Zoho CampaignsvsCustomer.io

Zoho Campaigns vs Customer.io

Budget ecosystem vs behavioral messaging power

TL;DR

Zoho Campaigns is affordable general email marketing at $35/month for 10k contacts. Customer.io is powerful behavioral messaging at $100/month for 5k contacts with multi-channel support. Choose Zoho for budget and simplicity, Customer.io for advanced user behavior automation.

Key Differences

The main things that set these tools apart

Complexity Level

Zoho Campaigns is straightforward email marketing. Customer.io is a powerful platform that requires engineering resources to implement properly. Different tools for different teams.

Behavioral Depth
Customer.io wins

Customer.io can trigger messages based on any user event with complex conditional logic. Zoho handles basic email automation. For sophisticated user journeys, Customer.io is far more capable.

Multi-Channel
Customer.io wins

Customer.io supports email, push, SMS, and in-app messaging. Zoho is email only. If you need to reach users across channels, Customer.io wins.

Price and Simplicity
Zoho Campaigns wins

Zoho is $35/month at 10k contacts with a simple interface. Customer.io is $100/month at 5k profiles with significant setup complexity. For basic needs, Zoho is better value.

Pricing Comparison

At comparable usage

Zoho Campaigns
$35/month

Standard plan, 10k contacts

Visit Zoho Campaigns
Customer.io
$100/month

Essentials plan, 5k profiles

Visit Customer.io
Sequenzy

The SaaS alternative

$49/month

10k contacts, Stripe integration included

Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature breakdown

Feature
Zoho Campaigns
Customer.io
Sequenzy
Messaging Channels
Email marketing
Transactional email
Limited
Push notifications
In-app messages
SMS
Add-on
Automation
Visual workflow builder
Advanced
Behavioral triggers
Basic
Any event
Events + Stripe
Conditional logic
Basic
Advanced branching
Good
Data pipelines
Basic
Advanced
API-based
Integrations
Zoho CRM
Native, deep
Third-party
Zoho ecosystem
Full access
Segment
Native
Stripe
Basic
Native, deep
Pricing & Scale
Cost at 10k contacts
$35/mo
~$150/mo
$49/mo
Learning curve
Low
Steep
Low
Setup time
Hours
Days to weeks
Hours
Engineering required
Minimal
Significant
Some

Best For

When to choose each tool

Choose Zoho Campaigns if you...
  • Small businesses on a budget
  • Companies using Zoho CRM
  • Teams wanting simple email marketing
  • Non-technical marketing teams
Choose Customer.io if you...
  • Growth-stage SaaS with complex needs
  • Teams with engineering resources
  • Multi-channel messaging requirements
  • Companies needing advanced behavioral triggers
Choose Sequenzy if you...
  • SaaS companies wanting Stripe integration
  • Founders wanting power without complexity
  • Teams needing subscription-aware automation
  • Startups balancing budget and features

When to Consider Sequenzy Instead

Simpler Than Customer.io

Customer.io requires significant engineering to implement well. Sequenzy offers SaaS-specific automation without the complexity. Get powerful features with a gentler learning curve.

Native Stripe Integration

Customer.io has basic Stripe support through integrations. Sequenzy has native Stripe integration with triggers for trials, payments, and subscription changes built in.

Better Value for SaaS

At $49/month for 10k contacts, Sequenzy is a fraction of Customer.io's cost while delivering SaaS-specific features neither Zoho nor Customer.io matches at this price.

Try Sequenzy Free

Overview

Zoho Campaigns and Customer.io are fundamentally different tools. Zoho is affordable, straightforward email marketing. Customer.io is enterprise-grade behavioral messaging that requires engineering to implement. Your team's technical resources and complexity needs determine the right choice.

The Complexity Gap

Zoho Campaigns is designed for marketers. You can be up and running in hours, sending campaigns and basic automations without touching code.

Customer.io is designed for product-led companies with engineering resources. Full value requires sending user events from your product, building complex workflows, and potentially implementing multiple messaging channels. Setup takes days to weeks.

Multi-Channel vs Email Only

Customer.io supports email, push notifications, in-app messages, and SMS from one platform. You can build workflows that reach users across channels based on behavior.

Zoho is email only. For push or SMS, you need additional tools and integrations.

Behavioral Automation

This is where Customer.io shines. Trigger messages based on any user event: feature usage, page views, in-app actions, API calls. Build complex conditional logic with multiple branches.

Zoho's automation is based on email engagement and contact properties. Good for marketing campaigns, limited for product-led user journeys.

Price Reality

At 10,000 contacts, Zoho costs $35/month. Customer.io's pricing is based on profiles and messages, but expect around $150/month or more at similar scale with meaningful usage.

That 4x price difference reflects the power difference. If you need Customer.io's capabilities, it's worth it. If you need basic email marketing, it's overkill.

For SaaS Companies

Customer.io is powerful but requires significant investment to implement well. Zoho isn't built for SaaS.

If you want SaaS-specific features without Customer.io's complexity, consider Sequenzy. Native Stripe integration enables automation based on subscriptions without custom engineering. At $49/month for 10k contacts, it's between Zoho's simplicity and Customer.io's power. AI sequences help create content, and both transactional and marketing emails work from one platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

For companies needing advanced behavioral automation and multi-channel messaging, yes. For basic email marketing, no. The value depends on your complexity needs.

Basic ones, like email opens and clicks. Customer.io can trigger based on any user event from your product with complex conditional logic.

No free plan, but they have a startup program offering one free year for companies with under $10M raised.

Zoho is much easier. You can be sending emails in hours. Customer.io typically takes days to weeks to implement properly with engineering involvement.

Technically yes for basic campaigns, but you won't get full value. Customer.io's power comes from behavioral data that requires engineering to send.

No, Zoho is email only. Customer.io includes push, in-app messaging, and SMS.

Export contacts from Zoho. Import to Customer.io and map attributes. Set up event tracking in your product to send user behavior to Customer.io. Build workflows using behavioral triggers. This is a significant project requiring engineering.

Customer.io has more powerful segmentation based on any user attribute or event. Zoho's segmentation is based on contact properties and email engagement.

Through third-party tools, but not natively. If Zoho CRM integration is important, Zoho Campaigns is the obvious choice.

Customer.io is more powerful but complex and expensive. Zoho isn't SaaS-focused. Consider Sequenzy for the middle ground: SaaS features with Stripe integration at a reasonable price.

Not sure which to pick?

If you're a SaaS founder who needs Stripe integration and unified email, try Sequenzy free. No credit card required.

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Sequenzy - Complete Pricing Guide

Pricing Model

Sequenzy uses subscriber-based pricing. You only pay for subscribers active in sequences (automations). Inactive subscribers are free to store.

All Pricing Tiers

  • 0-100 subscribers: Free (Free annually) - 2k emails/month
  • 101-1,000 subscribers: $19/month ($205/year annually) - 15k emails/month
  • 1,001-5,000 subscribers: $29/month ($313/year annually) - 60k emails/month
  • 5,001-10,000 subscribers: $49/month ($529/year annually) - 120k emails/month
  • 10,001-25,000 subscribers: $99/month ($1069/year annually) - 300k emails/month
  • 25,001-50,000 subscribers: $199/month ($2149/year annually) - 600k emails/month
  • 50,001-100,000 subscribers: $349/month ($3769/year annually) - 1.2M emails/month
  • 100,000+ subscribers: Custom pricing (Custom annually) - Unlimited emails/month

Yearly billing: All plans offer a 10% discount when billed annually.

Free Plan Features (0-100 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Paid Plan Features (1,000 - 100,000 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations (Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy)
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Enterprise Plan Features (100,000+ subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Important Pricing Notes

  • You only pay for subscribers who are active in automations/sequences
  • Storing inactive subscribers is free
  • No hidden fees - all features included in the price
  • No credit card required for free tier

Contact

  • Pricing Page: https://sequenzy.com/pricing
  • Sales: hello@sequenzy.com