Introducing Databridge in Zoho Creator

Introducing Databridge in Zoho Creator

Hello everyone,

Enterprises today rely on a mix of privately hosted databases and cloud applications to run their everyday operations. But connecting these two worlds has always been a challenge - one that often forces teams to choose between accessibility and security. We set out to solve this seemingly insurmountable challenge, and the result is Databridge, a new feature we're excited to announce today.

Databridge is a lightweight agent installed on your private network machine. It establishes an outbound-only connection to Zoho Creator, routing queries from your Creator applications to your private database without ever exposing your internal infrastructure to the internet.

Who is this for? 

Databridge is built for enterprises that run critical data on private, on-premises infrastructure and need to extend or build on top of it without compromising security or compliance.

The challenge

Enterprises operating with privately hosted databases often face a common set of obstacles when trying to connect them with cloud applications:
  1. Inbound exposure risk: Traditional approaches require opening inbound network access to the internet, exposing internal infrastructure to external networks.
  2. Data residency conflicts: Syncing or replicating privately hosted data to a third-party cloud frequently conflicts with data residency and compliance regulations.
  3. Data duplication and cost: Migrating data to the cloud to enable access leads to duplication across environments, synchronization overhead, and additional storage costs.
  4. Integration complexity: Custom middleware or VPN setups are complex to configure, maintain, and scale over time.
  5. Access control risks: Any lapse in access control can result in unauthorized exposure of sensitive business data.

Databridge is built specifically to solve these challenges.

What is Databridge?

Databridge lets your applications securely access data from services and databases hosted within your private network through an outbound-only connection model.

At the heart of Databridge is a lightweight component installed on a machine inside your private network. It opens an outbound connection to Zoho Creator and listens for requests. When a Creator application requests information from an internal system, Databridge securely routes the request through your network and returns the response to Creator.

Why this matters

  1. Extend existing systems without replacing them: Connect your existing ERP or legacy systems to Creator and build on top of them without touching or modifying the core systems.
  2. Compliance-friendly: It's designed to align with strict data residency, security, and regulatory requirements that enterprises must adhere to.
  3. Access internal data on demand: Privately hosted enterprise data is available only on an on-demand basis.
  4. Reduce integration overhead: Avoid managing complex middleware or custom gateway infrastructure for internal system access

Use cases

Healthcare
The problem - A hospital network stores patient records and clinical data in a privately hosted PostgreSQL database. Clinical staff need purpose-built workflows for patient discharge planning, bed management, and medication tracking. However, the IT team can't expose the database to external networks due to strict healthcare data regulations.

What Databridge enables - Databridge connects Zoho Creator to the hospital's privately hosted PostgreSQL database through an outbound-only channel. Clinical teams can build discharge planning, bed management, and medication tracking applications in Creator that query patient data in real time without replicating or moving it out of the hospital's infrastructure.

The outcome - Clinical staff get purpose-built workflows without waiting months for core system development. Patient data stays exactly where regulations require it to stay.

Banking and financial services
The problem - A regional bank manages its core transactional data in a privately hosted Microsoft SQL Server database. Compliance requirements strictly prohibit syncing or replicating this data to any third-party cloud. However, internal teams need applications for loan processing, audit reporting, and branch operations that depend on this data.

What Databridge enables - Databridge establishes an outbound-only connection from the bank's private network to Zoho Creator. Teams build loan processing and audit reporting applications in Creator that query the SQL Server database in real time. No data ever leaves the bank's infrastructure.

The outcome - Internal teams get the applications they need without compromising on compliance. Sensitive financial data remains within the bank's own infrastructure at all times.

Getting started

  1. Navigate to Operations and select Databridge.

  2. Download and install Databridge on the machine that has access to your internal services or databases.

  3. Add a connection and enable it to get started. Once configured, your Creator apps can securely access internal systems through Databridge.

For detailed information, refer to our Databridge help documentation.

What can you connect?

To start, Databridge will support the following connectors, with more on the way:
  1. Oracle
  2. MySQL
  3. PostgreSQL
  4. Microsoft SQL Server
  5. ActianZen
  6. SAP HANA
  7. SAP OP
Additional connectors, including popular ERP systems and enterprise services, will be progressively rolled out.

Applicable for: C6 users on paid plans
Availability: All DCs except CN
Rollout: Databridge is now available for Zoho Creator users across all data centers starting May 25, 2026.

We're confident that Databridge will be a very valuable addition to our customers and hope it opens up new possibilities to connect and work with your enterprise data. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

And as always, if you have any questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to us.

We'll be back soon with more updates!

Regards,
The Zoho Creator Team