PIM comparison
ConnectingTheDots vs Salsify
Two SaaS PIMs for product content, one built around supplier onboarding, one around a retail syndication network. How ConnectingTheDots and Salsify differ on scope, channels, AI, architecture and pricing, from public sources only.
Same category, two different emphases
ConnectingTheDots
In its own words “Good product data starts before your PIM.”1
A Dutch PIM vendor based in Zwolle, run by ID Interactive B.V. under the ConnectingTheDots name. It sells a SaaS PIM in two plans, with an Import & Onboarding layer that maps and validates supplier data before it reaches the PIM, and AI agents for classification, enrichment and translation. It is aimed at retailers, wholesalers and brands; its published customer cases include Wehkamp, de Bijenkorf and ANWB.
Salsify
In its own words “The Intelligent Product Experience Management Company”32
A Boston vendor of product experience management (PXM) software, founded in 2012 and owned by Cinven since 2026. Its multi-tenant SaaS platform pairs a PIM with syndication to retail and commerce destinations, a GDSN data pool and digital shelf analytics. Salsify says it serves brand manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and sells a separate SXM product to retailers that collect data from their suppliers.
“Both cover the product record and its assets. Ask where your bottleneck sits, in the data coming in or the content going out, and test that first.”
What they have in common
Read the differences below against this common ground. Both are credible options for the same broad job.
- Both keep to product content: neither lists customer or location master data domains in its line-up.
- Both are sold as SaaS, with digital asset management in the platform and syndication in the base offer, and neither offers an open-source edition.
- Both publish no prices and sell named plans or editions: PIM and PIM Enterprise at ConnectingTheDots, Core, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus at Salsify.
- Both run AI inside workflows: ConnectingTheDots as agent steps, Salsify as AI task types from its Intelligence Suite.
- Both offer webhooks next to their APIs, and both list Shopify, BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce integrations.
When to look beyond both
You want a fully MACH, composable PIM with AI built in.
Bluestone PIM
Ergonode
You need multi-domain PIM and MDM, or GDSN and retailer compliance drive the project.
Syndigo
Stibo Systems
You need multi-domain PIM and MDM with AI features.
Viamedici
Informatica Product 360
You want commerce and PIM in one platform, with AI built in.
Crystallize
Pimcore
At a glance
The basic facts side by side. Every cell links to the public page it comes from.
| ConnectingTheDots | Salsify | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008, according to its LinkedIn page; its About page says active since 2009. It traded as ID interactive until a 2017 rename.213 | 201234 |
| Headquarters | Zwolle, the Netherlands (Nervistraat 2). The registry lists ID Interactive B.V., with ConnectingTheDots as its trading name.45 | Boston, Massachusetts. Operations in North America, Europe and Australia.34 |
| Ownership | A private limited company (B.V.). Co-founder Max Schrevelius is named as an owner. We found no announced outside investment.53 | Cinven agreed to acquire Salsify in July 2026, with terms not disclosed. Cinven's portfolio page dates the investment September 2026.3435 |
| Chief executive | Arnout Schutte, co-founder and managing director. Co-founder Max Schrevelius is commercial director.67 | Piyush Chaudhari, since June 20243633 |
| Size, in the vendor's own words | 50+ implementations, as stated by ConnectingTheDots. Its LinkedIn page lists 51-200 employees. No customer count published.12 | 2,000+ customers and 70,000+ active users, with about 750 million products published to 2,600 commerce destinations34 |
| Delivery | SaaS, as described by ConnectingTheDots. The hosting provider and data region are not published.87 | Multi-tenant SaaS. We found no self-hosted edition.49 |
| Published pricing | No prices published. PIM and PIM Enterprise are quoted per proposal, with implementation as a separate one-off cost.10 | No prices published. The pricing page leads to a demo request.54 |
| Security certifications | Not published: no security certification named on the ConnectingTheDots pages we checked. | SOC 2 Type II for ProductXM and SupplierXM, ISO/IEC 2700149 |
Factor by factor
Eight factors, each with how the two approaches differ. Open a factor for the sourced facts and the questions to ask both vendors. Nothing here is scored.
How a capability is deliveredDescribes packaging, not quality.
- In the platform
- Separate module
- Apps or partners
- Not offered
- Not publicly documented
01 · How they differProduct scope and packaging
ConnectingTheDots includes Import & Onboarding for supplier feeds in both of its plans, adds ESG and compliance data, and lists no channel analytics or print module. Salsify includes syndication and digital shelf reporting in its Core Edition, sells SXM Supplier Onboarding to retailers as a separate product, and licenses its GDSN Data Pool, Enhanced Content and Catalog Sites separately.
What each vendor sells around the product record, and how it is packaged. Packaging decides what is in the licence, what costs extra, and who you call when something breaks.
Core PIM
The PIM, with Import & Onboarding in front of it and modules for the data model, workflows and AI, publishing, reporting and user management.9
Master data beyond products
Product-focused: no customer or location master data domains in the module line-up. The data model builds golden records from several sources.912
Product content only: no customer, supplier or location master data domains in the PXM and SXM line-up.37
Supplier onboarding
Import & Onboarding collects, maps and validates supplier feeds before they reach the PIM. Supplier data onboarding is in both plans.1110
SXM Supplier Onboarding, a separate product aimed at retailers collecting product data from their suppliers.41
Digital assets
A DAM component for images, manuals, documents and videos linked to products. A two-way Bynder connector, developed by ConnectingTheDots, is offered for teams that keep Bynder.172122
Digital asset management is part of the Core Edition, with up to 500GB of asset storage.42
Syndication
Channel performance analytics
No channel performance or digital shelf analytics in the line-up. Reporting covers data quality, completeness and progress per channel.15
Sharing with partners
Print and publishing
Other modules
ESG and compliance data: evidence with validity dates, EPR exports and Digital Product Passports as a publishing target. ConnectingTheDots also delivers commerce projects, such as a B2B order portal linked to SAP for Masimo.2524
Enhanced Content for rich media, a Grocery Accelerator and the GDSN Data Pool, each licensed separately.42
Ask both vendors
- Which of our requirements are in the base subscription, and which are separate modules, add-ons or partner apps?
- Who supports a partner app when it breaks: you, the partner or us?
- Can we add a module later without a new implementation project?
02 · How they differData model and governance
ConnectingTheDots models entities, families, variants and relations with fields per language, market and channel, and sends records that fail checks at import to a work queue. Salsify treats products as records with properties and digital assets, with two levels of inheritance in the Core Edition and Readiness Reports that check content against each retailer's requirements.
How products, variants and relationships are modelled, and how each platform keeps data complete and approved. This decides how much of your catalogue fits without workarounds.
Modelling approach
Entities, product families, attributes, variants and relations, with contextual fields per language, market and channel. Category trees can follow GS1 or ETIM.12
Data quality
Ask both vendors
- Model our three hardest products live: a configurable item, a bundle and a spare part with fitment data.
- How do completeness rules differ per channel and per locale?
- What does a change to the data model cost once we are live?
03 · How they differSyndication and channels
ConnectingTheDots publishes through templates for Amazon, Bol and Kaufland and reaches GDSN data pools through a GS1 Connector (Qmica). Salsify runs its own syndication network, which it puts at 2,600 commerce destinations, plus a GS1-certified GDSN Data Pool and an OpenAI channel for ChatGPT; check your own channel list against both.
How product content leaves the PIM: to your own webshop, to marketplaces and retailers, and to commerce platforms. If the number of channels is your bottleneck, this factor weighs more than the editing screens.
Delivery to retailers and marketplaces
Commerce platform connectors
Integrations listed for Shopify, Magento and Adobe Commerce, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopware, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, commercetools and Lightspeed. The page does not say who maintains each one.18
Ask both vendors
- Show a live feed to one marketplace we use, including what happens when the channel rejects an item.
- Which channel connectors do you maintain yourselves, and which do partners maintain?
- When a retailer changes its template, who updates the mapping, and at what cost?
04 · How they differAI features
ConnectingTheDots runs agents for classification, enrichment, translation and channel checks as workflow steps, uses AI in onboarding to suggest mappings, and has published no statement on MCP. Salsify centres on Angie, its PXM Agent, platform-wide since May 2026, and announced an MCP layer for outside AI agents, while naming no AI feature for SXM Supplier Onboarding.
What AI does inside each product, as announced by the vendor. Vendors ship AI features several times a year, so read this as a snapshot and test on your own data.
Agents in the platform
AI in onboarding
Access for outside AI tools
Not published: no statement on an MCP server or other access for outside AI tools.
An MCP layer that gives customers' AI agents and third-party systems access to approved product attributes, announced in May 2026.47
Ask both vendors
- Which AI features are in the subscription, and which are priced per use or per credit?
- Run the enrichment on ten of our real products and show what a reviewer still has to correct.
- Where is our data processed, and is it used to train models?
05 · How they differArchitecture and integrations
Neither names its cloud provider or publishes its platform stack. ConnectingTheDots offers an open API with feeds and webhooks and an SAP Business One integration; Salsify offers REST and GraphQL APIs with webhooks and the PXM App Center, which lists SAP among its enterprise integrations.
How each platform is hosted, built, extended and connected to ERP, commerce and DAM systems. This is where IT teams spend most of their evaluation time.
Hosting
Technology
Not published: no statement on the languages, frameworks or databases behind the platform.
Not published for the platform itself. Salsify's public GitHub repositories are mostly Ruby and Rails tooling, with Ember libraries for the front end.52
APIs
Extensibility
Custom integrations through APIs, feeds and webhooks; complex workflow logic may need development work. We found no app store or SDK for third-party extensions.1813
The PXM App Center, with Salsify modules, partner apps, enterprise integrations and workflow extensions.53
SAP S/4HANA
A SAP Business One integration pulls items, bills of materials, price lists and stock into the PIM. SAP S/4HANA is not named on the integration pages.1918
SAP is listed among enterprise system integrations in the PXM App Center. We found no statement on an S/4HANA-specific connector.53
Ask both vendors
- Which connectors for our ERP and commerce platform are yours, and which are built by partners?
- What are the API rate limits, and how long does a bulk import of our full catalogue take?
- Where is our data hosted, and can we choose the region?
06 · How they differPricing and licensing
Neither publishes prices. ConnectingTheDots sets the price on product range, data sources, channels and automation, with implementation as a separate one-off cost; Salsify publishes no price unit, and its entitlement guide caps the Core Edition at 50,000 records, 500GB of asset storage and 100,000 API calls a month.
How each vendor packages its offer and what moves the price. Compare offers over three to five years, including modules, connectors, partner work and your own team, not on the first-year licence.
Published prices
None. ConnectingTheDots makes a proposal after reviewing requirements.10
None. The pricing page leads to a demo request.54
Packages
PIM and PIM Enterprise. Enterprise adds multiple brands and markets, advanced governance and audit trails, and high-volume automation.10
Core, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions of the PXM Advance Platform. Enhanced Content, GDSN, Catalog Sites and Digital Shelf Analytics are licensed separately.42
Pricing unit
No single unit: product range, data sources, sales channels and automation needs set the price. Implementation is a separate one-off cost.10
No price unit published. The entitlement guide caps the Core Edition at 50,000 records, 500GB of asset storage and 100,000 API calls a month.42
Open source
No open-source edition. The terms grant a non-exclusive licence to use the software in object code and prohibit decompiling.29
Ask both vendors
- Which metrics drive the price: products, users, channels, locales, API calls or modules?
- How are renewals priced, and is there a cap on increases?
- What does year three cost if our catalogue doubles?
07 · How they differPartners and implementation
ConnectingTheDots works with partners in three collaboration models (referral, reseller and implementation partner), without published tiers or a partner count. Salsify runs solution, technology and retail partner programmes, with solution partners in five tiers from Registered to Platinum and firms such as Accenture, VML and Sitation in its directory.
Who implements the platform, and with what. The partner you pick shapes the project as much as the software does.
Partner network
Implementation partners, agencies, system integrators and technology partners. The partners page shows six logos: WoodWing, Qmica, PIMvendors, PIMDAMPET, Tweakwise and Bynder. No partner count published.28
Partner tiers
No tiers published. Three collaboration models (referral, reseller and implementation partner), chosen with each partner, with training and certification.28
Ask both vendors
- Which certified partners in our region have delivered a project like ours in the last two years?
- What does your own team do during the implementation, and what is left to the partner?
- Can we speak to two customers in our industry?
08 · How they differAnalyst coverage
ConnectingTheDots is not among the 16 vendors in Gartner's 2026 Magic Quadrant for PIM, and we found no IDC or Forrester PIM placement for it. Gartner's report places Salsify as the only Challenger, and Salsify announced Leader placements in IDC and Forrester PIM editions.
Where analyst firms placed each vendor in recent editions, as announced by the vendor or the analyst. Analysts weigh criteria you may not share, so read this as a map of the market, not a ranking for your project.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for PIM, 2026
Not among the 16 vendors in the edition, per Gartner's report.30
Challenger, the only vendor in that quadrant, per Gartner's report. We found no Salsify announcement of the placement.31
IDC MarketScape, latest PIM or MDM edition
We found no IDC MarketScape for PIM that includes ConnectingTheDots, and no ConnectingTheDots statement on one.
Leader in the IDC MarketScape for PIM Applications for Commerce 2024-2025, as announced by Salsify.58
The Forrester Wave, latest PIM or MDM edition
We found no Forrester Wave for PIM that includes ConnectingTheDots, and no ConnectingTheDots statement on one.
Leader in the Q4 2023 edition, as announced by Salsify.59
Ask both vendors
- Which of the analyst's criteria match our requirements, and where did you score lowest?
Where each tends to fit
Teams tend to shortlist ConnectingTheDots when
- supplier feeds arrive in many formats and need mapping and validation before they reach the PIM
- AI agents should run as reviewable steps in the team's own workflows
- the ERP is SAP Business One, and items, price lists and stock should flow into the PIM
- EPR exports and Digital Product Passports should come from the same product record
Teams tend to shortlist Salsify when
- product content goes to many retail and commerce destinations through one syndication network
- content should be checked against each retailer's requirements before it is sent, with digital shelf reports afterwards
- outside AI agents and third-party systems need access to approved product attributes through MCP
- developers want GraphQL next to REST, with webhooks for product, asset and import events
Expert view
ConnectingTheDots or Salsify: it depends on your requirements
Next to each other, ConnectingTheDots and Salsify cover the same core: both are SaaS PIMs for product content, both include digital asset management, both put syndication in their base offer, and neither publishes prices. The differences lie in where each puts its weight: ConnectingTheDots in checking supplier data before it reaches the PIM, Salsify in a syndication network, a GDSN data pool and digital shelf reporting.
ConnectingTheDots' Import & Onboarding layer and workflow agents suit retailers, wholesalers and brands whose product data comes from many suppliers and needs mapping and validation first. Salsify's network, Readiness Reports and MCP layer suit brand manufacturers, distributors and retailers whose main task is getting content to many retail destinations. Neither strength matters unless it answers a requirement you can name.
What works best for you depends on your unique requirements. List your suppliers, retailers and the systems around your PIM, then ask both vendors to take one of your supplier files through to a channel you sell on. Talk to us and we will gladly help you plan that test with your own data.
Independent advice that starts from your requirements, not from a platform.
Recent moves
Releases, deals and leadership changes from both vendors, newest first, each with its source.
- Salsify
Salsify partners with IDEA so manufacturers can publish into IDEA Connector
The connection is in early access and replaces manual exports into the electrical industry data platform.
Salsify - Salsify
Cinven agrees to acquire Salsify.
Terms were not disclosed, and the deal still needs regulatory approval.
Salsify - Salsify
ISG ranks Salsify second in its 2026 product experience management guide.
Salesforce placed first and Syndigo third in that overall ranking.
ISG - Salsify
Salsify launches SalsifyIQ, an intelligence layer for agentic commerce
The launch extends the Angie assistant across the platform and adds a Model Context Protocol connection.
Salsify - Salsify
Salsify extends GDSN publishing to seven more countries
The company said it added Spain, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Poland.
Salsify - ConnectingTheDots
ConnectingTheDots partners with Qmica on product data.
On 27 January 2026 the companies said they will combine the PIM with Qmica commerce tools for product data flows.
ConnectingTheDots
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between ConnectingTheDots and Salsify?
Both are SaaS PIMs with digital asset management that keep to product content. ConnectingTheDots puts an Import & Onboarding layer in front of the PIM, runs AI agents as workflow steps and sells two plans quoted per proposal. Salsify sells editions of its PXM platform with syndication in the Core Edition, and adds a GDSN Data Pool, digital shelf analytics and SXM supplier onboarding for retailers. Which difference matters depends on whether your bottleneck is the data coming in or the content going out.
Do ConnectingTheDots and Salsify publish their prices?
No. ConnectingTheDots makes a proposal for PIM or PIM Enterprise after reviewing requirements, based on product range, data sources, sales channels and automation, with implementation as a separate one-off cost. Salsify's pricing page leads to a demo request, and its entitlement guide caps the Core Edition at 50,000 records, 500GB of asset storage and 100,000 API calls a month. Ask both which limits and metrics apply, and compare offers over three to five years.
Can you self-host ConnectingTheDots or Salsify?
Neither lists a self-hosted edition. ConnectingTheDots describes its PIM as SaaS; its general terms mention client-managed servers, but no such offer is described. Salsify is multi-tenant SaaS only. Neither names its cloud provider, and neither offers an open-source edition.
How do the AI features of ConnectingTheDots and Salsify compare?
ConnectingTheDots runs AI agents for classification, enrichment, translation and channel checks as steps in the customer's workflows, with suggestions that can be reviewed, edited and reverted, and uses AI in Import & Onboarding to suggest field and category mappings. Salsify ships Angie, which it calls its PXM Agent, platform-wide since May 2026, adds AI task types to workflows and announced an MCP layer for outside AI agents. We found no MCP statement from ConnectingTheDots, so ask about outside access and test both on your own products.
Which one fits a retailer collecting product data from its suppliers?
Both have an answer. ConnectingTheDots includes Import & Onboarding in both plans: it collects, maps and validates supplier feeds before they reach the PIM, and sends failing records to a work queue. Salsify sells SXM Supplier Onboarding, a separate product aimed at retailers collecting product data from their suppliers. Ask both to onboard a real supplier file in the demo.
How do you choose between ConnectingTheDots and Salsify?
Write down your requirements first, including your suppliers and the retailers you publish to. Then run a scripted demo in which both vendors model your own products, onboard a real supplier file and publish to one of your channels. Compare the offers over three to five years, including separately licensed products, connectors and implementation.
Read next
How this comparison was built
We compared the two vendors on public information only: their own websites, documentation and press releases, plus reporting that names its source. We did not run either product for this page and we do not score or rank. Where a vendor does not publish something, the page says so instead of guessing.
We have a relationship with every vendor on our platform. None gets preferential treatment: all are compared in the same way, on the same factors, for our customers.
Spotted something out of date? Email info@pimvendors.com and we will check it against the source.
Sources
- ConnectingTheDots About ConnectingTheDots
- LinkedIn ConnectingTheDots company page
- Emerce Author profile: Max Schrevelius
- ConnectingTheDots Contact
- OpenCorporates ID Interactive B.V. company record (08185975)
- ConnectingTheDots Agentic commerce starts with product data. Not with AI. Published 8 Oct 2026
- ConnectingTheDots Webinar: Import & Onboarding in partnership with PIMvendors.com Published 8 Apr 2025
- ConnectingTheDots Implementation Consultant vacancy
- ConnectingTheDots PIM platform
- ConnectingTheDots PIM pricing and plans
- ConnectingTheDots Import & Onboarding
- ConnectingTheDots Data Model & Structure
- ConnectingTheDots Workflows & AI
- ConnectingTheDots Publishing & Channels
- ConnectingTheDots Reporting & Analytics
- ConnectingTheDots User Management
- ConnectingTheDots Product Information Management
- ConnectingTheDots Integrations
- ConnectingTheDots SAP Business One integration
- ConnectingTheDots GS1 Connector (Qmica)
- ConnectingTheDots Bynder DAM integration
- Bynder Marketplace ConnectingTheDots PIM
- ConnectingTheDots Customer case: Wehkamp
- ConnectingTheDots Customer case: Masimo
- ConnectingTheDots ESG and sustainability data
- ConnectingTheDots AI product data automation
- ConnectingTheDots Supplier data onboarding
- ConnectingTheDots Partners
- ConnectingTheDots Terms and Conditions
- Gartner Magic Quadrant for Product Information Management Solutions Published 12 Oct 2026
- Gartner Magic Quadrant for Product Information Management Solutions Published 12 Oct 2026
- Salsify About us
- Salsify Executive team
- Salsify Cinven, international private equity firm, to acquire Salsify, Inc. Published 22 Jul 2026
- Cinven Portfolio: Salsify
- Salsify via GlobeNewswire Salsify names Piyush Chaudhari as new CEO Published 18 Jun 2024
- Salsify PXM platform
- Salsify Product Experience Management (PXM)
- Salsify Salsify PIM
- Salsify Supplier Experience Management (SXM)
- Salsify Salsify definitions and entitlement guide: PXM Advance Platform, Core Edition
- Salsify Digital Shelf Analytics
- Salsify GDSN Data Pool
- Salsify Commerce platform integrations
- Salsify via GlobeNewswire Salsify AI transforms PXM ops for digital shelf and agentic commerce Published 15 Oct 2025
- Salsify via GlobeNewswire Salsify unveils SalsifyIQ, the first PXM intelligence layer built for agentic commerce Published 5 May 2026
- Salsify Angie, the Salsify PXM agent
- Salsify Security and reliability
- Salsify PXM platform, integrations and APIs
- Salsify Salsify developer documentation
- GitHub salsify
- Salsify PXM App Center
- Salsify Pricing
- Salsify Solution partner program
- Salsify Solution partner directory
- Salsify via GlobeNewswire Vizit and Salsify partner to deliver AI-powered Conversion Optimizer application Published 27 Mar 2024
- Salsify IDC MarketScape names Salsify a Leader in 2025 PIM for Commerce report Published 4 Mar 2025
- Salsify The Forrester Wave: Product Information Management, Q4 2023 Published 12 Dec 2023