Zoho Mail in Claude and ChatGPT: the official MCP server or Fezola?

Short answer: Zoho provides its own MCP server for Zoho Mail, free, and if Zoho is your only mailbox it is the natural first choice. If you want Zoho next to a Gmail, an iCloud address or another mailbox in one search, or want an assistant that only drafts, you can connect Zoho to Fezola over IMAP, with the server names from your Zoho account and one URL for your assistant.

What Zoho's official MCP server does

As of November 2026, according to Zoho's help pages:

• It is a remote server that exposes Zoho Mail's API as tools. You add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a custom connector, using the MCP URL from the Zoho MCP console.
• Tools cover reading, sending and replying to messages, labels, flags and folders, auto-reply and forwarding, signature and tasks. Administrators also get tools to manage users, domains and policies.
• It is free and works with free and paid Zoho Mail plans, in every Zoho data center.
• Sign-in uses OAuth 2.0. The MCP URL contains an API key, which Zoho says to treat like a password.
• For several Zoho accounts, Zoho says to create one MCP server per account and add each as a connector.
• Removing the server from your assistant's connectors revokes access.

It is made by Zoho, covers admin tasks, and costs nothing: a good option if Zoho is all you use.

When to connect Zoho through Fezola instead

You may prefer a multi-account connector if:

• Zoho is not your only mailbox. You also have a Gmail, an iCloud address or a mailbox at OVH, and you want one search across all of them, each result naming its account.
• You want one connector, not one per account. With Fezola you add each mailbox once and paste one URL into Claude or ChatGPT.
• You want drafts only. Fezola saves replies as drafts in the mailbox that received the message, with that address as the sender. send_message exists but is off by default.
• You want attachments read. Fezola reads PDF, Word, text and image attachments.

	Zoho official server	Fezola
Zoho Mail	Yes	Yes, over IMAP and SMTP
Zoho admin tasks (users, domains, policies)	Yes	No
Other mailboxes (Gmail, iCloud, OVH, any IMAP)	No	Yes
Several Zoho accounts	One MCP server per account	One connector, each mailbox added once
Sending	Listed among the tools	Drafts only by default
Sign-in	OAuth, MCP URL contains an API key	Zoho password or app password entered once in Fezola
Price	Free	Free for 2 sources, Pro $9 per month

Connect Zoho Mail to Fezola

Fezola has no Zoho preset, so you choose Other and enter the settings from your Zoho account.

1. Enable IMAP in Zoho. In Zoho Mail, open Settings, Mail Accounts, select your address and tick IMAP Access, then save. If two-factor authentication is on, generate an application-specific password in Zoho's security settings.
2. Find your servers. For the zoho.com data center, Zoho lists:
   • Personal and free organization accounts: imap.zoho.com (port 993, SSL) and smtp.zoho.com (465 with SSL, or 587 with TLS).
   • Paid organization accounts on a custom domain: imappro.zoho.com and smtppro.zoho.com, same ports.
   • Another region (for example Europe or India)? The hostnames differ: copy them from the Server configuration details in your Zoho Mail settings.
3. Add the mailbox to Fezola. Create a free account, open Sources, add a mailbox, choose Other, enter the IMAP and SMTP servers, your full address and the password (or application-specific password). Name it "Zoho" and click Test the connection: Fezola checks incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) mail.
4. Add Fezola to your assistant. In Claude: Customize, Connectors, + Add, Add custom connector, paste https://api.fezola.com/mcp. In ChatGPT (paid plans): Settings, Apps & Connectors, Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode, then create a connector with the same URL.
5. Approve the access and ask: "What arrived in Zoho and Gmail today that needs a reply?"

If the test fails, ask your assistant to run test_connection: Fezola returns a plain explanation, for example IMAP disabled or wrong password.

What to ask

• "List the unanswered emails from clients across all my mailboxes."
• "Find the contract PDF in my Zoho mailbox and summarize the payment terms."
• "Draft a reply to the last email from the supplier, from my Zoho address."

For a broader comparison, see best email MCP servers. Other providers set up the same way: Fastmail, OVH and the IMAP MCP server guide. On safety, read is it safe to connect your email to an AI?.