Org Edition And Feature Licensing

Org Edition and Feature Licensing

Use this skill when a solution design depends on features that may not be available in the org's current Salesforce edition or license tier — or when a feature is missing in production and the root cause may be edition or licensing rather than configuration.

Before Starting

Gather this context before advising on edition or licensing:

• Confirm the current org edition: Setup > Company Information > Salesforce Edition.
• Check the org's add-on licenses: Setup > Company Information > Feature Licenses section.
• Know the specific feature the solution requires — feature names can be ambiguous between marketing names and platform feature names.
• Check whether the missing feature has been enabled in Setup (some features are available in the edition but not enabled by default).

Core Concepts

Salesforce Edition Hierarchy

Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Platform editions follow a standard hierarchy:

Feature Licensing (Add-Ons)

Many features are not included in any base edition and require separate add-on licenses:

Feature Availability vs. Feature Enablement

Some features are available in an edition but must be enabled before they can be used:

When a feature is "missing," always check whether it is an edition/licensing issue (feature not available) or an enablement issue (feature available but not turned on) before concluding that an upgrade is needed.

Sandbox Types and Edition Inclusion

Common Patterns

Diagnosing "Feature Not Available" in a Production Org

When to use: A user or admin reports that a feature they expected is missing or greyed out in Setup.

Steps:

1. Go to Setup > Company Information > confirm Salesforce Edition.
2. Check the feature against the edition table above to determine if it is included.
3. If included in the edition, check Setup for the feature's enable toggle — many features require an explicit enable step.
4. If the feature requires an add-on, check Setup > Company Information > Feature Licenses to see if the license is allocated.
5. If the add-on is present but not assigned to the user, check User record > Permission Set License Assignments.

Evaluating an Edition Upgrade

When to use: A planned solution requires features that exceed the current edition.

Steps:

1. List all features the solution requires.
2. Map each feature to its minimum edition or add-on requirement.
3. Determine whether the gap can be addressed by add-ons without upgrading the edition (cheaper and less disruptive), or whether a full edition upgrade is needed.
4. For Professional → Enterprise upgrades: consider all dependent changes — profile/permission set structure, sandbox availability, API access, Apex trigger enablement.
5. Account for sandbox costs in the upgrade plan — Full sandboxes are often the deciding factor for Enterprise → Unlimited upgrades.

Decision Guidance

Recommended Workflow

1. Confirm the org edition — Setup > Company Information > Salesforce Edition.
2. List the required features from the solution design — be specific about the platform feature name, not just the marketing name.
3. Check each feature against the edition matrix — determine if it is included, requires enablement, or requires an add-on.
4. Check Feature Licenses in Setup — confirm whether add-on licenses are already provisioned.
5. Check enablement for included features — if a feature is in the edition but missing, find its Setup enable toggle.
6. Determine gap — if add-ons can close the gap, recommend add-ons. If the edition is the blocker (e.g., Apex on Professional), recommend an edition upgrade.
7. Document the licensing requirements for the solution in the technical design so procurement and renewal teams can plan accordingly.

Review Checklist

• Current org edition confirmed from Setup > Company Information
• All required features mapped to their edition or add-on requirement
• Feature Licenses section checked for existing add-ons
• Enable toggles checked for features that are included but not active
• Edition upgrade impact assessed (sandbox counts, profile limits, Apex availability)
• Licensing requirements documented in the solution design

Salesforce-Specific Gotchas

1. Marketing names and platform features are not 1:1 — "Einstein Copilot," "Agentforce," and "Einstein for Sales" are related but distinct platform components with different licensing models. Always verify the specific platform feature name against the current edition guide.
2. Feature availability changes with each release — Features that were add-ons in one release may be included in a base edition in a subsequent release (e.g., some Flow features moved from Enterprise-only to Professional). Always check the current edition comparison page for the active release, not a cached version.
3. Developer Edition orgs have Enterprise-equivalent features but cannot run production workloads — Developer Edition is not a free tier of production capability. Solutions designed on Developer Edition may reference features not available in the customer's actual edition.
4. Permission Set Licenses (PSLs) grant feature access per user within an edition — Some add-on features are provisioned as PSLs and must be explicitly assigned to users, even when the org-level license is active. A feature "not working" for one user but working for another is often a PSL assignment issue.

Output Artifacts

Related Skills

• limits-and-scalability-planning — edition-level limits (sandbox count, API request limits, storage)
• security-architecture-review — Shield, encryption, and security feature requirements
• agentforce-observability — Agentforce-specific licensing and feature availability