Salesforce Agentforce vs Cicada

Salesforce Agentforce is the agent platform inside Salesforce: admins build agents that act on the CRM and Data 360 for sales, service and field teams, alongside Agentforce Coworker for each employee, billed per action, conversation or user. Cicada is a hosted AI workforce for businesses of any size: every employee gets a teammate they text on WhatsApp or iMessage, mention in Slack or email, with specialists across 1,400+ apps, Salesforce among them.

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The short version

Pick Cicada if you want an AI workforce your whole team uses from WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack and email, set up in plain English this week, without a Salesforce Enterprise org. Pick Agentforce if you run on Salesforce Enterprise or above and want agents acting on your CRM and Data 360 with field-level security, or answering your customers on your service channels.

What Cicada does that Salesforce Agentforce doesn't.

No Salesforce org required

Agentforce needs Enterprise, Performance or Unlimited Edition, Einstein generative AI and Data 360, with add-on licences by agent type. Cicada works with the tools you already use, Salesforce or HubSpot or neither, from the day you sign up.

For your team, in their messages

Agentforce's WhatsApp, SMS and Apple Messages for Business are channels for your customers, sold as messaging add-ons. Cicada is for your own people: text it on WhatsApp or iMessage, add it to the team's group chat, mention it in Slack.

Set up in plain English

Agentforce agents are built by admins in Agentforce Builder, with subagents, actions in Flow and Apex, and Agent Script. In Cicada you describe the job and the coordinator assigns specialists.

Pricing in one line

Agentforce bills Flex Credits ($500 per 100,000, an action is 20) or $2 a conversation, add-ons from $125 a user a month, and Data 360 credits separately. Cicada is free for 3 days, then from $29 a month.

About Salesforce Agentforce

What it is: Salesforce's agent platform: admins build agents that act on the CRM and Data 360 for sales, service and field teams, plus Agentforce Coworker, each employee's AI teammate. Made by Salesforce.
Where it works: Inside Salesforce and its mobile app, Slack and email; for customers, web chat, WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger, Apple Messages for Business and voice (messaging add-ons)
What it costs: Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 (an action is 20 credits) or $2 a conversation; add-ons from $125 a user a month; Coworker $50 a user a month or in Foundations; needs Enterprise Edition or above
Worth knowing: It needs a Salesforce Enterprise, Performance or Unlimited org with Data 360, its WhatsApp and SMS are customer-service channels sold as add-ons, and agents are built by admins.

Checked against Salesforce Agentforce's own pages on 3 November 2026. See every Salesforce Agentforce alternative.

Where Salesforce Agentforce fits in the market.

Personal AI assistants help one person with their own work.
Automation platforms automate the workflows you design.
Enterprise platforms build agents inside their own ecosystems.
Salesforce Agentforce

Cicada gives your whole business a coordinated AI workforce that every employee can delegate to, through the tools they already use.

Cicada

A team of agents for a team of people.

Agentforce has agents admins build for the organisation, plus Agentforce Coworker as each employee's AI teammate inside Salesforce. Cicada gives every person their own agents in the messaging they already use.

Agents for every person

Each person in your workspace gets their own agents. The apps the team shares are connected once; personal ones, like your inbox, stay under your own login.

A coordinator and specialists

A big job is split between specialists that work at the same time, and you get one answer back from the agent you asked.

Agents that work together

Teammates' agents know what each other covers, use each other's fresh figures and check with each other through the apps you share, never through anyone's private notes. Ask yours to message someone who uses Cicada, at your company or another, and their answer comes back to you.

Know-how the whole team shares

What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows, and a skill one agent proves is shared with the rest.

Cicada and Salesforce Agentforce, feature by feature.

Feature	Cicada	Salesforce Agentforce
Agents across your team	Every person gets their own agents, a coordinator running specialists, and they work together across the team	Agents admins build for the org, plus Coworker, each employee's AI teammate ($50 a user a month or in Foundations)
What you need first	A sign-up: connect the apps you already use	Salesforce Enterprise, Performance or Unlimited Edition, Einstein generative AI and Data 360
Where your team uses it	iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email and a web app	Inside Salesforce and its mobile app, Slack and email
WhatsApp and iMessage	Both, for your team, one-to-one and in group chats	WhatsApp, SMS and Apple Messages for Business as customer-service channels, through messaging add-ons
Who builds the agents	Anyone, in plain English	Admins in Agentforce Builder (subagents, Flow, Apex, Agent Script)
Specialist agents	A coordinator delegates to specialists and returns one answer	A Superagent that routes work to specialist agents; Coworker can orchestrate other agents
Connected apps	1,400+, plus any MCP server and a live browser	Salesforce data and Data 360, MCP through Agentforce Registry, AgentExchange partners
Control	Per app: Full, Ask first or Read-only; approvals from the thread; each run's cost in the activity log	Salesforce permissions and field-level security, the Trust Layer, user confirmation on actions, audit trail
Joins your meetings	On Business: Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex	Not that we could find (Slack AI huddle notes is a Slack feature)
Price	A 3-day free trial, then Starter at $29 a month (300 credits, 3 agents, one person), Growth at $99 (up to 10 people) or Business at $249 (no limit on people). Credits are shared across the workspace, with no charge per person.	Flex Credits $500 per 100,000 (an action is 20) or $2 a conversation; add-ons from $125 a user a month; Data 360 credits extra

Salesforce Agentforce details checked against its own site and docs on 3 November 2026. Products change fast; see the sources below.

Built on your CRM, or around your team

Agentforce is at its best when the work lives in Salesforce: cases, opportunities, field jobs, with the CRM's permissions. Cicada is built around the people doing the work, wherever they talk, and connects to Salesforce as one of 1,400+ apps.

Customers' channels, or your team's

Agentforce's messaging channels let your customers reach a service agent. Cicada's are for your employees: the WhatsApp group with your warehouse, your iMessage, the Slack channel where the team asks for things.

A project, or a sign-up

Agentforce needs an Enterprise org, Data 360, permission sets and agents built in Agentforce Builder. Cicada starts the day you sign up: link your phone, connect your apps, and ask.

Where Cicada is stronger

No Salesforce Enterprise org, Data 360 or add-on licences needed.
Your team texts it on WhatsApp and iMessage, and adds it to group chats.
Nothing to build: describe the job and the coordinator assigns specialists.
On Business, a notetaker that joins Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex calls.
One credit balance for the workspace, with each run's cost shown.

Choose Cicada if you want an AI workforce your team uses from WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack and email, with nothing to build and no Salesforce org required.

Where Salesforce Agentforce fits

Deep actions on Salesforce CRM and Data 360, with field-level security and the Trust Layer.
Customer-facing service agents on web chat, WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger and voice, with handoff to human reps.
Enterprise tooling: testing, monitoring, a partner marketplace and certifications.

Salesforce Agentforce may suit you if you run on Salesforce Enterprise or above and want agents acting on CRM and Data 360, or answering customers on service channels.

Or use both. Cicada connects to Salesforce, so a sales team on Salesforce can keep Agentforce for service and CRM automation, and use Cicada to update records, prep calls and chase follow-ups from their texts and group chats.

Salesforce Agentforce vs Cicada, answered.

Is Cicada an Agentforce alternative?

For teams that aren't on Salesforce Enterprise, or want agents in their own messages, yes. Agentforce builds agents on Salesforce for CRM and service; Cicada gives every employee a teammate in WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack and email, with specialists across 1,400+ apps.

What do I need to use Agentforce?

A Salesforce Enterprise, Performance or Unlimited org with Einstein generative AI turned on and Data 360, plus add-on licences by agent type; WhatsApp and SMS for customers need messaging add-ons.

How is Agentforce priced?

Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 credits (an action is 20 credits) or $2 a conversation, Agentforce add-ons from $125 a user a month, Coworker at $50 a user a month or in Foundations, with Data 360 credits billed separately. Prices from Salesforce's pricing page, November 2026.

Does Cicada work with Salesforce?

Yes. Connect Salesforce and Cicada's agents can read and update records, prep briefs before calls and log activity, with Salesforce set to Full, Ask first or Read-only like any other app.

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