TrustRadius Insights for Zoho Creator are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Efficient Workflow Management: Reviewers have praised the platform's ability to handle workflows effectively, especially in scenarios where a structured workflow is required. Users value how it simplifies complex tasks and makes operations streamlined for multiple users.
Data Integration Capabilities: Customers appreciate the platform's feature of reading data from various sources and its strong data integration capabilities, allowing for seamless data manipulation and extraction. They find this functionality beneficial for efficient data management.
Versatile Application Development: Users commend the platform for enabling fast and cost-effective creation of applications from scratch, showcasing its versatility in catering to diverse business needs efficiently. This capability saves time compared to traditional development processes while offering customization options.
We are a $26B company operating in more than 64 countries. There are multiple development teams located at multiple centers both at site and GBS centers. There is a need to develop custom-based applications depending upon the site's requirements in addition to the global applications. IT Ops team was not interested in spending hefty investment for site-specific applications. That's where we figured out low code environment Zoho Creator. We have been using this application for more than 2 yrs since started a POC with one site.
Pros
Lower Development efforts
Customized to client needs
Integration with multiple apps/databases/ ERPs
Automation
Cons
Pricing is comparatively high
Not suitable for handling huge data
User Interface is not much attractive
Likelihood to Recommend
We were looking for an easy framework for a workflow-based solution to meet business requirements. With Zoho Creator, we created and deployed in just 2 weeks of time including UAT. It is easy to create and maintain multiple groups.
VU
Verified User
Project Manager in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)
I have implemented for one of our customer. There need was , they want a seperate application for inventory management that should be integrated with Zoho Inventory. The integration was very easy to be made in Zoho Creator and now their team can manage there inventory through Zoho Creator App.
Pros
Multiple drag and drop Fields
Subforms
Integration with other zoho and Third party apps
Dashboard and Report creation
Cons
Better app templates are missing. Templates are just basic type. You can create templates but you need to know html and css for that.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are using some application of Zoho and want some more functionality into it, Use Zoho creator to develop a separate app as per requirement and integrate it with your Zoho App.
Small organization can use creator to make apps but it can be used for small range of storage, For Large organization , it may be not feasible.
We are a logistics service provider and are in the industry for 40 years.Being a traditional business house its really difficult to implement Modern Softwares as existing team will not accept modern technologies.Because of this generation gap we are had lot of issues in implemeting zoho on initial stages.
As far as considering problems with the business, just like any business house we did have lot of issues especially with meeting our customer demand on real time basis and providing them with timely data.Also we had too many un used manpower and we sorted it out using zoho creator.
We were able to identify our weaker side and patch it with multiple methods which slowly increased our profit
Pros
Accountability for each employee work which is very vital for any organization
Making operations very simple even that a simple lay man would be able to perform detailed work like a pro
Data tracking in live was made possible
Using proper Manpower for the work they are apt.
Cons
Visual Customization is something more important as modern day users need fresh layouts
Apps need more changes wrt to layouts
Costing to be re worked for MSME sectors as we cannot afford like a Corporates
Likelihood to Recommend
A specific incident is where we were proud using zoho , was when we challenged a MNC who has more than 10k employees, for providing a same service matching them technically, where we are a small organisation in size comparing them having around 70 employees.
The less appropriate is where , implementing accounting system properly integrating with the existing operatoins.Need lot of improvement on this
We need to know the services that we gave to our customers and the storage they have with us. when we started it was easy to use excel, but once our customer's base grew it was impossible. ZOHO creator can support so many features - it is amazing.
Pros
logging data
searching for old information
customer portal - for our sellers
Cons
ZOHO creator can integrate to other ZOHO platforms, but it doesn't do it so well
their ability to add more space is based on adding users which doesn't always make sense.
Likelihood to Recommend
it is amazing for growing business. the flexibility and ability to tailor the features to your needs is amazing.
I believe that in large businesses where they have many users, it will be harder to implement ZOHO CREATOR.
It's always perceived that wedding photographers have the best job and it's
all fun. However, in reality, it's the most complex service offering in the whole
wedding industry because it's the only service that has a very long customer
lifecycle—90+ days—and also the riskiest.
For the first few years, Studio 31 was busy building a strong foundation, and
it solely focused on the creative aspect of the business, along with great
customer service.
From inquiry to delivery, there were more than 37 processes that had to be
diligently followed to provide a hassle-free experience for its customers. For
Studio 31, everything was smooth initially, when we captured a limited
number of weddings. However, as we grew, we lost control over what was
happening, and a creative profession turned into an administrative one, with
all the hassles that entails.
<ul><li>Data management and accuracy </li><li>Expensive human error due to business complexity </li><li>Dependency on spreadsheets that had to be manually updated </li><li>Updating customers manually resulted in over 46 email threads
per customer and staff having to invest over four hours every
day in replying to emails</li><li>Lack of analytics and reporting</li><li>And more random issues that would pop up every day </li></ul>After investing a lot of money and time in over 15 CRM's, we learnt that any ready to use platform will not suit our business model and this is where Zoho Creator came in. We are able to build whatever we've in mind without much restrictions. It's like an open canvas.
There's nothing that you cannot achieve in Zoho Creator. You just need clarity and direction on how to make best use of the product.
Pros
Build anything from scratch
Saves tons of time when compared to traditional development
Can see results instantly if we've the right people working on it
Citizen developer friendly
Integrations with other Zoho Products + Third Party tools makes life easier
Easy reporting and analytics
The fastest and best solution for building internal tools that wont cost you a bomb
Cons
Technical support through live chat where we can get help on coding etc.
Partners and developer resources
Likelihood to Recommend
I was researching economic alternatives to achieve this
somehow, and that's when I learned about low-code tools. They're
like a canvas; one can build and achieve anything, and save 90% of
the actual development cost. We researched several solutions and
figured out that Zoho Creator worked the best. We started building
the software in 2017 and it took us about 19 months to get the entire
workflow sorted. However, a boon in disguise was the time that we
got during the Covid lockdown. We put all hands on deck, and in
about 200 days, we had built a much-improved software solution.
We'd built something outstanding, and we knew this because we
ZOHO Creator is primarily used for digital transformation. We take our historical manual and paper-based processes and digitize them with automated workflow. This allowed us to automatically integrate our processes and provided a real-time Management Information System.
Pros
Standardizing of Data Types to improve data quality.
Workflow and automated notifications.
Reporting / Dashboards.
Cons
In C6, the new setup of permissions is not logical. Admins now have access to every application rather than specific applications, which impacts data confidentiality.
In C6, the new feature for having multiple environments is very limited as it does not work for ZOHO Creator applications that are linked to other Zoho Creator applications in the same workspace - which is not logical at all.
In C6, the revised permissions for Developers do not allow the developer to assign permissions to users or to publish forms, reports, pages, etc....which again is not logical.
Likelihood to Recommend
ZOHO Creator is excellent for creating surveys and analyzing data in real-time - the reporting and dashboard features are very, very useful. ZOHO Creator is good for creating Smart forms - ie, forms where fields are displayed depending on the content of previous forms (ie, is the response to a radio button is "Yes," then display text fields....if not, hide it. This makes it very user-friendly. Also, the automatic format checking of fields (i.e., dates, emails, etc.) ensures data quality is high. The differences between Zoho Creator Users and Zoho Creator Customer Portal users means that you often have to create two versions of each App (i.e. for field permission settings), which can make it difficult to maintain.
VU
Verified User
Consultant in Professional Services (501-1000 employees)
I use Zoho Creator to create and manage various lite databases to store information. The software is very easy to use and manipulate into any form or spreadsheet style tool you want to use. I currently have 3 different creator tools setup and being used across different departments at our company.
Pros
easy
quick
intuitive
Likelihood to Recommend
For our use of Zoho Creator we only have 2 people that manage the information. It works well that only certain users can edit the information but all users can view the public data. Zoho Creator works well on web and mobile browsing. I have no complaints with the software it does as described and more.
<ul><li>Streamlining internal business processes such as data gathering through forms along with automated alerts, validations, and follow-ups. </li><li>Creating customer-facing apps with real-time built-in dashboards. </li><li>Leveraging pre-built templates for resource management and support request ticket management</li></ul>
Pros
Pre-built templates are easy to use, detailed and customisable
Mass data import through file or pre-defined email template
user-friendly interface and deluge language
Cons
More customization options or pre-defined functions in deluge
Providing selective app access to multiple users in one go
more API integrations such as MS office suite
Likelihood to Recommend
I was able to pick up app creation practically without any prior training or demo along with customised alerts, notifications and follow-up workflows and created a full-fledged app for an internal process
VU
Verified User
Manager in Professional Services (201-500 employees)
Zoho Creator is used in almost every department in Emirates Logistics India, We have been able to solve and automate manual processes of various departments like HR, IT, Operations, CS to name a few. Zoho Creator has allowed our On Filed employees who doesn't have access to system, they are not able to upload the required details using the Zoho Creator Mobile App. Another problem we solved was for HR, developed the Recruitment module for them to be able to track, trace, and record every recruitment data in single system. Another Application created for Managing Companies Compliances, helps the Taxation and HR Compliance to be sure no compliance is missed, system even provides notification of expiry.
Pros
Simple Workflows for Complex Functionalities, We were able to create Workflows with multiple criteria's for capturing and storing data with very simple code.
Availability of Mobile App without any additional development, Creator's Mobile Application is as good as Web Version, Just need to customize the view and its done and available to all users. The Offline component of Mobile application helps the team complete the work even if they are not in network and data is synched later successfully.
Data Analysis, Reporting Dashboards and by default integration with Zoho Analytics allows automatic dashboard creation which our Management Team can use to take necessary decisions.
Cons
In the C5 Version, User Management was easy, but in C6 due to the by default integration of analytics, we at our end are not able to deactivate the users, which can be improved as to add new user, we need to have the control at our end.
While integrating with third party software's, creator should develop mechanism to use multiple applications using common points
Though the system is very easy to use and develop, UI customization option should be provided with similar low code facility
Likelihood to Recommend
1. Zoho Creator is best suited for all organizations which do not want to invest much in technical staff or outsource the products at heavy cost. Since Zoho creator provides trainings to all users (Business User / Developer), it becomes easy for the organization to just hire a BA which can understand the requirement and at the same time develop it.
2. In terms of where it is less appropriate, as per my observations, if organizations have the requirement of having a customer front applications and again they do not want to spend heavy, Zoho creator might not suite them. Other wise Zoho Creator is useful to all small, medium and big organizations.
We used the Zoho creator for the beginning of our business. It is really a great platform and also a pack of all services that are much needed for the start-up on this age. It is also very cheap and fast to on board with the setup process with amazing assistance of the team.
Pros
CRM
Invoicing
Inventory
Marketing
Cons
User Interface can be improved
User management and support must be released
Multimedia device management can be introduced to import multiple media.
Likelihood to Recommend
My experience with Zoho creator in both personal and professional level is really amazing. The services and products provided by the Zoho are really incredible. I was totally new in the industry, but thankfully i got all sorted with all in one suite that Zoho provided to us in the packages. It can be improved if costing is managed.
