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    Zoho

    Zoho Workplace as an alternative to Microsoft 365

    Do you want mail, documents, storage, chat and video calls in one environment, without Microsoft 365? Zoho Workplace is such a workplace. Here you read what is in it, what changes for your team and how we set up the switch.

    Explained

    What Zoho Workplace is

    Zoho Workplace is a bundle of Zoho apps for daily work. Zoho's pricing page lists Mail, Calendar, WorkDrive, Writer, Sheet, Show, Cliq and Meeting, among others. It is a SaaS service: you work in the browser or in the apps, and Zoho runs the servers.

    If you need more than a workplace, for example CRM and projects, look at Zoho One. All apps are on our Zoho page.

    Mail

    Mail and calendar

    Zoho Mail is the mail of Zoho Workplace: business email on your own domain, with calendar, contacts and tasks. You manage users, aliases and groups in one admin console. Through IMAP you can also use a mail app such as Outlook.

    Documents

    Documents and storage

    For documents, Zoho has Writer for text, Sheet for spreadsheets and Show for presentations. You work on the same document together with colleagues. WorkDrive is the place for files and synchronisation. How much storage each edition gives is stated on Zoho's pricing page. Read it there, because it differs per edition.

    Chat and video

    Chat and video calls

    Zoho Cliq is the team chat: channels per topic, sharing messages and files, and turning a conversation into a call. Zoho Meeting is for audio and video conferences. With a workflow you can make alerts from other Zoho apps appear in a channel.

    Switching

    Microsoft 365 alternative: what changes?

    Are you looking for a Microsoft 365 alternative or an Office 365 alternative? Many people still search by the old name. Microsoft calls its offer Microsoft 365, and Microsoft's own site lists Outlook, Teams and OneDrive, among others. A switch therefore touches three things:

    • Mail

      Mail moves to your own domain at Zoho Mail. We plan the switch so that it runs in an orderly way and your team knows when what happens.

    • Documents

      Files move to WorkDrive. Which file types, macros and connections you use, we check beforehand. That is where a switch chafes most often.

    • Chat and meetings

      Conversations move to Cliq and meetings to Meeting. Your team needs to get used to it, so we train tailored to your team.

    Who it is for

    Who a Zoho workplace suits

    A Zoho workplace suits SMEs that want mail, documents and chat in one environment, with one administration. It suits best when your team has no requirements that only Microsoft fulfils. If you already use Zoho for other parts, such as CRM, everything sits in the same environment and you sign in in one place.

    It suits less well for organisations that are deeply built into Microsoft programs, or where customers and partners expect you to share documents in a Microsoft format. We discuss that honestly in the intake.

    Approach

    How we set up a workplace

    We set up a Zoho workplace as a project, with a fixed scope and an estimate in advance.

    • Intake

      We list which programs you use today for mail, documents and chat, how many people work with them and what data goes with them.

    • Set-up

      We record your domain, users, groups and shared folders, with permissions that suit your organisation.

    • Switch

      We move mail and files in an order your team can follow, and check the result with you.

    • Training and aftercare

      Training tailored to your team and aftercare after go-live, so people really use the new workplace.

    Administration

    Administration and access

    Zoho's pricing page also lists Directory for identity and access management and Vault as a password manager. For a small organisation that means one place where you create users, set permissions and remove access when someone leaves. Which parts come with it depends on the edition you choose, so check that on Zoho's page.

    After go-live someone in your organisation remains the administrator. That does not have to be an IT specialist. We record what that person does, such as creating a new colleague or changing a group, and include it in the training.

    Good to know

    When switching does not pay off

    If your organisation is built entirely around Microsoft programs, for example with many macros or an API connection to your ERP, first weigh up whether switching is worth it. We discuss that in the intake, before you decide anything. Sometimes it is better to stay with Microsoft and only add a separate Zoho program.

    Prices

    Prices: check with the vendor itself

    We state no amounts on this page. The pricing pages do not show prices the same way for everyone: some editions ask for a quote, and amounts differ per country and currency. Use the pages themselves and check whether an amount includes or excludes VAT.

    Pages of the vendors themselves, read on 4 November 2026. We state no amounts.

    Read on

    More about Zoho

    Zoho app

    Zoho Mail

    Business email, calendar and contacts on your own domain.

    See Zoho Mail

    Zoho app

    Zoho Cliq

    Team chat with channels, calls and alerts from your apps.

    See Zoho Cliq

    Terms for this topic

    SaaSWorkflowAPI

    Part of our Zoho implementation

    Zoho Workplace is part of our Zoho implementation. We start with a scoping phase and give an estimate in advance.

    View the Zoho page

    A workplace set up around your team?

    Tell us which programs you use today for mail, documents and chat. We will tell you what a switch means.