Zoho Bigin: A Practical Guide to Zoho's CRM for Small Teams
A pipeline CRM a small team can set up in an afternoon.
Bigin by Zoho CRM is Zoho's CRM for small teams. It is built around pipelines: each deal moves through stages you can see at a glance, with the contact, company, emails, calls and tasks attached. It has far fewer settings than Zoho CRM, which is exactly the point for teams that need structure without a long setup project.
This guide covers what Bigin does, what each plan costs, how it compares with Zoho CRM and the setup decisions that matter most. It sits in the Sales and Customer Management section of our Zoho One ecosystem guide.
Bigin is a pipeline-first CRM for small businesses. It tracks deals, contacts and companies, automates routine follow-ups and includes built-in phone and email. A free plan covers one user and 500 records, and paid plans cost $7, $12 or $18 per user per month on annual billing.
What Bigin Does
Pipelines you can see
Deals sit in stages on a board view. You can run separate pipelines for different products or processes, such as new sales and renewals, and drag deals between stages as they progress.
Contacts and companies in one place
Every email, call, note and task is attached to the contact, company and deal it belongs to, so anyone on the team can pick up a conversation without asking for background.
Automation for routine follow-up
Workflows can assign records, send emails, create tasks and update fields when a deal changes stage, so follow-ups happen without someone remembering to do them.
Built-in phone and email
Teams can call and email from inside Bigin, with conversations logged against the right record.
Add-ons when you need them
Bigin extends through add-ons and integrations, including booking pages for scheduling, invoicing and estimates, and connections to QuickBooks and Shopify. Teams that need advanced scheduling can also connect Zoho Bookings.
Bigin vs Zoho CRM
| Bigin | Zoho CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small teams with a straightforward sales process | Growing teams with complex processes, territories or several departments |
| Setup effort | Hours to days | Days to weeks, often with a partner |
| Structure | Pipelines, contacts, companies, products | Leads, contacts, accounts, deals and many custom modules |
| Customization | Basic custom fields and workflows | Deep customization, Blueprint, advanced automation and scripting |
| Starting paid price (annual) | $7 per user per month | $14 per user per month |
Bigin suits teams of a few people selling one or two kinds of product. Zoho CRM suits teams that need lead management separate from deals, multi-step approval processes or heavy customization. Businesses on Zoho One already have Zoho CRM, so Bigin is mainly for teams buying a standalone CRM. See our Zoho CRM pricing guide for the other side of the comparison.
Bigin Pricing
| Plan | Annual billing (per user, per month) | Monthly billing | Record limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (one user) | $0 | 500 |
| Express | $7 | $9 | 50,000 |
| Premier | $12 | $15 | 100,000 |
| Bigin 360 | $18 | $21 | 1,000,000 |
The free plan is limited to one user and one pipeline. Feature limits such as the number of pipelines, workflows and custom fields rise with each plan, and AI features start at Premier. Check the current Bigin site before you budget.
Which Bigin Plan Fits?
- Free: one user, one pipeline and up to 500 records. Good for a founder testing whether a CRM habit will stick.
- Express: the realistic starting point for a small team, with multiple pipelines, workflow automation and up to 50,000 records.
- Premier: for teams that want more automation, AI features and room to grow, with up to 100,000 records.
- Bigin 360: the highest limits, up to a million records, for businesses with large customer lists that still want Bigin's simplicity.
Start on the plan that covers your current team and pipelines. Upgrading later is simple; paying for limits you never reach is money better spent elsewhere.
Understanding Bigin's Record Limits
Bigin plans are limited by records, not only by users. Records include contacts, companies, deals and other items stored in your account, so a team of three with a large customer list can reach a limit before a bigger team with fewer customers. Count your current contacts, companies and deals before choosing a plan, and leave room for a year of growth. If you are close to a limit, clean out dead records first; it is cheaper than upgrading and makes the CRM easier to use.
Who Gets the Most Value from Bigin
- Small sales teams moving off spreadsheets, shared inboxes or sticky notes.
- Service businesses and agencies that track proposals through a few clear stages.
- Founders who want a CRM the whole team will actually use, without an implementation project.
- Teams that expect to grow into Zoho CRM later but need structure now.
Setting Up Bigin: The Decisions That Matter Most
Define your pipeline stages from how deals really progress, not from a template. Five to seven stages is usually enough.
Decide which details you must capture for every deal and make only those fields mandatory.
Clean your data before importing, then import companies, contacts and deals in that order.
Connect email and phone early so conversations are logged from day one.
Set up two or three workflows for the follow-ups your team most often forgets.
Agree on one weekly pipeline review, so the CRM stays current.
Example: Bigin for a Service Business
A small agency or consultancy selling projects might run one pipeline with stages like these:
| Stage | What it means | Move on when |
|---|---|---|
| New inquiry | A lead has contacted you | You have booked a first call |
| Discovery call | First conversation scheduled or held | You understand the need and budget |
| Proposal sent | Scope and price are with the client | The client responds |
| Negotiation | Terms or scope being adjusted | Terms are agreed |
| Won or lost | Deal closed | Record the reason either way |
Clear exit criteria for each stage keep everyone using the pipeline the same way, which makes the forecast trustworthy.
Signs You Have Outgrown Bigin
- You need leads managed separately from deals, with qualification before a deal is created.
- Different teams or territories need their own rules, views and permissions.
- Your sales process needs enforced steps and approvals.
- You need deep customization, scripting or integrations Bigin does not offer.
When two or more of these apply, Zoho CRM is usually the better fit. Our Zoho CRM data migration guide covers moving your records across safely.
Common Bigin Setup Mistakes
- Copying a template pipeline that does not match how your deals really move.
- Making too many fields mandatory, so the team avoids updating records.
- Importing contacts before companies, which leaves contacts unlinked.
- Never connecting email, so conversations stay in inboxes instead of on the record.
Your First Week with Bigin
Day 1: create your pipeline and stages, and invite the team.
Day 2: clean and import companies, contacts and open deals.
Day 3: connect email and phone, and log the week's calls and emails in Bigin.
Day 4: set up two workflows for follow-ups the team most often misses.
Day 5: run the weekly pipeline review from Bigin and agree what to adjust.
Bigin and the Rest of Zoho
Bigin connects to Zoho Bookings for advanced scheduling, adding new booking customers as Bigin contacts and blocking busy time from Bigin events. It also connects to QuickBooks for invoices and estimates, and to Shopify for order and customer data. Teams that later need the full Zoho suite can move to Zoho CRM or Zoho One, where CRM, finance, support and marketing apps share the same customer records.
Bigin Guides
Moving from Spreadsheets to Zoho Bigin
Cleaning your data, mapping columns, the right import order and the first week after switching.
Read the guideSee Bigin in Action
These short videos show Bigin features covered in this guide. Screens may look slightly different in the current version.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bigin by Zoho CRM?
Bigin is Zoho's pipeline-based CRM for small businesses. It tracks deals, contacts and companies, automates routine follow-ups and includes built-in phone and email, with much less setup than Zoho CRM.
Is Bigin free?
Bigin has a free plan for one user, one pipeline and up to 500 records. Paid plans cost $7, $12 or $18 per user per month on annual billing, or $9, $15 and $21 on monthly billing.
What is the difference between Bigin and Zoho CRM?
Bigin is simpler and cheaper, built around pipelines for small teams. Zoho CRM offers separate lead management, deep customization, advanced automation and scripting for growing or more complex businesses.
Can I move from Bigin to Zoho CRM later?
Yes. Your Bigin data can be exported and imported into Zoho CRM. Planning the field mapping first avoids losing history during the move.
Does Bigin have a mobile app?
Yes. Bigin has mobile apps, so the team can update deals, log calls and check the pipeline on the road. Recent versions add on-device AI assistance on supported phones.
Not sure if Bigin is enough for your team?
Choosing between Bigin and Zoho CRM early saves a migration later. ABR is a Zoho Premium Partner that implements both, so we recommend the one that fits.
What you get with ABR
- A Zoho Premium Partner team
- An honest recommendation: Bigin or Zoho CRM
- Pipelines, fields and automation set up for your sales process
- Data imported cleanly from spreadsheets or another CRM