Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM) is a compelling third option when evaluating enterprise software stocks like Salesforce (CRM) and ServiceNow (NOW). While smaller in scale, Atlassian occupies a powerful niche: it provides collaboration and project management tools deeply embedded in software development, DevOps, and agile workflows. Products like Jira, Confluence, and Trello are widely used by engineering teams around the world. Unlike Salesforce and ServiceNow, which pursue broad enterprise digitization agendas, Atlassian focuses heavily on technical teams, developer workflows, and increasingly, IT service management — a space where it directly competes with ServiceNow through products like Jira Service Management.
Financially, Atlassian is in an interesting middle ground. Its fiscal 2024 revenue was approximately $4.2 billion — smaller than both Salesforce and ServiceNow — but it continues to grow at a respectable pace, typically in the mid-teens year-over-year. It runs a high-margin model due to its self-serve go-to-market strategy (not relying on a large direct sales force), but its profitability is lower than peers because of high R&D investments and ongoing transition costs from server to cloud. Free cash flow is strong, but GAAP profitability has been more elusive, fluctuating depending on stock-based compensation and platform investments.
As of mid-2025, Atlassian trades around $180–$190, with a market cap just above $45 billion. Its price-to-sales ratio hovers around 10–11, sitting between Salesforce (6x) and ServiceNow (15–17x), reflecting its growth rate and strategic positioning. Analysts generally rate the stock as a “Buy” or “Outperform,” with many seeing upside toward the $220–$240 range over the next 12 months. That said, TEAM stock tends to be more volatile than either CRM or NOW. Its valuation is sensitive to cloud adoption trends, macro sentiment around software spending, and any disruption in tech hiring cycles — since its tools are often adopted and expanded alongside software team headcount.
One area where Atlassian stands out is in developer loyalty and virality. Its products are deeply embedded into workflows, and teams often scale usage organically across organizations — something that makes its customer acquisition cost much lower than competitors’. Atlassian is also investing significantly in AI and automation, but in a less headline-grabbing way than Salesforce’s Einstein or ServiceNow’s Now Assist. Instead, it integrates AI to reduce developer toil and automate documentation, ticketing, and knowledge management within its suite.
In terms of risk: Atlassian carries more product concentration risk than Salesforce or ServiceNow, as it still derives most of its revenue from a small number of core products and a specific customer profile — software and tech-forward teams. It is less exposed to traditional enterprise IT departments or large-scale sales-driven deployments. Also, it has historically been more vulnerable to downturns in tech employment or startup funding, as many smaller customers pause spending.
If your investment thesis centers on agile development, DevOps tooling, and organic SaaS expansion within engineering-centric cultures, Atlassian is a high-conviction name. But if you prefer larger, diversified platforms with broader use cases and stronger enterprise entrenchment, Salesforce offers defensive strength and ServiceNow superior momentum and vertical scalability.
To summarize: Atlassian is a smaller, more volatile but agile player with strong developer loyalty and product-led growth. It offers a differentiated risk/reward profile — potentially higher upside in tech-heavy expansion cycles, but with greater exposure to macro and sector-specific slowdowns. It doesn’t replace Salesforce or ServiceNow in a portfolio, but complements them for those seeking exposure to the future of digital teamwork and software-centric operations.