Zoho Review - 2018 | Top 5 Project Management Tools

Zoho Projects Review

flag Easy-to-use & intuitive interface
  • Trusted by great brands

  • Automate tasks and save time

  • Cloud-based project management software

  • Timesheet reports

Pros & Cons

  • Simple to use application
  • Built-in time tracking with integrations for direct invoicing
  • The ability to set up project budgeting
  • Robust help documents that cover every aspect of the application
  • Many features have been removed to encourage subscriptions to Zoho’s other projects
  • The interface is bland when compared to similar products

Plans & Pricing

Zoho Projects does a decent job of keeping its pricing clear for the end-user. There are two paid plans and a free plan. The paid plans come with a ten-day free trial and there’s a combination of usage limits and access to features that separate the plans.

Zoho Projects is cheaper than most project management tools out there with prices starting at just $5/m. With that being said, it is stricter with its usage limits than comparable software–for example, the guest/client users aren’t free.

Free

The free plan serves as an introduction to the software to let you know if Zoho Projects is right for you. It supports up to three users, has storage space for files up to 10MB, a mobile application, document sharing, task management, and other basic project management features.

Premium

Premium is $5/month/user and builds on the Free plan. It allows customers to add clients, support for unlimited projects, project templates, Gantt charts, advanced task management, time tracking, etc. This is where customers see the true power of Zoho Projects.

Enterprise

The enterprise plan is $10/month/user and gives customers higher usage limits and more flexibility with the features. It introduces the custom project and task fields, baselining, a custom domain, individual team organization (instead of everyone being on the same team), deeper integration capabilities, and much more.

Free
$0/mo
Premium
 $5/mo
Enterprise
$10/mo

Overview

Zoho is, in many ways, a jack of all trades when it comes to business software. Founded in 1996, it has grown into a company that offers a wide range of software for businesses. Zoho Projects is another entry into its software catalog and is designed to serve small, medium, and large businesses.

Rating

  • "Price"
    10 /10
  • "Features"
    8 /10
  • "Ease of Use"
    7 /10
  • "Help and Support"
    8 /10

Features and Functionality

Zoho Projects has all the features you need but, at the same time, it doesn’t have all the tools you need. To understand this, it’s necessary to understand Zoho as a company. It is a collection of dozens of software products that would, usually, have overlapping features with Zoho Projects. Instead of that, those features are removed and kept in the original product. An example of this is Zoho Forms and Zoho Docs. With that being said, the core project management tools like task management, projects, project views, commenting, etc. are intact. It also has more advanced features.

Time tracking

A time tracking function is integrated directly into Zoho Projects that allows users to capture the time they spend on their work. The timers can be started automatically when certain conditions are met, can be paused, and managers can even reject entries.

Automation

Modern project management is nothing without automation. Zoho Projects makes this possible with what it calls blueprints. You can set up workflows, assign tasks to different people at each stage, and let it continue to run in the background.

Collaboration tools

There are multiple collaboration tools combined to give users a holistic overview of activity within their accounts. Activity feeds, dedicated chat areas, forums to post queries about specific topics, and even pages to build a company wiki are all available for customers to take advantage of.

Ease of Use

Zoho Projects should be a familiar experience for those who’ve used project management tools in the past. It has a simple onboarding process and allows you to get into the core of the application with little fuss. Setting up projects and tasks should be straightforward for most people and require little to no training. The interface is plain when compared to apps like Asana or ClickUp. The company has chosen a color palette that can make elements blend in instead of standing out. It can take some getting used to if you’re coming from more vibrant applications. With that being said, it doesn’t have a marked impact on its usability.

Applications and Integrations

Zoho Projects is accessible via mobile apps and a web browser. The emphasis is on accessing it through a browser because all of the features are available there. It doesn’t have a desktop application at this time but most users are happy to access it via the web interface.

It has direct integrations with other products in the Zoho suite of tools. There are also a few dozen direct integrations with third-party tools such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and GitLab. The Zapier integration extends its ecosystem to over 1,000 third-party applications.

Customer support

As a company that’s been in operation for well over 20 years, Zoho has established robust help and support channels. The emphasis is on using the knowledge base, and to be fair, it has done a great job of covering most issues you may encounter. If that’s not enough then you can reach out to support via multiple channels.

  • Phone Support
    Phone support is available for customers between 9 AM to 5 PM
  • Live Online Chat
    Live chat is also available for customers.
  • Email
    Email support is available
  • Video Tutorials
    Multiple video tutorials to help users utilize the platform
  • FAQ
    It offers a FAQ and a robust knowledgebase.

Final Word

Zoho Projects is a solid player in the project management space that does exactly what you need it to do and a little more. Don’t expect to be on the cutting edge of innovation but also expect to have software that works well and allows your team to be more productive. It provides time tracking, multiple project views, collaboration tools, and resource management right out of the gate. It also has advanced features that you can play around with.

One of the major drawbacks of Zoho Projects is the fact that certain features such as forms and document collaboration have been removed (or were never included) so you have to get a subscription to another product in Zoho’s ecosystem. If the core project management tool is what you’re after then the solid features, responsive support, and inexpensive price tag make this worth taking a closer look at.f

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helen
Helen Warren
author

Helen has over 15 years of experience in project management, specifically within start-ups. She has grown small teams to large departments that coordinate projects across multiple departments. She has a degree in electrical engineering and, Helen is always excited to try out a new project management tool.

We make the best effort to present up-to-date information; however, the terms of each offer can be revised according to the service provider’s discretion. The above shall not be considered as an expert or professional advice for any matter.

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