On 28 October, Zoho relaunched Zoho Analytics as what it calls an “agentic analytics platform”. The headline features are AI agents that analyse data, build charts and trigger workflows. The detail that matters most for your budget is quieter: AI usage is now measured in credits, and a set allowance comes with each plan.
Zoho also says the price hasn’t moved. Its announcement on the Zoho Blog states that pricing “hasn’t changed”, and the press release published on 10 November repeats that the Basic plan starts at US$24 a month, billed annually, for 2 users, half a million rows and 10,000 Zoho LLM credits.
If you run your business on Zoho, this is a good moment to look at your licences again. AI is becoming a line on the bill in its own right, and it behaves differently from the per-user seats you are used to.
What changed
Three things are new, and they apply beyond one app.
- AI credits come with the plan. According to the Zoho Analytics pricing page, Basic includes 10,000 Zoho LLM credits a month, Standard 20,000, Premium 40,000 and Enterprise 100,000. These power Ask Zia and its agents, and they renew monthly.
- There is a separate pool for outside models. Each plan also has a one-time allowance for external models such as OpenAI’s. Zoho’s pricing page says this pool does not renew. When it runs out, you can switch back to Zoho’s own model, buy add-on credits or connect your own key.
- AI agents are free to build. On the Zia Agents pricing page, Zoho says creating, deploying and managing agents costs nothing, and you pay only for model usage. Zoho-hosted Standard models include 30 million tokens a month and Pro models 20 million, with the free allowance resetting on the 1st of each month.
In short, Zoho is moving towards a model where seats pay for access and credits pay for AI work.
What it means for a small business
For most small teams, the included allowance will cover early experiments. A few people asking Zia questions about sales or cash flow each week is unlikely to drain a plan. The risk comes later, when AI moves from a curiosity to a habit.
Usage grows with success. Once an agent saves someone an hour a day, more people will use it, and they will use it more often. Seats grow when you hire. Credits grow when people find the tool useful, which is harder to predict.
Not all models cost the same. On Zia Agents, a Pro model uses three credits for every thousand tokens, against one credit for a Standard model. Choosing the stronger model for every task can triple consumption without anyone noticing.
Two bills can appear. If someone connects your own OpenAI, Gemini or Claude key, that provider bills you directly. Zoho’s page is clear that the vendor charges you based on usage. That is fine if it is planned, but easy to miss if it isn’t.
Each app has its own rules. Analytics counts credits one way, Zia Agents counts tokens another way, and other Zoho apps may follow their own approach. A plan that looks generous in one app tells you nothing about the others.
Practical steps for this month
You don’t need a big project. An hour with your Zoho admin settings and a short list will do.
- List where AI is switched on. Note which Zoho apps your team uses AI in today, and who uses it. Start with Analytics, CRM and Desk if you have them.
- Find the usage screens. Zoho says the new AI Observability feature in Analytics shows which agents ran, who used them and the AI usage and cost by team. Look at it once a week for the first month so you learn what normal looks like.
- Decide on the default model. Use Standard models for routine questions and keep Pro models for work that really needs them.
- Agree a rule on outside keys. Decide who may connect an external AI account and whose card pays for it. Write it down.
- Check what is shared. Zoho’s blog says AI Settings shows what each AI feature shares with external AI vendors. Review it before anyone connects an outside model to client or financial data.
- Put a date in the diary. Add a credit review to your renewal checklist, alongside the usual check for unused seats and the right editions.
Pitfalls and costs to watch
Paying for seats to get credits. If a team runs short of AI allowance, the instinct may be to upgrade the whole plan. Compare that with buying add-on credits, which Zoho says are available for heavier use, before you move everyone to a higher edition.
Forgetting the one-off pool. The external-model allowance in Analytics doesn’t come back. If a team builds a habit on an outside model during the first weeks, it will hit a wall later. Test on Zoho’s own model first, so you know whether it is good enough for the job.
Agents nobody owns. Free-to-build agents are tempting, and that is the point. Each one still uses credits and touches your data. Give every agent a named owner and a short description of what it is for, and switch off the ones nobody uses.
Treating figures as fixed. These allowances and prices are Zoho’s current published numbers, and they vary by plan and region. Check the pricing page for your own data centre before you budget.
The takeaway
Zoho’s AI features are now part of the subscription, and that is good news for small businesses that want to try them without a new contract. But AI usage behaves like a utility, not a seat. It rises and falls with how much your team relies on it. Treat credits as part of your licence review: know where AI is on, who uses it, which model it runs on and whether any outside accounts are connected.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your plans, editions and AI allowances before renewal, our Zoho licence advice covers exactly that. And if you want those agents to do useful work in your daily processes, see how we approach AI and workflow automation.
Sources: Zoho Blog (28 October 2026), Media OutReach Newswire via The Manila Times (10 November 2026), Zoho Analytics pricing page (accessed 10 November 2026), Zoho Zia Agents pricing page (accessed 10 November 2026).
Frequently asked questions
What is a Zoho AI credit?
It is the unit Zoho uses to measure AI usage. Each time you ask Zia a question or an agent does a piece of work, the underlying language model processes text, and that processing is counted in credits or tokens. Your plan includes an allowance, and heavier use is paid for separately.
Do unused AI credits roll over to next month?
It depends on the type. In Zoho Analytics, the monthly Zoho LLM credits renew each month, while the pool for external models is a one-off. For Zia Agents, the free monthly token allowance resets on the 1st of each month. Check the pricing page for each app you use.
Should we bring our own AI key or use Zoho’s models?
Zoho’s own models are included up to your allowance, which is usually enough to start. Bringing your own key from a provider such as OpenAI means that provider bills you directly. It can make sense if you already have an account and a budget for it, but it adds a second bill to watch.
Do we need extra Zoho licences to use AI agents?
Zoho says building and deploying Zia Agents is free, and you pay only for the language model usage behind them. You still need the right Zoho apps and editions for the data the agent works with, so review who has which licence before you roll agents out widely.