By Eva Williams 5 days ago, Apps and Software
Users are usually interested in Zoho alternatives if they’re looking for a more specialized full-cycle business management tool. Even though Zoho is a widely used project management and CRM solution, certain people prefer to use tools that offer more versatility, usability, or third-party integrations. If you’re not completely satisfied with what Zoho brings to the table as well, check out these Zoho alternatives and see if any of them catches your fancy.
Zoho is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform with state-of-the-art functionality designed for multichannel communication, data analysis, and workflow automation. That said, it isn’t supplied with some essential CDRM features like cost-efficient system customization, free plans for over 3 users, and AI-based functionality in all of its low-tier plans.
Thankfully, the online marketplace is full of programs similar to Zoho. The alternatives reviewed below are all user-friendly, don’t require a lot of setup, come with advanced features that you won’t find in other software, and are known to receive frequent updates while protecting the privacy of your data.
Verdict: Akin to Zoho, Adobe Document Cloud doesn’t have as much to do with file storage as it does with collaborative PDF workflows that entail editing and enhancing business-related documents, handling e-signatures, and much more. Adobe’s solution is far superior at storing and automatically filling info compared to Zoho.
For instance, this platform’s “Fill and Sign” tool allows you to save frequently used fields like the name, address, email, or phone number. Additionally, it’s equipped with a superior tool for e-signing and requesting e-signatures from your business partners. Lawyers, enterprises, and other organizations that frequently work with PDF documents will greatly enjoy the convenience of entering and saving information that can be later checked out and signed by other users.
Verdict: ProofHub is a Zoho alternative that represents a comprehensive project management and collaboration solution that definitely deserves your attention. Its functionality isn’t restricted to project management, as it can also be employed by development, marketing, and accounting teams that want to improve their business workflow.
ProofHub is an end-to-end project management software that allows project managers to boost the efficiency of their planning strategies, improve team collaboration, and general task organization. Project managers can access and reach out to team members and customers while sharing relevant data with maximum speed and convenience by taking advantage of the features included in this tool.
Verdict: Scoro is one of the best Zoho alternatives you can try, as it offers an expansive feature set that will help you manage your enterprise more efficiently. Its functionality covers project management, team collaboration, invoices, reports, time tracking, and budgeting. This is a cloud-based platform that is primarily designed for small- and medium-sized enterprises, specifically those involved in consulting, marketing, IT, and other similar industries.
Scoro provides a broad range of useful features, particularly those related to task tracking and scheduling, collaboration, CRM, project management, billing and quoting, and in-depth reporting. The central feature of this solution is the Control Hub, which is used for displaying tasks, scheduled events, crucial performance parameters, account data, and other handy info.
Verdict: HubSpot is a Zoho alternative that is arguably the closest solution to the original out of all options featured in this review. However, whereas Zoho is a general business solution, HubSpot is mainly aimed at marketing companies and departments. The offered marketing functionality is perfect for lead generation and offers everything you might expect from industry-leading email marketing software.
HubSpot provides a convenient visual dashboard that is constantly updated in real-time. Being a contact management software, HubSpot allows sales staff to manage their client base, monitor deals, organize their sales pipeline, etc. This solution can also be paired with other HubSpot tools like the Marketing Hub or the Sales Hub along with such third-party products as Zoho.
Verdict: Trello can be generally classified as a project management platform while Zoho is more of a CRM tool. That said, Trello still provides a broad selection of versatile features that can substitute a lot of what Zoho can bring to the table. This platform also offers an assortment of integrations that make it even more flexible and useful.
It comes with all the features expected of intuitive task management software while enabling all members of your team to employ drag-and-drop controls to better manage their workflow. Most similar platforms also have a mobile version and Trello’s application is one of the best in the industry. It allows you to enjoy the same functionality you get in the desktop version while handling all essential project management tasks with just a couple of taps.
Verdict: Bitrix24 is a solid Zoho replacement if you’re looking for a solution that offers team collaboration, CRM, and time management functionality that you’ll usually find in scheduling software. Businesses like Forbes, TechHive, and TechRepublic employ this solution for planning and implementing their operations. This platform lets you create a helpdesk for your clients that will feature email tickets, live chat, and phone support.
The functionality of this tool can be divided into 5 sections: communications, tasks and projects, CRM, contact hub, and sites. Additionally, Bitrix24 comes with special features for assigning tasks, time monitoring, and project management. Your workers will be able to create Gantt charts and Kanban boards to track their work while administrative staff can produce reports that show what projects team members are dedicating their time to.
Verdict: Basecamp is among the best Zoho alternatives when it comes to collaborating with your teammates regardless of where they are in the world. The latest edition of this tool, Basecamp 3, has introduced functions that streamline your company’s workflow, providing an advantage over competing Zoho replacements. This solution is particularly well suited for remote work and teams scattered around the globe.
The most appealing aspect of this platform is that it allows you to contain all communication tied to a specific project within it. Such a structure allows specific teams to focus on certain projects without getting distracted and losing productivity. Additionally, you'll be able to keep most of your communication channels clean and organized. . Lastly, the scheduling function allows you to mark crucial dates on the shared calendar that can be synced with Google Calendar, iCal, and Microsoft Outlook.
Verdict: ActiveCollab is a user-friendly, feature-packed single-stop tool that can satisfy most of your business needs. The main factor that sets this option apart from the rest is that it’s completely cloud-based while also being available for installation on your company’s server. The functionality it provides serves to simplify task management and team collaboration, allowing you to allocate more time to other aspects of your business.
This platform offers an attractive combination of being user-friendly while also providing a reasonable pricing model. Typically, software that comes with such an expansive set of project management features is aimed exclusively at corporations with enormous budgets, but thankfully that isn’t the case with ActiveCollab. This solution will provide you with all the tools you need to take care of your needs related to budgeting, invoicing, and workload estimates.
Verdict: Insightly is among the best Zoho alternatives when it comes to CRM and managing business growth. It comes with a long list of tools that have allowed enterprises and teams to establish long-term client relationships while exceeding their expectations regularly. If you decide to use this solution as well, you'll receive the ability to customize and implement it as you see fit. It allows assigning tasks by team members and managers while monitoring them on a milestone basis, allowing you to see how progress is made at regular intervals.
Similarly to Zoho, Insightly greets you with an editable landing page that you can fill with priority tasks, outstanding emails, and reporting dashboards. In contrast to alternative CRMs, this solution doesn’t require you to employ a third-party designer to adjust the UI. Instead, Insightly lets you add, remove, and customize dashboard elements on the go.
Verdict: Clarizen was designed to help you manage tasks, automate procedures and help all your employees collaborate within one user-friendly solution. You can rely on this tool to take care of project management while you focus your attention on growing and scaling your business.
Clarizen lets you pick between producing personalized templates for projects or using premade templates for common business tasks like event or tradeshow planning. This solution can also be employed for adding tasks and other info via email. Moreover, it comes with several advanced features that will be of interest to larger enterprises like the approval system for timesheets and expenses, which can be tied straight to relevant tasks and projects.
Zoho is a comprehensive business solution that originally entered the market in 1996 while being labeled as AdventNet. Nowadays, it provides over 40 apps that you can take advantage of to handle all business aspects from email marketing to accounting and CRM systems while enjoying some of the most consumer-friendly prices on the market.
It might appear that you’re getting an unbeatable deal, but there are caveats to everything that was just said. It’s no secret that in most cases you receive the exact level of quality you pay for. Additionally, more recent software solutions are generally more open-ended and versatile. For instance, some of the software reviewed above allows you to develop fully customizable business solutions without writing a single write of code and that’s something Zoho cannot match.
