Zoho Bigin review
The rare CRM that a non-technical small business owner can actually set up and stick with.
The short answer
Report outdated infoZoho Bigin is a small-business CRM from Zoho, built for teams that find full CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot too heavy. It organises leads and deals into visual pipelines, includes email, a built-in phone, and automation, and starts free for one user. Paid plans run from about $7 to $18 per user per month. It connects to the wider Zoho suite, so invoicing, books, and support can all share the same customer record.
Reviewed by the Aheri Systems team for small businesses and growing teams.
- Starting price
- $0/mo
- Free plan
- Yes, no card needed
- Best for
- Small and medium businesses wanting their first real CRM
- Not ideal for
- Large sales teams needing advanced forecasting and territory management (use Zoho CRM)
- Setup
- No-code, 1 hour
Our Verdict
If you are a small or medium business that wants a CRM you will actually use rather than abandon, Bigin is the most sensible starting point.
Aheri Systems team review
How Zoho Bigin scores
At a glance
Setup ⓘ How much technical skill is needed to set up and use this tool effectively.
No-codePricing Access ⓘ Whether pricing is accessible for small and growing businesses. Considers free tier quality and entry-level plan value.
Free plan available
Risk Reversal
The free plan needs no credit card and covers one user, so you can run your whole pipeline on it before paying anything.
The Catch
Bigin is deliberately simple, so a large sales team with complex forecasting and territory rules will outgrow it. It is built for small and medium businesses, and if you need enterprise depth you move up to Zoho CRM.
The Problem Zoho Bigin Solves
The Pain
Your leads and deals live in your head, your inbox, and a spreadsheet, so things slip. A client asks where their quote is and you cannot remember if you sent it, and a warm lead goes cold because nobody followed up.
The Fix
Bigin puts every deal on a visual pipeline (a board that shows each deal moving from first contact to won or lost), reminds you what to do next, and keeps every email and note against the client, so nothing falls through.
What is Zoho Bigin?
Zoho Bigin is a lightweight customer relationship manager (a single place to track every lead, deal, and client conversation) made for small businesses. It uses visual pipelines to show where every deal stands, and it starts free for one user. It is the CRM Aheri uses for small and medium businesses.
Pros and Cons
+ What We Love
- ✓ Genuinely simple to set up and use
- ✓ Free for one user, cheap per seat after
- ✓ Visual pipelines make deal status obvious
- ✓ Built-in email and phone
- ✓ Connects to Zoho Invoice, Books, and Desk
- ✓ Strong mobile app
- Watch Out For
- ! Not built for complex enterprise sales processes
- ! Advanced automation sits on higher tiers
- ! Most value comes when you use other Zoho apps too
Top features
Visual pipelines
Drag deals through stages so you always see what is where.
Built-in phone and email
Call and email contacts from inside the CRM, logged automatically.
Workflow automation
Trigger reminders and actions when a deal changes stage.
Activity reminders
Prompts you for the next step on every open deal.
Mobile app
Manage your pipeline and log activity from a phone.
What Can You Do With Zoho Bigin? (Examples)
A few ways growing businesses use Zoho Bigin. This is not an exhaustive list.
Zoho Bigin Pricing
Free
$0/mo
1 user, 500 records, 1 pipeline, 3 automations, built-in phone
Express
$7/user/mo
50,000 records, 3 team pipelines, email and WhatsApp Business integration, 30 automations ($9 billed monthly, $7 billed annually)
Premier
$12/user/mo
100,000 records, 5 team pipelines, 50 advanced automations, multi-currency ($15 billed monthly, $12 billed annually)
Bigin 360
$18/user/mo
1 million records, 15 team pipelines, 100 advanced automations ($21 billed monthly, $18 billed annually)
Who Is Zoho Bigin For?
Best For
- ✓Small and medium businesses wanting their first real CRM
- ✓Teams that found Salesforce or HubSpot too heavy
- ✓Service businesses tracking quotes and follow-ups
- ✓Anyone already using or considering the Zoho suite
Not Ideal For
- ✗Large sales teams needing advanced forecasting and territory management (use Zoho CRM)
- ✗Businesses that do not sell to or follow up with customers at all
Zoho Bigin Integrations
Tools Zoho Bigin connects with, and what each connection actually does for your business.
Zoho Invoice
Turn a won deal into an invoice against the same client.
Zoho Books
Share customer and payment data with your accounting.
Zoho Flow
Automate actions between Bigin and hundreds of other apps.
Zapier
Connect Bigin to apps outside the Zoho world without code.
Make
Build multi-step automations around deals and contacts.
Quick Facts
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What the marketing page does not tell you.
Wins vs Loses
Replaces: sticky notes, a deals spreadsheet, and trying to remember who you owe a follow-up.
Hidden Costs
Free for 1 user. Paid plans per user per month, billed annually: $7 (Express), $12 (Premier), $18 (Bigin 360). Billed monthly: $9, $15, $21.
Your Data
You choose your Zoho data region at sign-up, and Zoho states it does not sell data or run ads against it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zoho Bigin free? +
How is Bigin different from Zoho CRM? +
Who is Bigin best for? +
Does it work with invoicing? +
How long does setup take? +
Will I outgrow it? +
Does it have AI? +
Learn More: Zoho Bigin Guides
Step-by-step guides to get the most out of Zoho Bigin:
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