TechRadar Verdict
Zoho WorkDrive is an affordable cloud storage service with advanced features, a clean interface, and comprehensive customer support. The lack of zero-knowledge encryption, however, is a major drawback.
Pros
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Affordable pricing
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Responsive customer support
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Intuitive interface
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Advanced features
Cons
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No zero-knowledge encryption
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No free-to-use plan
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Introduced by Zoho—a company that creates software to solve business problems—in 2016, Zoho WorkDrive is the company’s very own online file storage and collaboration platform. Since then, Zoho WorkDrive has served the needs of a wide range of businesses and individuals.
- Interested in Zoho Workdrive? Check out the website here
In this Zoho WorkDrive review, you'll find information about the provider’s pricing, features, interface, security, and support so that you can decide if it is the best cloud storage service for your needs.
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Plans and pricing
Zoho WorkDrive has a simple pricing structure. You can choose from three different plans—Starter, Team, or Business—depending on your needs.
At $3/user/month, the Starter plan offers 1TB of storage/team and an upload limit of 1GB. When you exceed 10 users, you get additional shared storage of 100 GB/new user. One tier up, the Team plan ($6/user/month) offers 3TB of storage/team and an upload limit of 5GB. Additional shared storage of 300 GB/new user is accorded if your team totals more than 10. Finally, the Business plan will set you back $11/user/month. You’ll enjoy 5TB of storage/ team, an upload limit of 50GB, and additional shared storage of 500GB/new user for teams larger than 10.
All plans require a minimum of three users and come with collaborative tools and access to Zoho Office Suite. The Starter plan is adequate for teams with lesser demands. But if you’d like advanced features such as file locking and advanced analytics and reporting, opt for the Team plan. Zoho’s Business plan, as its name suggests, is suitable for business owners who require more control. It offers all of the above, with additional admin controls, data classification, customer data retention, file recovery, and more.
While Zoho does not have a free-to-use plan, you can try it out for 15 days for free without registering a credit card.
Features
Zoho WorkDrive is a feature-rich cloud storage provider. We’ll break down some of its best features here.
On WorkDrive, you can share as many files as you’d like through a generated link. But team collaboration with Document Creators and Zoho Cliq is where Zoho shines. With the former, you can create, edit, and comment on documents in real time with anyone who has your file link. Zoho Cliq is Zoho’s chat application, which can be used to easily communicate with teammates.
Collaboration can sometimes lead to accidental file deletions or conflicting documents. Zoho prevents this with unlimited file versioning. You can access and revert to any version of your file, or simply compare changes between versions. Deleted files and folders will also be kept in the trash in case you need to restore them.
Zoho WorkDrive works seamlessly with apps you need to get your business running. Apart from Zoho’s own applications, such as Zoho CRM and Zoho Books, you’ll find third-party apps like PayPal, Zoom, Google Workspace, Mailchimp, and more. Files saved in WorkDrive can be opened directly into the third-party app.
Zoho’s workflow automation capabilities enable businesses to automate a part or the whole of their operational activities by designing custom workflows. Repetitive tasks like onboarding procedures for new employees can be automated to save you time. Automating routine tasks also minimizes the room for error and even if mistakes do occur, the system will notify you so you can fix them.
Interface and in use
Zoho WorkDrive is available as a web and desktop application. Both have an intuitive dashboard, making them a breeze to navigate. On the left menu of the dashboard, you’ll find your folders and other team management features. You can also label your documents and favorite folders for quick access.
With plenty of filtering and sorting options, searching for a file on WorkDrive is straightforward. You can even choose if you’d like files and folders to be displayed in a list or tile view.
Support
With offices all around the world, Zoho WorkDrive’s customer support team is responsive and friendly. Users can reach it through phone or email, 24 hours a day, from Monday to Friday. The team is pretty responsive too—we got a reply to our email query on the next working day.
You can also find help on Zoho’s Knowledge Base, which is a self-help center with articles, webinars, white papers, and more. In addition, there is a community forum where you can search for tips and solutions if you need to troubleshoot.
Security
Zoho WorkDrive's servers and clients are connected through SSL and secured with an RSA-based 2048-bit encryption key. Files in Zoho WorkDrive are encrypted at rest with the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). During transit, Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) generates a unique key for each session to encrypt files. You can also protect your account with two-factor authentication.
Unfortunately, Zoho does not offer zero-knowledge encryption—the company owns and maintains all encryption keys and can decrypt your files. It also means that anyone who manages to breach Zoho’s security could read your files.
The competition
For light users who’d like a basic and free-to-use account, Dropbox and OneDrive are great alternatives with 2GB and 5GB free storage respectively. Those who’d like more pricing options will also like the comprehensive pricing plans that Dropbox and OneDrive offer.
But if you prioritize security, Internxt, a cloud service provider with zero-knowledge encryption, is a great option. Internxt is pretty basic, though, and you won’t find features like advanced file-sharing capabilities and app integration.
Final verdict
Zoho WorkDrive’s straightforward and affordable pricing plans, advanced features, intuitive interface, and responsive customer support make it a great cloud storage service to consider.
While WorkDrive’s lack of zero-knowledge encryption may be a problem for those looking for the most secure cloud storage platform, the affordable cloud storage provider is more than adequate for those who prioritize storage, features, integration, and ease of use.
Also read: What is cloud storage?
