Zoho Cliq

Zoho Cliq is a business messaging and team collaboration platform built by Zoho Corporation out of Chennai, India. It brings together team channels, direct messages, group chats, HD video and audio meetings, screen sharing, and real-time file collaboration in a single workspace — positioned as an affordable, privacy-first alternative to Slack and Microsoft Teams for Indian SMBs and enterprises. Cliq's standout advantage is its deep integration with the 55+ app Zoho One suite — conversations can trigger actions in Zoho CRM, Projects, Desk, People, Books, and more without leaving the chat. Bots and custom commands can be built in Zoho's own Deluge scripting language, and admins get granular controls over message retention, data residency, and user permissions. Pricing is a major differentiator: the Free plan supports up to 100 users with unlimited messages (vs Slack's 90-day history cap on free), while the Unlimited plan is priced at roughly Rs 90–180 per user per month depending on region — typically 40–60% cheaper than Slack Pro. Data is hosted in Indian data centres for customers who opt for the in.zoho.com data region, addressing data sovereignty concerns for Indian businesses. Cliq is best suited for teams already invested in the Zoho ecosystem, cost-sensitive SMBs, and Indian organisations that need local data residency. Large enterprises coming from Slack may find the UI and third-party integration ecosystem less polished, but for most Indian teams, Cliq delivers 80% of Slack's functionality at a fraction of the price.

Information updated 6 months ago