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Anyone who wants to create quotes in Salesforce has several options.
In addition to Salesforce CPQ – part of Salesforce Revenue Cloud – appero quote - CPQ Light offers a fully native alternative that provides a lightweight, efficient way to generate quotes, especially for mid‑sized companies.
In this article, I’ll explain how appero quote differs from Salesforce Revenue Cloud CPQ – and when each solution is the better fit.
Overview
- What is Salesforce Revenue Cloud – and which CPQ is included?
- Where does appero quote – CPQ Light fit in?
- Comparison Table: appero quote vs. Salesforce Revenue Cloud (CPQ)
- Conclusion: When to use which solution?
What is Salesforce Revenue Cloud – and which CPQ is included?
Salesforce Revenue Cloud is a bundled suite of products designed to support monetization of goods and services. It unifies components of the quote-to-cash process, including:
- Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote – formerly SteelBrick)
- Salesforce Billing
- Subscription Management
- Revenue Recognition / Revenue Lifecycle Management
- Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
Which CPQ is included?
Practically speaking, Salesforce CPQ (formerly SteelBrick) is the standard CPQ within Revenue Cloud—a feature-rich solution commonly used by enterprises for configuration, pricing, and quoting.
There is also Salesforce Industries CPQ (formerly Vlocity), tailored to industry-specific scenarios like telecom, energy, or healthcare. It’s highly configurable and rule-based, built on OmniStudio, but is a separate product outside the general Revenue Cloud bundle.
Strategic Outlook
Salesforce is strategically moving toward:
- Composable Commerce
- Headless CPQ architectures
- API-first approaches
- Modular configuration components
In the long run, this could form the foundation for a modernized generation of CPQ. For now, however, Salesforce CPQ remains the central CPQ module within the Revenue Cloud.
Where does appero quote – CPQ Light fit in?
appero quote - CPQ Light is a 100% native Salesforce app focused on two core elements of the quoting process: Pricing (P) and Quote (Q). It's designed to be simple, efficient, and visually driven.
Key strengths of appero quote:
Powerful pricing engine
appero quote offers comprehensive, rule-based price calculation that goes far beyond standard features. For example, it enables:
- Tiered pricing and automatic markups or discounts
- Price dependencies and multiple, flexibly combinable discounts at line-item level
- Individually configurable product attributes that directly impact pricing
- Automated discounts for specific customers or customer groups
Calculations take place directly in the quote document in real time, allowing users to transparently see and immediately understand the impact of any changes.
WYSIWYG Quote Creation
- What you see in the quote editor is the final document – 1:1
- Corporate design ensured through tenants & templates
- Insert product images, graphics, and legally binding text
- Placeholders automatically pull data from Salesforce (e.g., customer data)
Structure through Product Groups
- Clear content organization of the quote
- Products and line items are automatically placed in the right section
- Filtering during calculation and total generation
Deep, native integration with Salesforce
- 100% native app – developed exclusively with Salesforce technologies (Apex, LWC, etc.)
- No middleware, no external systems or servers – all data stays entirely within your Salesforce org
- Quote data syncs automatically with the Opportunity, without custom code or external interfaces
- All fields, logic, layouts, and user permissions are fully manageable via the Salesforce admin
- Maximum data security, as appero quote is fully based on Salesforce security standards
Where appero quote is not designed to fit:
appero quote is not built for highly complex scenarios such as dynamic product setups, advanced bundling, or guided selling processes. If your business requires features like rule-based product logic or subscription management, Salesforce CPQ and the Revenue Cloud are the better fit.
Comparison Table:
appero quote vs. Salesforce Revenue Cloud (CPQ)
|
Criterion |
appero quote |
Salesforce Revenue Cloud (CPQ) |
|
Integration in Salesforce |
✅ 100 % native (Apex, LWC), no external dependencies |
⚠️ Deeply integrated, but not fully native – built on an acquired architecture (SteelBrick) with its own rule engine |
|
User-friendliness |
✅ High—WYSIWYG editor, intuitive visuals |
❌ Technical and complex, with multiple configuration layers |
|
Configuration |
⚠️ Only simple bundles and add-on products, no dynamic bundles, limited guided selling |
✅ Supports advanced logic, guided selling, product rules |
|
Pricing |
✅ Powerful and customizable price calculation, fully transparent in real time directly within the editor. |
✅ Advanced pricing rules, discounts, and contracted pricing |
|
Quote Document |
✅ Visually appealing and fully compliant with corporate identity and design standards |
❌ Limited layout customization, more technically driven |
|
Implementation Effort |
✅ Low – often up and running within just a few days |
❌ High – often requires several months of implementation time |
|
License Costs |
✅ 33 € per user/month (list price) |
❌ 200 € per user/month (list price) for Revenue Cloud Advanced (CPQ), with additional components priced separately |
|
Target Audience |
✅ Mid-sized companies, traditional sales teams |
✅ Enterprise, subscription-based business, globally scaling models |
|
Quote-to-Cash Capability |
❌ Not included – the focus is on pricing and quote creation, but there are proven integrations with partner solutions such as JustOn for billing and subscription, as well as DocuSign and other e-signature providers. |
✅ Fully integrated – including billing, revenue recognition, and subscription management |
Conclusion: When to use which solution?
Use appero quote – CPQ Light if...
- You need to generate professional, high-quality quote documents quickly
- You want sophisticated pricing logic without complex configuration
- A fully native Salesforce solution with seamless integration and strong data governance is essential
- You prefer an intuitive, visually guided interface that simplifies the quoting process
Choose Salesforce Revenue Cloud if...
- You require advanced configuration, guided selling, or product rules
- You need a full quote-to-cash platform including billing, revenue recognition, and subscription management
- You're operating at an enterprise scale with global standardization and scalability requirements
In the end, it all comes down to your specific use case.
Those looking for a simple, streamlined, and powerful way to create quotes will find in appero quote a focused, native alternative to CPQ – offering strong usability, reliable pricing, and professional quote documents.
For businesses aiming to automate complex sales models and implement global standards, Salesforce Revenue Cloud enables full digitalization of the sales value chain – but at a significantly higher price point and with a much greater implementation effort.
