Drag vs Zoho TeamInbox

Drag

• Gmail and Google Workspace teams sharing support@ or sales@ addresses
• Teams that like to see email as cards moving across a kanban board
• Growing teams, since no plan has a seat minimum or user cap

Zoho TeamInbox

• Small teams sharing group addresses such as support or sales
• Businesses that also answer customers on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook
• Organizations already using Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk or Zoho One

Drag

• It is built on Gmail and Google Workspace: shared inboxes are Gmail addresses or Google Groups, and sign-in runs through Google.
• There is no free plan; the 7-day trial is followed by a paid plan.
• AI is metered in credits. Starter includes none, Plus 1,000 per seat a month and Pro 2,000, and extra credits are sold from $10.
• WhatsApp, Varley Agents, the API and MCP server, SLA rules and round-robin assignment need Pro at $24 per user / month, billed yearly.

Zoho TeamInbox

• There is no free plan: a paid plan is needed after the 14-day trial, and local taxes are added to the listed prices.
• Starter is limited to 3 shared incoming channels and 25 rules; analytics and personal inboxes need Professional.
• Channels beyond a plan's allowance are an add-on at $4 a month each, or $3.17 billed annually.
• The Solo, Team and Team Plus plans work on phones only and cap the number of users and new conversations.

Drag

Shared inbox boards

A shared address becomes a board with kanban, list and preview views, where each email is a card with an owner, a status, tags and a due date. The emails themselves stay in Gmail.

Assignments, notes and shared drafts

Teammates assign emails, chat with @mentions on a thread, write shared drafts and reply as collaborators. Collision detection is included on every plan.

Varley AI

Copilot answers questions about the inbox and proposes actions to approve, Assists draft, summarize and classify mail, and on Pro, Agents resolve conversations or hand them to a person.

Automations

Rules route, tag and assign incoming mail. Starter allows 10 rules and the higher plans are unlimited; round-robin assignment, business hours and SLA rules are on Pro.

Help center, live chat and WhatsApp

A public help center and live chat, which is in early access, are on every plan. Pro adds WhatsApp conversations that sit beside email on the same boards.

API and MCP server

Pro includes a REST API and an MCP server with 47 tools, so assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or Cursor can work in the inbox.

Zoho TeamInbox

Multichannel shared inboxes

Group email addresses, WhatsApp Business numbers, Telegram, a Facebook Page and an Instagram professional account can all feed one shared inbox. Email is added by forwarding or over POP/IMAP.

Assign, follow, snooze and archive

Threads can be assigned to an owner, followed for notifications, snoozed until later and archived when finished, with views for what is assigned to or shared with you.

Internal discussions and shared drafts

Teammates comment and @mention each other beside a thread instead of forwarding it, and can co-author a reply by sharing the draft and editing it in real time.

Rules, templates and signatures

Rules carry out actions when a condition is met, such as assigning incoming mail by subject or content. Response templates and team signatures keep replies consistent.

Personal inboxes

On Professional each user can add a personal incoming channel next to the shared inboxes. It stays private, and single emails can be shared by @mentioning a teammate.

Extensions and integrations

eWidgets bring Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Asana and Trello into the thread view, and integrations cover Zapier, Make, n8n and Microsoft Power Automate.

Drag

• Starter$12

  per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly)

  Shared inboxes in Gmail, boards, assignments, templates, notes, a help center and live chat. 10 automation rules, 3-month reporting, no AI credits included.

• Plus$18

  per user / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Adds Varley's Copilot, Intelligence and six AI assists with 1,000 AI credits per seat a month, unlimited automation rules, email sequences and custom views.

• Pro$24

  per user / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)

  Adds the WhatsApp channel, Varley Agents, API and MCP access, SLA rules, round-robin assignment, custom fields and roles, and 2,000 AI credits per seat.

Zoho TeamInbox

• Solo (mobile-only)$0.99

  per month

  Phone-only plan for 1 user: 1 channel each for email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM, up to 500 new conversations and 5 GB of storage.

• Team (mobile-only)$4.99

  per month

  Phone-only plan for up to 3 users with the same four channels, up to 1,000 new conversations, comments and tags.

• Starter$5

  per user / month, billed annually; $6 billed monthly

  3 shared incoming channels, 10 shared outgoing email channels, 25 rules, assignments, internal discussions, draft sharing, templates and extensions.

• Professional$7.50

  per user / month, billed annually; $9 billed monthly

  5 shared incoming channels, 1 personal incoming channel per user, unlimited rules, 25 shared outgoing email channels and analytics.

• Team Plus (mobile-only)$7.99

  per month

  Phone-only plan for up to 5 users with the same four channels and up to 2,000 new conversations.

Drag

• Annual discount

  Save up to 25% with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows Starter at $12 a user a month billed yearly against $16 monthly, Plus at $18 against $22, and Pro at $24 against $30.

• Nonprofit

  Program for non-profits and NGOs

  The pricing FAQ says Drag runs a dedicated program for non-profits and NGOs, arranged by contacting its team. The size of the discount is not published.

• Education

  Program for educational institutions

  The same program covers educational institutions, again on request by email and without a published discount.

Zoho TeamInbox

• Annual discount

  About 17% off with annual billing

  Billed annually, Starter is $5 per user a month instead of $6 and Professional is $7.50 instead of $9, a saving of about 17% on each plan.

• Other savings

  Included with Zoho One

  The pricing FAQ says Zoho TeamInbox is part of Zoho One, so organizations that subscribe to that suite can use it from their Zoho One account.