales and marketing team works, the tool can be useful. In short, the tool can be as good as the person who is using it. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
SantoshKrishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable
The encryption and decryption have room for improvement. We need to be confident that the customer's data is secure when shared outside of the organization. I would like to request additional mobile app features that go beyond push notifications. As the mobile development industry continues to advance with new technologies, such as AI components, it is important to consider these advancements when setting up campaigns. Currently, campaigns are scheduled to be sent to customers at a prescribed time, but they may not be relevant to the customer unless they see them as valuable. For example, if I want to run a campaign offering loans, I would need to consider the customer's needs and balance. In the future, I hope Salesforce can incorporate an AI component that utilizes the shared data, rather than just scheduling campaigns.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Campaign tracking is a valuable feature."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"The product is stable."
"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The most valuable feature is the customization of the solution."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"We haven't had any issues with integration."
"I think the product's best feature is its analytics, as that's where customers derive value. The second thing is its ease of implementation."
"The most valuable part of the solution are the selling features."
"Salesforce is constantly evolving and have a good release cycle."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"It is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the ability to sell the products we have made to customers. Overall the solution is very useful for business."
"It is very easy to use from a marketing standpoint."
 

Cons

"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."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"Lacks sufficient free custom fields."
"When we compare it to other automation tools, in Pardot, I'm not able to see any drag-and-drop options. We have to work on an HTML template itself."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"I would like to see more ways to accomplish specific tasks."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud should include more point-and-click functionality."
"The data extension tools are not very user-friendly."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"Salesforce could benefit by implementing further integration with more platforms."
"An additional feature needed would be better capacity for personalization."
"The performance is sometimes sluggish, but I think that's to be expected with a heavy CRM tool because they're running reports in real-time on the data that you have entered."
"When you use your iPhone or Android phone, Salesforce is not as user-friendly as it could be. That UX needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay about $4000 a month."
"In terms of pricing, Pardot is cheaper than Marketing Cloud."
"​Make sure you do not pay for features that you may not need​."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, you are going to receive good value for money. They could improve by reducing the price."
"It is a competitively priced product, considering what it provides."
"My company pays to use this solution."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"The licensing cost for the solution is on a yearly basis."
"We have two types of licensing. We have a yearly license for end users and we have a concurrent login for selling."
"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."
"It's normal pricing."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"I don't know if my company pays for Salesforce Marketing Cloud monthly or yearly. It's a SaaS, so it's a recurring cost, but I have no information on its price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
64%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Insurance Company
2%
Educational Organization
59%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pardot?
It has no limit for sending marketing emails.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pardot?
Pardot was somewhat costly for our requirements, nonetheless, the capacities of the item were limited.
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...
What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
In the SMS area, it is not up to the mark, compared to what has been developed for email.
 

Also Known As

No data available
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arketi Group
American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Pardot vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.