No more IMAP/POP/SMTP on free plans even on referrals with NO NOTICE

No more IMAP/POP/SMTP on free plans even on referrals with NO NOTICE

Outraged. Just referred a colleague to use her domain (not posting it publicly here) to Zoho, just as I have other colleagues, clients, friends. Expected the exact same free plan features as I have and as everyone else I ever referred got. 

I was helping her set it up, and after creating and starting the migration following all the DNS MX SPF DKIM changes, went to enable IMAP in the Control Panel. I know from having used Zoho for 5 years that though IMAP access is always included, for some reason it is never defaulted to on, only POP. 

To my surprise, I see that POP and IMAP are both disabled. No problem, I think. I go to enable each one and to my disgust and dismay, discover that "Available exclusively with paid plans" pops up instead. No POP, No IMAP, no SMTP, it turns out that Zoho Free is now only a crummy substandard webmail-only plan. Maybe webmail and your own app, but utterly locked out of any "real email programs". Not what I had, not what most of us had, not what anybody expected they were referring as a good thing. 

NO PRIOR NOTICE. (Yes, that is yelling. I'm quite upset at your sneaking in this degradation of what you offered.) 

Anyone of us Zoho Free users likely expects that when we refer someone new to Zoho to use the same service with which we have been very satisfied, she or he is going to get the same service. 

There was no message there that IMAP and POP are no longer included (and obviously not SMTP either anymore.) Even on the signup plan choice, there's a positive note of "webmail access" but by any sensible expectation, the classic "reasonable person" (as the lawyers love to say in court) expects that means, "Oh that's lovely, they also have webmail, how convenient", not, "Oh no, it is ONLY webmail." 

Please reverse this really bad policy. It is not going to help you get new paying customers, it is just going to block off the inflow of new customers overall. Your free service has sufficient limits, especially on overall storage space, that there are plenty of incentives for upgrading if people discover they really like Zoho and start using you a lot more, including docs and file space. Also, for significantly growing small but many-employees businesses. 

Shutting off "normal email access" (POP, IMAP, SMTP are what is "normal" in the email world) just is going to anger and dismay existing customers enough that you won't get nearly as many referrals anymore. Plus we won't trust that you won't suddenly change the terms of the deal for existing users. I know that I will be warning all my existing referred users, who are at present quite happy with Zoho, to consider getting out from you before you take away what they have.

At minimum, you should have done very obvious notifications, not fine print in misleading ways, for many months, including a proactive message upon referral BY a free-with-IMAP user TO a new user that their referred colleague was going to get a lousy bad plan in comparison to what the referrer had. 

And anybody who got referred without that should immediately get an upgrade, not to the full features of the paid plan, but to the features of the old free plan. 

I feel both cheated by you, and that my professional credibility was damaged by you, due to this inadequately announced degradation of what I referred, thinking it was the "real Zoho" plan. I fully expect you to fix my latest referral's account to have those capabilities on her free plan. (Everybody else's too, I would hope, as there is a whole class of people who probably were damaged by your inadequately disclosed action.) And then to start making a better announcement in advance, a real announcement, really in advance, so that we existing users don't get fooled into referring someone to something that is no longer as good as what we thought it was. 

Please do the right thing. Make it right for recent referrals, defer this change until you have given many months of really OBVIOUS notice. Then it's all fine, then people can make smart decisions about whether to refer you and to what kind of plan to use in the referral. 

    • Sticky Posts

    • Pocket from Mozilla is closing shop. Don’t lose your favorites . Move them to Zoho Mail Bookmarks now! 📥🔖

      The end of Pocket shouldn't mean the end of your important links and content. Easily import them into Zoho Mail's Bookmarks and continue right where you left off. You can bring over your entire Saves, Collections, and tags just the way they are. Bookmarks

    • Zoho Mail POP & IMAP Server Details

      Hello all! We have been receiving a number of requests regarding the errors while configuring or using Zoho Mail account in POP/ IMAP clients. The server details vary based on your account type and the Datacenter in which your account is setup. Ensure

    • Workplace - Zoholics Europe Customer Awards

      Dear Zoho Mail Community! 📣 We're excited to announce that at this year's Zoholics events across Europe, we're holding customer awards for the first time ever! Workplace - Zoholics Europe Customer Awards This is your chance to shout about the amazing

    • Important update on Group Management | Zoho Mail

      Dear Zoho Mail Community, This post is to inform you all of the following updates on the Group Management in Zoho Mail. Group Member Addition: If a group member is added to an organization group in a Zoho Application, the member will be automatically

    • Mastering email etiquette and best practices to follow in Zoho Mail

      Hello Zoho Mail Community, We’re thrilled to invite you all to our upcoming webinar: Mastering email etiquette and best practices to follow in Zoho Mail. Join our live webinar for expert etiquette tips to enhance your professionalism and elevate your

      • Recent Topics

      • Zia Formula Expression Generator for Formula fields

        Hello everyone! Formula fields are super useful when you want your CRM to calculate things for you but writing the expression is where most people slow down. You know what you want, but you’re not fully sure which function to use, how the syntax should

      • Issue with Zoho Creator Form Full-Screen View in CRM Related List Integration

        Hi Team, We have created a custom application in Zoho Creator and integrated it into Zoho CRM as a related list under the Vendor module, which we have renamed as Consignors. Within the Creator application, there is a form named “Pickup Request.” Inside

      • Wrapping up 2025 on a high note: CRM Release Highlights of the year

        Dear Customers, 2025 was an eventful year for us at Zoho CRM. We’ve had releases of all sizes and impact, and we are excited to look back, break it down, and rediscover them with you! Before we rewind—we’d like to take a minute and sincerely thank you

      • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

        Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant

      • Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account

        Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, they

      • Projects custom colors replaced by default orange

        Since yesterday, projects uploaded to Zoho, to which I had assigned a custom color, have lost the customization and reverted to the default color (orange). Has anyone else had the same problem? If so, how did you resolve it?

      • Restrict Users access to login into CRM?

        I’m wanting my employees to be able to utilize the Zoho CRM Lookup field within Zoho Forms. For them to use lookup field in Zoho Forms it is my understanding that they need to be licensed for Forms and the CRM. However, I don’t want them to be able to

      • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

        Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to

      • Unknown table or alias 'A1'

        I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement:  SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers), 

      • in the Zoho creator i have address field based the customer lookup im selecting the addresss , some times the customer address getting as null i want to show as blank

        in the Zoho creator i have address field based the customer lookup im selecting the addresss , some times the customer address getting as null ,i want to show as blank instead of showing null. input.Billing_Address.address_line_1 = ifNUll(input.Customers_Name.Address.address_line_1,"");

      • Question about upgrade and storage space Zoho Notebook

        After upgarding my Zoho Notebook plan, I am running into the following issue. I just upgraded from a free Zoho Notebook subscription to Pro Lite after I got a notification in my Window Zoho Notebook desktop app saying that I had run out of space. However,

      • how to add email to existing organization i w

        I am already registered my organization and i have an email id. I need one more email id but i can't find anywhere .i want the cheapest email id . how to add ?

      • add zoho account

        How to add a zoho mail to previous zoho account? I have two

      • Name changed in settings for mailbox but still not changed when typed in To field

        In the email account secretary@ i have updaetd the new staff members details but the old members name still appears when I type secretary@ in the To field. I cant work out where Zoho is finding the old name from. I have deleted the browser cache. If I

      • Printing to a brother label maker

        I see allot of really old unanswered posts asking how to print to a label maker from a zoho creator app. Has their been any progress on providing the capability to create a customized height & width page or print template or whatever to print labels?

      • Sync desktop folders instantly with WorkDrive TrueSync (Beta)

        Keeping your important files backed up and accessible has never been easier! With WorkDrive desktop app (TrueSync), you can now automatically sync specific desktop folders to WorkDrive Web, ensuring seamless, real-time updates across devices. Important:

      • Track online, in-office, and client location meetings separately with the new meeting venue option

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce meeting enhancements in Zoho CRM that bring more clarity and structure to how meetings are categorized. You can now specify the meeting venue to clearly indicate whether a meeting is being held online, at the

      • Calling the new 'Custom API' feature from within a Custom Widget

        From what I've learned it is not possible to call an endpoint from the new "Custom API" feature within a Creator Widget. The SDK's doesn't support it yet, when calling it natively you end up with CORS issues or at least I couldn't get it working even

      • Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.32.0)

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the latest updates to Trident, which are designed to reinforce email security and protect your inbox from evolving threats. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new. Deliver quarantined emails. Organization admins

      • Marketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images

        Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.

      • PDF Attachment Option for Service Reports

        Hello Team, I would like to check with you all if there is an option to attach PDF documents to the service reports. When I try to attach a file, the system only allows the following formats: JPEG, JPG, and PNG. Could you please confirm whether PDF attachments

      • Zoho Browser??

        hai guys, this sounds awkward but can v get a ZOHO BROWSER same as zoho writer, etc. where i can browse websites @ home and continue browsing the same websites @ my office, as v have the option in Firefox, once i save and close the browser and again when i open it i will be getting the same sites. If u people r not clear with my explanation, plz let me know. Thanks, Sandeep  

      • SMS to customers from within Bigin

        Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receive

      • Admins cannot see each others' Scheduled Reports?!

        Very frustrating that as an admin I cannot see what my reports my fellow admins have created and scheduled.  After asking about this on the help chat, I was told the issue is trust and security.  By giving someone Admin status, it means we trust them with those responsibilities. Please change this, it is not a good process to have to bother other users to change a report or change users within a report.

      • Automatically CC an address using Zoho CRM Email Templates

        Hi all - have searched but can't see a definitive answer. We have built multiple email templates in CRM. Every time we send this we want it to CC a particular address (the same address for every email sent) so that it populates the reply back into our

      • Writer update results in BitDefender blocking it as malware

        After updating Writer to latest update, Bitdefender blocked the app and writer no longer runs.

      • Is there a way to invoke deluge function from within a widget?

        Hi! I have custom functions in deluge and I was wondering whether there is any way to call this function through a widget? Something like on click of a button inside a widget, run the deluge custom function. Would this be possible?

      • Missing Import Options

        Hello, do I miss something or is there no space import option inside of this application? In ClickUp, you can import from every common application. We don't want to go through every page and export them one by one. That wastes time. We want to centralize

      • Zoho CRM Portal Field Level Permission Issue

        Hi Support Team, I am using the Zoho CRM Portal and configuring field-level editing permissions. However, we are unable to restrict portal users from editing certain fields. We have created a portal and provided View and Edit (Shared Only) access for

      • Why am I seeing deleted records in Zoho Analytics syncing with Zoho CRM?

        I have done a data sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics, and the recycle bin is empty. Why do I see deleted leads/deals/contacts in Zoho Analytics if it doesn't exist in Zoho CRM? How can I solve this problem? Thanks

      • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

        Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if

      • Introducing the Zoho Projects Learning Space

        Every product has its learning curve, and sometimes having a guided path makes the learning experience smoother. With that goal, we introduce a dedicated learning space for Zoho Projects, a platform where you can explore lessons, learn at your own pace,

      • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

        The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update

      • Collaboration with customers made easy with Zoom Meeting and Zoho Desk integration

        Hello everyone! We are happy to announce that you can now integrate your Zoho Desk account with Zoom Meeting. The integration bridges the gap between digital communication and human connection, empowering teams to deliver timely support when it matters

      • CRM Canvas - Upload Attachments

        I am in the process of changing my screens to Canvas.  On one screen, I have tabs with related lists, one of which is attachments.  There doesn't appear to be a way to upload documents though.  Am I missing something really obvious?  Does anyone have

      • TrueSync regularly filling up my local disk

        Seems that WorkDrive's TrueSync randomly starts filling up my local hard drive space. None of the folders have been set as "Make Offline" but still it seems to randomly start making file offline. The settings of the app is so minimal and is of no real

      • Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons

        Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting and useful Kaizen post. We know that Client Scripts can be triggered with Canvas buttons and we discussed this with a use case in Kaizen#180. Today, let us discuss how to trigger Client Script when a

      • [Webinar] A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025

        Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce Zoho Writer's webinar for January 2026: A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025. This webinar will provide a recap of the features and enhancements we added in 2025 to enhance your productivity. Choose your preferred

      • Picklist field shows "none" as default

        Hello, Is there an option to avoid showing "none" as the default value in a picklist field? I also don't want to see any option displayed. My expectation is to have a blank bar, and then when I display the drop-down list, I can choose whichever I wa

      • Stage-probability mapping feature in custom module

        Hi, I'm building a custom module for manage projects. I would like to implement the stage-probability feature that Potentials has. Is this possible?

      • Next Page