CrankWheel vs Zoho Assist
We give CrankWheel a 2.4 GPA and Zoho Assist a 3.0, out of 4.0. Zoho Assist grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CrankWheel
Screen sharing for sales calls that opens in the viewer's browser
Zoho Assist
Remote support and unattended access for help desks and IT teams
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACrankWheelFair | 3.0GPAZoho AssistVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSolo is $29 a month for one user, with 48% off if you pay for 12 months at once. Against its listed rivals for showing a screen, Zoom's and Loom's paid plans cost less on monthly billing, and the yearly discount roughly closes that gap. Teams share 100 meetings for $99 a month. | CRemote Support Standard is $10 per technician a month billed annually, and unattended computers are a separate $10 per 25, so a technician doing both pays $20. For the same job that's below ScreenConnect, TeamViewer and LogMeIn Resolve, but above Getscreen.me. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan you'll outgrow fast: 1 user, 15 meetings a month and 3 viewers per meeting, with recordings kept a week. Someone on sales calls all day will use up 15 meetings in a few days. Solo has a free trial with no card. | BA free plan you can actually use: 1 technician, 5 unattended computers and no limit on session length, for personal or small business use. It's one session at a time, and file transfer and screen blanking need paying. Paid plans have a 15-day trial with no card. |
| Features | CIt does sales screen sharing fully: viewing with no download on any phone, recordings with tracked plays, Instant Demos callbacks and CRM connectors. But it's a smaller job than this category's. It can't reach anyone else's computer, and handing over control works for one viewer from Windows or Mac. | BOn-demand sessions with chat, voice and video, unattended access with bulk deployment and Wake-on-LAN, recording, branding, a customer widget and Zia AI. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job; recording and remote printing just aren't in Standard. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record. The prospect taps a link and sees your screen in a browser, with no install and no sign-up, which is the whole point. Your side runs in the browser with an extension. | B4.73 from 909 App Store ratings, a fine score that misses our A only on the number of ratings. Customers join from an invitation, so there's little to set up on their side. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in the browser with an extension, and viewers can join from any device, phone included. It connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, HighLevel and Zapier, but there's no desktop app, so B is its ceiling. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, starting sessions from Zendesk, ServiceNow, Freshservice, Freshdesk and Jira tickets, with webhooks and Zapier on higher plans. |
| Best for | showing your screen on a sales call | remote support for small help desks |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CrankWheel and Zoho Assist. How we grade
Price against what you get
CrankWheel starts at $29 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Assist starts at $10 a month and scores 3.3.
Zoho Assist scores higher and starts $19 a month lower. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 3 score higher than CrankWheel for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Assist for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- CrankWheel starts at $29 per month (Solo, one user). Zoho Assist starts at $10 per technician / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly).
- Only CrankWheel lists a browser extension.
- Only Zoho Assist lists Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- CrankWheel also covers screen recording and video calls.
- Zoho Assist also covers remote desktop.
At a glance
| CrankWheel | Zoho Assist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $29 per month (Solo, one user) | $10 per technician / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 user, 15 meetings a month, 3 viewers per meeting and 1 week of cloud recording retention. Remote control, Projector and Instant Demos work; branding options do not. | 1 remote support technician, 5 unattended computers and 1 concurrent session, with no limit on session length. File transfer, screen blanking and reboot-and-reconnect need a paid plan. |
| Free trial | Free trial of the Solo plan, no credit card required; length not stated | 15-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | CrankWheel ehf. | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | crankwheel.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
CrankWheel
- Telesales and inside sales teams who show prospects a screen during a phone call
- Insurance, mortgage and home services agents selling to less technical customers
- Teams that want inbound website leads called back by a free agent at once
Zoho Assist
- Customer support teams helping users over the phone or chat
- IT teams managing a fleet of office computers without anyone present
- Small businesses that need one technician and a few machines at no cost
- Teams already working in Zendesk, Freshservice or Jira
Worth knowing
CrankWheel
- It shares the presenter's own screen; it does not give you access to a customer's computer for support.
- Team plans are priced by meetings a month shared across the team, counted for any session with a viewer of 40 seconds or more.
- Removing CrankWheel branding is an add-on on Team and included only on Enterprise; single sign-on is Enterprise only.
- Handing remote control to a viewer works only for presenters on Windows or macOS, and only with one viewer at a time.
Zoho Assist
- Remote Support and Unattended Access are sold separately, one per technician and one per 25 computers, so many teams need both.
- The free plan allows one concurrent session and leaves out file transfer and screen blanking.
- A session-based Corporate plan lists $75 a month for 50 technicians, 2 concurrent sessions and 1,000 managed devices; larger concurrent plans are quoted.
- Session recording and remote printing are not in the Standard plans.
Key features
CrankWheel
- No-download screen sharing
- Share the full screen, a window or a browser tab; viewers open a link on any device, phone included, and need no install or sign-up.
- Remote control for the viewer
- In a one-to-one session the presenter can hand a viewer control of part or all of the screen, for example to fill in a form. Presenters need Windows or macOS.
- Recordings and sales videos
- Record meetings or screencasts and send them as links or by email with an animated preview, then track who played them.
- Instant Demos
- A lead capture widget for your website that looks for an available agent to call the prospect back straight away, with leads passed on to your CRM.
- Video meetings
- Schedule web conferences with microphone and webcam: up to 10 participants on Solo, 25 on Team and 50 on Enterprise.
- CRM connectors
- Start sessions from a contact in Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, HighLevel and other CRMs and write meeting details and recording links back.
Zoho Assist
- On-demand remote support
- Start a session with a customer's computer through an invitation, with chat, voice and video chat, file transfer, and session transfer to another technician.
- Unattended access
- Deploy the agent to many computers at once, group them, set permissions and reach them without anyone present, including Wake-on-LAN and power options.
- Help desk integrations
- Start sessions from tickets in Zendesk, ServiceNow, Freshservice, Freshdesk and Jira, with webhooks and Zapier on higher plans.
- Session recording and audit
- Record sessions, keep an advanced session audit and send scheduled reports on Enterprise and Unattended Access Professional.
- Rebranding and customer widget
- Put your own branding and domain on the support experience, and embed a widget so customers can ask for a session from your site.
- Zia AI
- The top Remote Support plan, Unattended Access Professional and the Corporate plan include Zoho's Zia AI features.
Plans
CrankWheel
Free$0
What an account reverts to after the trial or a cancellation: 1 user, 15 meetings a month, 3 viewers per meeting, no branding.
Solo$29
per month for one user
One named user with unlimited meetings, up to 30 viewers, video meetings of up to 10 people and 6 months of recording retention.
Team 100$99
per month for up to 100 meetings
Unlimited users sharing 100 meetings a month; plans stack, so 200 meetings cost $194 a month and 1,000 cost $882. Up to 100 viewers.
Team 100 (Busy User discount)$59
per month for up to 100 meetings
For up to 3 users sharing 100 meetings a month; each stacked plan adds 3 users and 100 meetings, e.g. $117 for 6 users and 200 meetings.
EnterpriseCustom
Usage and features set per organization, including corporate single sign-on, an audit log, an SLA and dedicated training.
Zoho Assist
Free$0
One technician, 5 unattended computers and 1 concurrent session, on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, for personal and small business use.
Remote Support Standard$10
per technician / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
Unlimited on-demand sessions per technician, 2 concurrent sessions, file transfer, session transfer, voice chat and help desk integrations.
Remote Support Professional$15
per technician / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)
Adds support for mobile devices, scheduled sessions, rebranding, session notes and audit, and 4 concurrent sessions.
Remote Support Enterprise$24
per technician / month, billed annually ($28 billed monthly)
Adds session recording, remote printing and scripts, video chat, a service queue, customer widget, webhooks, Zapier and 6 concurrent sessions.
Unattended Access Standard$10
per 25 computers / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
Unlimited technicians reaching your configured computers, with grouping, bulk deployment, Wake-on-LAN, file transfer and power options.
Unattended Access Professional$15
per 25 computers / month, billed annually ($18 billed monthly)
Adds session recording, remote print and scripts, rebranding, mobile and IoT device support, a credential manager and virtual monitors.
Ways to pay less
CrankWheel
- Annual discount
48% off Solo when paying 12 months at a time
The pricing FAQ offers Solo users a 48% loyalty discount for paying for 12 months at once.
- Other savings
Busy User discount of up to 40% on Team
Teams with 3 or fewer user licences per stacked Team plan can buy the Busy User version, $59 a month instead of $99 for 100 meetings.
- Education
Special pricing for educational institutions
CrankWheel says it offers special pricing and benefits to educational institutions, arranged by emailing its sales team.
Zoho Assist
- Annual discount
Yearly billing saves more than 15%
The pricing page says yearly billing saves more than 15%: Remote Support Standard is $10 a month billed annually against $12 billed monthly.
- Other savings
Volume discounts for larger teams
Zoho Assist offers volume discounts on both yearly and monthly billing as a team grows, arranged through its volume discount page.
