Marketo Engage lays claim to the title of “world’s largest marketing automation platform”. Distributed under the Adobe umbrella, the solution has been blazing the trail for lead management and consumer marketing software since its $4.75 billion acquisition back in 2018.
Through its short but successful history, Marketo has earned high praise from Gartner, which named the vendor as a magic quadrant leader 11 years in a row. The tool is highly favored among users, too — earning an impressive average score of 8.2 stars out of 10 on TrustRadius.
So, if you’re searching for an AI-enabled automation platform to propel your digital marketing efforts, Marketo might be at the top of your list. But before you jump into a subscription, some due diligence is required.
As software costs continue to soar, one of your top priorities should be to see how much Marketo costs, as well as the kinds of pricing plans available for your business.
Here, we’ll cover all you need to know about Marketo’s pricing model, as well as the different ways you could drive down the cost of a subscription.
How much does Marketo cost?
Marketo’s pricing for 2023 is not publicly listed on its pricing page. Instead, prospective customers are encouraged to reach out to the Marketo sales team to learn how much they should expect to pay for a subscription.
Disappointing while this may be, it’s not unusual.
Marketo joins the ranks of 55% of software vendors that do not publish standard pricing details online, making it challenging for you to know whether you’re getting a good deal on your subscription, or what kind of plan is within your budget.
However, there are some methods for gaining a frame of reference on what you might pay. But before we get onto that, let’s take a closer look at the different Marketo packages available, so you can walk into negotiations knowing exactly what tier of subscription your organization requires.
Marketo pricing plans
Growth
Marketo’s most basic plan is Growth, offering core email, segmentation and automation functionality to users. This subscription tier permits up to 10 users to handle 20,000 API calls per day and access features such as lead and account databases, advanced dynamic content, custom user roles and more.
Select
Select is a more advanced subscription tier which supports up to 25 users and 50,000 API calls per day. The plan features everything from Growth, as well as additional features such as event and webinar marketing, predictive content, dynamic chat and more.
Prime
Marketo’s Prime plan includes everything from Select as well as lead-based marketing functionality and AI personalization. This tier supports features like predictive audiences, advanced journey analytics, workspaces and more right out of the box.
Ultimate
Ultimate is Marketo’s most advanced tier of subscription, combining powerful marketing automations with premium attribution. The plan supports the full functionality of Prime as well as Marketo Measure and deep campaign testing.
A detailed breakdown of each feature included in Marketo’s four pricing plans can be found here. Marketo stipulates that pricing for each plan is based on database size, but offers no further insights publicly about starting costs.
So, is there any way to find out a ballpark figure for Marketo pricing?
Searching the internet
One option is to look online for Marketo pricing insights. After a quick search, we found one article from Marketing Automation Insider which claimed Marketo plans start at $895 per month. The author went on to explain that the pricing model includes more advanced tiers with starting costs of $1,795 and $3,175.
These approximate figures are widely corroborated by other respectable sources online.
For example, in another Marketo pricing article, Crozdesk labels the starting prices of three Marketo plans as $895, $1,795 and $3,195 per month, respectively.
Together, these examples suggest that you should expect to pay $895 per month for a Marketo subscription at the very least — climbing to $3,000+ for more advanced usage needs.
However, the eagle-eyed among you will spot that the three plans discussed in the above articles fail to map perfectly onto the four Marketo pricing plans we’ve spoken about here. The reality is, these sources may be describing legacy subscription tiers no longer offered by the vendor — which may have come at different price tags.
So, while they can provide a ballpark of Marketo costs, you’ll want to take any pricing insights you find online with a pinch of salt.
With that in mind, is there any other way to source reliable, accurate Marketo pricing information?
Yes — you’ll need to speak to Vertice. We have access to the transactional data from over 16,000 global software providers, including all subscription fees, onboarding charges and add-on costs — as well as any discounted rates offered. But we’ll get to that shortly.
Is it possible to get a discount on Marketo pricing?
The total price that you’ll pay for a Marketo subscription will depend on several different factors — namely, your subscription tier, database size, and of course, your software negotiation strategy. We’ve found that software prices are rarely set in stone, and there are additional savings to be had depending on the success of your negotiations.
In fact, our own data indicates that marketing platforms in general tend to offer lucrative average discounts of 32% – higher than almost all other SaaS categories.
Which poses the question – how do you ensure you’re securing the best possible Marketo discount?
In short, with the right leverage and a solid negotiation strategy.
Here are our top tips.
Allow ample lead time
If you’re purchasing a Marketo subscription for the first time, or you’re approaching the renewal window for your contract, you should leave yourself enough time to research and build the case you need to secure a good deal.
As well as ensuring that you’re adequately prepared with vendor research, price points, and competitor contract terms, leaving a generous lead time protects you from being backed into a corner, so to speak. If vendors know that you’ve left it late to negotiate and need a fast turnaround, they could be inflexible in the terms they offer you.
So, if you have a campaign or renewal window approaching and need to be onboarded with Marketo by a set date, it’s smart to start negotiating far in advance so you can secure the best possible deal.
Commit to a longer subscription period
SaaS vendors want to ensure repeat custom, which means they will usually offer discounted rates if you subscribe for a longer period — be this an annual or even a multi-year plan. According to our data, providers generally offer an extra 5% discount for each additional year a user signs up for.
However, this decision is not one to be taken lightly. If you’re going to propose a longer commitment period to Marketo or any other vendor in your stack, you need to be confident that it’s the right platform for your operations, aligned with your long-term plans for growth.
Leverage pricing benchmarks with Vertice
The best software negotiation strategies are those informed by reliable, accurate pricing insights. And while you could approach the negotiations stage with some of the ballpark figures you find online, the most powerful leverage is detailed data about what other organizations similar to your own pay for their subscriptions. And this is where we can help.
With access to pricing and discounting data for over 16,000 software vendors, Marketo included, we can provide you with the necessary leverage to secure a competitive rate for your business.
But that’s not all we do.
Our experienced SaaS purchasers can also negotiate on your behalf to secure more favorable terms with the vendor, saving your team the time and energy spent on procuring your software subscriptions.
See for yourself how much you could save on your annual SaaS spend, or browse through our extensive vendor database for more exclusive pricing insights across marketing platforms and more.
