2023 Marketo Engage Pricing: Reviewing Adobe's Marketo Pricing & Packaging

Marketo Engage by Adobe is one of the leading marketing automation platforms used by enterprises and mid-market companies. In this detailed review, we'll take a closer look at Marketo Engage pricing, packages, and customer reviews to help you determine if it's the right marketing automation software for your business needs and budget.

We'll cover key questions like:

• What does Marketo cost? Detailed pricing breakdown

• What features come with Marketo Engage and each pricing tier?

• How does Marketo's pricing compare to alternatives like HubSpot?

• What do customers think about Marketo Engage? Overview of reviews.

• Is Marketo Engage affordable for small to mid-sized businesses?

• Tips for negotiating and getting the best deal on Marketo.

Whether you're currently using Marketo or considering it as your marketing automation provider, read on for what to expect with Marketo Engage pricing and packaging in 2023 as part of the Adobe Experience Cloud.

What is Marketo Engage Pricing? A Detailed Pricing Breakdown

Marketo Engage pricing is based on several tiers, with customized enterprise quote available for large or complex businesses.

The Marketo Engage packages include:

• Starter

• Professional

• Enterprise

There are also add-ons like Additional Engages, Predictive Content, Sales Insights, and more that increase costs.

Exact Marketo pricing is not publicly listed on their website. You need to request a custom quote to get detailed pricing for your business's specific needs.

But based on industry estimates, customers report paying between $1,500 per month up to $25,000+ per month depending on company size, features, services required, and negotiated deal.

As a rule of thumb according to VentureHarbor, you can expect to pay:

• Starter: $2,500+ per month

• Professional: $5,000 - $15,000 per month

• Enterprise: $15,000 - $25,000+ per month

Add-on products like Predictive Content and Sales Insights typically cost a few thousand dollars more per month. Enterprise-level customization projects can also add significant costs.

For a detailed cost comparison, see the Marketo pricing vs competitors section later in this article.

Next, let's see what features are included with the Marketo Starter, Professional, and Enterprise packages.

Marketo Engage Packages & Features

Marketo Engage has tiered pricing plans, with more advanced functionality unlocked at the higher (and more expensive) tiers.

Here's an overview of the key differences between Marketo's pricing packages:

Starter

The Starter tier is Marketo's entry-level package. It offers core marketing automation capabilities plus:

• Email marketing

• Basic analytics

• Lead scoring

• Simple landing page and form builder

• Up to 5 marketing users

The Starter plan provides a basic feature set for smaller marketing teams getting started with automation. But advanced teams may find it limiting.

Professional

A significant step up from the Starter tier, Professional unlocks Marketo's core automation features:

• Multi-channel campaign orchestration

• Advanced lead nurturing capabilities

• Dynamic content and personalization

• Salesforce CRM integration

• Predictive lead scoring

• Custom objects and APIs

• Up to 15 marketing users

Professional suits mid-size marketing teams looking for robust automation and integration with an affordable cost of Marketo ownership. It's the "sweet spot" for many customers.

Enterprise

Marketo Engage Enterprise has all the bells and whistles, including:

• Unlimited campaign complexity

• Custom modeling

• Complex Salesforce integration

• Superior analytics and attribution

• Predictive content capabilities

• LaunchPoint ecosystem of integrated apps

• Unlimited marketing users

• Dedicated account management

As the top-tier plan, Enterprise offers high-scale automation for enterprise marketing teams. It provides virtually limitless customization to support complex omnichannel strategies and predictive customer experiences.

Enterprise pricing is customized per customer, but comes at a premium cost with all capabilities included. Most mid-market companies do not require everything offered in the Enterprise package.

How Does Marketo Pricing Compare to HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, and Alternatives?

Marketo is considered a leader in the enterprise marketing automation space. But it's not the most affordable option for many small to mid-size businesses.

Let's compare Marketo's pricing and tiers to rival platforms:

HubSpot

The most common Marketo alternative, HubSpot offers 4 tiers based on number of contacts:

• Free - 1,000 contacts

• Starter - 1,001 - 10,000 contacts

• Professional - 10,001 - 100,000 contacts 

• Enterprise - 100,001+ contacts

Published HubSpot pricing starts at $50/month (Free) up to $2,400/month (Enterprise), making it more affordable than Marketo for mid-market buyers.

HubSpot features are robust for savvy marketing teams with advanced needs but straightforward automation. However, Marketo outperforms for complex omnichannel strategies.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign automation is considered Marketo's "cost effective" alternative for small to mid-marketers. Their plans are:

• Lite - up to 500 contacts 

• Professional - up to 10,000 contacts

• Plus - up to 50,000 contacts

• Enterprise - 50,000+ contacts

Pricing officially undisclosed but starts around ~$15 per month, adding up to $5,000+ monthly for larger enterprises.

ActiveCampaign matches most Marketo features while being more user-friendly and affordable. It works for typical marketing automation needs but trails Marketo's high-end customization.

In Summary

While Marketo pricing is steep for early stage and mid-market companies compared to ActiveCampaign or HubSpot, its capabilities are unmatched for global enterprises with expansive marketing technology stacks and budgets.

Mid-size companies can achieve sufficient automation, albeit less flexible than Marketo, via more affordable tools like HubSpot or ActiveCampaign.

Marketo Customer Reviews & Reputation Overview

Per G2 crowd, Marketo has an average rating of 4 out 5 stars from customers.

65% of users give Marketo 4 or 5 stars - very solid in the marketing automation software category known for split opinions.

Positive Marketo customer reviews praise:

• Powerful, enterprise-scale automation capabilities

• Strong analytics and attribution

• Flexible integrations and APIs

• Customization for complex strategies

• Dedicated customer support

Negative Marketo reviews focus on:

• Steep learning curve

• Overwhelming features

• Occasional slow performance

• High pricing relative to functionality

• Choppy usability

Common themes in reviews are that Marketo is very powerful but often overly complex. It generally takes an enterprise-level marketing team to utilize Marketo to its full potential.

Smaller teams with basic needs sometimes feel the platform provides more than necessary, coming at a high price tag. Marketo lends itself better to complex marketing environments. 

But the majority of customer feel Marketo makes the cut and delivers strong marketing automation software, albeit at a premium cost.

For independent research on Marketo, check out their customer reviews on TrustRadius and Gartner Peer Insights in addition to G2 Crowd.

Is Marketo Affordable for SMBs? What Should You Expect to Pay?

Marketo Engage is purpose-built with enterprise marketing teams and solutions in mind. Its advanced capabilities cater more to billion dollar global conglomerates over local mom-and-pop shops.

But Marketo can still be implemented by mid-market companies or divisions of large enterprises, with proper planning and budgeting.

Here's what small and mid-size businesses can expect with Marketo pricing:

• Plan for around $2,500+ per month minimum for a basic Starter package. Upgrades may be required for sufficient functionality based on your needs

• Budget for add-on costs as you scale features like Sales Insights, Predictive Content, services, and more on top of base pricing

• Factor in ongoing fees of at least $30k+ per year for a moderately complex automation approach

• Secure multi-year contracts and pay annually to decrease costs

• Get pricing bundled with Adobe Creative Cloud or Microsoft Dynamics for potential savings 

The key deciding factors are your budget threshold, marketing sophistication requirements, and needed scale of implementation.

While Marketo has high minimum monthly costs, its total cost of ownership might work for mid-market teams if it packs the integration, customization, and predictive intelligence your strategy requires.

Evaluate if cheaper marketing automation alternatives can meet 80%+ of your functionality needs, while saving significant budget. Marketo truly shines for incredibly advanced marketing teams.

Every business needs to assess budget, features, and scalability to determine if Marketo provides strong value or is overkill vs other platforms matching core needs at less cost.

7 Tips for Getting the Best Marketo Engage Deal

Given Marketo's premium pricing and customized quotes, there is room for negotiating your contract.

Here are 7 tips customers report for getting the best price on Marketo:

1. Buy More Upfront

Commit to a longer initial contract (2 or 3 years ideal) and purchase higher capacity from the start. Marketo offers the steepest discounts for larger pre-paid commitments.

2. Annual Billing

Like most SaaS platforms, Marketo provides discounts for companies paying their full contract value annually rather than monthly installments.

3. Bundle Adobe or Microsoft Licenses

Already using other Adobe/Microsoft products? Check for bundled Marketo pricing where packaging commonly leads to 10-30% cost savings.

4. Standardize on Marketo Company-Wide

Will business units across your organization leverage Marketo? Standardize on it company-wide to increase your deal size and negotiating leverage.

5. Make Them Earn Your Business

Get Marketo and competitor (HubSpot, ActiveCampaign) reps bidding against each other and explaining why you should choose their platform.

6. Seek Outspoken References

Ask for several warm customer references who can personally vouch for Marketo's value in their complex marketing environment.

7. No Mention of Price First 

Initially focus reps on explaining how Marketo solves your marketing goals and integration needs. Slow play pricing discussions to gather more value first. Customers report waiting to bring up budget after functionality increases discounts. 

The most successful Marketo customers enter negotiations prepared to illustrate the platform's ROI potential based on hard business objectives. They leverage deal size, executive relationships, and vendor competition to command steeper discounts especially on annual pre-payments.

What tricks have you leveraged to lower your Marketo Engage costs? Share your own tips in the comments!

To Recap Marketo Pricing & Packages

• Marketo Engage pricing runs from $2,500 per month up to $25,000+ for Enterprise plans.

• Tiered packages include Starter, Professional, and Enterprise with increasing functionality.

• Add-ons like Predictive Content and Sales Insights increase costs further. 

• Marketo rated 4 out of 5 stars by customers who praise advanced capabilities but note complexity. 

• Mid-market teams can leverage Marketo but may find cheaper automation meets their needs.

• Negotiate contract duration, billing terms, bundles, and segments to decrease Marketo costs.

We hope this guide provides clarity into Marketo Engage pricing, tiers, capabilities, and reviews. Now you know exactly what to expect with Marketo's costs and can negotiate accordingly plus determine if alternative marketing automation systems like HubSpot or ActiveCampaign better fit your budget.

Have any other questions as you evaluate Marketo? Let us know in the comments!