Optimate vs Zoho Social
Zoho Social is the social media tool in Zoho's suite of business apps. It schedules and publishes to the main networks, monitors keywords and mentions, and connects to Zoho CRM, with a separate edition for agencies.
Our verdict
For a business or agency that wants 11 platforms from one calendar, a brand kit per client and client reports sent on their own, with each brand's posts written for it, Optimate is the better choice. Zoho Social is the better fit if your business already runs on Zoho CRM, or if listening for keywords matters more than writing the posts.
- The posts are written on-brand
- Made for client work
- A free plan and a trial with no card
We quote no Zoho Social price we could not check, so its prices are left to its own pricing page, and we say plainly where Zoho Social has the edge.
Who each one is for
Choose Zoho Social if…
Businesses already on Zoho CRM or Zoho One that want social leads in the same system, and teams that need keyword monitoring alongside their scheduling.
Choose Optimate if…
Small businesses and agencies that want each brand's posts written and designed for them across 11 networks, with a free plan to start on and a trial that needs no card.
Pricing side by side
Optimate
- Free
- £0
- 14-day free trial, then 3 connected accounts (not X), up to 5 posts scheduled at a time, 5 free AI generations
- Pro
- £29
- per month, 10 connected accounts, 1 brand
- Studio
- £59
- per month, 15 connected accounts, up to 3 clients
- Agency
- £135
- per month, 50 connected accounts, unlimited clients
- Enterprise
- Contact us
- beyond 50 connected accounts
Zoho Social
- Plans
- Not quoted
- we could not check Zoho Social's prices, so see its own pricing page
Compared on features on 4 November 2026. We quote no Zoho Social price we could not check. Verify on Zoho Social’s pricing page
Feature by feature
Pricing
- Optimate
- Free plan, then Pro £29/mo, Studio £59/mo, Agency £135/mo
- Zoho Social
- Not quoted here: see Zoho Social's own pricing page
Networks
- Optimate
- 11 networks, Bluesky, Mastodon and Google Business included. LinkedIn: personal profiles for now; Company Pages once LinkedIn approves Optimate.
- Zoho Social
- The main networks, including Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and YouTube
AI content generation
- OptimateEdge
- Brand-kit-driven — voice, audience and rules per brand, plus on-brand designs and images
- Zoho Social
- Zia, Zoho's AI assistant, helps draft captions
CRM
- Optimate
- No CRM, and no CRM link
- Zoho SocialEdge
- Connects to Zoho CRM, so social conversations can become leads
Listening
- Optimate
- Basic: Instagram and Facebook posts that tag you (Instagram accounts connected through Facebook), and up to 5 names or words on Bluesky (Pro and up)
- Zoho SocialEdge
- Monitoring columns for keywords, mentions and hashtags
Client work
- Optimate
- A brand kit per client, client approvals (Studio and up), client-branded reports emailed weekly or monthly (Agency)
- Zoho Social
- A separate Agency edition with client portals
Free trial
- Optimate
- 14-day free trial with no card, then 3 connected accounts (not X), up to 5 posts scheduled at a time, 5 free AI generations
- Zoho Social
- See Zoho Social's own site
Why teams choose Optimate over Zoho Social
The posts are written on-brand
Optimate keeps a brand kit for each brand (voice, audience, forbidden words, colours and logo) and writes captions and designs against it, so less needs rewriting.
Made for client work
From Studio, each client gets its own brand kit and approval link; on Agency, client-branded reports go out by email every week or month.
A free plan and a trial with no card
Optimate's free plan has 3 connected accounts (not X), up to 5 posts scheduled at a time, 5 free AI generations, and the 14-day trial of the paid tools needs no card.
Every tool you get with Optimate
Whichever tool you’re weighing us against, this is the full toolkit — every tool and benefit included, because the content is generated on-brand, not just scheduled.
Where Zoho Social has the edge
We’d rather tell you than have you find out. If one of these is a dealbreaker, Zoho Social may suit you better.
Part of the Zoho suite
If your business already runs on Zoho CRM or Zoho One, Zoho Social shares contacts and leads with it. Optimate has no CRM and doesn't connect to one.
Listening for keywords
Zoho Social's monitoring columns follow keywords, mentions and hashtags as they come in. Optimate's listening is basic: Instagram and Facebook tags, and a few names tracked on Bluesky.
Switching from Zoho Social?
1. Connect your accounts
Start the free trial and connect the accounts you post to. Nothing changes on Zoho Social until you cancel it there, so you can run both for a week.
2. Bring your queued posts
Put them in a spreadsheet and upload it with Bulk upload, up to 200 posts at a time, on paid plans and the trial. Columns called caption, text or content, platform, date and time, and image or media are all read, so you rarely need to rename anything.
3. Set up your brand kit
Tell Optimate your voice, audience and colours once, and every new post is written and designed to match.
Common questions
Is Optimate a good Zoho Social alternative?
Yes, if you want each brand's posts written in its own voice and client reports sent for you. If your sales team works in Zoho CRM and you want social leads there, stay with Zoho Social.
How do the prices compare?
We haven't quoted Zoho Social's prices because we could not check them; its own pricing page has them. Optimate Pro is £29 a month for 10 connected accounts, Studio £59 and Agency £135, with unlimited team members on every plan.
Does Optimate connect to Zoho CRM?
No. Optimate doesn't connect to any CRM. If that link matters to you, Zoho Social is the better fit.
Try it against your own accounts
Every account starts with a 14-day free trial, with no card required — enough to judge the content quality against whatever you use today. After that the free plan covers 3 connected accounts and 5 free AI generations to try, for captions, branded designs and carousels; AI pictures and video are on paid plans.
Start your 14-day free trial