Kolab Now vs Zoho Mail (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Kolab Now if

• Fits if you want hosted email and calendars for a group, kept in Switzerland
• Works for people who'd rather not run a server for a small team

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a single-user plan, as only Group Account appeared in the signup data
• Pricey if you count in dollars, since it's billed in Swiss francs and depends on user count
• Skip it if you want apps of its own, as none are listed
• Watch out: the pricing page would not render, so the price comes from the signup page data

Pick Zoho Mail if

• Fits if you run a small business and want addresses on your own domain for $1 a person a month
• Works for teams already on Zoho CRM or Projects, which plug into the inbox

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you just want a free personal inbox, because Gmail and Outlook need no domain and no setup
• Not for you if you want Apple Mail or Outlook on the free plan, which has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync and isn't in every data centre
• Tight if you never delete anything, as Mail Lite gives each person 5 GB, or 10 GB for $1.25
• Watch out: Mail Lite and Mail Premium are yearly only, and retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME start at $4 a person
• Watch out: the phone app gets reports of missing emails and a delete button that misbehaves

Kolab Now

• The pricing page did not render readable text; the price comes from the plan data the signup page loads.
• Pricing is in Swiss francs, and the page says it depends on user count; other price steps were not found.
• It is a hosted service only, with no apps of its own listed beyond sync to phones and desktop clients.
• Only the Group Account plan appeared in the signup data, so no cheaper individual plan was found.

Zoho Mail

• The free plan covers one domain and 5 users, has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access, and is offered only in select data centers.
• Mail Lite and Mail Premium are sold on yearly subscriptions only. Monthly billing exists only for the Workplace plans.
• Email retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME are limited to Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.
• Zoho states 24x7 support by email, phone and live chat for paid plans, and guided migration by a dedicated agent only for companies with more than 50 users.

Kolab Now

Email with security features

Aliases and identities, full-text search and tagging, spam and virus filtering, and PGP for end-to-end encryption.

Calendar and tasks

Schedule meetings with internal and external users, create recurring series, assign tasks and track their progress.

Standard-protocol sync

Uses IMAP, SMTP, Sieve, CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync, so Thunderbird, Outlook, eM Client and Apple apps can connect.

Sharing within an account

Share mail folders, calendars and task lists with other users in your account, with granular access control.

Documents and video room

Attach files from online storage, edit office documents together and use a personal video conferencing room.

Swiss hosting

Data is hosted in Switzerland on dedicated hardware, and the company says it is not used for machine learning.

Zoho Mail

Email on your own domain

Addresses at your company's domain with group addresses and email and domain aliases. SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI are built in.

Calendar, tasks, notes and bookmarks

A calendar, contacts, ToDo, notes and bookmarks sit inside the mailbox, so events and tasks are handled in the same window as mail.

Streams and shared drafts

Streams lets a team comment, assign tasks and post announcements around email. Drafts, single emails and whole folders can be shared for review or delegation.

Zia AI assistant

Zia drafts replies and summarizes long threads, and Zoho Mail can be connected to AI apps through Zoho Mail MCP.

Admin console and compliance

Role-based access, security policies, audit logs and two-factor authentication for admins. Retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME come with Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.

Migration tools

A free automated tool moves email, contacts and calendars from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or any IMAP provider, with migration specialists available at no extra charge.

Kolab Now

• Group AccountCHF 9.90

  per month; the page says pricing is flexible by user count

  Recommended for 1 to 100 users, with your own domains and an admin area to add users. Billed in Swiss francs.

Zoho Mail

• Forever Free$0

  One domain and up to 5 users with 5 GB of mail storage each. No IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access; offered only in select data centers.

• Mail Lite$1

  per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)

  Custom-domain email with 5 GB of mail storage per user, or 10 GB for $1.25, plus calendar and tasks. No file storage.

• Workplace Standard$3

  per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)

  30 GB of mail storage per user plus WorkDrive, the office apps, Cliq, Meeting and Vault. File storage starts at 100 GB per team.

• Mail Premium$4

  per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)

  50 GB of mail storage and 50 GB of retention storage per user, with email retention and eDiscovery, S/MIME and mobile access management.

• Workplace Professional$6

  per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)

  100 GB of mail and 100 GB of retention storage per user, 1 TB of team file storage, the Premium compliance tools and Zoho Connect.

• Workplace EnterpriseCustom

  Custom limits across the Workplace products, with Active Directory cloud sync and endpoint controls. Priced through Zoho sales.

Kolab Now

No public discounts listed.

Zoho Mail

• Annual discount

  About 20% off with annual billing

  Zoho's pricing FAQ cites a discount of roughly 20% for annual billing. Workplace Standard is $3 per user / month billed annually against $4 monthly, and Workplace Professional $6 against $7.

• Nonprofit

  Special pricing for nonprofits

  The pricing FAQ says non-profit and charitable organizations get special pricing, arranged by contacting Zoho sales.