Zoho Launches “Vani” — A Visual, All-in-One Alternative To Google Workspace
Introduction
Zoho Corporation has launched Vani, its newest product division and platform designed to challenge Google Workspace (and similar collaboration suites) by offering teams a unified, visual, and intelligent workspace. Geared especially toward small and medium businesses, Vani merges tools for brainstorming, planning, diagramming, and video meetings into one environment, minimizing the friction caused by using many apps.
What is Vani, Anyway?
Visual-first platform: Vani gives teams an infinite canvas where ideas can be placed, moved around, visualized via mind maps, diagrams, flowcharts, whiteboards, etc.
Space and Zone Model:
A Space acts like the overarching workspace or project canvas.
Within a Space, you have Zones—sub-areas to let teams or departments work in parallel, maintain focus, yet stay aware of the overall project context.
Templates & Kits: Prebuilt templates for various use cases — strategy, design, social media campaigns, network diagrams, etc. These help teams get started faster without reinventing the wheel.
Integrated Meetings: Native video meeting functionality is built in — you can start meetings directly from Vani, share, record, and work within the same canvas instead of switching to a separate app.
AI Assistance: AI features assist with creating content (e.g. generating flowcharts or visual structures), summarizing Zones, extracting insights across the canvas, etc. This helps reduce time spent in tedious tasks and helps structure unstructured ideas.
How Vani Differs From Google Workspace
To really understand why Vani looks like a serious contender, here are key differentiators when compared with Google Workspace:
Feature Google Workspace Vani (Zoho)
Google Workspace is having Canvas-style collaborative visual workspace (infinite canvas) Limited — Google Slides, Jamboard, Sheets etc. but more structured, less visual flexibility and uses Google Meet, separate from docs/slides etc.
On the other hand, Native meetings inside Vani’s canvas; recording capability.
AI‐powered summarization & content creation Google has its AI tools, but mostly around docs, Gmail, etc. Vani embeds AI across the canvas and Zones; summary tools, content structuring, etc.
Integration & app switching: Google Workspace requires switching between apps (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, etc.) while Vani with its Deep integrations with Zoho ecosystem + ability to embed other contents; aim is to reduce app-switching.
Pricing / Onboarding: Google Workspace pricing tends to scale up, cost per user, sometimes complex for SMBs while Vani offers a free plan with unlimited users; paid “Team” plan (US$5/user/month) for more features.
Use Cases & Target Audience
Vani seems tailored for:
Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) that often juggle many tools and want simpler workflows.
Cross-functional teams — marketing, design, product teams who need to ideate graphically, plan visually, review, catch up over video, etc.
Distributed / hybrid teams, remote workforces, where visual collaboration can help overcome distance friction.
Anyone frustrated by constantly switching tools (slides → meeting → docs → diagrams → whiteboard etc.). Vani aims to centralize these experiences.
Pros & Challenges (What Works + What to Watch Out For)
Advantages
Consolidation: Less switching between apps, better flow, fewer silos.
Visual clarity: Infinite canvas + Zones helps map out ideas, better brainstorming, making processes visible.
AI powered: Automating repetitive conversion of ideas to structured visual forms / summaries saves time.
Cost-effectiveness: Free tier + affordable paid version may make it more accessible to SMBs than Google’s enterprise priced plans.
Native meetings and recording: reduces friction of integrating third-party video tools.
Potential Concerns / Limitations
Mobile availability: As of now, Vani is available on desktop and browser; mobile app is on roadmap. That matters for teams on the go.
Learning curve: New paradigms like Zones, infinite canvas, etc., may require onboarding and adaptation, especially for users used to more rigid tools.
Maturity of features: Since many features are newly launched, some may have bugs or lack polish compared to established tools.
Integration depth: Although integrations with Zoho ecosystem + some third-party embeds exist, for heavy users of Google’s suite or MS Office ecosystem, migrating might require dealing with compatibility or migration issues.
User adoption: Convincing people to move from entrenched tools like Google Docs / Slides / Meet is always a challenge.
Strategic Implications & Context
Swadeshi / Digital Sovereignty Push in India: This launch aligns with India’s broader push to adopt “home-grown” software platforms. The government, including top officials, have already been moving toward Zoho tools for documents, spreadsheets, email, etc.
Competition with G Suite / Google Workspace, Miro, Lucid, etc.: Vani enters a competitive space; its value proposition is in visual collaboration + integrations + being part of a larger ecosystem.
Zoho’s AI Strategy: AI is increasingly central in collab tools; Vani’s features are part of Zoho’s broader effort to embed intelligent assistance (e.g. via its “Zia” AI, etc.).
What This Means for Users
If you are considering switching, here are some practical questions and tips:
Evaluate current workflows: How much do you depend on slides, whiteboards, video meetings, diagrams, etc.? If many tools are involved, Vani might simplify things.
Test with pilot teams: Let a few teams try Vani for certain project types to assess how it fits, what friction arises.
Check integrations: If you use Google or Microsoft extensively for storage / sharing / identity, see how well Vani interops or accommodates migration.
Consider cost vs benefit: For SMBs, savings might be significant; for large orgs, switching costs, training, and ensuring complete feature parity will matter.
Plan for mobile usage: If many teammates are mobile/work remote, lack of mature mobile support may be a temporary hurdle.
Conclusion
Vani represents Zoho’s ambitious bid to create a modern, visual, intelligent alternative to Google Workspace and other fragmented collaboration tools. By unifying many functions — brainstorming, diagrams / whiteboards, meetings, content creation — in one canvas, it addresses real pain points in team workflows. While it’s not without challenges, especially for heavy users of existing tools, for SMBs and teams seeking a more visual way to work, Vani could be a game changer.
Team : Creditmoneyfinance.com, Startupindia.club, Yuvamorcha.com, Economiclawspractice.com