Zoho Mail vs Gmail: Compare All Differences
Zoho Mail vs Gmail: Which one is better for my day-to-day needs? If you are someone who has a similar question on your mind, then you are at the right place.
Here I will tell you all the major and minor differences between the two email services and help you make the right choice.
Let’s start by looking at the price structure of both Gmail and Zoho.
Zoho Mail vs Gmail Plan Pricing Explained
If you choose Zoho over Gmail, you only have to pay for what you need. So it’s a great option for budget-conscious users and small businesses looking to save money.
Both Zoho and Gmail offer a free tier for personal users. Zoho goes one step further and provides a free business plan as well, where one admin can manage up to five users.
Gmail’s business version, Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), has no equivalent to what Zoho is offering.
With Zoho, you only pay extra if you add it. For instance, if I want extra storage, I can get 5 GB per user priced at ₹120/month (it goes all the way up to 200 GB at ₹900/month).
There is an IMAP client option, which would cost me an extra ₹60/month. Moreover, I can get two free months if I opt for the yearly subscription.
Gmail, on the other hand, is a bit pricey. Google One (the cheapest premium plan for Gmail) starts at ₹59/mo. Most of the AI features and tools are locked behind the pro plan, priced at ₹1,950/mo.
When we check Google Workspace plans, the cost difference increases significantly. Even the entry-level Gmail for business option is almost 3 times the cost of a similar Zoho plan. The starter plan is ₹193.38 / user per month, which jumps to ₹325 / user per month after your first year.
The higher tiers include the Standard plan at ₹1,040 / user per month & the Plus plan priced at ₹2,050 / user per month. If you are an enterprise, contact Google directly.
So I think this round on Zoho Mail vs Gmail goes to Zoho. Now, let’s look at the storage options you get in both these services and see which one comes out on top.
Difference Between Zoho Mail and Gmail Storage
Zoho Mail vs Gmail differ quite a lot when it comes to storage. The biggest difference is that Zoho treats every user’s account as its own separate container, while Gmail (Google Workspace) offers pooled storage. So if you get a 30 GB (pooled) plan from Gmail and one user fills their initial storage (let’s say 5 GB), they can then borrow leftover storage from the other users; however, no such option is there in Zoho.
If we talk about the free tier, Zoho gives you 5 GB of space. Gmail, on the other hand, starts from 15 GB (although this space is shared with other Google apps like Drive, Photos, etc.).
Here is the full storage comparison table at a glance.
| Plan Level | Zoho Storage | Google Workspace (Business) | Google One (Personal) |
| Free | 5 GB (Individual) | N/A | 15 GB |
| Entry-Level | 5 GB (Individual) | 30 GB (Pooled) | 30 GB or 100 GB |
| Mid-Tier | 40 GB (Individual) | 2 TB (Pooled) | 2 TB |
| High-Tier | 200 GB (Individual) | 5 TB (Pooled) | (Plans go higher.) |
So if storage is something you cannot compromise on, Gmail becomes the most clear choice. Although Zoho provides ample storage without the pool facility, any user or organization that works with huge volumes of mail or deals with large files or videos daily may find it less than ideal. You can create a new Zoho email account right now and verify for yourself.
Price and storage are the most important, but these two cannot be the sole reason to select or reject a particular mail service. So let’s check out the additional features of both Zoho and Gmail.
Head-to-Head Comparison of the Full Feature Set
If this were a popularity contest, Gmail would win hands down. With 1.8 billion daily active users, no other mail provider comes close. Zoho has a more humble subscriber count, coming in around 130 as per the latest estimates.
However, user count is not the full picture; every individual and business has its own set of requirements.
Like, for instance, privacy. Both Gmail and Zoho keep user data security as their top priority. Nevertheless, you can still get ads in your free Gmail account. These personalized ads are tied to what you search for in Google, YouTube, or other sister services of your Gmail account. No such intrusion is ever made in your inbox, even if you have a free Zoho account.
Moreover, before choosing Zoho Mail vs Gmail, I made a close inspection of their ecosystem, and so should you. Gmail has Drive, Meet, Calendar, and Docs, plus the new AI features, which is where Gmail gets an edge.
Zoho, too, has its own AI, but it’s fairly limited and nowhere near the scale that you find in Gmail. What makes Zoho unique is its apps, like CRM, Books, and Campaigns, all of which interconnect directly to each other. So, businesses that already use Zoho products will find it more appealing.
Both Gmail and Zoho claim to keep 99.9% uptime. Gmail is superior in this regard despite having the same claim simply because of the vastly greater number of users it has. With many new subscribers coming to Zoho, it will be interesting to see if it can scale up and remain true to its promise.
Gmail or Zoho Mail: What Should a Personal User Choose
Choose Zoho Mail if you value privacy, simplicity, and lower costs. It’s ideal for small businesses or users who want control without ads.
Choose Gmail if you need heavy collaboration tools and strong integrations within the Google ecosystem.
Zoho Mail vs Gmail for Business Workloads
Businesses have vastly different expectations from their email service than those of personal users. For organizations, a simple email exchange is not enough.
So if you are a stakeholder, try out the trial version of both services with a group of pilot testers, take their feedback, and then decide which way to go.
How to Move Between Two Platforms Easily
No matter which one you choose in the end, you must take your existing data to the new platform. There are manual methods, but they often result in errors or incomplete data. An easy way to bypass these issues is to choose a reliable partner. SysTools IMAP to IMAP Migrator is the perfect solution.
As both Gmail and Zoho are IMAP, you can use this tool to quickly move your data from one platform to the other. If you are convinced that Zoho is the platform for you or your business, check out my Gmail to Zoho migration explainer guide for more details.
Author’s Verdict: Is Zoho Mail better than Gmail
After comparing Zoho Mail vs Gmail on all critical metrics like pricing, storage, and features etc., one thing is clear: Zoho gives Gmail tough competition and even exceeds it in some cases.
Not to take anything away from Gmail, as it is still the most widely used email platform in the world and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
At the end, competition among service providers brings net benefits to the users. Moreover, if you plan on changing your existing service and switching, use the tool for error-free migration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the main differentiator between Zoho Mail and Gmail?
Zoho is ad-free and has more business-specific tools. Gmail is more all-rounder with a deeper AI integration.
Q. Is Zoho Mail better than Gmail for business use?
Businesses that value affordability above all else will find Zoho appealing. However, if storage is where your main use case then Gmail is better.
Q. Is it true that Zoho Mail is more private than Gmail?
Yes, because Zoho Mail doesn’t scan your emails for advertising purposes, unlike the free version of Gmail, which does use your private info (after you give consent) to show ads.