The table below outlines some of the head line differences between CRM Online and CRM On Premise, hopes its useful.
| Capability | CRM Online | CRM On Premise |
| Exchange Synchronisation | CRM for Outlook, Email Router, or Server Synchronisation (if using Exchange Online/O365). | CRM for Outlook, Email Router, or Server Synchronisation (if using Exchange on premise) |
| SharePoint Integration | Server Side with SharePoint Online (if using O365). | Client-side integration |
| Social Listening | Included based on number subscriptions purchased (10+) and availability in region. | Additional cost |
| Workflows/dialogs | 200 | Unlimited |
| Custom Entities | 300 | Unlimited |
| SSRS Reporting | Fetch XML or T-SQL from a locally replicated reporting server. | Import DLLs, Fetch XML or T-SQL |
| Power BI Reporting | Yes | No |
| PowerView Reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Upgrade/Update Process | Office 365 admin approves the upgrade before it is installed, update rollups applied automatically. | Upgrades and update rollups installed by your administrator. |
| Direct Server Access | No | Yes |
| Phone App | Yes | Yes if environment externally facing via ADFS. |
| Tablet App | Yes | Yes if environment externally facing via ADFS. |
| Storage | Limited to the amount of CRM Online storage available when your organisation is created, additional storage can be purchased when required. Storage Utilisation is calculated based on Data Size and Index Size and is shared across all instances. By default an organisation is given 5gb of storage, additional 2.5gb of storage is granted in increments for every additional 20 professional licenced users up to a maximum of 50gb. | Limited to the amount of storage available on your server. |
| Update Release Cycle | Two releases per year. Spring release functionality exclusive to CRM Online, so new functionality available online first. | Fall release released to both CRM Online and On Premises, includes the functionality released in the Spring release. |
| Migrating Deployments | CRM Online customers can migrate to CRM On Premise at any time. SQL database can be provided to client at scheduled time that can be imported to an On Premise deployment using the “restore” process in compatible versions of SQL Server. | CRM On Premise customers can migrate to CRM Online and customization for entities can be imported; however, the MSCRM database cannot be moved to Online data centre, so a data migration exercise would be required. |
| Sandbox environments | CRM Online provides non production environments as part of your subscription that can be used for Dev/Test/UAT. The number of organizations received depends on the number of users. A free sandbox environment is provided for organisations with 25 or more professional licenses. | Non production environments can be installed, depending on local server availability. |
