1. Full User Licences vs Platform Licences — Understanding the Differences
Salesforce's core CRM licences (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud) provide full access to CRM functionality, whereas Salesforce Platform licences offer a more limited, cost-effective option for users who don't need standard CRM features. A full licence includes all standard objects — Leads, Opportunities, Cases, Campaigns — plus custom applications. A Platform licence grants access primarily to custom apps and a subset of standard objects (Accounts and Contacts for basic reference), but cannot access core CRM modules like sales pipelines or support cases.
Salesforce now offers Platform Starter (up to ~10 custom objects, basic features) and Platform Plus (up to ~110 custom objects, advanced capabilities) to fit different complexity levels. The cost difference is substantial — an Enterprise Sales Cloud licence costs several times more per user than a Platform licence.
Sales/Service Cloud (Full): Full CRM functionality — all standard objects (Leads, Opportunities, Cases, Campaigns) plus custom apps. For CRM users in sales, marketing, support. Highest cost per user ($$$).
Salesforce Platform: Custom apps and limited standard objects (Accounts, Contacts, basic tasks/reports). No access to sales/service objects (no Opportunities, Leads, Cases). Platform Plus allows more custom objects than Starter. For internal users of non-CRM applications. Significantly lower cost per user ($).
| Licence Type | Access & Features | Typical Use Cases | Relative Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales/Service Cloud (Full) | Full CRM functionality + all custom apps. Standard CRM objects: Leads, Opportunities, Cases, Campaigns, Forecasts, etc. | Sales reps, marketing teams, support agents — anyone needing standard CRM features | High ($$$) — most expensive per user |
| Salesforce Platform | Custom apps + limited standard objects (Accounts, Contacts, basic tasks/reports). No Opportunities, Leads, Cases. Starter: ~10 custom objects. Plus: ~110 custom objects. | Internal users for non-CRM apps (HR portals, IT ticketing, operations workflows, AppExchange apps not requiring CRM) | Lower ($) — significantly cheaper per user |
A global manufacturer uses Salesforce for both sales CRM and a custom supply chain app. Sales staff have full Sales Cloud licences for opportunities and forecasts. The operations team accessing the supply chain custom app uses Salesforce Platform licences — they only use custom objects and don't need CRM features. This dual-licence strategy saves costs by right-sizing licences to user needs.
CIO Recommendations
Match Licence to User Needs
Categorise your Salesforce users. Those in purely custom or back-office applications should be on Platform licences, reserving full Sales/Service Cloud licences only for roles that genuinely need CRM functionality.
Leverage Tiered Platform Options
Evaluate Platform Starter vs Platform Plus. Starter may suffice for small apps with limited custom objects; Plus supports larger apps. Choose the tier that fits your use case to avoid overpaying for unneeded capacity.
Monitor and Adjust Regularly
Implement governance to review licence assignments regularly. Downgrade full-licence users who only use custom app features to Platform licences at renewal. Upgrade Platform users who start needing CRM features. Maintain an optimal mix over time.
Negotiate Blended Licensing Models
In enterprise agreements, negotiate bulk Platform licence bundles alongside CRM licences. Salesforce and independent advisors can structure deals with discounted Platform bundles — especially useful when rolling out large-scale custom apps.
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Salesforce Licence Optimisation →2. When to Use Platform Licences for Non-CRM Apps (Internal Use Cases)
Salesforce's Lightning Platform supports enterprise-grade custom application development beyond CRM. Many enterprises build non-CRM applications — HR systems, finance tools, operational tracking, IT ticketing — on Salesforce. Platform user licences allow employees to use custom objects, custom tabs, and AppExchange apps without paying for CRM functionality they won't use, often achieving 50%+ savings per user compared to full licences.
Employee Help Desk: IT ticketing app using custom object (IT_Request__c) instead of standard Case object. All employees on Platform licences — only IT admins using CRM data get full licences. Avoids buying Service Cloud licences for every employee.
HR and Onboarding Portal: Custom HR portal for onboarding, training, performance reviews built on dozens of custom objects. HR staff and managers on Platform Plus licences — handles complex data models without CRM price tag.
Operations Workflow: Maintenance schedules and approvals for factory equipment on custom objects. Plant employees and technicians on Platform Starter — cost is a fraction of full Salesforce licences while running on the reliable platform.
🔀 Visual Guide — Picking the Right Licence for Internal Apps
📚 Related Reading
CIO Recommendations
Institutionalise "Licence Right-Sizing"
For every new internal Salesforce application, decide upfront which users truly need full licences. Encourage architects to design solutions with Platform licences in mind for general users. Avoid the default of assigning costly full licences to everyone by habit.
Build a Business Case for Platform Use
Quantify cost savings when pitching new Salesforce-based solutions to stakeholders. Demonstrating that an internal app can be delivered at half the licensing cost of a CRM module helps secure buy-in from finance.
Plan for Growth with Volume Pricing
If your custom app's user base is expected to grow (e.g. rolling out an HR app company-wide), engage Salesforce early about volume pricing for Platform licences. Large enterprises may negotiate enterprise licence agreements with blocks of Platform users at favourable rates.
Train Admins and Developers
Ensure your Salesforce team understands capability differences between licence types. They should know not to inadvertently use a standard CRM object in a custom app meant for Platform users. Empower them to utilise custom objects and AppExchange components within Platform licence constraints.
3. OEM Licensing for External or Embedded Applications
When enterprises develop custom Salesforce applications intended for external users or as product offerings, Salesforce offers OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Embedded licensing. Under an OEM arrangement, you bundle Salesforce's platform technology into your application and offer it to external parties — end-users don't need their own Salesforce licences. Your organisation obtains a special licence to create separate Salesforce instances for your app and grant access to end-users.
OEM licences are Platform user licences (same limitations — no CRM objects beyond Accounts/Contacts) combined with rights to use your specific managed package. OEM users get a tailored, often fully branded version of Salesforce where they may not even realise Salesforce is the underlying platform.
Target audience: Organisations acting as ISVs or offering software services built on Salesforce to external customers (clinics, dealerships, partners, etc.).
How it works: Separate Salesforce org per client with custom objects only. Each org requires ~1-2 full admin licences; all other users on OEM Platform licences for the custom app only.
Pricing: Negotiated based on volume of users/transactions. Provider pays Salesforce a per-user platform fee (often discounted at scale) and may add margin when charging customers.
Key constraint: OEM apps cannot expose standard CRM objects or replicate full Salesforce CRM functionality — must be entirely self-contained on custom objects.
A large automotive company develops a dealer management platform on Salesforce connecting independent dealerships. Instead of requiring each dealership to buy Salesforce, the company enters an OEM agreement. Each dealership gets a Salesforce-based portal with 100% custom objects for inventory, orders, and training. Dealer personnel use OEM Platform licences; only system admins have full licences. The automotive company bundles costs into its service fee to dealerships — accelerating time to market while controlling licensing costs.
CIO Recommendations
Evaluate OEM vs Alternatives First
Experience Cloud portals are simpler for customer/partner access. OEM is optimal when delivering standalone products, needing separate orgs per client, or when end-users shouldn't need their own Salesforce subscription.
Engage Salesforce's ISV/OEM Programme Early
OEM deals are complex — negotiate licence terms, minimum commitments, and ensure compliance with OEM rules. Early engagement aligns your app's design with what the OEM licence permits.
Design for No-CRM from Day One
Your development team must know that OEM apps cannot expose standard CRM objects. Plan your data model to rely on custom objects exclusively (Accounts/Contacts permitted for basic reference only).
Account for Admin Licences in Financial Models
Each OEM org requires at least one full Salesforce admin user for setup and maintenance. Factor the cost of a few full licences for admin purposes even when the majority of users are on OEM Platform licences.
Monitor Usage Against Contract Thresholds
OEM agreements often have usage thresholds or tiered pricing. Monitor external user counts and organisations against contract terms — renegotiate if your user base grows faster than expected.
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Salesforce Contract Negotiation →4. Experience Cloud for Customer & Partner Portals — Login-Based vs Named User
Salesforce Experience Cloud (formerly Community Cloud) enables web portals where external users — customers, partners, distributors — can log in for specific actions like submitting cases, collaborating on opportunities, or accessing knowledge articles. Licensing works differently from internal licences, with two main pricing models:
Named User (Member-Based): Fixed price per external user regardless of login frequency. Best for smaller, predictable communities where users log in frequently (e.g. 40 partner sales reps accessing the portal daily). Easier to budget — no risk of running out of logins.
Login-Based: Purchase bulk logins per month; each user consumes one login per day they access. Best for large, fluctuating user bases with sporadic engagement (e.g. 10,000 customers where only a few hundred log in daily). Pay only when they use it — highly efficient for infrequent users.
Customer vs Partner Communities: Customer Community licences (including Customer Community Plus) suit customers creating support cases, viewing knowledge articles, or updating account info — restricted to specific objects. Partner Community licences give business partners (resellers, distributors) access to CRM data like Opportunities and Leads for co-selling, and are priced higher accordingly.
| Factor | Login-Based External Licence | Named User External Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Pay per login: purchase bulk monthly logins consumed as users access the portal | Pay per user: fixed monthly cost per external user regardless of login frequency |
| Best For | Very large or fluctuating user bases with sporadic engagement (e.g. consumer self-service portals with thousands of customers logging in occasionally) | Smaller, predictable communities with consistent daily usage (e.g. 40 partner sales reps or B2B account managers) |
| Cost Management | Monitor login usage; risk of overage if logins exceed purchased amount. Cost scales with actual engagement — highly efficient for inactive periods | Easier to budget as costs are fixed per user. No login caps. However, paying for inactive users is wasteful — deactivate unused accounts |
| Example Scenario | A consumer retail company offers a portal for millions of end customers to register products and request support. Most log in 1-2× per year — login-based ensures paying only for actual usage | A software firm runs a partner portal for 40 certified resellers to register leads and track opportunities. Partners log in frequently — named licences provide unlimited access at known cost |
CIO Recommendations
Analyse Your User Community
Project external user counts and frequency with business units. If uncertain, start with login-based licensing with a conservative pool — it's easier to scale up. For stable, known communities, compare both models at expected usage levels.
Monitor Login Usage and Set Alerts
If login-based, implement monitoring to track monthly consumption. Set alerts for approaching thresholds to purchase additional capacity proactively. Regularly review whether the chosen model still makes sense as usage patterns evolve.
Design Portals with Licensing in Mind
Provide rich self-service information publicly (FAQs, knowledge articles) without requiring login to preserve login credits. Ensure high-value interactions requiring login — submitting cases, accessing sensitive account data — justify the cost.
Include External Licences in Enterprise Negotiations
Negotiate Experience Cloud licences as part of your broader Salesforce contract. Large enterprises can secure better rates for high-volume community users or logins. Explore "External App" licences for higher login volumes with millions of users.
Ensure Correct Licence Type for Data Exposed
Don't use a cheaper Customer Community licence for a scenario requiring partner-level access to Opportunities — this violates terms. Keep external data segregated and use Salesforce's sharing model to limit what external users see.
5. Best Practices to Avoid Unnecessary Full CRM Licences in Custom App Design
How you architect Salesforce solutions directly impacts licensing costs. The critical goal is to avoid "licence creep" — inadvertently building solutions that force higher-cost licensing for users who don't need it. By thoughtfully using custom objects, permissions, and data separation, users of custom apps can remain on lower-cost Platform or Community licences instead of requiring full CRM upgrades.
Use custom objects instead of restricted standard objects. Create custom "Ticket__c" instead of standard Case (avoids Service Cloud requirement). Create custom "Policy_Deal__c" instead of standard Opportunity (avoids Sales Cloud requirement). Platform users can fully use the app.
Limit cross-over with CRM data. Custom apps linking to Accounts is fine (Platform users can see Accounts). But requiring Opportunities or Campaigns is a red flag. Either rethink the design with custom "Sales_Deal__c" objects or prepare to licence those specific users with full CRM licences.
Monitor custom object limits. Don't design solutions needing 50 custom objects if using Platform Starter (allows ~10). Use Platform Plus or spread functionality across child objects instead of top-level objects when near limits.
Plan for storage and API limits. Platform licences have lower included data storage and API call limits. Archive older data, purchase extra storage, or use middleware — don't upgrade entire user base to higher edition just for technical limits.
A large insurance company built a broker management app on Salesforce Platform. They intentionally avoided the standard Opportunity object for policy sales and created a custom "Policy_Deal__c" object. This design decision allowed hundreds of account managers to use Platform licences. Only a smaller team needing cross-selling CRM data got full Sales Cloud licences. Result: estimated 40% savings on licence costs for that application while maintaining full compliance. Architects now evaluate licence impact for every new feature request.
CIO Recommendations
Embed Licensing into Architecture Reviews
Make it standard practice that every Salesforce solution design includes a licensing impact checkpoint: "Are we using any feature that will require a higher licence for target users?" Consider design alternatives early.
Educate Business and Development Teams
Business users and developers may not realise that using a convenient standard Salesforce feature can trigger licensing needs. Explain that while Salesforce has a Case object out-of-the-box, using it for an internal process requires Service Cloud licences. Context helps teams accept custom solutions that save money.
Mix Licence Types Strategically
Don't fear a dual-licence model — 90% of users on Platform and 10% on full licences to cover different access levels. Salesforce licensing isn't all-or-nothing; a tailored approach yields the best balance of cost and functionality.
Periodically Audit Usage
Conduct annual audits aligned with contract renewals. Check whether Platform users have requested CRM features or full-licence users never use CRM. Use Salesforce usage data or surveys. Reallocate based on current needs.
Stay Informed on Licensing Policy Changes
Salesforce licensing has nuances and evolves constantly — new licence types, renamed products, changed limits. Maintain a relationship with your Salesforce account team or an independent advisor to stay updated and adjust plans accordingly.
Document Objects and Licence Mappings
Document which objects and features are used by each custom application and corresponding licence type. This helps in audits — clearly show that "Object X is custom and used by Platform users who do not access standard Object Y." Transparency prevents licensing violation surprises.
Salesforce licensing for custom applications requires deliberate architecture decisions that directly impact costs. By right-sizing licences to user needs — Platform for non-CRM apps, OEM for external products, Experience Cloud for portals — and designing solutions with custom objects rather than restricted CRM objects, enterprises can achieve 40-50%+ licence savings while maintaining full compliance. The key: embed licensing considerations into every architecture review and negotiate blended models at enterprise scale.
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