Zakya, a relatively recent addition to the Zoho ecosystem, was released in the U.S. market in May 2025 during the Zoholics 2025 event in Houston, TX. Just five months later, on October 14th, Zoho rebranded Zakya as Zoho POS.
As a Zoho Partner, we think it was bound to be renamed sooner or later, and that the new name definitely suits the product better. Zoho has already redirected the old domain, zakya.com, to https://www.zoho.com/en-us/pos/, so we have every reason to call this change permanent.
Major corporations often utilize sub-brands to target niche markets or pilot new ventures, effectively isolating risk while allowing for tailored messaging. Apparently, the name Zakya was derived from “Śākya,” which, in turn, comes from the Sanskrit root śak (शक्), meaning “to be able,” “worthy,” “possible,” or “practicable.” A good choice; however, a semantical fit does not necessarily imply the intended marketing meaning. Zoho POS is definitely a better name in all contexts. A business already using other Zoho applications, such as Zoho CRM or Zoho Books, will now immediately recognize Zoho POS as another and familiar “Zoho Something”—the native, logical choice for their retail operations.
Note that this is a change in “brand identity” only. The underlying technology, features, and user experience remain intact. As stated in the Zoho POS’s update notes, “Your app data, integrations, and settings remain unchanged.“
We already did a Zoho POS implementation last June for Chicago Printworks, a Chicago-based print shop. It was the first implementation of its kind in Illinois and one of the few early adoptions of Zoho POS in the United States. Back then, there was a motion to institute “Zakya Partners,” a separate status reflecting the Partner’s expertise and relationship with Zakya as a product and as a brand, so we became a Zakya Partner.
Now, Zakya became Zoho POS, and there’s no more “Zakya Partners.” Instead, Zoho launched a new “Zoho POS Partner Program,” so we are a Zoho POS Partner now (although we don’t have a new badge yet).
What We Like in Zoho POS
Comprehensiveness
From its inception, Zoho POS was a comprehensive, omnichannel platform. It provided a native POS billing application for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, a “Mobile Store” feature that allowed businesses to launch a custom app for customers to place orders for pickup or delivery, and a powerful, all-in-one web-based administrative console (almost the same interface as Finance: Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and so on) for managing back-office operations like inventory, customer data, and vendor relationships.
So yes, Zoho POS looks and behaves as a cross between Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and a POS terminal. The user interface is good.
Gentle Learning Curve
If the user already knows how to use the Zoho Finance suite, Zoho POS will not cause many questions. Moreover, it integrates with Zoho Books on the fly, replacing many custom-built and often unreliable POS integrations.
Zoho POS Follows the Zoho Style Pricing
Zoho is known for its aggressive pricing model; for instance, all Zoho One apps together cost as little as $37/month per user, which is an incredibly low price for the functionality provided. Zoho POS, with a free version available and the most expensive tier priced as low as $60/month/location, is very affordable and can be a recommended replacement for many of its direct competitors. Small businesses can start from the free version and scale up when the time comes—what’s not to like?
What we Don't Like in Zoho POS
Hardwired Integration with Zoho Books
Zoho POS integration with Zoho Books works out of the box (the same way the Zoho Books/Zoho Commerce integration does), but here’s the catch: once integrated, they cannot be separated.
If you have a Zoho Books organization and have integrated Zoho POS with it, the integration will work smoothly. However, if you want to disconnect Zoho POS from the existing Zoho Books organization and integrate it with another Zoho Books organization… You can’t do that. Most likely, no one can—at least as of today. We hope that it will change, because such permanency can cause issues in some cases.
Bottom Line
Zoho POS, formerly Zakya, is a young application; for any Zoho product, five months on the market is early childhood (Zoho FSM was a great example, too). We like the way it works already, and our first Zoho POS customer was happy; two more are in line. If you want a convenient, all-in-one POS solution, consider using Zoho POS and let us know:
