Zoho VS Insightly 2024: Which Is Right For Your Business?

Features

It might be challenging to decide between Zoho and Insightly regarding features since they both have a similar menu yet perform quite differently.

Insightly – Since Insightly is cloud-based, there is no need to install software to access it from any location with an internet connection. The program contains lead routing, which automatically distributes leads to salespeople so they can get in touch with the prospect at the ideal moment and more successfully make a deal.

Along with Insightly workflow automation, reports in the software may assist you in delving into data to boost team productivity. It presents this data on extremely appealing, editable dashboards that keep everything in one place. For teams that want a vital marketing component to their CRM, Insightly offers an email marketing solution that records, stores, and sends emails to prospects.

Zoho CRM – you may access the cloud-based Zoho platform from anywhere. The capabilities included in Zoho’s free edition include call logs, notes, social media integration, sales tasks, and events. You may access tools like live visitor monitoring and sales forecasting when you upgrade to premium tiers.

You can also use social media to generate leads and launch Google Adwords campaigns. You may access custom modules, customer support, reports, increased storage, inbound marketing with automation, and more by paying for the most expensive membership tier.

Contact Management

This feature set is crucial for both providers since contact management was the initial purpose of CRMs. Both Zoho and Insightly provide a wide range of contact management features. You can import leads from your existing system into both platforms and add custom fields to fit the organization you’ve been using on another platform.

The hierarchy of information, opportunities, contacts, and accounts (or “organizations” in Insightly) is also present on each platform. Users may keep track of interactions, assign tasks for follow-up, make comments, and modify the contact’s sales stage on the page for each record. Although the two systems’ core contact management features are comparable, there are notable variances. 

A territory management function in Zoho distributes leads and contacts to various sales teams following a customer’s region, industry, and product line. You may designate a territory manager to serve as an admin for the accounts under them to provide additional structure.

Once contacts are in the system, Insightly employs tags to offer a different means of guiding them. You may make custom tags to represent a specific geographic area, a particular product line, or other crucial data. You may incorporate web-to-lead forms from both platforms on your website. An individual’s data is immediately added to the CRM database once they submit a form.

Task Management

Many CRMs now include task management tools to aid salespeople in creating a stronger contact follow-up cadence. These solutions simplify chores that would otherwise get lost in the hustle via automated reminders. Users may set a reminder to follow up after a specific time, saving them from having to wing it when calling someone. Both Zoho and Insightly provide some task management. 

However, Insightly has a distinct edge in this regard. Instead of the conventional vertical funnel, Insightly visualizes the phases of the sales using a horizontal pipeline. This is excellent for managing leads, but the pipeline function has a value that goes beyond the sales cycle and into full-fledged project management.

You may handle sales prospects as complete projects by customizing pipeline phases to reflect various project stages. Projects may be arranged by location or given to a specific user. Task management features are also available in Zoho thanks to workflow automation technologies. With the Blueprint tool, you can create personalized process automation and establish personalized approvals to move work through team members and sales stages swiftly. In its add-on Zoho Projects, Zoho does provide a complete task management system.

Email Marketing

Both of these CRMs enable users to build email templates, send them to an extensive list, and monitor the metrics related to each. However, none of these CRMs has extensive email marketing features.

Each system provides a different way to link your CRM to a full-featured email marketing program. The company’s email marketing software, Zoho Campaigns, and Insightly, both interface with Mailchimp. A significant barrier to attaining ROI has always been getting salespeople to utilize a CRM continuously. 

The amount of manual labor needed by CRMs of an earlier generation is the cause of this hesitation. The software providers that saw this potential and seized it included automation tools to their CRMs that lessen tedious data entering. Sales automation features are offered by Zoho and Insightly and are built into each system using “if-then” logic to create self-activating features.

For instance, you may make a sales automation rule that reminds you to contact each lead one week after their creation date when you load a new batch of information. These automation solutions eliminate many of the manual steps in the sales process.

Reporting

Although both programs offer complete capabilities for CRM data reporting, analytics, and dashboards, the reporting in Zoho and Insightly is quite different. Sales, marketing, and activity reports are how Zoho categorizes its messages. You will get a spreadsheet for each account you create, which you can save as an a.csv or.xls file. You may see the data in charts or graphs after running the report. 

Over 40 pre-built reports are included with Zoho, and if you want a particular perspective, you may create bespoke ones using the system. With a Zoho Analytics subscription, you may also have access to other data analytics features. Depending on the subscription option, Insightly’s solution provides business intelligence reports and dashboards and can create and distribute bespoke chart cards. Forty other chart kinds are also available with this program.

Extras and integrations

Both suppliers have iOS and Android applications. The Insightly app allows you to phone, email, or text any record in their database, browse and convert information, and create tasks.

A map tool makes it simple to go to your next sales appointment. Similar capabilities are available on the Zoho mobile app, including phoning immediately from the app and geolocation for locating a prospect’s workplace.

With Zoho’s app, you can modify contact information in your CRM even if your signal is lost since it works offline. Once you’ve regained internet connectivity, the app will sync the modifications. 

Both devices provide a comparable range of integration possibilities. Over 30 applications, including Dropbox, Outlook, and Google Apps, are integrated with Insightly. Mailchimp, Unbounce, Evernote, and more services are integrated with Zoho. You may always utilize Zapier to create trigger automation if you want to sync either CRM with an app that isn’t included in their native integration list.

Any other applications in Zoho’s “online office suite,” such as Zoho Projects, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Support, Zoho Books, and others, may be combined with its basic CRM. That makes Zoho adaptable and expandable as your requirements change, making it more desirable for a mid-sized or rapidly expanding business.

Support

These two choices both provide excellent assistance, but both of them cost money. They also offer the community and online services, which your team could find helpful.

Insightly – Insightly has a Help Center where you may discover solutions to frequently asked concerns and even a section specifically designed for CRM newbies. This is beneficial for salespeople attempting to adjust to their CRMs and move to their software. There is a thriving community where people may assist one another in resolving problems with technology and other queries. 

Beyond that, Insightly provides “success programs” where you may pay beginning at $1,500 to get personal coaching and assistance from the firm. This offers you access to training, seminars, quarterly webinars, email and phone assistance, and more.

Zoho CRM – In addition, Zoho offers a customer service line only available during business hours and to Enterprise plus clients and a library of articles that customers may use to assist themselves. It’s a huge benefit that Zoho has a robust user community eager to help with any questions.

Ease of Use

Regarding usability, we’re looking for software solutions that go directly to a straightforward dashboard and let you access the most critical data a salesperson needs to access quickly and effortlessly.

Insightly – It seems like this platform is all on simplicity. You are immediately sent to the dashboard’s main page after logging into Insightly. Your overall revenues, the sales pipeline funnel, missed chances, and other indicators are shown on the dashboard in a visual arrangement you can customize to your tastes. Using the convenient menu, you may instantly access your contacts, leads, projects, tasks, emails, calendars, and more.

Zoho CRM – Additionally, Zoho offers a simple, user-friendly design that is especially effective for social media integration, which is something that most CRM software solutions don’t handle effectively, if at all. Even if the layout isn’t as visually appealing as others, certain people could like it.

Although you may personalize the dashboard to display whatever components you want, by default, Zoho’s home page sends you immediately to open leads and tasks. Additionally, it features a navigation bar at the top that directs you to information, contacts, reports, analytics, and other pages. Navigation takes some getting accustomed to since there are so many menu options.

Integration with other software

We were delighted by the blending of both alternatives. Both solutions’ connections will satisfy users of third-party services, including Outlook, Office 365, and Mailchimp.

Insightly – The leading third-party business platforms are integrated with Insightly, including Microsoft Outlook,, G Suite, Office 365, QuickBooks, MailChimp, Google Drive, Slack, Dropbox and more. You may connect any platform that Insightly doesn’t instantly offer access to using Zapier, which itself interfaces with more than 1,500 applications.

Zoho CRM – Additionally, Zoho interacts with popular third-party applications used by your sales staff, like MailChimp, Quickbooks, and Outlook. One of the software’s main selling points is its integration with social networking. Additionally, Zoho allows you to develop your extension at no cost and upload it to their Marketplace, where you may search for other user-made applications.