Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is the current name for Pardot: Salesforce's B2B marketing automation product for capturing prospects, scoring and grading them, nurturing them with email and handing them to sales inside Salesforce. Marketing Cloud Engagement, the evolution of ExactTarget, is the B2C platform for high-volume email, SMS, push and cross-channel journeys. One is built around the sales funnel, the other around large consumer audiences.
This comparison was first published in 2019 as "Pardot vs Marketing Cloud: What's the Difference?". It has been rewritten for 2026 with the new product names, current pricing and Marketing Cloud Next, and now also covers our older post on the advantages of Pardot.
Is Account Engagement the same as Pardot?
Yes. Salesforce announced the rename on 6 April 2022 in its post What the Next-Gen Marketing Cloud (and Naming) Means for You: Pardot became Account Engagement, a product that helps "align marketing and sales around leads, buyers, and accounts". Salesforce's current Account Engagement page says Pardot is the legacy product name for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and that they are the same product. The same rename turned Interaction Studio into Personalization and Datorama into Intelligence.
The old name lingers in technical places, such as the Pardot integration connected app, and in the names of many community resources, so expect to see both.
Account Engagement vs Marketing Cloud Engagement at a glance
Account Engagement is the B2B tool that works inside Salesforce with sales; Marketing Cloud Engagement is the B2C platform for high-volume, multi-channel messaging.
| Marketing Cloud Account Engagement | Marketing Cloud Engagement | |
|---|---|---|
| Former name | Pardot | Marketing Cloud (built on ExactTarget) |
| Built for | B2B: considered purchases, sales teams, long cycles | B2C: large consumer audiences, many channels |
| Channels | Email, forms, landing pages, website tracking | Email, SMS, push, cross-channel journeys |
| Automation | Engagement Studio, rules-based nurture, completion actions | Journey Builder, Automation Studio |
| Lead qualification | Built-in scoring (interest) and grading (fit) | Not its focus |
| Where it runs | Built on the Salesforce platform, as a Lightning app | A separate platform, linked to Sales and Service Cloud through the Marketing Cloud Connector |
| Typical user | B2B marketing team working with sales | Consumer marketing and CRM team |
What Marketing Cloud Account Engagement does
Account Engagement captures prospects, scores and grades them, nurtures them and passes sales-ready leads to sales in Salesforce. Trailhead's Get Started with Account Engagement unit describes the core loop:
- Prospects. An anonymous website visitor becomes a prospect when they submit a form or landing page, and Account Engagement tracks their activity across your website, emails and forms.
- Scoring. A score measures interest. Activities such as opening an email or submitting a form add points, and the score can go up or down.
- Grading. A letter grade measures how well the prospect matches your ideal customer profile, for example by industry, company size and job title.
- Nurturing. Targeted emails sent in response to what prospects do, built as Engagement Studio programs.
- Sales alignment. When score and grade cross agreed thresholds, the prospect goes to sales as a lead in Salesforce, with the full activity history.
Salesforce's Account Engagement page says it supports both demand generation and account-based marketing, and, as of November 2026, lists Agentforce features: building multi-step nurture programs from natural-language prompts, recommending marketing-approved email templates to sales reps, and a campaign assistant on the marketing dashboard.
Advantages for B2B teams: marketing and sales work from the same records in Salesforce, so sales sees what each prospect has engaged with; campaign results can be tied back to opportunities and revenue (Plus+ and above include B2B Marketing Analytics); and scoring and grading give both teams one agreed definition of a sales-ready lead.
What Marketing Cloud Engagement does
Marketing Cloud Engagement sends high-volume, personalised email, SMS and push messages and orchestrates consumer journeys. Salesforce's Marketing Cloud Engagement page calls it an enterprise-grade platform for email, SMS, push notifications and cross-channel journey orchestration, and the evolution of the ExactTarget platform Salesforce acquired. Its main tools are Journey Builder for multi-step, multi-channel journeys, Content Builder for email and message content, and Automation Studio for scheduled data and send processes. It suits brands that send large volumes of personalised messages to consumers, such as retailers, travel companies and subscription businesses.
Where does Marketing Cloud Next fit?
Marketing Cloud Next is Salesforce's newer, agentic marketing product, and every "+" Account Engagement edition now includes it. Salesforce now also sells Marketing Cloud Next, described on its B2B page as an agentic marketing product built on Data 360 and Agentforce. Where Account Engagement automates rules-based nurture, Marketing Cloud Next adds AI agents. Its Engagement page says Next is rebuilt natively on the Salesforce Platform, uses Flow as the automation engine for journeys, and that existing Journey Builder journeys can be used within Flow without being rebuilt.
For existing customers the key line is in Salesforce's FAQ: every Account Engagement customer gets access to Marketing Cloud features through Account Engagement+, so you don't have to choose or migrate straight away.
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement pricing in 2026
As of November 2026, Account Engagement costs $1,250 to $15,000 per org per month, billed annually, depending on edition. From Salesforce's Account Engagement pricing page, checked on 10 November 2026 (US dollars per org per month, billed annually, annual contract required):
| Edition | Price | Contacts included | Highlights listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth+ | $1,250 | 10,000 | Marketing Cloud Next Growth Edition, Agentforce campaign creation, lead nurturing and scoring; 50 forms and 50 landing pages |
| Plus+ | $2,750 | 10,000 | Marketing Cloud Next Advanced Edition, AI-powered scoring, B2B Marketing Analytics |
| Advanced+ | $4,400 | 10,000 | Marketing Cloud Next Advanced Edition, business units, dedicated IP address |
| Premium+ | $15,000 | 75,000 | Marketing Cloud Next Advanced Edition, Premier Success, all capabilities |
Salesforce's Marketing Cloud pricing page lists Engagement+ from $2,000 and Marketing Cloud Next from $1,500 (Growth) or $3,250 (Advanced) per org per month, billed annually. It does not list prices for classic Marketing Cloud Engagement editions; those are quoted by Salesforce's sales team.
How to choose between them
Choose by who you sell to, how long the cycle is, which channels matter and where the data must live.
- Who do you sell to? Businesses, with a sales team following up: Account Engagement. Consumers, at volume: Marketing Cloud Engagement.
- How long is your sales cycle? Weeks or months with several decision makers points to scoring, grading and nurturing. Short, transactional purchases point to journeys and triggered messages.
- Which channels matter? Mostly email, forms and website: Account Engagement. Email plus SMS, push and advertising: Engagement.
- Where should data live? If marketing and sales must share one record in Salesforce, Account Engagement is simpler.
- Are you starting fresh? Ask about Marketing Cloud Next, since Salesforce positions it as where development is heading, and compare it with the "+" editions.
Common mistakes
Most problems come from picking the wrong tool for the funnel or skipping the agreement with sales on what a good lead is.
- Buying the B2C tool for a B2B funnel, then building lead scoring and sales hand-off by hand.
- Leaving the default grading profile unchanged, so grades don't reflect your real ideal customer.
- No agreed definition of a sales-ready lead. Marketing and sales should agree score and grade thresholds before go-live, and map them to your lead status values.
- Ignoring the contact limit. Editions include a set number of contacts; clean out unmailable and inactive prospects regularly.
Getting help
For how marketing data joins sales and service data, see our guide to Salesforce Customer 360. Techila is a Salesforce Summit Partner. Our Marketing Cloud services team helps companies choose between Account Engagement, Marketing Cloud Engagement and Marketing Cloud Next, and implements them. Talk to us about which fits your marketing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Marketing Cloud Account Engagement the same as Pardot?
Yes. Salesforce renamed Pardot to Account Engagement in April 2022, and its own FAQ says Pardot is the legacy product name for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and that they are the same product. You will still see the Pardot name in a few technical places, such as the integration's connected app.
What is the difference between Account Engagement and Marketing Cloud Engagement?
Account Engagement is B2B marketing automation: capturing prospects, scoring and grading them, nurturing them and handing them to sales inside Salesforce. Marketing Cloud Engagement, the evolution of ExactTarget, is a B2C platform for high-volume email, SMS, push and cross-channel journeys built with Journey Builder.
How much does Marketing Cloud Account Engagement cost?
Salesforce's pricing page lists four editions, per org per month, billed annually: Growth+ at 1,250 US dollars, Plus+ at 2,750, Advanced+ at 4,400 and Premium+ at 15,000. The first three include 10,000 contacts and Premium+ includes 75,000. All require an annual contract.
What is Marketing Cloud Next?
Marketing Cloud Next is Salesforce's newer marketing product, rebuilt natively on the Salesforce Platform with Data 360 and Agentforce, and using Flow for journeys. Account Engagement customers get access to Marketing Cloud features through Account Engagement+, which includes Marketing Cloud Next Growth or Advanced Edition, without having to migrate.
Should I choose Account Engagement or Marketing Cloud Engagement?
Choose Account Engagement if you sell to businesses, have a sales team working leads in Salesforce and need scoring, nurturing and sales alignment. Choose Marketing Cloud Engagement if you market to large consumer audiences across email, mobile and advertising. Some companies with both models use both.