Zoho Creator

If you need to create a very simple CRM (or CRM-like) system, with tailor-made functions for your business, it is well suited. You can customize and create modules specific for your company needs. Another good use is when you need a separate software to handle a specific need, beside other software you already use.

I gave 7 because it is better for internal use and internal solutions. If you need something to deliver to your clients (you will give them access to it), then you will have to work hard to give the layout a better look, and not use the using the standard template layout, which it's possible to do, but it will need an extra work.

Today Zoho Creator is included in our current plan from Zoho One, but if it was needed to pay apart it should be done because the software we created became very important for our team. The use of Zoho Creator contributes to endorse the Zoho One subscription year after year.

Even if it is a easy to use platform, it got some issues on the implementation that could easily handle by IT teams. In our scenario this team don't exist anymore, and the business/marketing team had their expectations that it was quickier to be implemented. So, consider a professional help on this implementation could be cost more (of cource) but it would be helpful to manage the issues and expectations.

We didn't need a lot of support for it, since all the documentation was well written. Only when we needed a bit more of coding skills we could count on their support to analyse the case and give us the best way to do it, sending the code already done (just copy-paste).

I have a software web app development background, so we considered hand-rolling an in-house MYSQL application for our needs. But, programming a home-grown web app also requires a dedicated programmer and some deep thought regarding specifications. Within just a couple of hours, I developed a tool in Zoho Creator (easily expandable) that accomplished the same tasks. It saved us a considerable amount of frontend and backend programming. Nothing can truly fit EVERY need, so some extremely specialized applications might find Zoho Creator limiting, but for the bulk of normal, everyday database management, Zoho Creator is an excellent tool. The fringe cases where Zoho Creator's off-the-shelf abilities may not be enough could be addressed in a number of creative ways, be it linking to outside data or using their custom programming language to hand-code specific needs. It is very, very powerful. The only place where it may not be appropriate is if someone needed extensive front-end customization (although data can still be pulled using its API for display externally). It may be too powerful for extremely basic needs. Overall, however, it is hard to find fault with this system.

I tend to believe that most of Zoho's support team speaks English as a second language. As such, communicating issues to them, knowing they comprehend the problem, and then getting solutions can be challenging. While their support team does tend to be very knowledgeable, the language barrier has more than once presented problems in the process. I understand it may not be a good financial decision to host an American-based support center, but it would certainly make for a better support experience.

Zoho is incredibly versatile. Much thought was put in to the way the platform functions. I've yet to face a situation where Zoho would not be able to do what I needed. That being said, because of its power, it can also be a bit intimidating technically. Simple needs are simple. More complex needs are ... more complex!

Overall, it's a powerful, robust platform.

In an earlier comment, I mentioned Zoho's excellent uptime. I have been using the system for over 6 years, and have experienced only momentary outages, and of those, only a hand full over the years. It is extremely reliable.

We do not integrate Zoho with other systems at this time, but rarely are searches, database exports, record edits or creation tasks ever slow enough to notice. It is quite usable.