NOTE: from February 15 2019 the Zoho has updated the price list for Zoho One, and the minimum requirement for 5 users is no longer in place. To read more: https://www.aurelian-group.com/blogs/post/zoho-has-updated-the-price-of-zoho-one-again-and-it-is-great-news
This week, Zoho introduced a new pricing structure for Zoho One - effective immediately. This pricing has a significant impact on small businesses with less than 5 employees - and I have received a number of queries on this. This blog entry sets out what the changes are, it is not a critique on the model. Overall - comparatively to the rest of the market, Zoho still has the most comprehensive offer of products at a very competitive price point.
Newly introduced "Flexible User" pricing
Zoho One used to be priced exclusively on a "Per Employee" basis - in other words, you were required to license all employees to Zoho One, regardless of their use of the programs (given there is Email, Productivity, and HR in the suite, this actually makes a lot of sense). Zoho has introduced a "Flexible User" Licence - which allows you to name the users you wish to provide access to as a subset of your employees. The price for this model is $125 per user per month (if paid monthly), dropping to $100 per user per month if paid annually.
Newly introduced minimum licences for "All Employee" pricing
Prior to the introduction of the price changes, Zoho One "All Employee" licences were available to any size business, with a minimum of One (the Solopreneur). With the new pricing model, there is a minimum of 5 employees to be able to access the price of $45 per employee per month ($35 per employee per month if paid annually). If you license less than 5 employees, you are automatically referred to the "Flexible User" pricing.
The mechanics behind the licence
Zoho One remains a bundle licence - whether it is the Flexible User licence, or the All Employee licence. In other words, you acquire the licence of a named user to access all 40 employees. This means that if you have two people accessing different applications (i.e. 1 person using Books, and 1 person using CRM), in the Zoho One Flexible User plan, you must license two users. Following table shows the implications for businesses up to 5 employees (all figures are in Australian Dollar and monthly fees, based on monthly or annual payment plans):
| Number of licences | Flexible monthly | All employee monthly | Flexible annually | All employees annually |
| 1 | $125 | $225 | $100 | $175 |
| 2 | $250 | $225 | $200 | $175 |
| 3 | $375 | $225 | $300 | $175 |
| 4 | $500 | $225 | $400 | $175 |
From the pricing table above, one can conclude that for organisations with 2 employees or more, the All Employee licence is cheaper - given the mix of applications (such as productivity, email and CRM) - it is the most feasible scenario. In effect it is a price increase for sub 5 employee companies. For companies with 5 or more employees, the "All Employees" plan is unchanged, other than the fact you cannot downgrade to below 5 licences.