CircleHQ vs. Zoho Campaigns for Nigerian Businesses
Naira billing without dollar conversion, WhatsApp built in, and payment triggers for Paystack and Flutterwave — an honest look at where each platform wins.
| Zoho Free | Zoho Standard | CircleHQ Starter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €0 / $0, forever | starting around €4–5/mo (region-dependent, verify at zoho.com/campaigns/pricing) | ₦25,000/mo, fixed |
| Contacts included | 2,000 | 500 (scales with list size) | 2,500 |
| Channels | Email + SMS + WhatsApp | ||
| Billing currency | EUR/USD (region-dependent) | EUR/USD (region-dependent) | NGN (Naira) |
Zoho pricing cross-referenced via Capterra and public sources on 2026-07-16. Exact USD figures vary by region — verify at zoho.com/campaigns/pricing before making a decision.
An honest comparison — starting with where Zoho is genuinely cheaper.
Where Zoho Campaigns genuinely wins on price
Zoho Campaigns has one of the lowest sticker prices in this category: a forever-free plan covering up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, and paid plans starting from roughly €4 to €6 a month for a small list. CircleHQ does not currently offer a free tier, and Starter at ₦25,000 a month costs more in raw dollar terms at the smallest list sizes. If the lowest possible price at the smallest list size is the only variable that matters, Zoho is the cheaper starting point, and it's worth saying so directly.
Currency risk doesn't show up in a sticker price
Zoho's pricing is listed in dollars or euros depending on region, not Naira. CircleHQ bills Nigerian teams directly in Naira: Starter is ₦25,000 a month, fixed, with no conversion at checkout and no exposure to exchange rate swings between billing cycles. A lower dollar or euro sticker price does not remove the currency risk sitting underneath it once that price gets converted every month.
WhatsApp as a core channel, not an add-on
Zoho Campaigns is built primarily around email, with other channels typically requiring separate Zoho products. CircleHQ includes WhatsApp and SMS alongside email in the same platform and the same contact list, which matters in a market where WhatsApp is often the channel a customer checks first.
Payment triggers built for Paystack and Flutterwave
CircleHQ connects directly to Paystack and Flutterwave, so a successful payment, a failed charge, or a new subscription can trigger a workflow automatically. This is not a feature Zoho Campaigns' automation is built around, since neither processor is central to Zoho's primary markets.
Migrating from Zoho Campaigns
CircleHQ supports migration from Zoho Campaigns directly, with full migration support included on the Custom plan and guided contact and template import on other plans, so evaluating a switch does not mean starting a list from zero.