For most of its existence, martech has been defined by constant change. Marketers regularly replace core systems. Vendors competed on features. Changing platforms, even the most critical ones, was routine.
This pattern has broken and the break is visible in the data.
The MarTech Replacement Survey 2025 shows a sharp decline in replacement activity across major categories.
- Marketing automation increased from 31.1% in 2024 to 19.4% in 2025.
- CRM fell from 22.1% to 9.7%.
- Email platforms decreased from 24.3% to 13.7%.
This is not a category change. This is a generalized decline in replacement behaviors. This is happening even as some categories, like analytics/BI, continue to grow, reinforcing that this is not a simple contraction in demand but a shift in how teams scale their stacks.
Download the MarTech Replacement Survey
No registration required
Martech replacements took a dramatic turn in 2025, with many of the most replaced apps from previous years finding stability. Get all the details in this free report.
5 years of stability, peak, then withdrawal
Over a five-year period, the change becomes clearer.
From 2021 to 2023, replacement rates on major platforms have remained remarkably stable. Marketing automation hovered around 24%. CRM and email followed similar patterns. In 2024, some categories increased, including marketing automation, which reached 31%.
Then, in 2025, replacement activity fell sharply in almost every major category.
This pattern – stability → peak → withdrawal – marks a clear break from previous behavior.
The era of unsubscribe
From 2021 to 2023, martech replacement followed a consistent pattern: stable business, quick decisions, and feature-based switching.
Replacement rates in the main categories remained stable, but the reason for the replacement was even more consistent. For many years, “best features” were the dominant factor in replacement decisions. Cost, integration, and data capabilities were important, but none clearly outweighed the others.
By 2023, there are also signs of shorter replacement cycles. Thirty-one percent of the replaced systems had been in place for two years or less, suggesting that teams were increasingly willing to abandon relatively new tools.
Decision times have also been consistently rapid, with approximately 70-80% of replacements approved within six months. This was not a period of accelerated disruption. It was a period of sustained churn – constant replacement activity driven by incremental improvements rather than fundamental changes.
Changes start in 2024
In 2024, priorities began to change, even if behaviors remained unchanged. Cost became the main factor in replacement decisions, cited by 61% of respondents.
This marks a departure from previous years, where costs, features, integration and data capabilities were more evenly balanced. But despite this change in priorities, replacement activity has not slowed down.
Marketing automation remained the most replaced category for the fifth year in a row, and replacement rates remained high in several categories. The market was under pressure, but teams were still willing to replace core systems.
2025: hesitation replaces unsubscription
In 2025, behaviors have finally caught up with feelings. Replacement rates have fallen in almost every major category. CRM fell to 9.7%, the lowest level recorded in the survey.
Even categories often touted as areas of growth have shown signs of moderation. At the same time, AI has emerged as an important factor in decision-making:
- 37.1% cited AI capabilities as important
- 33.9% said they want AI capabilities
But this interest did not translate into an immediate replacement. Instead, AI appears to reinforce a wait-and-see attitude. If better native AI platforms are expected soon, delaying their replacement becomes a rational choice.
The defining characteristic of 2025 is not disruption. It’s a hesitation.
Why change happens
Several structural changes help explain the transition.
First, the SaaS market is maturing. By 2024, 96% of replacements involved a commercial application, and most were trade-for-trade. The market no longer grows primarily through new adoptions: it grows within an established base.
Second, the main categories are stabilizing. CRM, marketing automation, and messaging platforms are being replaced less frequently, suggesting that they have reached a level of functional maturity for many organizations.
Third, decision-making logic evolves. Previous emphasis on feature differentiation is giving way to a stronger focus on cost, ROI and integration.
Together, these changes reduce the urgency to replace systems, even when better alternatives exist.
An important nuance: this is not a collapse of the martech business. A majority of organizations continue to engage with their batteries in one way or another every year. What changes is how they evolve these batteries. We are moving away from massive replacement and moving towards more gradual changes.
From innovation to efficiency
The logic behind purchasing decisions has changed.
- 2022: features dominated
- 2023: features, integration and costs are balanced
- 2024: cost becomes the main concern
- 2025: efficiency and AI considerations emerge together
The principle is clear: move from decision-making focused on innovation to a mindset focused on efficiency.
Interest in AI is growing in this context, but primarily to improve performance, not as a trigger for immediate platform replacement.
What this means for marketers
For marketers, this environment means longer evaluation cycles and a higher bar for replacement decisions.
For marketing operations teams, the focus is now on extracting more value from existing systems, improving usability, strengthening integrations and demonstrating ROI.
For those advocating change, the argument is no longer about “new features”. This is “better results”.
Your customers are searching everywhere. Make sure your brand introduces himself.
The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need.
Start free trial
Start with
A break before the next wave
Martech does not stand still. But the way organizations evolve their stacks is changing. Replacement cycles slow down. Incremental change replaces massive replacement. Efficiency overtakes innovation as the main driver.
The next wave of disruption will come, but it will more likely be driven by structural changes, such as native AI platforms, rather than incremental improvements within existing categories. For now, the market is on hold.
