Salesforce vs Instantly: Which is The Best CRM in 2025

Ever feel like managing customer info is a messy puzzle?

You’re not alone.

Businesses struggle to keep track of leads, deals, and customer interactions.

Imagine losing a big sale because you forgot to follow up.

Well, there’s good news!

Both Salesforce vs Instantly are powerful CRM tools designed to solve these problems. 

Overview

We’ve put both Salesforce and Instantly through their paces.

Our team rigorously tested each platform, exploring their core features, user interfaces, and integration capabilities.

This hands-on experience allows for a direct, practical comparison.

What is Instantly?

Instantly, it is different. It’s built for email outreach.

Think cold emails. Getting leads and automating follow-ups.

It’s focused. It is less broad than Salesforce. It does one thing well.

Also, explore our favorite Instantly alternatives…

Key Benefits

• Boosts deliverability by up to 97%. That means more people see your emails!
• Integrates seamlessly with popular email platforms. No more switching between apps.
• Provides detailed analytics and reporting. Track your progress and see what’s working.
• Offers a spam trigger analysis. Identifies and helps you fix issues that could land you in spam.

Pricing

Instantly offers a few different plans to fit your needs:

• Growth CRM: $37.9/month, unlimited seats.
• Hyper CRM: $77.6/month, unlimited seats.

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce. It’s big. Really big. You’ve probably heard of it.

It’s a CRM. That’s a Customer Relationship Management tool.

It helps businesses track customers. Keep data organized. It does a lot.

Also, explore our favorite Salesforce alternatives…

Key Benefits

• Industry leader: Salesforce dominates the CRM market for a reason.
• Highly customizable: Tailor Salesforce to fit your exact needs.
• Massive ecosystem: Integrate with thousands of apps and services.
• Scalable solution: Grow your business without outgrowing your CRM.

Pricing

Salesforce offers a variety of plans to fit your budget:

• Starter Suite: $25/user per month
• Pro Suite: $100/user per month
• Enterprise: $165/user per month
• Unlimited: $330/user per month
• Einstein 1 sales: $500/user per month

Feature Comparison

Let’s dive into the core differences.

We’ll break down crucial features, showing how Salesforce and Instantly stack up.

Helping you make informed decisions for your business.

1. Lead Management

• Salesforce: Offers robust lead management. It captures new leads from various sources. You can track, score, and nurture leads effectively. This cloud-based CRM provides a unified view of customer data.
• Instantly: This tool focuses on generating leads through email marketing. It’s strong at finding new leads via targeted campaigns. While it helps manage leads, it lacks the depth of salesforce’s lead management features.

2. Email Marketing & Deliverability

• Salesforce: Includes marketing automation and email marketing tools within its Salesforce Sales Cloud. It offers features for campaign management tools and email tracking, but email deliverability can depend on setup.
• Instantly prioritizes email deliverability. It offers automated warm-up and advanced email tracking designed to help businesses manage and improve their email marketing performance.

3. Sales Pipeline & Forecasting

• Salesforce: Provides detailed sales pipeline and sales forecasting tools. You can track sales opportunities and analyze data to make data-driven decisions.
• Instantly: This option focuses less on a full sales pipeline. It helps manage sales opportunities through email outreach but lacks advanced sales forecasting features.

4. CRM Functionality & Scalability

• Salesforce: A comprehensive CRM software. It’s built for scalability and can handle complex customer data. The platform provides a unified ecosystem with pre-built apps and third-party applications.
• Instantly: A specialized tool. Its functionality is centered on email outreach. It’s suitable for small businesses but may lack scalability as the company expands.

5. Automation & Workflow

• Salesforce: Offers extensive automation software and automated workflow capabilities. It automates repetitive tasks across marketing and sales.
• Instantly: Automates email warm-ups and follow-ups. It simplifies routine tasks related to email outreach, but its automation software is less extensive.

6. Analytics and Reporting

• Salesforce: Features powerful analytics and reporting tools. You can measure performance, identify trends, and analyze data to improve marketing efforts and sales analytics.
• Instantly: This tool provides basic analytics and reporting for email campaigns. It helps measure the performance of email outreach but lacks the depth of Salesforce.

7. Customer Relationship Management

• Salesforce: A full-fledged CRM provides tools for effectively managing customer relationships. It aims to improve customer experiences and help businesses manage customer interactions.
• Instantly: Assists in managing customer relationships through email outreach. It can help businesses manage customer interactions, but it is not a full CRM provides solution like Salesforce.

Choosing the right tool depends on your needs.

For broad CRM, choose Salesforce. 

Consider the total cost of ownership and best practices.

This comparison should help you find and choose the best option.

What to Look For When Choosing CRM Software?

• Integration: Does it connect with your existing tools?
• Customization: Can it adapt to your unique workflow?
• User-Friendliness: Is it easier for your team to use?
• Support: Does the vendor provide reliable assistance?
• Security: How well does it protect your customer data?
• Scalability: Can it grow with your business?
• Mobile Access: Is it accessible on mobile devices?
• Reporting & Analytics: Does it provide insights for data-driven decisions?
• Training & Onboarding: Does the vendor offer sufficient training?
• Industry-Specific Features: Does it have features that are tailored to your industry?

Final Verdict

So, which one wins? It depends on your needs.

For most businesses needing a full CRM, we pick Salesforce.

It’s powerful. It does a lot. Yes, it can be pricey.

But, it handles sales marketing and customer service software well.

If emails are your main focus, Instantly is good.

It’s easier to use for email outreach. But it’s not a full CRM.

We’ve tested both. We know what works.

Let us help you choose the right one. Pick what fits your business best.

More of Instantly

Here’s a brief comparison of Instantly with these software solutions:

• Instantly vs Gohighlevel: Instantly specializes in cold email outreach and deliverability, while GoHighLevel offers a comprehensive suite for sales, marketing, and lead generation, including broader automation.
• Instantly vs Pipedrive: Instantly focuses on automated email campaigns and deliverability for outbound sales; Pipedrive is a visual sales pipeline management tool designed for tracking deals and optimizing sales processes.
• Instantly vs Keap: Instantly excels at scalable cold email outreach and lead generation, whereas Keap provides an all-in-one platform for sales and marketing automation with CRM capabilities.
• Instantly vs ActiveCampaign: Instantly is primarily for high-volume cold email outreach and deliverability; ActiveCampaign is a robust marketing automation platform with advanced segmentation and CRM features.
• Instantly vs Hubspot: Instantly streamlines outbound email campaigns and lead warming; HubSpot offers a comprehensive CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service platform with extensive features.
• Instantly vs Clickfunnels: Instantly is an email outreach automation tool; ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder for creating landing pages and automating sales processes.
• Instantly vs Folk: Instantly focuses on automated cold email campaigns and lead generation; Folk is a collaborative contact management CRM that emphasizes easy organization.
• Instantly vs Clickup: Instantly is designed for cold email outreach and deliverability; ClickUp is a versatile workspace for project management, task tracking, and broader team collaboration.
• Instantly vs Monday CRM: Instantly excels in automated outbound email and lead nurturing; Monday CRM provides visual project and workflow management, with integrated CRM features.
• Instantly vs Capsule CRM: Instantly specializes in automated cold email sequences; Capsule CRM is a simple contact management and sales pipeline tool for small businesses.
• Instantly vs Insightly: Instantly streamlines cold email outreach with robust deliverability features; Insightly offers a comprehensive CRM with project management and sales pipeline capabilities.
• Instantly vs Freshsales: Instantly focuses on automated email outreach and lead scoring; Freshsales CRM is a full-featured sales automation and CRM solution with extensive reporting.
• Instantly vs Zendesk: Instantly focuses on lead generation through automated email outreach; Zendesk is a comprehensive customer service and support platform with robust ticketing.

More of Salesforce

Here’s a brief comparison of Salesforce with these software solutions:

• Salesforce vs Gohighlevel: Salesforce is an enterprise-level CRM with extensive customization, ideal for large organizations, whereas GoHighLevel offers an all-in-one marketing and sales platform, often favored by small businesses and agencies.
• Salesforce vs Pipedrive: Salesforce is a comprehensive, highly customizable CRM for sales, marketing, and service, while Pipedrive focuses on intuitive visual sales pipeline management for streamlined sales processes.
• Salesforce vs Keap: Salesforce offers a vast, customizable CRM ecosystem for businesses of all sizes; Keap provides integrated sales and marketing automation, particularly strong for smaller firms.
• Salesforce vs ActiveCampaign: Salesforce is a broad, enterprise-grade CRM with powerful sales automation, whereas ActiveCampaign excels in marketing automation, email campaigns, and customer journey visualization.
• Salesforce vs Hubspot: Salesforce emphasizes deep customization and robust reporting for complex business needs, while HubSpot offers an integrated suite of marketing, sales, and service tools with a more user-friendly interface.
• Salesforce vs Clickfunnels: Salesforce is a comprehensive CRM for managing customer relationships and sales; ClickFunnels is specifically designed as a sales funnel builder to guide customers through a conversion path.
• Salesforce vs Folk: Salesforce is a highly scalable, feature-rich CRM for complex operations and large enterprises; Folk provides a simpler, collaborative contact management and relationship-building tool.
• Salesforce vs ClickUp: Salesforce is a dedicated, powerful CRM for managing customer interactions and sales processes; ClickUp is a versatile work management platform that includes CRM functionalities within its broader project management tools.
• Salesforce vs Monday: Salesforce is a robust CRM with extensive data models for complex workflows across diverse industries; Monday CRM offers highly customizable visual workflows and is often used by companies already on Monday.com for project management.
• Salesforce vs Capsule: Salesforce is an enterprise-grade CRM suitable for large organizations with complex needs; Capsule CRM is a simpler, user-friendly CRM, ideal for small to medium-sized businesses focused on core contact and sales tracking.
• Salesforce vs Insightly: Salesforce provides a comprehensive, highly customizable CRM for diverse business needs; Insightly offers a versatile CRM with integrated project management, often favored by small to mid-sized businesses for its ease of use.
• Salesforce vs Freshsales CRM: Salesforce is a highly customizable and scalable CRM with advanced features for large organizations; Freshsales CRM focuses on AI-driven sales insights and automation for streamlined sales management, often preferred by smaller teams.

Frequently Asked Questions