Salesforce vs Proton.ai: which CRM should you choose in 2026?

Salesforce is the most configurable CRM, in five editions from $25 to $550. Proton.ai is an ERP-driven CRM for distributors, priced by quote. Compared.

Published 6 October 2026. Prices and features from each vendor's own pages.

The short answer

SalesforcePaid from $25/seat

Choose it if you want a platform you can configure to almost any sales process.

Proton.aiPaid from By quote

Choose it if you're a distributor with an ERP and a very large catalogue.

PromptLabPaid from $11.99/seat

Choose it if you sell products, and deals run on quotes, price lists, samples and orders.

Our pick for product teams

Salesforce and Proton.ai start from opposite ends. Salesforce Sales Cloud is the most configurable CRM there is, a platform you shape to almost any sales process. Proton.ai is built for one kind of company, the distributor, and plugs into its ERP.

Below, the two are compared on price, quotes and orders, AI, and messaging. Every figure comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages; Salesforce prices are per user a month, billed annually.

Salesforce vs Proton.ai at a glance

With PromptLab in the third column, so you can see where it fits.

Salesforce vs Proton.ai, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 30 September 2026	Salesforce	Proton.ai	PromptLab
Pricing
Paid plans, a month	$25 – $550per seat	Custom pricing	$11.99 – $99per seat
Number of plans	5	1	3
Free trial
Billing	Billed annually	Priced by quote after a demo	Billed monthly
Import from CSV and Excel
Sales management
Deal pipelines
Quotes	From$100/month
Sales orders	From$100/month
Sample tracking
Price lists	From$100/month
Meetings and calls
Meeting recording and transcripts	Add-on
AI meeting summaries	Add-on
AI follow-up email drafts	Add-on
Meeting scheduler and call dialer	Add-on		From$23.99/month
AI and automation
CRM fields filled in from calls	From$195/month
Connect Claude or ChatGPT (MCP)	From$195/month
Workflow automation
API and webhooks	From$195/month		From$23.99/month
Conversations
Gmail and Outlook email sync
WhatsApp conversations	Add-on
Telegram conversations
Save LinkedIn profiles	Via marketplace
Privacy and security
Single sign-on (SSO)			From$99/month

Pricing: $25 to $550 against custom pricing

Salesforce publishes five editions from $25 to $550 a user a month, billed annually, and offers a free trial.

Proton.ai doesn't publish prices. Pricing comes by quote after a demo, and there's no free trial. You can plan a Salesforce budget from its pricing page; with Proton.ai you can't until you've spoken to its team.

A platform to build against a distributor product

Salesforce gives you the tools to model almost any sales process, plus Agentforce AI and AppExchange for integrations. Building it usually takes an admin or a partner.

Proton.ai reads customers, quotes and orders from the ERP, from SAP and NetSuite to AS/400 green screens. It then tells reps who to call, what to sell and who is due to reorder, across catalogues as large as 500,000 SKUs.

Quotes, orders and price lists

Both handle quotes and sales orders. In Salesforce they start on Pro Suite at $100 a user, and price lists come with it. Proton.ai includes quotes and sales orders but has no price lists.

Neither tracks samples. In Salesforce that would mean a custom object someone has to build.

Meetings and AI

Salesforce sells call recording, meeting summaries and follow-up drafts in Sales Engagement, a $50 add-on per user a month. Filling CRM fields from calls and MCP support start at $195.

Proton.ai doesn't record meetings and has no MCP server. It does include follow-up drafts and CRM autofill, and its assistant, Pronto, helps reps prepare for calls and log notes by voice.

Messaging, LinkedIn and sign-in

Salesforce sells WhatsApp as an add-on and reaches LinkedIn through its marketplace. Neither CRM supports Telegram.

Single sign-on is included in Salesforce. Proton.ai doesn't offer it. Both include workflows, email sync and an API, though Salesforce's API starts at $195.

We make PromptLab, so here is why product teams pick it over both.

Why PromptLab is the better choice for teams that sell products

PromptLab is a CRM for B2B teams that sell products. On their entry plans, neither Salesforce nor Proton.ai includes sample tracking, price lists, meeting recording, AI meeting summaries, Claude and ChatGPT over MCP and WhatsApp. PromptLab has all of them on every plan, from $11.99 a user a month.

Quotes, price lists and orders on day one
PromptLab ships quotes, price lists, sales orders and sample tracking on the $11.99 Basic plan. They sit on the account and the deal, ready as soon as your customers are imported.
Salesforce vs PromptLab, in full
Prepared before the meeting, recorded during it
PromptLab writes a brief before each meeting, then records and transcribes it in over 100 languages. Afterwards you get the summary, a follow-up email draft and CRM fields filled in from the call.
Proton.ai vs PromptLab, in full
Recording and autofill without an add-on
We do all of it on every plan: we record the meeting, write the summary, draft the follow-up email and update the deal from what the customer actually said.
Salesforce vs PromptLab, in full

Try PromptLab free14-day free trial on Basic and Professional.

Which should you choose?

Choose Salesforce if…

You want a platform you can configure to almost any sales process.
You have an admin or partner to build and maintain it.
You need single sign-on, AppExchange apps or MCP on the higher editions.

Choose Proton.ai if…

You're a distributor with an ERP and a very large catalogue.
You want reorder prompts and what-to-sell guidance in front of every rep.
You want quotes and orders fed straight from your ERP.

Choose PromptLab if…

You sell products, and deals run on quotes, price lists, samples and orders.
You want every meeting recorded, summarised and written into the CRM on every plan.
Buyers answer on WhatsApp or Telegram as well as email.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Salesforce cost compared with Proton.ai?

Salesforce runs from $25 to $550 a user a month across five editions, billed annually. Proton.ai gives custom pricing by quote after a demo, so there's no public number to compare.

Does Proton.ai offer a free trial?

No. Salesforce offers a free trial. Proton.ai shows pricing only after a demo.

Do Salesforce and Proton.ai both have sales orders?

Yes. Salesforce includes them from Pro Suite at $100 a user a month, and Proton.ai includes them as part of its platform. Only Salesforce has price lists, and neither tracks samples.

Can I connect Claude or ChatGPT to either?

Salesforce supports MCP from $195 a user a month, billed annually. Proton.ai has no MCP server.

Is there an alternative to Salesforce and Proton.ai for teams that sell products?

PromptLab. It is a CRM for B2B teams that sell products, with quotes, price lists, sales orders and sample tracking, recorded and summarised meetings, and email, WhatsApp and Telegram in one inbox, on every plan from $11.99 a user a month with a 14-day free trial.