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For starters, Zoho is a force to be reckoned with in the CRM industry and the company has been helping managers and employees improve their productivity at work for more than two decades. In fact, we did some research and found that Zoho CRM is the best CRM available for small businesses as well as the top client management software option.

As for pricing, you can use Zoho CRM free for up to three users, but beyond that, you'll need to pay. If you choose an annual contract, Zoho CRM starts at $14 per user, per month. The next pricing plan is $23 per user, per month for Zoho Professional, $40 per user, per month for Zoho Enterprise. The Zoho Ultimate Edition comes in at $52 per user, per month. Zoho CRM offers 30-day free trial.

Zoho CRM breaks its pricing plans down into five categories: Free Edition, Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate Edition. Each concurrent plan comes with a price bump, along with a wider range of helpful features to help you run different aspects of your business more effectively.

Understanding which features are available in each plan is much more important, and we're going to dig a bit deeper into that next. Keep scrolling, or click the plan title relevant to you:

• — $14 per user, per month
• — $23 per user, per month
• — $40 per user, per month
• — $52 per user, per month
• — $57 per user, per month

The pricing model for Zoho CRM is pretty straightforward, with stacked features that make it easy to scale when you have to. We can tell you right now that if you're just starting out, sticking with the Standard or Professional plans is probably your best move.

While the Free Edition plan might be attractive, it is missing out on some of the unique features that make Zoho such a popular option. Additionally, the Enterprise and Ultimate Edition plans cater to larger companies with significant CRM needs, which can be a bit overwhelming if you're still getting used to the platform.

Simply put, if you pay more, you're going to get more customizability, more automation, and more storage. However, make sure you actually need it before you buy – particularly if you go for the Ultimate Edition, because you'll be locked into a year-long contract.

In Short

Zoho Standard Costs

Other than the Free Edition, the Zoho Standard pricing plan is the most affordable and most basic of all the options available. At $14 per user, per month when you sign up for a yearly contract, and $20 per user, per month with a monthly contract, you'll be able to get the essentials of CRM software at a decidedly competitive price in the industry.

As far as additional features are concerned, you won't have access to much. The basics include workflow conversion, customizable fields and reports, and email insights, all on top of the standard lead, contact, and account management tools you'll find in any CRM software.

Zoho Standard is best for smaller companies looking to break into the CRM software game beyond the free model. You'll be introduced to the basic features that open up your workflow to new avenues, while keeping it simple enough to not overwhelm you or your team.

The price is comparatively low as well, which is nice for budget conscious organizations. Freshworks CRM is probably the closest comparison, which also offers marketing, sales, and customer service options for around $15 per month.

Zoho Ultimate Edition Costs

The Zoho Ultimate Edition stands alone as a huge – and expensive – upgrade within the Zoho CRM family of pricing plans. At more than twice the cost of the most expensive plan available, you'll be paying upwards of $52 per user, per month for a full year, since this plan is exclusively available with a yearly contract.

The Ultimate Edition doesn't exactly add more features – rather, it increases the capabilities of other features for larger companies. You'll get enhanced storage, more advanced customization, and automation suggestions to help save your team further time and resources.

Unless you work with a massive company in dire need of some CRM help, the Ultimate Edition from Zoho is probably not a necessary move for you – particularly given the significant price jump. However, if you are interested, you'll have to contact Zoho directly to get a more specific quote for your business.

Zoho Plus Costs

In the modern era, the ability to communicate with customers via messaging apps and chatbots can make a big difference for the success of your business. And if you can spare the added expense, Zoho Plus provides some unique features aimed at doing just that for only $57 per user, per month, a mere $5 more than the Ultimate plan.

Zoho Plus adds website live chat, integration with Facebook Messenger and Twitter DMs, and a website chatbot (with a maximum of 10). You'll also have website visitor tracking built in, rather than having to integrate Zoho Sales IQ to your platform, which helps make it the best sales management software.

Other than that, Zoho Plus provides all the functionality of the Zoho Ultimate Edition plan. Yes, it's on the more expensive side, but the ability to add messaging and chat could be worth it for your business.

Zoho Cost Per User

As you've likely noticed already, Zoho CRM charges users on a per user, per month basis, not unlike other CRM platforms on the market today. The Zoho Standard plan, for example, will cost you $14 per user, per month ($20 per user, per month if you opt for the monthly contract), and there's no cap on users.

The reason most CRM software providers – and most business software providers in general – opt to charge this way is because it makes it easy to scale your software as you scale your business. Smaller companies are lucky enough to enjoy lower prices because of their tiny teams, whereas large companies with more users on the platform get hit with the higher costs.

For example, if you're a company with only five employees using Zoho's Standard plan at $14/user/month, your yearly cost will only be $840 (providing you signed up for a yearly contract). However, if you've got a larger team of about 20 employees using the same software, your yearly cost will jump up to $3,360.

Basically, there's no need to worry about how big your team is when deciding on price, because each plan is designed to function concurrently with the size of your business

Zoho Bigin Costs

Our research shows that Zoho CRM is the best CRM for small businesses. However, if you're a very small business looking for a CRM that fits your particularly small needs, Zoho has added a new platform aimed at helping you meet your needs. Dubbed Bigin, this new platform is affordable and easy to use, so your small team can figure it out quickly and effectively.

The stripped-down version costs $7 per user, per month, billed annually, and allows for workflows, pipelines, web forms, and custom dashboards, giving you a lot of power without the high price tag. Plus, with integrations like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and the standard Zoho CRM, you'll be able to get the most out of it. There's also a $12 per user, per month plan that allows for more pipelines, more custom fields, and more advanced automation.

Zoho Bigin, like Zoho CRM, has a free plan for a single user, which allows limited amounts of all the features mentioned above, so you can get a feel free the new platform before committing to a monthly charge. A 15-day free trial is also available.

In Short

Does Zoho Have a Free Plan?

Yes, Zoho does offer a free plan. You'll get access to the most basic of CRM software features, like lead, contact, and account management. However, the software is capped at three users, so it's not great for larger teams.

You don't get access to customizable fields, additional storage, or any of the analytics and reporting features outside of simple graphs. Plus, while most Zoho plans allow you to integrate with a number of third-party apps, the Free Edition limits you to just the Zoho family of apps like Zoho Projects – so be sure to check out our review of the software.

If you are looking to test out Zoho before you buy, though, the Free Edition is the perfect place to start. You can give a small team access to the basic feature set, and get a feeling for whether or not the software can improve your business. Then, once you've made your decision, upgrading to a paid plan – ideally at a yearly rate to save some money – will feel like less of a risk because you're already familiar with the basics.

CRM Alternatives

Of course, Zoho isn't the only CRM brand you may wish to consider. Each of the top CRM software suites has a variety or price points, plus different features and benefits to weigh up. In our table, below, we round up the CRM brands that should be on your list to consider – whether you're using CRM for the first time or upgrading your existing platform.

Yes, we do consider Zoho CRM to be the best CRM for small businesses, but your company may need different needs, so these alternatives like Pipedrive can help you make that decision.

Still not sure of which plan is right for your needs? Use our free comparison tool to fill in a few quick details about your business, so you can compare free, no obligation quotes tailored to your needs.

Zoho CRM Alternatives for Small Business

As we mentioned earlier, Zoho CRM is the best CRM for small businesses, but it's not perfect for everyone. If you're looking for a different option, we've done a bunch of research on the topic, and we should be able to provide you with some Zoho alternatives that will fit your particular small business needs.

Zoho CRM Alternatives for Sales

Sales is a popular use case for CRM, as customer relationships are obviously an important aspect of the industry. Fortunately, there are a bunch of great CRM for sales available today, and our research on the best options is thorough.

We found that Salesforce is an excellent choice for larger businesses that need robust analytics, as it offers a wide range of helpful dashboard that can help you understand how your team is selling.

Zoho CRM Alternatives for Marketing

Marketing CRM is often much more expensive than your average CRM, as it provides a wide range of automation features that require a lot of bandwidth. However, the investment is often worth it, as these platforms are able to seriously transform your strategy and take the load off of your team.

Our research found that HubSpot is the best CRM for marketing, because of its many available marketing channels, great value for the price, and its robust feature set. Hubspot's pricing plans are quite expensive, but the free plan is worth a look if you don't have much of a budget for a CRM system. Still, there are lots of other marketing CRM options out there, and we've got the research to help you pick the right one for you.

Learn more in our Zoho CRM vs HubSpot comparison guide

Zoho CRM Alternatives for Customer Service

CRM for customer service is often similar to sales, in that it's affordable, but offers different features for your business. You can respond to customers, track interactions, and generally stay on top of your customer service efforts in a more effective way.

The best CRM for customer, according to our research, is Zendesk, largely due to its scalability and plentiful feature catalog. Additionally, it offers a wide range of pricing plans, so you can make sure to get the perfect option for your business. Take a look at some of the other CRM for customer service options below.

Getting Started With Zoho CRM

Frequently Asked Questions

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