Loops vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Loops 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 23-year head start over Loops (founded 2022). Loops starts at $49/mo versus custom pricing for Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Loops offers a free plan (1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/month, Loops branding), while Salesforce Marketing Cloud does not. Salesforce Marketing Cloud has the edge with A/B testing, landing pages, SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Loops wins on rating, free tier.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud wins on deliverability, integrations.
It's a close call — your choice depends on your specific needs.
Loops
The email platform built for SaaS
Loops is a developer-first email platform designed exclusively for SaaS companies, combining marketing and transactional email in a single clean interface. Built by Y Combinator alumni, it features a Notion-style block editor, event-based automation triggered by user behavior like signups and upgrades, and contact-based pricing with unlimited sends. Its standout strength is letting small SaaS teams replace both their marketing email tool and transactional service (like SendGrid) with one unified platform.
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 | Loops | Salesforce Marketing Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.6/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Starting Price | $49/mo | Custom |
| Free Plan | 1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/month, Loops branding | No free plan |
| Founded | 2022 | 1999 |
| Email Templates | 15 | 200 |
| Integrations | 24 | 300 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ✕ | ✓ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✕ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✓ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✓ |
| Live Chat | ✕ | ✓ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✕ | ✓ |
Loops: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Clean Notion-style block editor with extremely fast email creation and minimal learning curve
- +Unified platform for both marketing and transactional emails eliminates need for separate services like SendGrid
- +Simple contact-based pricing with unlimited sends and no per-seat charges on all paid plans
- +Strong developer-focused API with direct integrations for Stripe, Supabase, Clerk, and webhook support
- +Founder-led customer support with direct access via live chat, email, and 1:1 Calendly calls
Cons
- −Limited automation logic — lacks advanced multi-branch workflows and conditional logic found in mature platforms
- −No built-in CRM or detailed contact history, requiring external tools for relationship management
- −Editor has reported bugs including no undo functionality, risking accidental content loss
- −Narrow SaaS-only focus makes it unsuitable for ecommerce, media, or non-tech industries
- −Very small integration ecosystem (24 native integrations) compared to competitors with hundreds
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 $1,250/month with most features requiring higher tiers
- −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
Loops edges ahead with a 4.6/5 rating compared to Salesforce Marketing Cloud's 4.1/5. The gap comes mainly from value for money (4.9 vs 2.8) and ease of use (4.4 vs 3.2). On deliverability, Salesforce Marketing Cloud reports 97% compared to 95% for Loops — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Loops | Salesforce Marketing Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $49/mo | $1250/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.6/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 24 | 300 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | No |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Loops if…
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You're a saas startups
- + You're a developer first teams
Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing