SUNAGO Matrix vs Zoho Projects: Which Zoho Plan You Actually Need
A consulting firm asks one question every week: who is free in three weeks, across everything we have running. Zoho answers it from Enterprise at EUR 9 per user per month billed annually - its own plan comparison puts the Workload Report at "Across Projects" there and "Project-specific" on the EUR 4 Premium plan below it, where task dependencies also stay "Within project". Premium is a real plan for tracking work against a budget, but the plan that schedules people is EUR 9. SUNAGO Matrix does it at EUR 3, with every hour costed after utilization, holiday and company overhead, and with the pipeline and invoicing already in the price.
Like for like - the Zoho plan that schedules people across projects - SUNAGO Matrix is EUR 3 per seat per month against EUR 9, and it costs every hour after utilization, holiday and company overhead rather than at a rate someone typed in. Deals, delivery, capacity and invoicing sit in one product on one bill; on the Zoho side the pipeline and the invoicing are two more subscriptions.
Key Differences
A Cost Rate That Is Actually True
For a consulting firm the cost of an hour is not the salary divided by a standard year. SUNAGO Matrix computes each person's cost per hour as annual salary divided by their billable hours, after part-time capacity, vacation entitlement and their real utilization, then adds that person's share of company overhead, with non-billable colleagues' salaries rolled into the overhead pool. Every margin, EAC and FAC here is built on that rate. A tool that costs hours at a number you typed in will report a project margin that is wrong in your favor.
The Plan That Plans People Is EUR 9
Zoho's own plan comparison puts the Workload Report at "Project-specific" on Premium and "Across Projects" from Enterprise up, and task dependencies at "Within project" on Premium against "Across projects" on Enterprise. A consulting firm asks who is free in three weeks across everything at once, so Enterprise at EUR 9 per user per month is the plan to price, not Premium at EUR 4. SUNAGO Matrix is EUR 3, and nets holiday and absence out of availability before you commit anyone.
Pipeline in the Same Product
Deals, win probability and revenue forecasting sit in the same product as delivery and resourcing in SUNAGO Matrix, on one license and one data store. Zoho Projects does not list opportunity or pipeline management among its own features: that is Zoho CRM, a separate subscription. The two are integrated rather than disconnected, and Zoho documents creating a project straight from a won Deal, but it is a second product and a second bill.
Invoicing Is a Third Subscription
SUNAGO Matrix issues invoices with approval routing, VAT and multiple currencies, included. Zoho Projects does not invoice. Zoho Invoice is free but its own page caps it: "Add up to two users", "Create a maximum of three projects" and "Send up to 500 invoices per year", with "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding on what you send. Three projects rules it out for a consulting firm, so the real answer is Zoho Books, a third subscription priced per organization from $10 a month billed annually on the US page.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Zoho Projects | SUNAGO Matrix |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per hour | A rate you set: Zoho documents "Planned cost = Work hours * Rate per hour", with staff rates configured per user | Salary divided by that person's own billable hours, after part-time capacity, holiday entitlement and actual utilization, plus their share of company overhead |
| Seeing who is free across every project | Workload Report is "Across Projects" from Enterprise; on Premium it is "Project-specific" | Allocations across all projects, with holiday and absence netted out of availability |
| Price of the plan that does that | Enterprise, EUR 9 per user per month billed annually (Premium is EUR 4, Ultimate EUR 14) | EUR 3 per seat per month billed yearly, one plan |
| Sales pipeline | Not part of Zoho Projects; Zoho CRM is a separate subscription, integrated | Deals, win probability and revenue forecasting in the same product |
| Invoicing | Not in Zoho Projects. Zoho Invoice is free but capped at two users, three projects and 500 invoices a year, with "Powered by Zoho Invoice" branding; Zoho Books is a third subscription | Invoices with approval routing, VAT and multiple currencies, included |
| Billable and non-billable hours | Documented: "time spent on tasks that cannot be billed are non-billable hours" | The same distinction, on every logged hour |
| Critical path and baselines | Both on Enterprise: Critical Path, and 15 baselines per project | Neither is offered |
Who Should Choose What?
Choose Zoho Projects if:
- You want project tracking with a budget and nothing more: Zoho Premium is EUR 4 per user per month billed annually and carries unlimited projects, Project Budget, Earned Value Management, timelogs, timesheets and multi-level timesheet approval
- You need a real work breakdown structure: Zoho documents that it "helps managers establish a Work Breakdown Structure in their projects", with Phases, Task Lists, Tasks and Subtasks, and budgets that can be set on a task or milestone. SUNAGO Matrix decomposes one level, into tasks with estimated and actual hours, dependencies and milestones, and holds the money budget at project level
- You need critical path and baselines: both are listed on Zoho's Enterprise plan, with 15 baselines per project, and SUNAGO Matrix offers neither
Choose SUNAGO Matrix if:
- Your project margins are only as good as your cost rate: SUNAGO Matrix derives each hour's cost from salary, real utilization, vacation and company overhead rather than a number someone typed in
- You are pricing Zoho Enterprise at EUR 9 a seat to plan people across projects: SUNAGO Matrix does that at EUR 3, with EAC and FAC as standard
- You want the pipeline in the same product as delivery, on one license and one bill, rather than a second subscription to integrate
- You want capacity planning that nets vacation and absence out of availability before you commit people
- You want invoicing and the pipeline in the price rather than as a second and a third Zoho subscription
SUNAGO Matrix and Zoho Projects: three years of license cost
One question: how many people. The totals below are three years of license cost at each vendor's own published price. Where a vendor puts the capability SUNAGO Matrix includes in a higher package, that is shown too - and where that package has no published price, that is shown as well, because it is the part a buyer cannot work out alone.
Three years, the horizon buyers budget in.
SUNAGO Matrix
one plan, everything included€4,320 over 3 years
€3 per seat/month, billed yearly · no seat minimum · no tier above this one
Zoho Projects
zoho.com/projects/pricing-comparison.html · read 2026-08-06€4 per seat/month, billed annually
Free for up to 5 users below this tier. Prices read on the European page
€9 per seat/month, billed annually
Workload Report across projects is listed under Enterprise, not Premium: €7,200 more over three years.
Each figure is in the currency that vendor publishes in. Nothing is converted, and no combined saving is shown across two currencies, because an exchange rate is a number we cannot document for you. License cost only: implementation, training and support are priced separately by most of these vendors.
See the full price page for what is in the plan.