Zoho One vs. Zoho CRM – a comparison of the suite with the top tool

Zoho One vs. Zoho CRM – a comparison of the suite with the top tool

Want to digitise your business processes comprehensively and smartly? Then we can tell you: Zoho is exactly the right choice for you! But a word of caution is in order! The Zoho Cosmos, aka Zoho One, is huge, and you can quickly get lost in it if you start your digitisation project without a plan – and try to do too much at once. That’s why in this blog post, we’re not only introducing you to the Zoho Suite, but also pitching the idea of starting with the basics, namely implementing a powerful CRM tool in your company, aka Zoho CRM, as a first step. And we’ll clarify the question of what’s better: going all-in on digitalisation or focusing first on the most important tool for your customer relationships. Let’s find out together!

What is Zoho One?

 

Zoho One is the complete suite from Zoho, a software company founded in India in 1996. The cloud-based business software offers more than 45 applications for various business areas and is entirely web-based, meaning that no local installation is necessary. As a strong alternative to Microsoft 365, Salesforce and Google Workspace, Zoho One now counts more than 50,000 companies in over 160 countries among its customers.

 

How much does Zoho One cost?

As with all its applications, Zoho One offers monthly and annual billing options for its pricing models, with monthly billing offering a more flexible cancellation period, while annual billing is more cost-effective.

With Zoho One, this flexibility also distinguishes the two pricing categories. The All Employees Pricing package requires licences to be assigned to all employees in the company. The cost is 37€ per user per month for monthly billing and 35€ per user per month for annual billing.

In the Flexible User Pricing Edition, you only need to license the employees who actually need access to Zoho One, at a cost of 105€ per user per month for monthly billing, while the annual plan costs only 90€ per user per month.

 

Is there a trial version of Zoho One?

Good news for anyone interested: in typical Zoho fashion, you can also test the suite free of charge for 30 days – including all the features and applications the software has to offer. If you’re convinced, you can convert your trial version into a paid subscription at any time with just a few clicks.

 

Features of  Zoho One

Zoho One has a huge range of features. It is not without reason that it is considered one of the most important software packages for small and medium-sized businesses. The suite consists of over 40 integrated applications that can be managed with a single account. And as if that weren’t enough USPs, Zoho One offers several efficient applications for every area of business.

Which apps are included in Zoho One?

 

Having an overview is always helpful. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the most important features for you!

 

Sales and CRM

 

Aaaah, that’s what makes a company’s heart beat faster! Especially when you see what Zoho One has to offer: First and foremost, of course, Zoho CRM for your customer relationship management and Zoho Bigin for small teams that need a CRM. Other applications include Zoho SalesIQ for live chat and website tracking, and Zoho Motivator for sales analysis and gamification. The software also includes Zoho Bookings so you can offer your customers flexible online scheduling.

 

Marketing

 

Zoho One also offers a number of useful applications for the other engine of your business growth, your marketing department: Zoho Campaigns for email marketing, Zoho Social for social media management, Zoho Marketing Automation for omni-channel marketing with automation, Zoho Survey for creating and analysing surveys, and Zoho Forms for designing forms for lead capture.

When it comes to online presence, you can use Zoho Sites to create your own website and connect it to Zoho PageSense, a tool that allows you to perform A/B testing for website optimisation.

 

Collaboration and communication

 

Zoho One understands teamwork better than almost any other software on the market. Its portfolio of collaboration and communication tools is correspondingly extensive. The basics include Zoho Mail, the email service with its own domain support, and Zoho Cliq for team chat and messaging. The offering is expanded to include Zoho Meeting for web conferencing and screen sharing, Zoho Connect, which serves as an intranet, Zoho Notebook for notes, and Zoho Workdrive as cloud storage including file sharing. Of course, you don’t have to do without the familiar word processing, spreadsheet and presentation programmes: Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show offer you extensive functions that you can use with your teams simultaneously in a single document.

 

 

Finance and accounting

 

Zoho One is designed to make your company’s daily work as efficient and up-to-date as possible, especially in your accounting department. Tools such as Zoho Books for accounting and bookkeeping, Zoho Invoice for handling invoices and payments, Zoho Checkout for creating payment pages, and Zoho Subscriptions for subscriptions and recurring payments comprehensively automate processes. Zoho Expense for travel and expense management and Zoho Inventory for warehouse management round off the range of functions perfectly..

 

What is Zoho CRM?

 

Zoho CRM is, as described above, the customer relationship management tool of the Zoho One Suite, which is currently used by 250,000 companies worldwide. As one of Zoho’s core products, it brings all customer data and interactions together in one place and offers useful automations of sales processes, including for new customer acquisition.

 

 

How much does Zoho CRM cost?

 

The tool is offered to customers in four price packages. As with Zoho One, customers can choose between monthly billing with greater flexibility or annual billing with lower prices.

In addition, small teams and start-ups in particular can use Zoho CRM with up to three users in the completely free version, which offers basic CRM functions such as lead and contact management, sales opportunity management, email integration and standard reports.

 

Standard	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
14€per user per month/year	23€ per user per month/year	40€ per user per month/year	52€ per user per month/year
Basic modules Sales forecasts Multiple sales pipelines Lead scoring Timing Canvas Specific fields Office 365 integration  Zoho Marketplace Synchronisation with Google Calendar	Standard-Features plus Blueprint Inventory management CPQ SalesSignals Google Ads integration Schedule bulk emails Email integration Assignment rules Validation rules	Professional-Features plus Zia Area management Specific functions CommandCenter Portals with multiple users Kiosk Studio Customer scripts Sandbox Approval and review process	Enterprise-Features plus Advanced functional limits Advanced AI functions Advanced customisation Data preparation Advanced analytics Data storytelling Consistent business insights Outstanding data administration

Zoho CRM offers these features

As a leading tool in the field of customer relationship management, Zoho CRM combines everything you need for successful sales.

Starting with lead and contact management, clear administration of all deals and sales phases, and, of course, sales automation: automated workflows, reminders, tasks and follow-ups can be individually designed for this purpose. Zoho CRM also provides sales forecasts based on real-time pipeline reports with revenue forecasts.

Of course, AI is also on hand: Zia, the Zoho AI assistant, reports on forecasts, detects anomalies, automatically completes your data and performs conversation analyses. In combination with workflow automation and standardised, automated processes (aka blueprints), your sales team will never lose a deal or a lead again. For analysing your activities, Zoho CRM provides dashboards and reports as well as advanced analytics through its connection to Zoho Analytics.

For internal and external communication, email, email marketing, telephony and live chat can also be integrated in no time at all.

What is Zoho CRM Plus?

 

To get the most out of your customer relationship management, Zoho CRM Plus was designed to combine the traditional Zoho CRM with several other Zoho applications from sales, marketing, customer service and collaboration. It thus expands sales management and creates an omnichannel customer experience, as well as better collaboration between all teams and comprehensive analysis across all channels.

The following apps are included in Zoho CRM Plus, among others:

Zoho CRM

Zoho Desk

Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Social

Zoho Survey

Zoho Analytics

Zoho Projects

Zoho SalesIQ

Zoho Connect

Comparison between Zoho One and Zoho CRM

 

Now it’s time to get down to business and take a closer look at the relevant points when comparing Zoho One and Zoho CRM! After all, it’s important to identify similarities, differences and advantages so that you know which digital solution is best for you

 

What similarities are there?

 

As part of the large Zoho family, Zoho One and Zoho CRM have a number of similarities. Both applications are cloud-based, focus on customer management and use automation and workflows to ensure efficient business operations.

In terms of security and compliance, both applications offer features such as role and rights management and prioritise data encryption and GDPR compliance. To ensure that internal guidelines are also adhered to, both tools have centralised user management, which controls access to data.

 

What are the advantages of Zoho One?

 

Zoho One’s strongest USP is and remains its range of functions: with over 40 integrated apps, it naturally offers many more tools for all areas of business, while Zoho CRM focuses purely on sales and customer management. This means that all processes in Zoho One can be seamlessly connected and automated, ensuring better collaboration across the entire team.

Zoho One is also scalable: you can start with the features you need most urgently and gradually activate additional apps – all via the unified user management system.

 

What are the advantages of Zoho CRM?

 

If you focus exclusively on your sales, getting started with Zoho CRM is much faster and more cost-effective, as you only need to purchase the licences you need – and these are significantly cheaper than those for Zoho One.

As a specialised and lightweight CRM solution, Zoho CRM does not come with any unnecessary features or apps and is easier to manage for smaller teams or companies with simple IT infrastructure. If your needs evolve and you require more features, applications such as Zoho CRM Plus can be activated in just a few simple steps, allowing you to expand the system..

 

Conclusion

 

Now you are well informed about Zoho One and Zoho CRM. So, how do you want to get started with digitalisation? Which application covers your primary goal?

If you are still unsure, ask us! As a Zoho Premium Partner, we not only know all Zoho applications inside out, but also have a wealth of experience. On request, we will work with you to determine your needs and create a comprehensive project plan – and whether it’s Zoho One or Zoho CRM, we will set up your Zoho application exactly as you want it. Book your free consultation today!

codafish – Your Zoho partner for all digital applications

So, have you decided to go all-in with Zoho One, or will you start with Zoho CRM as a solid first step? No matter which path you choose – what truly matters is that your digital transformation is aligned with your business needs and goals.

Still unsure which option suits you best? As certified Zoho Premium Partners, codafish can help you assess, plan, and implement the right solution – whether it’s the full suite or the core CRM system.

Let’s talk! Book your free consultation today and take the first step toward smarter digital processes.