What is Zoho and what does it do?
Zoho is a software company that makes cloud business apps. Its products cover sales (CRM), accounting, email, HR, payroll, customer support, marketing, projects and custom app building. Zoho says it has more than 60 apps and over 150 million users, and the apps are built to share data with each other.
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Zoho Corporation is a privately held software company headquartered in Chennai, India. It started in 1996 under the name AdventNet and renamed itself Zoho Corporation in 2009. Today it sells subscription software that runs in the browser and on mobile, so there is nothing to install on your own servers.
The best-known products are Zoho CRM for managing leads and deals, Zoho Books for accounting, Zoho Mail and Zoho Workplace for email and documents, Zoho Desk for support tickets, Zoho People and Zoho Payroll for HR, Zoho Inventory for stock, Zoho Projects for project work, and Zoho Creator for building your own low-code apps. Zoho One bundles most of these under a single licence.
Zoho is best for small and mid-size businesses that want many business functions from one vendor. Because the apps share a single login, a common admin panel and built-in integrations, a sale in Zoho CRM can become an invoice in Zoho Books without a third-party connector. That joined-up design is the main reason people choose it.
People also use Zoho because it is usually cheaper than buying a separate best-of-breed tool for each department, and because several apps have free editions for very small teams. The trade-off is breadth over depth: some individual apps are less polished than the market leader in their category, and getting real value usually needs careful setup.
Key points
- Zoho is a private software company founded in 1996, based in Chennai, India
- It offers 60+ cloud apps for sales, finance, HR, support, marketing and operations
- Major products: Zoho CRM, Books, Mail, Desk, People, Inventory, Projects, Creator and Zoho One
- Apps share one login and connect to each other natively
- Best suited to small and mid-size businesses that want one vendor for many functions
Common questions
What are the major products of Zoho?
The most used are Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Mail and Workplace, Zoho Desk, Zoho People, Zoho Payroll, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Projects, Zoho Analytics and Zoho Creator. Zoho One bundles most of them in one subscription.
What is Zoho best for?
Zoho is best for small and mid-size businesses that want CRM, accounting, support and HR from one vendor with built-in connections between the apps.
Why do people use Zoho?
Mainly for value and integration: one vendor covers many departments, the apps talk to each other, and several have free editions for small teams. Many also like that Zoho does not run on advertising revenue.
Is Zoho like Microsoft or Google?
Partly. Zoho Workplace competes with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for email and documents, but Zoho also sells CRM, accounting and HR apps that those suites do not include as standard.
Sources and further reading
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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