Zoho Workplace Review
Zoho Workplace is a business productivity suite with word processing, cloud storage, email and internal communication tools. Known for its affordability, it also offers a comprehensive set of features, which we discuss in this Zoho Workplace review.
— Last Updated: 2025-09-28T12:42:48+00:00 Facts checked by Simona Ivanovski
Key Takeaways: What Is Zoho Workplace & Is It Good to Use?
- Zoho Workplace is an affordable productivity suite with comprehensive features and applications such as Zoho Mail, WorkDrive and Vault.
- Although Zoho Workplace is good to use and the apps function as expected, there are concerns about occasional bugginess.
- Zoho has responsive support, but you’re almost as likely to receive a helpful response as you are to get a vague one.
Top Use Cases for Zoho Workplace:
- Cloud storage: Zoho WorkDrive is a predominant part of the Workplace suite. It offers 10GB to 100GB of cloud storage per user, depending on the Workplace plan.
- Mail: Zoho Mail offers about the same service as any email provider. Its interface is easy to navigate, but its spam filtering could be better.
- Password management: With Zoho Vault, you get a password management tool as well as a password generator, multi-factor authentication and an access control tool.
Businesses looking for a productivity suite might consider Zoho Workplace, which streamlines business operations and task management while enhancing collaboration. Compared to productivity giants like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, Zoho Workplace surpasses them in some areas, but it falls short in others. This Zoho Workplace review dives into the details.
Zoho Workplace offers email services, cloud storage, a calendar and scheduling features, a document editor, spreadsheets, video conferencing and more. This service stands out for its ease of use and low cost. However, the overall user-friendliness, pricing and speed are a different story, as we assess in this review.
What Is Zoho Workplace & Who Is It For?
Zoho Workplace is a collection of cloud-based productivity, collaboration and communication tools. It’s ideal for organizations and teams of all sizes, including small and medium-size businesses, global companies and remote teams.
- Release date: Sept. 10, 2020
- Developer: Zoho Corporation
- Platforms: Web, desktop, mobile
- Operating systems: macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS
- Notable features: Competitive pricing, reliable email service, AI integration
- Pricing: Tiered subscription-based pricing
The Cloudwards Expert Opinion
Cloudwards Expert Opinion
For me, Zoho Workplace is an impressive combination of business productivity apps with inexpensive rates and responsive support. The ease of use of the apps’ web versions is particularly enticing. You may experience some bugginess here and there, but the software largely works well.
My biggest concerns with Zoho Workplace are its non-uniform support quality and the limited third-party integrations, though the integrations for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are helpful.
For a small or medium-size team on a tight budget, it’s worth trying Zoho Workplace — it has 30- and 45-day money-back guarantees for monthly and annual subscriptions, respectively.
Zoho Workplace Pros & Cons
Zoho Workplace Alternatives
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Features: What Can Zoho Workplace Do?
Zoho has more than 40 apps, but it includes up to 13 within the Workplace productivity suite, depending on your plan: Mail, WorkDrive, Writer, Sheet, Show, Calendar, ToDo, Notes, Cliq, Meeting, Connect, Vault and Directory.
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Zoho services like Zoho Mail, Zoho Cliq and Zoho Connect facilitate communication and collaboration for small and large teams. It also offers file management and storage via tools like Zoho Office Suite and Zoho Calendar. Let’s dive into the most important features to show what you can do with Zoho Workplace.
Zoho WorkDrive
file using text and objects in the file.
- Included in: Standard plan, Professional plan
- Key features: External file sharing, cloud storage, granular access control
- Storage limit: First three users get 10GB per user; 4-10 users get 100GB and any extra user adds 10GB of storage.
Zoho WorkDrive serves as a central storage space for files, and team members can access files simultaneously and remotely in real time. WorkDrive’s unlimited file versioning is one of our favorite features, as it makes for easy data recovery and streamlined auditing.
In addition, its granular access control ensures security and compliance by limiting file access to only those who need it. It offers server-side encryption for data at rest and in transit, and it offers full-disk encryption in certain regions. Check out our Zoho WorkDrive review for more details.
Zoho Mail
- Included in: All plans
- Key features: Webmail, domain aliases, email aliases, email recall
- Storage limit: 5GB-100GB
You’ll enjoy using Zoho Mail if you dislike the advertising emails that come with the free versions of Gmail and Outlook. That aside, navigating through Zoho Mail on mobile, desktop and web is generally straightforward, and the interface is not clunky. However, it has fewer third-party integrations than Gmail, and users report that its spam filtering could be better.
With Zoho Mail, you can create email addresses with custom domain names. So, if you’re looking to create a business email as a small or large enterprise, Zoho Mail may suit you — Overall, we consider Zoho Mail to be one of the best email providers for small businesses.
Zoho Cliq
- Included in: All plans
- Key features: Instant messaging, group chats, channels, voice/video calls and recordings
- Storage limit: 100GB per user on Workplace Professional, 100GB per organization all other plans
Zoho Cliq is an instant-messaging platform that facilitates real-time team communications, similar to Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat. It goes beyond text-based messaging, offering audio and video calls and recording, and private communication channels. It also supports various automation features, including bots and schedulers that streamline recurrent tasks.
If you’re invested in the Zoho ecosystem, you’ll have no issues with integration. Moreover, it integrates with tools like Reddit, Square, Calendly and Evernote, but Cliq still has some catching up to do compared to Slack, which supports more than 2,600 apps.
Zoho Office Suite
continue working without reliable internet.
- Included in: Standard plan, Professional plan
- Key features: Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheets, Zoho Show
Zoho Office Suite is a less-advanced alternative to Microsoft Office, but it has fewer apps and features. It includes Zoho Show (a slide presentation creator), Zoho Writer (a word processor) and Zoho Sheets (a spreadsheet service) — navigation was simple on all three.
Zoho Meeting
the Professional plan allows up to 100 participants.
- Included in: Standard plan, Professional plan
- Key features: Video conferencing, screen sharing
- Storage limit: 5GB per host
Zoho Meeting is the Zoom or Google Meet of Zoho Workplace. This video-conferencing service unfortunately falls short in terms of media quality; you won’t want to use Zoho Meeting if you need high-resolution video and audio.
Meeting allows up to 10 participants on the Standard plan and up to 100 on the Professional plan with 5GB of storage per host on both plans. It is not available on Mail Lite and Mail Premium.
Zoho Vault
administrator will add you by sending an invitation.
- Included in: All plans
- Key features: Password management, geo-restriction, role-based access control, multi-factor authentication
Zoho Vault is a password management tool, but it does more than just manage passwords. It offers security features like multi-factor authentication, role-based access control (RBAC), audit trails, integration with single sign-on (SSO) tools and integration with identity management services.
Vault strengthens the overall security of Zoho Workplace thanks to these features. It offers comprehensive security visualization and offline access, and it integrates seamlessly with the Zoho ecosystem and third-party services like Entra ID and Okta. You can set up most Zoho Vault features in a few steps, but RBAC setup requires extra effort.
The Zoho Vault Standard plan is included with Zoho Workplace Standard, Professional and Enterprise subscriptions. Read more about it in our Zoho Vault review.
Zoho Connect
- Included in: Professional plan
- Key features: Centralized communication, knowledgebase management, custom app creation
Zoho Connect is a platform tailored for internal communications and collaboration. Its design is geared toward enhancing employee engagement to promote company culture — like a social network for enterprises.
In addition to communication and collaboration, you can use Zoho Connect for knowledgebase management and custom workflow automation apps. That said, the mobile apps (especially iOS) can be laggy and sometimes crash on startup.
Zoho Calendar
- Included in: All plans
- Key features: Event scheduling, appointment scheduling, team calendars
Zoho Calendar is like any other workplace calendar, offering event scheduling, integration with other productivity tools for effective planning, collaborative calendars and video-conferencing capabilities.
Calendar is available on mobile and desktop as part of the Trident app. It also offers more functionality compared to popular tools like Calendly, but it has fewer third-party integrations than other popular calendar apps, like Google’s.
Zoho Workplace Features Overview
| Features |  |
|---|---|
| Sync Folder | |
| Block-Level Sync | |
| Selective Sync | |
| Bandwidth management | |
| Sync Any Folder | |
| File Link Sharing | |
| Link Passwords | |
| Link Expiry Dates | |
| Folder Sharing | |
| Folder Permissions | |
| Link Download Limits | |
| Upload Links | |
| File Previews | |
| Edit Files | |
| In-App Collaboration | |
| Office Online | |
| Google Docs | |
| Notes App | |
| Media Playback | |
| Mobile Apps | |
| Deleted File Retention | |
| Versioning | |
| WebDAV | |
| At-Rest Encryption | |
| In-Transit Encryption | |
| Encryption Protocol | AES256 |
| Client-Side Encryption | |
| Two-Factor Authentication | |
| Server Location | EU |
| 24/7 Support | |
| Live Chat Support | |
| Telephone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| User Forum | |
| Knowledgebase | |
| Free Plan |
User-Friendliness & Hands-On Testing
While user-friendliness varies from one app to another, Zoho Workplace apps are generally user-friendly and have similar interfaces to popular platforms. The apps can be a bit buggy, and you have to download them individually, but they are functional overall.
Zoho offers a unified Zoho Workplace mobile application, which allows you to launch individual Workplace apps on Android and iOS. Meanwhile, users need to download individual apps for desktop, as well as the Trident desktop app for Mail and Calendar use. You can also use a web version.
Zoho Workplace on Desktop: macOS & Windows Apps
Zoho offers desktop apps for Workplace services such as Writer, WorkDrive, Connect and Cliq. However, services like Show and Sheets have no desktop apps, Mail and Calendar come in a unified app called Trident, and Vault is available only on MacOS.
The desktop interfaces of apps like Writer and Connect were similar to their web interfaces, so switching between both platforms gave the same navigation experience. However, on Windows, the WorkDrive app uses the regular Windows Explorer interface, so the navigation wasn’t the same.
Signing in on the desktop versions of apps like Writer and Connect was straightforward because it was all in-app. However, logging in on the WorkDrive app was somewhat less convenient as it redirected us to a browser.
How to Use Zoho’s Trident Desktop App
Zoho doesn’t offer a separate desktop app for Zoho Mail and Zoho Calendar. Instead, you get a single app for both services — Trident for Zoho Workplace. Besides Mail and Calendar, Trident includes Zoho Cliq’s chat, calls and meetings features. It also has notes, tasks and contacts.
Trident for Zoho Workplace is available only on Windows and MacOS and requires a paid plan. To install it, download and run the installer for your operating system. Once the app is installed, sign into your account and start using the services.
Zoho Workplace on Mobile: Android & iOS Apps
While the Zoho Workplace mobile app is unified, it primarily acts as a one-stop place to launch other apps in the Zoho Workplace suite. In other words, you still have to download individual Zoho workplace apps on your phone.
The same Zoho Workplace apps are available on both iOS and Android, and the ease of use on both platforms is pretty much the same. You’ll find that the interfaces are quite similar, with slight differences in a few apps, such as Zoho Mail. Zoho Mail on iOS looks like the iOS Mail app, while the Android version looks a lot like the Gmail app.
How to Install Zoho Workplace Apps on Desktop
Unfortunately there’s no unifying Zoho app on desktop platforms, like there is for mobile. The closest to a unified app on desktop is Trident for Workplace app, and it gives you access to Zoho Mail, Zoho Calendar and some features of Zoho Cliq. This means you’ll need to download each app individually; we’ll show you how, using WorkDrive as an example.
- Download the Installer
To install a Zoho Workplace desktop app, search for and download the app that corresponds to your operating system. In this case, we’ll install WorkDrive TruSync on Windows.
- Run the Installer
After downloading the installer, run it and click the “install” button to start the installation.
- Wait for the Installation
After you click the “install” button, the installer copies registry files and keys to your computer.
- Set Up the App
When the installation is done, WorkDrive TruSync opens automatically. Sign in to set up the app.
How to Set Up & Use Zoho WorkDrive
Each individual Workplace app will have its own setup system, but users might need a little extra guidance with WorkDrive to get it syncing with their device. To set up and use Zoho WorkDrive, choose your preferred plan and sign up for a Zoho Workplace account, then follow these steps.
- Sign In to the App
Open the WorkDrive app on your device and click the “sign in” button. You’ll be redirected to your browser to enter your credentials and complete sign-in.
- Select Sync Mode
After signing in, click “start sync” to synchronize with your computer. If you want to sync specific folders and files only, click “selective sync,” then select the folders and files you want to synchronize. Then, click “start sync.”
- Start Syncing
After syncing your computer with WorkDrive, you’ll see a WorkDrive virtual drive on your computer. Any changes you make to the files and folders in the virtual drive will synchronize with the files and folders in WorkDrive.
Zoho Workplace Pricing: How Much Does Zoho Workplace Cost?
Zoho Workplace is billed monthly or annually, depending on the plan and total subscription costs based on the number of users. The plans place no limits on users.
Overall Workplace provides excellent value, and the pricing is more affordable than its better-known rival, Google Workspace — you can read more about its value in our Google Workspace review.
- Zoho Mail (5-10GB per user), Zoho Cliq, Zoho Calendar, Zoho ToDo, Zoho Notes & Zoho Directory
- Mail 50GB per user, Zoho eProtect, mobile access management, email retention and discovery & S-MIME
- Mail 30GB per user Zoho WorkDrive (10GB+ per user), Zoho Office Suite, Zoho Meeting & Zoho Vault
More plans
- Mail (100GB per user), Drive (100GB+ per user), Zoho Connect, Zoho eProtect, mobile access management, email retention & discovery, S-MIME, intranet & employee management
- Custom storage limits. Everything in Professional plus Microsoft Active Directory cloud sync, Virtual Private Cloud & pooled storage for mail
Free Workplace Trial & Free Plans for Some Apps
Zoho Workplace offers a 15-day free trial without requiring you to provide payment information. Some of its apps, such as Zoho Mail, Zoho Writer, Zoho Show, Zoho Cliq and Zoho Vault, have their own individual free plans.
The free plans can be very limited, though. For example, Zoho Mail ‘s free plan is available only in select data centers, though that includes the U.S. It offers email hosting for one domain, with 5GB of mail storage for up to five users.
Pricing Plan Breakdown
Zoho Workplace offers five paid plans: Workplace Standard, Mail Lite, Mail Premium, Workplace Professional and Workplace Enterprise. Of the five plans, the Mail plans have the fewest apps, provide the smallest mail storage size and are billed yearly.
The Mail Lite and Mail Premium plans do not include Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Office Suite, Zoho Meeting, Zoho Connect or Zoho Vault. In addition, Zoho Cliq has limited features — if you’re looking to experience Zoho Workplace to the fullest, the Standard, Professional or Enterprise plans are better options.
Zoho Workplace Speed
Our speed tests focused on Zoho WorkDrive, as upload and download performance matters the most for this service. Zoho WorkDrive will probably not give you upload speeds as fast as those of popular cloud storage services. However, when it comes to download speeds, it offers roughly the same performance as top alternatives.
Zoho WorkDrive Speed Test Results
In our analysis of Zoho WorkDrive’s speed, we used a 5GB folder containing all kinds of files, including text, videos and images. We ran the test three times on a Windows server in Dublin, with two throttled tests (100 Mbps) and one unthrottled test (1 Gbps). Below are the results. See how it compares to other cloud providers in our fastest cloud storage guide.
Notes From the Lab: Our Detailed Speed Analysis
Zoho WorkDrive’s download speeds were comparable to those of popular alternatives under the same test conditions. While its upload speeds could be better, it is more than decent compared to other cloud storage solutions, excluding OneDrive and Google Drive.
In addition, Zoho WorkDrive showed stable average speed during downloads and uploads while maintaining low CPU and memory usage. Therefore, it should run smoothly on general-purpose computers. See how it compares to competition in our fastest cloud storage guide.
File Sharing & Syncing
Zoho Workplace, particularly Zoho WorkDrive, offers many ways to share files, even with users outside your team. It also synchronizes file changes as multiple people work on them simultaneously.
File-Sharing Options
You can create a team folder on Zoho WorkDrive and add files to share with your teammates. You can also enforce role-based access control on these files, ensuring each person sees only documents relevant to them.
In addition to using a team folder, Zoho WorkDrive offers three other file-sharing options through its TruSync feature. For example, you can share files by sending them to your collaborators’ email and set a file access level.
Alternatively, you can create an external link to share via email or other text-based messaging platforms. In this case, the external link can be password-protected and set to expire. It can also be configured to request user data before granting access, and allow or prevent downloads.
The third option offers a permalink with a customizable file access level and visibility level. Like the other two TruSync methods, you get to choose one of three file access levels: view, view and comment, or edit. When it comes to visibility, you can share with your “team folder” members and collaborators, anyone on your team or anyone on the internet.
File-Syncing Options
Although it helps with file sharing, TruSync on Zoho WorkDrive is primarily used for file syncing, which it does in two modes: online-only and offline.
The online-only mode allows you to see the files in your WorkDrive storage from your computer in real time. When using this mode, the files use storage space on your computer only when you edit or view them. When you’re done with online-only mode, the storage space on your computer is freed up and the files are stored only in WorkDrive.
When in offline mode, the files are downloaded to your computer, allowing you to access them even without the internet. When you get back online, the changes you made to the offline copy (on your computer) are synchronized with the copy in WorkDrive.
Security: Is Zoho Workplace Safe?
Although there have been instances of Zoho showing vulnerabilities, Zoho Workplace generally shows positive signs when it comes to security.
Zoho Workplace Security Features
Zoho Workplace apps take a multi-layer approach to security, combining encryption, access control and physical security. Zoho encrypts data at rest and in transit. At rest, it encrypts data both at the app level and at the hardware level.
By offering multi-factor authentication, role-based access control, IP allowlisting and blocklisting, and geo-restrictions, Zoho Workplace offers a variety of access control measures. Furthermore, it caps its software security with physical security at its data centers, which includes bulletproof hardware, 24/7 surveillance and backup systems.
Detailed Security Analysis: Encryption & Cloud Security
Overall, Zoho Workplace’s encryption and cloud security is up to industry standards. It uses the AES 256-bit encryption algorithm (arguably the most secure encryption) and supports least-privilege access, which means users have access only to the data and tools necessary for their role. Therefore, when set up properly, you’ll be safe from most exploits.
Nonetheless, no cloud service is completely invulnerable — even Zoho ManageEngine had a vulnerability that allowed remote execution of unauthenticated code. However, it was quickly patched.
Privacy: Is Zoho Workplace Private?
Zoho Workplace offers a reliable level of privacy, from client-side encryption to using your data legitimately.
Client-Side Encryption
Zoho Workplace offers client-side encryption through Zoho Vault. The master password you create locally is used to generate encryption keys, which are then used to encrypt data before it is sent to Zoho.
Other Zoho Workplace apps like Zoho Writer also encrypt your data at rest and in transit, but you do not control the encryption keys. If you want control, you can take advantage of the bring-your-own-key option.
Zoho also lets you use your own encryption keys, which you can upload manually or import from third-party key management services like AWS KMS. This allows you to use client-side encryption.
Zoho Workplace Privacy Policy
Workplace is covered under Zoho’s privacy policy. Zoho — and by extension, Zoho Workplace — is mostly privacy-conscious; it has ISO, HIPAA, TX-RAMP and GDPR compliance certifications.
However, there are instances of users claiming to have been flagged because of the contents of emails they had sent, raising concerns about how private Zoho Mail really is.
Zoho Workplace Customer Support
All Zoho Workplace plans come with support via email, phone and chat, as well as access to an online knowledgebase with FAQs. You also get access to migration support and tools, regardless of your plan.
Live Chat, Email & Phone Support Speed & Quality
Zoho Workplace customer support generally responds quickly, especially when you use live chat and phone support. Zoho support typically responds in less than 12 hours when you reach out via email, but in a few cases, they’ve taken as long as seven days to get back. Note that live chat is available for users on paid plans only.
The quality of support you’ll get on Zoho is mixed; in some cases, you’ll be connected to someone who’s skilled enough to resolve your issues upon initial contact. At other times, you may be connected to someone who’ll give vague solutions.
Zoho Workplace vs Other Collaboration Suites
Although we’ve done some comparison at different points already, here’s a concise assessment of Zoho Workplace compared to some other collaboration suites.
Zoho Workplace vs Google Workspace
Zoho Workplace generally edges out Google Workspace when it comes to pricing, making it a great option for small and medium-size businesses. However, Google Workspace has more third-party integrations, and more people are familiar with its tools. Therefore, it may be easier for employees to adopt. Check out our Google Workspace review.
Zoho Workplace vs Microsoft 365
When it comes to business productivity tools, Microsoft 365 is the industry standard, so it’s no surprise it trumps Zoho Workplace in quality, features and ecosystem size. Microsoft 365 also has more third-party support, but Zoho Workplace has cheaper pricing.
Community Feedback: Zoho Workplace Reviews on Reddit & Social Media
The Zoho Reddit and social media community generally agrees that Zoho Workplace is an affordable alternative to popular productivity tools. As for support, most agree that responses are usually fast, but feedback about support quality is mixed. People tend to recommend Zoho Workplace, though, especially for small and medium-size businesses.
The Verdict: Is Zoho Workplace Worth It?
If you want to run a small or medium-size organization on a lean budget while using a comprehensive suite of productivity tools, Zoho Workplace is worth it. It is also a smart choice if you already use some Zoho services.
That said, if you’re a larger organization, Zoho Workplace may be unsuitable for you due to factors like the Zoho Meeting’s attendee limits. Your team may be slower to adopt it since it isn’t as popular as major competitors, but Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations can make the switch easier.
FAQ: Zoho Workplace
Zoho Workplace is a collection of productivity tools that enhance team collaboration and communication. It offers services such as mailing, internal communication, instant messaging, password management and storage tools.
Zoho is not a Chinese company. While it operates in China and many other locations globally, its headquarters is in Chennai, India.
Yes, Zoho Workplace is good; it offers a cost-effective productivity suite with plenty of storage, decent speeds and strong security. However, the quality of support isn’t always the best.
