ClickSend alternative
What You Get Instead Of Running ClickSend Yourself
Two-way conversation that stays inside Zoho. Replies land on the record, and nothing about your customers leaves your own Zoho account: no vendor dashboard, no copy of your data, no phone home. Message one person or a whole shortlist, and every reply lands back on the record in SMS History.
What makes it different
- Nothing phones home
- Two way, not one way
- Your Twilio, your rates
- Personalized at any volume
- Every number, not just one
- History follows the record
The short version
Cascadia, compared with ClickSend
ClickSend retired its SMS integration for Zoho CRM on 31 December 2025, and now points Zoho users at its own Automation Builder or at Sinch. Almost every SMS connector for Zoho Recruit sends your candidate records somewhere else first. Their platform composes the message, their platform holds the thread, and your pipeline quietly exists in two places.
What you get here
- Runs Inside Your Zoho Account
- No Phone Home Architecture
- Built In Deluge Only
- Your Twilio Account And Numbers
- Two Way Candidate Conversations
- Search And Send One To One
- Bulk Send To Selected Records
- Send To A Specific List
What ships in the standard plan here
Everything in this list ships as standard.
- Runs Inside Your Zoho Account
- No Phone Home Architecture
- Built In Deluge Only
- Your Twilio Account And Numbers
- Two Way Candidate Conversations
- Search And Send One To One
- Bulk Send To Selected Records
- Send To A Specific List
- Full History On The Record
- Dynamic Text From Recruit Fields
What our team takes on
The reply that decides whether somebody turns up on Monday lands on infrastructure you did not pick and cannot audit. This extension inverts that arrangement, and nothing is ever sent back to us.
Every number, not just one
Records rarely hold a single phone number. The extension detects every phone field on a contact or account, including custom ones, and lets you choose which to text.
History follows the record
Messages are stored against the candidate or client record rather than against a single application.
Nothing phones home
We hold no copy and run no dashboard on our side. There is nothing for us to lose in a breach and nothing for you to ask us to delete, because we were never holding it.
Two way, not one way
Candidates answer a text when they will not answer a call or an email. This one captures the reply.
Who this comparison is for
Recruiters chasing candidates who went quiet
A text gets read faster than an email and candidates actually answer it.
Agencies confirming interviews and start dates
Interview reminders cut no shows, and templates plus dynamic fields mean the message writes itself from each record. Schedule it for the evening before.
Agencies answering client data questions
The extension runs inside your own Zoho Recruit account, your Twilio account handles delivery, and nobody sits in between holding a copy. Erasure requests are simple when there was only ever one copy to erase.
How the Zoho Recruit SMS integration works
Four steps, and none of them involve standing anything up. You install the extension from the Zoho Marketplace, connect your Twilio credentials, and start texting from a record.
- 1
We assess your current setup
First we look at how things run today: what you already pay for, what is configured where, and which parts are actually causing you trouble.
- 2
Install from the Zoho Marketplace
Nothing is hosted anywhere else, no server needs provisioning, and the SMS History module appears in Zoho Recruit ready to use.
- 3
Connect your own Twilio account
Different teams or brands can send from different numbers, so replies reach whoever should be handling them.
- 4
Text a record and watch the reply land
Open a contact or account, pick a number, and send. Use a saved template if it is a message you send often, and dynamic fields fill in the details from the record.
The difference that matters
No second account, no second system
Both options give you two-way texting on your Zoho Recruit records, and on paper the feature lists look similar. The difference is architectural. ClickSend is a messaging platform you sign up for, and your conversations run through it. Ours is built in Deluge and runs inside your own Zoho account against your own Twilio credentials, so there is no ClickSend account to hold, no vendor dashboard to log into, and no copy of your customer data anywhere but Zoho.
If your objection to texting from Zoho Recruit has ever been “who else ends up holding this data”, that is the question this answers.
Where ClickSend stands now
What ClickSend does, in their own words
ClickSend retired its SMS integration for Zoho CRM on 31 December 2025. Their help center now files the Zoho CRM guide under Discontinued and points Zoho users at other ClickSend products instead. What follows is what that page says.
Taken from ClickSend help center. Checked September 2026.
What clients say about working with Cascadia
“I’ve always dreaded website management, but Cascadia has done an incredible job with my WordPress site, making it one less thing for me to worry about.”
“I’ve worked with Cascadia for several years now. They are always ready to help in any way I ask and can implement my ideas with ease. A company that values their clients!”
“Cascadia has been great to work with! We recently needed some updates, and Cascadia was quick to get them completed! We highly recommend Cascadia Web Services.”
“Cascadia is very responsive and we’re happy with them as our primary IT vendor.”
“They do great work, been using for years. Prompt responses to requests.”
Ready to make the switch?
Talk to us about your setupAsk us
ClickSend alternative questions
Straight answers about switching, pricing, and what moves with you.
See Twilio SMS for Zoho RecruitWe already use ClickSend. What changes here?
What changes is that candidate history follows the record. Somebody misses out on one role and comes back for the next one, and the whole thread stays in one place, so whichever recruiter picks them up in six months can read what was said.
Does any of our data leave Zoho?
No. The extension is built in Deluge and runs inside your own Zoho account, using your own Twilio credentials. Message content stays in your SMS History module, and we have no access to it.
Can I text candidates, not just client contacts?
Yes. Candidates, client contacts, and accounts are all in scope. That matters because most candidate conversation happens over text rather than email, and this keeps that conversation attached to the candidate record rather than trapped on somebody’s personal phone.
Do I need my own Twilio account?
Yes. You connect your own Twilio account and use your own numbers, so carrier charges are billed to you directly at Twilio rates rather than resold through us with a margin on top. It also means your message records sit in your Twilio console under your name, and you can change providers or numbers whenever you want.
Which records can I text from?
Candidates, contacts, and accounts. You text the person on the record, so the conversation belongs to that candidate or client relationship rather than to one application. That keeps the thread readable as somebody applies for one role, misses out, and comes back for the next one.
Can I message a whole shortlist at once?
Yes. Select the records you want and compose the message once. Everybody selected receives it, and each send is logged against that individual record rather than into one shared pile. That is the fastest way to update a whole shortlist when a role is filled or an interview day moves.
Where do replies show up?
In the SMS History module, as a new entry linked to the record that replied. Nobody has to copy anything across or check a separate inbox. Because history is attached to the record itself, any recruiter who picks up that candidate later can read the full exchange without asking around for context.
Can you see my messages or my candidate records?
No. The extension has no phone home capability. It runs inside your Zoho environment and does not transmit your candidate records, phone numbers, or message content to us. We hold no copy of any of it, and there is no vendor side dashboard collecting data in the background. This is the main structural difference between this extension and most alternatives.
Where does the extension actually run?
Entirely on the Zoho platform, written in Deluge. There is no embedded third party interface, no external web application, and no separate service your data has to travel through. Everything happens inside your own Zoho Recruit deployment, which keeps the data boundary simple to explain to a client running a vendor assessment.
Can I personalize messages with fields from a record?
Yes. Dynamic text pulls values straight out of Zoho Recruit and drops them into the message body when it is sent. Candidate name, job title, or interview time can all be used. That means a message going out to forty shortlisted candidates still reads as though it was written for each one individually.
Can I save messages and reuse them?
Yes. Templates let recruiters save the messages they send most often and pick one instead of typing it again. Templates work alongside dynamic fields, so a saved message still fills in each candidate’s own details at send time. It removes most of the retyping from interview confirmations, reminders, and follow ups.
What if a candidate has several phone numbers?
The extension detects every phone field on the record rather than assuming a single default. Candidates often have a mobile, a home number, and a work line on file, and all of them are available for you to choose from. That matters when the mobile sits in a custom field rather than the standard one.
