On September 3, 2026, Salesforce replaced its Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1 editions with three new tiers, Core, Advanced and Max, for Agentforce Sales, Agentforce Service and Agentforce Industries, which Salesforce's pricing pages now list as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and the industry clouds. Every tier bundles Agentforce, Slack, Tableau Next analytics, security features and a Premier Success Plan, plus a yearly pool of Flex Credits for AI work. Core suits teams that need the full CRM, Advanced adds data protection and more AI, and Max includes Salesforce's full AI suite for each cloud.
What exactly changed in September 2026?
Salesforce announced the new editions on September 3, 2026. For Sales and Service, Core, Advanced and Max take the place of the older Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1 editions. Salesforce said industry edition pricing would take effect later in the fall, so Agentforce Industries buyers should confirm timing with their account executive.
Starter Suite and Pro Suite remain on Salesforce's sales and service pricing pages below the new tiers, and the sales page also lists a Free Suite, so small teams still have those entry points. Salesforce also said pricing for existing customers on legacy editions is unchanged. Agentforce 1 customers can move to Max at no extra cost.
What is included in every edition?
Salesforce's announcement lists the same foundation across all three tiers:
- Agentforce capabilities for the cloud you buy, including Agentforce Coworker
- Slack, with Slackbot
- Tableau Next embedded analytics
- Data security features
- A Premier Success Plan
- A yearly allocation of Flex Credits for agent actions
The bundling matters more than the tier names. Many orgs bought Slack, analytics, backup or premium support as separate line items. If those now arrive inside an edition, some existing add-on contracts may overlap at renewal.
How do Core, Advanced and Max differ?
Each step up adds more AI, more data protection and more included credits. The details differ between Sales and Service, so read the pricing page for the cloud you license. Here is how Salesforce's sales and service pricing pages described the tiers when we reviewed them:
| Core | Advanced | Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positioning | The full CRM with built-in AI, Slack and Tableau | Core plus enhanced security, more AI and expanded data capacity | Salesforce's complete AI suite for the cloud |
| Sales highlights | Everything in Professional Edition, plus Momentum, Slack Business+ and Tableau Next | Adds Sales Programs, Backup & Recover, Archive, Data Detect and Security Center | Adds Agentforce for Sales, unmetered Agentforce Coworker, Spiff, Sales Planning and Salesforce Maps, with Slack Enterprise+ |
| Service highlights | Case management, a self-service help center and Slack Business+ with Slackbot | Adds Casey, the Help Agent, plus Backup & Recover, Data Detect and a full sandbox | Adds Agentforce for Service, contact center capabilities and an IT service desk |
| Flex Credits per org per year | 500,000 | 1 million | 2.75 million |
| Roughly how many standard agent actions that covers | About 25,000 | About 50,000 | About 137,500 |
The last row is our arithmetic, not a Salesforce figure. Salesforce prices a standard Agentforce action at 20 Flex Credits and a voice action at 30, so the same pool covers fewer voice interactions. Sandbox allocations and data storage also vary by cloud and tier; confirm them on your quote rather than assuming the older edition's numbers carry over.
How do the included Flex Credits work?
Flex Credits are Salesforce's unit of payment for Agentforce. Each action an agent takes, such as updating a record, summarizing a case, answering a product question or running a prompt or flow, draws from the org's pool. Salesforce positions Flex Credits as a shared pool across agents and use cases; confirm any restrictions in your contract.
Two details shape planning. First, unused Flex Credits do not roll over into the next subscription term, so a large allocation you never use has no carry-forward value. Second, an agent that handles real volume can consume credits quickly. A service agent that resolves 5,000 conversations a month, at an average of three standard actions each, would use about 3.6 million credits a year, more than even Max includes. Estimate actions per conversation in a pilot before you rely on the included pool.
Which edition fits your team?
Start from capabilities, not the tier name. List what your processes depend on today and what you plan to launch in the next contract term, then map each item to the tier that first includes it.
- Choose Core when you need the full CRM with Slack and analytics, your AI plans are early, and you already handle backup and data monitoring another way.
- Choose Advanced when you need Salesforce's own backup, archiving and sensitive-data detection, or you plan modest agent use beyond what Core's credits cover.
- Choose Max when you intend to run Agentforce agents at scale for sales or service, or you would otherwise buy several of the tools Max bundles, such as Spiff, Maps or contact center capabilities.
- Stay on a Starter or Pro suite when the team is small, the process is simple and you do not need the customization of the full editions.
Mixed estates are common. A company might license sales users on one tier and service agents on another; confirm with your account team how org-level items such as Flex Credits and sandboxes are allocated when tiers are combined.
What should you do before your renewal?
Most of the savings or overspend in an edition change comes from what you already own. Do this homework two to three months before the renewal date:
- Inventory current licenses, add-ons and separately contracted tools, including backup, Slack, analytics, Shield-style security and premium support.
- Mark which of those a Core, Advanced or Max quote would include, so you can drop duplicate contracts.
- Pull login and feature usage to find inactive users and unused add-ons before you size the new contract.
- Pilot any planned agent and count actions per conversation, then compare annual demand with the included credits.
- Confirm sandbox counts, storage and API limits for the proposed tier against your release process and integrations.
- Ask how existing add-on terms end if the new edition includes the same capability.
If you want help mapping your org to the new tiers, our Salesforce consultants can run that inventory with you and flag where an edition change overlaps tools you already pay for.
