Bigin vs Zoho CRM: Which One Should a Small Team Pick?

Bigin vs Zoho CRM is not a choice between two rival companies. Both come from Zoho, and Zoho itself describes Bigin as an offshoot of Zoho CRM, built and priced for small businesses. The real question is how much CRM your team needs today, and how much you are likely to need in a year.

This guide compares the two on the points small Indian teams ask about most: INR prices, free plans, record and pipeline limits, automation, WhatsApp, calling from India and what actually moves when you upgrade from one to the other. If you are still on a spreadsheet, our best CRM software in India guide covers the wider market.

Bigin vs Zoho CRM at a Glance

What Is Bigin?

Bigin is Zoho's pipeline-first CRM for small businesses. Zoho calls it "the perfect beginner's CRM for small businesses that are looking to move away from spreadsheets." Everything is organised around team pipelines and their stages, with contacts, companies, products, tasks and calls attached to each deal.

Bigin keeps the feature set deliberately narrow. There are no custom modules, no sales forecasting module, no territory management and no approval processes. In return, it is quick to learn and cheap to run.

What Is Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM is Zoho's full CRM, which Zoho says is used by more than 150,000 businesses worldwide. It covers leads, contacts, accounts, deals, quotes and invoices, and lets you build your own modules, layouts and processes. Higher editions add Blueprint process rules, approval workflows, territories, sandboxes and Zia, Zoho's AI assistant.

That depth is the point of Zoho CRM. It also means more set-up work and a higher price per user.

Pricing in India: Bigin vs Zoho CRM Plan by Plan

All prices are per user per month in INR, before GST, taken from Zoho's own price files for each product.

For a team of 5 on yearly billing, Bigin Express works out to ₹2,000 a month and Zoho CRM Standard to ₹4,000 a month. Zoho CRM also requires one edition for the whole organisation, so you cannot mix Standard and Professional users.

One caution: Zoho's own Bigin and Zoho CRM comparison page shows older INR prices that do not match the current price files or Zoho CRM's feature list. We used the price files.

Features Compared

Here is how the Bigin vs Zoho CRM decision plays out feature by feature, using each product's official limits.

Records, pipelines and customisation

Bigin's paid plans allow 50,000 records on Express, 100,000 on Premier and 1 million on Bigin 360. Team pipelines go from 3 on Express to 5 on Premier and 15 on Bigin 360, and custom fields per module go from 10 to 25 to 50. The free plan has no custom fields outside its one team pipeline.

Zoho CRM Standard allows 100,000 records, and Professional and above allow about 5 million. Pipelines run from 5 on Standard to 50 on Ultimate. Custom modules start at 10 on Standard and reach 500 on Ultimate, and Professional allows 155 custom fields per module.

Automation

Bigin counts workflows and stage automations together: 3 on Free, 30 on Express, 50 on Premier and 100 on Bigin 360. Date-based triggers and stage transition rules arrive on Premier.

Zoho CRM gives each module its own allowance, from 30 workflow rules on Standard to 150 on Ultimate. Standard adds assignment rules and cadences (timed follow-up sequences across email, tasks, calls and WhatsApp). Blueprint starts on Professional and approval processes on Enterprise.

AI

Bigin's AI tools, such as summaries and writing help, are on Premier (1,000 AI credits a month) and Bigin 360 (3,000). Zoho CRM's Zia agents, record summaries, call summaries and scoring start on Professional.

WhatsApp

Both products connect to the WhatsApp Business Platform and need a Meta Business account and a dedicated number. Bigin includes WhatsApp from Express. Template messages use instant message credits, which Bigin prices at US$2 each. Zoho CRM supports WhatsApp on paid editions; sending messages needs credits, and approved templates can run inside workflows and Blueprint. Meta's own charges apply with either. Our WhatsApp CRM page explains how templates and the 24-hour reply window work.

Calling from India

This is a big difference for Indian teams. Bigin lists a built-in phone on every plan, but its FAQ states that India is not a supported country, so you cannot buy an Indian number through it. Bigin points Indian users to PhoneBridge providers such as Exotel, MyOperator, Acefone and TeleCMI. Zoho CRM lists built-in calling from Standard and supports PhoneBridge integrations on paid editions.

Email, mobile and reports

Email integration with Gmail or Outlook starts on Bigin Express and on Zoho CRM Standard. Both have mobile apps on every plan, including Free. Sales forecasting is in Zoho CRM from Standard; Bigin's FAQ says it does not have a dedicated forecast module.

IndiaMART and lead portals

Zoho CRM has a free, official IndiaMART extension built by IndiaMART on Zoho Marketplace. Bigin's IndiaMART options on its marketplace are third-party and paid. We found no Justdial extension for either.

Who Should Pick Bigin

• A team of 1 to 10 people moving off Excel or WhatsApp notes
• One sales process, or a few simple ones, without approvals
• Budget comes first and ₹400 per user is the ceiling
• You want mobile apps and a working pipeline the same day
• You may move to Zoho CRM later and like that the path is built in

Who Should Pick Zoho CRM

• You need leads assigned automatically by rules
• Managers want forecasts, territories or approval steps
• Your process needs custom modules, such as projects or policies
• You already use other Zoho apps and want them in one account
• You expect to grow past Bigin's pipeline and field limits within a year

Moving From Bigin to Zoho CRM (and Back)

Zoho has a built-in upgrade path, and two of the top search results for this comparison are Zoho help pages about it. Here is what those pages say.

Bigin to Zoho CRM

1. A Bigin administrator opens Subscription and chooses Upgrade to Zoho CRM, then picks and pays for a Zoho CRM edition.
2. In Zoho CRM, the administrator goes to Data Administration, then Import, then Bigin, selects the organisation and clicks Migrate Now. You must log in with the same user credentials as Bigin.
3. Users, companies, contacts, team pipelines, sub-pipelines, stages, tasks, events, notes, attachments, associated products, photos and custom fields move across.

The limits matter. Team pipelines become deal layouts and sub-pipelines become pipelines, capped by your edition. Zoho's own example: 25 custom fields moving to Standard means only 10 migrate. Add-ons and phone numbers do not carry over, extra users arrive as inactive until you buy licences, and the Bigin subscription is not cancelled for you.

Zoho CRM to Bigin

Downgrading works from Bigin Express and above. It imports users, contacts, accounts, pipelines, products, activities, notes and tags, with up to 20 custom fields and 20 tags per module, and you can run at most 3 direct imports.

Where TracktCRM Fits

If neither tool quite matches how your team sells, TracktCRM is a simpler option for teams whose leads arrive on WhatsApp and lead portals. The Free plan gives 1 user unlimited records, 3 automations and WhatsApp integration (Meta message charges apply). Pro costs ₹319 per user per month billed yearly and adds 5 pipelines, 30 automations, and Meta and Google lead ads. TracktCRM also integrates 99acres, Housing.com, MagicBricks, IndiaMART, Justdial and TradeIndia, and AI features are on Premium and All-in-One.

Zoho is the better choice if you want Zoho Books, Desk or other Zoho apps in one account, or need Zoho CRM's deep customisation. For a fuller side-by-side, see our Bigin alternative and Zoho CRM alternative pages, or compare plans on TracktCRM pricing.

Bigin vs Zoho CRM: Our Verdict

For most first-time CRM buyers with a small team, Bigin is the sensible, lower-cost start, and Zoho has made the move to Zoho CRM straightforward if you outgrow it. Choose Zoho CRM from day one only if you already know you need assignment rules, forecasting, custom modules or approvals, because rebuilding those later costs more than the price difference. Whichever you pick, start with the free trial, load a week of real leads and check the limits against how your team actually works.