If all you need is a simple CRM and the free version or even the standard version or Zoho CRM do what you need, you might be better served by Zoho Bigin. Zoho Bigin is easier to use than Zoho CRM but that comes with a few compromises.
Zoho CRM is a fully-featured Customer Relationship Management system that’s designed to grow with your business and has a lot of high-end features as well as the capacity for heavy customisation. It competes head-on with the likes of Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Sugar CRM.
Zoho Bigin is a simpler CRM that is designed for smaller businesses with simpler sales management needs. It’s more of a competitor to OnePageCRM, Pipedrive and the basic edition of Hubspot CRM.
Comparing them on features isn’t really fair, because they target different needs. However, for completeness, I’ve put together a table below where I compare Zoho Bigin Premier with Zoho CRM Enterprise.
Note: this is not a comprehensive list of features. I am only listing features that most users would compare between the two.
Comparison of Features
| Feature | Zoho CRM | Zoho Bigin | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Sales Pipeline | Y | N | Zoho CRM has a Leads module for enquiries that are not qualified. Bigin only has a deal pipeline. |
| Multiple Sales Pipelines | Y | Y | This is useful for different types of prospects and enquiries. |
| Parent and Child Accounts | Y | N | Zoho CRM allows you to link accounts together, such as related companies or franchisees etc. |
| Recording Sales Activity | Y | Y | You can record notes, Tasks, Meetings and Calls in both systems. |
| Telephone Integrations | Y | Y | Both will connect to VOIP services to make and record call activity. They can also use a mobile app to make calls. Check out my article on Cloudtalk’s VOIP CRM integration. |
| Custom Fields | Y | Y | Both have the ability to add fields. In Zoho CRM the limits are more than 300 per module. Bigin is currently a maximum of 25 per module. |
| Custom Modules | Y | N | Zoho CRM allows you to store lots more data in custom modules. Bigin doesn’t support custom modules. |
| Sending Quotes to Prospects | Y | N | Zoho CRM allows you to send templated quotes to prospects. Zoho Bigin doesn’t have a quoting module. |
| Adding Products to a Deal | Y | Y | The right way to add products to Deals in Zoho CRM is to use the Quote module or Sales Order module, not directly to a Deal. Bigin only allows you to add products to the Deal. Want to have more than one product list in Bigin? Create another Deal. |
| Sending Invoices | Y | N | Bigin does not have an Invoicing module. Zoho CRM allows you to convert Sales Orders to Invoices and send them out. |
| Sending Emails | Y | Y | Both systems can send emails. They also allow you to use templates. |
| Automations | Y | Y | Zoho CRM has advanced workflows and a scripting engine that uses Deluge. Bigin has basic workflows and no coding available. |
| Webforms | Y | Y | Both have webform integrations. |
| Business Process Management | Y | N | Zoho CRM allows you to closely map your business processes into the system using Blueprints, Approvals and Command Center. Bigin only has basic Deal pipelines. |
| Integrations | Y | Y | Bigin can integrate with lots of third party tools. Zoho CRM can integrate with far more. |
| Compliance | Y | Y | Both systems are compliant with GDPR and most other data protection legislations. |
| Mobile Apps | Y | Y | Both systems have apps on Google Play and Apple App Stores. |
| Reporting | Y | Y | Both tools have a reporting suite. Zoho CRM allows you to create more detailed reports. Zoho Bigin is far more basic and relies on list views. Both will integrate with Zoho Analytics for serious business intelligence reporting. |
Which Is Right For You?
Put simply, Zoho Bigin has a lot of tools that most users would need!
If you have a simple business, or you just want to record the customers details and what they’re interested in rather than use the CRM to manage the full sales process, then Bigin is great. You can also use different pipelines in Bigin, however, when you get to that point, most people want to hold a lot more data and an upgrade to CRM makes sense.
However, if you want a CRM to do more of the work for you, or your processes are more complex, you should definitely get Zoho CRM.
If you need the system to manipulate records for you, then only Zoho CRM will do this, and you may need Zoho Enterprise to get all the features you need.
Get in touch if you need help configuring either Bigin or Zoho CRM.
