Okay, let’s talk about Salesforce Agentic AI, sometimes called Agentforce. This is exciting because it promises AI agents that can actually do things for you, working alongside your teams. Think of it helping out everywhere from answering customer questions to sorting sales leads. But, naturally, with powerful tech comes questions about cost. Figuring out the price for cutting-edge AI can feel a bit complicated sometimes, especially when you’re trying to guess how much you’ll actually use it and what that means for your budget.
This guide is here to help clear things up. We’ll break down how Salesforce prices its Agentic AI stuff, look at what makes the cost go up or down, and give you an idea of what you might end up paying. We want to make this easy to understand, not confusing. We’ll also chat a little about how solutions like eesel AI offer different ways to approach AI automation, potentially with pricing that’s easier to figure out.
How Salesforce agentic AI pricing works
Salesforce’s approach to pricing its Agentic AI, mainly through their Agentforce platform, isn’t really about paying per person using it, at least not for the main agent features right now. Instead, they focus on how much the AI agents do. This is called a consumption-based model. It basically means you pay for the tasks or interactions the AI agents complete, rather than just paying to have access to the feature itself.
Right now, Salesforce mostly offers two ways to pay for Agentforce usage: based on Conversations or using Flex Credits. They’re also planning to add new per-user licenses for agents that help employees. Knowing which model fits what you want to do is pretty important for figuring out your costs. It’s worth noting that these Agentforce costs are usually extra, sitting on top of your standard Salesforce CRM or Service Cloud licenses.
Breaking down Salesforce Agentforce pricing models
Salesforce gives you a few different ways to pay for Agentforce, trying to fit various needs and how big your operation is. Today, the two main ways you pay based on usage are Conversations and Flex Credits. Plus, there’s that new per-user option coming soon.
- Conversations: This one is mostly set up for talking to customers outside your company. You pay a flat fee for each conversation the AI agent handles. If you can guess how many chats your AI will take, this can give you a pretty good idea of the cost.
- Flex credits: This model is more detailed. You buy credits, and the AI agent uses these credits whenever it performs an “action.” This is meant to work for lots of different situations, both with customers and helping out your internal teams.
- Upcoming user licenses/add-ons: Starting in Summer 2025, Salesforce plans to offer licenses where you pay per user per month for unlimited use of employee-facing agents (Context 5). This will feel more familiar if you’re used to standard software subscriptions.
Picking the right model really depends on how you plan to use Agentic AI in your company.
Comparing Salesforce Agentic AI pricing models:
| Feature | Conversations | Flex Credits | Upcoming User Licenses (Summer 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing Unit | Per conversation | Per action (via credits) | Per user per month |
| Typical Use Case | External customer chat | Diverse, internal & external | Employee-facing agent assistance |
| Cost per Unit | $2 USD | $0.10 USD (20 credits) | To be announced |
| Scalability | Volume-based | Granular, action-based | Per employee |
What features are included at each price point
The features you get with Salesforce’s AI depend on your basic Salesforce plan and which Agentforce pricing you choose.
Your standard Salesforce plans usually come with some basic AI stuff, like automatic replies or generating simple answers based on your help center articles. These are good for basic automation but don’t have the full power to act on their own like true Agentic AI.
To get the real Agentic AI features, like smart ways to sort incoming issues, agents that can do multiple steps on their own, custom actions using APIs, and workflows involving several bots, you need to use the Agentforce platform with its specific pricing (Conversations, Flex Credits, or the upcoming User Licenses). For instance, Intelligent Triage is mentioned as part of the Advanced AI offering in some places, which fits with the more advanced, usage-based Agentforce options. The Flex Credits model, especially, lets the AI do specific “actions” like updating records or getting data, which are key parts of how Agentic workflows operate.
The Standard Success Plan, which gives you access to help documents and community forums, is generally included with your licenses. But if you need dedicated help setting up complex Agentic AI or doing custom development, that might cost extra.
Factors that influence Salesforce agentic AI cost
A few things can change how much your final bill is when you’re using Salesforce Agentic AI:
- How much you use it: This is the biggest factor for the Conversation and Flex Credit models. The more conversations your AI agents handle or the more actions they perform, the more it costs. Guessing this amount accurately can be tricky, especially when you’re just starting out.
- How complicated the tasks are: If the AI agents are handling more complex requests, they might need to do more “actions” (in the Flex Credit model) to gather info, figure things out, and interact with other systems. This can make each interaction cost more.
- Number of users (in the future): With the upcoming user licenses for employee-facing agents, the number of employees using these AI tools will directly impact the cost.
- Data needs: Agentic AI often needs to access lots of data from different places. Using Salesforce Data Cloud or connecting various data systems might mean extra costs on top of the Agentforce pricing itself (Context 1 mentions Agentic AI integrating with Data Cloud).
- Specific situations: Using Agentic AI for different things (like just answering simple questions versus solving a complex issue that needs API calls) will naturally use up credits or count conversations at different rates, just like Salesforce shows in their own examples.
Downsides of Salesforce agentic AI pricing
Salesforce Agentic AI can do some really powerful things, but the way it’s priced can sometimes be a headache for businesses.
- One big issue is that the cost can be hard to predict, especially with the Conversation and Flex Credit models where you pay based on usage. It’s tough to forecast exactly how many chats or actions the AI will handle, which can lead to monthly bills jumping around. This unpredictability is something many CIOs worry about when trying to manage AI budgets.
- Also, what counts as a billable “conversation” or “action” might not always be super clear to everyone, potentially leading to costs you didn’t see coming. Salesforce gives examples, but how things work in the real world can sometimes be different from the examples.
- Plus, to get the most advanced Agentic AI features, you have to sign up for these specific pricing models. They aren’t just included automatically in the higher-level Salesforce plans. This can feel like you’re adding another layer of cost on top of what might already be a pretty big investment in Salesforce.
- Scaling up effectively isn’t just about the tech; it’s about managing the budget too. Keeping track of usage across different models and situations can add extra work for your admin teams. While tools like Digital Wallet help, understanding and keeping usage in check is still a key challenge.
Calculating your potential Salesforce AI cost
Let’s run through a simple made-up example to show how Flex Credit costs might add up for something common, like using an Agentic AI to handle some customer service questions automatically.
Imagine you set up an Agentforce AI agent to check order statuses and handle simple refund requests. Based on Salesforce’s examples (Context 3), checking an order status might be 1 action (20 credits, $0.10), and a simple refund request might take 3 actions (60 credits, $0.30) to check the customer, look up the order, and start the refund via an API.
Let’s say this agent handles 500 order status checks and 100 refund requests every day.
- Order Status Checks: 500 interactions/day * 1 action/interaction = 500 actions/day
- Refund Requests: 100 interactions/day * 3 actions/interaction = 300 actions/day
- Total Actions per Day: 500 + 300 = 800 actions
- Total Actions per Month (assuming 20 workdays): 800 actions/day * 20 days = 16,000 actions
- Total Monthly Cost: 16,000 actions * $0.10/action = $1,600
This is just for one agent doing two simple things. Costs can go up pretty fast as you add more agents, handle harder questions, or deal with more people.
Hypothetical Salesforce Agentic AI cost calculation
| Use Case | Actions per Interaction | Interactions per Day | Actions per Day | Actions per Month (20 days) | Monthly Cost ($0.10/action) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order Status Check | 1 | 500 | 500 | 10,000 | $1,000 |
| Refund Request | 3 | 100 | 300 | 6,000 | $600 |
| Total | 800 | 16,000 | $1,600 |
Let’s picture a simple Agentic AI process using a Mermaid flowchart to see how actions might link up:
In this flow, things like getting data or doing something like updating a record would usually use up Flex Credits. More complex flows could easily involve many more steps and actions.
eesel AI: a transparent and cost-effective alternative
Understanding the details of Salesforce Agentic AI pricing, especially the models where you pay based on usage, shows why it’s important to find a solution that’s powerful but also has costs you can see coming. This is where eesel AI comes in as a good option for companies looking for effective AI support without the worry of unexpected budget hits.
eesel AI offers pricing for its AI Agent that’s easy to understand: you pay per interaction. Each plan includes a generous amount of usage, and there are no hidden fees or confusing credit systems. Instead of paying per agent or dealing with costs that go up based on tricky definitions like “resolutions” or complex “actions,” eesel AI has clear plans based on how many interactions the AI handles. This way, you know your costs upfront. We don’t charge you per agent for the AI Agent feature. You can see all the details on our pricing page.
But it’s not just about simple pricing. eesel AI also gives you solid Agentic AI features built for real support problems. You can train your AI agent using tons of different information sources, including past support tickets, internal documents, help centers like Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Intercom, documents from Google Docs, Confluence, or Sharepoint, and over 100 other integrations (eesel.ai). This is much broader than just using help center content.
eesel AI agents can actually do things, like pulling customer info from e-commerce platforms (like Shopify) or triggering custom API calls. This lets them automate tasks like looking up orders or updating accounts. The platform also lets you really fine-tune how the bot sounds and acts, so it perfectly matches your brand. A really helpful part is that eesel AI gives you great tools for testing and simulating. You can tweak workflows and see how the AI agent will perform before you put it live, which helps lower risk and makes sure things go smoothly.
Here’s a quick look at how the pricing models compare:
Salesforce Agentic AI vs eesel AI pricing comparison
| Feature | Salesforce Agentforce (Flex Credits) | eesel AI (Team Plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Unit | Per action (via credits) | Per interaction |
| Base Cost | $500 per 100k credits | $299/month |
| Included Usage | Purchase credits | Up to 1,000 interactions |
| Cost per Action/Interaction | $0.10 per action | Varies by plan tier, but included in base |
| Per-Agent Pricing | Upcoming for employee agents | No, for AI Agent functionality |
| Knowledge Sources for Training | Primarily Help Center, Data Cloud | 100+ integrations, Inc. past tickets |
| Tone Customization | Basic presets | Granular control |
| Testing Capabilities | Limited pre-live | Robust simulation, selective rollout |
| Included Features | Requires specific models/add-ons | Multi-bot, advanced reporting, integrations |
Choosing the right AI for your budget
Salesforce Agentic AI, or Agentforce, definitely opens up some exciting doors for automating tasks with AI agents that can work on their own. But the way they price it, especially with the Flex Credits and Conversation models based on usage, means you really need to think carefully because costs can be unpredictable depending on how much you use it and how complex the tasks are. Even though new per-user licenses are coming, adding Agentforce costs on top of your current Salesforce licenses can make the total investment pretty significant.
If you’re a business that really values pricing that’s clear and predictable, and you want powerful, flexible automation, eesel AI is a great option to consider. With straightforward pay-per-interaction plans, lots of ways to train the AI, customizable workflows, and solid testing tools, eesel AI helps teams put effective AI support agents to work without any budget surprises.
Ready to check out an Agentic AI solution that’s cost-effective and easy to understand? You can start a free trial of eesel AI today (no credit card needed!) or book a demo to see how it could change your support operations. Your perfect AI partner is waiting!
