Pipedrive CRM vs Agile CRM vs Salesforce: The Ultimate Comparison Guide
Updated at Oct 1, 2026
28 min to read
Einstein Bots are Salesforce's older, rule-based chatbots: you script every dialog, and they suit simple FAQs and case routing. Agentforce is Salesforce's newer AI agent layer: it reasons over your Salesforce data, takes actions, and is billed per conversation or per action. For new builds in 2026, Salesforce points customers to Agentforce.
If you run customer service or sales on Salesforce, you have probably been told you need "a chatbot". Salesforce itself now offers two very different ones. Einstein Bots, the Salesforce Einstein chatbot many teams set up years ago, follow scripts you write. Agentforce agents decide what to do next on their own. They are built differently, priced differently and suit different jobs.
This guide compares Einstein Bots vs Agentforce side by side: how each works, what each costs in 2026, how they handle languages, how you set one up, and whether you should migrate. It also covers the third option many teams miss: connecting a no-code chatbot you already use to Salesforce.
What is a Salesforce chatbot?
A Salesforce chatbot is any chatbot that reads from or writes to your Salesforce CRM. It can answer customer questions, create cases, qualify leads and update records without a human typing them in. You have two routes. You can use Salesforce's native tools, Einstein Bots or Agentforce, which run inside your Salesforce org. Or you can connect a third-party chatbot builder through a Salesforce chatbot integration, which runs the conversation on your channels and sends the results into Salesforce.
What are Einstein Bots?
Einstein Bots are Salesforce's rule-based chatbots for customer service. You build each bot as a set of dialogs: a greeting, a menu, questions, and the steps that run when a customer picks an option. Natural language understanding helps the bot match what a customer types to the right dialog, but every path is designed by an admin in advance.
Einstein Bots work well for high-volume, predictable requests:
- Checking an order or case status
- Answering common questions from a fixed list
- Collecting a customer's details before handing over to an agent
- Routing a conversation to the right queue
Einstein Bots are available on Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited and Developer editions and need Service Cloud Unlimited or Digital Engagement licences. Each applicable licence includes 25 bot conversations per month (Salesforce Ben). They run on Salesforce's messaging channels, including web and in-app messaging, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and SMS.
What is Agentforce?
Agentforce is Salesforce's platform for AI agents. Instead of following a script, an Agentforce agent reads the customer's request, decides which "topic" it belongs to, and chooses which "actions" to run, such as looking up an order, updating a record or creating a case. It uses a large language model to reason and your Salesforce data to act.
For customer conversations, the relevant product is the Agentforce Service Agent. You build it with Agentforce Builder: you describe the agent's job, add topics, and connect actions (Flows, Apex or prompts). You do not draw every conversation path. That makes Agentforce better at messy, multi-step requests, and also harder to predict, so testing matters more.
Einstein Bots vs Agentforce: key differences
In short: Einstein Bots are cheaper and more predictable for simple jobs. Agentforce handles more of the conversation without a human, but costs more to run and takes more care to test.
How much do Einstein Bots and Agentforce cost?
Einstein Bots come with eligible Service Cloud and Digital Engagement licences, with a monthly conversation allowance per licence. Agentforce pricing is separate and has several models. These are Salesforce's list prices as of August 2026 (Agentforce pricing):
| Option | List price (USD) | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Einstein Bots | Included with eligible licences | 25 bot conversations per licence per month |
| Agentforce Conversations | $2 per conversation | Each customer conversation handled by an agent |
| Agentforce Flex Credits | $500 per 100,000 credits | Per action; a standard action uses 20 credits, about $0.10 (Salesforce) |
| Agentforce User License | $5 per user per month | Seat access; actions still use Flex Credits |
| Agentforce add-ons (Sales, Service, Field Service & Operations) | $125 per user per month | Per user |
| Agentforce Industries add-ons | $150 per user per month | Per user |
| Agentforce 1 Editions | From $550 per user per month | Includes an add-on plus 2.5 million Flex Credits per org per year |
| Salesforce Foundations | $0 | Includes Agentforce Builder and Prompt Builder |
Salesforce sells these on three buying models: pre-purchase, pre-commit and pay-as-you-go. Prices change often, so check the pricing page and your contract before you budget. A simple way to compare: if an agent handles 2,000 customer conversations a month on the Conversations model, the agent alone costs about $4,000 a month at list price.
Should you move from Einstein Bots to Agentforce?
Not automatically. Salesforce had not announced an end-of-life date for Einstein Bots as of March 2026, and existing bots keep running. But Salesforce's new features go into Agentforce, and it recommends Agentforce for new builds.
Two facts shape the decision:
- There is no in-place upgrade. An Einstein Bot's dialogs do not convert into an Agentforce agent. Salesforce offers a beta tool, "Create AI Agents From Einstein Bots", that gives you a starting draft, but you still rebuild and retest (Concret.io).
- Legacy Chat is gone. Salesforce retired legacy Chat on 14 February 2026. Bots now need to run on Messaging for In-App and Web (Salesforce Help). If you are rebuilding the channel anyway, it is a natural time to decide.
Keep Einstein Bots if they handle simple requests well and your team has no budget for per-conversation pricing. Move to Agentforce if customers regularly get stuck in your bot's menus, or if most conversations end with a human doing a lookup the agent could do.
Do Salesforce chatbots support multiple languages?
Yes, both Einstein Bots and Agentforce support conversations in multiple languages, but the supported list differs by product and feature and changes between releases. Check Salesforce Help for your edition before you promise a language to customers.
Plan three things for a multilingual bot, whichever tool you use:
- Language detection: decide whether the bot detects the language or asks the customer to choose.
- Translated content: your knowledge articles and answers need to exist in each language. Machine translation of a chat helps agents, but it does not replace translated answers.
- Handover: route each language to agents who can read it, or give agents a translation view.
Third-party builders handle this differently. BotPenguin, for example, lets you set your bot's language, translate a chat for your agents in the inbox, and generate AI summaries of conversations in your preferred language.
How do you set up a chatbot in Salesforce?
The native setup is done by a Salesforce admin in Setup. The outline is:
- Set up the channel. Configure Messaging for In-App and Web (or WhatsApp, Messenger or SMS) in your org.
- Create the bot or agent. For Einstein Bots, turn on Einstein Bots in Setup and create a new bot. For Agentforce, open Agentforce Agents and create an agent from the Agentforce Service Agent template.
- Build the logic. Einstein Bots: dialogs, intents and rules. Agentforce: topics, instructions and actions.
- Connect it to the channel and test. Test common requests and edge cases, including how the bot hands over to a human.
- Activate and monitor. Review transcripts in the first weeks and fix the paths where customers drop off.
Salesforce's free Trailhead module "Einstein Bots Basics" walks through the Einstein Bots steps with a practice org.
When does a third-party chatbot make more sense?
Native Salesforce bots are the right choice when your service team lives in Service Cloud, you have the licences, and your customers mainly reach you on channels Salesforce messaging supports. A third-party chatbot connected to Salesforce is often the better fit when:
- You don't have Service Cloud Unlimited or Digital Engagement licences, and adding them costs more than the bot is worth.
- Your leads start on WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram or your website, and marketing, not a Salesforce admin, runs those conversations.
- You want a fixed monthly plan rather than per-conversation or per-action pricing.
- You want to launch this week without Salesforce development work.
BotPenguin is a no-code builder for AI agents, chatbots and voice agents. You build one bot, run it on your website, a WhatsApp chatbot, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and SMS, and connect it to Salesforce with OAuth. The bot qualifies each lead in the conversation, sends it to Salesforce in real time, updates contact details and can trigger your Salesforce workflows. BotPenguin AI agents can also push and pull CRM data during a conversation. Salesforce is one of BotPenguin's 80+ integrations and is included in the King plan. The BotPenguin help guide for Salesforce shows every setup screen.
Frequently asked questions
Is Salesforce replacing Einstein Bots with Agentforce?
Not formally. As of March 2026, Salesforce had not announced an end-of-life date for Einstein Bots, and existing bots continue to run. Salesforce's product investment has moved to Agentforce, and it recommends Agentforce Service Agent for new customer-facing builds. If you already run Einstein Bots, you can keep them, but plan any major new work on Agentforce.
Can you upgrade an Einstein Bot to Agentforce?
No, there is no in-place upgrade, because the two tools are built from different parts: Einstein Bots use scripted dialogs and Agentforce uses topics and actions. Salesforce offers a beta tool, "Create AI Agents From Einstein Bots", that creates a draft agent from an existing bot, and Salesforce Support has to enable it. Treat the result as a starting point and plan to rebuild and retest.
How much does Agentforce cost per conversation?
Salesforce lists Agentforce Conversations at $2 per conversation. Alternatively, you can pay per action with Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 credits, where a standard action uses 20 credits, about $0.10. Per-user options start at $5 per user per month for the Agentforce User License, which still needs Flex Credits, and $125 per user per month for the Sales or Service add-ons.
Is Agentforce included in Salesforce?
Partly. Salesforce lists Salesforce Foundations at $0, which includes Agentforce Builder and Prompt Builder, so you can start building agents. Running agents with customers is charged through Conversations, Flex Credits or per-user add-ons, depending on your contract. Ask your Salesforce account team what your current edition includes before you plan a rollout.
Can chatbots be used in Salesforce on WhatsApp?
Yes. Einstein Bots and Agentforce can run on WhatsApp through Salesforce's messaging channels, which need the right Digital Engagement or messaging setup in your org. Third-party builders such as BotPenguin run the WhatsApp conversation themselves and send the captured lead or contact into Salesforce, which avoids the Salesforce messaging setup.
Can I use a third-party chatbot with Salesforce?
Yes. Many teams run their chatbot outside Salesforce and connect it to the CRM. With BotPenguin, you connect Salesforce with OAuth using your Salesforce domain, Client ID and Client Secret, map chatbot fields to Salesforce fields, and test with a sample lead. Several BotPenguin bots can connect to the same Salesforce org. The integration is part of the King plan.
Which Salesforce chatbot option should you choose?
For Einstein Bots vs Agentforce, the choice comes down to how predictable your conversations are and how you want to pay. Einstein Bots suit simple, scripted service requests if you already have the licences. Agentforce suits complex requests that need your Salesforce data and actions, at a per-conversation or per-action price. If your leads start on WhatsApp, Instagram or your website and you want a fixed plan with no Salesforce development, connect a no-code chatbot to Salesforce instead.
Want to see how that works? Start a free BotPenguin trial, build your bot, and connect it to Salesforce in under 10 minutes.
