Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial of Starter Suite, its all-in-one CRM for small businesses. Salesforce says the trial needs no credit card and comes with no obligation. If you buy afterwards, Starter starts at $25 per user, per month as of October 2026, billed monthly or annually, through self-checkout.
Salesforce has a reputation for being built for big companies, and for a long time that was fair. Starter Suite is Salesforce's answer for small teams: sales, service, marketing, commerce and Slack in one app. The no-card trial makes it one of the lowest-risk CRM trials around.
Salesforce Starter Suite trial at a glance
| Question | Salesforce's answer |
|---|---|
| Length | 30 days |
| Card needed? | No credit card required |
| Obligation? | None |
| What you trial | Starter Suite: sales, service, marketing, commerce and Slack in one application |
| Price if you buy | From $25 per user, per month, billed monthly or annually, as of October 2026 |
| How you buy | Through Salesforce's self-checkout when you're ready |
What's in Starter Suite
- A turnkey CRM that brings sales, service, marketing, commerce and Slack together, according to Salesforce.
- A free Slack workspace connected to your CRM, so customer context sits where your team already talks.
- AI that analyses your video calls to generate transcripts and meeting summaries.
- Marketing email: Salesforce says Starter includes 2,000 emails per month, with a bundle of 1,000 more sends for $10 per month as of October 2026.
- Guided onboarding and interactive demos to help you set up.
Commerce features in Starter are subject to transaction fees, so check those if you plan to take payments through it.
How to start the Salesforce free trial
- Go to Salesforce's Starter Suite free trial page.
- Fill in your details. Salesforce asks a few questions about your business.
- Confirm your email and log in. Salesforce says you can begin exploring the platform immediately.
- Follow the guided onboarding checklist before you import anything.
How to use 30 days well
- Week one: import a small, clean slice of your contacts, not your whole list. Set up your sales stages to match how you sell today.
- Week two: run every new lead and deal through Starter. Connect your email and try the video-call summaries on real meetings.
- Week three: send one marketing email from Starter and set up a simple service process, like a shared inbox for customer questions.
- Week four: look at the reports. If they show you something about your pipeline you didn't know, that's the value. Then decide.
The biggest mistake I see with CRM trials is spending the whole month on setup. Salesforce's interactive demos let you click through the tools before you build, so watch those first and spend your trial on real work.
Who the Starter trial suits
Starter Suite is aimed squarely at small businesses, and the trial suits you best if one of these sounds familiar:
- Leads arrive by email, phone, forms and social messages, and some slip through.
- You track deals in a spreadsheet that only one person understands.
- Customer questions sit in personal inboxes, so nobody else can see what's been promised.
- Your team already works in Slack and wants customer details there too.
If none of those apply, and you have a handful of clients you know by name, a full CRM may be more than you need right now. A free trial is still worth doing, because it shows you what good pipeline reporting looks like, but don't feel you have to buy at the end of it.
Questions to ask during the trial
- Can every person on the team find a customer's history in under a minute?
- Do the video-call summaries save someone time after each meeting?
- Is 2,000 marketing emails a month enough for your list, or will you need the extra bundle?
- Would you pay the per-user price for every person who needs access?
Write your answers down in week four. If most are a clear yes, buying through self-checkout is a short step. If they're mostly no, you've lost nothing, because no card was ever taken. Either way, export any contacts you added during the trial so the clean-up work you did isn't wasted.
What happens when the trial ends
Because the trial needs no credit card, there's no surprise charge on day 31. If you want to keep it, you buy Starter Suite through self-checkout and choose monthly or annual billing. If you don't, you simply don't buy, so there's no cancel form or deadline to remember. That makes it a calmer trial than most.
Starter or Pro Suite?
Salesforce describes Pro Suite as the step up when you need deeper customisation and more complex automation, and says moving from Starter to Pro is straightforward. For most small businesses trying a CRM for the first time, Starter is the right place to begin. You can compare the two on Salesforce's site once you know which features your team uses every day.
If Salesforce isn't the fit, I've compared easier Salesforce alternatives and put the main contenders side by side in the best CRM for small business by team size.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
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My verdict
The Salesforce free trial is one of the easiest CRM trials to say yes to: 30 days of Starter Suite, no credit card, no obligation. Treat it as a real month of selling, not a setup project, and you'll know by week four whether it earns its place in your business. If it does, Starter starts at $25 per user, per month, as of October 2026.
Many teams pair a CRM with a contact database, and our ZoomInfo free trial guide covers one.
Frequently asked questions
Does Salesforce have a free trial?
Yes. Salesforce offers a 30-day free trial of Starter Suite, its all-in-one CRM for small businesses.
Do I need a credit card for the Salesforce free trial?
No. Salesforce says the Starter Suite trial needs no credit card and has no obligation.
How much is Salesforce Starter after the trial?
As of October 2026, Salesforce lists Starter from $25 per user, per month, billed monthly or annually.
What's included in the Salesforce Starter trial?
Starter Suite brings sales, service, marketing, commerce and Slack together in one app, with a free Slack workspace connected to your CRM and AI meeting summaries from video calls.
Will Salesforce charge me when the trial ends?
No card is taken for the trial, so there's no automatic charge. You buy Starter Suite through self-checkout only if you decide to keep it.
