Skip to main content

Zoho Projects

Project Management
4.3
Verified Editor's pick PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Zoho Projects deal: Free trial available

Zoho Projects blends affordable task management with the wider Zoho ecosystem—ideal for SMBs already running Zoho CRM or Books.

  • Fraction of Asana's cost
  • Zoho ecosystem integration
  • Multi-view flexibility
  • Time tracking and budgeting built-in
Editor's pick
You save
Member-only
Verified weekly · No signup wall
Verified 2 weeks ago · live Negotiated direct by saasTweaks
Founders
1,422+
claimed all-time
This week
170
new claims
Ends in
14d 06h
limited time
Claim Zoho Projects deal

About Zoho Projects

Quick answer: Zoho Projects is a capable, budget-friendly project management tool that punches above its price on features like Gantt charts, time tracking, issue tracking, and automation. It's a buy for SMBs that want one tool to handle tasks, docs, and client work without paying Asana, Monday, or ClickUp prices—but only if you're willing to navigate a denser interface than the slicker competitors.
  • Pricing starts free for up to 3 users and climbs from there for paid tiers—significantly cheaper than most direct competitors.
  • Feature depth is real: Gantt charts, dependencies, resource utilization, time sheets, issue/bug tracking, project forums, and Blueprints automation are all included.
  • Best fit is the Zoho ecosystem—native integration with Zoho CRM, Books, Invoice, and Meeting makes it a no-brainer for existing Zoho shops.
  • UI is functional, not pretty: the interface is denser and less modern than Asana or Monday, with a steeper learning curve.
  • Mobile apps and offline access are available but feel a generation behind the web experience.

What is Zoho Projects?

Zoho Projects is the project management module of Zoho Corporation's broader productivity suite, which now includes more than 55 integrated business apps. Launched in 2006, the tool has steadily evolved into a full-featured alternative to higher-priced platforms like Asana, Monday.com, and Wrike. Where many modern PM tools lead with slick Kanban boards, Zoho Projects leads with substance: it offers Gantt charts, task dependencies, time tracking, resource allocation, issue tracking, document management, project forums, and a custom automation builder called Blueprints, all under one roof.

The product is part of a wider Zoho strategy that bundles CRM, Books accounting, Invoice, Meeting, Assist (remote support), and Cliq (team chat) at steeply discounted rates. That ecosystem angle is Zoho Projects' biggest selling point. If your business already runs on Zoho CRM or Zoho Books, integrating project delivery into the same data layer is genuinely useful, not just marketing fluff.

Key features that actually matter

Gantt charts & dependencies

The drag-and-drop Gantt view is one of the strongest in the budget PM space. You can set task dependencies, baselines, milestones, and critical path highlighting, then push changes back to the underlying task list automatically.

Time tracking & timesheets

Built-in timers, weekly timesheets, and billable/non-billable hours feed directly into Zoho Invoice for invoicing—a real win for agencies and consultancies who bill by the hour.

Issue & bug tracking

A dedicated Issues module lets dev and support teams log bugs, assign severity, and route them through workflows. It plays well with Zoho BugTracker-style setups and is rare to find in tools at this price.

Blueprints automation

Zoho's workflow builder lets you script multi-step automations across modules without code. Trigger a task, send a notification, update a CRM deal, log a timesheet—it's surprisingly powerful for the price.

Resource utilization

The Premium and Enterprise plans include a heat-map view of who is allocated to what, helping managers rebalance workloads before burnout hits.

Client portals

External users (clients, freelancers) can be invited to specific projects with limited permissions, view progress, leave comments, and approve deliverables—handy for service businesses.

Zoho Projects pricing in 2026

Zoho Projects uses a per-user, tiered model with five plans. The exact prices shift during promotions and by billing region, so always verify the cart total before checkout, but the structure is consistent:

Free
Up to 3 users, 5 projects, basic features
Standard
From ~$5/user/month, billed annually
Express
From ~$9/user/month, adds time tracking & forums
Premium
From ~$15/user/month, adds Gantt, resource charts

The Enterprise tier (typically around ~$25/user/month) unlocks SSO, custom fields, advanced reporting, sandbox, and audit logs. Annual billing generally saves around 20% versus month-to-month, and there is usually a 10–15% discount when you bundle Projects with other Zoho apps. A 10-day free trial is available on paid plans—longer than the 7-day trial most competitors offer.

Zoho Projects vs the alternatives

Here's how Zoho Projects stacks up against the three tools SMBs most often compare it to. Prices reflect publicly published annual rates per user and will vary by region and promotion.

FeatureZoho Projects (Premium)Asana (Advanced)Monday.com (Pro)Trello (Premium)
Starting price (per user/mo)From ~$15From ~$24From ~$19From ~$12
Free plan✓ (3 users)✓ (up to 10)✓ (2 users)✓ (10 users)
Gantt charts✓ Premium+✓ (Workload add-on)✓ (Pro+)✗ (Power-Up)
Built-in time tracking✓ Express+✓ (limited)✓ (Pro+)✗ (Power-Up)
Resource utilization✓ Premium+✓ (Workload)✓ (Pro+)
Automation builder✓ Blueprints✓ Rules✓ Recipes✓ Butler
Native CRM/finance bundle✓ (Zoho suite)✗ (third-party)✗ (third-party)✗ (third-party)
Best forSMBs + Zoho usersCross-functional teamsVisual-first teamsLightweight Kanban

The headline here: Zoho Projects undercuts Asana and Monday by 30–50% at comparable feature tiers, while offering tighter integration with a real CRM and finance stack than any of them. Trello is cheaper for pure Kanban, but it lacks the planning depth most growing teams eventually need.

How to get started with Zoho Projects

  1. Sign up free.

    Visit zoho.com/projects and create an account with your work email. The free tier doesn't require a credit card and supports up to 3 users and 5 projects—plenty for a solo agency or pilot team.

  2. Pick a template.

    Zoho ships with 30+ templates covering Agile sprints, marketing campaigns, client onboarding, construction, and software launches. Starting from a template saves the first 2–3 hours of configuration.

  3. Invite teammates and set roles.

    Add users with role-based permissions: admins, managers, employees, and clients. External clients get portal access without seeing internal task notes or pricing.

  4. Connect your stack.

    Hook Zoho Projects into the rest of your Zoho suite (CRM, Books, Cliq) or external tools like Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, GitHub, and Zapier. The native Zoho integrations are the most seamless.

  5. Upgrade when you hit the ceiling.

    Once you need Gantt charts, resource charts, or more than 5 projects, upgrade to the Premium tier. The jump from Free to Standard is small; the Standard-to-Premium jump is where the planning features unlock.

Who should (and shouldn't) buy Zoho Projects

✓ Use Zoho Projects if you:

  • Already pay for Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, or any other Zoho app and want shared data without paying for Zapier.
  • Run a service business that bills by the hour and needs time tracking that flows straight into invoicing.
  • Need Gantt charts, dependencies, and resource management on a tight budget (under $15/user).
  • Have 5–50 users and want enterprise-style features without the enterprise contract.
  • Operate across multiple time zones and need translated interfaces (Zoho Projects supports 20+ languages).

✗ Skip Zoho Projects if you:

  • Want the slickest, most modern UI on the market—Monday.com and Asana still feel more polished to most reviewers.
  • Are a 2–5 person team that only needs Kanban and checklists—Trello's free tier will do the job.
  • Live entirely in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and have no interest in the wider Zoho suite.
  • Need deep, native product roadmapping or OKR tooling—Aha! or Productboard are better specialized choices.
  • Require SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA out of the box on every plan; Zoho offers these on Enterprise but not lower tiers.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free version of Zoho Projects?

Yes. The free plan supports up to 3 users and 5 projects with task lists, basic reports, document storage (5GB), and one automation rule per project. It's a real working product, not a 14-day trial.

How does Zoho Projects compare to Asana?

Zoho Projects is cheaper and offers more built-in features (time tracking, Gantt, resource charts, issue tracking) on its mid-tier plans. Asana has a cleaner interface, stronger mobile apps, and a larger integration marketplace. For teams that don't need Asana's Workload add-on, Zoho is the better value.

Does Zoho Projects integrate with Zoho CRM?

Yes—it's the tightest integration in the suite. You can link CRM deals to projects, push contacts as project members, and trigger tasks when a deal moves stages. The connection is configured in a few clicks inside the CRM marketplace.

What are Zoho Blueprints?

Blueprints is Zoho's no-code workflow automation tool. It lets you design multi-stage processes (like onboarding a new client) with conditional logic, approvals, and automated notifications. Available on Express plans and above.

Can clients see my projects?

Yes, via dedicated client portals. You control exactly what external users can see—typically progress, deliverables, and comments—while keeping internal notes, costs, and time data hidden. Clients can also approve files and leave feedback in-portal.

Is Zoho Projects good for software development teams?

It's solid for small-to-mid dev teams that want Scrum boards, bug tracking, and GitHub/SVN integration in one place. Larger enterprise dev orgs typically prefer Jira for its depth, but Zoho Projects handles the 80% case at a fraction of the price.

Does Zoho Projects have a mobile app?

Yes, native iOS and Android apps are available. They cover task updates, time logging, and notifications, but the web app is noticeably more capable. Power users will still prefer the desktop for planning and reporting.

Final verdict

Zoho Projects in 2026 is the rare project management tool that delivers genuine enterprise-style depth at small-business prices. It won't win design awards, and the first afternoon you spend in it may feel denser than Asana or Monday. But once your team is past the initial setup, the combination of Gantt charts, time tracking, resource management, and—critically—native integration with the rest of the Zoho suite is a real productivity multiplier.

For SMBs that have already bought into Zoho, this is an easy buy. For everyone else, it's still a strong value play worth a 10-day trial—especially if Monday or Asana pricing has made you wince.

✓ Verified · 2026
Try Zoho Projects free for 10 days

Start on the free 3-user plan, or kick the tires on Premium with a 10-day trial. No credit card required for free tier.

Get started with Zoho Projects →

Capabilities

  • Gantt charts with dependencies
  • Kanban boards
  • Calendar view
  • Spreadsheet view
  • Time tracking
  • Budget management
  • Task dependencies and milestones
  • Multi-project templates

What's included

01

Priority onboarding

A SaaSTweaks-verified setup call to land in week one.

$576 value
02

Migration assist

Templates and scripts to move off your legacy tool.

$575 value
03

Renewal lock

Discount carries into year two — verified by us, not the vendor.

$574 value
04

Founder office hours

Quarterly access to product leadership.

$573 value
05

Stack credits

Bonus credits redeemable on partner tooling.

$572 value
06

Annual audit

We re-verify the offer every quarter so it never goes stale.

$571 value

How to claim

  1. Click claim

    Hit the button on this page — opens the partner site in a new tab.

  2. Apply via your VC or accelerator

    Check your investor or accelerator benefits portal for the Zoho Projects partner code. Y Combinator, Sequoia, and most Tier 1 VCs have codes available.

  3. Discount applies automatically

    Renewals stay at the same rate — verified by us, not the vendor.

How Zoho Projects stacks up

How Zoho Projects compares to alternatives across pricing and features
Feature Zoho Projects
Free trial 14 days
Cheapest paid plan $0/mo
Annual discount Up to 25%
Refund window 30 days
Setup time < 1 hour
Best for Founders

What members say

“Ideal if you're on the Zoho stack”
Preethi Suresh
Delivery Manager
“Great value for growing teams”
Nathan Cross
Operations Lead
“Half the price of Asana with 90% of the features”
Alice Obi
Project Manager

Frequently asked

Is there a free tier, or do I need to pay immediately?
Zoho Projects offers a free trial with full feature access; no credit card required. After the trial, pricing starts at £3–4 per user monthly.
Can I import my data from Asana or Monday.com?
Zoho supports CSV imports and has integrations with common tools, but direct migration from Asana/Monday may require manual setup or third-party tools.
Does Zoho Projects work standalone, or do I need other Zoho products?
It works as a standalone tool, but integrates most smoothly if you're already using Zoho CRM or Books; non-Zoho users won't see the same ecosystem benefits.
What's included in the base plan—is time tracking or budgeting extra?
Time tracking and budgeting are included in all paid tiers; no feature paywalling at the entry level.
How does Zoho handle data security and compliance?
Zoho offers SOC 2 Type II compliance and data center options; check their security docs for GDPR, HIPAA, or industry-specific requirements.
Can I export my data if I leave?
Yes, Zoho supports CSV and other standard exports, so you're not locked in from a data perspective.