Is Zoho free to use?

Some Zoho apps are free to use, but Zoho as a whole is not. Several apps have free editions for very small teams, such as Zoho CRM for up to 3 users and Bigin for a single user. These free plans have tight limits, and most growing businesses move to a paid plan.

Zoho uses a freemium model. Many of its apps have a free edition with no time limit, plus paid editions with more users, storage and automation. Every app also has a free trial of its paid plans. Free plans change from time to time, so treat the details below as correct at the time of writing and check Zoho's pricing page for each app before you decide.

At the time of writing, Zoho CRM's free edition is described by Zoho as forever free for 3 users, with contact management, basic workflows, standard reports, mobile apps and a daily API allowance. Bigin, Zoho's simpler CRM, has a free plan for a single user with one pipeline and a cap of 500 records. Zoho Books has a free plan for very small businesses with one user plus an accountant and an annual limit on invoices.

Zoho Mail has a Forever Free plan for up to 5 users on one domain with 5 GB of storage each, but Zoho says it is available only in select data centres. It also does not include IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, so you cannot use it in Outlook or the iPhone Mail app. Many people searching "is Zoho email still free" hit exactly this limit.

So is Zoho free for a lifetime? A free edition can be used indefinitely as long as Zoho keeps offering it and you stay within its limits. Zoho can change or withdraw free plans, and once you need more users, automation or integrations you will need to pay. For a small business, free plans are a good way to test the product, not a long-term system.

Written by Flowpeak, a Zoho implementation partner. Zoho pricing and features change, so confirm current details on the official Zoho site. Free checklists | Ask us a question