Your business is picking up steam and finally taking off. While that’s an incredibly exhilarating time, it can also be very stressful. You have so many choices to make and picking an email platform is just one of many. That’s why it’s so important to have good information so that you can make the best decision for you and your company. Today I’ll compare two of the heavy hitters when it comes to email platforms: G Suite vs Zoho. Each office productivity suite provides many useful tools to help your business succeed, but as always, the devil is in the details. While they both offer similar products, their prices and features differ quite a bit.
Here’s the thing.
Businesses take email for granted. Email is email, right? But in reality, choosing the right email platform is one of the most often overlooked decisions, but the most important.
Being able to communicate across your company and with your clientele is incredibly important for your business to succeed. Not to mention, having a customized email from your company sets you apart professionally. It will also help you appear more legitimate and trustworthy to win over potential customers.
G Suite vs Zoho Comparison
Today I’ll be comparing the email platforms of Zoho and G Suite when it comes to:
- Price
- Ease of Use
- Features
Let’s get into it.
Let’s Compare the Price of G Suite to Zoho
Neither program is particularly expensive and they both operate on a subscription basis.
G Suite Email Price
Gmail for personal use is a free product (as I’m sure you know), but G Suite uses a subscription plan for businesses and the professional Gmail option will offer your business some extras not included with an @gmail.com domain.
The G Suite Basic plan is $6 per user per month or there is a Business plan for $12 per user per month. Alternatively, for larger companies, the Enterprise plan is $25 per user per month.
At the lower level plans, you can pay either annually or monthly, but with the higher-tiered Enterprise plan you must subscribe annually.
G Suite has special features in all of its services for every tier. With the Basic plan, you can customize your email, access cloud sharing, and utilize the other programs, like Docs or Sheets. Where the tiers increase in options is that each tool offers more with each plan. You get increased communication options with the Business plan and security is at its strongest with Enterprise. One of the best offerings G Suite has is that if you have 5 or more user licenses on your Business or Enterprise plan, then you will get unlimited cloud storage, and that applies to your email inbox in addition to traditional file storage. That’s an immense thing to offer and one of G Suite’s key selling points at the Business license level.
How Does Zoho’s Email Price Compare?
When comparing G Suite vs Zoho, Zoho Mail operates under Zoho Workplace, which is paid through either a monthly or yearly subscription.
Unlike G Suite, Zoho’s plans have a wider range in cost, but with each tier you’re given access to tools that weren’t previously available.
The lowest tiered plan is $1 per user and it only includes email services. The Standard plan includes additional features and is $4 per user, though with an annual plan the price drops to $3 per user. The Professional plan is $7 per user per month or $6 per user with an annual subscription. The Professional plan also offers additional widgets to make an overall smoother experience when using Zoho.
So professional email with Zoho is cheaper than G Suite.
Is it Easier to Check your Email with G Suite or Zoho?
G Suite’s features are presented with the full backing of Google (maybe you’ve heard of them).
The Basic plan for G Suite offers 30 GB per user. With the Business plan and less than 5 employees, you get 1 TB of cloud storage for your files and email.
To be frank, neither of those is very much storage, and I’d like to see Google improve those levels (but they are better than Zoho). With that said, as soon as your business grows, you’ll have access to the option of unlimited storage for every member of your team.
No other company offers that amount of storage and the fact that it’s paired with the most popular and trusted email platform (Gmail) is definitely a plus.
What About Zoho?
By comparison, Zoho’s basic plan offers 30 GB per user and their Professional plan increases that to 100 GB per user (quite a bit less than the 1TB offered to solopreneurs with G Suite Business).
Google also has a clear advantage when it comes to spam filtering, and that’s more important now than it ever has been.
While Zoho does offer spam filtering that monitors IL address for blacklisted addresses, its system is not robust. For larger organizations with a key concern about security, Zoho’s email platform is less reliable.
While Zoho email is perfectly fine for casual use, Google prides itself on its highly accurate spam filtering. The system claims its filters are 99% effective and it has the added feature of placing warning labels on suspicious emails that still clear their sensors.
G Suite has this security built into its systems.
Email App Comparison
Both G Suite and Zoho have mobile apps available. G Suite’s email app is incredibly straightforward and simple to use. With Android devices, it comes preloaded and it’s easily downloaded on iOS. Gmail’s app offers additional features, like storing multiple email addresses in one app to easily transfer between them without logging in or out. It alerts you when your account is accessed on a new device for added security as well.
Zoho’s app is also available on Android and iOS devices. It offers features to personalize your experience and can save data to work offline.
Comparing the Features of G Suite to Zoho
Aside from just an email platform, both Zoho and Google offer other features to help your business, and it’s worth considering those offerings when choosing between G Suite and Zoho Workplace.
Both companies offer office suites, though if you have a Gmail account already, then you’ve likely experienced Google Docs or Sheets.
Messaging & Video Conferencing
Google also offers excellent chat and video messaging systems to improve your internal communications.
Zoho offers notes at a lower tier (which Google doesn’t offer). With their higher-tiered offerings, Zoho offers additional security features, like eDiscovery (G Suite has that too), but only Google offers extensive archiving and authentication systems which are both important for business use.
G Suite’s messaging services are offered through Hangouts for chat and Meet for video or audio calls.
Zoho’s equivalent is Cliq, which offers both chat and call functions. This is a rebranding of their previous chat feature that allows for both direct and group chat options.
The biggest distinction when comparing Zoho vs G Suite programs is that Zoho’s video conferencing allows up to 100 participants, whereas G Suite’s caps out at 25 participants. With Meet you can have 100 and you can livestream to thousands at the Enterprise level.
I also think it’s worth noting how well integrated the chat and video call functionality is in G Suite – you can use these right from your Gmail inbox.
Accessibility
One of the key features that Google offers is an increase in accessibility.
Google has a wider reach across third-party platforms than Zoho’s systems do. Zoho has a more complicated interface, but its setup process is less complicated than G Suite’s (although both are pretty easy).
Support
Whenever something goes wrong with your program, it’s important to know that the company has your back.
G Suite’s customer service has numbers and call centers in the United States that will connect you directly to a representative to solve your issue or technical difficulty. Their email systems allows you to quickly report issues over the internet and receive a response in 1 to 2 days. This is perfect if your issue is minor or if you don’t have the time to call.
Zoho’s customer service wing is a lot smaller, and they have less centers in the United States because the company isn’t native to the US.
So if customer service with native speakers is important to you, I’d recommend G Suite.
Which is Right for You?
When picking an email platform and office suite for your business, both G Suite and Zoho are good choices.
The differences in offerings between G Suite vs Zoho will ultimately depend on what your company needs.
- Zoho has cheaper options available to you, but they also offer less per tier. While you’ll be saving money, you’ll only be able to do so much with what you’re getting. Depending on how your business functions, that may be exactly what you’re looking for. If all you need is a basic email platform, then Zoho is by far your best option.
- G Suite offers a lot for its price point, but there is a likelihood you won’t need to use all of the features. That’s why it’s so important to figure out what your business needs and choose your program based on that. If you have a data-heavy business that requires transferring lots of documentation, such as if you need to share creatives or other products, then Google’s cloud sharing features are unparalleled.
What sets G Suite apart is that it is a Google product and is backed by the company’s extensive services. When you choose Google you can leverage other products to create a very lucrative system in G Suite. Their Docs, Sheets, Slides and Calendar apps are incredibly robust and offer better features than Zoho’s apps.
I recommend Zoho if you want cheap professional email as a solopreneur or startup, but for everyone else, I recommend choosing G Suite.
