How Many Subscribers Does Salesforce Have In 2024?

Salesforce is one of the leading customer relationship management (CRM) platforms in the world. Since its founding in 1999, Salesforce has grown rapidly to become a dominant force in the CRM industry. So how many subscribers does Salesforce actually have today? Let‘s take a deep dive into the numbers.

A Brief History of Salesforce

Salesforce was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff and Frank Dominguez. The company set out to disrupt the enterprise software industry by delivering software as a cloud-based service rather than the traditional on-premise model.

This innovative approach resonated with businesses, and Salesforce saw swift growth in its early years. By 2004, just 5 years after launch, Salesforce had signed up over 29,000 customers. Fast forward to 2022, and Salesforce now has over 150,000 customers using its software.

Salesforce‘s Market Share

According to IDC research, Salesforce holds 23.8% of the total CRM market share as of 2021. This makes Salesforce the undisputed leader in the CRM software industry:

Salesforce – 23.8%
SAP – 5.4%
Microsoft – 5.3%
Oracle – 5.1%
Adobe – 3.8%

When looking specifically at sales-focused CRM, Salesforce dominates even further with 41.4% market share.

For customer service CRM applications, Salesforce again leads at 45.5% market share. This puts them firmly ahead of competitors like Oracle, Zendesk and others.

So across sales, service and overall CRM, Salesforce maintains approximately 150,000 customers and 25% market share on average.

Salesforce‘s Revenue Growth

In tandem with Salesforce‘s growing subscriber base, the company‘s revenues have skyrocketed over the past decade:

2013 – $3 billion
2014 – $4 billion
2015 – $5.3 billion
2016 – $6.67 billion
2017 – $8.39 billion
2018 – $10.48 billion
2019 – $13.3 billion
2020 – $17.1 billion
2021 – $21.25 billion
2022 (projected) – $26.49 billion

Driving this revenue growth is Salesforce‘s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model based on recurring subscriptions. As Salesforce has added more customers over the years, subscription revenues have compounded year-over-year.

Additionally, Salesforce has made several major acquisitions to accelerate growth, including MuleSoft ($6.5 billion), Tableau ($15.7 billion), and Slack ($27.7 billion). These purchases have expanded Salesforce‘s product capabilities while also translating to more cross-selling opportunities.

Salesforce Customers

With over 150,000 companies trusting Salesforce for CRM, the subscriber base spans virtually every industry vertical. However, some common traits stand out amongst Salesforce customers:

Fortune 500 – Over 83% of Fortune 500 companies use Salesforce, including Amazon, Adobe, Toyota, American Express and more. Larger enterprises are drawn to Salesforce for its security, scalability and extensiveness functionality.

High-Growth – Younger, high-growth companies also flock to Salesforce, such as Spotify, SurveyMonkey, Dropbox and HubSpot. These firms leverage Salesforce to rapidly stand up sales infrastructure as they scale.

Innovative Brands – Innovative, customer-centric brands like Netflix, Airbnb and Uber all turn to Salesforce to deliver personalized, high-touch customer experiences.

While the majority of subscribers are large enterprises, Salesforce is also popular with commercial mid-market businesses, state and local government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits.

Salesforce Product Ecosystem

As evidenced above, Salesforce offers an extensive platform spanning sales, service, marketing, e-commerce and more. Let‘s examine some of the key products and their market shares:

Sales Cloud – Salesforce‘s original sales force automation solution. Holds 41.4% market share.

Service Cloud – Web and mobile based customer service application. Dominates its category with 45.5% share.

Marketing Cloud – Digital marketing suite for journey building, email, mobile, social ads and more.

Commerce Cloud – Cloud e-commerce platform for B2B and B2C use cases. Acquired from Demandware.

Mulesoft – Integration platform for connecting SaaS apps and APIs. Added via one of Salesforce‘s largest purchases.

Tableau – Business intelligence and advanced data visualization solution. Salesforce‘s priciest acquisition at $15.7 billion.

Slack – Popular business messaging app for collaboration. Latest major addition to ecosystem after 2021‘s $27.7 billion buyout.

With this robust cloud platform encompassing critical business capabilities, it‘s no surprise 150,000+ companies subscribe to Salesforce.

Salesforce Financials

Behind the scenes, Salesforce has achieved tremendous financial success to become one of the largest SaaS vendors worldwide:

$26.5 billion in revenue (2022 estimate)
$1.44 billion in net income (2022 projection)
Over $42 billion in assets (Q3 FY2023)
209% share price gain over past 5 years
Approximately $300 billion market capitalization

Despite its massive size, Salesforce continues putting up 20%+ annual revenue growth quarter after quarter. Profitability has also risen steadily since early net losses, with net margins now over 5%.

Cash reserves give Salesforce fuel for further acquisitions to enhance its ecosystem. The company also returns value to shareholders via share buybacks and a modest dividend.

Thanks to this standout financial performance, Salesforce now ranks in the Fortune 500 and is closing in on becoming part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Salesforce Workplace and Sustainability

Salesforce employs over 73,000 people globally after growing headcount more than 150% over the past 5 years. The company has won accolades as a top workplace from Fortune, Forbes, Glassdoor and more.

Known for its culture of philanthropy, Salesforce has donated over $340 million in grants alongside nearly 4 million employee volunteer hours. It also provides free or discounted software access to over 56,000 nonprofits and NGOs.

On the sustainability front, Salesforce has spearheaded ambitious goals of achieving net zero emissions and 100% renewable energy by 2040. They are additionally focused on responsible water usage, waste management and leveraging technology for public good.

Through its stellar business performance coupled with ethical leadership, it‘s no surprise Salesforce has amassed over 150,000 loyal subscribers.

Conclusion

Insummary, Salesforce has over 150,000 customers relying on its cloud software across sales, service, marketing and commerce. The global 2000 leader reaches $26 billion in revenues fromRecurring subscriptions while maintaining over 25% market share in CRM.

With innovative products and philanthropic values under the helm of Marc Benioff, expect Salesforce‘s subscriber count and positive societal impact to keep rising in the years ahead.