Salesforce has increased its prices by an average of six percent due to “increasing integrations with AI.”
The increased rates apply to both the Enterprise and Unlimited SKUs of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Field Service, and “select Industry Clouds.”
The changes will come into force on 1 August 2025.
However, for now, Salesforce Starter, Pro, and Foundations editions avoid the increase.
What the Industry Has to Say
While some in the sector understand that price rises were inevitable after a period of extensive R&D development, others are still concerned about the knock-on implications.
Take James Kelley, Manager of Client Services at Pedowitz Group, who argued that “an increase in pricing is going to push some to migrate.”
“I doubt 70 percent of their client base is ready to implement AI, whether due to security concerns, data completeness or accuracy, processed documentation to drive AI, or several other aspects that need to enable AI within the business,” he added.
George Rumbold of Synapri also took to LinkedIn to share his thoughts:
“The driver behind the hike? A new wave of AI features under the banner of Agentforce—replacing Einstein with promises of generative AI, pre-built templates, and tighter Slack integration.”
It all sounds great on paper, but Salesforce’s own research just revealed that their AI agents only get 58 percent of simple tasks right, and just 35 percent when things get more complex. So prices are going up… but the AI still has a way to go.
Much of this commentary from the original price hike still rings true, and there is sure to be more industry reaction over the coming weeks.
Two Price Hikes in as Many Years
In July 2023, Salesforce increased prices for the first time in seven years.
The solutions included its Service, Sales, and Marketing Cloud platforms, alongside Tableau and Industries.
On this occasion, the total average price across these products was nine percent.
At the time, many customers pushed back against the change, as Salesforce is already considered the premium CRM option.
It’s also a platform that is easy to scale, which means customers can add features seamlessly.
While that’s mostly positive, paired with a layer cake pricing model, costs can easily rise.
As such, many CFOs will already be cautious over increasing Salesforce costs, and this latest move may push them over the edge.
However, businesses that will endure these hikes upon renewal must remember: pricing is always a negotiation.
As such, vendors may be able to flex depending on who the rep is and how strategic the account is.
