Salesforce editions · measured, not copied from a brochure
Three editions, three walls.
I walked into each one in a live org.
Starter Suite, Pro Suite and Core each stop somewhere, and the comparison charts do not say where. On 28 October 2026 I opened a trial of all three, read their limits in Setup, and built flows until the platform refused the next one. This page is what each edition lets you build, where it stops, and which part of a real service desk lands on which side.
Checked against the Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud pricing pages, the edition allocation pages for Starter, Pro Suite and Enterprise, flow limits, storage allocations, sandbox licences and the limits quick reference on 28 October 2026, and in three live trial orgs on the same day. Core replaced Enterprise on 3 September 2026; Salesforce help still files its limits under Enterprise.
The short answer
Which Salesforce edition does a small business need?
The one whose first limit your process does not reach. Starter Suite allows no custom objects, no Apex and no sandbox. Pro Suite allows 50 custom objects but only 5 flows of each type. Core removes both walls. If you need your own records, such as a policy, you need Pro; more than five automations, Core.
Price is the second question, not the first. On 28 October 2026 Salesforce listed Starter Suite at €25, Pro Suite at €100 and Core at €195 per user per month. Pro and Core are billed annually and Pro needs a contract. Picking the cheaper edition and rebuilding on the next one a year later costs more than the difference in licences.
Where each one stops
What does each edition refuse to let you build?
Starter refuses records of your own: no custom objects. Pro refuses a sixth automation: five flows of each type. Core refuses neither, and adds Apex. Each of these showed up in a live trial org on 28 October 2026, and each is confirmed by the Salesforce allocation page linked in its paragraph below.
Starter Suite: no records of your own
System Overview in the Starter trial reads maximum 0 for custom objects and custom apps, and a Case can carry 25 custom fields. Everything has to fit into accounts, contacts, leads, deals and cases. There is no Apex, no sandbox, no entitlement process for SLA timers and no Omni-Channel routing. Salesforce lists neither Flow Builder nor API for Starter, and its file storage is 1 GB per org.
Pro Suite: five automations
Pro allows 50 custom objects, 100 fields on a Case, 10 Developer sandboxes, entitlements and Omni-Channel. The wall is automation. Salesforce help sets 5 flows of each type per org. In the trial, five flows saved and activated; the sixth returned We can’t save your flow because you reached the limit of 5 Autolaunched Flow flows for this org. A record-triggered flow on Case was refused with the same words, so the triggers you would use for renewals, reminders and routing all share those five. There is no Apex, no classic approval process, and API is a paid add-on.
Core: the walls move out of sight
The Core trial reports Enterprise Edition in Company Information. Its Setup menu has Apex Classes and Apex Triggers, which Starter and Pro do not. Salesforce help gives Enterprise 2,000 active flows of each type, 200 custom objects and 500 fields on a Case, and the trial showed 25 Developer sandboxes and one Partial Copy. API is included: 100,000 calls a day plus 1,000 per licence in the limits reference. File storage stays at 10 GB per org, the same as Pro.
Side by side
Free, Starter, Pro and Core in one table
The values are for the edition you buy, from Salesforce pages read on 28 October 2026. Where the trial org behaved differently, the next section says so.
| Limit | Free Suite | Starter Suite | Pro Suite | Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List price per user per month | €0 | €25 | €100 | €195 |
| Users | 2 | No maximum | No maximum | No maximum |
| Custom objects | 0 | 0 | 50 | 200 |
| Custom fields on one object | 25 | 25 | 100 | 500 |
| Flows | 5 | Flow Builder not listed | 5 of each type | 2,000 active of each type |
| Apex code | Not listed | No | No | Yes |
| Sandboxes | None | None | 10 Developer | 25 Developer, 1 Partial Copy |
| Classic approval processes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Entitlements and Omni-Channel | Not listed | No | Yes | Yes |
| API | No | No | Paid add-on | Included |
| File storage per org | Not published | 1 GB | 10 GB | 10 GB |
| Marketing email sends | 100 a month | 2,000 a month | 2,000 a month | Not on the page |
Sources: Sales Cloud pricing, Free Suite, Starter, Pro Suite and Enterprise allocations, flow limits, Flow Builder editions, Apex Developer Guide, sandbox licences, storage allocations, approval processes, limits quick reference. Core values come from the Enterprise pages, which Salesforce help has not renamed yet.
Before you trust the trial
Is a Salesforce trial org the same as the edition you buy?
No, and the trial is the more generous one. On 28 October 2026 the Starter trial allowed five flows and 15,000 API calls a day, although Salesforce lists neither Flow Builder nor API for Starter. The Pro trial had API switched on, a paid add-on once bought, and showed 16 GB of files against 10 GB.
So test the limit that matters to you in the trial, and then read the edition allocation page before you sign. The trial proves a wall is real; the allocation page tells you where it will be after the purchase.
| What | Trial org, 28 October 2026 | Edition you buy |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Suite flows | 5, then saving is blocked | Flow Builder not listed for Starter |
| Starter Suite API | 15,000 calls a day | Not included |
| Pro Suite API | 110,000 calls a day | Paid add-on per user |
| Pro Suite file storage | 16 GB | 10 GB per org |
| Core file storage | 12 GB | 10 GB per org |
A real scope, line by line
Which edition does an insurance agency service desk need?
The insurance agency service desk on this site is built from the lines below. Most of them run on any edition. Two decide the answer.
| Part of the build | Starter | Pro | Core | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email to cases, queues, auto replies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Email-to-Case, queues, assignment and auto-response rules were in all three trials. |
| Case pages, list views, reports | Yes | Yes | Yes | Lightning App Builder, report types and dashboards were in all three. |
| Policies, carriers and policy changes as records | No | Yes | Yes | These need custom objects: none in Starter, 50 in Pro, 200 in Core. |
| Routing by skill or workload | No | Yes | Yes | Omni-Channel is not in Starter. |
| SLA timers in business hours | No | Yes | Yes | Entitlements are not in Starter. |
| Renewal reminders, certificate requests, cancellations, request type read from the email | No | No | Yes | Each is a record-triggered or scheduled flow, and together they pass the five that Pro allows. |
| A test copy before go-live | No | Yes | Yes | No sandbox in Starter. |
The answer for that desk is Core. Starter stops at the first policy record; Pro stops at the sixth automation, roughly when renewals are added. Every proposal from this site now carries the same table for its own lines, so the edition is decided before the licences are bought, not after.
Asked often enough to answer here
Questions
What is the flow limit in Pro Suite?
Five flows of each type per org, active or not, according to Salesforce help on flow limits, read on 28 October 2026. In a live Pro Suite trial the sixth autolaunched flow would not save, and a record-triggered flow on Case was refused with the same message, so record-triggered and autolaunched flows share the five.
Does Salesforce Starter Suite include flows?
Not in the edition you buy. On 28 October 2026 the Sales and Service pricing pages left Flow Builder empty for Starter, and the Flow Builder editions page did not name Starter. The Starter trial still let five flows save, so automation that works in a trial can stop working after the purchase.
Can I write Apex code in Starter Suite or Pro Suite?
No. The Apex Developer Guide lists Enterprise, Unlimited and Developer editions, and in live trial orgs on 28 October 2026 the Setup menu of Starter and Pro had no Apex Classes or Apex Triggers at all, while the Core trial did. In the Pro trial the classic class list returned Insufficient Privileges to a system administrator.
What does Core cost and what does it add?
Core, the edition that replaced Enterprise on 3 September 2026, was listed at €195 per user per month on 28 October 2026, billed annually. Over Pro Suite it adds Apex, 2,000 active flows of each type, 200 custom objects, classic approval processes, 25 Developer sandboxes and a Partial Copy, and API included in the licence.
Licences are bought from Salesforce and are not part of any price on this site, and nothing on this page is a commission arrangement with anybody.
Serhii Skrypnyk · Senior Salesforce Administrator · 7 Salesforce certifications · on the platform since 2018. Measured and reviewed 28 October 2026.
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Case: Insurance agency, United States
Client service moved from shared inboxes to queues: every email a case with one owner, the request type read from the message, policy changes that cannot skip a step, Applied Epic kept.