Head to head

ContentCal vs Zoho Social

vs

ContentCal was a well-liked UK content calendar built around planning and approvals. Adobe bought it in December 2021, closed the standalone product on 31 March 2023, and rolled its features into Adobe Express, so it's here for the record rather than as a tool you can buy.

From
Custom
Free plan

Zoho Social is the scheduler inside Zoho's wider business suite: capable publishing, a monitoring dashboard, and reporting that plugs straight into Zoho CRM. Pricing splits into single-brand business plans, billed per brand per member, and flat agency plans for managing many brands.

From
$10 /mo
Free plan

Bottom line

ContentCal and Zoho Social both cover the basics; the right one comes down to how you post.

Features compared

FeatureContentCalZoho Social
AI captionsNot assessedYes
Basic analyticsYesYes
Advanced reportsNot assessedYes
Bulk uploadNot assessedYes
Evergreen recyclingNot assessedPartial
Team rolesYesYes
ApprovalsYesYes
Link in bioNot assessedYes

Platforms compared

NetworkContentCalZoho Social
InstagramAutoAuto
FacebookAutoAuto
X (Twitter)AutoAuto
LinkedInAutoAuto
TikTokReminderAuto
PinterestAutoAuto
YouTubeNoAuto
ThreadsNoAuto
BlueskyNoAuto
Google BusinessAutoAuto
MastodonNoAuto
TelegramNoAuto

Pricing

ContentCal

  • ContentCal was acquired by Adobe in December 2021 and the standalone product closed on 31 March 2023. You can no longer buy it.
  • Its content calendar and scheduling features were folded into Adobe Express as the Content Scheduler, which is reviewed separately.
  • When it ran, ContentCal sold flat monthly plans (a Pro tier and a larger Company tier); those plans no longer exist, so no current pricing applies.

Zoho Social

Free

Free
Seats
1
Accounts
6
  • 1 brand, 6 channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn profile and page, Google Business), 1 member
  • Home dashboard, drafts, basic publishing, 5 AI credits
  • Forever free after the 15-day all-access trial

Standard

$15 /mo

$10/mo billed annually

Seats
1
Accounts
12
  • $15/mo, $10 on annual (per brand, per member)
  • 1 brand, 12 channels (adds YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky), 1 member
  • Publishing calendar, multi-channel publishing, zurl shortener, summary reports, 40 AI credits

Professional

$40 /mo

$30/mo billed annually

Seats
1
Accounts
12
  • $40/mo, $30 on annual (per brand, per member)
  • 1 brand, 12 channels, 1 member
  • Adds bulk scheduling, repeat posting, post insights, monitoring dashboard, media library, RSS, messages, first comment

Premium

Popular
$65 /mo

$40/mo billed annually

Seats
3
Accounts
14
  • $65/mo, $40 on annual (per brand)
  • 1 brand, 14 channels (adds WhatsApp Business and Telegram Business), 3 members
  • Adds SmartQ, unified Inbox, content approvals and workflow, custom reports, UTM, Zoho CRM and Desk integration, 80 AI credits

Agency

$320 /mo

$230/mo billed annually

Seats
5
Accounts
140
  • $320/mo, $230 on annual
  • 10 brands, up to 140 channels, 5 members
  • Client invite, customizable client portal, agency-branded reports, all Premium features

Agency Plus

$460 /mo

$330/mo billed annually

Seats
5
Accounts
280
  • $460/mo, $330 on annual
  • 20 brands, up to 280 channels, 5 members
  • All Agency features, with 10 more brands available as add-ons
  • Zoho splits into business plans (one brand) and agency plans (many brands). The business tiers (Standard, Professional, Premium) are billed per brand per team member, so the headline is for a single brand with the bundled members; the agency tiers bundle 10 or 20 brands at a flat price.
  • Extra brands and members are add-ons: roughly $19.50 a brand each month and $10 a member each month on annual billing (a little more monthly, and the brand rate varies by plan), so a single-brand business with a few people climbs past the sticker price.
  • Annual billing is up to about 33% cheaper: Standard $10 vs $15, Professional $30 vs $40, Premium $40 vs $65 a month.
  • There's a forever-free plan (1 brand, 6 channels, 1 member) that kicks in after the 15-day all-access trial, no card required.
  • Records are USD. The live pricing page geo-locates and showed Australian dollars including GST here, so the USD list figures were taken from Zoho's US pricing and current third-party listings, then cross-checked by stripping the 10% GST from the AUD and converting (for example Premium A$66.91, less GST, times about 0.66, lands near $40).

Pros and cons

ContentCal

  • Clean, approachable content calendar and content hub
  • Strong, simple approval workflows
  • Good team and client collaboration
  • Discontinued on 31 March 2023; no longer sold
  • Folded into Adobe Express, with a different shape and focus
  • Existing comparisons that still list it are out of date

Zoho Social

  • Deep Zoho CRM and Desk integration, a genuine differentiator
  • Direct publishing to a dozen channels, with monitoring and a unified inbox
  • Forever-free plan and a clear annual discount
  • Flat agency plans for managing many brands
  • Per-brand-per-member pricing plus add-ons gets fiddly
  • WhatsApp and Telegram are Premium-only
  • No evergreen recycling queue or visual feed planner
  • Listed business-plan prices are before brand and member add-ons

ContentCal vs Zoho Social: FAQ

Is ContentCal or Zoho Social cheaper?
Zoho Social starts at $10 per month, while ContentCal is quoted custom, so Zoho Social is the one with a public entry price.
Does ContentCal or Zoho Social have a free plan?
Zoho Social has a free plan; ContentCal does not.
Which is better, ContentCal or Zoho Social?
ContentCal is the stronger pick for most people, while Zoho Social is the better fit for businesses already using Zoho CRM or the wider Zoho suite. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.