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The Relationship

AppExchange isn’t going away — it’s being folded into AgentExchange as one dimension of the unified catalog. Apps, agents, Slack apps, tools, and MCP servers are all discoverable from one place. The legacy appexchange.com URLs redirect, listing IDs persist, and existing managed-package install links continue to work. What changes is the surface: a single search box, a single billing relationship, and a single security review queue with two tracks (traditional security review for apps, agent security review for agents).

Different Buyers

App buyers want configurable Salesforce-native features (record page components, automation templates, integration connectors, custom objects). Agent buyers want autonomous or semi-autonomous workers (sales SDRs, support specialists, finance back-office). Same catalog, different purchase intent and different procurement gates. App purchases route through admin/IT; agent purchases additionally trigger LegalOps review for data-handling and a CFO sign-off on per-call cost projections.

App listing      Agent listing
-----------      -------------
Managed pkg      Topics + Actions + System Prompt
One-time/seat    Per-call or per-resolution
Permission Set   Permission Set + agent user + Connected App
Security Review  Security Review + Agent Security Review
Static behavior  Probabilistic behavior, requires eval set

ISV Implications

Existing AppExchange ISVs face a choice: stay with traditional apps, add agent offerings, or pivot. Traditional apps continue to sell — particularly in regulated verticals where deterministic behavior is preferred. Agents are the growth market. Most successful ISVs will offer both, with agents calling into the same business logic the app exposes through Apex Invocable Methods. The “headless app + thin agent” pattern is emerging as a clean separation: the app holds the data model and rules; the agent provides the conversational front-end.

Discovery

Semantic search across app and agent listings. Buyers describe need in natural language; AgentExchange surfaces matching offerings regardless of category. Old keyword-based search remains for known-item queries, but the default search box runs the semantic retriever first. Faceted filters let buyers narrow by listing type, certification level, vertical, and data class.

When to Pick App vs Agent

Pick a traditional app when behavior must be deterministic, when the workflow is admin-configurable rather than conversational, or when the buyer is in a regulated vertical that hasn’t approved generative AI for the use case. Pick an agent when the work is open-ended, the input is unstructured (email, chat, voice), and a human-in-loop checkpoint is acceptable. Hybrid is increasingly the norm — agent for the front-end conversation, deterministic Flow for the back-end transaction.

What Stays the Same

Listing fees, partner program tiers, Trailblazer Account requirements, and the security review process for the package code itself. Revenue share for AppExchange listings carries over unchanged at the standard 15% (free listings) or 25% (paid). Agent-specific revenue share follows the new AgentExchange Builders Initiative terms.

What to Do This Week

If you sell on AppExchange today, list the top 5 customer pain points your app addresses and decide which one is best solved by an agent versus a configurable app. Pilot the agent for one of them.

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