Campaign Monitor vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Campaign Monitor is a email marketing platform while Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a all-in-one marketing platform. Salesforce Marketing Cloud has been around since 1999, giving it a 5-year head start over Campaign Monitor (founded 2004). Campaign Monitor starts at $12/mo, while Salesforce Marketing Cloud starts at $1,500/mo billed annually. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. Salesforce Marketing Cloud has the edge with landing pages.
Quick Verdict
Campaign Monitor wins on deliverability, rating.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud wins on integrations.
Best for most users: Campaign Monitor (agencies).
Campaign Monitor
Beautifully crafted email marketing
Campaign Monitor is particularly well-suited for agencies and brands that need polished, branded email campaigns. Its client management features and beautiful template builder make it a popular choice for marketing agencies managing multiple client accounts.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Personalize every moment with the #1 AI CRM for marketing
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the enterprise marketing automation suite within the Salesforce ecosystem, offering email, SMS, social, advertising, and journey orchestration at massive scale. Powered by Einstein AI, it is the platform of choice for large organizations already invested in Salesforce.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Campaign Monitor | Salesforce Marketing Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1/5 | 3.8/5 |
| Starting Price | $12/mo | $1,500/mo billed annually |
| Free Plan | No free plan | No free plan |
| Founded | 2004 | 1999 |
| Email Templates | 120 | 200 |
| Integrations | 250 | 300 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97.5% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | Yes |
| A/B Testing | Yes | Yes |
| Landing Pages | No | Yes |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | Yes |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | Yes | Yes |
| Web Push Notifications | No | Yes |
| Live Chat | No | Yes |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
Campaign Monitor: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Excellent email template builder
- + Strong agency features and client management
- + Good deliverability
- + Time zone sending optimization
- + Link review feature prevents broken links
Cons
- − No free plan
- − Lite plan caps at 2,500 emails
- − Premier plan expensive ($159/mo)
- − No landing page builder
- − Limited automation on lower tiers
Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Deepest integration with Salesforce CRM and the entire Salesforce ecosystem
- + Enterprise-grade cross-channel capabilities across email, SMS, push, social, and ads
- + Einstein AI provides predictive scoring and send time optimization
- + 300+ integrations through AppExchange
- + Native Salesforce CRM integration eliminates data sync issues
Cons
- − Starts at $1,500/month billed annually, with advanced features requiring the higher edition
- − Steep learning curve requiring certified specialists
- − No free plan or self-serve trial
- − Impractical for SMBs; value is mainly realized by large Salesforce organizations
- − Admin overhead is high — often requires a dedicated specialist
The Verdict
Campaign Monitor edges ahead with a 4.1/5 rating compared to Salesforce Marketing Cloud's 3.8/5. The gap comes mainly from value for money (4.1 vs 2.8) and ease of use (4.3 vs 3.2). On deliverability, Campaign Monitor reports 97.5% compared to 97% for Salesforce Marketing Cloud — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Campaign Monitor | Salesforce Marketing Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $12/mo | $1,500/mo billed annually |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97.5% Winner | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.1/5 Winner | 3.8/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 250 | 300 Winner |
| Free Tier | 10% | No | No |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Campaign Monitor if…
- + You're a agencies
- + You're a brands
- + Excellent email template builder
Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if…
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You're a large enterprises
- + You're a Salesforce CRM users