Gearset vs Serpent | Salesforce DevOps Comparison in 2025

Introduction

If you worked in Salesforce for years, you know how Salesforce DevOps has a few big names, and Gearset is one of them. It’s a long-standing, widely adopted platform known for simplifying deployments. But as teams grow and DevOps practices mature, the conversation often shifts from “Does it work?” to “Does it still scale?”

That’s where Serpent by Tekunda steps in. A Modern platform built for today’s Salesforce teams, Same reliability, more speed, better automation and pricing that evolves as your needs change.

In this article, we’ll look at how both platforms tackle Salesforce DevOps, what they share, and where their paths start to diverge, helping you figure out which one fits your team’s current and future salesforce needs.

How Both Tools Simplify Salesforce Deployments

At their core, both Gearset and Serpent were built to replace manual change sets and make Salesforce releases more reliable. Both focus on making deployments easier and improving teamwork, whether your team is managing multiple orgs or dealing with complicated metadata.

With either tool, teams gain:

• CI/CD pipelines that replace change sets.
• Git integration so version control isn't an email chain.
• Automated testing to stop embarrassing mistakes.
• Deployment automation that saves time (and weekends).

Learn more about Serpent's Features

So far, they sound similar, and in many ways, they are. But their paths start to differ with how each tool supports growth, collaboration, and scalability for Salesforce teams.

A Glimpse into Gearset approach. 

Gearset has earned its reputation in the Salesforce DevOps world for its maturity and consistency. It’s a browser-first platform that’s quick to set up, though unlocking its full potential often requires time and expertise. Still, it remains a preferred option for Salesforce teams seeking a stable, predictable experience without having to manage extra infrastructure.

Its metadata comparison, dependency tracking, and rollback features are particularly valuable for large enterprises, providing clear visibility into every change. The per-user pricing model helps teams with steady headcounts plan budgets more easily, while the browser-based CI/CD keeps collaboration straightforward for both admins and developers.

Gearset integrates seamlessly with GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab, along with APIs for ALM and CI/CD systems. This makes it well-suited for enterprise teams that already use external tooling or prefer a structured DevOps framework built around compliance and governance.

In short, Gearset is reliable, proven, and governance-ready, a natural fit for teams that prioritize structure, auditability, and predictability

Now, Serpent's approach. 

Serpent was designed for the evolving reality of Salesforce teams today, where admins, testers, project managers, Release managers, developers and even consultants work together across multiple projects & Orgs. 

It focuses on collaboration and flexibility. Role-based access controls (RBAC) and shared task boards keep all roles aligned on what’s shipping and when. Developers stay in flow using the Serpent VS Code extension, deploying, syncing Git, and running health checks without leaving their editor.

For teams managing multiple environments, dynamic org management and scratch-org pooling speed up testing and improve release coordination. Its usage-based pricing model scales with activity rather than headcount, giving growing teams cost control without limiting access.

Serpent also integrates with Git providers, embedding directly into developer workflows instead of relying solely on browser-based management. This design makes it especially suited for consulting partners, ISVs, and internal DevOps teams managing multiple clients and environments.

At its core, Serpent’s goal is to give modern Salesforce teams a solution that helps them work smarter together, with flexibility, collaboration, and transparent pricing that scales as they grow.

Features Comparison at a Glance

Here’s how Gearset and Serpent compare across core Salesforce DevOps capabilities.

Both share strong CI/CD and Git foundations, but their implementation and focus differ as team needs evolve.

Bringing It Together

Both platforms deliver dependable CI/CD and Git foundations, but their focus diverges as team needs mature.

• Gearset strength lies in control and consistency, a solid choice for structured DevOps frameworks. 
• Serpent shines in collaboration and adaptability, offering a modern path for salesforce teams that evolve quickly and work across multiple roles. 

The next key differentiator: Pricing Philosophy

Pricing: The Real Difference

This is where their approaches truly diverge.

Gearset follows a per-user model, with costs scaling directly by the number of licensed seats.
Based on public pricing data:

• Starter (Compare & Deploy): around $200 per user/month
• Teams tier: around $300 per user/month, including rollback and scheduled deployments
  That means a 3-user team pays roughly $600/month, while larger teams (10–25 users) often range from $3,000 to $3,000–$7,500/month, before add-ons like backups or archiving.

Serpent, in contrast, uses a usage-based pricing model, where costs are tied to minutes, releases, and deployments and not user count.  Smaller teams keep budgets lean, while larger teams avoid sudden cost jumps as they grow.

Pricing Plans Compared

The Takeaway: Which Tool Is Right for Your Team in 2025

Both Gearset and Serpent make Salesforce deployments faster and safer.

• Gearset brings structure, maturity, and reliability, a strong choice for enterprises with established DevOps pipelines and steady headcounts. It’s one of the familiar, “no-one-got-fired-for-choosing-IBM” options.
• Serpent delivers the same core power with more flexibility, built for teams whose needs evolve, from multi-org coordination to integrated developer workflows and collaborative releases.

Serpent's goal: give modern Salesforce teams a solution that helps them work smarter together at a reasonable, transparent price.

Ultimately, the right choice depends on how your team operates:

• If you prioritize structure and predictable budgets, Gearset may feel more comfortable.
• If you value flexibility, collaboration, and scaling with your workflow, Serpent is designed for that reality.

👉 If Serpent’s approach fits your business needs, you can start a free trial today — no credit card required.

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TL;DR

• Gearset: Reliable, mature, but expensive and less flexible.
• Serpent: Modern, collaborative, usage-based, and cost-efficient.
• Result: Same DevOps outcomes, more adaptability, less overhead.