Crafted with small business DNA

The Bigin Story

From solving your day-to-day challenges and growing alongside you, Bigin is more than a CRM system. We're your partner in turning big dreams into bigger realities.

We're Bigin. This is our story!

Humble beginnings as a
small business in 1996

In 1996, a simple idea took root in an apartment in Chennai, India. AdventNet was born from a desire to build smart technology that helps businesses work better. In 2009, we rebranded from AdventNet to ZOHO Corporation, marking a new chapter in our growth.

After being an early mover in cloud-based solutions, we have continued to expand our product offerings and global reach with innovative solutions that make a real difference. Over the past 28 years, we have been humbled by the opportunity to serve over 100 million users with 55+ products across 150 countries.

Since 2005, Zoho CRM has been one of the leading CRM solutions, serving over 250,000 businesses worldwide. For a product like CRM, which is fundamentally important in every small business's journey, we identified an opportunity to make it simple and straightforward from the get-go.

This vision led us to launch Bigin in 2020, as a sub-brand of Zoho CRM, offering the easiest CRM experience for small businesses with a clear promise: a simple 30-minute setup, the most essential features, and affordable pricing.

While other companies operate at a similar scale, what sets us apart is our small business DNA. We remain a small business at heart, with an agile and customer-centric mindset. You might wonder why we offer two different CRM solutions. The answer is simple: we understand that small businesses have different needs than larger enterprises. This understanding is woven into Zoho's DNA.

And that's why we created Bigin!

Our commitment to customers

At Zoho, we're proud to be funded by our customers, not external investors. This approach allows us to focus on the needs of our customers
over the demands of investors. The following core commitments guide everything we do:

Research and
Development

We believe that good software is a work of art, and good art takes time.We are one of the very few companies to prioritize funneling resources into R&D over other aspects of business.

Customer driven
innovation

With no investors to answer, we’re answerable only to our customers, and we ship features that meet the evolving demands of our customers.

Transparency

As a customer-funded company, we’re transparent about our pricing, privacy policies, and other goals and priorities.

Our core product principles

Simple yet powerful

We aimed to create a product that even someone with no experience using a CRM could use. Bigin is super intuitive, and small business owners can easily get up and running. In fact, you can get Bigin set up in 30 minutes.

Light on the pocket

We discovered that small businesses can’t afford expensive CRMs. So, we simplified our pricing model to make it accessible. Having a forever-free plan and paid plans starting at $7 per user/month makes us the most affordable CRM.

Mobile first

We’ve taken a mobile-first approach from the outset. We understand that as a small business owner, you’re often juggling multiple tasks while you’re on-the-go. To support you, we designed Bigin to be accessible anywhere, anytime.

Our focus has always been "ease-of-use" right from the first day of our product brief. When we decided to build a CRM solution exclusively for small businesses, we also made it a point to bring some of the good traits of enterprise software, such as a high level of customizability along with robust security & data privacy features into Bigin. Even behind the scenes, every piece of code we ship goes through more than ten levels of audits before it goes live.

Guru Raja Subbaiah Product Head, Bigin

Mobile devices have become an integral part of our personal and professional lives. As a mobile-first CRM solution, we have a significant advantage over legacy vendors who have built CRM solutions that primarily work on web-based browsers. From mobile apps to Mac, foldables to tablets, S Pen to Apple Pencil—we're leveraging the latest technologies from Apple and Android ecosystems to boost our customers' productivity on the go. We also believe in technology that works for everyone, which is why Bigin is designed to be inclusive, with built-in accessibility features.

Subash Subbiah Head of Mobile CX, Zoho

How Bigin addresses the challenges
faced by small businesses

Unorganized data

Bigin addresses this by providing a centralized, easy-to-use CRM that streamlines data management and eliminates the need for manual spreadsheets.

Lack of technical
expertise

Bigin has a user-friendly feature set and resources that help small business owners adopt best practices and optimize their CRM strategy.

Resource constraints

Bigin offers an affordable, flat-fee pricing model while boosting team productivity. This dual approach tackles both financial limitations and workforce efficiency, maximizing your available resources.

Overworked founders

Bigin's user-friendly interface and dedicated support team help small business owners streamline operations, allowing them to focus on core business activities.

Multiple tools

Bigin integrates with other Zoho tools, enabling comprehensive business management from one platform. Easily switch between accounting, invoicing and other essential functions for a streamlined experience.

Our six-part promise to you

1. We’ll do the heavy lifting so you can focus on your customers.

With Bigin, you can streamline your sales, marketing, and customer service processes, freeing up your team to focus on what matters most—building strong relationships with your customers. Our intuitive platform automates routine tasks and provides real-time insights so you can focus on growing your business and delighting your customers.

2. We build our features with your

small business in mind.

At Bigin, small businesses are at the front and center of all product discussions. You see, the market vastly differs between larger enterprises and small businesses. In fact, they belong to completely different weight classes. We take this very seriously and build with the pain points and challenges of small businesses in mind. You’re our number one priority, and at Bigin, that will never change.

3. We offer integrations with

popular software

you love.

We understand that no small business operates in isolation. At Bigin, we recognize the importance of various software tools to small businesses. Rather than competing with these tools, we believe in coexisting and integrating with them. Our infrastructure integrates with a wide range of essential software, including in-house Zoho tools like Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Flow, and many more.

4. We take your data privacy and security seriously.

We've always prioritized user privacy. We don’t show advertisements, even in free editions, and we don’t sell user data to third parties. We have also blocked third-party trackers on our websites to ensure that your data remains yours alone. We believe every individual should have control over their own data, regardless of their location. It isn’t just about complying with laws; it’s about doing what’s right.

5. We give you the flexibility and control you need.

From the moment you sign up, you have the freedom to try our product without committing to a lock-in period. You don’t have to provide your credit card information to get started. You can even try our premium features without being tied down to a contract. Most of our customers choose to continue using our product voluntarily after trying it out. We don’t believe in locking people into our product, which is why we’re committed to providing a flexible and customer-centric experience.

6. We’ll be by your side through

thick and thin.

At Zoho, we believe in giving back to our communities and supporting our customers through challenging times. We provide subscription relief to businesses affected by natural disasters and invest in sustainable initiatives like solar farms to offset our carbon footprint. Our commitment to social responsibility goes beyond business—we're dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of our customers, employees, and the planet. By choosing Bigin, you're partnering with a company that values ethical practices and community support as much as it does innovative technology.

Message from Zoho Corp's COO and Bigin's Architect-in-Chief

You pour your blood, sweat, and tears into your business—we understand that struggle because we've lived it ourselves. That's why at Bigin, we're not selling just another product to small businesses, but a solution that's built specifically keeping your best interests in mind. Together, with a CRM solution that has your back like a trusted friend, we can't wait to see you succeed and unlock newer opportunities for growth.

Manikandan Vembu COO, Zoho Corporation