Salesforce dashboard tools: 8 options compared for real-time KPIs

Written by Plecto. Competitor details reflect each vendor's public documentation; check their sites for current plans and prices.

The best Salesforce dashboard tools depend on who looks at the numbers and how often. Salesforce's own reports cover analysis inside the CRM, while the tools below add TV screens, targets, spreadsheets or BI models on top of Salesforce data. The quick verdict:

• Native Salesforce reports and dashboards (CRM Analytics or Tableau as the paid upgrade) if the people who need the numbers already work in Salesforce and you want the deepest access to your own data.
• Plecto if you want a real-time Salesforce KPI dashboard on office TVs and phones, with targets, leaderboards and contests, and the option to add phone, helpdesk and other systems next to Salesforce. See the Salesforce integration.
• Geckoboard if you want a simple KPI TV for a small team, built from reports you already have.
• Databox or Klipfolio if you want flexible custom metrics across several business systems, and hourly refresh is enough.
• Power BI, Coefficient or Coupler.io with Looker Studio if you want analysis in a BI model or a spreadsheet rather than a wallboard.

Plecto is not a BI warehouse tool. It reads Salesforce data through its integration and turns it into live KPIs and motivation. It does not replace Power BI or Tableau for modeling data across a whole company.

Salesforce dashboard tools are products that turn Salesforce records, such as opportunities, leads, tasks and cases, into charts and KPIs a team can read at a glance. Salesforce ships its own reports and dashboards, so the real question is why you would add another tool. Teams usually do it for one of three reasons:

• A screen for the floor: a wall-mounted TV or a phone view that stays on without anyone opening Salesforce.
• More than Salesforce: calls, tickets, marketing or finance data on the same dashboard as pipeline and closed deals.
• Motivation, not just reporting: targets, leaderboards and contests that reps actually look at, which a standard report does not provide.

Tools differ in how they read Salesforce (reports, objects or SOQL queries), how often they refresh, and whether they are built for people on the floor, for analysts or for managers.

1. Plecto for real-time Salesforce KPI dashboards

Plecto is a performance management platform that turns sales and support data into real-time KPI dashboards, contests and coaching that motivate teams. For Salesforce, it is the layer that puts live KPIs on office TVs and phones and ranks reps against targets.

• Best for: sales teams and contact centers on Salesforce that want the numbers visible on the floor, with goals and contests attached.
• Strengths: import opportunities, tasks, events, leads or any custom object with a created or modified date, including objects from AppExchange apps, and connect a Salesforce Sandbox too. Salesforce data updates every 2 minutes, and Salesforce Chat is streamed so queues and longest wait show live. A ready-made Salesforce template in the Plecto Store gets you started fast. Add leaderboard widgets to a sales dashboard, put dashboards on an unlimited number of TVs at no extra cost and add data from 150+ other integrations. All plans include unlimited dashboards and data sources, and achievement badges and instant notifications.
• Limits: Plecto is not a BI warehouse and does not model data across a whole company. It shows the Salesforce data you import, which refreshes every 2 minutes rather than instantly (except Salesforce Chat streaming). Contests and the Reward Store are on the Large and Enterprise plans, and the 10-license minimum can cost more for very small teams.
• Pricing: Medium from $24 and Large from $37.20 per license per month, billed yearly, with a 10-license minimum. Enterprise is custom. 14-day free trial, no credit card required. See pricing.
• More: the Salesforce integration, the TV dashboards guide and the Salesforce TV dashboard tutorial.

2. Native Salesforce dashboards, CRM Analytics and Tableau

Salesforce reports and dashboards are the built-in way to chart your own CRM data, and CRM Analytics and Tableau are the Salesforce-owned upgrades.

• Best for: admins and managers who work inside Salesforce and want charts without another tool or connector.
• Strengths: no extra integration, and access to every standard and custom object in your org. Salesforce positions CRM Analytics for insights embedded in the CRM workflow and Tableau for broad enterprise analytics.
• Limits: Salesforce's help describes refreshing a dashboard with the Refresh button or on a subscription schedule, so check how a wall-mounted screen would stay current before you plan around it. There are no targets, contests or leaderboards built for the floor.
• Pricing: standard reports and dashboards come with Salesforce. Salesforce lists CRM Analytics Growth at USD 140 and Plus at USD 165 per user per month, and Tableau at USD 75 (Creator), USD 42 (Explorer) and USD 15 (Viewer) per user per month, billed annually. Check the vendor for current prices.
• Plecto on top: keep Salesforce as the system of record and use Plecto for the live TV and motivation layer. Compare Tableau in Plecto vs Tableau.

3. Geckoboard for Salesforce dashboards on TVs

Geckoboard is KPI dashboard software that shows live business data on TVs and shared dashboards.

• Best for: small teams that want a few Salesforce numbers on an office TV with little setup.
• Strengths: it pulls from the Salesforce reports you already have, so any metric already set up in a report can be shown. Widgets refresh every few minutes by default and the rate is configurable. Viewers do not need a Salesforce license, and dashboards work on TVs, desktop, mobile, Slack and Microsoft Teams.
• Limits: it relies on your Salesforce reports rather than reading objects directly, and has no built-in gamification, contests or coaching. It shows the numbers but does not motivate reps.
• Pricing: Essentials from USD 79 per month billed annually, with 2 dashboards, 1 editor and 1 TV screen. Performance from USD 319 per month, with 20 dashboards and 5 screens.
• Compare: Plecto vs Geckoboard

4. Databox for custom Salesforce KPI dashboards

Databox is a business analytics tool that combines metrics from many sources into dashboards and reports.

• Best for: teams that want custom Salesforce metrics next to marketing, finance or product data.
• Strengths: its Salesforce connector reads standard and custom objects. A builder generates the query for you (pick an object, a date field and a metric), or you can write your own SOQL and build datasets. A free plan exists.
• Limits: setup needs an External Client App created in Salesforce, and API access depends on your Salesforce edition. Paid plans sync at most hourly, with a 15-minute option for selected sources, so it is not a live wallboard. Contests and leaderboards are not its focus.
• Pricing: free plan; paid plans, see vendor.
• Compare: Plecto vs Databox

5. Klipfolio for Salesforce metrics you build yourself

Klipfolio offers Klips dashboards and the newer PowerMetrics for building custom metrics from many data sources.

• Best for: analysts who want to define their own metrics and calculations on Salesforce and other data.
• Strengths: Klips connects to Salesforce through OAuth, and you pick a Salesforce report or a SOQL query as the data source. PowerMetrics also connects to Salesforce, and custom objects appear as data views in its query builder.
• Limits: on Klips, refresh speed is tied to the plan. Base refreshes every 4 hours, Grow every hour, Team every 15 minutes and only Team+ is up-to-the-minute. Building metrics takes more setup than a ready-made template, and there is no gamification.
• Pricing: Klips plans start at USD 120 per month billed annually (Base), then USD 190 (Grow), USD 310 (Team) and USD 600 (Team+).
• Compare: Plecto vs Klipfolio

6. Power BI for Salesforce analysis across the company

Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence platform for modeling data and building reports.

• Best for: BI teams that want Salesforce joined with finance, ERP and other data in one governed model.
• Strengths: a Salesforce Objects connector in Power BI Desktop and Power Query, deep modeling and a large report ecosystem. Pro is listed at USD 14 per user per month paid yearly.
• Limits: the connector needs API access on your Salesforce account (trial accounts do not have it). Import-mode models on shared capacity are limited to 8 scheduled refreshes a day, and up to 48 on Premium or Fabric capacity. It is built for analysis, not for a rep-facing TV with targets and contests.
• Pricing: Power BI Pro USD 14 per user per month and Premium Per User USD 24 per user per month, paid yearly, per Microsoft's list prices.
• Compare: Plecto vs Power BI

7. Coefficient for Salesforce data in spreadsheets

Coefficient connects Salesforce to Google Sheets and Excel so you can analyze CRM data in a spreadsheet.

• Best for: RevOps and finance teams that already live in Sheets and want Salesforce reports and objects refreshed there.
• Strengths: familiar spreadsheet formulas on live Salesforce data, with scheduled refreshes and a free plan.
• Limits: the output is a spreadsheet, not a TV dashboard. Daily auto-refresh is on the Starter plan and hourly on higher plans, so it suits analysis more than a live floor display.
• Pricing: free plan; Starter from USD 49 per month, with Pro and Enterprise above it.

8. Coupler.io with Looker Studio for Salesforce reporting

Coupler.io moves Salesforce data into destinations such as Looker Studio, Google Sheets and Power BI.

• Best for: teams that want a free-form Salesforce KPI dashboard in Looker Studio without writing code.
• Strengths: pulls Salesforce reports, objects or custom SOQL queries, and offers Salesforce dashboard templates for Looker Studio.
• Limits: by its own guide, the direct Looker Studio connector checks for new data every 12 hours, and the Google Sheets route every 15 minutes. Daily refresh is the minimum on its Starter and Active plans.
• Pricing: free plan; Starter from USD 24 per month billed annually.

• Closed-won amount this period: the number the team is measured on. See number of won deals.
• Win rate: how many opportunities you convert. See win rate of deals.
• Pipeline value: what is still open, ideally weighted by stage.
• Activity per rep: calls, tasks and meetings logged today, the leading indicators of next month's pipeline.
• Progress to target: each rep and the team against quota, so a gap is visible before month end.
• A leaderboard: the ranking that gives the numbers meaning. See sales leaderboards.

Browse the full sales dashboard library for layouts, or start from the Salesforce template in the Plecto Store.