Salesforce.com Licenses

I've seen alot of questions lately regarding Salesforce.com licenses and what they can and cannot do. There have been a number of AppExchange installations that have failed because of wrong user licenses or features. Salesforce.com doesn't seem to publish detailed info about the underlying accessibility of licenses but here is a good list of licenses based upon parts of the user help and other sources. This situation is also complicated further by custom licenses that can be purchased from Salesforce.com.

Salesforce.com Users

Salesforce - This is the most commonly purchased license. Designed for users who require full access to standard CRM and Force.com AppExchange apps. Users with a Salesforce user license are entitled to access any standard or custom app.

Salesforce Platform - Designed for users who need access to custom apps but not to standard CRM functionality. Users with a Salesforce Platform user license are entitled to use custom apps developed in your organization or installed from Force.com AppExchange. In addition, they are entitled to use core platform functionality such as accounts, contacts, reports, dashboards, documents, and custom tabs. However, these users are not entitled to some user permissions and standard apps, including standard tabs and objects such as forecasts and opportunities. Salesforce Platform users can also use Connect Offline.

Salesforce Platform Light - Designed for users who need access to custom apps but not to standard CRM functionality. Users with a Salesforce Platform Light user license are entitled to the same rights as Salesforce Platform users, except the amount of times the user can log in is limited monthly.

Force.com - One App - Designed for users who need access to one custom app but not to standard CRM functionality. Force.com - One App users are entitled to the same rights as Salesforce Platform users, plus they have access to an unlimited number of custom tabs. However, they are limited to the use of one custom app, which is defined as up to 10 custom objects, and they are limited to read-only access to the Accounts and Contacts objects.

Force.com - Free - Designed for users who need access to one custom app but not standard CRM functionality. Force.com - Free users are entitled to the same rights as Salesforce Platform users, plus they have access to an unlimited number of custom tabs. However, they are limited to the use of one custom app, which is defined as up to 10 custom objects, and they do not have access to Accounts and Contacts objects.

Customer Portal Users

Customer Portal Manager Standard - Designed for contacts who are allowed to log in to your Salesforce Customer Portal to access customer support information. Users with a Customer Portal Manager Standard license can be associated with the Customer Portal User profile or a profile cloned and customized from the Customer Portal User profile. This enables them to view and edit data they directly own or data owned by or shared with users below them in the Customer Portal role hierarchy. Users with the Customer Portal Manager Standard license can access custom objects depending on their profile settings and can access Salesforce CRM Content if they have a Salesforce CRM Content feature license or a customized profile.

Overage Customer Portal Manager Standard - Verbatim from Chet Chauhan (customer portal licensing), "From a functional point of view these licenses are exactly the same as the named user customer portal licenses, only difference is that we charge by login and have an overage fee if they go over the number of logins they purchased."

Customer Portal Manager Custom - Designed for contacts who are allowed to log in to your Salesforce Customer Portal to access customer support information. Users with a Customer Portal Manager Custom license can be associated with the Customer Portal Manager profile or a profile cloned and customized from the Customer Portal Manager profile, which enables them to view and edit data they directly own and view and edit cases where they are listed in the Contact Name field. Users with this license can access Salesforce CRM Content if they have a Salesforce CRM Content feature license or a customized profile.

Partner Portal Users

Bronze Partner - Users with a Bronze Partner license can access Documents and My Account Profile, but have no storage space.

Silver Partner - Users with a Silver Partner license can access the Documents tab, My Account Profile, Leads, and Approvals, and have 2 MB of data storage space. Access to Salesforce CRM Content is determined by feature license and profile.

Gold Partner - Users with a Gold Partner license can access the Documents tab, My Account Profile, Leads, Custom Objects, Approvals, Accounts, Cases, and Opportunities, and have 5 MB of data storage space. Access to Salesforce CRM Content is determined by feature license and profile.

Feature Licenses

You may have more than one type of feature license available to assign to the users in your organization. A feature license entitles a user to an additional Salesforce feature, such as Marketing or Connect Offline.

In Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited Editions, you can enable additional features:

  • Marketing User
  • Offline User
  • Apex Mobile User
  • Salesforce CRM Content User (only appears if you purchased Salesforce Mobile feature licenses)
  • Salesforce CRM Content User (only appears if you purchased Salesforce CRM Content feature licenses)

Dashboards and Reports

Users with a Salesforce Platform user license can only view dashboards if the Running User of the dashboard also has a Salesforce Platform license. They cannot edit or create new dashboards.

Users with a Salesforce Platform Light user license cannot edit or create new dashboards and can only view dashboards if the Running User of the dashboard also has a Salesforce Platform Light license.

Users with a Force.com - Free user license cannot edit or create new dashboards and can only view dashboards if the Running User of the dashboard also has a Force.com - Free license.

Users with the Customer Portal Manager Custom license can access custom objects and run reports depending on their profile settings.