Zoho Creator
CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds the app from a plain-language description, with conversational analytics beside it.
Low-code apps that ship with a native mobile app, scripted in Deluge, deployable to Zoho's cloud or your own servers.
- Starting price
- From 8 US dollars / user / month
- Free trial
- 15-day free trial, no credit card required, defaulting to Professional features; a free edition covers one custom application
- Output
- Custom web applications with a matching native iOS and Android app, plus portals, business processes, integration flows and BI dashboards
Overview
Zoho Creator is Zoho's low-code application development platform. A drag-and-drop builder assembles the app schema and forms, and every application built on it comes with a native app for iOS and Android. CoCreator, powered by Zoho's Zia assistant, is the AI layer: describe what you need and it builds the app, while conversational analytics answers questions about a dataset in plain English. Custom logic is written in Deluge, Zoho's own scripting language, and deployment is unusually open: Zoho's cloud, AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or your own servers.
Our take
The reason to look here rather than at the American enterprise platforms is that Zoho gives away things they charge for or do not offer at all, most notably the choice of where the thing runs. Being able to move the same app between a hosted tenant, a hyperscaler and your own hardware is a genuine escape hatch, and it costs nothing extra. The catch is the same one that comes with any Zoho product, which is that the value is highest for organisations already inside the suite and thins out for those who are not. The awkward part of an evaluation is more prosaic: the seat rate is not where the decision sits, because the single-app ceiling on the entry plan pushes almost any real programme up a tier before the work starts, so budget from the middle of the ladder rather than the bottom. Anyone who needs custom logic should also budget for learning Deluge, since nothing else in the industry uses it.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | From 8 US dollars / user / month The 8 US dollar rate is the Standard plan billed annually; billed monthly the same plan is 12 US dollars per user and month. Standard covers one application, and unlimited applications start on Professional. |
| Free trial | 15-day free trial, no credit card required, defaulting to Professional features; a free edition covers one custom application |
| Output | Custom web applications with a matching native iOS and Android app, plus portals, business processes, integration flows and BI dashboards |
| API | Yes |
| Hosting | Zoho's cloud, AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or installed on your own servers on-premise |
Screenshots
Placeholders. They are replaced as soon as the vendor sends material, and both open the same short form.
Features
- What you build
- Custom web applications with a native iOS and Android app for every app built, plus PWA support and built-in mobile device management, and beyond single apps portals, business processes, integration flows and BI and analytics. CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds the app from a plain-language description, and conversational analytics answers questions about a dataset in plain English
- Stack and frameworks
- A drag-and-drop builder over an app schema with 32 form field types; custom logic is written in Deluge, Zoho's own scripting language
- Auth and database
- Role-based access control with single sign-on, IP restrictions, automated user management and SAML and Active Directory integration for large organisations
- Connectors
- Prebuilt connections to more than 200 web services such as PayPal, Stripe, Google Drive and Mailchimp, integration with all Zoho apps, and custom actions over REST APIs. Databridge, installed inside a private network, reaches Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, ActianZen and SAP HANA over an outbound-only connection. Data sources run from 5 on Standard to 30 on Enterprise, and custom connectors from 5 to 20
- Hosting and deploy
- Zoho's cloud with auto-scaling and data centres in multiple geographies, or deployment to AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or installation on your own servers on-premise. ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certified and SOC 2 compliant
- Governance and admin
- Every paid plan has developer environments for testing away from the live app, activity logs, an audit trail of record changes, backup and restore, a password policy, multi-factor authentication and encryption for PII and ePHI. Roles grow from 50 per app on Standard to 1,000 on Enterprise and permission sets from 10 to 250; SAML single sign-on is an add-on on Standard and Professional and included on Enterprise
- Payments
- Payment fields run through pre-integrated gateways, configured once and then reused by workflows; Razorpay, Cashfree and PayPal appear in the documentation, and which gateways are available depends on the data centre and the country and currency configured
- Access to the code
- The Deluge script behind every component can be read and edited in the Application IDE under Developer Tools, and an application's Deluge Script can be downloaded as a .ds file; that export is refused when a report in the application shows data from 150 fields or more
- AI assistant
- CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds an app with use cases, forms, reports, workflows, permissions and dashboards from a text prompt, a wireframe document or a process diagram, also on mobile. It suggests fields and integrations, writes or optimises Deluge code and cleans imported data. Zia can be configured with OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or Zoho's own GenAI, and AI calls run from 200 a month on Standard to 1,000 on Professional and Enterprise
- Pricing model
- Per user and month, with as many user licences as needed; annual billing saves more than 30 percent against monthly. The free plan and Standard cover one app each, Professional and Enterprise are unlimited, and Flex is assembled feature by feature and quoted. Customer portal users outside the organisation are a separate monthly add-on, in tiers from 250 to more than 100,000 portal users
Integrations
- Zoho CRM
- Zoho Books
- Zoho People
- Zoho Analytics
- Zoho Desk
- Zoho Flow
- Salesforce
- SAP
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Oracle E-Business Suite
- QuickBooks
- SharePoint
- Google Workspace
- PayPal
- Stripe
- Razorpay
- Twilio
- Zapier
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
-
- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
- On-premise
- Support
-
- Email helpdesk
- Phone
- Chat
- Community forum
- Onboarding
-
- Documentation and knowledge base
- Video tutorials
- Company size
-
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Suitability
| Industry | Freelancers | Small and mid-sized | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Architecture & Engineering | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Consulting | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Media & Creative | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Technology | Not stated | Stated as a fit | Stated as a fit |
The table combines the industries the vendor addresses with the company sizes the tool is aimed at. An empty cell means the combination is not stated, not that it is ruled out.
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Every app built comes with a native iOS and Android app, not only a responsive web view
- Runs on Zoho's cloud, on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or on your own servers on-premise
- CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds an application from a plain-language description
- Payment fields are built in and route through pre-integrated gateways
- ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certified and SOC 2 compliant
Limitations
- The Standard plan is limited to a single application; unlimited apps start at Professional
- Custom logic uses Deluge, a scripting language specific to Zoho
- AI model allowances and cloud function calls are capped per plan and per user per day
- Which payment gateways are available depends on the data centre and the currency configured
Pricing
-
Free edition
$0
One custom application, for individuals and small teams exploring low-code development.
-
Standard
12 US dollars
Per user and month, or 8 US dollars per user and month billed annually. 1 application, 20 custom and 50 ready-to-use AI models, 5 data sources, 5 custom connectors, 50 cloud function calls per user per day.
-
Professional
30 US dollars
Per user and month, or 20 US dollars per user and month billed annually. Unlimited applications, 100 custom and 250 ready-to-use AI models, 15 data sources, 10 custom connectors, 100 cloud function calls per user per day.
-
Enterprise
37 US dollars
Per user and month, or 25 US dollars per user and month billed annually. Unlimited applications, 100 custom and 250 ready-to-use AI models, 30 data sources, 20 custom connectors, 200 cloud function calls per user per day, with advanced integrations and analytics.
-
Flex
Custom
Quoted by Zoho for tailored requirements.
Best For
Alternatives and Comparisons
What users say
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