10 Best Pardot Alternatives B2B Marketers Use Now

Seventy percent of marketers say the industry has shifted more in the last three years than in the previous five decades. If that’s true, then the tools powering B2B marketing must evolve at the same pace. Pardot, long a staple in the marketing automation space, has seen its growth stall, and that stagnation is pushing many organizations to explore other options.

Why are teams walking away? Which platforms are they choosing instead, and what do migration experts recommend for a smooth transition? This guide covers all of that and more.

Why Teams Are Moving On From Pardot

Pardot, rebranded as Marketing Cloud Account Engagement in 2022, is Salesforce’s B2B marketing automation platform. But according to Tom Ryan, founder of MarCloud and a Pardot consultant since 2016, many users are leaving because they suspect the product is nearing its end of life.

“There’s no development on the platform,” Ryan says. “There’s a clear migration path.” For him, the writing is on the wall: “It’s just a case of ‘when’ not ‘if.’”

Beyond the fear of discontinuation, Ryan highlights revenue attribution and reporting as persistent frustrations. Attribution is “incredibly difficult if you do not know how to do it. Users need to wrestle with the Pardot-Salesforce sync,” he explains. Reporting is equally rigid. “The reports are not customizable in Pardot and therefore, people cannot get the reports they need. Clear reporting in general is very difficult for people to achieve, without consultant-level knowledge.”

In Ryan’s experience, the most frequent destination for departing Pardot users is HubSpot. “Pardot to HubSpot makes the most sense. There’s a lot of architectural similarities between Pardot and HubSpot via the connector. So there’s a familiarity there, and you get so much more.”

How to Evaluate Pardot Alternatives for B2B Teams

CRM integration should be the first checkpoint when comparing platforms. HubSpot and Zoho both come with full CRM suites, making them strong candidates for businesses ready to leave Salesforce entirely. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Next runs natively on Salesforce’s own infrastructure, so there’s no separate sync required, which removes the data silo problem Pardot has. Marketo keeps a native two-way Salesforce sync for teams staying put, and ActiveCampaign offers the same integration plus a lightweight CRM of its own for those looking to consolidate.

B2B buyers should also weigh these criteria during review:

• ABM and lead scoring: Does the platform support individual lead scoring and coordinated account-level outreach?Pardot Alternatives at a Glance| Platform | Key Features | CRM Integration | Best For | Trade Offs | Pricing Starts At | |———-|————-|—————-|———-|————|——————-| | HubSpot Marketing Hub | Marketing automation, lead scoring, reporting, unified data | HubSpot CRM + Salesforce sync | Marketers wanting one unified platform | Costs rise sharply above Starter tier | Free, then $10/user/month | | Salesforce Marketing Cloud Next | AI agents, real-time personalization, unified data | Salesforce | Businesses deeply rooted in the Salesforce ecosystem | Steep learning curve, built for scale | $1,500/organization/month | | Marketo | Enterprise automation, ABM tools, attribution | Salesforce sync | Complex B2B teams that have outgrown Pardot | Expensive, complex | Custom pricing only | | ActiveCampaign | Multi-channel automation, lightweight CRM | ActiveCampaign CRM + Salesforce sync | Smaller teams wanting simplicity | Steep price jumps between tiers | $15/month | | Zoho | Lead scoring, multi-channel automation | Zoho CRM | Budget-conscious teams, simple needs | Less robust, weaker Salesforce sync | $19/month |Pardot Alternatives in Detail1. HubSpot Marketing AutomationHubSpot Marketing Automation lets teams build multi-step B2B nurture workflows that trigger on behavior, lifecycle stage, or CRM data. It’s designed for marketers who want everything under one roof with HubSpot’s Smart CRM, directly addressing the siloed design and clunky features that frustrate Pardot users. Teams can either replace Salesforce with HubSpot CRM or use the native two-way sync to keep contacts, companies, deals, and activity history aligned across both.Key features include:
• Marketing automation: Build and adjust multi-step nurture workflows yourself, without rigid Pardot constraints.Reviews consistently point to ease of use as the top strength, followed by email marketing, automation, and intuitive design. The learning curve and missing features are the most cited drawbacks.Pricing: Free plan for up to 2 users. Paid plans start at $10/month/seat.What stands out: HubSpot’s modern, user-friendly interface and all-in-one platform that syncs marketing, sales, and CRM. The drag-and-drop email and campaign builders let you iterate and launch without waiting on developers.2. Salesforce Marketing Cloud NextSalesforce positions Marketing Cloud Next as the successor for Pardot customers. Unlike Pardot, which runs as a separate connected system, Marketing Cloud Next is built natively on Data Cloud. That said, it isn’t right for every team, especially those looking to reduce Salesforce dependency. It’s a large, expensive platform suited to organizations already deeply embedded in the Salesforce ecosystem.Key features:
• Built on Salesforce’s core platform with one unified data foundation across customer, campaign, and revenue data“Salesforce is directing customers to their new platform called Marketing Cloud Next… but essentially what this is doing is prompting a wider tech review,” Ryan says. Many customers use the moment to evaluate their full stack rather than migrate blindly. “It isn’t necessarily that people are blindly going towards Marketing Cloud Next. Quite a lot of customers are going. The most common direction is HubSpot.”The Pardot-to-HubSpot shift is so common that Ryan’s firm MarCloud transitioned from a Pardot-specific consultancy to earning Diamond Solutions Partner status with HubSpot. Some customers do choose Marketing Cloud Next, particularly if they already use other Salesforce tools like Data Cloud or Agentforce.Reviews on Agentforce Marketing, which includes Marketing Cloud Next, are mixed on usability. Ease of use gets praise, but learning curve and complexity are recurring concerns.Pricing: Growth Edition starts at $1,500/organization/month.Best for: Large companies that want to stay within the Salesforce ecosystem.3. Adobe Marketo EngageMarketo is a robust enterprise automation platform that suits customers who have outgrown Pardot. It brings more complexity and a higher budget requirement, and users report that it prioritizes features over ease of use. Teams with the time and resources to invest in setup and customization will find the tradeoff worthwhile.Key features:
• Native two-way sync with Salesforce for leads, contacts, and campaignsReviews highlight automation and ease of use as strengths, while the learning curve, unintuitive design, and complexity are the main drawbacks.Pricing: Adobe requires a sales call for a quote; no public pricing is available.What stands out: Marketo’s AI conversational interface lets teams write and test code directly within the platform, reducing developer handoffs.4. ActiveCampaignActiveCampaign is an AI-forward automation platform with a lightweight CRM built in. It offers multi-channel automation and a native two-way Salesforce sync, making it a solid choice for smaller teams that want simplicity over Pardot’s complexity. One caveat: pricing jumps are steep between tiers, and the company has raised prices for existing customers, which scaling businesses should factor in.Key features:
• Lightweight native CRM with Salesforce sync for contacts, leads, and email engagement dataUsers praise ease of use and automation. The most common complaints are the learning curve and weak reporting, with limited reporting features cited repeatedly.Pricing: Plans start at $15/month and scale quickly with contact count.What stands out: The “active intelligence” feature lets users prompt the AI in spoken language for any function, a major shift from Pardot’s code-heavy design.5. Zoho Marketing AutomationZoho Marketing Automation syncs natively with Zoho’s own CRM and across marketing channels. It uses customer data to score leads, generate campaigns, and personalize outreach. As a budget-friendly alternative, it’s less robust than other platforms but works well for small businesses with straightforward data needs.Key features:
• Connects to Salesforce for lead data via a third-party connection rather than native syncReviews praise the automation solutions but flag customer service and reporting as weak points.Pricing: Plans start at $19/month for 1,000 contacts.What stands out: Zoho is a cost-effective option for companies ready to move off Salesforce entirely, whereas many Pardot leavers choose to keep Salesforce as their CRM.Which Pardot Alternative Fits Your Use Case?
• HubSpot Marketing Hub: Best for teams wanting speed, ease, and unity across marketing, sales, and CRM. The drag-and-drop email builder and lead management tools make it a popular choice.How to Migrate From Pardot With Minimal RiskA low-risk migration requires careful data mapping, workflow translation, QA, and phased rollout. Ryan says underestimating the translation factor is one of the most common mistakes.Campaign attribution modeling, for example, differs across platforms. “A Salesforce campaign is a completely different object from a HubSpot campaign… so there’s a translation there,” Ryan explains.Users need to think through where campaign attribution lives, how it operates across systems, and whether existing Salesforce hierarchies are worth preserving.“If we’re going to get to campaign attribution modeling, do we do it in HubSpot? Do we do it in Salesforce? Do we do it in both? How do we want to continue operating? Because some companies have a really good campaign hierarchy in Salesforce that they’ve built, and they don’t want to lose that effort,” he shares.Ryan organizes migration priorities into three buckets: what’s needed, what’s nice to have, and what you’ll do if you have the time. With proper planning and discovery, a Pardot migration can take as little as one month.Frequently Asked Questions About Pardot AlternativesIs Pardot part of Salesforce? Yes, Pardot is part of Salesforce. It’s also known as Marketing Cloud Account Engagement or Salesforce Account Engagement. Salesforce rebranded it in 2022.How long does a typical Pardot migration take? While a fast migration can take one month, Ryan finds that a typical migration takes 2-3 months.Will we lose our lead scoring and ABM models if we switch? Yes, both need to be rebuilt. Lead scoring can’t be ported directly because Pardot uses an out-of-the-box model that doesn’t transfer. “However, scores and grades can still be retained when migrating to a new platform, for segmentation reasons,” Ryan advises. “Treat it as an opportunity to rebuild the model with the learns gained from Pardot.”ABM models face the same challenge, as Engagement Studios and automations don’t port easily. “A key consideration here when migrating is to carefully track where prospects are in a given journey, as they should continue where they left off in any new system,” he says. “Working with a partner makes this process safer and more reliable.”Can we keep Salesforce for sales but switch off Pardot? Yes. Pardot is billed as a separate line item in Salesforce, so businesses can keep CRM and Sales Cloud while switching to a different automation tool.What’s the best way to budget for the first year on a new platform? Budget for the list price at your current size, plus expected growth in seats and contacts, since tier jumps are where costs escalate fastest. Also factor in onboarding and implementation fees, which some platforms charge as mandatory in year one.Making the Switch From PardotYour marketing is only as good as your tools. When your automation platform has fallen behind, it’s time to invest in something current. These Pardot alternatives cover a range of needs, from budget-friendly simplicity to enterprise-level customization.Ready to start now? HubSpot Marketing Hub supports automation and reporting for businesses of all sizes. Speak to a sales rep or sign up and try it for free today.