What is Salesforce Lightning? Posted by
Peter Ryan The short answer: Salesforce Lightning is the modern Salesforce user interface and the development framework behind it. It has been the default experience for every new Salesforce org for years, and over 98 percent of orgs now run on it. Salesforce Classic, the old interface, still exists but has received no new features since 2020, and every recent Salesforce capability, including Agentforce and the Einstein AI features, requires Lightning.
“Salesforce Lightning” gets used to mean a few different things, which is why the term still confuses people a decade after it launched. This guide explains what Lightning actually includes, where Salesforce Classic stands in 2026, and what to do if your organization is one of the holdouts still running Classic.
What is Salesforce Lightning?
Launched in the Winter ’16 release, Salesforce Lightning was a rebuild of the entire Salesforce user experience around productivity, analytics, and mobile. Rather than one product, Lightning is an umbrella term that covers several related things:
Term What it means Lightning Experience The modern Salesforce user interface: the home page, record pages, Kanban views, and dashboards your users see every day Lightning App Builder The drag-and-drop tool admins use to build and customize pages without code, including Dynamic Forms and conditional visibility Lightning Web Components (LWC) The current framework developers use to build custom interface components with modern web standards Lightning Platform Salesforce’s name for the underlying application platform (formerly Force.com) that all of the above runs on
In everyday conversation, when someone asks whether you are “on Lightning,” they mean Lightning Experience: the modern interface, as opposed to Salesforce Classic.
Where do Lightning and Salesforce Classic stand in 2026?
The migration debate is effectively over. By Salesforce’s own figures, more than 98 percent of orgs have adopted Lightning Experience, and adoption was so complete that Salesforce retired its Lightning transition tools (the Readiness Check, Transition Assistant, and Configuration Converter) in January 2025 because they were no longer needed.
Salesforce Classic still works, and Salesforce has not announced an end-of-life date for it. But it is in maintenance mode in every practical sense: no new features since 2020, no access for newer editions like Starter, and none of the current platform investment. Everything Salesforce has shipped in recent years, from Flow enhancements to Data 360 to the Agentforce AI assistants, is built for Lightning only.
Is Salesforce Classic being retired?
Not officially. Salesforce maintains a public product retirement list, and Classic is not on it. Salesforce’s stated policy is to give at least 12 months notice before retiring a feature, so a surprise shutdown is not a realistic risk.
The real cost of staying on Classic is the growing capability gap. Teams on Classic cannot use the AI features their competitors are adopting, cannot take advantage of years of interface and automation improvements, and are training new hires on a UI that the rest of the ecosystem has moved past. The permanent fix is a planned migration on your own timeline rather than a rushed one later.
What do you gain by moving to Lightning?
- A faster, more configurable interface. Record pages built in Lightning App Builder, Dynamic Forms that show fields conditionally, and Kanban views for any list.
- Access to current features. Einstein AI capabilities, Agentforce assistants, and most new release features are Lightning-only.
- Better reporting and dashboards. Interactive dashboards, enhanced report builder, and richer charts than Classic ever offered.
- A supported path forward. All Salesforce innovation, security review, and mobile investment targets Lightning.
How do we migrate from Classic to Lightning?
For the small number of organizations still on Classic in 2026, migration is a well-worn path, though the retirement of Salesforce’s own transition tools means an experienced partner matters more than it used to. A typical migration involves auditing your customizations (JavaScript buttons and old Visualforce pages are the usual trouble spots), rebuilding them with current tools like Flow and Lightning Web Components, redesigning key record pages to take advantage of Lightning features, and rolling out to users in phases with training.
CloudMasonry has guided Salesforce customers through Lightning migrations since the early days of the transition. If your organization is still running Classic, or running Lightning but never redesigned your pages to actually use it well, talk to our team about a migration assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salesforce Lightning a separate product I have to buy?
No. Salesforce Lightning is the standard user interface included with Salesforce licenses. Every new Salesforce org since 2019 starts in Lightning Experience by default, and admins can enable it in older orgs at no additional license cost.
What is the difference between Salesforce Lightning and Salesforce Classic?
Salesforce Classic is the original Salesforce interface, and Lightning Experience is its modern replacement. Lightning offers configurable record pages, Kanban views, better dashboards, and access to current features like Agentforce. Classic has received no new features since 2020.
Does Salesforce still support Classic in 2026?
Yes. Salesforce Classic still functions and has no announced end-of-life date. However, it is in maintenance mode: no new features are being added, and new capabilities such as Einstein AI and Agentforce require Lightning Experience.
What are Lightning Web Components?
Lightning Web Components (LWC) is the framework developers use to build custom user interface components on the Salesforce platform. It is built on modern web standards and replaced the earlier Aura component framework as the recommended approach.
Peter RyanThe short answer: Salesforce Lightning is the modern Salesforce user interface and the development framework behind it. It has been the default experience for every new Salesforce org for years, and over 98 percent of orgs now run on it. Salesforce Classic, the old interface, still exists but has received no new features since 2020, and every recent Salesforce capability, including Agentforce and the Einstein AI features, requires Lightning.
“Salesforce Lightning” gets used to mean a few different things, which is why the term still confuses people a decade after it launched. This guide explains what Lightning actually includes, where Salesforce Classic stands in 2026, and what to do if your organization is one of the holdouts still running Classic.
What is Salesforce Lightning?
Launched in the Winter ’16 release, Salesforce Lightning was a rebuild of the entire Salesforce user experience around productivity, analytics, and mobile. Rather than one product, Lightning is an umbrella term that covers several related things:
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lightning Experience | The modern Salesforce user interface: the home page, record pages, Kanban views, and dashboards your users see every day |
| Lightning App Builder | The drag-and-drop tool admins use to build and customize pages without code, including Dynamic Forms and conditional visibility |
| Lightning Web Components (LWC) | The current framework developers use to build custom interface components with modern web standards |
| Lightning Platform | Salesforce’s name for the underlying application platform (formerly Force.com) that all of the above runs on |
In everyday conversation, when someone asks whether you are “on Lightning,” they mean Lightning Experience: the modern interface, as opposed to Salesforce Classic.
Where do Lightning and Salesforce Classic stand in 2026?
The migration debate is effectively over. By Salesforce’s own figures, more than 98 percent of orgs have adopted Lightning Experience, and adoption was so complete that Salesforce retired its Lightning transition tools (the Readiness Check, Transition Assistant, and Configuration Converter) in January 2025 because they were no longer needed.
Salesforce Classic still works, and Salesforce has not announced an end-of-life date for it. But it is in maintenance mode in every practical sense: no new features since 2020, no access for newer editions like Starter, and none of the current platform investment. Everything Salesforce has shipped in recent years, from Flow enhancements to Data 360 to the Agentforce AI assistants, is built for Lightning only.
Is Salesforce Classic being retired?
Not officially. Salesforce maintains a public product retirement list, and Classic is not on it. Salesforce’s stated policy is to give at least 12 months notice before retiring a feature, so a surprise shutdown is not a realistic risk.
The real cost of staying on Classic is the growing capability gap. Teams on Classic cannot use the AI features their competitors are adopting, cannot take advantage of years of interface and automation improvements, and are training new hires on a UI that the rest of the ecosystem has moved past. The permanent fix is a planned migration on your own timeline rather than a rushed one later.
What do you gain by moving to Lightning?
- A faster, more configurable interface. Record pages built in Lightning App Builder, Dynamic Forms that show fields conditionally, and Kanban views for any list.
- Access to current features. Einstein AI capabilities, Agentforce assistants, and most new release features are Lightning-only.
- Better reporting and dashboards. Interactive dashboards, enhanced report builder, and richer charts than Classic ever offered.
- A supported path forward. All Salesforce innovation, security review, and mobile investment targets Lightning.
How do we migrate from Classic to Lightning?
For the small number of organizations still on Classic in 2026, migration is a well-worn path, though the retirement of Salesforce’s own transition tools means an experienced partner matters more than it used to. A typical migration involves auditing your customizations (JavaScript buttons and old Visualforce pages are the usual trouble spots), rebuilding them with current tools like Flow and Lightning Web Components, redesigning key record pages to take advantage of Lightning features, and rolling out to users in phases with training.
CloudMasonry has guided Salesforce customers through Lightning migrations since the early days of the transition. If your organization is still running Classic, or running Lightning but never redesigned your pages to actually use it well, talk to our team about a migration assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salesforce Lightning a separate product I have to buy?
No. Salesforce Lightning is the standard user interface included with Salesforce licenses. Every new Salesforce org since 2019 starts in Lightning Experience by default, and admins can enable it in older orgs at no additional license cost.
What is the difference between Salesforce Lightning and Salesforce Classic?
Salesforce Classic is the original Salesforce interface, and Lightning Experience is its modern replacement. Lightning offers configurable record pages, Kanban views, better dashboards, and access to current features like Agentforce. Classic has received no new features since 2020.
Does Salesforce still support Classic in 2026?
Yes. Salesforce Classic still functions and has no announced end-of-life date. However, it is in maintenance mode: no new features are being added, and new capabilities such as Einstein AI and Agentforce require Lightning Experience.
What are Lightning Web Components?
Lightning Web Components (LWC) is the framework developers use to build custom user interface components on the Salesforce platform. It is built on modern web standards and replaced the earlier Aura component framework as the recommended approach.
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