Architect-curated tools. One searchable site. Built from real implementation experience.
The Problem
Every Salesforce architect has a toolkit. Not the one you’d list on a resume — the real one. The browser extensions you install on day one of a new project. The CLI tool you run before every deployment. The diagramming app that’s open on your second monitor right now.
You built that toolkit over years. Trial and error. Recommendations from colleagues. That one tool someone mentioned in a Slack channel that changed how you work.
The problem is — there’s no single place where that knowledge lives. Tools are scattered across GitHub, AppExchange, Chrome Web Store, blog posts, and Reddit threads. Finding the right tool for a specific problem means hours of research, and you still might miss something good.
I know because I’ve been there. I discovered SOQLXplorer after years of fighting with Salesforce’s built-in Schema Builder — which is still a nightmare for anything beyond a quick glance. I still use Workbench on every project, because nothing else gives you that Swiss army knife experience in one place.
These are things you learn the hard way. I wanted to put them somewhere so others don’t have to.
Meet crmarcade
crmarcade.com is a curated directory of tools, frameworks, and resources for the Salesforce ecosystem. Every entry is handpicked based on real enterprise implementation experience.
It’s not a marketplace. It’s not a newsletter. It’s not an awesome-list on GitHub.
It’s a searchable, filterable directory where every entry has three things:
- What it does — a straight description, no marketing fluff
- Why It Matters — an architect’s perspective on when and why you’d use this tool
- Alternatives — what else solves the same problem, and the trade-offs
32 entries and growing, across 12 categories — from DevOps and Testing to Integration, Governance, and Modeling & Design.
What Gets In (and What Doesn’t)
I have one filter: do I open this while working?
If yes — it’s in. CLI tools, browser extensions, diagramming platforms, testing frameworks, open-source libraries, integration utilities. Things that help me design, build, test, deploy, or govern a Salesforce implementation.
If no — it’s out. Courses, certifications, books, podcasts, YouTube channels. Great things exist for all of those. crmarcade isn’t trying to be everything — it’s the one place you check when you need a tool, not a tutorial.
I also drew a line between tools you use and products you recommend. sfp, Gearset, Lucidchart — I open these while working. Okta, DocuSign, Conga — I recommend these to clients. Different relationship. The first group belongs in the directory today. The second will show up later as part of architecture scenarios.
Why Curation Matters
There’s no shortage of tool lists out there. You can find them on GitHub, in newsletters, or just ask an AI to generate one. But lists don’t tell you which tools actually hold up on a real project.
I recently asked an AI to list Salesforce architect tools. It gave me 40 results in seconds — but it didn’t mention Salesforce Tool Suite, a Chrome extension that lets you compare permission sets across orgs. That’s a tool I’ve used on real implementations. It’s the kind of thing you only discover through experience or word of mouth, not through search results.
That’s what crmarcade is for. Not a list — a collection of verdicts from someone who’s actually used the tools across enterprise implementations.
Why “crmarcade”
The name is intentional. “CRM” is the category. “Arcade” is the collection.
Phase 1 is Salesforce — the ecosystem I know best. But CRM doesn’t end at Salesforce. As the directory grows, so will its scope: MS Dynamics, HubSpot, and the tools that bridge across platforms. The arcade grows as my knowledge expands. No rush — credibility first, breadth later.
What’s Next
This is version one. Here’s where it’s heading:
- More entries — I add tools as I use them and discover them. If you know one that belongs, suggest it.
- Architecture scenarios — CTA-style case studies that stitch solution components into real-world patterns. “Enterprise SSO for Multi-Org.” “High-Volume Data Migration at Scale.” The tools get you in the door; the scenarios keep you coming back.
- Community input — likes, reviews, and surfacing what the community trusts most. But community features need community first.
Try It
Browse, search, filter by category. If you find something useful — or something missing — I want to hear about it.
Last week I shipped an open-source file extractor. This week, a directory. Every architect has a system — the workflows, the checklists, the patterns built over years of implementations. Most of it stays private. The tools are the layer I can open up first, but they’re one part of a bigger system I use to stay sharp. The backlog has more. The habit of shipping is getting stronger.
Until next time! 😊
