Zoho Creator Reviews

I am a developer, so I am an end-user and I consult; essentially, I cover everything. I have eight years of experience as a developer.

In my last year, as a developer with eight years of experience, I have implemented all business types of applications in Zoho Creator, covering almost every sector including medical, healthcare, insurance, financial, manufacturing, and education. I have developed applications for both ERP and CRM, addressing all the issues within these realms.

My customers usually use Zoho Creator for custom flow management, particularly for ERP since other products do not support rapid development as well. Zoho Creator is very straightforward, offering a lot of functionalities enabling development within a short period, even managing heavy loads effectively.

For example, in the case of OCR, if you upload any invoices from vendors, it automatically extracts data and inserts it into the systems, which showcases the features of classification and insights. There are many features available; it's up to the user and use cases, but these are a few examples of what can easily be utilized.

I have used Zoho Creator's AI integration features in my applications, and Zoho Creator supports its own AI integration along with third-party options, making it quite flexible. The AI features have provided actionable insights and significantly improved business operations for me.

Zoho Creator's workflow automation feature is very straightforward; it supports two types of users—technical and non-technical. Non-technical users can utilize the drag-and-drop interface to create automation with just a few clicks, while technical users can write their own code if interested.

Almost all features of Zoho Creator are valuable to me; only one feature is not relevant. It's a low-code platform, which is a significant aspect. From a functionality point of view, coding support and third-party integration have greatly enhanced my usage.

The seamless integration with third-party applications and services in Zoho Creator greatly enhances its utility in my business environment, as the ease of integration is impressive. They provide in-built integrations for many payment gateways, and even if a connection is not available, writing a daily script for integration is straightforward and requires very little coding. I have integrated tons of products without any hassle.

Zoho Creator has positively impacted my organization, especially regarding ERP applications. Traditionally, such applications require entire teams of developers, but with Zoho Creator, one single developer can handle everything. I manage Zoho Finance, different departments, and entire business organizations independently, leading to reduced costs. The pricing of Zoho Creator is low, and it promotes rapid development, saving both time and effort significantly.

Areas of Zoho Creator that could be improved in the future include further advancements in AI capabilities. They are working on generating AI features, and I believe enhancing the user interface could also be beneficial, as the company's focus seems more on functionality. UI could use some upgrades for better user experiences.

I would like them to keep enhancing their user interface, as while functionality is essential, improvement in UI would also benefit developers and end-users alike.

The desired improvements would focus on the user interface to support both developers and end-users better, even though there are alternate options available for hosting JavaScript pages, which I believe are unnecessary. HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap are supported, but I feel enhancements in UI/UX could further optimize user interactions.

I have been working with Zoho Creator for eight years.

Zoho Creator is stable. Even with new version launches, there is a confirmation process from my side, and any conflicts will be resolved before migration is allowed. The core elements of coding and daily scripting remain unchanged despite interface updates, assuring continuity in my work.

In terms of scalability, I find Zoho Creator to be very effective. If I want to scale an application, it is quick and straightforward; being browser-based allows me to drag and drop components immediately, deploying in seconds on a live application.

The technical support for Zoho Creator is quite comprehensive, providing chat, email, and community resources for support. If needed quickly, partners can offer dedicated support, and extended plans for rapid assistance are also available.

All documentation exists, detailing even the smallest elements; by reading through it properly, one can manage without additional support. But if help is required, all options are available.

I would rate the technical support a 10 out of 10.

Positive

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Zoho Creator; I started my career here. While I explored other applications later on, I always returned to Zoho Creator, as nothing else matched its capabilities.

I chose Zoho Creator initially during my college internship, which allowed me to learn extensively about the platform. After completing my Master's in machine learning and AI, I continued with Zoho Creator, impressed by its features, ultimately deciding it was a good choice over others.

My experience with the initial setup of Zoho Creator was very straightforward, with no complexities involved from start to finish.

I have deployed Zoho Creator on the cloud and did not recommend on-premises setup due to security compliance measures already in place and the additional resources required for physical infrastructure.

I have seen a considerable return on investment with Zoho Creator, as my comparisons with competitors show significant cost savings and efficiency improvements.

For instance, a company I worked with compared spending on Salesforce, which was 15 crore, to our expenses with Zoho Creator, which was only 2 crore annually. So, it is clear the time and cost savings are substantial, often saving up to 10 times in labor and effort.

I find the pricing of Zoho Creator to be very cheap. When compared to other low-code platforms, Zoho Creator consistently ranks at the top regarding functionality. Their native Android and iOS applications work across all operating systems, making it a great choice.

I assess the impact of Zoho Creator's robust data security measures on my organization as very positive. They maintain an entire cloud platform, work with various data centers, and comply with GDPR regulations, ensuring full security regardless of the country, so I have no issues regarding data security; it is very strong.

Zoho Creator offers its own cloud, so if you want on-premises deployment, you'd have to set that up yourself. Otherwise, Zoho Creator's cloud is readily accessible, allowing quick login and use.

Everything is cloud-based, which is very convenient compared to on-premises deployment.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Zoho Creator a 10.

I am working around three years with Zoho Creator. I have developed mostly 25 projects on Zoho Creator, 10 projects on Zoho CRM, and now I am working in Zoho Catalyst. It is a new tool, integrating with Zoho Creator with Zoho Catalyst.

At Avalus Global Technology, situated in Delhi, I joined two years ago. I developed an inventory database Zoho Creator application and integrated it with Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and one of my best applications is the FTJ, Fair Trade Jewelry, the Shopify integration with the Zoho Creator application. It replicates to Shopify with the Zoho Creator application and it generates the best revenue for the company.

Most of the products in Zoho, most of the applications, I created from scratch, and most of the 20-30% involve integration with Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho Booking. Now I am working as a team lead in the company, supervising 10 to 12 employees who have queries related to any problems about Zoho CRM, Catalyst, and Creator. I help solve their problems, and I interact with company clients because I present in every meeting concerning Zoho CRM and Creator.

Zoho Creator is one of the best tools; I also have experience converting applications to Android and iOS, which is essential because customers want to install APK files and iOS application files. I convert SDK to iOS and Android as well. Zoho Creator means if you have an organization with multiple users such as portal users and normal users, we develop an app, and after that, we can assign limited access such as staff access, customer access, or subscription-based access.

The Creator application cannot be deployed as a native application for Android or iOS. Customers can log in automatically, but it is based on the portal price. We can only use it for B2B—if I have a product to sell to vendors, vendors can view their reports, and they can add products. We are now developing integrations with Square app and Zapier, so we can render the data to the website using Zoho Creator API.

Regarding the Deluge scripting language, the environment has three stages that aid in application customization and workflow automation. The initial phase involves development, where we create functionalities, forms, and customization. After development, we move to staging, where we demonstrate the application to the client. The client can review, test, and request modifications. If approved, we move to the production environment. In cases where a client has an existing application that needs modifications, we create a development environment, implement changes, and then move to staging for client review once again. That is how we manage our workflow and functionality updates. Moreover, I emphasize the importance of documentation during this process, as it aids in understanding workflows and functions for future reference.

I have over three years of experience in this field, primarily working with clients from Saudi Arabia, Australia, and America, rather than within India.

The best feature of Zoho Creator is that it is a native application. Native means Zoho CRM and Zoho Creator. It has portal user access, drag-and-drop features, and the UI developed with limited options and high security. High security means if I deploy an Android application, it takes around five to six months. With Zoho Creator, we can optimize the process; we can create an application in one or two months.

The advanced features and security features of Zoho Creator mean that users and customers can access their data, incorporating multifactor authentication and OTP authentication. There is no need for advanced coding—it is a low-code application. If we go to Android or iOS applications, it involves a lengthy process and could lead to glitches in scripting. In contrast, Zoho Creator has optimized this with low coding, drag-and-drop functionalities, and tools such as subforms.

We cannot share permissions by the customer portal. Data security is a high feature, and when we create a dashboard in Zoho Creator, such as analytic reports, it renders data in chart form. Customers can be satisfied because if time management is efficient, we can develop an application in minimal time. Additionally, the database is included with Zoho Creator.

Multifactor authentication means users cannot sign in without it. We also have the ability to revert to previous versions if needed. Backup of applications is also available in Zoho Creator. We can connect with other applications if we purchase Zoho One, making integrations easy with Shopify, Square app, and other third-party applications.

Dynamic form builder has a lookup feature in Zoho Creator. We can render data by ID or any unique variable such as email, name of the form variable, and if the application is fully dynamic, we can use prompts to create it. The initial stage involves customizing the application using drag-and-drop functionality.

I have utilized Zoho Analytics tools in Zoho Creator. If we pay for Zoho One, we can access analytics reports, including pivot table reports. Zoho Analytics is a valuable tool that we can use to make reports and analyze data in different forms. If we integrate it properly, we can sync data in Zoho Analytics for further reporting. Rendering data such as charts and visuals is essential, which can be accomplished using the Zoho Analytics tools.

The creator needs improvement; for instance, if I create a widget that has dynamic data, it cannot get published. When we publish a page that contains a widget, dynamic data does not appear. That is the problem with Zoho Creator, so it needs improvement.

The portal user aspect is also costly; for example, purchasing 250 portal users can be expensive for clients who require them monthly. It creates a financial burden similar to how customer logins on e-commerce websites such as Flipkart or Amazon are generally free. Thus, Zoho Creator needs to offer free access for all portal users as they are essential for the application's usage.

In Zoho Creator, we cannot work on UI customization as expected; if I want an application resembling a Figma design, there are limitations on UI changes.

Regarding stability and scalability in Zoho Creator, we occasionally encounter scalability issues when clients have new requirements that might not be directly possible in Zoho Creator. Nevertheless, we search for workarounds and provide visualizations of the solutions to the client. While every Zoho application has limitations in accessibility and certain functionalities, we often manage to create effective alternatives for clients.

I have interacted with the Zoho team regarding technical support, particularly related to Zoho Inventory. A task involved retrieving data linked to the package module directly through scripting, which was not accessible. Connecting with Zoho support yielded helpful documentation and workarounds for us to utilize existing document modules in Zoho Inventory for upload tasks.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Zoho technical support a five because they don't always provide immediate solutions. Often, by the time we reach out, we have already put in the development effort needed to address the functionality issues. Consequently, we tend to rely on our developer team primarily.

Positive

Prior to working with Zoho Creator, I worked in web designing. After training with Zoho, I began working on Zoho CRM, and my expertise in low-code applications is primarily within Zoho Creator. I have worked with other Zoho products such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho Booking. I am highly skilled in Zoho Creator, but I am open to learning other low-code platforms if given the opportunity.

Regarding the initial setup of Zoho Creator, our team, along with the product manager, receives client documentation detailing their needs. I study the client's business to understand their requirements and conduct initial demos, often clarifying inventory needs and product categories. After gaining substantial information, we can develop a demo application and then proceed to implement the development environment. As we progress, we take into account client feedback for further changes, and it goes through stages of development and client approvals until completion.

Regarding pricing, Zoho Creator portal prices can be high. When considering overall cost-effectiveness and return on investment (ROI), I find that Zoho Creator is beneficial due to the solutions it offers. I recently worked on a project around the side shift in Zoho Creator, which had a two-month development timeline. It is now successfully deployed and processes data with dynamic pages converted into PDF using unique identifiers, capturing the client's specifications. This project has significantly contributed to revenue, making it a prime example of Zoho Creator's return on investment.

I would recommend Zoho Creator to others, advising them to prioritize data environments for their applications. Establishing development and staging environments before going live significantly mitigates data risks and potential damage, making it a critical piece of advice for every organization. I rate Zoho Creator an eight out of ten.

Regarding the usual use cases for Zoho Creator that I work with, I'm currently in Kenya and Zoho doesn't have a payroll system for our country, so we develop the payroll system or the payroll application in Zoho Creator. The other common use case involves manufacturing systems, and I have completed three of them. Zoho didn't have an out-of-the-box solution to cater for manufacturers and those in construction, so we developed custom solutions in the manufacturing and construction industry for our clients.

In one of their latest updates, there is a feature of being able to pull rows from a subform, which was something we were facing a challenge with, but it has been quite helpful since they enabled it.

The dynamic form builder of Zoho Creator helps capture essential data efficiently because clients vary from industry to industry, and the type of inputs they require usually varies. With the dynamic field that Zoho Form Builder provides, we are able to cater to those needs across various industries.

The AI feature in Zoho Creator is interesting, and while I haven't worked with it enough, from the few demos I've seen during Zoho events, I believe it's the future; therefore, focusing on AI capabilities could be an improvement.

I have been working with Zoho Creator for about three years now.

The initial setup and deployment is usually straightforward, and I actually love how easy it is to deploy their system, which is usually instant with no challenges.

In terms of stability and reliability, Zoho Creator is reliable, although we have experienced some downtime, mostly due to internet issues, such as when the main provider in Kenya faced lags. Zoho usually notifies us of scheduled maintenance in advance, so while we have had some downtime, it's not a significant issue.

The scalability of Zoho Creator is excellent, and adding additional users is straightforward. We have a client for whom we developed a payroll system, and though we initially thought it was just for the internal staff, we later realized they wanted to add casual laborers. Accommodating them was easy once we figured out the license issue, and it didn't affect performance.

I communicate with the technical support and customer service of Zoho Creator regularly. In-app support is satisfactory, but my major challenge is usually via email because they take long to reply. Chat is usually fast, but when they suggest reverting to email, I often feel I have to figure it out on my own.

Based on my experience with the technical support, I would rate them a 7.5. If they can improve their response time via email, I'd give them a 9, so I think an 8 is fair.

Positive

My usual process of the initial setup and deployment of Zoho Creator begins with a client requirements meeting to gather the requirements. We then develop a blueprint process highlighting what we need to do, which includes the workflows we'll configure, blueprints to add into the system, the different functions, and the kind of data pushed from one module to another.

The client goes through the blueprint, signs it, and then we begin the implementation process by developing modules and fields, integrating those modules by adding lookup fields, creating workflows, writing functions, conducting testing, doing a demo for the client, implementing any changes they recommend, doing training, and finally deploying the system to a live environment.

The integration capabilities of Zoho Creator are primarily done with the CRM and Zoho Books for cases such as payroll systems, where integration with finance provides a holistic view. For Zoho CRM, after nurturing all customers, you can push them to your bespoke system in Zoho Creator, making integration seamless within the Zoho ecosystem with no flaws.

Regarding Zoho Creator's Deluge scripting language, I find it simple to understand. Before I got into Zoho, I had never interacted with it, but after completing two or three tutorials, I understood it because the documentation is quite clear and easy to understand with comprehensive examples.

I've utilized Zoho Creator's analytics tools, specifically in terms of dashboards. When developing an application, management is usually interested in the dashboards, which have been able to cater to their requirements.

Concerning Zoho Creator's security features, they are perfect, although the out-of-the-box options are somewhat limiting, so I usually go with functions to define the roles and access levels with a simple script.

The pricing and licensing of Zoho Creator varies from country to country. In Kenya, the lowest plan is about 700 shillings, which is roughly five to seven dollars. The highest tier is around 2,000 Kenyan shillings or roughly $20, which is manageable for enterprise customers or SMEs, especially since they handle the hosting.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Zoho Creator a 9.

My experience includes over five years in this field, and I have completed many projects related to various technologies. I have set up a payroll system for Papa John's Pizza company on a Zoho Creator app, along with many other successful implementations.

The projects I have set up on Zoho Creator include payroll systems and accounting systems, pushing data from the Zoho Creator app to specific organizations. Some clients have 20 organizations and need one platform that contains all the data with the capability to push it to all organizations with a single button. We create the Creator app for the accounting system, which includes sales orders, purchase orders, vendors, inventory systems, and invoices. The systems we have created in the Creator app allow users to select organizations and push data to a selected organization or all organizations with one click.

I have set up the payroll system for Papa John's Pizza company by retrieving data from Zoho People and creating this data in a Zoho Creator app for three regions: KSA, Jordan, and UAE. I have also completed similar setups for Capstone, King Consultants, Bahrain Duty Free, and other significant projects on Zoho Creator.

I appreciate Zoho Creator because we can customize the dashboard according to our requirements, publish forms, set up forms, websites, and get data from their side. We have many features available, such as acquiring data from third-party apps and built-in dashboard features.

The dynamic form builders help to capture essential data efficiently by allowing us to create forms that we can publish and embed for specific purposes, such as on websites. When someone submits the form, the data is directly stored in the Zoho Creator app.

In the analytics tools, I work with SQL queries, and in Zoho Creator, we have built-in features that allow setting up analytics. These features let users drag and drop fields and set filters along the X and Y axes. For analytics, we employ two tools: Zoho Creator itself and Zoho Analytics, where we can use SQL queries to fetch data from multiple platforms. In Zoho Creator, we utilize it solely for the data we manage there.

AI is a developing tool that could enhance many aspects. Utilizing a more advanced UI and UX capability paired with more customization and ready-made modern templates for mobile and web apps could improve mobile responsiveness and branding controls. Additionally, regarding connections, not just with Zoho apps but also with external ones, there is a need for more pre-built connectors so users do not always require custom APIs.

Optimizing the handling of large data sets, providing more enterprise-grade development options, and ensuring full offline mobile apps with automatic background sync would also be beneficial. Furthermore, reducing dependency on Deluge scripts for simple automations and introducing a more intuitive drag-and-drop workflow builder would make a difference. There is indeed a large team collaborating, so they can gain from stronger visual control and improve tracking for production development workflows.

I have over five years of experience in this field.

In my last company, they had advanced partnerships with Zoho, and I have chatted with the Zoho team recently as a certified developer. If I face any issues with a Zoho app or require backend support, I initially communicate with their support team, who assist me in the Zoho Creator app. If a remote session is needed, they provide immediate help.

The tech support operates on a ticket-based email response system. Often, by the time they respond, I have already resolved the issue myself. I rate their support team six out of ten.

Before coming to Zoho, I was primarily a WordPress developer and also worked in web development and digital marketing. My focus was on coding, and I needed a solid platform to enhance my capabilities and provide business implementations and automations, which is why I chose Zoho Creator as it presents the best options for implementing business requirements.

The initial setup in Zoho Creator depends on whether you are building from scratch or using an existing Excel sheet to auto-generate an app. You can start with industry-specific pre-built templates and utilize a drag-and-drop interface to add fields, set validation tools, and convert data into tables, calendars, Kanban boards, and charts. We have built-in features including dashboards that contain multiple widgets such as KPI charts and pivot tables.

User roles and permissions can be defined to determine who can view, edit, approve, or manage data while assigning roles such as admin, manager, or user with specific access levels. We have automation workflows where we can leverage the Zoho Deluge scripting or workflow builder to send email notifications, update records, and automatically trigger actions when forms are submitted.

We can connect the Zoho Creator app with other Zoho apps such as CRM, Books, and Inventory, utilizing APIs or Zoho Flow for integration with third-party apps. Starting with these initial stages enables us to run small businesses effectively.

I start my projects with a plan to determine the best path forward based on requirements. I always try to make a clear plan for phase one and phase two so that I can effectively begin working on Zoho Creator. This is my preferred solution for starting any project because having a plan allows us to achieve our goals more easily without getting sidetracked.

Currently, I am working on Upwork, not with a specific company. I have worked with companies managing substantial projects, such as Papa John's Pizza company, and have developed work in cloud-based systems, while some of the records are not related to cloud-based systems as they rely on traditional, running-based systems.

The return on investment and cost-effectiveness from Zoho Creator depend on the subscription you choose. You can purchase a customer portal subscription if needed. If you are setting up on your website and want many customers to visit the Creator app and login, you qualify for a limited number of customer portal licenses in addition to your subscription.

I decided to choose Zoho Creator because it is the best option—an all-in-one Zoho ecosystem with over 45 apps in a single subscription. This approach eliminates the need to juggle multiple vendors, ensuring everything works seamlessly. Additionally, Zoho Creator offers cost-effective, enterprise-grade solutions at simple pricing, unlike competitors such as Salesforce or HubSpot, which can be significantly more expensive for similar functionalities.

The customizations available through Zoho Creator, along with Deluge scripting APIs and workflows, can adapt to any industry from healthcare to real estate to manufacturing, allowing you to retain your processes while the software adapts to your needs. Zoho Creator also works equally well for startups with five users or enterprises with thousands of users, enabling you to start small and scale according to your growth.

Used by over 100 million users worldwide, Zoho Creator stands out for being privately owned, which means they do not sell ads or user data and regularly provide pre-built and customizable solutions making it ideal for various industries. This affordability, flexibility, security, and readiness as a comprehensive business operating system perfectly aligns with business growth.

I have done integrations between multiple platforms, such as QuickBooks, Monday.com, Xero, GHL, and other integrations with Zoho Creator. I rate the enhancement of cross-platform functionality offered by these integration capabilities as seven out of ten.

I rate myself a seven because there are still things I need to learn regarding the integration part. Some integrations require more effort since I often use web hooks for integrating to get or update data, and custom APIs tend to need more time.

I have good experience in the integration part; however, Zoho has updated their API features, which can lead to some confusion about updates and new features. Recently, we have been using the V8 version for the Creator app while the previous version was V7. Some records are updated with V7 while others are updated with V8, which causes confusion. For example, in my latest experience with QuickBooks, I have fetched sales orders updated in the Creator app with V7, while purchase orders are updated with V8.

In Zoho Creator, we can utilize multiple features for user permissions. For customers, we can set up a customer portal feature. When they log in, we can grant permission for specific forms, apps, reports, or dashboards, enabling them to view their data. We can assign permissions for specific forms so they can only see specific customer details or reports.

I have created workflows and functions using the Deluge scripting language, and I rate myself nine out of ten in this particular area.

The main benefits I have seen from using Zoho Creator include being able to build and accelerate an exact business state with the drag and drop tools, minimizing coding. We can automate tasks, approvals, and processes using Deluge scripts and workflows, and seamlessly connect with both Zoho apps and external apps. Additionally, we can build mobile apps on Zoho Creator that work on desktop and mobile without extra development.

It allows for centralized data creation, custom dashboards, and the generation of real-time reports. For scalability, you can start small with an app and expand it to enterprise-level solutions with multiple users and departments. Zoho Creator also provides role-based access, edit trials, and compliance with standards such as GDPR to ensure data security, eliminating the needs for expensive custom development or the use of multiple tools by consolidating everything into a single platform.

It is essential to understand that Zoho Creator is advanced enough for beginners to build basic apps quickly using drag and drop features. It is not too complicated, allowing beginners to use no-code features right away, but for advanced business logic and integration, a steeper learning curve or developer support is necessary.

I rate Zoho Creator as a product or solution nine out of ten.

I worked in Zoho Creator for creating applications that are versatile, including different categories such as logistic department, wellness, healthcare departments, institute management, and travel management applications. From scratch, I created applications using Zoho Creator, and I implemented BGS developments CSS. These implementations can be done using Zoho Creator, and Deluge scripts are used to integrate with third-party applications such as WooCommerce, by mapping data and retrieving data from those third-party applications to Zoho Creator through integrations and scripts.

Zoho Analytics is different, and I can use it for major use cases such as data structuring, cleansing, and data structuring itself. We can automate with Zoho Analytics by collecting data from different applications. Before creating functions in Zoho Analytics, we can structure it using MySQL operations and achieve SQL before collecting data to merge and cleanse it. Zoho Analytics includes substantial storage, allowing us to collect a significant amount of data.

From using Zoho Creator for my organization, I provide numerous NGO projects. For example, I developed an application for an educational institute for tracking students' attendance, marksheets, and performance levels. We can analyze every student, among approximately 5,000 students studying in that institute, tracking their performance per month. We provide performance data to teachers and students' parents, significantly reducing the workload for teachers and improving the educational system's impact.

The most valuable feature of Zoho Creator is that we can easily create applications because there is 360-degree flexibility available. We can integrate with any other applications by using API, REST API, that we can collect, get, or post by using REST API script with any other application. This is an extremely major use case of this tool. Apart from that, we can create any applications and category applications very easily.

The Form Builder in Zoho Creator is not complicated; we simply have to use the capabilities of this low-code platform. We can use the drag-and-drop builder and create interactive forms with features such as conditional logic, validate conditions, and criteria from form fields rules we can achieve. Dynamic reporting sections are automatically created, and we can integrate it with other third-party applications as well. We can adapt based on user input or external data, and the drag-and-drop interface along with condition logic and dynamic fields makes it straightforward.

I use Deluge scripts for customization in Zoho Creator, where we can achieve workflow criteria, validations, automation pop-ups, or notifications triggered after submitting data. Deluge script is similar to Python script, but it is specifically designed for Zoho use cases. It is only used within Zoho.

I wish Zoho Creator could improve its API calls and functional running times. If we call data, the maximum running time for a function is five minutes. If we want to update 5,000 data in one function, we cannot do it because the running time for those records takes around at least ten minutes. This limitation is a drawback, as we can update only about 1,000 or 2,000 records in a single function call.

I have been working in Zoho Creator for around five years, and I am familiar with Zoho Creator, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Analytics. I am a Zoho One developer. Using Zoho tools, I perform customization and work as an implementation specialist.

The Form Builder is a familiar concept in Zoho Creator that I work with regularly.

Zoho Creator is stable, and I find it consistently usable despite its drawbacks such as limited data handling, offering versatile flexibility for various integrations, such as WhatsApp and email API integration.

I would rate Zoho Creator's scalability as seven out of ten for my needs because I have encountered some limitations regarding storage capacity. We cannot manage big data efficiently, struggling with managing 50K records or updating records from one to another due to issues such as runtime errors and API call limitations.

I often communicate with the technical support of Zoho Creator for issues such as data breaches or when updates are made by team members without our knowledge. We approach technical support to track who changed what and when the data was affected.

I would rate the technical support 10 out of 10 because they provide excellent assistance.

Positive

Before I started using Zoho Creator, I was using Python scripts and worked on front-end development involving CSS and JavaScript, along with data analytics and data science aspects.

I participate in the initial setup and deployment of Zoho Creator. There are development area options available in Zoho Creator, including production and development stages. We use the development stage to give pre-POC and pilot versions, then demo using the production stage. After confirmation and satisfaction from the client, we transition to the production level.

The initial setup of Zoho Creator is straightforward, and I do not face any major challenges because I create a flowchart to visualize what needs to be done using Figma or a table chart. First, I create that workflow, and then I start working in Zoho Creator.

Using Zoho Creator is affordable for my business as it helps save time. I am not certain if it saves money directly, but I am sure it is effective in saving time and labor costs, which is very important.

The pricing of Zoho Creator depends on the subscription level, with four types available: Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and Flexibility. For INR, the standard cost is 480 per month, the professional tier is around 1,200, and the enterprise level is 1,500, based on the subscription level per user for Zoho Creator.

I consider the price of Zoho Creator to be very affordable. It is comparatively low-cost compared to other products such as Salesforce and Freshworks, making it a cost-effective option for both small scale and large scale industries.

Prior to choosing Zoho Creator, I evaluated other options such as Appian software, Freshdesk, and Salesforce. There are various other applications in Zoho based on our requirements, including Zoho CRM, Zoho Recruit, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Books, and it holds more than 50 applications.

I use Zoho Creator from scratch, version 2 to version 5. I have experience in all these versions. Currently, they integrate with AI, named Zia. By using Zia, we can simply give the prompt that front-end forms and reports are automatically created. Zia only creates front-end frameworks forms and reports, while back-end workflows must be created manually.

We can achieve three kinds of type integration in Zoho Creator. We can easily integrate inside the Zoho applications such as Zoho Creator to Zoho Books or Zoho Creator to another Zoho Creator just for configuration connection; that microservice option exists there. We can configure it and get the data from one application to another application. Another way is through Zoho Flow, which connects third-party applications and Zoho applications. We can connect with applications such as Google and Zoom applications, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and email triggers through Zoho Flow. Additionally, we can connect with Oracle or MySQL; however, there are some restrictions in Zoho Flow, so we can achieve only the REST API. The last option is through REST API; we generate that API key and provide it to the third-party application to achieve data and post data.

The security features of Zoho Creator are important since Zoho has a private host. It is a cloud-based platform, and all security depends on Zoho's hosting part. Zoho has different hosting zones in India and Germany, depending on our country. If any kind of data is unfortunately deleted in your application, we can call Zoho support, as they can restore any data because they track every single operation performed in our application.

I rate this solution 9 out of 10.

Our company is a Zoho partner company, so I will be completely dealing with Zoho products to fulfill the client requirements.

In CRM, if we want to delete any field, we can delete it directly. However, in Zoho Creator, if it is integrated with any workflows or functions, we cannot delete it, which is a valuable feature. When integrating functions in CRM, deleting a field is not feasible. For example, if there is a name field integrated into workflows or functions in Zoho Creator, we need to remove and edit those functions before deleting that field. In CRM, deleting a configured field can cause functions to fail due to errors.

The flow is moderate, neither completely easy nor completely difficult. When newcomers want to create applications, they start with a basic understanding of workflows and functionalities. Through research via Google search or YouTube, they can build basic to mid-level applications. Creating forms, implementing pop-up notifications, and sending email notifications can be done easily using Deluge.

I would rate Zoho Creator 8.5 to 9 out of 10. Zoho Creator is a powerful application where we can accomplish numerous tasks with experience and knowledge. We can generate QR codes for free, whereas in CRM, QR generation requires external purchases.

One significant issue with Zoho Creator is the lack of backup when items are deleted, unlike CRM where backups are available. Additionally, there is no import history. While logs exist, we cannot undo imports, which is possible in CRM.

Another limitation involves large automation processes with multiple functionalities due to statement limitations. A function can have about 5,000 statements. When dealing with loops, such as fetching data record by record, optimization of lines becomes necessary.

For the past one year.

The customer service is quite good. When issues are escalated, responses are faster. Sometimes there might be delays, which is common in every system, but they respond rather than avoiding issues.

Positive

The pricing depends on business requirements. Zoho offers customizable pricing options, such as Zoho One, which provides access to all 40 applications for 1250. For small-scale companies, it might not be suitable. It is more appropriate for mid-level companies or those transitioning to mid-level. On a scale of 1 to 10, Zoho becomes worthwhile for businesses operating above level four.

I have awareness of the dynamic form builder but haven't used it in projects beyond gaining hands-on experience. Zoho Creator is being integrated with AI, which will enable automatic application building through prompts. As a low-code tool, Zoho Creator will feature Zia Assistant in the Deluge Script to provide immediate assistance with issues.

Zoho offers various products including Zoho Creator, Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho Subscriptions, allowing users to choose based on their requirements.

This review rates Zoho Creator as 9 out of 10.

I have created multiple custom applications in Zoho Creator, with a standout being an inventory management system, and recently, I was working on a company internal ERP that was created inside Zoho Creator, which was a Kiosk management system, so that was an ERP kind of system created inside Zoho Creator.

In Zoho Creator, I find the ability to work with CSS and put some HTML in pages to create custom reports to be the most valuable and useful features, along with the publish feature and the portal feature, which are really good. I would say it is great as long as you are only working within Zoho Creator.

I have used Zoho Creator's dynamic form builder, which is really good and consists of a form builder that has a lot more fields than any other Zoho applications, allowing us to put some custom CSS there using notes and documents fields.

Zoho Creator helps capture essential data efficiently as it has more fields, such as AI fields, and allows placing URLs inside our image field, which is really good because if we only have a URL for an image on the internet, we can just put it there and Zoho Creator will pick it up. We can also hide and show fields based on user selection or detection of which permissions they have.

I find Deluge scripting language in Zoho Creator to be very easy and impactful for application customization options and workflow automation, as even a person with no coding experience can easily learn it. However, it has limitations such as functions that do not execute for more than five minutes and does not support data more than 5 MB.

I have utilized Zoho Creator's analytics tools, which are really good for managing many things. While I am talking about Zoho Analytics, where you have to build DB relationships, I feel there are data redundancy issues. However, you can do some custom things inside Zoho Creator as well based on using Deluge, so I would say its analytics is good but not as good as Zoho Analytics.

Regarding the security features of Zoho Creator, I find it really good with its permission structure based on roles and permissions, allowing us to design our own permission structures on top of what we have at the backend using hide, show, and disable fields with custom Deluge functions that exist only inside Zoho Creator.

I think there are a lot of areas in Zoho Creator that could be improved or enhanced. When writing HTML and CSS inside the pages, I have to use HTML for adding data and CSS for designing, but we have to use Deluge instead of JavaScript, which does not have the same events, so we cannot create a single line field and pick events based on that when writing HTML and CSS in the pages.

I would appreciate improvements in the ability to publish pages in Zoho Creator because if there is a widget inside a page, they will not let it publish. We can only publish HTML snippets, so if they could allow the widgets to be published as well, then that would be a lot better since there is a feature in Zoho Creator called widgets, which is used in most Zoho applications to add custom codes.

I am concerned that Zoho Creator does not have good integration capabilities, as it has a lot of API limits. While it is easy to design anything staying inside Zoho Creator with one application or multiple applications, it becomes a headache when going outside, since Zoho Creator lacks good widget API documentation and does not allow hitting an API outside of Zoho Creator.

In terms of stability and reliability, I feel it is good as long as you stay inside Zoho Creator, but it gets messier as soon as you involve other Zoho applications. Reliability follows the same trend, and it is reliable mostly when working on Zoho Creator.

I would rate the scalability of Zoho Creator around three in terms of some features, as most things are good with Zoho CRM.

I do not often communicate with Zoho Creator's technical support and customer service, as I do not think I have ever contacted Zoho Creator support.

I have not used a different solution for the same use cases before Zoho Creator. Rather, the two applications that I started with are Zoho CRM and Zoho Creator, performing functionalities on them from the start.

My experience with the initial setup of Zoho Creator involves designing forms and reports for the database, wanting to show users pages with custom HTML and CSS and Deluge. However, it sometimes takes time to design the whole database, especially with subform handling and relationships, which are not really good, and they need to enhance their API capabilities similar to Zoho CRM.

I am not really aware of the pricing and licensing of Zoho Creator, as we mostly use Zoho One, which includes the full package and most of the items of Zoho. Overall, I would rate Zoho Creator an 8.5 based on everything I just described, where 10 would be the best product and one would be the worst. Additionally, I would assign a rating of eight to Zoho Creator based on my overall experience.

There can be several different use cases for Zoho Creator that I work with. I can use Zoho Creator for all types of custom applications. I have built BOM applications and manufacturing-related applications. Using Zoho Creator, we can build custom applications from start for all types of activities we want. I've created applications that handle sales order management and purchase order management, covering every process from procurement to the final finished product for a manufacturing client.

I have also worked on applications related to accounting industries, including a CA firm managing different organizations across countries with an application that allows them to manage all their entities in one place using Zoho Creator, where they can get dashboard views of outstanding amounts and track their income. Additionally, I have created an inventory application for a non-profit client, allowing them to store inventory data, raise service requests, and manage everything from start to finish. There are many ways to utilize Zoho Creator since it's a no-code development platform that lets us create apps from scratch based on specific use cases.

Several features and capabilities of Zoho Creator are valuable to me. The drag-and-drop interface is quite easy to understand for business users. It supports multiple programming languages within the Zoho framework, allowing us to write code in Java, Python, and other languages to connect to our custom applications built on Zoho's Deluge framework. We can also use the native Zoho language, Deluge. Recently, Zoho Creator introduced an AI module, enabling us to create applications from prompts, which is a useful feature for business users. Another feature is the capability to create schedules that trigger different functions or processes at various intervals, which I find very advantageous.

I have utilized Zoho Creator's dynamic form builder, and it has helped us capture essential data efficiently. There are several types of fields available for capturing all types of data, such as health history and compliance encryption for sensitive data. We can also capture credit card numbers and various input styles, from small text inputs to entire essays or paragraphs. Furthermore, dynamic forms allow for dynamic input from URLs, and I haven't encountered any use case where dynamic forms have let us down.

Regarding the integration capabilities of Zoho Creator, you can use several different languages within it, including the native Deluge language, which is perfect for integrating with Zoho native applications like Zoho CRM. There are two types of integration: native integration powered by Zoho Flow, which doesn't require code, and custom integration, where we can write code in various languages. I have utilized Python and JavaScript for integration, and we can also use Deluge to integrate with several different applications, making Zoho Creator's integration capabilities quite robust.

We have used Zoho Creator's analytics tools. Apart from Zoho Analytics, which is a standalone analytics tool, Zoho Creator offers the most flexible analytics tools available among Zoho applications. We can sort data by various parameters and capture data through different sources within Zoho Creator itself. We can connect several different forms to Zoho Creator and visualize data in multiple ways using its reporting features, referred to as page and report features, which I find very effective.

Zoho Deluge scripting language provides excellent customization options for applications and workflow automation. It allows for 100% customization for integrating with any Zoho application, from Zoho CRM to Zoho Books, including pre-populating data, making it perfect for those use cases. However, for integration with other applications, such as Avalara for tax details, you may need to use the JavaScript feature. Overall, I find that Zoho Deluge works effectively, is a lightweight language, and executes quickly, although I believe there's room for improvement in some areas.

Regarding improvements in the Deluge scripting language, I would like to see enhancements in its loop feature, which behaves differently compared to loops in other languages. Additionally, the execution time limit of five minutes can be restrictive for more complex scenarios, so I hope to see improvements in those areas.

Currently, I don't have any other areas of improvement in mind for Zoho Creator, since most of the use cases I have worked with have been well-supported by Zoho Deluge. It fits the requirements perfectly, and while there are challenges that require out-of-the-box thinking, they are not limitations of Zoho Creator itself.

I have been working with Zoho Creator for three years, both as a developer and as a user.

In my three years of experience, I have only faced two downtimes with Zoho Creator, which indicates a high level of stability and reliability.

Zoho Creator is fully scalable in my experience. I've worked with a client that started with 10 employees and simple processes, and they currently have over 500 employees in three different countries. We are continuing to build on top of what was initially created for them, ensuring that scalability is never an issue as long as you understand how to utilize Zoho properly.

I have communicated with the technical support and customer service of Zoho Creator. I rate their support around a six out of ten, as there is room for improvement in their support capabilities. For example, I currently have over five tickets open, some of which have been unresolved for over a month. Although live chat is effective for sorting most issues quickly, delays arise once the support team must refer to backend processes or developers, highlighting the need for enhancement in their overall support system.

Neutral

I usually participate in the initial setup and deployment of Zoho Creator. I give client demos and gather requirements from the client. Zoho Creator, in particular, is like a canvas; how complex the final picture can be will depend on the complexity of the process. I have implemented many complex processes inside Zoho without any issues because I have full confidence in its capabilities. I am usually able to implement 99% of client requirements natively using Zoho's features. For more complex needs that cannot be addressed natively, we can create custom solutions. We can use various coding languages to build widgets, which allows us to enhance the user experience and integrate additional functionalities. Generally, we encounter minimal difficulties during the initial setup of Zoho applications.

I am a developer. We do not use Zoho Creator internally; we only work for the customer. I am currently working with the latest version of Zoho Creator, which is V8.

The security features of Zoho Creator are state-of-the-art, specifically regarding the compliance methods and encryption they use. It's a solid business tool that offers GDPR compliance, along with US health compliance standards. The encryption and security features are particularly impressive, especially when you consider the cost at which Zoho Creator is offered. Many enterprise companies, including those in India, are using Zoho Creator regularly, indicating a building trust in its security features.

I am aware of the pricing of Zoho Creator, which comes in several different plans. The best one, which most of my projects have used, is the Zoho One subscription, Zoho's flagship product, including 45 plus applications, including the enterprise version of Zoho Creator. The enterprise version includes most of Zoho's features, though it excludes some very advanced features like Zoho AI analytics. In USD, the pricing is around $45 per month for Zoho One, which many clients have found affordable compared to similar low-code or no-code products. There are standard and professional plans for simpler use cases, where I created an inventory application under the standard plan. All the plans cater to various needs based on different use cases.

My overall rating for Zoho Creator is 9.5 out of 10.

A few use cases for Zoho Creator are that we use it for creating different applications which are not readily available under Zoho's own system. Sometimes the business cases are for different purposes where the readymade drag and drop option doesn't work, so we use Zoho Creator to create different applications to suit our business needs. It is also used to pull data from different applications and store it under the Zoho Creator form itself, allowing for different workflow automations similar to how other low-code platforms work. The main thing we use it for is Deluge Scripting, which is mainly used, as it's a proprietary language of Zoho. Apart from that, it also has HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create widgets.

I have used the dynamic form builder in Zoho Creator, which is a main part of Zoho Creator applications. The dynamic form builder is where the drag and drop functionality comes in. It is section-wise, so I can see what records are there. It is readily applicable and can be deployed easily as well, with user access for portals being available.

What I find beneficial about Zoho Creator is that it is advantageous in terms of monetary reasons because to have Zoho Creator, I just need a license. I don't need to worry about the backend architecture or server load. I also don't need to worry about creating a full user interface from scratch because it has its inbuilt drag and drop option, and it can be started without needing to be a full developer. The supporting documentation is there, which makes it beneficial, and it can also be accessed in the mobile version. It is platform-independent, so I don't need to worry about that.

Zoho Creator comes with different applications and has Zoho's own architecture support. It's beneficial for medium, small-level, and enterprise-level applications.

The integration capability of Zoho Creator has enhanced my organization's cross-platform functionality since it integrates by default with other Zoho applications such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and other applications that automatically come under the Zoho marketplace. Additionally, we utilize the Zoho REST API for custom integration with third-party websites or applications. If these applications provide REST APIs, they can automatically integrate, showing the flexibility to integrate with different applications as well as its own integration with Zoho applications.

I have utilized Zoho's analytics tools which help me in data-driven decision-making processes. Zoho Creator stores the data and creates some reports, but we ultimately do integrations with Zoho Analytics, where the data is stored. We can create different types of reports, whether they are graphs, plots, dashboards, as well as automating emails for scheduling.

The impact of the Deluge Scripting language on my application's customization options and workflow automation has been significant. One recent use case where we needed to automate a manual process, which used to take two or three weeks for one of our departments, was solved by using Zoho Creator's Deluge Script functions and Zoho's APIs. This reduced the time from two weeks to just two days, significantly decreasing the manual process and reducing work hours for the organization.

The security features in Zoho Creator, such as role-based access controls, are highly important for business operations. Not only does Zoho Creator provide proper user access management, but it also offers granular access permissions through role-based and form-based controls. Moreover, Zoho itself is GDPR compliant regarding data security, so users, developers, or other users of Zoho do not need to worry about compliance issues, as Zoho takes care of those local laws related to data security.

I would appreciate more API integrations and more documentation terms related to Deluge Script in Zoho Creator. They have some documentation, but as a developer, additional documentation with examples or use cases would help me write better code.

I have been working with Zoho Creator for more than four years.

I was involved in the initial setup of Zoho Creator, which is done by Zoho itself, providing access. As a developer, I needed to do the full setup.

Setting it up was straightforward, and I did not face any challenges or complexities in the very first stages because I had been using Zoho for five years. Initially, the documentation or webinars were not that great, but they are improving now.

Regarding performance, I have experienced very rare downtimes, crashes, or stability issues with Zoho Creator, occurring maybe once or twice a year, and even then it is just the whole site being down during those times. Otherwise, there are no issues.

When it comes to scalability, I find it is not fully scalable, but to some extent, it is scalable because it comes with its own low-code platform.

The customer service and technical support team are always responsible, but sometimes responses get delayed. That has happened to me once or twice.

Positive

I have not used any other low-code or no-code platforms before Zoho Creator; this is my first one. I did not evaluate any other options before deciding to go with Zoho Creator.

The pricing, setup cost, and licensing cost of Zoho Creator are very cost-effective compared to other similar tools. The information is available on the website. It is effective for small businesses as well as big businesses, making it useful in terms of money.

My advice for other organizations considering Zoho Creator for their environment is that since it is platform-independent, it can be used with any operating system without any external dependencies, making it versatile for usage on any system. Based on my experience, I rate Zoho Creator 8.5 out of 10.

The usual use cases for Zoho Creator that I work with can really depend. The whole point of Zoho Creator is to fill the gap where other Zoho apps cannot fulfill certain requirements. It is a low-code app builder, so the use cases can be completely different for every customer I work with. For some customers, it might be a booking system for something they're doing. For other customers, it might be that we're using it to integrate two different applications. It's there for when the other Zoho apps don't do the job; Zoho Creator is the fallback.

The features or capabilities of Zoho Creator that I have found the most valuable so far is customization. That's really the point of it, being able to drag and drop and build whatever app you want. The custom code support is really good; you can write your own scripts and make API calls to different third-party applications. That's really what it's all about.

The integration capability of Zoho Creator enhances customers' cross-platform functionality, though it depends on what we're trying to do. One example is we have a number of customers that use Xero as their bookkeeping software, but they want to be able to integrate Xero with CRM. There are a couple of pre-built integrations, but they're all very limited. So what we've done for these customers is we've built a custom integration using Zoho Creator that allows their integration with Xero to work exactly as they wanted. This is a huge time saver because they don't even need to look at Xero since they're doing everything from Zoho.

Zoho Creator's Deluge scripting language is really flexible in terms of application customization options and workflow automation. The biggest limit is what you can do in Deluge, but these days there aren't many limits to that. You can also use Node.js, so you can write in a more mainstream programming language. That does give you further flexibility. There are limitations in terms of number of lines of code you can execute within a particular run, but that's pretty high and hard to run into these days.

My impression of Zoho Creator's dynamic form builder is that it's pretty good. The downside is that it looks very functional but not always the prettiest looking app. If you're building something that's going to be customer facing, the functionality can almost always be built. Looks-wise, that can be more of a challenge. There is a Pages feature where you can use custom CSS to style things further, but it's still somewhat limited. The biggest downside is the design flexibility.

There are limitations with Deluge, though it depends on what you're trying to do. As long as you know what you're doing with Deluge, it's pretty easy to avoid those limitations. Another common limitation is that an API call can only wait for a response for 30 seconds. When using the OpenAI API, sometimes because of the nature of AI, it takes a while to respond and generate that response, so the connection can time out.

I would evaluate the analytics tools of Zoho Creator as limited. Zoho has a separate product called Zoho Analytics, and the expectation would be that you would connect Creator to Zoho Analytics and do your reporting through there. There are some limited functionalities built in, but really you would be plugging it into Zoho Creator.

The biggest area for improvement is the look and feel when building a customer portal as it's not that customizable. The whole point of Zoho Creator is that you're building an app for yourself, so all of the limitations are down to what you as a person are able to technically do within the software.

I have been working with Zoho Creator for about seven years.

I would say Zoho Creator is stable and reliable. I have never had an issue with it not being stable.

It is very important for my customers for Zoho Creator to be stable and reliable. If it's not stable, we wouldn't use it. It's as simple as that - you can't rely on any software in business if it's not going to be stable and reliable.

I would evaluate Zoho Creator as very scalable within my experience. Obviously, as you grow and you want more users and more API usage, costs will increase over time, but that's the same with any sort of cloud platform.

When my customers' needs are growing, Zoho Creator is able to adapt to these growing needs because it's a build-it-yourself application. Zoho Creator is similar to Squarespace or Wix of building apps. When you log into Zoho Creator, there's nothing there because you have to build the app. So it's as scalable as you build it ultimately.

I communicate with the technical support and customer service of Zoho on occasion. I try to avoid it as it's not the best, in all honesty, but they've got very good forums and very good documentation. If you need to contact their technical support, it can be quite a painful process to get to somebody that actually can help you solve your problem.

Positive

I usually participate in the initial setup and deployment of Zoho Creator. Usually if we're working for a client, we're normally the ones that would build it for the client, and then the client's just going to be using what we build in there.

The usual deployment and setup process for Zoho Creator is pretty straightforward. Any challenges come from the problem we're trying to solve for the customer, not necessarily Zoho Creator in itself.

Zoho Creator doesn't really have set versions necessarily. They have big releases every couple of years, but there aren't really set versions. They brand the current one as version six, but it just updates itself. It's a SaaS product, so it's not a matter of switching between versions.

The security aspect of Zoho Creator doesn't need improvement as it does everything needed.

I am vaguely aware of the pricing and licensing of Zoho Creator, but I normally suggest any client that uses Zoho to be on a Zoho bundle of some sort. They would never pay for Creator on their own.

It is more beneficial to get a bundle of Zoho products because it saves money, and if you're using the other Zoho apps, the chances are you would use Zoho Creator because you're using the other Zoho apps. If a company wasn't using Zoho, I probably wouldn't suggest Zoho Creator initially. There are probably other tools out there, but if you're using Zoho, then Zoho Creator is a great tool to be able to do any custom workflows you need.

I consider Zoho Creator an affordable tool that's worth the money.

The security features of Zoho Creator, such as role-based access controls, are good. Across the Zoho apps, you have user permissions and access roles, and you can use a combination of both. You can share all of your sales team's data that can roll up to you, but they don't necessarily see your data if you're sitting above them in the hierarchy. It also includes standard features two-factor authentication and all the standard security features you'd expect from enterprise software.

On a scale of 1-10, I would rate Zoho Creator an 8.