Salesforce plans to buy Braze, a customer messaging company, for $5.66 billion

Salesforce says it will buy Braze, a company that helps businesses send timely messages to their customers, for $5.66 billion. The deal is not expected to close until Salesforce's fiscal year 2028, so nothing changes right away.

What Braze does

Braze makes software that studies customer data from several sources as it comes in. Businesses use it to decide how and when to reach each customer. It has about 2,770 customers, including Canva and Equinox.

Salesforce is a major name in customer relationship management, which is software that tracks who your customers are and how they deal with you. It plans to build Braze's tools into Marketing Cloud, its marketing product.

Patrick Stokes, Salesforce's president of applications and marketing, said: "Every interaction is an opportunity to wow your customers. Most of that wow comes from knowing your customer, and responding at just the right moment."

What is not known yet

It is not yet clear what the combined tools will cost, whether plans will change, or when Marketing Cloud users will see new features. It is also unclear what happens to Braze customers who do not use Salesforce.

A business that uses Salesforce for marketing can expect new messaging tools later. Before signing a long contract or switching plans, ask about price or plan changes.