Zoho Cliq external users are people who don't belong to your Cliq organisation, such as vendors, clients, or distributors. The available methods for reaching them have expanded meaningfully since this was first documented, and it's worth understanding which one fits your situation, since some genuinely don't require the other party to have a Zoho account at all.
Guest Chat is the most accessible option. It lets you invite an external contact, such as a client or vendor, into a specific chat conversation without them needing a Zoho account at all. The guest accesses that one chat in a browser, without the rest of the Cliq interface, and can send messages, share files, and even join group calls once invited. This is the option to reach for when the other person genuinely doesn't want to sign up for anything.
External channels bring people from outside your organisation into a shared channel for group collaboration, with limited file sharing and permissions compared to an internal channel, while still letting your own team participate in the same space.
If the external contact already has their own Cliq organisation elsewhere, you can invite them directly, and once they accept, you can message and call them one-on-one, without either side leaving their own Cliq environment.
For a more sustained relationship with external partners, contractors, or vendors, Zoho Cliq Networks is a dedicated platform offering a fuller Cliq experience, chat, channels, calls, and meetings, while keeping your organisation's own data and assets segregated from the network. The other person only needs a Zoho account, not a Cliq account specifically, making onboarding relatively simple. Note that Networks don't support business-specific integrations such as HR systems, EMM, Active Directory, or Zoho Directory, since it's built specifically for external, cross-boundary collaboration rather than as a full internal deployment.