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CRM Comparison

Close vs. Zoho CRM

At a glance

At a glance

Close

Best for

Best for high-volume sales teams that live in the phone and want calling, emailing and texting with a built-in dialer inside the CRM.

  • Freelancers
  • Small and mid-sized

Zoho CRM

Best for

Best for sales teams that want a full-featured CRM they can start on for free and scale into automation, forecasting and AI across editions.

  • Freelancers
  • Small and mid-sized
  • Enterprise

Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.

Full Comparison

Criterion Close Zoho CRM
Starting price lower value From $9 / user / month Solo $9 (single user), Essentials $35, Growth $99 and Scale $139 per user/month billed annually. Prices in US dollars. Calling and SMS are usage-based. Free plan for up to 3 users; paid plans from $14 / user / month Standard $14, Professional $23, Enterprise $40 and Ultimate $52 per user/month billed annually (billed monthly: $20, $35, $50 and $65). Prices in US dollars, local taxes extra.
Free trial 14-day free trial, no credit card required Free edition for up to 3 users, with a free trial available on the paid editions
Users Not stated More than 250,000 businesses in 180 countries
API Yes, an API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth, on every plan Yes, REST API with 5,000 calls a day on the free edition, plus the Zoho Marketplace
Hosting Cloud (SaaS) Cloud (SaaS)
Contacts and companies Yes, lead and contact management, with AI lead summaries from calls, emails and meetings Yes, a single repository for leads, contacts, accounts and deals with full activity history
Deal pipeline Yes, pipeline management with deal stages Yes, multiple sales pipelines with deal tracking and stage management
Email and calendar Yes, email sync, with Gmail, Google Calendar and Calendly integrations Yes, email integration, built-in telephony and calendar sync
Workflow automation Yes, workflow automation on Growth and Scale Yes, workflow rules that automate routine tasks, plus the Zia AI assistant
Reporting and forecasting Yes, reporting and analytics, including a sales funnel report with conversion and win rates Yes, dashboards, real-time reports and sales forecasting
Integrations and API Yes, an API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth Yes, REST API (5,000 calls a day on the free edition) and the Zoho Marketplace
AI features Yes Yes
Deployment Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
Company size Freelancers, Small and mid-sized more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
Integrations Gmail, Google Calendar, Calendly more entries Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Ads, QuickBooks

Compare more tools

Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.

The short version

Key Differences

  • Starting price Close From $9 / user / month Zoho CRM Free plan for up to 3 users; paid plans from $14 / user / month
  • Free trial Close 14-day free trial, no credit card required Zoho CRM Free edition for up to 3 users, with a free trial available on the paid editions
  • Company size Close Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Zoho CRM Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
  • API Close Yes, an API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth, on every plan Zoho CRM Yes, REST API with 5,000 calls a day on the free edition, plus the Zoho Marketplace
  • Contacts and companies Close Yes, lead and contact management, with AI lead summaries from calls, emails and meetings Zoho CRM Yes, a single repository for leads, contacts, accounts and deals with full activity history

Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.

The trade-offs

Strengths and Limitations

Close

Strengths

  • Built-in dialer and SMS on every plan for calling, emailing and texting from one place
  • Chloe AI summarises leads from calls, emails and meetings and prepares follow-ups
  • API plus an event log API, via API keys or OAuth, on every plan
  • Solo plan for a single user at a low entry price

Limitations

  • Workflows and the power dialer are reserved for Growth and above
  • Calling and SMS are billed on usage, on top of the seat price

Zoho CRM

Strengths

  • Free edition for up to three users with contact management and automation
  • Zia AI assistant predicts deal outcomes and automates tasks
  • Omnichannel engagement over email, telephony and social
  • REST API and the Zoho Marketplace for integrations

Limitations

  • AI and advanced automation are reserved for higher editions
  • The breadth of settings can be a lot to configure at the start

Plans

Pricing

Close

  • Solo $9 Per month billed annually. One user, up to 10,000 leads, no workflows.
  • Essentials $35 Per user/month billed annually. Unlimited contacts and team features, no workflows.
  • Growth $99 Per user/month billed annually. Adds workflows, a power dialer and bulk email.
  • Scale $139 Per user/month billed annually. Adds a predictive dialer, lead visibility rules, call coaching and custom roles.
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Zoho CRM

  • Free $0 Free edition for up to 3 users.
  • Standard $14 Per user/month billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
  • Professional $23 Most popular. Per user/month billed annually ($35 billed monthly).
  • Enterprise $40 Per user/month billed annually ($50 billed monthly).
  • Ultimate $52 Per user/month billed annually ($65 billed monthly).
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What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

Close

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Zoho CRM

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Where this comes from

Where this comes from

Close https://www.close.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-20

Zoho CRM https://www.zoho.com/crm/ · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19

This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.