The difference between Salesforce ISVforce and OEM comes down to who owns the Salesforce license and how much revenue share you pay. Under ISVforce, you sell to customers who already have Salesforce licenses and pay a 15% revenue share. Under OEM, you embed Salesforce licenses in your product and sell to net-new customers, paying a higher 25% share but reaching buyers who do not otherwise use Salesforce.

Pro Tip

TL;DR: ISVforce (15% revenue share) is for apps sold to existing Salesforce customers; OEM (25%, negotiable) embeds Salesforce licenses to reach net-new customers and restricts access to core CRM objects (Salesforce ISVforce Guide). Most extension apps use ISVforce.

Both are ISV models for distributing on the AppExchange, but they target different buyers. ISVforce assumes your customer already pays Salesforce for licenses, so your app simply extends their org and Salesforce takes a 15% revenue share. OEM (sometimes called the embedded model) bundles Salesforce platform licenses into your product, so you can sell to customers who do not have Salesforce at all, and Salesforce takes a higher 25% share in return (Salesforce ISVforce Guide).

Choose ISVforce when your buyers already use Salesforce and your app extends their existing org, which covers most B2B SaaS extension products. You pay the lower 15% share and get full access to core CRM objects like Leads, Opportunities, and Cases. This is the default for apps that sync data into or enhance an existing Salesforce instance.

Choose OEM when your product needs to reach customers who do not have Salesforce, by embedding the platform invisibly underneath your app. You accept the higher 25% share and restricted access to core CRM objects in exchange for selling to a net-new market. OEM suits products built on the Salesforce platform that are sold as standalone software.

Pro Tip

Our finding: Most SaaS companies we work with are ISVforce, because their buyers already live in Salesforce. OEM is the right call only when you genuinely need to sell to non-Salesforce customers, and the restricted CRM-object access often surprises teams who pick it without checking.

The model you pick changes your unit economics. A 15% versus 25% share is a meaningful margin difference at scale, and OEM's higher rate is the price of reaching customers Salesforce would not otherwise touch. Both rates are starting points; high-volume partners sometimes negotiate tiered terms. See how the AppExchange revenue share works for the full picture.

ISVforce sells to customers who already own Salesforce licenses and pays a 15% revenue share. OEM embeds Salesforce licenses to reach net-new customers, pays a 25% share, and restricts access to core CRM objects (Salesforce ISVforce Guide).

ISVforce has the lower revenue share at 15% versus OEM's 25%. But OEM lets you sell to customers who do not have Salesforce, so the higher share buys access to a market ISVforce cannot reach. The right choice depends on your buyers.

OEM apps have restricted access to core CRM objects like Leads, Opportunities, and Cases, because they embed a limited platform license. ISVforce apps, sold to full Salesforce customers, have full access to those objects.

Most use ISVforce, because their buyers already use Salesforce and the app extends an existing org at the lower 15% share. OEM is for products that must sell to net-new, non-Salesforce customers.

About the author. Sunny Chauhan is the founder and CEO of Appnigma AI, a no-code platform that generates Salesforce AppExchange-ready managed packages. He advises SaaS teams on choosing between the ISVforce and OEM models.

Salesforce ISVforce and OEM are both ISV distribution models. ISVforce (15% revenue share) sells to customers who already own Salesforce licenses with full CRM-object access. OEM (25%, negotiable) embeds Salesforce licenses to reach net-new customers but restricts core CRM objects. Most extension apps use ISVforce. Appnigma AI generates the managed package no-code for either model.

• How does the AppExchange revenue share work

• What is a Salesforce ISV

• Salesforce ISV partner program and how to join

• Salesforce app development cost

1. Salesforce ISVforce Guide, AppExchange Checkout revenue share

2. Salesforce Trailhead, contractual models (ISVforce vs OEM)

3. Salesforce partner negotiation references (15% vs 25% PNR)