Is It Time to Move from SFMC to Braze to Cut Cost of Ownership?

For many businesses, the term CRM evokes a daunting image — a massive contraption of pulleys, rotors, and wheels. Something so vast and complex that it feels nearly impossible to put to practical use.

And truth be told, that perception isn’t far off.

Take Salesforce: implementing it can cost anywhere between $65,000 and $500,000+ for large-scale projects with 50+ users. Other major platforms (Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot) follow a similar pattern: the bigger the system, the steeper the upfront and ongoing expenses.

This is where the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comes in. TCO captures not only the initial investment but the complete long-term cost of acquiring, implementing, operating, and maintaining a CRM across its lifecycle — a reality that weighs heavily on the minds of business owners.

It’s also why many businesses have been moving away from heavyweight CRMs like Salesforce in favor of more agile, cost-efficient platforms such as Braze. The math’s clear: lower TCO, higher ROI, and a smoother path to growth.

At Mavlers, we’ve been closely tracking this trend, and helping businesses make these transitions. So if you’re a small or mid-sized business, such migrations could save you money without sacrificing performance or returns. 

This includes approaches that support both SFMC to Braze migration and the broader Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Braze transition, with a special emphasis on cost efficiency. 

What drives high TCO in SFMC

How Braze is emerging as an alternative

The real benefits for brands

Should I stay or move?

SFMC to Braze migration: We can help!

What drives high TCO in SFMC

High Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is driven by several specific factors:

Licensing and subscription fees

Notably, SFMC pricing is tied to contact volume and tier, not user count. So the Professional plan starts at $1,250 per org/month, Corporate at $4,200, whereas advanced tiers can climb to $15,000/month on the basis of contact base and features. 

As companies expand their usage—more contacts, channels, advanced features—the recurring subscription rises. 

Add-ons (AI, advanced analytics, integrations) quickly multiply costs. SFMC’s model is designed so advanced marketing operations, automated journeys, big data storage, and multiple user roles are only available with higher-priced plans or costly modules.

Implementation costs

Basic implementations begin around $10,000. More complex setups with heavy customization and integrations often run $100,000–$200,000. For large multi-cloud solutions, quotes typically start at $150,000–$500,000, but the 5-year TCO can swell to $800,000–$3.5M—sometimes 3–7x the initial estimate once post-launch costs are factored in.

Customization and integration

Custom integrations along with add-ons can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $85,000 per project. 

In fact, in many cases, extensive development is needed to adapt SFMC to industry-specific processes and connect legacy systems, with developer rates running $25–$300 per hour. 

As a result, many businesses find that an effective SFMC to Braze integration significantly reduces the need for costly custom development and ongoing maintenance.

Migration and mapping

Data migration and mapping can run $10,000–$60,000, with costs climbing for complex, multi-source projects. 

Each additional data source, integration, or customization adds layers of complexity, increasing the need for specialized expertise and thorough testing. 

Therefore, only carefully designed marketing automation platform migration plans can help streamline these processes, reduce manual errors, and ultimately lower overall costs. 

Ongoing maintenance and support

Regular updates, support contracts, premium analytics, plus ongoing optimization create recurring expenses that, over five years, can match or even exceed the original implementation costs. 

Add to that the need for continual staff training to keep pace with system changes and feature upgrades, and the long-term spend rises even further.

Compliance and security 

Compliance and security can add 10–20% to implementation costs, driven by industry regulations and audit readiness.

Companies often need to invest in encryption, secure access controls, regular audits, and documentation to meet standards like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS. These measures, while essential for safeguarding customer data, contribute to both upfront setup costs and ongoing operational expenses.

Add-ons and feature extensions

Add-ons for SFMC can range from $25/month for basic apps to $46,000/month for enterprise extensions and advanced modules, quickly driving up ongoing costs.

Below is a summary of the total cost of ownership for SFMC.

(Sources: Zeeg, American Chase, Magic Fuse, Madrigal Partners)

SFMC’s high TCO stems from its complexity, customizability, numerous add-ons, integration requirements, premium-level support, and specialized training/maintenance needs—all adding substantial, sometimes hidden, expenses beyond initial licensing. In light of this, agile alternatives are natural.

How Braze is emerging as an alternative

Braze has been emerging as a strong alternative to Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) due to the following reasons. 

More transparent, predictable pricing

Braze employs a tiered pricing model based on monthly active users (MAUs) and required features, offering more predictable and scalable costs compared to SFMC’s contact-based pricing, which can escalate rapidly with additional features and contacts. 

Although Braze’s entry-level plans (~$4,000/month) may start higher than basic SFMC packages, they typically avoid the hidden fees and add-ons that can drive SFMC’s TCO sky-high over time. This is why companies switching from SFMC to Braze can effectively reduce TCO with Braze.

Lower implementation and operational complexity

Braze’s intuitive interface and faster setup reduce the need for large implementation teams and costly consultants often required with SFMC. This leads to lower deployment costs, ongoing management savings, and faster campaign build time on Braze.

Flexible integration approach 

Braze offers flexible integrations with modern marketing tools and data platforms, avoiding the complex ecosystem lock-in common with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. 

This reduces the need for custom development and delivers significant long-term savings. A strong Braze migration strategy ensures that businesses can move from Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Braze with minimal disruption.

“Braze, founded in 2011 as Appboy, was built from the ground up around real-time event streaming. ExactTarget’s acquisition by Salesforce in 2013 and its subsequent transformation into Salesforce Marketing Cloud highlights the challenge of adapting older technologies to modern needs.

So what? Because its creation pre-dates the iPhone, its architecture pre-dates the iPhone, therefore Salesforce Marketing Cloud struggles to handle customer data in the way required by modern businesses. Customer expectations are so high that data agility has become critical.”

— Thierry Sequeira, Salesforce vs Braze, Massive Rocket

The real benefits for brands

For businesses considering a transition from SFMC to Braze, there are several benefits to consider:

• Simplified workflows in Braze reduce the technical overhead often associated with complex platforms.
  
• Salesforce’s contract-based fees can be steep and hard to justify when a company doesn’t need the platform’s full range of features. In contrast, Braze’s usage-based pricing lets organizations pay only for what they use, making it a more scalable and cost-efficient choice.
  
• Braze works primarily with behavioral and event-based data, rather than large CRM records, which can result in a more streamlined and secure environment, especially for regulated industries.
  
• Braze is designed with a forward-thinking architecture that integrates well with evolving ecosystems, preventing vendor lock-in and allowing businesses to keep pace with emerging trends. 

Should I stay or move?

Deciding whether to move from SFMC to Braze depends on your business priorities and technical needs.

Consider migrating to Braze if you:

• Want lower, more predictable total cost of ownership (TCO) for marketing automation.

• Depend heavily on real-time, cross-channel engagement, particularly mobile.

• Aim to reduce technical overhead and accelerate campaign launches (faster campaign build time on Braze).

• Value flexibility and a modern, composable tech stack that can evolve with your business.

You might stay with SFMC if you:

• Are deeply embedded within the Salesforce ecosystem, leveraging integrated sales or service functions.

• Depend on specific features that Braze does not currently offer.

• Have the resources and appetite to manage the higher complexity and associated costs of SFMC.

If you need a more dedicated guide, please refer to our post on Braze vs. Salesforce. 

Ultimately, the decision hinges on whether your goals align with predictability, agility, and cost efficiency, or full-feature depth within the Salesforce ecosystem (SFMC).

SFMC to Braze migration: We can help!

Whether you’re considering migrating from SFMC to Braze or optimizing your current CRM setup, we’ve got you covered.

Our team of CRM experts can guide you through every stage of the process, from evaluating TCO and planning a seamless migration, to implementing campaigns, integrations, and automation for maximum impact. 

Need help with Braze or Salesforce Marketing Cloud? Book a free, no-obligation call with one of our CRM experts.