Buying guide
Zoho Partner Program Explained: Authorized, Advanced and Premium Partners
Search for a Zoho partner and you will see dozens of firms calling themselves authorized, certified or premium. This guide explains what those labels actually mean in Zoho’s program, how to check them in two minutes, and how to decide what kind of help your project needs.
Quick answer
A Zoho partner is a company in Zoho's official partner program, ranked in three tiers: Authorized, Advanced and Premium. Authorized partners have met a US$5,000 revenue threshold plus certification and project-success requirements; Advanced and Premium partners score above 400 and 600 points out of 1,000. Verify any partner in Zoho's Find a Partner directory.
“Zoho partner” is one of the most searched phrases by businesses about to implement Zoho CRM, Zoho Creator or Zoho One. It is also one of the most loosely used. Some firms are listed partners in Zoho’s official program, some have certifications but no partner listing, and some simply describe themselves as a “Zoho partner” in the everyday sense of the word.
The requirements below come from Zoho’s own partner tiers page, checked in October 2026. Zoho reviews its program from time to time, so confirm the current rules there before you rely on them.
A note on transparency: Zudo Works has applied to the Zoho Partner program and the application is in progress. Until it is approved we do not describe ourselves as a Zoho Partner. That is exactly why we wrote this guide: you should be able to check any provider’s claim, including ours.
What is a Zoho partner?
A Zoho partner is a company that has joined Zoho’s partner program to sell, implement and support Zoho products. Partners can resell Zoho licences, are trained and certified on Zoho products and, once they reach the Authorized tier, can be listed in Zoho’s official Find a Partner directory.
Being a partner is a commercial relationship with Zoho. It tells you the firm has met Zoho’s requirements; it does not, on its own, tell you whether they are the right fit for your specific project.
Zoho partner tiers: Authorized, Advanced and Premium
Zoho ranks its consulting partners in three public tiers. New partners start in an onboarding stage and must qualify for the first tier.
| Tier | What Zoho requires | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Authorized | Reach a US$5,000 revenue threshold, obtain the required certifications and show implementation success within six months of onboarding | The firm is active, certified and has delivered projects. Authorized is the minimum tier for a directory listing. |
| Advanced | A value score above 400 points (out of 1,000) | Consistent licence sales, customer results and certified staff |
| Premium | A value score above 600 points (out of 1,000) | Zoho’s highest tier: larger practices with strong sales and customer metrics |
Partners who do not meet the Authorized criteria within six months may be re-evaluated or removed from the program. Tiers are reassessed every year, and updated tiers take effect by January of the following year.
How Zoho scores its partners
The value score behind the Advanced and Premium tiers has four parts, with a maximum of 1,000 points:
| Area | What is measured | Maximum points |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Year-on-year growth in Zoho licensing revenue (up to 400) and new customers (up to 100) | 500 |
| Customer success | Customer retention (up to 100) and customer satisfaction ratings (up to 100), with points deducted for validated escalations | 200 |
| Market readiness | Zoho certifications (up to 100), qualifying project scope documents or marketplace integrations (up to 50) and Zoho-approved case studies (up to 50) | 200 |
| Zoho engagement | Size of the Zoho sales practice (up to 25) and Zoho-related campaigns and branding (up to 75) | 100 |
Half of the available points relate to licence revenue and customer numbers. In practice, a higher tier usually means a bigger Zoho sales practice. It is a useful signal of scale and commitment, but it is not a direct measure of technical depth in Deluge, Zoho Creator or custom integrations.
How to verify an authorized Zoho partner in two minutes
- Search the official directory. Open Zoho’s Find a Partner page and search for the company by name or filter by country. Authorized, Advanced and Premium partners with an approved profile are listed there with their tier.
- Ask for their partner profile link. A genuine partner can send it immediately. Check that the company name and country match the firm you are talking to.
- Check the wording. “Zoho Certified” usually refers to individual certifications, which are useful but not the same as partner status. “Zoho Partner” without a tier or directory listing is worth a follow-up question.
- Ask which products they are certified on. A CRM-focused partner may have little Zoho Creator or Zoho Books experience, and the reverse.
- Ask for similar work. Whatever the label, ask for a walkthrough of a project like yours.
Finding a Zoho partner in your country
The Find a Partner directory can be filtered by country, which helps if you need on-site workshops, invoicing in your currency or a provider who knows local tax rules. For most projects, though, Zoho implementation is delivered remotely: workshops, configuration, data migration and training all happen over video calls and screen sharing.
- India: Zoho was founded and is headquartered in Chennai, and India has a large community of Zoho providers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and beyond. See Zoho consultants in India.
- United States: providers are spread across every state; time-zone overlap matters more than city. See Zoho consultants for the United States.
- United Kingdom: check experience with UK GDPR, VAT and Making Tax Digital if you use Zoho Books. See Zoho consultants for the UK.
- Australia and New Zealand: check GST setup in Zoho Books and experience with Xero, which many businesses there use. See Australia and New Zealand.
- Europe and elsewhere (for example the Czech Republic, Germany, the Middle East or Southeast Asia): look for experience with your Zoho data centre and local requirements. See all countries we work with.
Zoho resellers vs implementation partners
Many partners do both, but they are different jobs:
- Reselling means selling you Zoho licences. You can also buy licences directly from Zoho.
- Implementation means designing and building your system: modules, fields, Blueprint, Deluge functions, integrations, data migration and training.
Whoever you buy licences from, keep the Zoho account and its super-admin login in your own company’s name. Ask a reseller who owns the account, how billing works and what happens if you change provider later.
Do you need a Zoho partner or a Zoho developer?
- Choose a listed partner when you want to buy licences and services from one firm, need a large multi-team rollout, or your procurement rules require a vendor with an official Zoho status.
- An independent Zoho developer or team can fit better when most of the work is custom: Zoho Creator apps, Deluge functions, integrations with non-Zoho systems or custom software around Zoho.
- Many businesses use both: licences directly from Zoho or through a partner, and a specialist developer for the custom build.
Our checklist for choosing a Zoho development partner lists the ten questions to ask any provider, and the red flags to watch for.
Where Zudo Works fits
We are an independent Zoho development team based in Chennai, India, working with businesses in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and India. Our Zoho Partner application is in progress. Our CTO, Arunkumar V, received the “Master of Creator (Global Winner)” award from Zoho Creator at the Zoho Creator Partner Hackathon 2025. We charge US$15 per hour, quote fixed prices for defined projects, and include one month of free support and onboarding after every build. You buy your Zoho licences directly from Zoho, in your own name.
See our Zoho development services, past project work or estimate your project cost.
Frequently asked questions
An Authorized Zoho Partner is a company in the first tier of Zoho's partner program. To qualify, a partner must reach a US$5,000 revenue threshold, obtain the required certifications and show implementation success within six months of onboarding. Authorized partners with an approved profile are listed in Zoho's Find a Partner directory.
They are Zoho's three partner tiers. Authorized is the entry tier. Advanced partners score more than 400 points and Premium partners more than 600 points out of 1,000 in Zoho's annual value scoring, which measures licence revenue, customer success, certifications and engagement with Zoho.
Search for the company in Zoho's official Find a Partner directory at zoho.com/partners, or ask the firm for its partner profile link. Check that the name, country and tier match. "Zoho Certified" usually refers to individual certifications rather than partner status.
A company applies to Zoho's partner program and, after onboarding, must reach the Authorized tier requirements within six months: a US$5,000 revenue threshold, the required certifications and successful implementations. Tiers are then reviewed every year.
Our Zoho Partner application is in progress, so we do not describe ourselves as a Zoho Partner. We are an independent Zoho development team. Our CTO, Arunkumar V, received the "Master of Creator (Global Winner)" award from Zoho Creator at the Zoho Creator Partner Hackathon 2025.
Related services: Zoho development · Zoho Creator development · Zoho CRM implementation
