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description: External Objects vs Lightning Web Components
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# Deciding which mode to use

Omnata Connect for Salesforce, operates in one of two modes:

* External data live-queried via External Objects, via a custom Salesforce Connect adapter
* External data live-queried via our Lightning Web Components

The key difference is that External Objects can be used throughout the Salesforce platform, but require a [Salesforce Connect](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.platform_connect_about.htm\&type=5) license. Lightning Web Components do not require a Salesforce Connect license, but are limited to providing a record/list view of the data.

Feature Comparison Matrix:

<table><thead><tr><th width="419.86350603789515">Feature</th><th width="150" align="center">External Objects</th><th width="150" align="center">Lightning Components</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>View external data in a list, with sorting and filtering</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>View individual records</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Navigate to related records</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>On a standard/custom record page, view a related list of external data</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Configure connections and objects/fields via the Setup UI</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Reconcile schema changes via the Setup UI</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Search across all records in an external dataset</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Query external data via Apex code</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Apply row level filtering to external data access</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Apply advanced multi-currency conversion to external data</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td></tr><tr><td>Use external data in Salesforce Reporting</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="274c">❌</span></td></tr><tr><td>Use external data in Salesforce Automation (Flows and Processes)</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="274c">❌</span></td></tr><tr><td>Perform SOQL queries on external data</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="274c">❌</span></td></tr><tr><td>Navigate to specific external records from the tab menu</td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="2705">✅</span></td><td align="center"><span data-gb-custom-inline data-tag="emoji" data-code="274c">❌</span></td></tr></tbody></table>

