Salesforce is one of the biggest names in customer relationship management software. That's thanks to its ease-of-use, its app marketplace, and its customizability. In recent years, Salesforce has taken that customizability a little further by allowing customers to choose between two different versions of the software: Salesforce Lightning vs Salesforce Classic.

If you don’t already have Salesforce, you should definitely pick the Lightning version, as it offers the most modern features. If you already use Salesforce, you'll likely still want to upgrade to Lightning from Classic, as the learning curve should be outweighed by the intuitive interface and smoother workflow of Lightning. Plus, Classic will eventually be phased out, so users might as well get used to Lightning now.

Some may chose to stick with Salesforce Classic, however, if it's working great already and they don't want to risk losing some functionality or dealing with a learning curve.

If you're unsure of which to opt for, comparing personalized quotes may help – use our simple Salesforce Quotes Tool to get costs in moments, or scroll down for a full comparison.

Considering other options, besides Salesforce? We've gathered the latest CRM Deals for small businesses, below.

What is Salesforce Lightning?

Lightning was first introduced to Salesforce's customers as a beta framework for building user interfaces in 2015. By 2018, it had expanded into a full-fledged, deeply customizable interface that could replace the classic Salesforce software.

Today, all of Salesforce's new features are built for the Lightning UI. Salesforce Classic exists largely in an “as is” state for those companies that cannot yet make the switch. This may be due to customized interfaces, workflows, or just the general difficulty of making a big switch with thousands of users.

Prior to around 2018, it made sense for smaller businesses to stay away from Lightning, since the feature-set wasn't as fully-formed as what you could use via Classic. That's becoming less and less the case, as most key features have now migrated to Lightning from Classic.

Salesforce Lightning Benefits

Comparing the major feature differences between Classic and Lightning is like hitting a moving target, with new updates happening all the time. Here's a quick look at a few of the biggest benefits Lightning offers over Classic:

• Home features — Both interfaces offer Events, Calendars, and customizable dashboards, but only Lightning includes news, key deals, and a performance chart on the homepage.
• Expanded forecasting — Classic offers revenue and quantity forecasts. Lightning adds far more: Revenue and quantity forecasts, product and schedule date forecasts, territory forecasts, forecast sharing, and other forecasts that are customizable by currenty and number, capable of covering Opportunity, Opportunity Product, Opportunity Split, and Line Item Schedule.
• Greater security — Lightning comes with LockerService, a feature that adds a layer of security between the components that make up the Lightning interface. Permissions also come with stronger authentication standards.
• Activity timeline — Lightning includes a timeline to help users keep track of their history of activity for each account or each lead, but Classic does not.
• Workspace page layout — Lightning enables users to design new types of pages, from App Pages to Home Pages to Record Pages, while Classic just offers one basic type of page.
• Mobile Optimization – Salesforce Lightning is optimized for responsiveness across browsers – as well as mobile phones.
• AI Integration – Salesforce Lightning has superior AI integration when compared with Salesforce Classic (more on this further down in the article). With Salesforce Lightning, you'll get lead scoring and opportunity scoring functions that will help you direct customer support or marketing resources to the right customers.

Those looking for even more in-depth guidance should check out Salesforce's feature comparison chart – spoiler alert, it's very favorable towards Lightning.

Salesforce Lightning vs Classic: Which Should You Use?

If you have Salesforce veterans on your team they are likely familiar with Classic. That could be an advantage if your team is returning to Salesforce, and the focus is on getting up and running as soon as possible. But this is only a short term solution as Lightning is the platform with the most active support. In fact, you may find that Salesforce automatically switches you to Lightning after a few days or weeks on Salesforce Classic.

New users should stick with Salesforce Lightning unless there is some clear feature advantage to going with Classic, which there does not seem to be.

For the vast majority of users Lightning is the way to go, especially if your company is brand new to Salesforce. The interface is much more comprehensible, faster, and it is the future of the Salesforce platform. Classic, meanwhile, can work for teams returning to Salesforce or those unable to move yet.

If you do choose Classic, be aware there's a little uncertainty about its future. Salesforce has yet to announce an end date for Classic interface support.

The general consensus online is that Classic will be around for years, though, as Salesforce closes any existing feature gaps and continues support for large enterprises. There's no guarantee that's the case, however, so choose wisely. It would be a real pain to get settled on Classic only to have to turn around a year later and migrate to the newer platform.

Ultimately, new users should stick with Lightning unless there is some clear feature advantage to going with Classic. Even then, you'll want to move to the newer interface when those key reasons for using Classic are solved in Lightning.

If you're not yet a Salesforce user and want to learn more about the software, then check out our full Salesforce pricing guide.

If you're up and running already with Salesforce, you should get in touch with your Salesforce representative to make sure that whatever advantage you've found will be duplicated in Lightning at a later date. Or, check out a free online tool from Salesforce, the Readiness Check, which prepares a personalized report on what immediate benefits your company can expect from switching to Lightning, as well as any potential adjustments you'll face in the process.

Salesforce Lightning as a Platform

Though we're talking about Lightning as an interface, it's actually a lot more than that. It's an entire framework that developers can use to create modern Salesforce apps. Third-party service integrations are easier, and you can also build custom components for the CRM platform's web interface.

The Lightning UI itself is a modern web UI with a mix of easier-to-read text, icons, and graphics providing a snapshot of your business. To see an example of how dramatic the difference is look at the Home tab in both interfaces. Lightning offers a number of charts and lists to show you the current state of your business at-a-glance.

Classic, by comparison, is focused on text and the Home tab is primarily a social style news feed showing your organization's latest posts, emails, and tasks.

Drilling down a bit further, if you look at an opportunity record in Lightning, you see what Salesforce calls a highlights panel at the top with common action buttons, and the current state of the opportunity. Classic, on the other hand, shows a text-centric view of the same information. Figuring out whether the deal has closed requires scanning the small text of the “Opportunity Details” section.

Here's a quick video overview of the Salesforce Lightning platform, including mobile and desktop views, the activity feed, workflows, third-party integrations, and more.

Salesforce Lightning and Einstein Integration

The Einstein AI is another selling point for the Lightning interface: Einstein automatically tackles data prep, modeling, and infrastructure updates needed to ensure your analytics are constantly updated in near-real time. It integrates well across the entire Lightning interface, from powering apps with abilities like image recognition and natural language processing to helping users predict the next best action for a specific lead or account.

Classic includes some integrations for Einstein, but Lightning has more. Opportunity insights, account insights, automated contacts, and the Bot Builder feature that lets users incorporate Einstein into their bots are all Lightning-only abilities.

Does Salesforce Lightning Cost More?

No, Salesforce Lightning doesn't cost more than Salesforce Classic. The interfaces cost the same. Long-time users of the Classic version will be able to switch to Lightning without paying for a new license. Meanwhile, new customers will be recommended the Lightning interface by default.

However, the act of migrating from Classic to Lightning will include some additional costs, as users will need additional training and the company may need to audit its needs to ensure that Lighting still offers the features they'll need.

That said, the switch pays for itself: One 2018 Forrester study found that switching to Lightning saved each user an hour of work per week. Paired with other factors including less support and development time, switching to Lightning from Classic comes with a three-year ROI of 341% with a payback period of 14 months.

Here's a table that further breaks down Salesforce's (admittedly very complex) pricing, regardless of whether you're opting for Classic or Lightning:

What is Salesforce Classic?

Until the Lightning release, Salesforce Classic was the interface for the CRM platform. When you first take a look at Salesforce Classic you can see right away that it is not a modern web UI. It is very compact and text-centric with little attention paid to graphics and icons. The graphics that do exist are typically small and aren't displayed in high resolution.

The text is also very small by default, and on a modern monitor there is a massive amount of unused space that at times makes everything feel way too confined and at others far too spread out.

The overall result is that it is not easy to absorb information quickly in the Classic interface and navigation can be a little bit clunky.

Classic exists mostly for longstanding Salesforce users who aren't ready to move to the newer interface. New users are put on Lightning by default, with the option to switch to the Classic interface under their user icon in the upper-right corner. It's possible that some companies new to Salesforce will have particular needs better suited to Classic. As a general rule, however, Lightning is the version of Salesforce to aim for since it's the default for new users and the future of the platform.

Salesforce Classic End of Life

Salesforce Classic won't be around forever. However, no date has yet been set for when it'll be completely phased out in favor of Lightning.

Classic was a massively popular interface during the 2000s, and remains widely used. But the fact is that most of Salesforce's updates are designed for either Lightning only or for Lightning and Classic together, rather than for Classic only, by a ratio of about 20-to-1. Eventually the Classic interface won't be updated and Salesforce will stop supporting it entirely to put their resources to better use. When that happens, we'll let you know.

Next Steps: Trying Salesforce Lightning

If your company has already invested years or decades into Salesforce Classic, switching to Lightning is likely a worthwhile move, even if it requires a pesky learning curve. Salesforce Lightning offers more functionality than Salesforce Classic, making it better overall. Lighting's biggest benefits include a components library and app builder to support more customizability, as well as support for third-party apps.

Salesforce Lightning also offers a new and improved interface with additional features that make it easier and more engaging for users, whereas Salesforce Classic offers the original, albeit updated, interface that is lacking in some key areas. Generally speaking, Lightning just offers more.

If you're new to Salesforce, adapting the modern Lightning interface is a no-brainer.

Still, you may wish to compare and contrast what Lighting has to offer against other top-performing services in the CRM field. Just fill out the quick Tech.co CRM quote form, and you can start painlessly gathering custom quotes today to see which is the best deal for you.

Ian is an independent writer based in Israel who has worked as a technology industry reporter and critic for more than ten years. He’s written for PCWorld, Macworld, TechHive, Yahoo, Lifewire, and The Huffington Post. He primarily covers Windows, PC and gaming hardware, video and music streaming services, security software, and browsers.