Gmail is the world’s most popular email platform, with a stunning user base of over 1.8 billion. In other words, over 20% of the world’s population uses Gmail in individual or business capacity.

Given that Gmail is free, easy to use, and is operated by Google, the company behind the world’s leading search engine, it’s no surprise that Gmail is very popular. However, does that translate into Gmail being the best email provider for you? What are its features, and how does it fare against competitors? This guide will answer these questions.

I’ve thoroughly reviewed Gmail to help you determine whether it’s the best email platform for your personal or business needs. Read on to learn about Gmail in detail, including its pricing, ease of use, security, and key features.

Gmail: Plans and pricing

You can use the personal version of Gmail for free. However, like most things, it’s free up to a certain point. Users have up to 15 GB of free storage for pictures, videos, other documents, and other attachments in their email inbox. If you exceed 15 GB, you’ll either need to delete files to free up more space or pay for additional storage.

Extra Gmail storage requires a Google One subscription, with the lowest tier being $20 annually for 100 GB of storage. Ultimately, Gmail offers excellent storage capacity for free – most users don’t surpass 15 GB, except they’ve used Gmail for a long time or use email much more frequently than others.

Businesses can pay for an advanced version of Gmail via Google Workspace. The business tier increases the cloud storage allocated to each employee, and businesses can create emails attached to their custom domain. It’s the same Gmail interface, but with features designed for business use and a custom domain to give employees a more professional appearance.

Google Workspace plans start from $7 per user per month, which provides 30 GB of storage per account, double the free limit. The Standard plan costs $14 per user per month, providing 2 TB of storage per account. The Plus plan costs $22 per user per month and unlocks 5 TB of storage per account. These plans are reasonably priced, given the massive amount of storage space they provide.

Gmail: Features

Sending and receiving emails are the primary features you’ll expect from Gmail. You can compose emails and send them to your desired email addresses. The maximum number of recipients per email is 500 for free accounts and 2,000 for Google Workspace accounts. However, most users aren’t hitting this limit, so I see no issues here.

I like that Gmail lets you send scheduled emails. You don’t always have to send emails immediately after you type them. Instead, you can set the email to send at a specific time. This feature comes in handy in many endeavors, such as sending birthday wishes ahead of time and sending event reminders to colleagues.

In this era of artificial intelligence (AI), Gmail hasn’t been left behind. Google has invested significant resources in incorporating AI features that have made Gmail much more intuitive than before.

For instance, I enjoyed the Smart Reply feature, which crafts quick, automated responses to emails. The AI system reads your email and suggests quick responses, such as “Well noted, I’ll work on it,” “Here it is,” or “I’ve attached the document here,” among others. The suggested responses are based on the content of the email you’re replying to.

The Smart Reply feature may sound trivial, but it helped me a lot. It gets tiring having to retype mundane responses to personal and work emails – the feature saved me a lot of time here, which I spent creating detailed responses for the emails that needed them.

I also enjoyed the Smart Compose feature, which functions as an AI assistant when typing emails. It can read your mind… just kidding, it can’t. It analyzes the words you’ve already typed and suggests the next words and phrases. It’s right many times, but can be amusingly wrong. The good thing is that you can hit enter whenever it gets the right suggestion and ignore it if the suggestion isn’t right. Smart Compose saved me considerable time when typing emails.

Apart from intuitiveness, security is a key issue when choosing an email platform. Spam attacks have become more sophisticated due to AI tools that have made text generation a breeze. Hence, security is more important than ever, and Gmail delivers well in this criterion.

By default, Gmail has spam filters that analyze incoming emails and rate their likelihood of spam. If found to be spam, an email is automatically sent to the spam folder. From my experience, Gmail’s filters ensnare most spam messages, but some crafty ones occasionally make it through. When I encountered such an email, I immediately blocked the address and deleted their emails.

False positives can also occur. Some legitimate emails, such as password recovery attempts, might be sent to the spam folder, but you can always visit the spam folder and transfer such emails to your main inbox. If you mark an email in the spam folder as “Not Spam,” further emails from that address will land in your main inbox.

Another crucial security feature I liked is “Confidential Mode,” which allowed me to set expiration dates for emails. For instance, I sent an email containing sensitive information to a friend and set it to self-destruct a day after sending. I also set passcodes for specific emails, and the recipient needed this passcode to read the content– I gave them the passcode via SMS and other communication channels.

Likewise, with Confidential Mode, you can prevent recipients from copying, forwarding, or downloading the contents of your email. However, this feature doesn’t prevent users from taking screenshots of the photos and text – it just makes it difficult to transfer the content directly via email, so be careful about the information you send.

Gmail always prompts users to enable two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security to your email account. With this feature enabled, no one can access your account simply by having your Gmail credentials. Logging in also requires a unique one-time PIN sent to your phone number or other Google-linked devices. Without this PIN, no one can log in to your account on a new device.

I advise always enabling two-factor authentication for your Gmail account. This overlooked feature protects you from most malicious attacks. According to Microsoft, two-factor authentication is the antidote to 99.9% of security attacks.

Gmail offers advanced encryption to protect emails during transmission, ensuring they can only be read by the intended recipients. All emails and their attachments are automatically scanned for malware, and any suspicious ones are blocked. Note that the scanning isn’t perfect; some suspicious attachments may slip through, so avoid opening any attachment from an address you aren’t familiar with.

If you’re like me, who frequently sends and receives emails, your inbox can easily get cluttered, and sorting through vast numbers of emails can get tiring. Fortunately, Gmail lets you organize your inbox and make your emails easy to navigate. You can create labels, such as “Work,” “Family,” “Newsletters,” and “Shopping,” and add specific emails to each of them, or automatically label emails based on the sender’s address. Whenever you want to view a specific group of emails, you can simply click on the relevant label.

For example, if you want to read your daily newsletters, you can click on the “Newsletters” label and see the new emails sent from the addresses you’ve previously marked.

Similarly, you can create custom filters to archive, forward, or even delete emails originating from specific addresses. Gmail’s labels and filters help you automate email sorting and reduce the time you spend navigating your messages.

Gmail seamlessly integrates with other Google tools you may be familiar with. For example, you can upload files to Google Drive and attach them to your email by clicking a few buttons. I found this feature handy when sending large files that would have taken a long time for the recipient to download– instead, the recipient could simply access the file online on Google Drive.

Google Meet isn’t the most popular videoconferencing app, but I liked its smooth integration with Gmail. I could start Google Meet calls directly from my Gmail interface and switch back to emails when done, while on the same browser tab.

Other notable integrations include Google Calendar, which allows you to create events from emails and set reminders, and Google Tasks, where you can convert emails directly into tasks on your to-do list.

Gmail: Interface and in use

Gmail’s interface is one of its main strengths. I think the user-friendliness is the main driving force behind Gmail’s popularity, although being affiliated with Google also helps a lot.

I’ve tested many email platforms, and Gmail stands out for its intuitiveness. Everything feels easy to navigate, even as a first-time user. It helps that first-time users don’t have cluttered inboxes that can make navigation more challenging. Yet, even with a packed inbox, I’ve discussed how filters and labels let you simplify navigation.

The features are neatly arranged on the left side of your dashboard, where you can quickly sort through them. You can switch between your main inbox and other folders smoothly. You can sort through spam, trash, sent, scheduled, and other email categories without a hitch. The Compose button is boldly displayed at the top-left corner, and the menu for composing and sending emails is easily understood at a glance.

You can access Gmail from your web browser or download the app on your desktop (Windows and macOS) or smartphone (iOS and Android). The app works exactly as the website, but has faster loading times and offline access.

Gmail: Support

I’ll rank Google’s support as decent. It’s not the most outstanding, but it isn’t bad either. Users have access to an extensive knowledge base that details all Gmail’s features and provides guidance on troubleshooting common issues.

If you encounter any problems, the knowledge base and official Help Center should be the first places to seek help. Likewise, if you’re a new user who wants to learn the ins and outs of Gmail, the Help Center should be the first place to consult.

Gmail is a free tool, so don’t expect much direct help as a personal user. Google has a support team, but they’re more focused on enterprise customers who pay for Google Workspace and other tools.

For paying Google Workspace subscribers, Google offers decent support. Response times vary according to your plan, but the support team doesn’t take long to reply to email complaints.

Gmail: The competition

Gmail is the most dominant email platform worldwide, but it has no shortage of competitors. Many free email platforms have tried to chip away at Gmail’s market share for a long time, with mixed results. The two rivals I’d like to highlight are Zoho Mail and Proton Mail.

Zoho Mail offers a free version for personal use, just like Gmail. However, this free plan provides just 5 GB of storage, unlike Gmail’s 15 GB. Zoho is more competitive on the business side, with plans that are more affordable than Gmail, although Gmail still offers more storage.

Businesses can subscribe to Zoho Mail for as low as $1 per month per user, while a Google Workspace subscription starts at $6 per month per user. Zoho Mail isn’t as user-friendly as Gmail. In fact, I got confused several times as a new user, but it’s a more affordable email solution for businesses with limited budgets.

Proton Mail is a secure email solution that offers end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, password-protected emails, and adherence to robust Swiss privacy laws, among other features. I wouldn’t say it’s more secure than Gmail, as Gmail offers many of the same features optionally. However, Proton Mail is more geared towards privacy and doesn’t have advertisements.

The drawback is that Proton Mail isn’t as intuitive as Gmail, and the free plan is much more limited, e.g., 6 GB storage compared to Gmail’s 15 GB storage. You’ll need a paid plan to enjoy most of Proton Mail’s features.

Gmail: Final verdict

Gmail is an email platform that I recommend any day and at any time, both for personal and business use. I can summarize the reason as “it just works.” Gmail provides the email features you’ll need, even on the free plan.

The paid plans are more expensive than other options, but the intuitiveness and seamless integration with other Google tools make it worthwhile if your business can afford it. Gmail is a solid choice that makes emailing an enjoyable experience.

We've also featured the best email clients.

Gmail is the world’s most popular email platform, with a stunning user base of over 1.8 billion. In other words, over 20% of the world’s population uses Gmail in individual or business capacity.

Given that Gmail is free, easy to use, and is operated by Google, the company behind the world’s leading search engine, it’s no surprise that Gmail is very popular. However, does that translate into Gmail being the best email provider for you? What are its features, and how does it fare against competitors? This guide will answer these questions.

I’ve thoroughly reviewed Gmail to help you determine whether it’s the best email platform for your personal or business needs. Read on to learn about Gmail in detail, including its pricing, ease of use, security, and key features.

Gmail: Plans and pricing

You can use the personal version of Gmail for free. However, like most things, it’s free up to a certain point. Users have up to 15 GB of free storage for pictures, videos, other documents, and other attachments in their email inbox. If you exceed 15 GB, you’ll either need to delete files to free up more space or pay for additional storage.

Extra Gmail storage requires a Google One subscription, with the lowest tier being $20 annually for 100 GB of storage. Ultimately, Gmail offers excellent storage capacity for free – most users don’t surpass 15 GB, except they’ve used Gmail for a long time or use email much more frequently than others.

Businesses can pay for an advanced version of Gmail via Google Workspace. The business tier increases the cloud storage allocated to each employee, and businesses can create emails attached to their custom domain. It’s the same Gmail interface, but with features designed for business use and a custom domain to give employees a more professional appearance.

Google Workspace plans start from $7 per user per month, which provides 30 GB of storage per account, double the free limit. The Standard plan costs $14 per user per month, providing 2 TB of storage per account. The Plus plan costs $22 per user per month and unlocks 5 TB of storage per account. These plans are reasonably priced, given the massive amount of storage space they provide.

Gmail: Features

Sending and receiving emails are the primary features you’ll expect from Gmail. You can compose emails and send them to your desired email addresses. The maximum number of recipients per email is 500 for free accounts and 2,000 for Google Workspace accounts. However, most users aren’t hitting this limit, so I see no issues here.

I like that Gmail lets you send scheduled emails. You don’t always have to send emails immediately after you type them. Instead, you can set the email to send at a specific time. This feature comes in handy in many endeavors, such as sending birthday wishes ahead of time and sending event reminders to colleagues.

In this era of artificial intelligence (AI), Gmail hasn’t been left behind. Google has invested significant resources in incorporating AI features that have made Gmail much more intuitive than before.

For instance, I enjoyed the Smart Reply feature, which crafts quick, automated responses to emails. The AI system reads your email and suggests quick responses, such as “Well noted, I’ll work on it,” “Here it is,” or “I’ve attached the document here,” among others. The suggested responses are based on the content of the email you’re replying to.

The Smart Reply feature may sound trivial, but it helped me a lot. It gets tiring having to retype mundane responses to personal and work emails – the feature saved me a lot of time here, which I spent creating detailed responses for the emails that needed them.

I also enjoyed the Smart Compose feature, which functions as an AI assistant when typing emails. It can read your mind… just kidding, it can’t. It analyzes the words you’ve already typed and suggests the next words and phrases. It’s right many times, but can be amusingly wrong. The good thing is that you can hit enter whenever it gets the right suggestion and ignore it if the suggestion isn’t right. Smart Compose saved me considerable time when typing emails.

Apart from intuitiveness, security is a key issue when choosing an email platform. Spam attacks have become more sophisticated due to AI tools that have made text generation a breeze. Hence, security is more important than ever, and Gmail delivers well in this criterion.

By default, Gmail has spam filters that analyze incoming emails and rate their likelihood of spam. If found to be spam, an email is automatically sent to the spam folder. From my experience, Gmail’s filters ensnare most spam messages, but some crafty ones occasionally make it through. When I encountered such an email, I immediately blocked the address and deleted their emails.

False positives can also occur. Some legitimate emails, such as password recovery attempts, might be sent to the spam folder, but you can always visit the spam folder and transfer such emails to your main inbox. If you mark an email in the spam folder as “Not Spam,” further emails from that address will land in your main inbox.

Another crucial security feature I liked is “Confidential Mode,” which allowed me to set expiration dates for emails. For instance, I sent an email containing sensitive information to a friend and set it to self-destruct a day after sending. I also set passcodes for specific emails, and the recipient needed this passcode to read the content– I gave them the passcode via SMS and other communication channels.

Likewise, with Confidential Mode, you can prevent recipients from copying, forwarding, or downloading the contents of your email. However, this feature doesn’t prevent users from taking screenshots of the photos and text – it just makes it difficult to transfer the content directly via email, so be careful about the information you send.

Gmail always prompts users to enable two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security to your email account. With this feature enabled, no one can access your account simply by having your Gmail credentials. Logging in also requires a unique one-time PIN sent to your phone number or other Google-linked devices. Without this PIN, no one can log in to your account on a new device.

I advise always enabling two-factor authentication for your Gmail account. This overlooked feature protects you from most malicious attacks. According to Microsoft, two-factor authentication is the antidote to 99.9% of security attacks.

Gmail offers advanced encryption to protect emails during transmission, ensuring they can only be read by the intended recipients. All emails and their attachments are automatically scanned for malware, and any suspicious ones are blocked. Note that the scanning isn’t perfect; some suspicious attachments may slip through, so avoid opening any attachment from an address you aren’t familiar with.

If you’re like me, who frequently sends and receives emails, your inbox can easily get cluttered, and sorting through vast numbers of emails can get tiring. Fortunately, Gmail lets you organize your inbox and make your emails easy to navigate. You can create labels, such as “Work,” “Family,” “Newsletters,” and “Shopping,” and add specific emails to each of them, or automatically label emails based on the sender’s address. Whenever you want to view a specific group of emails, you can simply click on the relevant label.

For example, if you want to read your daily newsletters, you can click on the “Newsletters” label and see the new emails sent from the addresses you’ve previously marked.

Similarly, you can create custom filters to archive, forward, or even delete emails originating from specific addresses. Gmail’s labels and filters help you automate email sorting and reduce the time you spend navigating your messages.

Gmail seamlessly integrates with other Google tools you may be familiar with. For example, you can upload files to Google Drive and attach them to your email by clicking a few buttons. I found this feature handy when sending large files that would have taken a long time for the recipient to download– instead, the recipient could simply access the file online on Google Drive.

Google Meet isn’t the most popular videoconferencing app, but I liked its smooth integration with Gmail. I could start Google Meet calls directly from my Gmail interface and switch back to emails when done, while on the same browser tab.

Other notable integrations include Google Calendar, which allows you to create events from emails and set reminders, and Google Tasks, where you can convert emails directly into tasks on your to-do list.

Gmail: Interface and in use

Gmail’s interface is one of its main strengths. I think the user-friendliness is the main driving force behind Gmail’s popularity, although being affiliated with Google also helps a lot.

I’ve tested many email platforms, and Gmail stands out for its intuitiveness. Everything feels easy to navigate, even as a first-time user. It helps that first-time users don’t have cluttered inboxes that can make navigation more challenging. Yet, even with a packed inbox, I’ve discussed how filters and labels let you simplify navigation.

The features are neatly arranged on the left side of your dashboard, where you can quickly sort through them. You can switch between your main inbox and other folders smoothly. You can sort through spam, trash, sent, scheduled, and other email categories without a hitch. The Compose button is boldly displayed at the top-left corner, and the menu for composing and sending emails is easily understood at a glance.

You can access Gmail from your web browser or download the app on your desktop (Windows and macOS) or smartphone (iOS and Android). The app works exactly as the website, but has faster loading times and offline access.

Gmail: Support

I’ll rank Google’s support as decent. It’s not the most outstanding, but it isn’t bad either. Users have access to an extensive knowledge base that details all Gmail’s features and provides guidance on troubleshooting common issues.

If you encounter any problems, the knowledge base and official Help Center should be the first places to seek help. Likewise, if you’re a new user who wants to learn the ins and outs of Gmail, the Help Center should be the first place to consult.

Gmail is a free tool, so don’t expect much direct help as a personal user. Google has a support team, but they’re more focused on enterprise customers who pay for Google Workspace and other tools.

For paying Google Workspace subscribers, Google offers decent support. Response times vary according to your plan, but the support team doesn’t take long to reply to email complaints.

Gmail: The competition

Gmail is the most dominant email platform worldwide, but it has no shortage of competitors. Many free email platforms have tried to chip away at Gmail’s market share for a long time, with mixed results. The two rivals I’d like to highlight are Zoho Mail and Proton Mail.

Zoho Mail offers a free version for personal use, just like Gmail. However, this free plan provides just 5 GB of storage, unlike Gmail’s 15 GB. Zoho is more competitive on the business side, with plans that are more affordable than Gmail, although Gmail still offers more storage.

Businesses can subscribe to Zoho Mail for as low as $1 per month per user, while a Google Workspace subscription starts at $6 per month per user. Zoho Mail isn’t as user-friendly as Gmail. In fact, I got confused several times as a new user, but it’s a more affordable email solution for businesses with limited budgets.

Proton Mail is a secure email solution that offers end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, password-protected emails, and adherence to robust Swiss privacy laws, among other features. I wouldn’t say it’s more secure than Gmail, as Gmail offers many of the same features optionally. However, Proton Mail is more geared towards privacy and doesn’t have advertisements.

The drawback is that Proton Mail isn’t as intuitive as Gmail, and the free plan is much more limited, e.g., 6 GB storage compared to Gmail’s 15 GB storage. You’ll need a paid plan to enjoy most of Proton Mail’s features.

Gmail: Final verdict

Gmail is an email platform that I recommend any day and at any time, both for personal and business use. I can summarize the reason as “it just works.” Gmail provides the email features you’ll need, even on the free plan.

The paid plans are more expensive than other options, but the intuitiveness and seamless integration with other Google tools make it worthwhile if your business can afford it. Gmail is a solid choice that makes emailing an enjoyable experience.

We've also featured the best email clients.

Zoho can trace its origins back to 1996, when it started under the name AdvanceNet as a private corporation which it remains to this day. Some of its software products were introduced under the Zoho name, such as Zoho CRM in 2005, and the popular office collaboration suite, Zoho Docs in 2007.

By 2009, with over a million customers, and with the online office suite going strong, the company’s name was changed to Zoho. Its headquarters remain in Chennai, India, with a dozen additional global office locations, and growth has been strong withover 60,000 businesses supported worldwide.

Zoho People, their cloud-based HR application, first came to market in 2008. Zoho’s dozens of products are integrated under the Zoho One name to meet the entire spectrum of business needs. There are over 10,000 Zoho employees, they invest in R&D via the Zoho Schools of Learning, and they proudly claim that 15% of its engineers have been from that program.

Zoho’s time in the market has also allowed it to build out more than 1,000 interoperable integrations, which is a real success.

Zoho People: Plans and pricing

A significant plus of Zoho People is that the pricing is quite transparent for the five tiers offered for this software. We love that Zoho is still able to offer well-prices packages without having to create custom quotes that can be time-consuming and sometimes expensive.

Another advantage is the 30-day trial, which does not require a credit card. There is also a free tier, good for up to five users, which is barely matched by any other players in this space. At the other end of the spectrum a custom quote process is needed for organizations with over 500 users.

The lowest tier is the Essential HR one, which has a cost of $1.50 monthly for each user, and drops further to $1.25 monthly per user when paid annually. Even on this starter plan, the basics are covered with time off management, employee onboarding, and employee database management.

Heading up a tier takes us to Professional, at a cost of $2.50 per user monthly ($2 per user when paid annually). It includes all of the features of the lower plan, and adds in attendance marking via web, mobile, and facial recognition, overtime calculations, timesheets, and shift scheduling.

Next up is the Premium tier, at a cost of $3.50 per user monthly, with an available annual discount that lowers it to $3 per user with annual payment. The lower plan’s features are included, and the additional features include performance appraisals, a skill set matrix, self-appraisals, and advanced HR analytics.

Moving another notch up takes us to the Enterprise tier at a cost of $5 per user per month ($4.50 per user per month for paying annually). This tier brings forward all the features of the lower tiers, and adds employee query management, course management, appraisals, and a discussion forum.

At the top of this heap of tiers is the People Plus plan, which is available for $4.50/4 (Premium) or $10/9 (Enterprise). This plan takes Zoho People beyond what HR software should do with the added “Features” as additional Zoho software offerings, including Zoho Vault for password management, Zoho Recruit for talent acquisition and Zoho Expense for expense management.

If you’re a Zoho user, then Zoho One offers exceptional value for money. It starts at $45/month/employee ($37 with an annual commitment), and includes the full Zoho suite of 45+ apps.

Zoho People: Features

Zoho People has plenty of features of value to an HR department. As it is a cloud-based SaaS, there are advantages such as storage of data online, and the software being up to date.

It has one of the broadest feature sets in its class because Zoho is much more than an HR platform – it’s an entire work management platform whose functionalities span security and IT, bookkeeping and billing/invoicing… even secure email and document storage.

Paydays are stressful for an HR department, so Zoho People has an Attendance Tracker. This allows management to set the hours for the organization, and to track employee attendance.

Leveraging the power of data in the cloud, this allows employees- from wherever they may be, including remote ones- to be able to check in from anywhere with the goal of regularizing attendance.

Reports can then be generated for management, to track working hours, and provide information to make better decisions. Time can also be managed, with real time tracking of employee absences. Pay periods can also be flexibly configured.

Biometric integrations like facial recognition are also supported, as are shift scheduling, overtime, timesheets and client time tracking, so it should be able to handle most business types, both in-person and digitally.

Workers might not be so pleased about goal setting, competency tracking, feedback and performance appraisals, but these are all handled from within the Zoho ecosystem. Maybe they’ll prefer the compensation and salary revision tools, instead.

Zoho People: Ease of use

There is a “structured onboarding process,” to streamline incorporating new recruits into your organization. It starts with a new hire portal, and along the way there are checklists, and customizable workflows.

Through this portal, new hires can receive their offer letter, complete forms including tax forms, and review company policy. Forms can also be electronically signed for convenience. Managers can track the process via status-view reports.

Admins will love the reporting and analytics features – while they’re not quite as glanceable as other tools, they offer a lot more depth, which is far more useful on a business level.

Workers can access the tools they need from a neat mobile app, which includes attendance, leave applications and location tracking for field workers, all in a pretty easy-to-navigate UI.

Zoho has scaled far beyond the products it initially launched with – its success comes from the amount of expertise it gathered building out its first generation of products. As such, the software is generally stable and powerful.

If you’re already in the Zoho ecosystem, then adding Zoho People would be a really smart move. It integrates well with the likes of Zoho Payroll, Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM.

Zoho People: Support

The support for Zoho People offers a number of options, which are centered around the help center.

Here, you can check knowledge base articles, online documentation and even virtual classroom training to help you get to grips with Zoho’s extensive software options.

There is also a series of webinars, for example the on-demand offering “Strategic re-engineering of HR through and post Covid.”

Free and lower-tiered planed tend to have access to standard support, like ticket-based reports and contact with humans within business hours.

Premium and enterprise-grade customers get quicker support and dedicated handlers.

Support is generally considered to be effective, though users report varying wait times. Phone and chat support has also been criticized for not being consistent in multiple regions, so check your local options if support is important to you.

Zoho People: Final verdict

Zoho People offers plenty of features making it worthy of consideration. These include the upfront pricing with no less than five affordable tiers, not even counting the free tier for a business of under five employees with basic functions, the multiple support resources including webinars, and the flexible functionality, such as the new hire portal.

Some shortcomings do remain, such as the lack of direct support options and the fact that some prospective customers will need to get in touch for a quote.

With Zoho People integrating well with Zoho’s other software offerings, we consider it a strong entry into the HR software segment.

Whether you’re already using Zoho’s other software options or you’re a relatively new business that could benefit from its other offerings later on down the line, Zoho People is worthy of your consideration.

If you’re already using other platforms for things like bookkeeping, then consider other payroll and HR options that could offer better integrations with those.

We've also featured the best HR software, best payroll software and best HR outsourcing services

With the best HR software, managing employees, payrolls, holiday leave, and most other things associated with the human resources sector can be simplified. Advanced software is a must for many companies, as it can save countless hours of manual data entry and planning.

BrightHR is a new company, launched in 2015, which launched with the aim to better serve SMBs, it already counts 100,000 businesses among its customers.

In our BrightHR review, we take a close look at this advanced HR software solution. It comes in various formats for businesses of all sizes, and it’s quite affordable as well.

• Want to try BrightHR? Check out the website here

However, there’s no US version. It’s currently only available to customers in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland.

BrightHR: Plans and pricing

BrightHR used to offer a couple of different tiers, but these days it’s gone down the same route that many other HR and payroll providers have gone down, and we’re not a fan.

You’ll need to get in contact with sales to get a quote, and we’d much rather be able to tell you exactly how much each plan costs to help with comparison.

The company promises to save customers money while providing them with the best value for their investment, with tailored subscriptions based on the number of employees and HR systems required, which suggests further customization could be available beyond basic tiers, hence the requirement for a quote.

Sales teams can also offer potential customers a demo to show them around the suite and point out valuable tools.

BrightHR: Features

The BrightHR platform is packed full of advanced HR management features. We’ve touched on a few of the most popular below.

BrightHR offers an excellent selection of staff management tools, including a neat holiday planner. This enables employees to request holidays with the click of a button.

Workers manage this from their end so all admins have to do is approve or decline requests. By keeping all of this within the HR platform, it means managers shouldn’t be bugged by email requests.

On top of this, managers can also record absences and sick leave in just a few seconds.

The platform also allows documentation, like medical certificates, contracts and policies, to be uploaded into the system for safekeeping.

You, of course, get all of the business-oriented HR tools, too, like goal setting (including SMART goals), review and appraisal tools, one-to-one performance meeting templates and follow-ups.

Although it’s primarily a human capital management (HCM) system, it does have some tools to help ease the burden on finance teams too.

The BrightHR system also tracks various metrics to help you with payroll calculations, reducing the time you need to spend on admin processes. This includes overtime tracking, a complete record of paid and unpaid absences, and information about bonuses or other extra payments that you owe employees.

If you need assistance with your staff rosters, BrightHR’s rota planner will be extremely useful. Modifications can be made with the click of a button, and the system will automatically notify employees of any changes to their usual schedule or work location.

Another noteworthy feature is BrightHR’s unlimited cloud storage. This is designed to help businesses go paperless and features a range of tools to help you store, manage, and share digital files. In addition, files can be accessed from anywhere through the neat mobile app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices.

BrightHR also comes with a Certificate of Assurance from Cyber Essentials, to help protect the service from cyber attacks.

BrightHR: Ease of use

To sign up for a new BrightHR account, you need to simply select the package you want, navigate to the checkout page, and input the required information.

The BrightHR software itself is tidy and easy to navigate, presenting a range of HR management tools in one central hub.

We think its user interface is pretty slick compared with most other legacy HR platforms, so if you’re familiar with working in more digital-first ecosystems like Canva and Monday, you should enjoy the graphics and ease of navigation.

Dashboards and other consolidated views of things like leave, sickness and planned shifts present key information in glanceable formats, and users typically report minimal training requirements to get started.

On the end user side, workers can use the mobile apps which support leave requests, clocking in and out, and scheduling monitoring. In a digital-native economy where PCs are often replaced by smartphones, it’s good to see BrightHR recognising this and building what seems to be a pretty powerful app.

BrightHR: Support

When it comes to customer service and support, BrightHR excels. There’s a great range of self-help resources available via the company’s Support Hub, including FAQs, video tutorials, and detailed user guides.

On top of this, you can sign up to weekly webinars, which cover various aspects of getting started with the platform. There’s a handy blog that’s regularly updated, and you can reach out to the customer service team via phone or online contact form if you need extra assistance.

Qualified experts are on hand by phone for employment law advice, and there’s a good document template library to help companies get set up with policies and so on pretty quickly.

Health and safety support, compliance guidance and common HR questions are also covered.

Phone support, online chats and emails make support pretty accessible, but support is generally easier to reach in the UK & Ireland. BrightHR also operates across Australia and New Zealand, plus Canada, but there’s no tailored package for the US.

BrightHR: Final verdict

All things considered, BrightHR is a great option for those who need an advanced yet competitively priced HR management program. It boasts excellent prices, a great range of advanced tools, and a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate management interface.

While the lack of a US version does narrow its market a little, the markets it does serve are treated to an approachable interface and strong functionality.

The bottom line: if you don’t need a US-specific HR management program, BrightHR could be a perfect choice.

Consider BrightHR if you need HR, compliance, health and safety and employee wellbeing bundled into a neat package, or if you value an intuitive system with good desktop and mobile access.

BrightHR offers excellent service across the board, but there are certainly a few other platforms worth considering.

One of our favorites is Gusto, which covers virtually every aspect of HR management. It includes advanced tools for onboarding, insurance, wages, time-tracking, and more. Ultimately, it’s a great option for businesses looking for advanced all-in-one software.

Another popular choice is BambooHR, a platform that focuses on HR process automation. It also boasts leading security practices, making it a good choice for businesses dealing with sensitive information.

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Tixati is one of the popular torrent clients to embrace a minimalist design, and it is quite light on system resources as well, which is another plus point here.

Tixati is entirely free, and also advert-free, yet it still boasts several advanced features that should help with getting the best possible download speeds. It is available to download on all popular operating systems, excluding macOS.

Windows 10 is supported, plus Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP, with users able to install the 32-bit or 64-bit versions directly from the website. Tixati also supports most Linux distros like Fedora, RHEL, Ubuntu, Mint, Mandriva, and more.

The client has been getting regular monthly updates, and the latest version of Tixati (2.73) was released in April 2020. Tixati is not available on any mobile platforms currently.

Features 

Tixati lets users manage downloads by allowing them to limit the bandwidth used and even filter the IP addresses. The client offers the ability to schedule tasks and subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite websites.

Tixati's user interface may appear to be a little outdated in terms of design. However, Tixati offers tooltips and pop-ups, and the setup process is a breeze.

If you’re switching from any other torrent client, Tixati may feel slightly different initially because its layout is rather distinct. While most torrent clients come with a left-aligned menu, Tixati has all the tabs aligned along the top. Further note that Tixati offers an option to tweak the interface slightly based on your preferences.

The sheer number of customization options that Tixati offers makes it one of the favored clients among pro users. It provides access to a complete set of low-level details regarding swarms, and that is one of the reasons that makes it stand apart from the competition.

The Tixati client provides access to a comprehensive help and support section. This helps users in addressing any issues they may face with the torrent client. There are plenty of troubleshooting tips, help guides, and additional useful hints that can aid in minimizing any downtime.

Additionally, the highly active community forum can help address almost any issue the users may be facing. The community is quite lively and provides real-time support and quick solutions.

Security

Tixati is a closed source platform. While that means it lacks the transparency of open source torrent clients, which can have their code examined by anyone, there’s no particular need to worry about the security of Tixati, at least not going by VirusTotal, which registered zero threats after scanning the installer file (at the time of writing).

Note that Tixati offers increased security for users via support for forced RC4 encryption and a SOCKS5 proxy, and it is always advisable to hide your IP address, which is otherwise broadly visible. We have an exhaustive guide to the best VPN for torrenting and torrents.

Piracy 

While torrents allow users to download their favorite content off the internet, and torrent clients make the process easier, remember that there is, of course, copyrighted material online, and downloading that is breaking the law. Of course, TechRadar does not support or endorse piracy or illegal downloads.

Final verdict 

While Tixati has a rather different layout and look for its interface, the overall performance of this client is very satisfactory. The high degree of customization available, ad-free interface, and regular updates are a few major plus points that make Tixati a must-try torrent client.

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Transmission is one of the most widely-used cross-platform torrent clients. It has numerous features and is compatible with the most popular desktop operating systems.

Transmission is a torrenting app known for its intuitive interface and widespread compatibility. It’s easy to understand even for non-technical users. Its free and open-source nature makes it a popular choice for people seeking to download content.

We’re reviewing Transmission to help you decide whether it’s a good choice. We’ll dive into its features, security, ease of use, and other crucial factors.

Transmission: Version and platforms

Transmission is widely compatible. It can be downloaded on macOS, Windows, Linux, and Unix. It’s also compatible with numerous Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Mint, OpenSUSE, Raspberry Pi, and CentOS.

The extensive PC compatibility makes Transmission a top choice for geeks running atypical operating systems. If macOS and Windows aren’t your thing, you can still download Transmission on many other operating systems.

The drawback is that Transmission lacks an Android mobile app, unlike many rival tools.

Transmission: Features

Transmission is a torrenting app mainly used to download content. The process is simple: First, you download a torrent from an external source. Then, you launch the torrent on Transmission to begin the download.

There is no built-in search engine for directly finding torrents, which we consider a drawback. Users must download the torrents from external sites before launching them on Transmission.

After downloading a file, you become a “seeder,” uploading it to the torrenting network for other users. Transmission depends on seeders to provide fast download speeds for all users.

You can limit the speed at which you seed (upload) files for other users; this limit helps conserve bandwidth. You can also set a maximum speed for your downloads.

We observed fast download speeds when using Transmission. However, your speed can vary depending on how many seeders are available for the torrent you download. The higher the number of seeders, the faster the download speed. The fewer the seeders, the slower the download speed.

You can monitor your downloads from a user-friendly dashboard. This dashboard shows the progress of current downloads and the list of all previous downloads. You can pause or cancel a download that’s still in progress.

Transmission uses less memory than most torrenting apps we’ve tested. Some torrenting apps are memory hogs, slowing down other programs because of their excessive consumption. In contrast, Transmission has a lightweight structure that keeps your PC at its optimal performance when downloading content. It doesn’t interfere with the performance of other apps.

Transmission has a collection of add-ons that provide complementary features. You can download these add-ons from Transmission’s official website. For instance, you can download add-ons that let you control Transmission remotely from a smartphone.

With a remote control add-on, you can pause, resume or delete torrent downloads from your smartphone. You can filter torrent lists, download new torrents, and receive notifications about completed downloads.

You can also download an add-on to control Transmission from your browser instead of the standalone app. With this add-on, you can manage and monitor all torrents from your browser instead of constantly juggling your browser and the standalone Transmission app.

Being free and open-source are major reasons for choosing Transmission. Users can examine the code and certify that Transmission isn’t engaging in schemes like malware and adware to generate revenue. Transmission is a free tool maintained by a global network of volunteer developers, so there’s no incentive to cut corners to make money.

Some torrenting apps are infamous for bundling flash ads, pop ads, and tracking users to harvest data for money. Transmission doesn’t have these issues. It provides sophisticated torrenting features for free.

Transmission: Interface and in-use

Transmission is more user-friendly than most rival torrenting apps. Notably, the desktop app incorporates unique interfaces for each operating system.

For instance, the macOS app has the sleek, simple interface Apple is known for. The Windows app has a modernized interface that makes using it easy. The Linux apps follow the recommended GNOME human interface guidelines.

Thanks to its extensive developer network, Transmission features customized interfaces for different operating systems. The app incorporates minimalistic design with features neatly arranged at the top and configurations at the bottom. The icons are self-explanatory, making it easy to find different features. Any layperson can quickly get acquainted with Transmission’s interface and download content.

Transmission: Security and privacy

Torrenting clients are generally secure but have risks. For instance, open-source torrenting apps often receive unofficial builds from malicious developers who use them to introduce malware. Transmission has experienced this issue but quickly blocked malicious builds.

Transmission has security features to prevent your torrenting activities from leaking to third-parties. For instance, you can block specific IP addresses from sharing files with your PC, which are usually IPs known for sharing malicious files.

For further security, you should switch on a VPN before downloading torrents. VPNs encrypt your traffic by routing it through remote servers. This encryption prevents third-parties from snooping on your torrenting activities.

Despite Transmission’s advanced security features and the additional use of a VPN, no torrenting app is 100% secure. Motivated actors can exploit flaws to snoop on users’ torrenting activities. Hence, avoid using Transmission for illegal activities. TechRadar doesn’t endorse piracy.

Transmission: Final Verdict

Transmission is an excellent choice if you need a simple yet sophisticated torrenting client. It has some drawbacks, such as a lack of a built-in search engine, but its advanced features, impressive download speeds, and other pros outweigh the cons.

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uTorrent is one of the most popular torrent clients globally. To many, it’s synonymous with torrenting itself. This platform maintains a stellar reputation because of its performance, speed, and ubiquitous features.

I’m reviewing uTorrent to help you decide whether it’s worth the hype. My review will focus on crucial factors like its features, speed, performance, security, and pricing. Read on to learn the pros and cons of uTorrent in detail.

uTorrent: Pricing

Unlike many torrenting clients, uTorrent offers different tiers of its product. Its basic version is free for anyone to download. However, this free version includes ads on the interface, which can be distracting when downloading content.

The paid tiers of uTorrent include

Ad-Free: For $4.95 per year, you can remove all ads from your interface. This version is also optimized to consume less bandwidth.

Pro: For $19.95 yearly, you can enjoy an ad-free experience and integrated virus scanning when downloading torrents.

Pro + VPN: This tier combines the features of the Pro tier and includes a VPN for secure content downloads. A VPN routes torrenting traffic through secure remote servers to avoid being tracked by third-parties.

uTorrent accepts cryptocurrency and credit/debit card payments. The paid tiers lack a free trial.

uTorrent: Versions

Extensive compatibility is one of uTorrent’s strengths. It has apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It also has an Android but no iOS app, which is typical for torrenting clients. Apple frowns upon torrenting apps appearing on its App Store, so you’ll hardly find any torrenting platform compatible with iOS.

uTorrent: Features

uTorrent is the most feature-rich torrenting client in my opinion, as it offers functionalities I’ve hardly encountered in other rival clients. It has a simple mechanism. You’ll first find a .torrent file from an external website. This file contains the metadata of the content you want to download.

Then, you’ll upload the .torrent file on uTorrent to begin downloading the relevant content. uTorrent notably supports bulk downloads at fast speeds, a feature many torrenting clients lack.

I observed fast download speeds when testing uTorrent. The app auto-adjusts bandwidth usage based on your network connection to provide fast speeds.

Download speeds are determined partly by the number of “seeders,” or uploaders, available on uTorrent’s network. Fortunately, as the most popular torrenting client, there’s hardly a lack of seeders to share files on uTorrent and maintain reliable speeds for everyone on the network.

uTorrent lets you schedule downloads ahead of time. For example, you can upload a .torrent file while at the office and instruct uTorrent to download it several hours later when you connect to your home’s WiFi network.

I was able to control my upload and download speeds to conserve bandwidth when using uTorrent. By default, after downloading a torrent on uTorrent, you automatically become a seeder uploading the files for other users on the network. Capping the data upload speed helped me conserve bandwidth when sharing files.

uTorrent supports remote access, which allows you to manage your torrenting activities from external devices. For example, I was able control downloads on a home computer from my smartphone while at work.

During testing, I enjoyed uTorrent’s light performance despite its many features. It’s not a memory hog that strains your PC’s resources and causes its fans to run at full speed. Instead, it’s a lightweight app with a hardly noticeable impact on your PC’s performance.

With uTorrent, you can download content while seamlessly handling other activities on your web browser or desktop apps.

uTorrent’s Android app is similar to its desktop app. It offers light performance, advanced features, impressive download speeds, and a simple user interface. You can use this Android app to control uTorrent on your PC and other devices.

A drawback I observed with uTorrent is the presence of ads on the basic version. These ads are distracting and, occasionally, users get ads for grey apps flagged by virus scanners. You should exercise caution when interacting with ads on uTorrent.

uTorrent: Interface and in-use

uTorrent has a modern, responsive interface that beats most torrenting clients. Its sleek interface spots a white or dark background (adjustable) with features brightly highlighted with contrasting colors.

The features are neatly arranged on the left, and the main menu is on the right. The buttons to add new torrents and begin downloading are boldly displayed on the main menu, so you can quickly find and switch between different features.

uTorrent is easy for a non-technical person to use. It performs excellently in the user-friendliness criterion, which isn’t the case for some torrenting platforms.

uTorrent: Security

Security is paramount when downloading torrents, as ISPs and other third-parties often seek to identify and block users. uTorrent has many security features to protect users from data leaks and cyber threats.

The Pro version comes with an integrated virus scanner. It scans every .torrent file for viruses and alerts you if any are detected. This feature is crucial because .torrent files are a common vector for introducing malware. It protects your PC from potential damage from viruses.

It’s advisable to turn on a VPN to encrypt your traffic before downloading torrents, which I did. This encrypts your torrenting data from third-parties, like ISPs, that want to snoop on it. The Pro + VPN feature includes an annual subscription to CyberGhost VPN. This VPN offers fast servers across the globe, letting you choose the most convenient location for different use cases.

If you already have a VPN, you can get the Pro version instead of the Pro + VPN version. Any reliable VPN will encrypt your uTorrent activities and prevent prying eyes.

uTorrent: Final Verdict

We can confidently call uTorrent one of the best torrenting clients you can choose. It’s not all rosy, as the basic version includes distracting ads and lacks the integrated virus scanner of the Pro version. However, when you exercise caution, uTorrent is one of the best apps for downloading content at impressive speeds.

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TechRadar is dedicated to helping you choose the best software tools. Hence, I reviewed one of the most popular torrent clients to help you decide if it’s worthwhile.

You might have heard of Vuze, formerly called Azureus. Its name frequently appears when people search for torrenting clients on Google and across the web. I tested the app extensively to judge whether it lives up to its fame. Read on to learn about its features, pricing, security, user-friendliness, and other crucial factors.

Vuze: Pricing

I’ve tested endless torrenting clients, and many of them are completely free. However, Vuze is not. It has a free version that includes ads (which I often found annoying), but an ad-free interface requires paying $3.99 monthly for Vuze Plus.

To be fair, Vuze Plus includes other features like DVD burning and the ability to play media files while they’re still downloading. Yet, I’m not a fan of paying for a torrenting client when many free alternatives are available.

Vuze: Versions

Vuze is available on the three major desktop operating systems: Windows, macOS, and Linux. But, something feels odd about this app. It was officially released in 2017, and development seems to have stalled since then.

Vuze used to have an Android app available on the Play Store, but I checked endlessly for it and found none. The app was removed from the Play Store for unclear reasons, making it only accessible by directly downloading the APK file. I think the APK process is too much work for the average user.

Vuze: Features

Vuze is a feature-rich torrenting client whether you’re using the free or paid version. The free version includes a search bar to find torrents right from the app. This feature is important because many torrenting clients don’t provide help in finding .torrent files to download. Instead, you’ll have to visit an external site to get the files.

The search feature is split into a torrent search and web search. The former encompasses .torrent files stored on Vuze’s database, and the latter helps you find .torrent files across the web. For instance, if you search for Jazz music, you can view torrent files for them across the web or the results directly from Vuze’s database.

If you have the relevant .torrent file already installed on your PC, you can add it to Vuze and begin the download. The .torrent file contains the metadata of the larger file you want to download, and Vuze quickly begins the process.

You can also download torrents via their magnet links, which are hyperlinks containing the metadata of the relevant file. Paste this link into Vuze, and it’ll quickly begin downloading the file.

Likewise, users can download files by providing the torrent hash. I liked that Vuze offers flexible ways to discover and download .torrent files. I encountered variable speeds when downloading content from this app. Some files downloaded much faster than others, likely due to the availability of more seeders for those files.

Seeding in torrenting is the process of uploading a file for other users. When you download any content on Vuze, you automatically become a seeder uploading that same content for other users. That’s how the network maintains enough capacity to offer reliable downloads for users. Uploading content can consume considerable bandwidth, so Vuze lets you cap your upload speed to conserve bandwidth.

Though downloading the APK file for the Android app seemed tedious, I had to do it to provide a rigorous review. After setting it up, I used it to control torrent downloads on my PC. The Android app lets you start, stop, and pause downloads remotely from any location. For instance, you can be at work and control downloads on your home PC.

I enjoyed testing Vuze Plus even if I wish I didn’t have to pay for the extra features. It includes a built-in DVD player that lets users play media directly while downloading. I couldn’t wait to watch my favorite movie when downloading, so I had to press that play button.

Vuze Plus also removes ads, which I mostly found distracting. I’m not a fan of ads, so maybe that’s why I found them annoying. However, I think an average user can easily tolerate and ignore the ads on the free Vuze version.

Vuze has an outstanding feature called Swarm Discoveries. This feature searches for similar content based on what you've previously downloaded on Vuze, akin to an algorithm recommending related content to download. It recommends related content that you may enjoy, helping you discover the best movies, music, and more at no cost.

Vuze: Interface and in-use

I didn’t have issues navigating Vuze’s interface on the desktop and Android apps. It’s a well-designed app with a modern, sleek interface. The features are arranged on the left, and the main dashboard is on the right.

Vuze is a lightweight app that didn’t consume significant computing resources, which I can’t say for many torrenting clients. Some clients I’ve tested hijacked my PC’s resource space and left little room for other apps, but not Vuze.

However, I think Vuze has a steep learning curve for the average person. You’ll likely need some time to get used to its numerous features.

Vuze: Security

Security is paramount when using any torrenting client. ISPs don’t like torrenting and often want to identify users downloading torrents. Hence, you should switch on a VPN before downloading torrents to protect yourself from third-party snooping.

I liked that Vuze Plus has a built-in antivirus scanner (based on Bitdefender). This tool scans all incoming torrents for viruses and alerts you if any are detected. It’s vital, given that torrents are a common vector through which malicious actors spread malware.

Vuze: Final Verdict

I enjoyed Vuze’s feature richness and user-friendliness. I have some complaints, such as the free version including distracting ads, but we don’t always get what we want. Overall, I’ll recommend Vuze as a torrenting solution for everyone.

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