Salesforce → Attio

Catalog plan outline

General guidance from the Afterstack catalog for Salesforce → Attio. Not Salesforce or Attio vendor documentation.

Migration friendliness

Salesforce 6/10 · Attio 7/10

Speed to live

Salesforce 2/10 · Attio 7/10

Catalog migration difficulty

Salesforce high · Attio not set

Data to export from Salesforce

• pipeline and deal records
• custom objects
• sequences and cadences
• call and voice logs
• synced email and calendar links
• workflow rules
• saved reports
• campaign and automation records
• installed marketplace apps
• AI assistant configuration
• records for the catalog use cases: pipeline, accounts, outbound

How the catalogs differ

• Attio is flagged for custom objects. Collapse unused fields before loading them.
• Attio is not flagged for: call and voice logs, campaign and automation records, installed marketplace apps.
• Salesforce is flagged with an open API, which is the export path to test.
• Attio is flagged with an open API for the load.
• Salesforce is cataloged as a fit for: Global enterprises that need a customizable object model and an ISV marketplace.
• Attio is cataloged as a fit for: Product-led and sales-led startups that treat the data model as the product.

Phases

1. Export

   Take Salesforce as the source of truth for this pair. Export pipeline and deal records; custom objects; sequences and cadences; call and voice logs; synced email and calendar links; workflow rules; saved reports; campaign and automation records; installed marketplace apps; AI assistant configuration; records for the catalog use cases: pipeline, accounts, outbound. The default enterprise CRM — and the one most teams are trying to leave.

2. Map

   Load into Attio only after the field map is written down. A CRM that treats your data model as the product. Attio is flagged for custom objects. Collapse unused fields before loading them.

3. Prove a sample

   Attio scores 7/10 on speed to live and 7/10 on migration friendliness. Run one sample load and one report the team already uses in Salesforce before a full cutover.

4. Cut over

   Salesforce scores 6/10 on migration friendliness and is marked high difficulty in the catalog. Keep Salesforce readable until the team is working in Attio. Salesforce Sales Cloud is still the safest procurement checkbox in enterprise software. It can model almost anything, integrate with almost everything, and cost almost as much as the team that has to keep it alive. Einstein and Agentforce add AI on top of a platform that was not designed around it.

Salesforce to Attio: what the vendor docs actually cover

Linked sentences come from vendor documentation opened for this page. Everything else is general guidance, not Salesforce or Attio vendor documentation. This section does not move data and does not change the catalog outline above.

What to export from Salesforce

The Salesforce side of this pair uses the same backup article as any other Salesforce exit: Export Backup Data. Fetched directly, the help center showed a script shell on 2026-10-08, so edition limits are taken from the article body associated with that URL. Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited are the editions the article ties to a weekly file. Other editions, except Database.com, are described as monthly. Professional and Developer wait 29 days between files. You receive a zip of CSVs by email. Only profiles that hold Weekly Data Export see every row in that weekly file, and System Administrator has it out of the box. Attio does not change those Salesforce rules. Schedule the Attio load after a file actually arrives.

• Salesforce export backup data — checked 2026-10-08

How Attio imports

Attio documents two relevant doors. Import2, on the migration article, can be run by admins on Plus, Pro, and Enterprise, and Attio says it is free for Attio users. For Salesforce, that article lists Contacts, Accounts, Leads, and Opportunities. It says Cases are not migrated. Call recordings are outside Import2. The CSV article is the other door: a header row is required, the ceilings are 100,000 rows, 100 columns, and 100 megabytes, and notes and tasks cannot come in through CSV. Import2 will not refresh attributes on a person who already matches by email, or on a company that already matches by domain. Workspace export from Attio excludes emails, which matters if you need a round trip back out. The developer overview describes REST, webhooks, and SQL access. It is not a Salesforce package.

• Attio migrate from another CRM — checked 2026-10-08
• Attio CSV import — checked 2026-10-08
• Attio developer overview — checked 2026-10-08

Object and field mapping

• Salesforce Contacts map to Attio people. Email is the match key Import2 will not overwrite if the person already exists.
• Salesforce Accounts map to Attio companies. Domain is the match key that blocks attribute updates on an existing company.
• Salesforce Leads are in the Import2 Salesforce list. Decide whether a converted lead should be skipped so you do not create a second person.
• Salesforce Opportunities map to Attio deals only to the extent Import2's Salesforce source includes them. The article names Opportunities and does not paste a field dictionary.
• Salesforce Cases stop at the source. The migration article says they are not migrated.
• Notes and tasks need a path other than CSV. The CSV article forbids them.

What will not carry over

• Cases, per Attio's migration article.
• Call recordings, which the same article places outside Import2.
• Notes and tasks via CSV.
• Updates to people and companies that already match on email or domain.
• Emails, if you later export the Attio workspace. The docs say emails are excluded from that export.
• Salesforce report folders, sharing rules, and Flow automations. None of those are in the Import2 object list.

Cutover checklist

1. Request the Salesforce backup that your edition actually allows, weekly or otherwise.
2. Confirm the admin profile can see the full weekly file.
3. In Attio, confirm the workspace is Plus, Pro, or Enterprise before relying on Import2.
4. Run Import2 as an admin. The article limits it to admins.
5. Exclude Cases from the project scope in writing.
6. Inventory existing Attio people and companies so email and domain matches are expected, not a surprise.
7. If you fall back to CSV, include a header and stay under 100,000 rows, 100 columns, and 100 megabytes.
8. Leave notes and tasks out of that CSV.
9. Sample ten opportunities and ten contacts before cutting Salesforce to read-only.

Common pitfalls

• Believing Import2 updates the record you already have. The article says it will not update attributes on existing email or domain matches.
• Putting tasks in the CSV because the Salesforce activity export contained them. Attio's CSV article still rejects notes and tasks.
• Planning on Cases. They are named as out of scope.
• Ignoring the seat-cap contradiction on Attio's pricing page. That page disagrees with itself about caps, so do not block a migration on a single cap figure.
• Using a guessed Attio help URL. An earlier guessed import path 404'd. The migration and CSV URLs above are the ones that loaded.

Related catalog pages

• Best AI-native Salesforce alternatives (2026) — Which tool, compared
• What should replace Salesforce? — Switch narrative
• Attio product page — A CRM that treats your data model as the product.
• Attio vs Salesforce — Head-to-head already in the catalog
• CRM & sales category — Catalog hub for this category