Zoho CRM and Apollo.io are competitive products within the CRM and sales automation sector. While Zoho CRM offers robust customer support and scalability, Apollo.io provides advanced features for sales engagement and data enrichment, making it a better choice for those focused on these areas.
Features: Zoho CRM offers extensive customization, multi-channel communication tools, and comprehensive workflow automation. It provides robust reporting and a scalable platform to manage various business functions. Apollo.io, on the other hand, emphasizes a data-driven approach with powerful analytics and an integrated prospecting toolkit, aimed at enhancing sales and marketing activities.
Room for Improvement: Zoho CRM could improve its user interface to make it more intuitive and easier to navigate for beginners. Additionally, it could enhance its mobile application for better on-the-go access. Apollo.io might benefit from expanding its CRM functionalities to include features beyond sales and marketing, as well as improving integration with third-party applications for a seamless workflow.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zoho CRM offers both on-premises and cloud-based deployment, along with proactive customer support available through various channels such as chat and phone. Apollo.io provides a cloud-based deployment model that ensures quick setup times, emphasizing onboarding and support through an intuitive ticketing system.
Pricing and ROI: Zoho CRM is recognized for its competitive pricing structure with scalable plans that offer considerable ROI through its productivity features. Apollo.io, though perceived as costlier in initial setup, delivers substantial ROI for businesses focusing on sales performance with specialized lead generation and engagement tools.
Comparing the price of Apollo.io to ZoomInfo, Apollo.io provides better value while maintaining data accuracy and consistently generating leads from its database of over 270 million contacts.
I would say still with the new pricing, Apollo.io is the cheapest and it gives us a positive ROI.
Many campaigns that we have run and are running deliver significant ROI thanks to the quality of the data and the options to build out very tight audiences using a wide variety of targeting filters.
While the support was adequate, it could be more efficient as the response time was somewhat slow.
We had issues with Apollo.io's technical support because they repeatedly provided the same responses even when our issues were different.
Sometimes, they don't understand what my actual needs are.
The 1.5 deduction from 10 is due to cultural communication differences based on where we're getting the support, as sometimes it takes a couple of times to communicate clearly enough for them to understand the issue.
There are multiple blogs and articles available online for self-help.
They have automation capabilities for cadences and AI functionalities.
Apollo.io is not very scalable if your company has a bigger budget - you need to simply move on from Apollo.io.
Apollo.io's scalability is very good.
The system is easy to understand, implement coding, and conduct training.
Zoho CRM is quite scalable; I have worked with clients who started with ten companies and have scaled up to managing 500 employees effectively within Zoho CRM.
The platform's global data centers across regions such as the US, EU, and India ensure data security and privacy through ISO certification and strong role-based security, which is essential for handling sensitive customer data.
The app is very heavy and takes time to load, with frequent stuttering and freezing issues.
Zoho CRM guarantees 99% uptime, with downtime incidents being very rare.
I find Zoho CRM to be 100% stable and reliable as far as I know.
It is usually compliant with data regulation laws and is HIPAA compliant.
When it comes to performance, it's a very heavy app now. It takes time to load, stutters, and gets stuck frequently.
I want to ensure that the information I'm getting is something I can verify because I receive questions from prospects or clients asking where I got their number.
The data accuracy needs improvement, especially compared to tools such as ZoomInfo, though Apollo.io is more cost-effective.
The platform does not save code versions similar to GitHub, where you can compare new versions with previous ones.
Some organizations may prefer not to have their data on the internet since Zoho CRM runs as a cloud service.
The main improvement needed for Zoho CRM is introducing SQL code for reports, similar to what's in Zoho Analytics.
The setup process involves minimal costs and is more affordable compared to other tools such as ZoomInfo.
Zoho CRM and all of Zoho's software are quite affordable because they are specifically designed for small and medium businesses.
In terms of my experience with the price and licensing cost, as with setup cost for Zoho CRM, it might not be quite affordable because there are cheaper solutions available.
I can select as many tools as I want, add APIs, link external tools, and add AI.
Previously in my line of work with Google Cloud, it was important for me to know what solutions companies were currently using, whether they already had Google Cloud solutions or were using competitors.
The fact that it combines both database and outreach tools in one place is valuable.
The most valuable aspect of CRMs, including Zoho CRM, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics, is automation capabilities.
The most valuable feature I have found in Zoho CRM is custom functions. You can achieve anything with it. From integrations with other applications, it is instant.
You can customize everything—what you sell, be it products, services, or projects.
Product | Market Share (%) |
---|---|
Apollo.io | 15.2% |
Zoho CRM | 6.4% |
Other | 78.4% |
Company Size | Count |
---|---|
Small Business | 13 |
Large Enterprise | 3 |
Company Size | Count |
---|---|
Small Business | 44 |
Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
Large Enterprise | 10 |
The sales intelligence and engagement platform to crush your sales numbers every quarter. Use our data of over 220 million contacts and 30 million companies to find and engage your future customers at the right time with the right message in our all-in-one platform.
Zoho CRM empowers organizations with a complete customer relationship lifecycle management solution for managing organization-wide Sales, Marketing, Customer Support & Service and Inventory Management.
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