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CRM · head to head

Bigin vs Zoho Marketing Automation

Bigin logo

Bigin

CRM

Zoho pipeline CRM for small businesses, priced well below Zoho CRM itself

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Marketing Automation logo

Zoho Marketing Automation

Marketing

Contact-count marketing automation priced well below the mainstream platforms, tightest with Zoho CRM

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bigin has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bigin the plan limits are the product boundary, not a soft guideline: three pipelines on Express and thirty automations will constrain any business with more than a couple of distinct sale types, and the only fix is to pay up a tier.; Zoho Marketing Automation pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • They diverge on capability: Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bigin and Zoho Marketing Automation actually diverge.

Attributes where Bigin and Zoho Marketing Automation differ
AttributeBiginZoho Marketing Automation
Starting priceFree$19/month
Pricing modelPer user per monthPer month by contact count
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOSWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryCRMMarketing

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bigin

  • Multiple pipelines
  • Teampipes
  • Built-in telephony
  • Email integration
  • Workflow automation
  • Mobile apps
  • Zoho ecosystem
  • Free onboarding

Only in Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Journey builder
  • Lead scoring
  • Unlimited email sends
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Web behaviour tracking
  • Social campaigns
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Lead attribution and X-RAY

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bigin

  • A five-person sales team wants a real CRM for under 50 US dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in Zoho CRM.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A business already running Zoho Books or Zoho Mail wants a CRM in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A services firm wants to run client onboarding and delivery as pipelines alongside sales, which is what Teampipes exists for, without buying a separate project tool.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A buyer evaluating Zoho CRM Standard should price Bigin first, because for straightforward pipeline selling it is roughly a third of the cost on the same platform.not Zoho Marketing Automation

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • A B2B team already on Zoho CRM that wants scoring and nurture without paying for a separate platform and an integrationnot Bigin
  • A business emailing its list frequently, where unlimited sends beats a competitor metering both contacts and emailsnot Bigin
  • An Indian or emerging-market marketing team that would otherwise pay a US-dollar list price plus card forex feesnot Bigin
  • A small team upgrading from plain newsletter sending to behaviour-triggered journeys without a five-figure annual commitmentnot Bigin

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bigin

  • The plan limits are the product boundary, not a soft guideline: three pipelines on Express and thirty automations will constrain any business with more than a couple of distinct sale types, and the only fix is to pay up a tier.
  • Outgrowing Bigin means migrating to Zoho CRM, a different product with different objects and configuration, so the cheap start becomes a project later rather than a plan upgrade.
  • The free plan is one user with 500 records and no automation, which makes it a trial rather than a usable free tier of the kind Zoho CRM competitors offer.
  • Reporting and analytics are basic compared with Zoho CRM, with no serious forecasting, territory management or custom module building, so sales operations functions have nothing to work with.
  • Zoho runs two overlapping CRMs and has an obvious incentive to keep Bigin limited, so features that would make it a genuine competitor to Zoho CRM are unlikely to arrive however much customers ask.

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • The Enterprise plan caps users at 25, which is a hard ceiling for larger marketing organisations rather than an upgrade path.
  • Its value depends heavily on running Zoho CRM; used alongside Salesforce or HubSpot the integration is shallower and much of the scoring and attribution advantage disappears.
  • Zoho sells Campaigns, Marketing Automation and MarketingPlus as separate products with overlapping function, and buyers regularly purchase the wrong one and then migrate lists between them.
  • Support and deliverability tooling are basic next to dedicated senders, so sender reputation problems on a large list get less expert help than a specialist provider would give.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bigin

Free
  • FreeFree
    • One user only
    • 500 records
    • One pipeline
  • Express$7/month
    • Three pipelines
    • 50,000 records
    • 30 workflow automations
  • Premier$12/month
    • Five pipelines
    • 100,000 records
    • 50 workflow automations
  • Bigin 360$18/month
    • Fifteen pipelines
    • One million records
    • 100 workflow automations

Zoho Marketing Automation

$19/month
  • Standard$19/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Unlimited social campaigns and signup forms
  • Professional$29/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Contact scoring
    • Journey builder with reports
  • Enterprise$59/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Lead attribution and X-RAY journey tracing
    • Landing page personalisation

Which should you pick?

Choose Bigin if

  • You need multiple pipelines.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS.
  • You also want teampipes.
Bigin review

Choose Zoho Marketing Automation if

  • You need journey builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want lead scoring.
Zoho Marketing Automation review

Questions people ask

Is Bigin or Zoho Marketing Automation better?
Neither clearly leads. Bigin starts at Free and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bigin or Zoho Marketing Automation?
Bigin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bigin and $19/month for Zoho Marketing Automation.
Does Bigin or Zoho Marketing Automation run on more platforms?
Bigin runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, watchOS. Zoho Marketing Automation runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Bigin for free?
Yes. Bigin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zoho Marketing Automation starts at $19/month.
What is Bigin best used for?
Bigin is most often used for a five-person sales team wants a real crm for under 50 us dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in zoho crm., a business already running zoho books or zoho mail wants a crm in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool., a services firm wants to run client onboarding and delivery as pipelines alongside sales, which is what teampipes exists for, without buying a separate project tool., a buyer evaluating zoho crm standard should price bigin first, because for straightforward pipeline selling it is roughly a third of the cost on the same platform.. Of those, a five-person sales team wants a real crm for under 50 us dollars a month total and will never use the territory management or forecasting depth in zoho crm. and a business already running zoho books or zoho mail wants a crm in the same account with native links rather than a bridged third-party tool. are not what Zoho Marketing Automation is typically brought in for.
What can Bigin do that Zoho Marketing Automation cannot?
Bigin covers Multiple pipelines, Teampipes, Built-in telephony, Email integration. Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder, Lead scoring, Unlimited email sends, Landing pages and forms.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bigin: Is Bigin the same as Zoho CRM?

No. It is a separate, cheaper product on its own domain with its own pricing, aimed at small businesses, and it is deliberately capped so it does not compete with Zoho CRM.

Zoho Marketing Automation: How does it differ from Zoho Campaigns?

Campaigns is email sending and newsletters. Marketing Automation adds journeys, lead scoring, web tracking and CRM writeback. Buying Campaigns and outgrowing it is the common mistake.

Bigin: How much cheaper is it?

Express is 7 US dollars per user per month annually against Zoho CRM Standard at a higher rate, and the gap widens against the upper Zoho CRM tiers.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Are email sends limited?

No, sends are unlimited on all plans. Only contact count determines your tier, which is unusual at this price level.

Bigin: What happens when I outgrow the pipeline limits?

You move up a Bigin tier to five or fifteen pipelines, and beyond that you migrate to Zoho CRM, which is a data and configuration migration rather than a switch.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Is there a user limit?

Yes, up to 25 users on Enterprise, with lower limits below that. It is not designed for large marketing departments.

Bigin: Is the free plan usable?

Only for one person with a very small contact list. It is one user, 500 records, one pipeline and no automation.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Can I pay in local currency?

Yes, Zoho publishes real local pricing in several markets including India rather than converting the US dollar figure at checkout.

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