Clockwork CRM vs Zoho.
One unified platform vs forty separate apps. UK-built, UK-hosted, with no app-switching required.
Why businesses are switching from Zoho.
Zoho has impressive breadth - over 40 separate applications covering CRM, marketing, support, projects, and more. But that breadth comes at a cost: fragmentation. Each app has its own interface, its own pricing, and its own learning curve. Getting your CRM, email marketing, project management, and support tools to work together means juggling multiple Zoho products that don't always share data smoothly.
Zoho is headquartered in India - data can be hosted in the EU, but not specifically in the UK. Support quality varies depending on your plan tier, and you may find yourself navigating global support channels rather than speaking to a local team.
Everything works together because it was built together.
Feature comparison.
See exactly what you get with Clockwork CRM vs Zoho.
| Feature | Clockwork CRM | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| UK-based company | ||
| UK data hosting | ||
| UK-based support team | ||
| Setup costs | Free | Varies |
| Contact management | ||
| Sales pipeline | ||
| Multiple pipelines | ||
| Weighted forecasting | ||
| Quotations & invoicing | ||
| Email marketing | ||
| Marketing sequences | ||
| Built-in email client | ||
| Project management | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Case management | ||
| Telephony & call recording | ||
| AI call transcription | ||
| SMS messaging | ||
| Forms & landing pages | ||
| Document creation | ||
| White-label branding | ||
| Knowledge base | ||
| All features in one app | ||
| Automations | ||
| Bespoke plugin development | ||
| All features included in base price |
* Zoho offers individual apps or bundled suites. Features marked as available may require purchasing separate Zoho applications (Zoho Desk, Zoho Projects, Zoho Campaigns, etc.) at additional cost. Zoho One All Employee is £45 per user per month on monthly billing (£37 on annual commitment) and must be purchased for every employee, not just CRM users. Zoho Campaigns in the bundle caps at 5,000 contacts - further capacity is a paid add-on from about £3 per user per month. Prices valid as of April 2026. Clockwork CRM prices exclude VAT; competitor pricing is each vendor's published list price and may be quoted on a different basis.
Do the maths.
Zoho markets itself as cheaper than Clockwork CRM. On monthly billing with the add-ons most teams actually need, the gap is small - and Zoho's "all employee" licensing means you pay for every employee, not just CRM users.
Zoho One All Employee requires licensing every employee in your business - not just the ones using CRM. If only half your team needs CRM, the Flexible User plan jumps to £100 per user per month - more than Clockwork CRM. Fragmented experience across 40+ separate apps. No native UK data hosting, no native telephony, no SMS, no white-label.
Zoho alternatives: common questions.
Is Clockwork CRM a good Zoho alternative?
Zoho's breadth is real - more than forty applications covering almost everything. The trade-off is fragmentation: each app has its own interface, its own pricing and its own learning curve, and getting them to share data smoothly is its own project. Clockwork CRM is one platform where the CRM, email marketing, projects, telephony and case management were built together.
Zoho markets itself as cheaper - is it?
On monthly billing the gap is smaller than it looks, and the licensing model is the catch. Zoho One All Employee is £45 per user per month and must be bought for every employee in the business, not just the people using the CRM. With the Campaigns add-on most teams need beyond 5,000 contacts, a ten-seat equivalent lands near £48 per seat.
If only half your team needs a CRM, the Flexible User plan is £100 per user per month - more than Clockwork CRM Business at £60 ex VAT, where you license only the people who actually need it.
Can I move my data across from Zoho?
Not in the self-serve migration app yet - that currently covers HubSpot, Pipedrive and Capsule. We can still get you moved: tell our UK team what you're coming from and they'll bring your data across by CSV import, through the API, or with a hand-built migration for your system.
Where is my data stored?
On UK-based Microsoft Azure servers, encrypted at rest and in transit. Zoho is headquartered in India and can host in the EU, but not specifically in the UK.
Do I need to buy several products to match Clockwork CRM?
No - that's the main structural difference. Contact management, sales, email marketing, projects, case management, telephony, SMS, documents and the knowledge base are one product at one price, rather than Zoho CRM plus Desk plus Projects plus Campaigns, each with its own subscription and interface.
Is there a free trial?
Fourteen days with full access and no credit card, and you only ever license the users who need it.
Why choose Clockwork CRM over Zoho?
- License only the users who need CRM - Zoho One's cheap tier forces you to license every employee
- Everything in one unified platform - no switching between separate apps for CRM, marketing, support, and projects
- UK-based company with UK data hosting on Microsoft Azure - your data stays on British soil
- Built-in email client with full IMAP sync - not a separate mail app
- AI call transcription and SMS messaging included as standard
- White-label branding with custom domains - present the CRM as your own
- Bespoke plugin development with isolated database schemas for custom extensions
- Speak directly to the team that built the software - real UK-based support, not tiered global support
14-day free trial. No credit card required.
Zero feature restrictions. Zero risk.
