Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Sales platform offers multiple license tiers to suit different organisations. It is part of a broader landscape of sales management software solutions designed to streamline operations, forecast revenue, and accelerate deal closures.
Sales Professional provides core CRM functions at an attractive price point, while Sales Enterprise unlocks more advanced automation, forecasting, and artificial‑intelligence (AI) capabilities. Choosing the right tier requires understanding what is included in each license, where the limits lie, and how each edition can support your business needs.
This guide compares Dynamics 365 Sales Professional vs Enterprise, using Microsoft’s official documentation and trusted partner resources to highlight the differences and help you make an informed decision.
Overview of Dynamics 365 Sales licensing
Microsoft positions Sales Professional for SMBs, and Enterprise for mid-to-large businesses that need advanced CRM workflows, as explored in our CRM guide for sales leaders, which details how Dynamics 365 enables scalable, insight-driven selling.
License options
The Dynamics 365 Sales family includes several licenses:
- Sales Professional – entry‑level licence designed for organisations that need standard sales force automation but do not require complex sales processes.
- Sales Enterprise – mid‑tier licence that adds more extensive customization, embedded intelligence, and manual forecasting tools.
- Sales Premium – includes all Enterprise functionality plus the full Sales Insights bundle (conversation intelligence, lead & opportunity scoring, predictive forecasting).
- Microsoft Relationship Sales (MRS) – combines Sales Enterprise with LinkedIn Sales Navigator for deeper relationship‑selling capabilities.
Customers can start with Professional and later upgrade to Enterprise or Premium as their requirements grow. In fact, Microsoft’s migration guide notes that if an organisation’s needs become more sophisticated, it is easy to upgrade from Sales Professional to Sales Enterprise.
Pricing summary
At the time of writing, Microsoft lists the following per‑user monthly subscription prices (billed annually) for North America:
|
License tier |
Monthly price (USD)* | Description |
| Sales Professional | $65 per user |
Provides core sales force automation, Microsoft 365 integration, and basic reporting. |
|
Sales Enterprise |
$105 per user | Includes all Professional features plus contextual insights, AI, and advanced customization. |
| Sales Premium | $150 per user |
Adds Sales Insights capabilities (Sales Enterprise + built‑in intelligence solutions). |
|
Microsoft Relationship Sales |
Variable |
Combines Sales Enterprise with LinkedIn Sales Navigator; minimum seat requirement. |
Pricing and availability vary by region. Always check Microsoft’s current pricing page before purchasing.
What Do Sales Professional and Sales Enterprise Have in Common?
Before diving into the differences, it helps to know what capabilities both licences share. According to Microsoft and partner resources, both Sales Professional and Sales Enterprise licences allow you to:
- Create and manage core sales entities such as accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, quotes, orders, products, price lists, and campaigns.
- Use dashboards and standard reporting to monitor sales performance.
- Integrate with Microsoft 365 tools (Outlook, Excel, and Microsoft Teams) and embed Power BI for advanced analytics.
- Run marketing lists and basic campaign management.
- Access case management entities introduced in spring 2018, although advanced case‑management capabilities require a separate Customer Service license.
These shared features mean both licences provide a solid CRM foundation. The choice comes down to scalability, customisation, and the need for advanced functionality.
Dynamics 365 Sales Professional: Core Features and Limitations
Sales Professional is designed for organizations with simpler sales processes. Microsoft’s licensing guide describes it as an entry‑level solution that delivers essential sales force automation without the complexity of advanced customization. In practice, this makes it well‑suited to small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that want a quick‑to‑deploy CRM and do not need extensive tailoring.
Functionality and Restrictions
While Sales Professional includes many of the core CRM capabilities mentioned above, it imposes limits that may be a deal‑breaker for larger teams. Official resources highlight several constraints:
Customization: You can create or modify up to 15 custom tables (formerly called entities) per application, and there are limits on business process flows, forms, and workflows. Partner documentation notes that the Professional licence only supports two custom forms per entity, five business process flows, and 15 custom workflows or reporting customizations.
Limited extensibility and app installations: Sales Professional caps the number of third‑party applications (ISV solutions) that can be installed to ten. Access to a dedicated development sandbox requires an add‑on purchase.
Missing advanced features: Several features available in Sales Enterprise are absent in Sales Professional. According to Microsoft partners, the Professional licence does not include embedded intelligence such as AI‑driven forecasting, product families, hierarchies, relationships, competitor tracking, sales goals, territory management, and sales playbooks. Nor does it include knowledge‑base management, gamification, mobile offline sync, Voice of the Customer (survey), or Microsoft Social Engagement.
Portal and API access: Sales Professional does not provide access via portals or custom API for non‑employee users, such as external partners or customers.
Business units and teams: There is no ability to define multiple business units or configure sales teams within the application.
Reports and dashboards: Custom reports, charts, and dashboards are limited to five each.
Benefits of Choosing Dynamics Sales Professional
Despite these limitations, Sales Professional offers tangible benefits:
- Lower cost: At $65 per user/month, it is $40 less than Sales Enterprise, making it cost‑effective for smaller organisations.
- Ease of deployment: Fewer features mean simpler configuration and a more user‑friendly interface designed for SMB customers.
- Compatibility with Business Central: If you already use Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can purchase Sales Professional at a reduced price and leverage existing integration.
- Upgrade path: Because it runs on the same platform as Sales Enterprise, you can easily migrate to Enterprise or Premium later when your requirements grow.
Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise: Expanded Capabilities
Sales Enterprise is aimed at organisations with complex sales processes, multiple business units, or the need for extensive customisation. Microsoft notes that it goes beyond basic sales force automation to include customisation, extensibility, embedded intelligence, and manual forecasting. It is well‑suited to larger enterprises that require advanced analytics, AI insights, and deeper integration with other Dynamics 365 modules.
Key Features and Advantages
Unlimited customization and extensibility: Unlike the Professional tier’s 15‑table limit, Sales Enterprise allows unlimited custom tables and complex workflows. Organisations can build bespoke apps, tailor forms and views, and integrate with other Dynamics 365 modules without hitting feature ceilings.
Advanced analytics and forecasting: Enterprise includes manual forecasting capabilities and AI‑driven insights such as assistant cards, email engagement, auto capture of Outlook activity, and selected Sales Premium features like conversation intelligence, Sales Accelerator, and lead & opportunity scoring. These tools help sales teams prioritise leads, gain real‑time call insights, and automatically generate meeting summaries.
Embedded intelligence: Built‑in intelligence surfaces predictive insights and recommendations. Features such as Sales Goals, territory management, product families, hierarchies, relationships, and competitor tracking enable managers to set targets and manage complex structures.
Sales Playbooks and Knowledgebase: Enterprise users can create sales playbooks to guide sellers through complex deals and manage knowledge articles for improved customer service.
Advanced integration and offline access: Features like mobile offline sync, Microsoft Social Engagement, and Voice of the Customer surveys are only available with Enterprise or higher licences.
Copilot and Sales Insights capacity: Enterprise licences include Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales, providing conversational AI and selected premium features without buying the full Sales Insights licence. Customers receive capacities for conversation intelligence (unlimited hours), sales accelerator (1,500 sequence-connected records per environment per month), and lead & opportunity scoring (1,500 records per environment per month).
More storage: In addition to the default tenant storage, Enterprise users receive extra Dataverse database and file capacity, 250 MB of database capacity and 2 GB of file capacity per user.
On‑premises and device licensing: Only Sales Enterprise (and higher) supports dual use rights, meaning you can deploy the application on‑premises and in the cloud simultaneously. It also offers per‑device licensing options for shared environments.
Drawbacks of Sales Enterprise
- Higher cost: At $105 per user/month (plus possible costs for premium add‑ons), Enterprise is significantly more expensive than the Professional tier.
- Greater complexity: The richer feature set requires more configuration and administrative effort, which may be overkill for simple sales processes.
Detailed Comparison: Dynamics 365 Sales Professional vs Enterprise
The Sales Enterprise license supports AI-assisted forecasting, real-time insights, and revenue prediction capabilities, key differentiators for growing SMBs and scaling enterprises.The table below summarises the main differences in a way that is easy to scan. The aim is not to replicate every bullet point but to highlight where the two licenses diverge.
|
Aspect |
Sales Professional | Sales Enterprise |
| Target audience | Businesses with simpler sales processes. |
Organisations with complex sales processes require advanced features. |
|
Monthly price (USD) |
$65 per user (billed annually). | $105 per user (billed annually). |
| Custom tables/entities | Up to 15 custom tables per application. |
Unlimited custom tables. |
|
Business process flows |
Maximum of 5 custom flows. | Unlimited flows and automation. |
| Forms & views | Up to 2 custom forms per entity. |
No limit. |
|
Workflows & reports |
15 custom workflows and 5 custom reports or dashboards. | Unlimited workflows and reports. |
| AI and embedded intelligence | Not included by default; selected features available as add‑ons. |
Includes Copilot, assistant cards, email engagement, conversation intelligence and predictive scoring. |
|
Forecasting and goals |
Basic forecasting only. | Advanced forecasting with AI and manual adjustments and the ability to set sales goals and territory management. |
| Product families & hierarchies | Not available. |
Available. |
|
Competitor and relationship management |
Not available. | Includes competitor tracking and relationship analytics. |
| Knowledge base & playbooks | Not available. |
Included – create knowledge articles and sales playbooks. |
|
Mobility/offline access |
Online only; offline mobile sync not supported. | Supports offline mobile apps and sync. |
| Portal & API access | Not included; requires add‑on. |
Supports portals and API access for partners and customers. |
|
Additional capacity & storage |
Default tenant storage; no extra per‑user capacity. | Additional 250 MB database and 2 GB file capacity per user. |
| License type | Named user only; cloud‑only application. |
Named user or device; cloud and on‑premises deployment. |
Considerations for Choosing a Dynamics 365 Sales License
Choosing a Dynamics 365 Sales license can be critical decision and here are the following aspects that you must consider before making that call:
Assess the complexity of your sales process
- Number of stakeholders and stages: If your sales cycle involves multiple teams, complex approval workflows, and territory assignments, the enterprise licence may be essential. A professional’s limits on custom entities, business process flows, and security roles could restrict your ability to map complex processes.
- Depth of analytics needed: For organisations that rely heavily on data‑driven forecasting, AI insights, and predictive scoring, Sales Enterprise provides built‑in intelligence such as conversation intelligence and assistant cards. SMBs that primarily require basic pipeline visibility may find Professional sufficient.
Evaluate your customization requirements
- Core CRM vs tailored solution: If you plan to tailor the system to unique industry workflows, integrate with custom apps, or build custom user interfaces, Enterprise’s unlimited custom tables and extensibility will be vital.
- Third‑party apps: Both plans integrate with Outlook and Microsoft Teams, while Enterprise goes further. It offers Power BI, Dataverse, and third-party connectors like LinkedIn Sales Navigator for enriched lead intelligence and social selling.
Determine the importance of AI and automation
- AI insights: Enterprise includes Copilot capabilities and selected Sales Insights features such as conversation intelligence and predictive scoring. Professional users would need to purchase Sales Insights separately (if available) and would still face capacity restrictions.
- Automation: Enterprise’s Sales Accelerator and AI‑driven forecasting automate tasks like call summarisation, follow‑up reminders, and recommended next actions. If your team needs such automation, Enterprise or Premium may deliver significant productivity gains.
Budget and scalability
- Short‑term savings vs long‑term value: Sales Professional’s lower subscription cost is appealing; however, organisations should consider whether they will outgrow its limits, leading to costly migrations later.
- Incremental upgrades: Because both licences run on the same platform, you can start with Professional and upgrade later with minimal disruption.
- User mix: You can assign different licence types to different users at the tenant level (e.g., some users on Professional, others on Enterprise), but note that the Sales Enterprise, Premium, and Professional apps cannot be deployed simultaneously in the same environment. When mixing, ensure each user has the proper app installed and remove conflicting modules.
Regulatory or infrastructure needs
- On‑premises requirements: Organizations that need to run CRM on local servers (due to regulatory or connectivity constraints) must opt for Sales Enterprise or Premium, as Professional is cloud‑only.
- Device licensing: In environments where multiple users share the same device (e.g., retail kiosks or call centres), Enterprise allows per‑device licensing, potentially lowering costs compared with named‑user licences.
Step‑by‑Step Upgrade From Professional to Enterprise
If you start with Sales Professional and later decide to upgrade, Microsoft provides a clear migration path:
- Purchase a Sales Enterprise subscription via the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
- Assign Sales Enterprise licences to users.
- Install the Sales Enterprise solution in your environment through the Power Platform admin centre.
- Delete the Sales Professional solution after the Enterprise solution is installed.
- Optionally activate Sales Premium features (Sales Insights, conversation intelligence, and more) by purchasing the Sales Premium licence or individual add‑ons.
This upgrade process ensures your data remains intact and your users transition smoothly to the new feature set. Because both licences share the same underlying data model, customisations created in Sales Professional migrate to Enterprise without re‑implementation.
Practical scenarios: Which Dynamics 365 Sales licence Should You Choose?
Scenario 1 – Small firm seeking basic CRM capabilities
A start‑up with a four‑person sales team wants to track leads, manage opportunities, and produce standard reports. They do not plan to customize workflows or integrate third‑party apps. Sales Professional is an ideal fit here: it offers core CRM features at a low cost and can be deployed quickly. Should the firm grow and need forecasting, AI insights, or extensive customisations, it can upgrade to Enterprise later.
Scenario 2 – Mid‑size business with multiple product lines
A mid‑size distributor sells different product lines across regions and uses territory‑based sales teams. They need to manage product hierarchies, set territory‑specific quotas, track competitors, and generate AI‑driven forecasts. Sales Enterprise is the right choice because it supports territory management, product families, competitor tracking, and advanced forecasting. The ability to create unlimited custom entities will enable them to tailor the solution to each product line.
Scenario 3 – Large enterprise seeking AI‑driven insights
A global manufacturer employs hundreds of sellers and wants to leverage AI for prioritising leads, summarizing call,s and predicting revenue. They also need offline mobile access and robust knowledge‑base functionality. Sales Enterprise with Sales Premium add‑on delivers conversation intelligence, Sales Accelerator, and predictive scoring, while providing unlimited customisation and offline mobile sync.
Make the Smart Move with a Trusted Microsoft Dynamics Partner
Choosing between Dynamics 365 Sales Professional and Enterprise is a strategic decision, but you don’t have to make it alone. As a Gold Microsoft Dynamics Partner, Folio3 Dynamics brings 15+ years of CRM expertise to help you implement the right solution tailored to your sales team’s goals, budget, and growth plans. Whether you’re just starting or ready to scale, we provide full-spectrum consulting, implementation, and integration support.
Our core Dynamics 365 for Sales offerings include:
- End-to-end implementation of Dynamics 365 Sales Professional or Enterprise
- Seamless integration with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Power BI, and other business tools
- Customization of entities, workflows, and dashboards to match your sales process
- Deployment of AI-driven insights with Sales Insights and Copilot
- Migration, training, and ongoing support for continuous CRM success
Let’s unlock the full potential of Dynamics 365 Sales for your business. Get in touch with us at Folio3 Dynamics today.
