Folk vs Zoho CRM: Which CRM Tool Wins in 2025?

by | Mar 8, 2025

Winner
folk
4.5
  • Masseges and Sequences
  • Custom Dashboards
  • Team Collaboration
  • Pipeline Management
  • Easy Integration
  • Free trial available
  • Paid Plan Starts at $20
Runner Up
Zoho CRM
3.0
  • Lead Management
  • Marketing Plus
  • Comprehensive Analytics
  • Bigin
  • Advanced Customization
  • Free Trial Available
  • Paid Plans from $14/month
Folk vs Zoho CRM

Picking the right CRM is tough, right?

You’ve got tons of options, and two big names, Folk vs Zoho CRM, keep popping up.

How do you know which one is best for your business?

It feels like a big decision, and you don’t want to mess it up.

Don’t worry; we’re going to break down Folk vs Zoho CRM in plain English.

Let’s get started.

Overview

We’ve spent weeks diving deep into both Folk and Zoho CRM.

Testing every feature and comparing their real-world performance. 

This hands-on approach, using typical business scenarios, ensures our comparison isn’t just theory but also practical advice for your choice.

Folk CRM
4.5out of 5

It excels at managing 10,000 contacts and building relationships. It has powerful automation.

Pricing: It has a free trial. The premium plan starts at $20/month.

Key Features:

  • Sales pipelines
  • Advanced reports
  • Android app
ZOHO-CTA
3out of 5

Want a simple yet powerful CRM to organize your customer relationships? You can experience it risk-free!

Pricing: It has a free trial. The premium plan starts at $14/month.

Key Features:

  • Contact Management
  • Sales Force Automation
  • Analytics & Reporting

What is Folk?

Folk is a modern CRM. It’s built for teams.

It helps you manage contacts.

It’s easy to use. It’s all about collaboration.

Also, explore our favorite Folk alternatives…

Folk CRM homepage

Our Take

Folk CRM

It excels at managing 10,000 contacts and building relationships. It has powerful automation that some businesses need.

Key Benefits

  • Manage 10,000 contacts.
  • Connect five email accounts.
  • No warranty mentioned.

Pricing

All the plans will be billed annually.

  • Standard: $20/member/month.
  • Premium: $40/member/month.
Folk Pricing

Pros

  • User-friendly interface.
  • Excellent contact management.
  • Effective sales pipeline visualization.
  • Seamless email integration.
  • Powerful automation features.

Cons

  • Limited reporting capabilities.
  • The mobile app could be improved.
  • Integrations with some tools might be limited.
  • Customer support can be slow at times.

What is Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM is a big player. It does a lot more than just sales. 

You can manage everything.

Marketing, support, the works. It’s like a whole business toolkit.

Also, explore our favorite Zoho alternatives

Zoho Social homepage

Our Take

ZOHO-CTA

Elevate your social media strategy with Zoho Social. From smart scheduling and social listening to in-depth analytics, Discover the power of Zoho Social today!

Key Benefits

  • Customization is king: Tailor Zoho CRM to fit your exact workflow.
  • Affordable for everyone: Starts with a free plan for up to 3 users.
  • Mobile app access: Manage your CRM on the go, anytime, anywhere.
  • Built-in analytics: Track critical metrics and gain valuable insights.

Pricing

  • Standard: $14/user/month.
  • Professional: $23/user/month.
  • Enterprise:$40 /user/month.
  • Ultimate: $52/user/month.
Zoho CRM pricing

Pros

  • Super easy to use
  • Amazing price
  • The SmartQ feature
  • Highly customizable.
  • Integrates with many apps.

Cons

  • Fewer integrations
  • Reporting could be more detailed.
  • More advanced social listening.
  • Can get expensive with many users.

Feature Comparison

This analysis evaluates two distinct customer relationship management approaches: Folk, a specialized tool for building real relationships and leveraging social media for insights.

Zoho, a massive platform with a vast ecosystem of multiple platforms and powerful social media management tools.

This comparison will clarify which solution is the better investment for dedicated relationship nurturing versus integrated social media campaigns and comprehensive business management.

1. Core Focus and Goal

  • Folk: The core goal is relationship intelligence, helping users build genuine connections and nurture real relationships across different use cases. It is a lightweight customer relationship management tool focused on the human side of tracking contacts to close winning deals.
  • Zoho: The focus is on providing a comprehensive suite of other zoho apps for sales, marketing, and service. It offers a sophisticated user interface designed to manage all social media channels and multiple platforms from one platform.

2. Social Media Integration and Management

  • Folk: Does not offer direct social publishing tools but excels at aggregating contact data via its chrome extension to organize contacts from social media networks. It helps track the same person across platforms.
  • Zoho: Provides zoho social, a dedicated module for social media management. Users can monitor multiple social media accounts, instantly publish posts across social media platforms, schedule social media posts, and run social media campaigns, maintaining an active social media presence.
Youtube Video

3. Contact Organization and Data Source

  • Folk: Excels at helping users organize contacts effectively using flexible tagging. Users can add contacts easily via its chrome extension and set reminders for the same person.
  • Zoho: Manages contacts within a traditional CRM database, integrating data from sales activities, marketing forms, and its suite of other zoho apps. It handles multiple accounts and multiple platforms seamlessly.

4. Sales Pipeline and Deal Tracking

  • Folk: Provides a simple visual sales pipeline view to track opportunities and help users close winning deals quickly. It uses phone calls and tracked communications to drive the deal forward.
  • Zoho: Offers advanced sales pipeline management with highly customizable stages and sophisticated workflow tools designed to drive winning deals. It integrates sales data with social media performance metrics.

5. Communication Tools

  • Folk: Communication relies on tracking emails and phone calls made or received by the same person but requires integration with other tools. It uses basic email automation for sequences.
  • Zoho: Offers built-in telephony integration and advanced email automation features, including mass mailings and sophisticated marketing workflows across multiple social channels.

6. Mobile Accessibility

  • Folk: Offers a strong mobile app that allows users to access and update contacts on the go, making it easy to check set reminders and track interactions.
  • Zoho: Provides the comprehensive zoho social mobile app, allowing a social media manager to monitor, schedule social media posts, and run social media campaigns while managing sales tasks across multiple platforms.
Youtube Video

7. Marketing Campaign Tools

  • Folk: Does not have native marketing tools beyond simple email automation and contact organization. It relies on other tools for large-scale marketing.
  • Zoho: Offers integrated marketing features, including the ability to measure social media campaigns and social media performance, along with email and lead generation tools across multiple social channels.

8. Analytics and Reporting

  • Folk: Reporting focuses on relationship health, deal progress in the sales pipeline, and helping users close winning deals. It is a specialized, dedicated tool.
  • Zoho: Provides comprehensive analytics, including dedicated reports on social media performance and engagement, allowing a social media manager to track the effectiveness of social media campaigns across all social media channels.

9. Extensibility and Ecosystem

  • Folk: Focuses on deep integration with communication tools (like the chrome extension) and simple export to other tools. It is best as a dedicated relationship management tool.
  • Zoho: Its greatest strength is its vast ecosystem of zoho apps, providing integrated functionality for everything from finance and operations to marketing and dedicated modules for social media management across multiple platforms.

What to Look For in a CRM Software?

  • Scalability: Can it grow with your business?
  • Integration: Does it connect with your existing tools? Does it offers powerful scheduling features and contact management?
  • Reporting: Can you easily track key metrics?
  • Mobile Accessibility: Is it usable on the go?
  • Support: Does the vendor offer reliable assistance with crm features?
  • Training: Is there adequate training and onboarding?
  • Security: How well does it protect your customer data?
  • Industry Specifics: Does it cater to your industry’s needs? (Our Pick)

Final Verdict

So, which one wins?

For most small to medium businesses that want something easy to use, we pick Folk.

It’s simple, and it helps teams work together better.

If you need tons of fancy features and deep customization, Zoho CRM is strong.

But it can be tricky to learn. We’ve used both a lot.

We know what works in the real world.

Choose Folk if you want simple and team-friendly. Choose Zoho if you need something powerful and complex.   

More of Folk

Here’s a brief comparison of Folk with these software solutions:

  • Folk vs GoHighLevel: Folk emphasizes collaborative contact organization and ease of use, while GoHighLevel is a comprehensive sales and marketing platform with robust automation and lead generation.
  • Folk vs Pipedrive: Folk focuses on user-friendly contact management and customization, whereas Pipedrive excels in visual sales pipeline management for sales-focused teams.
  • Folk vs Keap: Folk offers a simple, collaborative interface for contact management, while Keap provides powerful sales and marketing automation with extensive customization.
  • Folk vs ActiveCampaign: Folk provides a user-friendly, collaborative contact management system, while ActiveCampaign boasts robust marketing automation, segmentation, and detailed analytics.
  • Folk vs Clickfunnels: Folk is a contact management CRM, while ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder designed for creating landing pages and automating sales processes.
  • Folk vs Instantly: Folk focuses on contact management and enrichment; Instantly specializes in automated cold email campaigns and high-volume outbound sales outreach.
  • Folk vs ClickUp: Folk is a specialized contact relationship management tool, while ClickUp is an all-in-one workspace that combines project management, task tracking, and CRM features.
  • Folk vs Monday: Folk offers a simple, collaborative contact system, while Monday CRM provides highly customizable visual workflows and robust team collaboration.
  • Folk vs Capsule: Folk is a modern, customizable CRM for managing contacts; Capsule CRM is a simplified contact manager primarily focused on tracking sales opportunities.
  • Folk vs Insightly: Folk is a straightforward collaborative contact management solution; Insightly provides a more robust CRM with advanced sales pipeline and project management features.
  • Folk vs Freshsales CRM: Folk focuses on intuitive relationship management and visual pipelines; Freshsales offers a comprehensive CRM with advanced automation and in-depth reporting for sales.
  • Folk vs Salesforce: Folk provides a user-friendly CRM for simple relationship management, while Salesforce is a highly customizable, scalable, and complex enterprise-level CRM with extensive features.
  • Folk vs Zendesk: Folk prioritizes simple, collaborative contact management for smaller teams, while Zendesk is a comprehensive customer service platform focused on ticketing and support.

More of Zoho CRM

Here’s a concise comparison of Zoho CRM with its alternatives:

  • Zoho CRM vs Pipedrive: Zoho CRM is feature-rich and affordable; Pipedrive provides a simpler, visual sales pipeline.
  • Zoho CRM vs Keap: Zoho CRM is a holistic CRM; Keap excels in integrated sales and marketing automation.
  • Zoho vs GoHighLevel: Zoho CRM is a very flexible and feature-rich CRM. It’s great for businesses of all sizes, offering deep customization and robust reporting for sales. GoHighLevel is an all-in-one platform mainly for marketing agency businesses.
  • Zoho CRM vs ActiveCampaign: Zoho CRM provides comprehensive CRM; ActiveCampaign leads in advanced marketing automation.
  • Zoho CRM vs HubSpot: Zoho CRM is cost-effective and offers diverse features; HubSpot is user-friendly and offers an expansive platform, but it can be pricier.
  • Zoho CRM vs ClickFunnels: Zoho CRM is a complete business management suite; ClickFunnels focuses on building conversion-optimized sales funnels.
  • Zoho CRM vs Folk: Zoho CRM is a broad, customizable CRM; Folk is a simpler, collaborative contact management tool.
  • Zoho CRM vs Instantly: Zoho CRM provides full-cycle CRM; Instantly specializes in cold email outreach at scale.
  • Zoho CRM vs ClickUp: Zoho CRM is a dedicated CRM solution; ClickUp is primarily a versatile project management platform.
  • Zoho CRM vs Monday CRM: Zoho CRM offers deep CRM functionality; Monday CRM emphasizes visual workflows within a broader work OS.
  • Zoho CRM vs Capsule CRM: Zoho CRM is extensive and customizable; Capsule CRM is known for its simplicity and ease of use.
  • Zoho CRM vs Insightly: Zoho CRM provides comprehensive CRM functions; Insightly combines CRM with project management.
  • Zoho CRM vs Freshsales CRM: Zoho CRM offers robust automation and customization; Freshsales CRM features an intuitive sales pipeline.
  • Zoho CRM vs Salesforce: Zoho CRM is an affordable, feature-packed alternative; Salesforce is a highly customizable, market-leading enterprise solution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Folk CRM better than Zoho CRM for small businesses?

For many small businesses, yes. Folk is often better. Its user-friendly interface and focus on team collaboration make it easy to use. Zoho CRM is powerful, but it can be overwhelming if you don’t need all its features.

Which CRM offers better integration capabilities, Folk or Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM offers significantly better integration capabilities. It connects with a wide array of apps and services, while Folk has fewer integrations, making Zoho a stronger choice if you need extensive connectivity.

How does Folk CRM compare to Zoho CRM in terms of customer support?

Zoho CRM has extensive online resources and support tickets. Folk focuses on personalized support, which can be helpful for small businesses. The best choice depends on whether you prefer self-service or direct assistance.

Can I customize Folk CRM as much as Zoho CRM?

No, Zoho CRM allows for far more customization. You can tailor it to your specific needs. Folk offers less flexibility, but it’s often sufficient for most small businesses.

Which CRM is easier to learn, Folk or Zoho CRM?

Folk is generally easier to learn, and its interface is designed for ease of use. Zoho CRM, with its many features, has a steeper learning curve.

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