Salesforce Starter Suite review July 2024: sales, marketing, and service features  

All rates and fees are current as of July 2024 and are subject to change.

Salesforce Starter Suite

Base price:	Starting at $25 per user, per month*
Free trial length:	30 days
Free plan available:	No

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Account, contact, lead, and opportunity management
• Lead assignment and routing
• Web-to-lead capture
• Customizable email templates

Cons

• Lacks AI tools
• No advanced reporting or forecasting features
• Lacks sales territory features
• No built-in quote or contract tools
• Limited collaboration features

Who is Salesforce Starter Suite good for?

Salesforce Starter Suite is an ideal CRM solution for sales teams that need basic CRM features, such as account, lead, and contact management. Businesses that want mass emailing features, email templates, and robust report tools find it’s a good option. It’s also great for companies that want to put some CRM functions, such as lead assignment and routing on autopilot with simple automation rules.

Who shouldn’t use Salesforce Starter Suite?

Companies looking for robust built-in artificial intelligence (AI) features, such as email insights and lead and opportunity scoring should choose another CRM provider as the Starter Suite doesn’t offer them. Teams that need comprehensive sales forecasting features would need to upgrade to Salesforce’s higher-cost plans as the only forecasting features the Starter Suite offers are customizable reports and dashboards.   Furthermore, companies that want advanced team collaboration tools should consider another CRM provider. While Salesforce Starter Suite offers file sharing, users must upgrade to another tier to access collaboration tools, such as Slack integration.

Salesforce Sales Suite service plan overview 

While Salesforce Starter Suite does not offer a free-forever plan, it provides a 30-day free trial to test out the features before making a monthly or annual commitment. It’s an affordable CRM solution with a popular provider that offers excellent tools, such as account and deal management, customizable reports and dashboards, and an intuitive mobile app for iOS and Android users.  

Best Salesforce CRM plan for small businesses: Starter Suite 

Salesforce is a popular brand name for enterprise-sized businesses and is often considered an expensive, complicated CRM tool that is difficult to learn. However, the Starter Suite is designed for smaller teams that need a CRM that’s user-friendly and easy to use right out of the box.  

Other services Salesforce Starter Suite offers  

Aside from sales pipeline management features, Salesforce Starter Suite offers other valuable tools that help teams collaborate and streamline business functions. Some of the top additional CRM benefits this provider has include:  

• Einstein activity capture: Captures sales activities automatically and syncs email and calendar content to reduce the need for manual data entry.  
• Lead and assignment routing: Set rules to automate how which sales representatives leads are assigned to within the CRM.  
• Lead duplicate blocking: The CRM merges duplicate contacts automatically for simplified contact management.  
• Web-to-lead capture: Store leads in the CRM system that are generated from website visitors automatically. 
• Mass email campaigns: Create and send emails to targeted lists and track email opens.  
• Customizable sales process creation: Design personalized sales milestones with Salesforce’s Sales Path tool.  
• Customizable reports and sales dashboards: Create custom reports and dashboards that are updated in real-time.  
• Product and price books: Develop a product catalog with prices for different sales scenarios.  

Salesforce Starter Suite platform and customer support  

Compared to the higher-tier, more complex Salesforce plans, the Starter Suite offers novice CRM users a more simplified platform that’s easy to navigate. However, the customer support offerings are limited unless a company is prepared for an additional cost.  

All paid plans include access to a knowledge base, documentation, and Salesforce’s Global Trailhead Community. Companies that want the Premier Success Plan package that includes expert coaching sessions, technical and developer guidance, and CRM health checks must pay an extra 30% of their overall monthly subscription fee.  

Additionally, Salesforce offers a Premier Success Plan that requires contacting a sales rep for pricing information. This plan includes a dedicated customer success manager, proactive monitoring, and 24/7 live support. 

Is Salesforce Starter Suite secure? 

While Salesforce’s website makes it difficult to determine what security features are included with a paid plan, they provide a variety of tools to customize the level of security businesses want. Potential subscribers must contact the Salesforce sales team for pricing. Some of the main security features Salesforce offers include:  

• Shield: Teams who view who accesses Salesforce data in real time, including any data changes.  
• Salesforce Backup: Companies can back up data and have it restored easily in the case of a breach.  
• Security Center: Users can view and analyze a dashboard of security health metrics.  

Salesforce Starter Suite user reviews 

Overall, Salesforce Starter Suite user reviews indicate users like the platform for its ease of use and affordable price point. The provider earned a score of 4.4 out of five stars on 5 with around 200 user reviews on Capterra. Many users commented they appreciate the intuitive interface, email integration features, and responsive customer support. However, some users noted frustration with the limited collaboration features and steep learning curve.  

Salesforce Starter Suite earned 8.2 stars out of 10 on TrustRadius. Users said they like the built-in guidance and reminders within the CRM tool, guided setup, and the intuitive mobile app. Some reviewers said they wish it included more automation features.  

Compare Salesforce Starter Suite alternatives 

Zoho CRM	Pipedrive	Freshsales
Base monthly cost per user	Base monthly cost per user	Base monthly cost per user
Starts at $20; free plan for up to three users	Starts at $24 per user, per month	Starts at $11; free plan for up to three users
Maximum number of users	Maximum number of users	Maximum number of users
Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Free trial length	Free trial length	Free trial length
15 days	14 days	21 days
Learn more	Learn more	Learn more
Read our review of Zoho CRM	Read our review of Pipedrive	Read our review of Freshsales

Is Salesforce Starter Suite right for you? 

Salesforce Starter Suite is an ideal CRM solution for small or growing sales teams looking for core CRM features, such as pipeline management, deal tracking, and basic email campaign deployment. It’s also a good choice for teams that want to use the well-known and trusted brand of Salesforce but want an affordable price and the option for monthly billing.  

Furthermore, it’s a solid option for teams looking for customizable customer support rather than prebuilt packages included in the plan’s overall cost. Plus, Starter Suite users enjoy the included service features such as case management and knowledge management that make it easy to support customers without paying for separate customer service software.  

Frequently asked questions