BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)
BYOK allows organizations to use external LLM providers by supplying their own API key, rather than consuming Zoho's AI credits.
| Product | BYOK Support | Supported External LLMs |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM (Smart Prompt) | Yes | OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Cohere |
| Zoho Creator | Yes | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google |
| Zoho Social | Yes | OpenAI only (Zoho Social BYOK docs) |
| Zoho Writer | Yes | OpenAI, open-source models |
| Zoho Analytics | Yes (via config) | OpenAI |
BYOK mechanics (CRM/Social):
- Admin provides external LLM API key in Settings
- Zoho passes only the prompt content to the external LLM
- Rate limits are governed by the external provider's tier
- Zia Credits (Zoho's own AI call quota) are not consumed when BYOK is active
Note on EU/regional restrictions: Zoho Social AI Credits are not available in EU, South Africa, and UAE data centers due to regional regulations; BYOK is the alternative (Zoho Social BYOK docs).
BYOC (Bring Your Own Compute)
BYOC is not explicitly documented under this term in Zoho's current public documentation. Zoho Creator's LLM configuration (selecting OpenAI/Anthropic/Google via BYOK in the Developer Console) is the closest functional equivalent.
Zia LLM (In-House)
Zoho announced its proprietary Zia LLM in mid-2025, with multiple parameter sizes tuned for specific business tasks (Futurum, Jul 2025; Enterprise Times, Jul 2025):
- Multiple sizes: Each optimized for different task types (not yet fully publicly enumerated)
- CRM-native context: Deeply tuned to understand CRM field structures, workflows, and business logic
- Two ASR models: English and Hindi speech-to-text (in-house)
- Data processing within Zoho environment: No external data sharing for Zia LLM requests
- No API key required: Available directly in Zoho accounts with appropriate plan
- First implementation: Smart Prompt in Zoho CRM (Enterprise/Ultimate, US DC initially)
- Zoho GenAI: The in-house generative AI platform powering Creator, Analytics, and other apps (used interchangeably with Zia LLM in some documentation)