Difference Between Enterprise WSDL and Partner WSDL

Posted by Vinay Vernekar 19th January 2026

Short Answer

The Enterprise WSDL is strongly typed and specific to a single Salesforce organization (org); it models the exact customizations (objects, fields, metadata) present in that org. The Partner WSDL is loosely typed and generic; it’s designed for clients that must interact with multiple orgs and work with sObjects dynamically.

When to use Enterprise WSDL

Use Enterprise WSDL when you have a fixed integration with one Salesforce org and you prefer compile-time type checking. It generates classes for each object and field, so your client code can reference fields directly (e.g., Account.Name), which is helpful in statically typed languages like Java or C#.

When to use Partner WSDL

Choose Partner WSDL when you need a single integration to work across multiple Salesforce orgs or when your integration must handle dynamic schemas. The Partner WSDL uses a generic sObject type and exposes fields as name/value pairs, so your code reads/writes fields dynamically at runtime.

Key Differences

  • Typing: Enterprise = strongly typed; Partner = loosely/generic typed.
  • Org specificity: Enterprise = tied to one org; Partner = org-independent.
  • Code generation: Enterprise generates concrete classes for every custom object and field; Partner generates generic sObject handling classes.
  • Schema changes: Enterprise requires generating a new WSDL and regenerating client stubs when schema changes; Partner handles schema changes without regenerating code (but requires runtime handling).
  • Use cases: Enterprise for stable single-org integrations and compile-time safety; Partner for multi-org apps, ISVs, middleware, or tools that must adapt to varying orgs.
  • SOAP Messages: Enterprise contains concrete XML elements for each field; Partner uses a generic fieldsToNull and name/value pairs.

Example (conceptual)

Enterprise SOAP payload includes typed elements like:

<urn:Account><urn:Name>Acme</urn:Name></urn:Account>

Partner SOAP payload uses sObject and fields:

<urn:sObjects><urn:type>Account</urn:type><urn:fields><urn:field>Name</urn:field><urn:value>Acme</urn:value></urn:fields></urn:sObjects>

Practical Tips

  • If you are building middleware or an ISV application to support many customers, use Partner WSDL.
  • If your integration is internal to one company and you want strong typing and easier development, use Enterprise WSDL.
  • For REST integrations prefer the REST API (more modern) unless SOAP is required by legacy clients.

SEO-focused closing

Understanding the difference between Enterprise WSDL and Partner WSDL helps you choose the right Salesforce SOAP API approach. Use Enterprise WSDL for strongly typed, org-specific integrations and Partner WSDL for flexible, multi-org integrations. Both have trade-offs in code maintenance, schema handling, and runtime flexibility.

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