Free Suite
$0
Free
$0 per user.
No API
Plan details
Web Services API not included.
Comparison
Salesforce vs Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM costs less and includes the API on every edition: Standard is $14 a user a month billed annually, with API use metered in daily credits. Salesforce Starter Suite is $25 a user a month without the API; the API costs $25 a user extra on Pro Suite ($100) and is included from Core ($195 billed annually). Salesforce adds Bulk API 2.0 for 150 million records a day.
Pick Salesforce if
- You load or extract very large volumes: Bulk API 2.0 handles up to 150 million records a day
- You need real-time change streams through Change Data Capture and the Pub/Sub API
Pick Zoho CRM if
- You want the API on every edition, including Free and Standard
- You want a low per-user price: Standard is $14 a user a month billed annually
Salesforce
CRM
Zoho CRM
CRM
At a glance
Salesforce
- From
- $25/user/moStarter Suite
- Free plan
- YesFree Suite $0 without API; Developer Edition
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- MCP server
- YesPartial: Enterprise Edition and up
Zoho CRM
- From
- $20/user/moStandard monthly, $14 annual
- Free plan
- YesFree for 3 users, 5,000 API credits/day
- Pricing model
- Per seat
- MCP server
- YesPartial: self-configured in Zoho console
Where they differ
14 points side by side. Open a value for the full detail.
| What | Salesforce | Zoho CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise CRM system of recordThe enterprise CRM system of record, with REST, Composite, SOQL and SOSL, Bulk API 2.0, Change Data Capture and hosted MCP servers. | Lower-cost customisable CRM, REST API v8A lower-cost, customisable CRM with REST API v8, upsert with duplicate-check fields, COQL queries, bulk read and write jobs, notifications and a free MCP. | |
| Free Suite $0 without API; Developer EditionFree Suite at $0, without the Web Services API. A free Developer Edition org includes the API with 15,000 calls a day. The 30-day trial form asks for a phone number. | Free for 3 users, 5,000 API credits/dayFree edition for up to 3 users with 5,000 API credits a day and no webhooks. Signup starts a 15-day trial and asks for a mobile number verified by SMS code. | |
| Starter Suite $25/user/moStarter Suite: $25 a user a month, billed monthly or annually. US prices, read 25 Oct 2026. | Standard $20/user/mo monthly, $14 annualStandard: $14 a user a month billed annually, or $20 billed monthly. US price column, read 25 Oct 2026. | |
| Pro Suite $100, Core $195 annualPro Suite $100, Core $195, Advanced $395, Max $550 a user a month, billed annually. | Professional $23, Enterprise $40 annualProfessional $23, Enterprise $40, Ultimate $52 a user a month billed annually ($35, $50, $65 billed monthly). | |
| Core and up; Pro Suite add-onNot on Free Suite or Starter Suite. Pro Suite adds the Web Services API for $25 a user a month. Included on Core, Advanced and Max. | Every edition, Free includedOn every edition, Free included, metered in daily API credits. | |
| OAuth 2.0, no static keyOAuth 2.0 through an External Client App or Connected App, Bearer token in the header. No static key. An Integration user licence gives API-only users. | OAuth 2.0, 1-hour access tokensOAuth 2.0: register a client, exchange a grant code for an access token (1 hour) and a refresh token. Tokens and API hosts are tied to the data centre (.com,.eu,.in,.com.au and others). | |
| 100,000 calls/24h plus per licencePer org per rolling 24 hours: 100,000 plus 1,000 per Salesforce licence on Enterprise, or 5,000 per licence on Unlimited and Performance, plus add-ons. Up to 25 long-running requests at once. | 50,000 credits/24h plus per userCredits per org per rolling 24 hours: Standard 50,000 plus 250 per user (max 100,000) and Ultimate 50,000 plus 2,000 per user with no maximum; for Professional and Enterprise, Zoho's API docs and edition comparison page give different figures. Concurrency 5 (Free) to 25 by edition. | |
| Bulk API 2.0; 200 per callBulk API 2.0 for jobs over 2,000 records: up to 150,000,000 records and 15,000 batches per rolling 24 hours. sObject Collections take 200 records per call. | 100 per call; Bulk Write 25,000 per fileInsert, update or upsert 100 records per call at 1 credit per 10 records. Bulk Write takes 25,000 records per CSV file at 500 credits a job, and does not run workflows. | |
| Upsert by external ID; HTTP 300 on multiplesUpsert by an external ID field (single record or 200 at a time). If the ID matches more than one record, the call returns HTTP 300 with the matches. | Upsert on duplicate-check fieldsUpsert with duplicate-check fields. The Search API's 'equals' behaves like 'contains', so do not use it as an exact dedupe check. | |
| No generic webhooks; CDC or Platform EventsNo generic webhook product. Use Change Data Capture or Platform Events over the Pub/Sub or Streaming API, or Outbound Messaging (SOAP). | Workflow webhooks from ProfessionalWorkflow webhook actions from Professional, with daily caps by edition. The Notification API sends create, edit and delete events; a channel expires after one hour unless you set an expiry of up to a week. | |
| Partial: Enterprise Edition and upSalesforce-hosted MCP servers, generally available for Enterprise Edition orgs and above. Off by default; an admin enables them. OAuth with PKCE. The sobject-all server has 11 tools for query, search, create, update and delete. | Partial: self-configured in Zoho consoleZoho MCP at no extra charge: CRM actions spend the same daily API credits. Servers are set up in the Zoho MCP console with OAuth; no fixed public server URL. | |
| Zapier, n8n, Make, ClayZapier, n8n, Make and Clay. | Zapier, Make, n8n, official SDKsZapier, Make and n8n. Official SDKs for PHP, Node.js, Java, C#, Python, Ruby, TypeScript, Scala and client-side JavaScript. | |
| SOC 1, 2, 3, ISO 27001, 27017, 27018SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018, and GDPR, per its compliance site. | ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAAISO/IEC 27001, SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 with HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA, stated Zoho-wide on its compliance page. | |
| Enterprise data volumes, change streams, MCPEnterprises with large data volumes, real-time change streams and admin-governed AI access through hosted MCP. | API on every edition, low costCost-sensitive teams that want the API on every edition, batch writes of 100 records and SQL-like reads with COQL. |
No row matches in this view.
Pricing, plan by plan
US dollars as each vendor's page showed them on 25 Oct 2026. One panel per tool; switch each between monthly and annual billing (an annual price is the monthly rate when you pay for the year up front).
Salesforce
7 plans · API reviewStarter Suite
$25/mo
billed monthly
$25/mo
billed annually
$25 a user a month, billed monthly or annually.
No API
Plan details
Web Services API not included.
Pro Suite
$100/mo
annual billing only
$100/mo
billed annually
$100 a user a month, billed annually.
API included
Plan details
Web Services API is an extra $25 a user a month.
Core
$195/mo
annual billing only
$195/mo
billed annually
$195 a user a month, billed annually.
API included
Plan details
API included.
Show all 7 plansShow fewer plans
Advanced
$395/mo
annual billing only
$395/mo
billed annually
$395 a user a month, billed annually.
API included
Plan details
API included.
Max
$550/mo
annual billing only
$550/mo
billed annually
$550 a user a month, billed annually.
API included
Plan details
API included.
Developer Edition
$0
Free
Free org for building and testing, API enabled, 15,000 API calls per rolling 24 hours.
API included
Plan details
Orgs inactive for 45 days may be terminated.
Zoho CRM
5 plans · API reviewFree
$0
Free
Up to 3 users, 5,000 API credits a day, no webhooks.
API included
Standard
$20/mo
billed monthly
$14/mo
billed annually
Per user: $20 a month billed monthly, or $14 a month billed annually.
API included
Plan details
API credits 50,000 plus 250 per user a day (max 100,000). US price column.
Professional
$35/mo
billed monthly
$23/mo
billed annually
Per user: $35 a month billed monthly, or $23 a month billed annually.
API included
Plan details
Workflow webhooks. Daily API credits: Zoho's API docs and its edition comparison page give different figures. US price column.
Enterprise
$50/mo
billed monthly
$40/mo
billed annually
Per user: $50 a month billed monthly, or $40 a month billed annually.
API included
Plan details
Daily API credits: Zoho's API docs and its edition comparison page give different figures. US price column.
Show all 5 plansShow fewer plans
Ultimate
$65/mo
billed monthly
$52/mo
billed annually
Per user: $65 a month billed monthly, or $52 a month billed annually.
API included
Plan details
API credits 50,000 plus 2,000 per user a day, no maximum. US price column.
Which one to pick
Choose Salesforce if
- You load or extract very large volumes: Bulk API 2.0 handles up to 150 million records a day.
- You need real-time change streams through Change Data Capture and the Pub/Sub API.
- You are on Enterprise Edition or above and want admin-controlled, hosted MCP servers.
- You want upsert by external ID on up to 200 records per call.
Choose Zoho CRM if
- You want the API on every edition, including Free and Standard.
- You want a low per-user price: Standard is $14 a user a month billed annually.
- You write in batches of 100 records at 1 credit per 10 records.
- You want an MCP server with no separate charge, using your existing API credits.
If neither fits: Both store your own records. If the job is filling the CRM with new contacts, find and verify emails first, then load them.
How to find a person's work email addressWant us to build it for you?
Choosing between Salesforce and Zoho CRM, or moving from one to the other? Tell us your setup. We will show you how we would run it, and what we would check first.
Questions people ask
Is Zoho CRM cheaper than Salesforce?
On list price, yes. Zoho CRM Standard is $14 a user a month billed annually ($20 monthly) and includes the API. Salesforce Starter Suite is $25 a user a month without the API, and API access starts at Pro Suite ($100 plus $25 for the API) or Core ($195), billed annually.
Which Salesforce editions include API access?
Salesforce's pricing data marks the Web Services API as not included on Free Suite and Starter Suite, a $25 a user a month extra on Pro Suite, and included on Core, Advanced and Max. The free Developer Edition also has the API, with 15,000 calls a day.
How many API calls do I get per day?
Salesforce Enterprise gives 100,000 plus 1,000 per Salesforce licence per rolling 24 hours; an org with 15 licences gets 115,000. Zoho CRM Standard gives 50,000 credits plus 250 per user (max 100,000), and most Zoho calls cost 1 credit, with writes at 1 credit per 10 records.
Do Salesforce and Zoho CRM have MCP servers?
Yes. Salesforce-hosted MCP servers are generally available on Enterprise Edition and above, switched on by an admin. Zoho MCP has no separate price and uses your existing Zoho API credits.
Can I try either one without a phone number?
Salesforce's free Developer Edition signup has no phone field, while its 30-day trial form requires one. Zoho CRM's signup asks for a mobile number verified by SMS code.
Related
Read from salesforce.com/sales/pricing, zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/json/pricing/crm-pricing… and each tool's API docs. Verified 25 Oct 2026.
