Salesforce and Zoho CRM are both great products. So why do I prefer Zoho? Quite simply, it’s a lot better “bang for the buck.” There are a number of reasons for this. Salesforce has long expanded through big acquisitions and even bigger buildings.
Salesforce Software Acquisitions
Over the years Salesforce has made between 65 and 70 acquisitions; the cost for the top 3 acquired products alone has been over 65 billion dollars. These moves help Salesforce build a broad platform, but at a steep cost. I have to laugh when I see the price tag on some of the Salesforce acquisitions; Zoho already had “Cliq” which is a great Slack alternative. And why par $8 Billion for Informatica’s AI when you already have a fully developed AI system in Zoho?
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Jigsaw ($142M, 2010) – boosted CRM with enriched contact data.
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Slack ($27.7B, 2020–21) – turned Salesforce into a collaboration hub.
- Informatica ($8B, 2025) – strengthens AI and data management.
Salesforce Real Estate Holdings
Salesforce owns a total of 9 office towers in 9 major cities including San Francisco, Sydney and London. These buildings are estimated to be worth over 85 billion dollars. I visited London recently and never saw the Salesforce tower. I did, however, notice the Zoho advertisements plastered up and down the walls of just about every Underground stop in the city.
Research and Development
Salesforce is a publicly traded company. The bottom line is that their bottom line must remain enticing for investors. Couple that with with all those software and real estate holdings and there’s not much left in the piggy bank for research and development.
Zoho takes a different route—rather than spending billions on acquisitions, Zoho invests heavily in research and development. This keeps prices lower (CRM plans from $14/month), ensures products are tightly integrated, and gives small and mid-sized businesses an affordable all-in-one alternative.
The takeaway: Salesforce buys growth, while Zoho builds it—passing the savings and simplicity to its customers.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on both Salesforce and Zoho. Feel free to comment below.
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