3CXEnterprise phone system with integrated AI at an unbeatable price
vs
ZohoCloud software suite for businesses
Comparison · Contact Center · weekly run Nov 3
3CX vs Zoho
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Zoho is the stronger AI pick in Contact Center: it has a visibility score of 7.2 versus 0.4 for 3CX, and ranks ahead in 33% of the answers that name both.
Choose 3CX if…
- You need a self-hosted or on-premises option
- affordable phone system with contact center features
- free edition for up to 10 users
- cost control and deployment flexibility
Choose Zoho if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (7.2 vs 0.4)
- AI answers describe it more positively (50% vs 12% positive)
- You need ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO/IEC 27017 or ISO/IEC 27018 or SOC 2 Type II coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | 3CX | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 0.4% | 7.2% |
| Change vs last week | down−0.6% | up+2% |
| Rank in Contact Center | #39 | #19 |
| Share of voice | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Mentions this run | 1 | 8 |
| Positive in AI answers | 12% | 50% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
3CX −0.7000000000000001pp · Zoho +2.1000000000000005pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Zoho leads on 3 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
3CXZoho
Head to head in AI answers
3 engine answers name both brands
23CX ranked higher
1Zoho ranked higher
| Prompt | Engine | 3CX | Zoho |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is there a free contact center platform for small teams? | AI Mode | #6 | #5 |
| Is 3CX a good contact center platform? | ChatGPT | #1 | #5 |
| Is 3CX a good contact center platform? | Perplexity | #1 | #5 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | 3CX | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat tiers | — |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $300 / mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Deployment | Hosted by 3CX, on-premise, or self-hosted in your own private cloud | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Compliance | — | ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, SOC 2 Type II |
| Support | Free tech support questions via the website, Help forum, Partner network | — |
| Founded | 2005 | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Nicosia, Cyprus | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Employees | 51–200 | 5,000+ |
| Funding | Latest round listed as Other Investors | Bootstrapped |
| Best for | Companies with 25+ users that want a self-managed phone system with integrated AI | Businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, wanting one suite for sales, support, finance and HR |
Plans side by side
3CX
Free (StartUP)$0year, up to 10 users incl. hosting
Basic$300year (8 simultaneous calls; scales with SC tier)
Pro$395year (8 simultaneous calls; scales with SC tier)
AI$575year (8 simultaneous calls; scales with SC tier)
Zoho
Pricing not available.
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
3CX
- affordable phone system with contact center features
- free edition for up to 10 users
- cost control and deployment flexibility
- good fit for small and midsize businesses
- core omnichannel communications such as live chat and call routing
- suitability depends on business size, budget and IT resources
- may not suit needs for a dedicated enterprise omnichannel contact center
Zoho
- Strong value for money and low cost
- Free tier for small teams
- Broad functionality and integrated app ecosystem
- Good customization options
- Scales well as businesses grow
- Less premium user experience
- Pricing varies dramatically across products
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “3CX vs Zoho”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/3cx-vs-zoho, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.