Salesforce Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud: What’s the Difference [2025 Version]

Last Updated: December 13, 2024

So, you know how the digital world is always changing and evolving, right? Well, Salesforce is no exception. It is constantly improving its services and products to keep up with the growing demands of modern businesses.

One notable shift in this journey is the transformation of Salesforce’s Community Cloud into what is now known as Salesforce Experience Cloud. But what does this rebranding and the shift from Community Cloud mean? Does the Salesforce Community Cloud still exist in its previous form? And how does the Experience Cloud differ?

This is exactly what we’ll explore in this “Salesforce Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud” blog. Here, you will find why Salesforce Community Cloud is no longer a broad term, how Experience Cloud differs, and if there are any hidden agendas. Let’s get it started!

Salesforce Community Cloud Evolution: from Community to Experience

If we put Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud together, the notions often get mixed up. Besides, for those familiar with Salesforce’s offerings, the transition from Community Cloud to Experience Cloud might raise some questions. Indeed, the Salesforce Community Cloud has not disappeared entirely but has rather undergone a metamorphosis from Community Cloud.

Renamed to Salesforce Experience Cloud, Salesforce Community Cloud has received its rebirth and continues to provide the tools and features necessary for creating dynamic Salesforce communities and driving community engagement.

Salesforce’s rationale behind this renaming is clear: the term “Community Cloud” no longer covers the full breadth of possibilities offered by this cloud service. With Experience Cloud, Salesforce aims to emphasize the holistic nature of the digital experiences it enables, spanning interactions with customers, partners, and employees alike.

Salesforce Experience Cloud: Empowering Digital Interactions

So, what is Salesforce Experience Cloud? Simply put, Experience Cloud is a DXP (digital experience) platform designed to empower businesses that use Salesforce to create branded sites and online communities within the Salesforce platform. These communities sit on top of Salesforce and serve as hubs for interaction, communication, collaboration, and engagement across various stakeholders.

In the Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud comparison, the Experience Cloud platform site basically serves as a window to your Salesforce CRM data, allowing users to interact with that data through a beautiful site with an intuitive user interface, getting the digital experience they are expecting.

Whether your goal is to connect with customers, empower employees for knowledge sharing, or engage business partners, Experience Cloud provides the tools to tailor your digital presence accordingly. From building interactive websites to self-service and partner portals, the possibilities are vast. The platform serves to curate connected digital experiences that provide access to relevant resources and establish meaningful interactions within a Salesforce community.

Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud: What Changed?

So, let’s speak about Salesforce Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud changes. While the rebranding signifies a Community Cloud shift in focus and branding, the core functionalities largely remain the same. Both platforms enable the creation and management of communities, with Experience Cloud offering a more refined and integrated approach.

One significant change in the Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud comparison lies in the terminology and user interface. The transition to Experience Cloud from Community Cloud introduces updated terminology, such as referring to user interfaces and documentation as “Site or Experience Cloud Site” instead of “Community.” Also, “Lightning Community” has become “Experience Builder site”, and “Lightning Community template/theme/page” has been changed to “Experience Builder template/theme/page.” 

In the Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud changes, the Experience Cloud platform has also got a lot of enhancements and rich updates such as:

• New components that provide unique features available for B2B commerce. These include the New Lightning Web Component Header, Cart Scale, and the Guest Browsing component.
• Improved system security. Salesforce removed the following guest user object permissions: Edit, Delete, View All&Modify All, ensuring minimum impact to the org and maximum protection.
• Mobile Publisher enhancements. With Experience Cloud, users can now build mobile apps with Mobile Publisher for iPhone and iPad and also have the ability to lock the orientation to landscape or portrait.

Salesforce Experience Cloud: What Is It and How Can It Help You?

Get familiar with Salesforce Experience Cloud (former Community Cloud) and learn about the benefits of using it in your company.

Salesforce Experience Cloud Key Benefits

Now that you know the Salesforce Community Cloud vs Experience Cloud difference, let’s explore the full potential of Experience Cloud. Comb through the list of benefits you might receive when choosing this platform to build a Salesforce community.

Integration with Salesforce org

The Experience Cloud platform site goes beyond mere website creation. It represents a tightly integrated extension of your Salesforce CRM ecosystem, designed to facilitate interaction between your organization and its stakeholders.

The real difference from other platforms lies in deep integration with your Salesforce org. Unlike standalone website builders, a Salesforce Experience Cloud uses the robust features of the Salesforce platform, including user management, permissions, data access, flows, and more.

This means that the tools and functionalities that make Salesforce so powerful are readily available for use within your community environment.

From managing user permissions to accessing and sharing Salesforce data, the Experience Cloud site streamlines business processes and enhances collaboration. Besides, Experience Cloud sites can be seamlessly integrated with other Salesforce solutions like Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud, enabling the flow of data and information between systems.

A no-code development approach

One significant benefit of Experience Cloud lies in its no-code development approach, which allows users to create Salesforce communities and sites without extensive coding knowledge, training, and certification courses. This is all possible with the Experience Builder, a no-code development tool integrated into Experience Cloud.

Experience Builder provides ready-to-use drag-and-drop functionality to develop and customize powerful CRM-driven digital experiences fast, and with very low setup costs. You simply need to utilize drag-and-drop features or a combination of standard and custom components to build a digital experience tailored to your needs. This is a huge advantage of the Experience Cloud platform as you can use the existing development without relying too much on web developers, while ensuring compliance with Salesforce security standards, and seamless integration with the CRM system.

However, it’s important to note that even though Salesforce Experience Cloud is great at making development easier, it may not always deliver pixel-perfect user experiences.

Some may find this limitation to be a drawback, particularly if precision in design is crucial. And here is the solution – custom design done by a Salesforce partner like Advanced Communities. AC has been providing Salesforce UI/UX design services for years creating intuitive digital experiences that users love. Feel free to reach out to get help building your community on Experience Cloud.

Third-party apps integration

Salesforce Experience Cloud digital experiences can be enhanced by custom apps and components known as Salesforce Accelerators that are readily available on AppExchange. These apps expand the out-of-the-box functionality of the site ensuring it gets features previously not available in the platform.

For instance, you can use a powerful Salesforce events app to establish a robust event management system on your site. Or supercharge your Salesforce Knowledge by implementing AC Knowledge Management Enterprise, a powerful Knowledge base solution for Salesforce Community Cloud.

All these apps will help you improve community engagement and customer satisfaction providing functionality your users expect.

Conclusion

The transformation from Salesforce Community Cloud to Experience Cloud marks a significant step towards a more unified and versatile platform. Despite the name change, the core objective remains the same: to empower organizations to craft meaningful digital experiences. Whether it’s connecting with customers, fostering knowledge sharing, collaborating with employees, or involving partners, Salesforce continues to stick to this promise.

If you need help with setting up and configuring your Experience Cloud platform, the Advanced Communities team is here for you.

We’ve been building Salesforce communities and custom solutions for Experience Cloud for years, and that’s what we know best. We can also help with Salesforce data migration and custom design for your site. 

Contact us for all your Salesforce needs, including understanding the nuances of Salesforce Experience Cloud vs Community Cloud.

Q&A

Is the Salesforce Community Cloud the same as Experience Cloud?

Yes, Salesforce Community Cloud is now known as Salesforce Experience Cloud. The rebranding occurred to reflect the broader scope of capabilities offered by the platform, which extends beyond traditional community-building features to encompass a wide range of digital experience creation tools. So, while the name has changed, the core functionalities of the platform remain largely the same, with enhancements and updates under the new branding.

What is Salesforce Experience Cloud?

Experience Cloud is a platform provided by Salesforce that enables businesses to create branded sites for their customers and partners. Formerly known as Salesforce Community Cloud, it offers a range of tools and features to build interactive sites, self-service portals, sites for customer support teams, and online communities. These digital experiences can be tailored to specific audiences and designed to facilitate communication, collaboration, and engagement. Use the power of Salesforce to streamline operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive growth in your Salesforce community!

Is Salesforce CMS part of Experience Cloud?

Yes, Salesforce CMS (Content Management System) is indeed part of Salesforce Experience Cloud.