Salesforce
salesforce.com · CRM and sales
Cloud CRM and customer platform used by sales, service and marketing teams.
97 open items · 76 source threads · 1 source type · updated 2026-06
This page rests on 76 Hacker News threads. No other public source type applies to Salesforce yet; every item links to the comment it came from.
No items match these filters.
Pain points 76
| Item | Area | Severity | Support | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High switching costs keep unhappy customers on Salesforce The author says they know no one who likes Salesforce, but organizational, data, and software switching costs prevent customers from moving to a marginally better CRM. Affects: Existing CRM customers |
Data export & migration | Causes churn | 2 sources | 2026-02 |
| ||||
| Replacement chatbot frustrates customers Customers reportedly disliked Salesforce’s chatbot because it could not handle many questions beyond basic ones. Some customers reconsidered their Salesforce spending, reduced it, or switched CRM providers. Affects: Salesforce customers |
Support | Causes churn | 1 source | 2025-09 |
| ||||
| Salesforce Marketing Cloud documentation blocked implementation A client’s Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation relied on documentation described as incomplete, outdated, and impractical to follow. The project was abandoned after four months and substantial spending on Salesforce and a partner. Affects: A client implementing an industry-specific solution with a partner |
Documentation | Causes churn | 1 source | 2024-05 |
| ||||
| Salesforce is costly and cumbersome for startups The commenter says startups can spend heavily configuring Salesforce or end up with a messy setup, while employees and salespeople may dislike using it. They warn that adopting it too early can slow team growth. Affects: Startups and their sales teams |
Pricing & plans | Causes churn | 1 source | 2022-11 |
| ||||
| Community permissions exposed other users’ data A Salesforce database maintenance incident cleared permission settings, allowing external users to see data belonging to other users for nine hours. The team discovered the exposure through advanced logging. Affects: Salesforce customers using Portal or Community tools for external users |
Permissions & security | Causes churn | 1 source | 2022-05 |
| ||||
| Exported Salesforce data cannot be restored with original identifiers Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Data export & migration | Causes churn | 1 source | 2021-05 |
| Large Salesforce ETL operations can require extended downtime Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reliability & bugs | Causes churn | 1 source | 2016-11 |
| Salesforce limits product customization Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Customization | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-02 |
| Salesforce may lack auditing and reliability needed for critical records Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reliability & bugs | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-02 |
| Small businesses pay enterprise prices for unused Salesforce features Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-01 |
| High Salesforce bills for basic CRM use Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-01 |
| OmniScript PDF generation can take over 30 seconds Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-01 |
| Stale Salesforce fixtures can hide field-type changes Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-12 |
| Agents need separate tabs for calls and chats Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-12 |
| Salesforce interoperability is difficult Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-06 |
| Salesforce basic features are described as overpriced Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-04 |
| Copilot cannot access Salesforce data Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-03 |
| Salesforce checkout system blocked a Pro Tools purchase Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reliability & bugs | Blocks work | 1 source | 2025-01 |
| Salesforce setups can become dead ends Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Customization | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-12 |
| Salesforce is very expensive Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-10 |
| MuleSoft documentation lacks practical guidance Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Documentation | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-10 |
| Salesforce is difficult for volunteers to use Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-06 |
| Salesforce pricing is high relative to company revenue Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-06 |
| Shield encryption is costly and limits queries Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Permissions & security | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-06 |
| Slack performs poorly on weak networks Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-05 |
| Salesforce CPQ onboarding and configuration are painful Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Setup & onboarding | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-05 |
| Keeping Salesforce and backend data in sync is difficult and costly Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-03 |
| Fragile local Apex development sync scripts Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-11 |
| Salesforce record tables are empty with VoiceOver on Mac Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-10 |
| Per-seat pricing can charge for unused Salesforce seats Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-10 |
| Complex Salesforce flows are hard to understand and diff Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-09 |
| Restrictive API patterns slow development Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-08 |
| Salesforce IdP token validity is undocumented Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-06 |
| Salesforce would not run in Firefox Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reliability & bugs | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-04 |
| Poor integration of acquired products Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-04 |
| CRM projects can leave Salesforce data stale and duplicated Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Setup & onboarding | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-02 |
| Salesforce user interactions can be slow Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2022-12 |
| Unusual requirements make Salesforce changes hard to iterate Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Customization | Blocks work | 1 source | 2022-12 |
| Customers say Salesforce failed to disclose a data exposure Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Support | Blocks work | 1 source | 2022-05 |
| Salesforce feels overwhelming for tiny teams Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-12 |
| Salesforce minimum licenses and annual contracts Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-11 |
| Salesforce data is disconnected from product and marketing data Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-11 |
| Ticket workflow rejects tickets with blank fields Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-08 |
| Salesforce user experience is sluggish Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-05 |
| Salesforce feels clunky and unwieldy to use Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-05 |
| Salesforce development limits make coding frustrating Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2021-04 |
| Salesforce Commerce Cloud limits ecommerce scaling Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2020-12 |
| Salesforce described as expensive with poor UX Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2020-08 |
| Salesforce is described as difficult to integrate Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2020-07 |
| Salesforce pages take seven to ten seconds to load Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2020-07 |
| Apex limitations frustrate Salesforce consultants Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2019-11 |
| Salesforce record pages and interactions load slowly Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2018-07 |
| Salesforce REST and Batch APIs require separate implementations Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2018-07 |
| Apex and Salesforce platform are inflexible and slow to develop Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2016-11 |
| Salesforce development languages have confusing limitations and gotchas Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2016-06 |
| A project was forced onto Salesforce without prior planning Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2016-04 |
| Salesforce Java requirement conflicts with other software Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reliability & bugs | Blocks work | 1 source | 2016-03 |
| Salesforce integrations and data make switching costly Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Data export & migration | Blocks work | 1 source | 2015-05 |
| API limits delay Salesforce account updates Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2015-05 |
| Salesforce support ticketing is slow and hard to navigate Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Blocks work | 1 source | 2015-05 |
| Salesforce views cannot filter by related object values Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reporting & analytics | Blocks work | 1 source | 2015-03 |
| Developer platform limitations constrain Salesforce projects Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2014-11 |
| Complex data models and reports hit platform limits Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reporting & analytics | Blocks work | 1 source | 2014-11 |
| High fees for Salesforce and add-on analytics Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2014-11 |
| Salesforce reporting is slow and cumbersome Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Reporting & analytics | Blocks work | 1 source | 2013-06 |
| Mass changes are painful to perform in Salesforce Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2012-07 |
| SFMC navigation requires too many clicks Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Annoyance | 1 source | 2025-03 |
| Salesforce development feels worse than other programming languages Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Annoyance | 1 source | 2021-05 |
| Salesforce integrations feel restrictive to developers Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Annoyance | 1 source | 2020-09 |
| Salesforce development is limiting and frustrating Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Annoyance | 1 source | 2019-06 |
| Salesforce Commerce Cloud certificate setup is painful Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Annoyance | 1 source | 2018-05 |
| Salesforce platform limits hinder ETL work Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Performance | Annoyance | 1 source | 2018-02 |
| Too many Salesforce administration interfaces Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Annoyance | 1 source | 2015-10 |
| Salesforce entity homepages cannot be rearranged Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Customization | Annoyance | 1 source | 2015-03 |
| Salesforce is painful for outbound sales Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Annoyance | 1 source | 2014-08 |
| Salesforce feels dated Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Annoyance | 1 source | 2013-06 |
Feature requests 6
| Item | Area | Severity | Support | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-source, AI-native CRM for startups The author sees an opportunity for an open-source, AI-native Salesforce alternative aimed at startups and asks whether others are looking to switch. Affects: Startups |
Other | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-01 |
| ||||
| Allow third-party clients through open APIs The user argues Salesforce should offer open APIs so customers can use alternative clients instead of being forced to use the official app. |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-01 |
| ||||
| Include Evergreen functions in standard licensing The consultant hopes Salesforce Evergreen serverless functions and compute are included in standard licensing, noting that persuading companies to pay extra could be difficult. Affects: Salesforce consultants and their clients |
Pricing & plans | Blocks work | 1 source | 2019-11 |
| ||||
| More guidance on setting up Salesforce CRM AI agent knowledge bases The user wants to understand how difficult it is to set up a knowledge base for an enterprise Salesforce CRM AI agent. Affects: Enterprise teams adopting AI agents |
Setup & onboarding | Annoyance | 1 source | 2025-03 |
| ||||
| Add warehouse management to Salesforce’s commerce suite The commenter says Salesforce’s commerce, order management, CPQ, and reporting offerings lack a warehouse management system, which they see as the remaining piece for a broader ERP-like suite. |
Other | Annoyance | 1 source | 2024-10 |
| ||||
| Show field sources and APIs in Salesforce pages Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Annoyance | 1 source | 2024-02 |
Workarounds 2
| Item | Area | Severity | Support | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce edits require brittle scripts for local code review A team exported direct Salesforce edits with the CLI, then used scripts to normalize namespaces for local diffs and PRs. The scripts were buggy, making the workflow painful. Affects: Salesforce developers |
API & developer experience | Blocks work | 1 source | 2023-11 |
| ||||
| Salesforce required customization for kits and nested BOMs Salesforce needed customization to handle kits, and the resulting support covered only a single level of nested bills of materials. |
Customization | Blocks work | 1 source | 2013-05 |
| ||||
Switching reasons 13
| Item | Area | Severity | Support | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canceled Salesforce after fixing patient management in the EMR A company had been using Salesforce for patient management because its EMR was not configured properly. After the EMR was fixed, they moved the work there and canceled Salesforce, saving $200,000 per year on Salesforce and $250,000 on consultants. Affects: Healthcare company |
Pricing & plans | Causes churn | 1 source | 2026-06 |
| ||||
| Replace Salesforce with a unified enterprise app The post describes an AI-native organizational platform that could replace separate enterprise applications, including Salesforce, and eliminate separate vendor expenses. |
Other | Causes churn | 1 source | 2025-07 |
| ||||
| Companies may replace Salesforce with internally built AI tools The commenter argues that large companies could use AI engineers to replicate Salesforce rather than pay for its CRM offering, predicting that B2B SaaS platforms will lose customers. Affects: Large companies |
Pricing & plans | Causes churn | 1 source | 2025-01 |
| ||||
| Looking for a Salesforce replacement suited to modern sales The commenter says they rarely use Salesforce beyond looking up data entered by other sales tools and wants a replacement better suited to modern sales processes. Affects: Sales teams |
Reporting & analytics | Causes churn | 1 source | 2023-07 |
| ||||
| Salesforce cost and complexity overwhelmed a small business A small-business owner switched to Zoho One after Salesforce's cost and complexity became too much. They also cite minimum user licenses and annual contracts as disadvantages compared with Zoho. Affects: Small-business owner |
Pricing & plans | Causes churn | 1 source | 2021-11 |
| ||||
| Left Salesforce after alleged treatment by its finance team Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Support | Causes churn | 1 source | 2020-11 |
| High Salesforce cost prompted move to Dynamics Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Pricing & plans | Causes churn | 1 source | 2019-05 |
| Proprietary Salesforce development platform prompted resignation Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
API & developer experience | Causes churn | 1 source | 2017-04 |
| Team replaced Salesforce with a customized CRM Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Customization | Causes churn | 1 source | 2015-05 |
| Salesforce was too painful for sales use Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Causes churn | 1 source | 2013-01 |
| Solopreneurs and small teams can use simpler tools instead Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
UI & usability | Blocks work | 1 source | 2026-01 |
| Seeking an alternative to Salesforce platform dependence Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Self-hosting & upgrades | Blocks work | 1 source | 2024-05 |
| Missing LinkedIn social graph integration makes Dynamics appealing Locked: summary and evidence are part of Sprint Pass and Pro |
Integrations | Blocks work | 1 source | 2016-12 |