Yes, it’s true! You can now get 100 Free Force.com user licenses added to your existing Salesforce account.
Here’s mine as proof:
You can obtain these licenses via Force.com Checkout (at the bottom of your setup menu). See details of how to add 100 Free Force.com licenses to your account .
What’s Included?
If you study the Force.com edition chart, you’ll notice that the ‘Free’ edition:
- Excludes access to Standard Objects (eg Contact, Account, Opportunity)
- Has rules limiting access to objects (soft limitations, enforced in the license but not in the actual system)
- Can access only one App in the pull-down in the top-right (and it can’t be a Standard app)
- Has a reduced permission set
So, it’s only useful for using Custom Objects. However, that’s fantastic for replacing all those silly databases that people keep in spreadsheets or (gasp!) Access databases.
In my case, I’m hoping to use it to create some HR-type databases applicable to the whole company. It’s not worth buying everyone a CRM license, nor necessarily a Platform license, since they might only access the system once every couple of months. With these free licenses, combined with some Portal licenses, I should have something cost-effective.
So, go out and get your free licenses today!
The Bottom Line
- 100 Free Force.com licenses are available for normal Salesforce accounts
- There are restrictions on the licenses, so they’re not a replacement for CRM licenses
November 7th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Nice post…Where do I find the area in your screenshot above within salesforce? I’ve looked all over for it.
Thanks,
Raymond
November 7th, 2009 at 5:58 am
The screenshot came from Setup / Company Profile / Company Information.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:22 am
So By adding 100 Users does it Also Add 1GB Data Storage into our Existing ORG (only for those free users and/or 10 custom objects belongs to free app) ? Please clearify
Thanks in Advance
March 8th, 2010 at 5:42 am
It adds 1GB of “File Storage” available for anyone to use.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Is it feasible (contractually, not technically) to add these 100 Free Users into an existing SFDC org and have these users ONLY access a custom application that meets the 10 object constraint or must the custom application reside in its own, unique org?
March 9th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Yes, you can add the 100 Free Users to your existing SFDC org and they can operate side-by-side with your ‘normal’ licenses and data. You have to ensure that those users can only access 10 custom objects (and a few other limitations). They cannot access standard objects like Contact nor Account.
Reminds me of an interesting situation at a company that does all their HR in Salesforce, too. They created a separate org just for the HR staff and the main org access it via Salesforce-to-Salesforce. That way, even Admins can’t get access to private information. So, sometimes it makes sense to have a separate org, but normally its most useful to have everything in one org (much easier to administer).
May 24th, 2010 at 2:10 am
When you sign up this free 100 users with existing CRM accounts (PE), are they using the same contact and account DB? Or Force.com will have it’s own contact and account DB separated from existing SF CRM?
If they share the same DB, will I be able to update my SF CRM (PE) accounts and contacts from Force.com API?
Thank you for your help in advance!
May 24th, 2010 at 8:01 am
@lyw: The free accounts, if requested in this manner, are added to your existing Salesforce instance. However, these Free accounts cannot access standard CRM objects (such as Accounts and Contacts). You can purchase Force.com licenses that are able to access these objects, but they’re not free.
You could try and get tricky, I guess, by having a Free account call a private API that runs under a ‘paid’ account, which would give access to standard objects. However, that’s a bit of a mess.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:14 am
If you purchase the Force.com licenses to access accounts and contacts, are these the same accounts and contacts in your existing Salesforce instance? Or do you need to use SalesForce to SalesForce to share the same data?
June 8th, 2010 at 6:45 am
@Cindy
If you add the (paid for, not free) Force.com licenses to your existing Salesforce instance, then they can access your Contacts and Accounts. You still only have the one Salesforce system, you’ve just added licenses.
If you obtain the “100 Free Force.com” version on its own, then you have none of your standard data.
July 13th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Question for you.
The 100 ‘Free Licenses’ are they still available?
When I purchase licenses – should I count all users or just the developers?
Thanks!
Guy
July 13th, 2010 at 10:58 am
@Guy The free licenses are only good for users — they won’t give you Admin access.
July 15th, 2010 at 12:03 am
‘@Guy The free licenses are only good for users — they won’t give you Admin access.’
Thanks E….
August 5th, 2010 at 2:57 am
Does the free edition allow custom objects to be shared among users?
I just signed up for the force.com free edition.
As an admin, I can create custom objects, but the other “free” users are having trouble seeing them. I’ve set the custom objects to “Deployed” and set all fields to visible.
When I go into setup->manage users->profiles, I’m unable to change the custom object permission to “view all” and “modify all”. Can free users access custom objects built by others?
August 5th, 2010 at 6:53 am
@SDev “Does the free edition allow custom objects to be shared among users?”
Yes, custom objects are available to ‘free edition’ users. You can clone the “Free Edition” profile — just click the ‘New’ button and copy the existing Free User Profile, then give whatever permissions you want. Finally, assign the user(s) to that new Profile.
March 18th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
D’oh! It appears they’re no longer offering the free 100 force.com licenses.