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Overview
Meet the ultimate CRM
Calling
Make more calls with built-in calling
Emailing
Now includes email sequences.
Call Automation
Supercharge your call campaigns with a Power Dialer
Reporting
Actionable insights close more deals
Predictive Dialer
Massively increase your reach rates
SMS
Increase reach rates with built-in SMS
Search and Smart Views
Smarter search. Better communication.
API and integrations
Powerful integrations. Flexible API.
Product
Overview
Meet the ultimate CRM
Calling
Make more calls with built-in calling
Call Automation
Supercharge your call campaigns with a Power Dialer
Predictive Dialer
Massively increase your reach rates
Emailing
Break through the noise with emails that sell
Reporting
Actionable insights close more deals
SMS
Increase reach rates with built-in SMS
Search and Smart Views
Smarter search. Better communication.
API and integrations
Powerful integrations. Flexible API.
Pricing Blog About
Try Close

Choosing the right CRM

Close vs Salesforce

Have you ever seen a comparison page where the “challenger” comes out better than the company writing the comparison?

Exactly. Neither have we. So when we set about comparing our CRM to others we wanted to take a different approach. Here’s the approach we’re taking:

  • The comparison we’ve put together is based on whether it’s possible (and how much it costs) to do in Salesforce what you can do in Close.
  • We’re biased but we’re not blind: for some of you, Salesforce will be the better option. What we’re trying to demonstrate is when Close is a better fit than our competitor.

Table of Contents

Cliff Notes

When comparing these two products, the main difference that stands out is price, lack of calling and email automation. In principle, Salesforce can do everything - in a slow and complicated way. Their pricing structure is complex and there are hidden costs to almost everything - you need to purchase additional products for global calling, integrate with third party applications for features such as email sequences and predictive dialling and pay a dedicated consultant to set up Salesforce. The worst part? It’ll take weeks of training before your new sales reps start using the software.

That being said, if you’re a large enterprise - Salesforce is probably the right choice for you.

Close logo Salesforce logo
Per User Annually $500 - $1400 $3,000 - $8,000
Payment terms Monthly or Annually Only annually
Setup All-in-one Multiple plans/apps
Team size 0-100 100-10,000
Calling Global Only US & Canada
Training & implementation cost $0
Not required
$120 - $250 per hour
Required
Training & implementation time <1 day Weeks to months
Support Dedicated success/support Pay extra (20%)
Info iconComparison data is based on an analysis from Q1, 2019

Close ideal customer checklist

  • You’re looking for an affordable CRM solution
  • You’re a small business with a sales team of less than 100 people
  • You prefer having an all-in-one system over disparate tools & add-ons
  • You’re looking for a dedicated sales-focused CRM
  • You do (or plan to do) high volume outreach by email, voice or SMS
  • You need to qualify large lead lists quickly
  • You’re looking for simplicity in the CRM so that your sales team can start selling from Day 1 (no training required)

If you have experience with Salesforce, I cannot recommend Close’s free trial high enough. The problem it solves is getting new sales people trained up on a new CRM system in days instead of weeks. From a management perspective, the reporting is extensive and I can cut and slice the data to get granular reporting on a company level, campaign level, and individual rep level.

Jonathan Howes headshot
Jonathan Howes
VP Sales, InvoiceASAP

The rest of document will help you understand why we think Close is a better alternative to Salesforce both in terms of value and pricing.

What can you not do in Salesforce?

Salesforce is a good standalone CRM, but a lot of the critical functionality required by a high-performing sales team is highly dependent on expensive third party applications.

There are also some key sales functions that you cannot perform using Salesforce natively. Whereas with Close they’re all built-in.

Close logo Salesforce logo
Send/receive SMS Included Not included
Global calling Included Not included
Call recording Included Not included
Historical import of email conversations Included Included
Power Dialer Included Not included
Predictive Dialer Included Not included
Info iconComparison data is based on an analysis from Q1, 2019

How much does Salesforce cost to get the Close Basic features?

To get the functionality of Close Basic on Salesforce you need their Lightning Enterprise plan (minimum).

Close logo Salesforce logo
Sales inbox Included Needs Salesforce Inbox ($300)
2-way email sync (send/receive) Included Needs Salesforce Inbox ($300)
Email templates Unlimited Included
Outbound Calling Availability Global US & Canada only
Outbound Calling Unlimited Needs Lightning Dialer Outbound ($300)
Only US & Canada
Receive calls on your system Included Needs Lightning Dialer Inbound ($60)
Data import/export tools Included Included
Integrations Included Included
Sales pipeline reports Included Included
Dedicated Success Team Included 20% net i.e. $528
Close Basic: $708.00
Calling Credit: -$120.00
Salesforce Sales Enterprise: $1,800.00
Salesforce Inbox: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Outbound: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Inbound: $60.00
Dedicated Success Team: $528.00
$588.00
annually
$2,988.00
annually
IncludedComparison data is based on an analysis from Q1, 2019

How much does Salesforce cost to get the Close Professional features?

Everything you have in the Close Basic plan +

Close logo Salesforce logo
Email sequences Included
MixMax integration ($588)Info icon
Bulk email sending Included Included
Power Dialer Included Additional Power Dialer for Salesforce integration ($3540)
Close Professional: $969.00
Calling Credit: -$120.00
Salesforce Sales Enterprise: $1,800.00
Salesforce Inbox: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Outbound: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Inbound: $60.00
Dedicated Success Team: $528.00
Power Dialer for Salesforce: $3540.00
MixMax integration: $588.00
$849.00
annually
$7,116.00
annually
Info iconComparison data is based on an analysis from Q1, 2019

How much does Salesforce cost to get the Close Business features?

Everything you have in the Close Professional plan +

Close logo Salesforce logo
Predictive Dialing Included Not included
Custom roles Included Not included
Unlimited Call Recording Included Not included
Close Business: $1,479.00
Calling Credit: -$120.00
Salesforce Sales Enterprise: $1,800.00
Salesforce Inbox: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Outbound: $300.00
Lightning Dialer Inbound: $60.00
Dedicated Success Team: $528.00
Power Dialer for Salesforce: $3540.00
MixMax integration: $588.00
$1,359.00
annually
$7,116.00
annually
Info iconComparison data is based on an analysis from Q1, 2019

How much does calling cost?

Here are the calling costs comparison of 6 popular countries.

Close logo Salesforce logo
Flag of United States of AmericaUnited States of America $0.013 $0.015*
Flag of CanadaCanada $0.013 $0.015*
Flag of United KingdomUnited Kingdom $0.017 Only US & Canada supported
Flag of GermanyGermany $0.015 Only US & Canada supported
Flag of GermanyFrance $0.016 Only US & Canada supported
Flag of AustraliaAustralia $0.024 Only US & Canada supported
*Salesforce’s Lightning Dialer bills in a different way. While Close enables you to call anywhere globally & charges per minute, Salesforce only supports calling only in US & Canada & charges $15 for 1000 minutes.
*Calling is not out-of-the-box with Salesforce. Requires additional purchase of Lightning Dialer Outbound & Lightning Dialer Minutes.

In summary

When should you choose Salesforce, and when Close

  • Close is an “all-in-one” sales-focused platform built for small businesses
  • Affordable
  • Easy to learn
  • Has straight-forward pricing
  • You have a big budget (because Salesforce is pretty expensive & their pricing structure is a little complex)
  • You’re a large organization with a sales team of over 100 people
  • You don’t mind paying for additional third party add-ons to make key sales functions work
  • You’re looking for a complete cloud based IT solution and not specifically a dedicated sales-focused CRM
  • You have extremely advanced CRM requirements which require a lot of customisation
  • You’re OK with paying for training and configuration of the CRM (which may take weeks to months)

Close is the highest rated CRM by customers

Software Advice logo
5/5
Capterra logo
5/5
Capterra medal - Best ease of use 2018
G2 Crowd logo
4.3/5
G2 Crowd medal - Winter 2019 Leader
GetApp logo
4.8/5

Question mark iconQuestions about pricing?