SugarCRM Platform vs Zoho Desk comparison

SugarCRM and Zoho are both solutions in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category. SugarCRM is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.0, while Zoho is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.7. SugarCRM holds a 3.1% mindshare in CCEC, compared to Zoho’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 50% of SugarCRM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Zoho users who would recommend it.

SugarCRM Platform

Read 12 SugarCRM Platform reviews

1,298 Views
195 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Zoho Desk

Read 21 Zoho Desk reviews

1,350 Views
189 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

SugarCRM Platform

Zoho Desk

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

SugarCRM Platform and Zoho Desk are competing CRM solutions, each catering to specific business needs. Zoho Desk seems to have an upper hand due to its comprehensive integration capabilities and ease of use, making it appealing for businesses focused on customer service.

Features: SugarCRM Platform stands out with its robust customization options, extensive automation, and flexibility in creating custom modules and layouts. It offers useful default and customizable reports. Zoho Desk is notable for its integrated customer service tools, the ability to capture contacts across various channels, and excellent integration with telephonic solutions and other business tools.

Room for Improvement: SugarCRM Platform could improve by enhancing its user interface and simplifying its setup process for users who are new to CRM software. It may also benefit from more out-of-the-box integrations to make it further compatible with modern business tools. Zoho Desk might focus on expanding its customization options to match industry-specific needs better, refining its analytics features for deeper insights, and reducing reliance on third-party integrations by incorporating more native functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SugarCRM offers customizable deployment options suited for complex environments, providing tailored flexibility. Zoho Desk offers an intuitive setup and excellent customer support, making it highly accessible for organizations prioritizing ease of use and immediate deployment.

Pricing and ROI: SugarCRM requires a higher initial investment, with potential long-term benefits through customizability and scalability. It is ideal for businesses that can invest in tailored CRM processes. Zoho Desk offers lower setup costs, known for being budget-friendly and providing good ROI through its efficient integration capabilities and cost-effective features without significant upfront expenditures.

To learn more, read our detailed SugarCRM Platform vs. Zoho Desk Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SugarCRM Platform vs. Zoho Desk

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

SugarCRM Platform

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

11th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM (25th), Marketing Automation (10th), Sales Force Automation (6th)

Zoho Desk

Ranking in CRM Customer Engagement Centers

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the CRM Customer Engagement Centers category, the mindshare of SugarCRM Platform is 3.1%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Desk is 3.1%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CRM Customer Engagement Centers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Zoho Desk	3.1%
SugarCRM Platform	3.1%
Other	93.8%

CRM Customer Engagement Centers

Featured Reviews

reviewer1345677

Senior Manager / IT Planning & Architecture Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Easily customizable, automation enhances the marketing campaigns but support is the main hiccup for us

It has been effective in managing customer relationships. It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory. And there are centralized reports for the CEO and the general managers. We work with automation for these marketing and email campaigns. It sends out emails to prospective customers related to sales offers automatically. And it copies the sales team so that they can follow up. They are tracking the sales leads. So, the automation within SugarCRM enhances the marketing campaigns. For now, my work is done because I am the IT strategy and planning manager. I just try to deliver the solution according to the requirements of the business. From my side, it's implemented already, the requirement related to the sales funnel. But if they have any other requirement from the business side, they will submit it to me, and then I will look for a suitable solution.

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JoseJunior3

Advisor at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Efficient integration enhances customer insights and communication

The integration between Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Projects is very good. One of the key features of Zoho CRM is the ability to record telephone calls using AI. The AI tool, Tele Zia, translates calls into bullet points, providing insights such as when to send emails or contact the customer based on previous conversations.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable features of Sugar Enterprise are the exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks."

"The most valuable features of the SugarCRM platform include its flexibility in customizing fields, layouts, and dashboards."

"The most valuable feature is relation capability, which allows us to relay customers with invoice orders."

"It works well with Jira. You can customize it to fit your needs."

"It has sales email campaigns, plus integration with Active Directory."

"The most valuable aspect of this solution is its low cost."

"The ticketing feature is very easy to use, compared to other systems."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product is quite stable."

"It is a scalable platform."

"It is a highly scalable solution. You can easily add more users through the portal within seconds."

"The deployment process is swift, typically taking just one day, and includes customization and automation setup."

"The product provides communication features like chats and calls."

"The most valuable features of Zoho Desk are the user interface, pricing, and how they customize the solution for us."

More Zoho Desk pros

Cons

"I would appreciate it if SugarCRM could support us in on-premise implementation."

"It lacks customization, and this is the main reason that we are switching to a different solution."

"While it is already user-friendly, a slight enhancement in UI design, especially in terms of color combinations, could make the platform more visually appealing and comfortable to use."

"I would like to see more integration on a mobile platform in the next release."

"Sugar Enterprise could improve by removing bugs and glitches. For example, a comment was made but in the comment section, it was never displayed. However, the problems we faced might not be the fault of the solution."

"In the next release, I would like to see personalization of information about customers or specific businesses or opportunities."

"You cannot include all your entities under one instance at the moment."

"They could enhance the product’s features to customize the automated email responses."

"Zoho Desk needs to be enhanced to support IT service management policies."

"The main concern is the pricing of Zoho Desk, as I consider it to be on the expensive side."

"Zoho Desk should provide more integrations and improve the Zoho project integration."

"The solution should provide an option to autofill some values while creating tickets."

"There is room for improvement with the pricing."

"I would want Zoho Desk to integrate Zoho CRM, Zoho SalesIQ , and Zoho Campaigns."

"Could have slightly better integration between additional functionalities in the Zoho desk."

More Zoho Desk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"The product costs $10 to $25 per user per month."

"Price-wise, Zoho Desk is about 35 USD a month per user."

"Zoho Desk's cost is pretty much okay."

"The solution costs INR 8400 per user."

"Zoho Desk is a cost-effective solution."

"For what it does, it's quite cheap."

"The gap is limited, but it should limit the price back bracket so that most start-ups can use it most effectively."

"The solution is relatively cheap. However, there are additional licensing fees involved."

More Zoho Desk pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Engineering Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

10%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Performing Arts

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sugar Enterprise?

All are almost the same pricing. Maybe the cheapest is Salesforce, I believe.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sugar Enterprise?

The only challenge was that we implemented it in our on-premise data center instead of using it in the cloud. That was a little bit of a challenge. But it was overcome with the help of SugarCRM com...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Sugar Enterprise?

To start with, SugarCRM is a very good platform. It's easy to implement and easily customizable. Might be later when you want to scale, then I would recommend Salesforce. Overall, I would rate it a...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zoho Desk?

The most valuable features of Zoho Desk are archiving queries and analytics.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Desk?

The pricing in Brazil is complicated due to the high exchange rate, with one dollar equaling six reais. Altasnet has a favorable pricing from Zoho as an early account in Brazil, but current website...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zoho Desk?

Zoho Desk could be improved by making it multi-tenant, as it is currently not suitable for service providers with multiple customers. Additionally, Zoho Desk's potential would be fully realized wit...

See all answers

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Compared 12% of the time

Oracle CRM OnDemand Sales vs SugarCRM Platform

Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 21% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

Freshdesk vs Zoho Desk

Compared 12% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs Zoho Desk

Compared 8% of the time

Spiceworks vs Zoho Desk

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SugarCRM Platform

December 2025

Download SugarCRM Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoho Desk

December 2025

Download Zoho Desk product report

Overview

SugarCRM is a versatile CRM solution that facilitates communication and organization within a company. Its primary use case includes call and comment logging, account relation, customer detail storage, verification handling, transaction tracking, marketing material management, and payment transaction handling. The most valuable functionalities include customizable exports of graphics, statuses, complaints, and tasks, as well as its scalability, stability, and low cost. It integrates well with Jira and can be easily configured. The platform improves efficiency, productivity, collaboration, communication, and coordination within organizations, while also providing valuable insights and data analytics for informed decision-making.

SugarCRM

With Zoho Desk, agents become more productive, managers become more impactful, and customers become more empowered. It's customizable, convenient to use, and it doesn't cost you a fortune. Part of Zoho's 30-strong suite of business software, Zoho Desk brings you the power to put customer service at the heart of your company.

Zoho

Sample Customers

Redglaze Group, TengoInternet, Hilco, Bancvue, Vet Adivsor

Intel, Sears, Daimler, Essilor, Aon Hewitt, Shop Your Way, CoffeeRocket

Buyer's Guide

SugarCRM Platform vs. Zoho Desk

December 2025

Free Report: SugarCRM Platform vs. Zoho Desk

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