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Salesforce Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud: What’s the Difference?
Published on July 14, 2025
Overview
In the present-day hyper-connected digital environment, businesses are actively looking for ways to deliver personalized and smooth experiences to their customers, partners, and employees. Salesforce has long been at the forefront of this evolution with its wide array of powerful cloud-based platforms. Among them, Community Cloud and its successor, Experience Cloud, have allowed organisations to build engaging online communities that drive collaboration, self-service, and engagement.
But with Salesforce officially transitioning from Community Cloud to Experience Cloud, many often wonder: What’s the difference between both? Is this just a rebranding, or there is more to it?
This blog will explore the key differences, reasons behind the transition, benefits of Experience Cloud Salesforce, and how it shapes the future of digital experiences. Come, let’s dive in!
What Was Salesforce Community Cloud?
Originally, Salesforce Community Cloud was launched as a platform that empowered organisations to create branded portals, forums, and websites to connect with external stakeholders, i.e., customers, partners, and even employees. Its primary characteristics include:
- Branded communities for customer assistance and engagement.
- Partner portals for managing relationships and sales processes.
- Employee hubs for HR support and internal collaboration.
- Case management, knowledge base integration, and discussion forums.
Although Community Cloud served its purpose well, the rapid digital transformation across industries called for more robust, flexible, and immersive experiences that were far beyond static community portals.
What Is Salesforce Experience Cloud?
Experience Cloud Salesforce is the evolution of Community Cloud, reimagined to meet the demands of today’s digital-first economy. Officially rebranded in 2020, Experience Cloud Salesforce expands on the capabilities of Community Cloud and positions itself as a comprehensive digital experience platform. Furthermore, Salesforce Experience Cloud allows you to build:
- Customer-facing portals with dynamic personalization.
- Partner marketplaces integrated with sales and marketing tools.
- Employee service portals connected to workflows and knowledge bases.
- Content-driven websites and mobile experiences – all on the same platform.
What sets Experience Cloud apart is its focus on personalization, flexibility, integration with other Salesforce Clouds such as Sales, Service, and Marketing Cloud, and use of AI-driven recommendations through Salesforce Einstein.
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Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud: Key Differences
|
Feature
|
Community Cloud
|
Experience Cloud
|
|---|---|---|
|
Positioning
|
Online community platform
|
Complete digital experience platform
|
|
Personalisation
|
Basic audience targeting
|
AI-driven content personalisation
|
|
Builder Tools
|
Community Builder
|
Experience Builder (improved)
|
|
Integrations
|
Salesforce CRM
|
Full integration with CRM + Marketing + CMS
|
|
Content Management
|
Limited
|
Robust CMS capabilities
|
|
Analytics
|
Basic reporting
|
Advanced engagement and personalisation insights
|
|
Mobile Optimisation
|
Responsive
|
Mobile-first, native app assistance
|
|
Branding Flexibility
|
Templates with limited design control
|
Full brand control and flexibility
|
In a nutshell, Experience Cloud isn’t just a rebranded Community Cloud but a reimagined platform that aims at addressing modern digital demands.
Why Did Salesforce Make This Shift?
The rebranding to Experience Cloud wasn’t just cosmetic, but a strategic response given by Salesforce to the changing market demands. Here’s why Salesforce decided to make this shift:
1. Rising Demand for Personalized Digital Experiences: In today’s time, customers expect customised experiences across every digital touchpoint. To ensure this, Experience Cloud Salesforce leverages AI and data insights for delivering personalised content and recommendations.
2. Need for a Unified Platform: Businesses demanded more than just forums and portals. They wanted a single platform to create websites, microsites, customer apps, and more – all connected to their Salesforce data.
3. Growing Content-Driven Experiences: The present-day customer journeys are content-rich. Experience Cloud Salesforce offers Salesforce CMS, which makes it easy for businesses to publish, manage, and distribute content.
4. Digital-First Business Models: Particularly after the pandemic, businesses started prioritising digital engagement. Hence, Salesforce had to support not just community building, but entire digital experience ecosystems.
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Benefits of Migrating to Salesforce Experience Cloud
Is your business still reliant on Community Cloud? Here’s why it’s time you should consider upgrading to Salesforce Experience Cloud:
1. More Engaging User Experiences
With improved templates and design tools, you can build visually stunning and intuitive interfaces that truly reflect your brand.
2. AI-Powered Personalisation
Experience Cloud makes use of Salesforce Einstein for delivering intelligent recommendations, content suggestions, and targeted experiences.
3. Seamless Integrations
Experience Cloud portal, when connected with Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and more, ensures a connected customer journey.
4. Powerful Content Management
Salesforce CMS allows you to create and manage content across channels, which was not accessible in Community Cloud.
5. Mobile-First Design
Create responsive experiences that work across devices, or even design a custom mobile application powered by Experience Cloud Salesforce.
6. Scalability & Security
Developed on Salesforce’s secure infrastructure, Experience Cloud guarantees enterprise-grade security, compliance, and scalability.
Use Case of Experience Cloud Salesforce
A top-notch manufacturing business used Community Cloud to handle its partner ecosystem, but its portal lacked personalisation, real-time collaboration, and automation. When they migrated to Salesforce Experience Cloud, they launched a dynamic partner portal that offered the following:
- Customised dashboards and content
- Smooth deal registration and tracking
- Self-service assistant and training modules
In short, this transition helps businesses with 30% faster partner onboarding, a 40% rise in registered deals, and majorly improved partner engagement, proving the real power of digital experience transformation.
Conclusion
The evolution from Salesforce Community Cloud to Experience Cloud demonstrates a significant shift in the way organisations build digital relationships with customers, partners, and employees alike. It indicates how Community Cloud is no longer enough to offer static portals. Today’s users demand dynamic, personalised, and smooth experiences and that’s exactly what Experience Cloud delivers via AI-driven personalisation, robust content management, and in-depth integration with broader Salesforce ecosystem.
However, unlocking its full potential requires more than just migrating platforms – it takes thoughtful implementation and a partner who understands both your business objectives and the Salesforce landscape. This is when Avatu Private Limited comes into play. With a proven track record in offering tailored Salesforce solutions, Avatu helps businesses not only make a seamless transition but also turn Experience Cloud into a powerful engine for engagement and growth.
Seeking to elevate your digital experiences? Schedule a free consultation with Avatu today and get started the right way!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Community Cloud focuses on basic portals whereas Experience Cloud adds AI personalization, advanced content management, and full CRM integration, making it a complete digital experience platform.
To meet rising demands for personalization, mobile-first design, and unified digital experiences across customers, partners, and employees.
Yes, Experience Cloud Salesforce is mobile-first and supports native app development, unlike the more limited mobile responsiveness of Community Cloud.
Absolutely, it offers AI-powered content, tailored dashboards, and dynamic user journeys, leading to higher engagement and satisfaction.
Yes, with better scalability, security, and personalization, Experience Cloud offers long-term value and platforms like Avatu can ensure a smooth, strategic migration.
