Onsite vs Zoho: The “Field vs. Office” Reality Check

Zoho has a wide ERP coverage across finance, HR, CRM, and operations, because of which many construction companies end up shortlisting Zoho for their operations. Zoho works exceptionally well in many industries, but construction introduces challenges that a normal ERP system cannot have. It is not in the nature of a generic ERP system to have a construction-built system served for you on a plate. Today, we will be comparing Onsite, a construction-based management software from Zoho, an ERP software. We will focus on the Onsite vs Zoho features and how each system behaves when used in construction management activities.

Who should read this comparison of Onsite vs Zoho?

This is for people who are in charge of running construction projects.

It talks about:

• contractors who run active sites, 
• project leaders who are in charge of costs, schedules, and execution,
• and operations teams who handle buying things, getting approvals, and paying. 
• It is especially important for decision-makers who are comparing construction software to general ERP products that weren’t made for use on construction sites.

It is not meant for businesses that don’t have projects or for accounting-only evaluations that aren’t part of daily construction work.

The Core Philosophy: Two Different Worlds – Onsite vs Zoho

When you are comparing Zoho and Onsite you are comparing two different philosophies that people often consider to be the same. Let’s see how they both are two different worlds.

Zoho is a “Business Generalist” (The Office View):

Zoho is mainly made for office use, for people in different and stable connectivity and desk based workflows. It treats construction not as a whole but as a task. Tasks that are divided in different segments. It helps construction to manage emails, general accounts and general project milestones. Meanwhile construction is way deeper than just a fragmented management of mails or reports.

Onsite is “Construction Specific” (The Site View):

Onsite is a construction specific software that is built as a mobile first platform for managing construction in real time. It understands how deep the construction task needs to be scrutinized. It understands that the task is only finished when labor is verified, the material is consumed and the quality check is documented. It understands the value of planning, procurement, design management and so much more that could be a part of construction.

Deep Dive: The 3 Critical Workflow Battles

Battle #1: The Budgeting Disconnect

How do you know if you are making money?

The Zoho Approach:

In Zoho Projects, it is simple, you decide a budget. Let say – 1 crore and then you track your expenses against it. 

The problem: The problem is that there is no link between the task and execution and its cost. You are just feeding in detail without knowing the link between the expense and the execution. You might know that you have spent Rs 50000 in a day, but you wouldn’t know. If that Rs 50000 achieved the progress that you have planned. Often you are just assuming thing.

The Onsite Approach:

Onsite’s approach is much more detailed and gives you a clear picture of activities that are taking place and their reasons behind it.

1. Make BOQ with unit rates. 
2. Every time a site engineer updates a task, Onsite calculates the cost value against it.
3. Onsite compares the actual cost of material and labor used in a day against the BOQ.

The result that you see gives you real time visibility on loss and profit statements. And you know the problems when they are arising.

Battle #2: Material “Sales” vs. Material “Construction”

Why Retail Inventory software fails on site.

The Zoho Inventory Approach:

Zoho inventory management is made for E-Commerce. It follows a retail flow:  Buy Item → Stock Item → Sell Item.

The problem:

• In a construction project you are not selling a particular material to your client you are consuming that material? For example, you are not selling a number of bricks to a client, but you are consuming a number of bricks for building a structure.
• Issuing material to a supervisor becomes a workload when using Zoho because it is not made for handling site material requests vs purchase orders.

The Onsite Approach:

Onsite handles the “Indent-to-Consumption” Loop:

1. A supervisor requests material to the procurement team.
2. The procurement team checks it against BOQ limit and then approves it.
3. Then materials are ordered by the procurement team. 
4. Security guard snaps a photo of challan and uploads it in a system. So, you get GRN at the time of delivery.
5. While material is at a site, a daily progress report lets you know how much material is being used against the progress of a project.

The result: Zero Theft. If 50 bags were delivered but only 40 bags’ worth of work was done, the system flags the variance immediately.

Battle #3: The “Ghost Worker” Problem

Managing a transient workforce.

The Zoho Approach:

Zoho people is a great HR tool for salaried employees It is best for people working in office 

The problem:

The problem arises when it is used in a construction project. The construction labor is temporary, they work on daily wage and they often change weekly. Creating an email id or login for each one of them becomes impossible.

The Onsite Approach:

Onsite is built for Labor Gangs & Daily Wagers:

1. Onsite avails GPS based attendance. The labor and supervisor fills attendance by clicking their picture on a site
2. The GPS fencing is only accepted when a person is available at the side within the boundary of a construction project.
3. The wage calculation in Onsite works on the basis of half days, weekly payment, and overtime calculations. 

The result: You get 100% transparency on the availability of labor. You could know if any labor is sitting idle or not available at the site. It saves you spending extra money on labor. It saves you from manual calculation.

The Definitive Comparison: Onsite vs Zoho

Feature Category	Specific Capability	Onsite (Construction Specialist)	Zoho (Generalist Business Suite)
Planning & Design	BOQ & Estimation	Advanced: Create BOQs with unit rates; link them directly to procurement and billing.	Basic: Limited to generic “Estimates” in Zoho Books; no native BOQ structure.
	Drawing Management	Centralized: Manage revisions and versions; ensure site teams only see approved blueprints.	Storage Only: Handled via Zoho WorkDrive; no version control linked to site tasks.
	Project Scheduling	Critical Path: Gantt charts with construction-specific dependencies and delay alerts.	Task-Based: Generic task lists; lacks construction-specific critical path logic.
Site Execution	Daily Progress (DPR)	Automated: Site engineers generate DPRs via mobile with one click, including site photos.	Manual: Requires manual “status updates” or custom-built forms; no automated DPR.
	Photo Documentation	Geo-Tagged: Photos are automatically tagged with GPS and time to verify work authenticity.	Attachments: Generic file uploads with no location verification or task-linking.
	Quality & Safety	Digital Checklists: Built-in inspection checklists for concrete, finishing, MEP, etc.	Not Available: Requires heavy customization of Zoho Forms to replicate.
Material Management	The Supply Chain	Construction Flow: Handles Indent → Quotation → PO → GRN → Site Consumption.	Retail Flow: Designed for “Buy & Sell” inventory; struggles with partial consumption.
	Wastage Tracking	Theoretical vs. Actual: Automatically flags when more material is used than the BOQ allows.	Manual: Requires complex manual calculations outside the system.
	Warehouse/Site Transfer	Multi-Site: Seamlessly track material movement from a central warehouse to various project sites.	Complex: Treats every site as a “Store,” making internal transfers difficult to track.
Workforce & Labor	Attendance Type	Site-Hardened: Facial recognition and GPS-fenced attendance for daily wagers.	Office-Focused: Web/App clock-in designed for salaried office employees.
	Subcontractor Bills	Automated: Links work progress directly to subcontractor billing and retention.	Manual Billing: Requires accountants to manually verify site work before creating a bill.
	Labor Productivity	Live Metrics: Track output (e.g., SqFt per mason) to identify slow-moving gangs.	Timesheets: Only tracks hours worked, not the actual physical output achieved.
Financial Control	Project-Wise P&L	Live Dashboard: Real-time visibility into project profitability against the original budget.	Accounting-Based: Only shows P&L after all bills are manually entered and reconciled.
	Retention & Mobilization	Built-in: Automates retention deductions and mobilization advance recovery.	Manual Adjustments: Requires accounting workarounds in Zoho Books.
	Approval Workflows	Multi-Level: Set hierarchy (e.g., Site Eng → PM → Owner) for POs and expenses.	Standard: Available in Zoho Books, but lacks site-level operational context.
Implementation	Setup Time	Fast: Ready-to-use construction templates; live in <7 days.	Slow: Requires 3-6 months of “Consultant Customization” to fit construction.
	Mobile Adoption	High: Intuitive app designed for staff with limited technical skills.	Medium/Low: Complex interface often leads to “data entry fatigue” for field staff.

How progress and accountability are maintained?

To have control on your execution system, you need to have timely verified site data. The updates on progress should contain the completed work and not the planned effort.

Most of the time, Zoho captures execution through forms, custom modules, or connectors that each company builds up on its own. The platform is adaptable, but you have to keep construction logic up to date by hand. Teams use configuration discipline to make sure that quantities, approvals, and progress are all in sync. Reconciliation usually happens after the task is done.

Onsite takes a different approach to this. The daily execution flow keeps track of site progress. As work goes on, updates stay linked to certain tasks, amounts, and approvals. Because execution data is structured at the source, teams can spend less time reconciling information later and more time doing what needs to be done on site.

Approval flows and responsibility: Why timing and context matter?

Delays in approval leads to emergency purchases and creates imbalance in project cost versus actual cost. It leads to excess payments on material and unverified execution.

Zoho approves workflow, but it wouldn’t know the actual activities on site. It is office-centric unless you heavily customize it. Accountability often depends on how processes are defined and followed.

Onsite gives construction roles, so the approvals can be dependent on the actual team members who are supposed to do it. The requests come with visibility into the quantity, impact, and budget balance. It helps in making you make better decisions.

Managing multiple live projects: Portfolio view versus site detail

A construction company must be running multiple projects all at once, and having a defined and structured view in all of them can be complicated, which is why a construction management software is required over an ERP software.

Zoho offers portfolio level oversight. It does not take responsibility for execution. The execution depends on configuration depth.

Onsite is built to handle multiple projects simultaneously while providing you real-time visibility, monitoring, and clear picture of expenses. It does not lose sight on every small detail.

Adaptability and construction readiness: Onsite vs Zoho

Zoho is quite flexible, but construction teams often spend a lot of time changing general procedures to fit how sites really work. The project will continue to require that kind of work because the technology doesn’t enforce building logic on its own.

Onsite begins at a different area. Workflows are fully built up to operate with construction use cases, so teams can spend more time putting up projects and less time teaching the system how construction works. The upshot is that people use the tool more quickly and there are less compromises between the tool and the real world.

Final Verdict: Which is Right for You? – Onsite vs Zoho

Choose Zoho if:

• If your company is focused on designing and consulting or has a basic HR system with no labor or material handling, then Zoho is for you. 
• You can use Zoho if you need CRM or office task management.

Choose Onsite if:

• You are a contractor, construction business owner, builder, EPC firm owner or managing any construction project.
• If you need to save up to 5 to 10% of your construction cost. 
• If you need to manage real life site activity rather than office employees.

Frequently Asked Questions: Onsite vs Zoho for Construction Teams