Salesforce to Attio: how to migrate without losing your data (or your mind)

Short answer: To migrate from Salesforce to Attio: rebuild the data model in Attio first (Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, plus custom objects); export from Salesforce via Data Loader as CSV; import into Attio with column mapping and relationship reassembly; recreate Process Builder, Flows, and Apex triggers as Attio Workflows or middleware; rebuild Reports as Lists. Plan 3-6 weeks for a real-world Salesforce org.

Why teams leave Salesforce

The teams I work with don't leave Salesforce because it's bad. They leave because it's too much.

Too expensive. Too slow. Too many tabs. Too many fields nobody remembers creating. Too many automations that nobody can trace. And a total cost of ownership — license + admin time + partner fees — that doesn't match what they actually get out of it.

Attio solves most of that by being a modern CRM that a small team can actually run on their own. The migration itself is the part people worry about. In practice, it's the easier part.

Before you export anything: rebuild the data model

This is the step teams skip, and it's the one that determines whether the migration is clean or messy.

A Salesforce org that's been alive for a few years has accumulated custom fields, record types, validation rules, and object relationships that made sense at the time and no longer do. Exporting all of that into Attio recreates the same mess in a new tool.

Before any data moves, answer three questions:

1. What objects do you actually need? Contacts, Companies, Deals for sure. What custom objects are load-bearing — and which ones are dead weight?
2. What fields matter? For each object, which fields are actively used in reports, automations, or daily work? Everything else is a candidate for deletion.
3. What relationships matter? How do your records connect to each other, and which of those relationships need to come across?

I usually do this exercise on a whiteboard with the client before we touch Salesforce. The answer almost always cuts the field count by 40–60%.

Step 1: Export the data

Salesforce gives you two main export options:

• Data Export tool (Setup → Data Export) — good for a full snapshot, scheduled weekly or monthly. Slow but thorough.
• Data Loader — better for targeted exports of specific objects and fields. This is what I use for most migrations.

Export each object you're migrating as a separate CSV: Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, plus any custom objects you're keeping. Keep the Salesforce IDs in the export — you'll need them to reconnect relationships on the Attio side.

Step 2: Set up the Attio workspace

In Attio, build the object structure first. Create the custom objects you decided to keep, add the fields that matter, and define the relationships between objects before you import anything.

Attio's standard objects — People, Companies, Deals — map cleanly to Salesforce's Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities. Custom objects in Salesforce become custom objects in Attio. This part is almost always 1-to-1.

For pipelines, Attio uses statuses on the Deals object. Recreate your Salesforce opportunity stages as statuses, in the same order, with the same names. This keeps reporting continuity intact.

Step 3: Import

Attio supports CSV imports directly in the UI. For each object:

1. Upload the CSV.
2. Map each column to the corresponding Attio field.
3. Use the Salesforce ID as an external identifier so you can re-link records later.
4. Run the import and spot-check 10–20 records.

Import in order: Companies first, then People (linked to Companies), then Deals (linked to both). Custom objects last, after everything they depend on exists.

For larger datasets or more complex relationships, Attio's API handles bulk imports cleanly. I use it whenever a migration involves more than a few thousand records or multiple custom objects.

Step 4: Rebuild automations

This is where I see the most time saved. Most Salesforce orgs have dozens of Process Builder flows, Workflow Rules, and Apex triggers — and when you actually audit them, half are broken, duplicated, or doing nothing.

Don't port them. Rebuild from scratch in Attio, based on what you actually need today. Attio's automation builder is simple enough that you can recreate the essential ones in an hour or two.

Common ones to rebuild first:

• Auto-assign new leads to owners
• Status changes that trigger follow-ups
• Deal-won notifications
• Activity logging from email or calendar

Step 5: Reporting

Salesforce reports don't translate directly. Attio handles reporting through views, dashboards, and filtered lists. For each Salesforce report that someone actually uses, recreate it as an Attio view or dashboard widget.

You'll almost certainly find that 70% of the reports in your Salesforce org haven't been opened in months. Skip those.

Step 6: Cutover

Run both systems in parallel for a week. Do your daily work in Attio, keep Salesforce read-only as a reference. At the end of the week, archive Salesforce (don't cancel the license yet — keep read access for 30–60 days), and you're done.

Traps to avoid

• Migrating every field. If you move every custom field you've ever created, Attio ends up as messy as Salesforce. Prune hard.
• Porting every automation. Same rule. Rebuild from scratch.
• Skipping the data model conversation. This is the single most common cause of a painful migration.
• Canceling Salesforce before you're sure. Keep read access for a month or two. It's cheap insurance.
• Not mapping Salesforce IDs. If you need to re-import or reconcile later, you'll regret it.

How long does it take?

For a typical mid-size team — under 50 users, a few custom objects, moderate data volume — I usually budget 2 to 4 weeks end to end. The actual data movement is a few days. Most of the time is the data model rebuild and automation rework.

Larger orgs or heavy customization can push to 6–8 weeks, especially if integrations with other systems need to be rebuilt.

Want help?

I do Salesforce to Attio migrations for teams that want this handled properly the first time. If you want a second pair of eyes on your migration plan, or you want it done for you, book a call.

Or if you're just exploring, try Attio free with a 10% discount and start the data-model exercise on your own. Even if you don't migrate, that exercise alone is worth doing.

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