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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
7.4
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Social CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (1st), Social Media Management Solutions (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Marketing Automation category, the mindshare of Pardot is 3.3%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 12.6%, down from 22.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Marketing Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud12.6%
Pardot3.3%
Other84.1%
Marketing Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Vikram Rawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Pardot Consultant at Target
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.
PG
Consultant at SNDT
Enhanced connectivity across multiple channels while benefiting from insightful reports
The features I found most valuable in Salesforce Marketing Cloud include auto-generated reports for the Journey, which are quite helpful, and the reports are sufficient, though I am not able to recollect much currently. The feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud that has had the largest impact on improving my campaign outcomes is the recent WhatsApp integration, which allows Salesforce to connect with subscribers through different channels such as SMS, email, or WhatsApp. Regarding customer engagement, personalization capabilities in Salesforce Marketing Cloud enhance engagement because when customers feel that a brand knows them better, they recognize their choices better. In Marketing Cloud, I am able to personalize based on user choices and address them directly without coming across as a bot message.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Pardot's most valuable feature is its B2B marketing capabilities."
"The tracking and automation of outbound messaging is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"It has made email marketing quicker and easier."
"Pardot directly integrates with CRM, specifically Salesforce, which has an excellent R&D team."
"The product is stable."
"It's easy to create email templates and landing pages."
"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."
"I have not had any issues with the product's stability. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Its ability to integrate data and provide a comprehensive view of customer engagement sets it apart."
"The automation is great. It saves us a lot of time and it makes us move faster."
"I like that I can constantly add leads to Salesforce Marketing Cloud and look at accounts there. I also like that the solution lets me set up meetings."
"We use this solution for reporting, pipeline generation, and forecasting."
"You can schedule reports, there's a lot of supporting tools, and you have access to all that information."
"The ability to automate processes is one of the most valuable features of Salesforce. This sets it part from other systems. We use the journey builder to design a fully automated journey."
"We are satisfied with the Salesforce Marketing Cloud products, which is why we have extended and acquired the Data Cloud as 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."
 

Cons

"The solution is quite expensive, at least, for smaller teams."
"When it comes to integration with third-party tools, Pardot's APIs are not that robust."
"The user interface could be made more intuitive and user-friendly."
"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."
"Needs to improve list building."
"For new people, the installation of the tool can be difficult."
"​Technical support has been quick and helpful every time."
"The general setup and understanding of how to use it can be improved. There should be easier self-service for setting up dashboards. Currently, we have someone setting them up for us. I wish it was easier."
"The customization of Salesforce, a generic CRM software, has room for improvement."
"Marketing Cloud should change the script language that it uses because it's not good. It's tricky and difficult to develop."
"In a future release it would be great to have the ability to connect the data from social media and email marketing and have it in one dashboard."
"Marketing Cloud's forecasting could be improved."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud should be linked to an email ID, so the features after 15 days can update on the opportunity. You should not have to update them manually to the next step."
"I found that the tool is more complex than expected. It requires a deeper understanding to utilize its capabilities thoroughly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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​."
"The licensing cost for the solution is on a yearly basis."
"We did a yearly license. We negotiated and got a great deal. I don't think we would have gotten far with the regular price, but they negotiated, so it was worth that."
"This is a low cost solution suited to larger organizations."
"Salesforce is an expensive solution."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"The solution is paid for monthly."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is affordable, considering the significant improvements it brings to our campaign results."
"The solution's pricing is very high and should be more flexible for smaller companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Retailer
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise29
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
I did not work on any pricing or implementation aspects but learned on my own when dealing with Revenue Cloud products.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
I would recommend that Salesforce Marketing Cloud improve on three-dimensional or 360-degree reporting, as I feel that is something missing. Salesforce Marketing Cloud is expensive; it can be more ...
 

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: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.