Mirror of <https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/data/data-cloud-dev/guide/app-dev-comparison.html> (Salesforce, Data 360 Developer Guide), read 2026-10-23. Salesforce's own page is the authority; this copy exists because that site refuses non-browser readers.

Differences Between Developing Apps on Data 360 and the Salesforce Platform

Check out the tools and APIs that are available for custom app development in Data 360, and compare them to those available in the Salesforce Platform.

Task	Data 360	Salesforce Platform
Customer developers: Migrate metadata from one org to another	Use one of these packaging features or APIs. Unmanaged packages Second generation managed packages Data kits DevOps Center Data 360 Metadata API Salesforce Metadata API	Use one of these features or APIs. Unlocked packages Unmanaged packages DevOps Center Scratch Orgs * Salesforce Metadata API
Salesforce partners: Distribute apps to customers	Data kits Managed packages	* Managed packages
Environments for custom app development and testing	Sandbox org with Data 360 (beta). Altenatively, customer developers use a second org for development and testing. Salesforce partners use a Partner Business org.	Sandbox org for customer developers. Scratch orgs or sandboxes for Salesforce partners.
Managed Package Generation	First-generation and second-generation managed packages with data kits.	First-generation managed packages and second-generation managed packages.
API Authentication	When using Data 360 API, requests are authorized via OAuth with a Salesforce access token, which is exchanged for a Data 360 access token. The requests reach the Data 360 tenant-specific endpoint. When using Connect API, the same OAuth authorization path as the Salesforce Platform APIs is used.	When using Salesforce Platform APIs, requests are authorized for the org’s MyDomain endpoint via a Salesforce access token.
SOQL Queries	To query records in Data 360, you can use a subset of SOQL. For more information about what’s supported and the limitations, see Data 360 Query Profile Parameters in the _REST API Developer Guide_.	To query records in Salesforce, you can use SOQL. For more information, see SOQL and SOSL Reference.

See Also