Who this comparison is for
PeopleGraph highlights
- Unified people+company graph with labels, segments, and cross-links
- Dedupe & merge workflow with provenance
- DeskSearch provider for instant global search
Salesforce (Core CRM) highlights
- Full sales pipeline, objects, and reporting suite
- Rich automation within CRM (flows, validation)
Capability matrix
| Capability | PeopleGraph | Salesforce (Core CRM) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| People + Companies as first-class objects | Full | Full | Both model contacts/companies |
| Labels & meta-labels (workspace taxonomy) | Full | Partial | CRM tags exist; workspace-wide meta-labels in PeopleGraph |
| Smart segments (rule-based) | Full | Partial | Marketing Cloud/Reports vs native segment registry |
| Dedupe suggestions + merge with provenance | Full | Partial | Admin add-ons vs built-in daily job |
| Two-way sync (Google Contacts / MS Graph) | Native | Add-on | Connector-first vs AppExchange/ETL |
| Imports pipeline (jobs, logs, mapping) | Full | Partial | Guided import vs data loader tools |
| Event Emitter (Contacts.* / Companies.*) | Full | Partial | Lightweight event bus vs Platform Events (licensed) |
| DeskSearch (global FTS provider) | Full | None | Workspace-wide search index |
| HMAC Bridge API (external signed pulls) | Full | Partial | Custom integration user & API throttles |
| Audit history & right-to-erasure paths | Partial | Full | Audit endpoints planned vs full Field History |
| Pricing/licensing footprint | lightweight | enterprise | PeopleGraph is app-level; CRM requires seats/modules |
- This comparison focuses on identity-directory capabilities, not sales CRM breadth.
- Matrix tokens: full/partial/none/native/via_zapier/manual indicate support at a glance.
Total cost of ownership
PeopleGraph reduces platform complexity and Ops time for identity tasks (labels, segments, sync) while letting Salesforce remain the system of record for GTM. Together: CRM for sales, PeopleGraph for cross-app identity.
Assumptions
- 50–200k identities across teams
- Two-way sync with Google/Microsoft; nightly dedupe
Migration plan
From Salesforce (as identity store) · Mirror contacts/companies → dedupe & segment in PeopleGraph → keep Salesforce for sales flows
-
1
Connect Salesforce export → import to PeopleGraph (jobs + logs)
-
2
Enable dedupe suggestions and merge obvious collisions
-
3
Define labels/segments; emit events to workflows
Security
- AES-256 at rest; TLS 1.2+ in transit
- RBAC & least privilege on connectors
Evidence & sources
| Claim | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Events & search provider | Contacts.* / Companies.* + DeskSearch |
product_docs
FTS provider + event bus
|
About PeopleGraph
PeopleGraph gives teams a single workspace to create, link, and manage people and companies. Build rich profiles with emails, phones, addresses, websites, and custom fields. Attach labels and define smart segments that drive marketing, support, and permissions in other apps.
Two-way connectors keep sources like Google Contacts and Microsoft 365 aligned. Dedupe suggestions and a merge workflow maintain clean data with provenance. Every change emits events for downstream automation.
Search is first-class: quick find in-app and registration with the platform-wide index so you can jump to any profile from anywhere.