What is Salesforce Hunter?
Hunter is Salesforce's outbound sales agent for Sales Cloud. Salesforce introduced it at Dreamforce 2026. Its recap of the event, dated 28 September 2026, describes job-ready agents pre-built for roles such as outbound sales, and its availability note for that section gives Hunter general availability in November.
Salesforce's Hunter page describes the job in detail:
- Prospecting and outreach: it finds the right accounts and contacts, personalises outreach and prepares follow-ups.
- After the first meeting: it creates and updates opportunities, prepares proposals and supports pipeline reviews and forecasts.
- Long-running: it carries out a plan over weeks and months inside Salesforce instead of stopping after one task.
- Learning: it studies CRM history, customer conversations, enablement content, seller activity and approved third-party signals to learn how a team's strongest deals were won.
- Where reps use it: Slack, Teams and Claude as well as Salesforce. Technically it is a sales-specific harness built into Agentforce Coworker.
The same page answers whether Hunter is an AI SDR: Salesforce says it can do many SDR tasks, including prospect research, prioritisation and outreach, but its role extends across the whole sales cycle.
Hunter sits next to Piper, an AI sales development agent for inbound prospects that the recap lists among its job-ready agents. Piper is the AI SDR agent made by Qualified, and Salesforce completed its acquisition of Qualified on 1 April 2026.
Where does Hunter get its prospect data?
Hunter combines a customer's own Salesforce data with three flagship data partners: ZoomInfo, Demandbase and Apollo, as DestinationCRM reported on 16 October 2026. Salesforce says this outside data comes through its Data Vendor Gateway, so customers do not manage separate integrations or vendor contracts.
| Partner | What it adds to Hunter | Size, as the vendor states it |
|---|---|---|
| ZoomInfo | Verified company and contact data, intent signals and news | More than 100 million companies and 500 million contacts |
| Demandbase | Engagement, person and account data, including buying group and intent data, through its MCP server | Not stated |
| Apollo | Seven prospecting actions, including company search, contact enrichment with verified work email, company news and job postings | 240 million contacts |
Apollo's announcement, as published by SalesTechStar on 16 September 2026, says Salesforce customers can reach its 240 million contacts through Hunter even if they are not Apollo customers. Rohan Punamia, vice president of product management at Salesforce, put the logic plainly: "Agents are only as effective as the data they can access."
That line is the useful lens for everyone else. Whatever AI SDR you look at, ask whose data it uses and whether it verifies each email before sending. The writing is the easy part; the data and the signals decide who gets contacted.
What changes when the AI SDR becomes a CRM feature?
When the AI SDR is part of the CRM, the CRM vendor chooses the data, the signals and the guardrails, and you buy it through your CRM contract. That suits a large Sales Cloud team. For a small team, five things are worth noticing:
- It learns from your history. Hunter learns from CRM history, conversations and enablement content. A team with years of opportunities in Salesforce gives it plenty to study. A five-person team with a thin CRM gives it much less.
- Data comes with the platform. The gateway removes separate data contracts, and you get the partners Salesforce chose.
- Approval is a setting. Salesforce says actions that reach a customer, such as sending outreach or a proposal, can require rep approval, and every action is logged. Your admin sets those rules.
- Channels are not spelled out. The Hunter page describes drafting and sending outreach but does not list the channels it sends on (checked 20 October 2026). If LinkedIn or X matters to you, ask.
- No public price yet. Neither the Hunter page nor the Sales Cloud pricing page lists a Hunter price as of 20 October 2026. The pricing page lists an Agentforce for Sales add-on from $125 per user per month, but does not say whether Hunter is included.
HubSpot took the same route earlier. Its Prospecting Agent is built into HubSpot Sales Hub, monitors buying signals such as funding rounds, leadership changes and site visits, and costs $1 for each lead it recommends outreach for. If you are not on either CRM, neither agent is an option.
What should a small team without Salesforce judge instead?
Judge any AI SDR on five things: where its data comes from, which signals start outreach, which channels it sends on, what controls you get and how the price scales. Take these questions into every demo.
Data
Find out where contacts and emails come from, and whether each email is verified before sending. Hunter answers with ZoomInfo, Demandbase and Apollo. A standalone tool should name its sources just as clearly.
Signals
Ask what makes someone a lead today. Job changes, funding and hiring are common. Engagement with your keywords or with competitors' posts on LinkedIn and X is a more personal signal; check whether the tool tracks it at all.
Channels
Check whether it sends email only, or LinkedIn and X as well. Ask for the daily limit on each channel, since that sets your real volume.
Controls
Check that you can review leads or messages first, exclude competitors, recruiters and existing customers, and stop follow-ups when someone says no. Decide whether you want approval on every message or daily limits plus autopilot.
Price
Pricing may be per seat, per lead or in credits. Work out the cost per booked meeting, including your own review time. Our AI SDR cost guide shows the sum.
How does Hunter compare with standalone AI SDRs?
Hunter and HubSpot's agent require their own CRM; standalone AI SDRs bring their own signals and channels and connect to the CRM you have. Cells come from each vendor's own pages and the partner announcements cited above, checked 20 October 2026.
| Salesforce Hunter | HubSpot Prospecting Agent | Gojiberry | Valley | Siela AI SDR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requires | Salesforce Sales Cloud | HubSpot Starter, Professional or Enterprise | Starts from your website URL; integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho, Folk, Attio and Breakcold | Starts from what you sell, who you sell to and your sending accounts; CRM integrations such as HubSpot | No CRM needed; built-in CRM, and HubSpot or Salesforce can be connected |
| Signals | CRM patterns plus partner intent, news and job-posting data | Funding rounds, leadership changes, site visits | LinkedIn competitor and topic engagement, job changes, funding, hiring, website visits | Competitor and LinkedIn post engagers, hiring, job changes, funding | Keyword and competitor engagement on LinkedIn and X, pain-point posts, hiring, funding, role changes |
| Channels | Not listed on its page | Drafts emails in each rep's voice | LinkedIn and email | LinkedIn; email on Plus and Growth plans | LinkedIn (up to 50 people a day), X DMs (up to 50 a day), email (up to 150 a day per Gmail mailbox) |
| Controls | Customer-facing actions can require rep approval | Review and edit drafts before sending, or switch to fully autonomous mode; plays with outreach guardrails | Optional Review Mode holds leads for approval | Review, edit and approve drafts | Sends on its own within daily goals after you press Save and start; Find leads only mode sends nothing |
| Price | Not published | $1 per lead recommended for outreach | From $99 per user a month | $199 a seat a month, or $149 billed quarterly | Monthly plans plus usage credits; prices in the app |
The trade-off is plain. CRM agents win on CRM context and bundled data. Standalone tools are stronger on social signals and channel choice, and need no CRM migration. For more head-to-heads, see our comparison pages.
Should a small team wait for Hunter?
Wait for Hunter only if you already run Sales Cloud and have enough CRM history for it to learn from. Otherwise, choose by what you already own:
- On Sales Cloud with an admin: ask your account team for Hunter's price and channel list before November, and plan a pilot on one segment.
- On HubSpot: test the Prospecting Agent first. At $1 for each lead it recommends outreach for, paid in HubSpot Credits, 100 recommended leads cost $100.
- No CRM, or a thin one: pick a standalone AI SDR that brings its own signals and channels. Siela's AI SDR scores every lead hot, warm or cold with a one-line reason, saves it to a built-in CRM, and caps LinkedIn outreach at 50 people a day. Its LinkedIn and X work runs in your own browser in its desktop app, only while the app is open.
Whichever route you take, do four things this week before any trial:
- Write your ideal customer in three lines: role, company size, the problem you solve.
- Pick three signals that would make you message someone today.
- Decide your control rule: approve every message, or set daily limits and exclusions and let it run.
- Plan a two-week pilot with a fixed daily cap, and count booked meetings yourself.
Our list of the best AI SDR tools for small business covers more options.
Frequently asked questions
What is Salesforce Hunter?
Hunter is Salesforce's outbound sales agent for Sales Cloud, introduced at Dreamforce 2026. Salesforce says it finds accounts and contacts, personalises outreach, prepares follow-ups and keeps working across the sales cycle, from opportunities to proposals and forecasts. It learns from CRM history and approved third-party data, and reps can use it in Slack, Teams and Claude as well as Salesforce.
When is Salesforce Hunter available?
Salesforce's Dreamforce 2026 recap, published on 28 September 2026, lists Hunter with general availability in November 2026. It is built for Sales Cloud customers. Teams that do not use Salesforce would need Sales Cloud to use Hunter, so they need a standalone AI SDR or the agent built into their own CRM.
How much does Salesforce Hunter cost?
Salesforce had not published a price for Hunter as of 20 October 2026. Neither its Hunter page nor the Sales Cloud pricing page lists one. The pricing page shows an Agentforce for Sales add-on from $125 per user per month, but does not say whether Hunter is included, so ask your Salesforce account team for a quote.
Is Salesforce Hunter an AI SDR?
Partly. Salesforce says Hunter can perform many tasks associated with an AI SDR or BDR, including prospect research, prioritisation and outreach. It adds that Hunter's role goes beyond generating meetings: it carries context across the sales cycle, progressing opportunities, preparing proposals and supporting forecasts. Salesforce also offers Piper, an inbound AI SDR agent from its Qualified acquisition.
Do I need an Apollo or ZoomInfo contract to use Hunter's data?
Salesforce says no separate vendor contracts or setup are needed, because partner data comes through its Data Vendor Gateway. Apollo says Salesforce customers can reach its 240 million contacts through Hunter even if they are not Apollo customers. Customers who already pay for Apollo can connect their existing account.
What is the difference between Salesforce Hunter and Piper?
Hunter is the outbound agent: it finds accounts and contacts, writes outreach and follows deals forward. Piper is an inbound AI sales development agent that answers prospects' questions over text, voice or video, qualifies leads and books meetings. Piper is Qualified's AI SDR agent, and Salesforce completed its acquisition of Qualified on 1 April 2026.
Sources
- Salesforce: Hunter by Sales Cloud, AI outbound sales agent (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Salesforce: 21 Things We Announced at Dreamforce 2026 (28 Sep 2026)
- DestinationCRM: Salesforce Introduces Hunter, a Sales Agent (16 Oct 2026)
- SalesTechStar: Apollo Named Flagship Data Partner for Hunter (16 Sep 2026)
- Salesforce: Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Qualified (with completion note) (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Qualified homepage (Piper the AI SDR Agent) (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Salesforce: Salesforce launches AI SDR Piper in just 30 days with Qualified (29 Jul 2026)
- Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- HubSpot AI Prospecting Agent (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Gojiberry: product information for AI assistants (last updated 11 Oct 2026, checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Valley pricing (prices updated 19 Oct 2026, checked 20 Oct 2026)