Salesforce vs SugarCRM: Which Is Better For You? (2024 Comparison)

In business, what is the most important aspect? No, it’s not the product or the location…it’s the relationship you form with your clients! How you find, interact with, and track your clients and their needs can make all the difference in the world to the success of your business. It can easily become overwhelming to try and keep it all organized on your own, so one of the best investments you can make for your business is to get CRM software. Customer Relationship Management software will help take all that work off your plate so that you can spend more time providing your clientele with what they want. Two of the top-rated in the business are SugarCRM and Salesforce, and today we’ll be taking a look at each one to help you find the perfect fit for you.

SugarCRM vs Salesforce: Main Differences

SugarCRM and Salesforce both aim to be the best customer relationship management tools on the market, meaning they offer a lot of the same features. However, they do have some big differences. Below we’ll take a look at some of the big ones that could affect your decision.

A side-by-side look at what reviewers are saying:

	SugarCRM	Salesforce
User interface	Lots of stuff, not a lot of space…can look cluttered, but it’s effective	Much cleaner to the eye
Ease of use	Much steeper learning curve, may be beneficial to have a tech staff on deck for this tool	Easy to learn, but takes time to perfect; setup can be a challenge
Social Network Integration	No	Yes
Marketing ROI Analytics	Yes	No
Compatible add-ons	250-300	Over 3000

SugarCRM vs Salesforce: Features & Capabilities

SugarCRM and Salesforce provide many of the same features and capabilities. They both provide the same general function for clients, but the list of each of the platforms’ features is extensive. They have some variation in their offers, as well. Below, we’ll highlight some of the most important features that you may be interested in knowing.

SugarCRM Features

3.6/5 average rating
Open-source platform, so easy to tailor to your needs
Account, contact, and lead management
Opportunity, activity, and pipeline management
Forecasting and quota management
Quote and subscription management
Reporting and analytics
Mobility
Omni-channel communications
Collaboration and teamwork
Business process management
Intelligent lead and opportunity prioritization with higher levels
With Premier: guided selling, data enrichment and news feed, mail and calendar integration, geo-mapping, advanced pipeline and forecasting insights

Salesforce Features

3.7/5 average rating
Account, contact, lead, and opportunity management
Case management
Service console apps
Salesforce mobile app available
Chat and share files between team members easily
Customizable reports and advanced reporting features
Easy-to-use email templates
Task management and activity feed
Case auto-assignment
Omni-channel features
Social customer service
Customizable sales process
Service contracts and entitlements with higher levels
Lead registration and roles-based lead scoring with higher levels
API and automation with Enterprise and Unlimited
With Unlimited: 24/7 support

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SugarCRM vs Salesforce: Pricing

SugarCRM and Salesforce have similar package options, but different rates and setups. SugarCRM starts its sales packages with “Sell Essentials” at $49, which is for 3-5 users and gives sales force automation with basic support…hence the name Essentials. Next in line is “Sell Advanced” at $80 with a 3-user minimum, where you get all the same features as Essential but with a couple more advanced benefits. Lastly, they have “Sell Premier” at $135 for 10 users minimum. You’ll get all the possible benefits SugarCRM has to offer, and these are just their sales packages. They also offer Marketing Automation (starting at $1000/month for 10k contacts) and Customer Service (starting at $80/month/user with a 3-user minimum). Salesforce has a much more complicated pricing page on their site, so we’ll just cover some of the big categories. In their Sales and Service category, the levels start with “Essentials” at $25/user/month, followed by “Professional” at $100/user/month, “Enterprise” at $175/user/month, and lastly, $325/user/month. Salesforce also offers Small Business solutions from $25-$1250.

Why to Choose SugarCRM over Salesforce?

SugarCRM is a great choice for freelancers, startups, and small to medium-sized businesses. They give a great range of features at reasonable prices for their clients. With SugarCRM, you receive great support and training, and you get marketing strategies that are easy to put into action. SugarCRM has a sight upper hand in the customer service section because it is easier to get a representative on the phone quickly to work out the issue you need to be resolved. They also offer more out-of-the-box marketing tools and strategies than Salesforce as standard options, making them a better tool for the marketing end of your business. If you are looking for a great CRM platform at a great price, SugarCRM is here for you.

Why to Choose Salesforce over SugarCRM?

Salesforce is ideal for medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, as they offer a ton of tools that are key to bigger businesses. You get to select what parts of their tools are needed for your company, you get a wide range of integrations, and you get the knowledge that you’re working on the most popular CRM platform on the market! Salesforce has a plethora of features, and the training to help you learn them. Their marketing tools are tailored for automation, making Salesforce perfect for those large-scale marketing needs of bigger businesses. If you need a hefty platform to handle your major business CRM needs and are willing to pay for that level of magnitude, look no further because Salesforce is made for you.

Similarities Between SugarCRM & Salesforce

SugarCRM and Salesforce are designed for the same work, just suited for different-sized needs. That being said, they share many of the same features. Both are all-in-one tools to perfect your businesses’ Client Relationships and offer plenty of tools to that end. They each provide easy ways to communicate amongst your teams and keep work flowing the way that it needs to. Each of them offers ways to customize the platform to your own needs as a company, keeping clients happy and able to work as needed. There are many other similarities, as well, but that would be its own article if we kept going.

SugarCRM & Salesforce Alternatives

If SugarCRM and Salesforce don’t offer what you need or just don’t feel like the right fit for your company, there are plenty of other CRM tools out there to look at. Here are some of our top picks.

Alternatives for either:

Zoho CRM
Microsoft Dynamics

Alternatives for SugarCRM:

Pipedrive
Nimble

Alternatives for Salesforce:

Zendesk
Sage

SugarCRM vs Salesforce: Final Verdict

We honestly can’t give you a clear winner here today. Both SugarCRM and Salesforce are amazing tools with a ton of great features. If you’re running on a budget and happen to already have a tech staff in place, look into SugarCRM. If you have a big business with big needs, Salesforce will likely be a better fit for your company. Our best suggestion is to chart out exactly what you need and to what scale, and then make your choice from there. No matter which you choose, SugarCRM or Salesforce, you and your business will be well taken care of.

FAQs

What is CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and it provides a single spot to keep info about customers and potential customers. It helps to find and predict customer needs.

What are the downsides of CRM software?

These can include the workforce not accepting/working well with the change, choosing the wrong CRM for your company’s needs, and working with a lack of clear objectives.

Do I need a CRM?

Technically, no. It will make your life a whole lot easier, though.

Sources

https://www.sugarcrm.com/
https://www.salesforce.com/
https://technologyadvice.com/blog/sales/sugarcrm-vs-salesforce/
https://www.ergonized.com/blog/sugarcrm-vs-salesforce/
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/small-business/crm/sugarcrm-vs-salesforce/