Zoho Projects

What is Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management software developed by Zoho Corporation. It is designed to help teams plan their work, track progress, and collaborate effectively, no matter where they are. The core purpose of the tool is to provide a central platform for all project-related activities, from initial planning to final delivery. Zoho Corporation, the parent company, was founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas and is headquartered in Chennai, India. Zoho Projects is part of a larger suite of business applications, allowing for deep integration with other Zoho products like CRM, Books, and Desk.

Zoho Projects Features

• Task Management: Break down large projects into manageable tasks, subtasks, and milestones. Assign tasks to team members, set priorities, and track deadlines to ensure everyone knows their responsibilities.
• Gantt Charts: Visualize your project timeline with interactive Gantt charts. You can easily set task dependencies, track critical paths, and monitor progress against your original plan.
• Time Tracking: Log hours spent on tasks using timesheets. The software supports both manual entry and automatic timers, making it easy to track billable and non-billable hours for accurate client invoicing and payroll.
• Automation: Save time by automating routine tasks with the workflow builder. Use a drag-and-drop interface to create rules that trigger actions, such as sending notifications or updating task statuses.
• Customization: Adapt the software to your team's specific needs. Create custom fields, statuses, views, and templates to match your unique workflows and processes.
• Team Collaboration: Keep communication centralized with built-in tools like project feeds, forums, and chat. You can share documents, post updates, and have discussions directly within the context of your project.
• Issue Tracking: An integrated module helps you identify, track, and resolve bugs or issues within your projects. This is especially useful for software development and IT teams.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate detailed reports and view dashboards to get insights into project performance. Track key metrics like task completion rates, budget usage, and team productivity.

Zoho Projects Pricing Plans

Zoho Projects offers several pricing tiers to fit different team sizes and needs. There is a Free plan for small teams just starting out. The paid plans, often named Premium and Enterprise, offer progressively more features. The Premium plan is designed for growing teams and includes more projects, advanced reporting, and automation features. The Enterprise plan is for large organizations that require top-tier features like portfolio management, advanced customization, and higher user limits.

Zoho Projects Free Plan

Zoho Projects offers a permanent free plan that is suitable for small teams or simple projects. The free plan typically allows for a limited number of users and projects. It includes core features like basic task management, Gantt chart viewer, and document sharing. While it has limitations on storage and advanced features like time tracking and automation, it is a functional option for getting started. Zoho also provides a free trial for all its paid plans, allowing users to test the full feature set before committing.

How to use Zoho Projects

1. Sign Up: Create an account on the Zoho Projects website. You can start with the free plan or a trial of a paid plan.
2. Create Your First Project: Once logged in, click to create a new project. Give it a name, set a start and end date, and add a description.
3. Add Team Members: Invite your team members to the project and assign them roles and permissions.
4. Build Your Task List: Break down the project into milestones and tasks. Create tasks, assign them to team members, set due dates, and add dependencies.
5. Visualize with Gantt Charts: Switch to the Gantt chart view to see your project timeline visually. Adjust task durations and dependencies by dragging and dropping.
6. Collaborate: Use the feed to post updates, ask questions, and share files. Comment directly on tasks to keep conversations organized.
7. Track Progress: As work gets done, update task statuses. Use timesheets to log hours. Monitor the project's health using the main dashboard and reports.

Pros and Cons of Zoho Projects

Pros:

• Comprehensive Feature Set: Offers a wide range of tools covering almost every aspect of project management.
• Great Value: The pricing is very competitive compared to other tools with similar features.
• Zoho Ecosystem: Integrates seamlessly with other Zoho apps, creating a powerful business suite.
• Highly Customizable: Allows for extensive customization of fields, workflows, and layouts.
• Good Mobile Apps: Provides functional mobile apps for iOS and Android to manage projects on the go.

Cons:

• Complex Interface: The user interface can feel overwhelming for new users due to the large number of features.
• Performance Issues: Can sometimes be slow to load, especially with large and complex projects.
• Learning Curve: It can take time for teams to learn and adopt all the features effectively.

Zoho Projects integrations

Zoho Projects integrates with a wide range of applications, both within the Zoho ecosystem and from third-party providers. This allows teams to connect their project management with other essential business tools.

• Zoho Apps: Seamlessly connects with Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Analytics.
• Google Workspace: Integrate with Google Drive, Calendar, and Sheets for file management and scheduling.
• Microsoft 365: Connects with Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Outlook.
• Slack: Receive project updates and notifications directly in your Slack channels.
• GitHub & GitLab: Link your code repositories to track commits and issues related to project tasks.
• Dropbox: Attach files from your Dropbox account directly to tasks and projects.

Zoho Projects Alternatives

• Asana: A popular project management tool known for its clean interface and strong task management capabilities. It is often preferred by teams who prioritize ease of use.
• Jira: A powerful tool from Atlassian, primarily focused on software development teams. It excels at agile methodologies, bug tracking, and complex workflows.
• Trello: A simple, visual, Kanban-based tool that is great for managing smaller projects and straightforward workflows. Its simplicity is its main strength.
• Monday.com: A highly visual and flexible 'Work OS' that can be customized for various use cases beyond project management, including CRM and marketing campaigns.
• Wrike: A robust platform designed for enterprise-level project management, offering advanced security, reporting, and resource management features.

Zoho Projects API

Yes, Zoho Projects provides a comprehensive REST API that allows developers to build custom integrations and extend the platform's functionality. The API enables you to programmatically manage projects, tasks, users, timesheets, and more. To get started, you need to register your application in the Zoho Developer Console to obtain an API key (Client ID and Client Secret) using OAuth 2.0 protocol for authentication. The documentation is available on the Zoho API website.

Example API Call (cURL to get all projects):

curl "https://projects.zoho.com/restapi/portal/{portal-id}/projects/"
-H "Authorization: Zoho-oauthtoken YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN"

Zoho Projects Affiliate program

Zoho has a comprehensive Zoho Partner Program which includes affiliate options. As an affiliate, you can earn commissions by referring new customers to Zoho Projects and other Zoho products. The commission is typically a percentage of the revenue generated from your referrals for a specific period. To join, you need to apply through the Zoho Partner portal on their website. Once approved, you will get access to marketing materials, tracking links, and a dashboard to monitor your referrals and earnings. Payments are usually made on a regular schedule once you reach a minimum payout threshold.