When you’re shopping for a new CRM, Salesforce is usually the first solution that comes to mind. But when you compare Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement vs. Salesforce, some clear differences emerge, especially when it comes to integration, total cost of ownership, and how much flexibility you get out of the box.

Both are powerful cloud-based CRM systems designed to help companies improve sales, marketing, and service performance. But Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 CE offers significant advantages for organizations that value connected data, seamless collaboration, and a unified platform that scales across their entire business.

Comparing the two cloud CRMs

Salesforce and Dynamics 365 CE share many of the same goals: a single view of customers, improved productivity for sales and service teams, and AI-powered insights that help leaders make smarter decisions.

Where the two platforms diverge is in their ecosystem and integration philosophy. Dynamics 365 CE is part of the broader Microsoft Dynamics business applications suite, which connects seamlessly with Microsoft Office apps, Teams, and Dynamics 365 ERP apps like Finance and Supply Chain Management. Salesforce, while strong as a standalone CRM, relies heavily on third-party tools and paid connectors to achieve the same level of integration.

That distinction has big implications for cost, scalability, and IT complexity, especially for growing organizations that want one platform to run their entire business.

Dynamics 365 CE overview

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is Microsoft’s suite of intelligent applications for managing sales, service, marketing, and field operations. Because it’s built on the Power Platform, Dynamics 365 CE allows organizations to automate processes, build custom apps, and analyze data without additional licensing or complex integrations.

Dynamics 365 CE includes dedicated modules for:

  • Sales
  • Customer Service
  • Marketing (Customer Insights – Journeys)
  • Field Service
  • Project Operations 
  • Customer Insights – Data 

Each module shares a common data model, which means customer information flows naturally across departments…no manual imports or duplicate records. This unified data layer is a major advantage over Salesforce, where many customers find themselves managing disconnected objects or relying on costly middleware. 

Salesforce overview 

Salesforce is one of the most recognizable names in the CRM world and has long been praised for its clean interface and ease of use. It offers modules for sales, service, marketing, and commerce, with advanced analytics through its CRM Analytics and Tableau products. 

However, Salesforce’s strength as a best-of-breed CRM comes with tradeoffs. It’s not part of a larger business management ecosystem like Microsoft’s. Instead, Salesforce customers often rely on a combination of connectors, third-party integrations, and additional middleware products, such as MuleSoft, to integrate to their ERP, reporting, or collaboration tools. These added layers can increase cost and complexity over time. 

Salesforce also lacks any native ERP component, which limits its ability to support truly end-to-end business processes. 

Capabilities: side-by-side comparison

Module  Dynamics 365 CE  Salesforce 
Sales  Yes  Yes 
Customer Service  Yes  Yes 
Marketing (Customer Insights – Journeys)  Yes  Yes 
Field Service  Yes  Yes 
Portals  Yes  Yes 
Project Operations  Yes  No 
Customer Insights – Data  Yes  No 
CPQ  No  Yes 
Order Management  No  Yes 
B2B & B2C Commerce  No  Yes 

Dynamics 365 vs. Salesforce: Detailed feature comparison 

Below are more detailed breakdowns about the functionality between Dynamics 365 and Salesforce. As a Microsoft product, Dynamics 365 CE integrates more easily.

Ease of integration with Dynamics 365 CE: Native Excel imports 

Dynamics CE can leverage built-in Excel capabilities that Salesforce does not have. With CE, users can update and create data with the Excel Online feature directly in the platform. This gives them the ability to make modifications in an Excel window within CE and save those modifications without ever leaving CE. Salesforce users must prepare a file with the appropriate record ids and use Salesforce’s import function or a 3rd party tool to import or bulk-update data. This typically limits these kinds of updates to system administrators or power users.  

Dynamics CE: Teams integration 

Dynamics CE has built-in integrations with Microsoft Teams that allow users to send notifications to individuals or groups, perform approval processes through Teams, or quickly collaborate with other members of their organization on records in the system. Salesforce did purchase the Slack tool; however, this is not as natively integrated within the platform at this time. 

Dynamics CE: ERP integration 

Dynamics CE comes with the ability to easily integrate with Dynamics Finance & Operations via Dual Write which carries no additional cost to the customer. There are many out of the box maps connecting core data such as Accounts, Contacts, Orders, Projects, Assets, etc. The tool also allows for custom maps and flexibility to integrate data sets seamlessly.  

Salesforce has no ERP capabilities and therefore relies on connectors with the various popular ERPs. However, these connectors typically come at a cost and are not easily customized, leading many organizations to build custom integrations that do not scale over time or purchase a platform such as Mulesoft to accommodate. This is one way that Salesforce drives up the cost by pushing Mulesoft as an ESB to support customers’ tech stacks.  

Dynamics CE: Integration with Office 365 Apps 

Many CRM implementations require some level of document generation. While more advanced documents, such as contracts, typically require an ISV, many documents can be generated using the Microsoft Word capabilities directly within CE. Salesforce does not have any native document generation tools which leads to entirely custom HTML code or the requirement to purchase an ISV.  

Licensing, Environments, and Storage costs 

Salesforce’s base license prices may look appealing initially, but costs often rise quickly once customers account for storage, sandboxes, and add-on tools. 

Dynamics 365 CE provides more value across the board: 

  • Lower storage costs: Additional database capacity is roughly $40/month per GB versus Salesforce’s $125/month per 500 MB. 
  • Included sandboxes: Dynamics provides full or partial sandboxes as part of your total storage capacity, while Salesforce charges up to 30% of annual spend for a full-copy sandbox. 
  • Attach licenses: Microsoft’s attach licensing model allows users to access multiple modules at a reduced price, something Salesforce does not offer. 

In short, while Salesforce may seem cheaper at first glance, Dynamics 365 CE offers a far better long-term cost structure for organizations that plan to scale. 

Wrapping Up: Is CRM the ONLY App You Need, or Are You Looking for Integration Across All Your Business Applications? 

Both Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Salesforce are proven CRM leaders. But for businesses seeking a platform that grows with them, Dynamics 365 CE clearly comes out ahead. 

From its deep integration with Microsoft 365 and ERP, to its cost-effective licensing model and enterprise-grade analytics, Dynamics 365 CE provides a true end-to-end business solution, all on one platform. 

FAQs 

  • What is CRM?
    CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s software that helps businesses manage interactions with customers and prospects, track sales and service activity, and analyze performance. 
  • How much does Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement cost?
    Pricing varies by module and user type, but Dynamics 365 CE generally provides better long-term value thanks to attach licenses, included sandboxes, and lower storage costs compared to Salesforce. 
  • How can I buy Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement?
    You can purchase directly through Microsoft or through a certified partner like Sunrise Technologies, which can help you design a licensing and implementation plan that fits your needs. 
  • How does Copilot work in Dynamics 365 CE?
    Microsoft Copilot uses generative AI to summarize records, draft emails, and provide recommendations directly within the Dynamics 365 interface — all powered by Azure OpenAI Service. 
  • What industries does Dynamics 365 CE support?
    Dynamics 365 CE supports a wide range of industries including retail, apparel, consumer goods, manufacturing, and professional services. 
  • What are the benefits of using Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement?
    Organizations choose Dynamics 365 CE for its tight Microsoft integration, unified data model, AI-driven insights, and lower total cost of ownership compared to Salesforce.