While 8×8 is a great voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) platform for global communications, many businesses consider 8×8 alternatives because of the lack of pricing transparency, limited third-party integrations, and learning curve.
8×8 does not disclose its subscription rates on its website, requiring businesses to contact the provider for exact fees. While 8×8 integrates with numerous business tools, many other VoIP platforms offer a wider range of integrations. If you’re looking for alternatives to 8×8, the following list highlights some of the best 8×8 competitors for small businesses:
- GoTo Connect: Best overall 8×8 alternative
- RingCentral: Best for unified communications
- Phone.com: Best for international calling
- Zoom Phone: Best for low-cost plans
- MightyCall: Best for agent support
- Nextiva: Best for customer engagement
Comparing Alternatives to 8×8
8x8 Competitors | Monthly Starting Price (per user) | Key Features | Our Score out of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pricing isn’t published |
| 4.38 |
 | $29 |
| 4.94 |
 | $30 |
| 4.86 |
 | $14.99 |
| 4.40 |
 | $10 |
| 4.39 |
 | $20 |
| 4.31 |
 | $25 |
| 4.30 |
If you want to learn about key features to consider when choosing an 8×8 alternative, check out our comprehensive 8×8 review. The guide will help you decide whether to adopt the software solution or explore alternative solutions.
GoTo Connect: Best Overall 8×8 Alternative
What We Liked
- Unlimited auto-attendants, dial plans, call routing, and queues
- 24/7 customer support across plans
- Each plan catering to specific business phone systems
Where It Falls Behind
- Video meetings capped at 250 participants
- No international phone numbers
- Limited integrations compared with other providers
How It Compares to 8x8
- GoTo Connect’s business phone plan has unlimited calling for up to 50 countries, while 8×8’s only includes 14 or 48 countries
- Artificial intelligence is an add-on feature with 8×8, while GoTo Connect includes conversation analytics across plans
- 8×8 supports up to 500 video meeting participants, while GoTo Connect only supports 250
Our Expert Opinion
GoTo Connect is our best overall 8×8 alternative, as it received a perfect score in pricing, ease of use, customer support, and unified communication features. As a cloud-based VoIP phone system, GoTo Connect offers unlimited call handling features, such as unlimited auto-attendants, dial plans, and queues for more efficient call management.
For remote businesses managing clients and customers around the globe, GoTo Connect also provides unlimited domestic and international calling for 50 countries, with up to 1,000 toll-free minutes included in the base plan. Each plan also provides features relevant to scaling your business communication, starting with a business phone system plan, then offering a customer experience (CX) plan, and a plan for contact centers.
Although GoTo Connect offers extensive VoIP features with 24/7 customer support, the integrations with CRMs and third-party applications are limited. If you want access to a larger selection of business tools, I recommend a provider like RingCentral, which offers over 300 integrations.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | Phone System | Connect CX | Contact Center |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $29 | $37 | $86 |
Annually | $26 | $34 | $80 |
GoTo Connect offers three business phone plans: the Phone System plan, Connect CX, and Contact Center. Each plan offers distinct features that focus on different types of customer interactions. For example, the business phone plan is best for small teams that require unified communication and collaboration features like team messaging and videoconferencing.
In contrast, the Connect CX plan includes customer experience features like call recording, management, and analytics. For example, you can use this plan to conduct post-call surveys and send out marketing campaigns, which is best for businesses that use their phone system to generate leads or increase sales.
The Contact Center plan includes many of GoTo Connect’s artificial intelligence features, which are useful for managing high call volumes and supporting customer service agents. These features include a supervisor dashboard to monitor and coach agents, as well as skill assignment tools to match the most skilled agents to specific customers or types of calls.
- Mobile screen-sharing: Attend video meetings on the go by accessing multiple collaborative features. With screen sharing, you can display presentations or host mobile demos all from your cellular phone.
- Conference call bridging: With conference bridging, you can elevate any phone call to a video meeting and instantly convert one-on-one meetings to three-way calls. This feature also allows you to host and record calls with up to 20 participants.
- Virtual voicemail: Use the GoTo Connect app or phone to listen to voice messages and receive notifications. You can also receive automated transcripts of your voicemails via email to save time when listening to messages.
Receive audio files or message transcriptions with virtual voicemail. (Source: GoTo Connect)
RingCentral: Best for Unified Communications
What We Liked
- Integration with over 300 third-party applications
- AI assistant for meeting transcriptions, recording summaries, and note-taking
- Up to 10,000 toll-free minutes
Where It Falls Behind
- No unlimited texting
- Unlimited storage for files locked in the highest-tier plan
- Video meetings capped at 200 participants without a RingCentral Rooms add-on
How It Compares to 8x8
- RingCentral’s pricing is readily available on the website, while 8×8 doesn’t publish its rates
- Unlike 8×8, RingCentral provides a toll-free minute allowance across all its subscription plans
- RingCentral integrates with over 300 third-party apps, while 8×8 only connects with dozens of platforms
- 8×8 supports up to 500 video meeting participants, but RingCentral only includes up to 200 participants
Our Expert Opinion
RingCentral is the best alternative to 8×8 for small businesses that need unified communications tools. Its entry-level plan offers valuable call management features, such as a receptionist console, call recording, and analytics. In contrast, 8×8 requires users to upgrade to the second-tier or higher-tier contact center subscription packages to access the most advanced features.
8×8 requires a Conversation IQ add-on to access artificial intelligence (AI) features. In contrast, RingCentral includes an AI assistant with all its plans, offering specific features tailored to each plan, such as call summaries and meeting notes. The business phone system also features instant messaging and videoconferencing, facilitating faster team collaboration.
However, compared with other 8×8 competitors, RingCentral has expensive monthly subscription plans starting at $30 monthly and requires an add-on to expand its video meeting features. If you’re a new or small business, I recommend Zoom or Phone.com for more affordable business phone plans with unified communication features.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | Core | Advanced | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $30 | $35 | $45 |
Annually | $20 | $25 | $35 |
RingCentral includes three business phone plans under the RingEx heading: Core, Advanced, and Ultra. Each plan includes unlimited domestic calling and a receptionist console, which allows administrators to traffic calls more efficiently across departments. Call recording and analytics provide insights for improving call center efficiency and individual agent performance.
Each plan also scales up in terms of calling features, with a set number of toll-free minutes, text messages, and call management features. For example, the Core plan includes 100 toll-free minutes, 25 text credits per user, an interactive voice response (IVR) system, and on-demand call recording.
The Advanced plan offers 1,000 toll-free minutes, 100 text credits per user, automatic and on-demand call recording, monitoring, and unlimited internet fax. In comparison, the Ultimate plan provides an impressive 10,000 toll-free minutes, unlimited storage for files, messaging, and recordings, and device analytics and alerts. You can also try out a RingEx plan with a 14-day free trial.
- Task replies: Respond directly to the action items posted on chats to provide better context for task instructions. This tool makes following up on assignment progress much more manageable.
- Desktop control: You can control another meeting participant’s screen from your device. This lets you fix technical issues remotely and take over presentation slides to help a colleague.
- AI Assistant: RingCentral’s conversation intelligence automatically generates meeting summaries in live sessions. In addition to the summary, the meeting insights include action items, meeting transcription, and keywords.
The AI Assistant can generate post-call notes and summaries. (Source: RingCentral)
Phone.com: Best for International Calling
What We Liked
- Simple, clean user interface that makes navigation effortless
- Four types of business phone numbers: local, toll-free, vanity, and international
- There are no limitations on video meeting durations
Where It Falls Behind
- Call recording only as a premium add-on in the most expensive plan
- Only six integrations in the partner marketplace available
- No free trial
How It Compares to 8x8
- 8×8 provides live streaming of video meetings across plans, while Phone.com only includes live streaming on the highest-tier plan
- Phone.com provides an allowance of 1,000 text segments in its entry-level plan; 8×8 doesn’t offer this
- Unlike 8×8, Phone.com gives businesses the option to get live receptionist services
- Both Phone.com and 8×8 offer unlimited duration for video meetings
Our Expert Opinion
Phone.com is the best alternative to 8×8 for international calling. While many providers only offer three options of virtual phone numbers, Phone.com includes local, toll-free, vanity, and international numbers at an affordable rate. For example, local numbers in “standard rate countries,” such as Australia, Canada, Poland, Sweden, and the UK, are available for only $4.99.
Additionally, you will only be charged US local rates when calling landline numbers in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Puerto Rico. The international numbers also offer global calling capabilities with support for up to 150-plus destinations, including Brazil, China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
Although Phone.com is the best for international calling, it lacks third-party integrations and only includes six third-party applications in the partner marketplace. RingCentral is the better option for connecting business tools with your phone system, as the provider integrates with over 300 platforms.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | Basic | Plus | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $14.99 | $21.99 | $31.99 |
Annually | $12.74 | $18.69 | $27.19 |
Phone.com provides three phone plans, each combining VoIP and unified communication features, such as virtual phone numbers and videoconferencing. However, while many other providers on the list offer unlimited domestic calling across plans and a high number of meeting participants, Phone.com has set monthly minutes and much smaller meetings on the base plan.
For example, the Basic plan includes one phone number per account, 500 minutes, call forwarding, call transfer, and video meetings for up to 10 participants. However, the Plus plan increases the audio and videoconferencing capacity with unlimited minutes, SMS, video meetings for up to 25 participants, and video recording.
The highest-tier Pro plan is the closest to other providers at a reasonable price. It offers call analytics, third-party integrations, and videoconferencing for up to 100 participants. This plan also provides more team collaboration features like breakout rooms and digital whiteboards. Although Phone.com does not offer a free trial, each plan does include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Live receptionist: Phone.com has partnered with AnswerConnect to offer professional receptionists who can answer calls and take messages 24/7.
- Audioconferencing: Host private meetings using the password-protected conference bridge. This dedicated number ensures that only authorized individuals can access the conferencing session.
- Call forwarding: Automatically forward incoming calls to a designated phone number, such as a personal mobile phone or your team’s direct number. This ensures you don’t miss important phone calls even when you’re not in the office.
Enable call forwarding to send calls to a specific number. (Source: Phone.com)
Zoom Phone: Best for Low-cost Plans
What We Liked
- Low-cost add-on features, like additional numbers and unlimited international calling
- Collaborative tools like team chat and digital whiteboards
- Intuitive videoconferencing with Zoom Meetings
Where It Falls Behind
- Call queue analytics only available as an add-on feature
- Unlimited domestic calling unavailable on the base plan
- Limited customer relationship management (CRM) integrations
How It Compares to 8x8
- 8×8 includes unlimited voice calling for 14 to 48 countries, while Zoom Phone’s unlimited international calling add-on is only for 19 countries
- Zoom Phone provides AI companion features for all phone plans, while 8×8 includes artificial intelligence as an add-on feature
- Both 8×8 and Zoom Phone include integrations with Microsoft Teams
Our Expert Opinion
Zoom Phone is our best 8×8 alternative for low-cost plans because it offers pay-as-you-go pricing at only $10 monthly. This base plan includes metered domestic and international calls, videoconferencing, and team messaging for remote teams that need unified communication tools. These plans also work well for solopreneurs who occasionally collaborate with clients.
As a provider known for videoconferencing, Zoom Phone can elevate any call to a Zoom Meeting, including collaborative tools like breakout rooms and the digital whiteboard. For businesses that require a high volume of international calls, Zoom Phone also has an unlimited international calling add-on for around 19 countries.
Although Zoom offers low-cost plans with pay-as-you-go plans for solopreneurs and scalable plans with unlimited calling packages, it’s not the best provider for contact centers or businesses requiring unlimited calling to many countries. Instead, I suggest checking out Phone.com for international calling to 150-plus locations.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | US & Canada Metered | US & Canada Unlimited | Global Select |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $10 | $15 | $20 |
Annually | $120 | $180 | $240 |
Zoom Phone includes three plans that differ in how call charges are determined: US & Canada Metered, US & Canada Unlimited, and Global Select. The base plan provides metered domestic calling, so it is a pay-as-you-go plan that works best for small remote teams or solopreneurs who don’t require international calling features.
In contrast, the second plan offers unlimited domestic calling and essential VoIP features such as call forwarding, transfers, and delegation. Additionally, the plan includes call monitoring features, like call whispering, listening, and barge, which streamline the agent management process. You can also add unlimited international calling to this plan.
The Global Select Plan provides domestic calling in over 40 countries and a direct dial number, making it ideal for businesses establishing a local number or regional office abroad. However, this plan does not include text messaging features. Additionally, you must contact a sales associate to sign up for the Global Select plan.
- Automatic call distribution (ACD): Use an ACD to manage multiple calls without human assistance. This system can automatically route calls through a phone system with custom greetings, menu options, and voice mailboxes.
- Shared lines: Zoom allows you to delegate lines to specific people and put lines on hold to be addressed by a manager or supervisor. You can also create shared line groups with distinct phone numbers to send members to a group of delegates.
- Call recording: Choose on-demand recording to choose when to record calls or full-time recording to record every call. Playback and call transcription features also make retrieving information from previous conversations easier.
The Zoom Desktop App provides multiple call recording options. (Source: Zoom)
MightyCall: Best for Agent Support
What We Liked
- Cloud-based phone system with smart contact center plans
- Three local or toll-free numbers included on each plan
- Multilevel IVR available across all plans
Where It Falls Behind
- Lack of unified communication features like videoconferencing or virtual fax
- Call monitoring only available on the higher-tier plans
- Limited international phone numbers
How It Compares to 8x8
- 8×8 provides audio and videoconferencing features, while MightyCall only includes audioconference calls
- 8×8 includes unlimited internet fax, but MightyCall does not offer fax
- MightyCall provides dedicated account managers for its highest-tier plans when 8×8 does not
- Both 8×8 and MightyCall offer multilevel auto-attendants
Our Expert Opinion
MightyCall is among the best 8×8 alternatives because of its excellent agent support and call monitoring capabilities. Each plan includes multiple business phone numbers, making presenting a professional image easy for potential clients and customers. The software’s call logging feature offers detailed information about every customer interaction, allowing service representatives to avoid manually recording every incoming and outgoing call.
Supervisors monitoring ongoing calls can also see their agents’ calls and provide coaching or assistance. Additionally, every MightyCall plan includes a multilevel IVR that facilitates advanced call routing. Preview, progressive, and predictive dialers further enhance the IVR, making it easier to manage high call volumes and navigate through call lists and directories.
Although MightyCall has excellent cloud contact center features like agent support and call monitoring, it lacks essential features like videoconferencing. If you need a combination of contact center and unified communication tools, check out GoTo Connect or Nextiva, which both include agent support and video calls.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | Core | Pro | Power | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $20 | $30 | $40 | $50 |
Annually | $15 | $23 | $30 | $50 |
MightyCall offers four business phone plans, including unlimited text messaging and domestic calling: Core, Pro, Power, and Enterprise. The Core plan is best for small teams that need a business phone system with advanced call management features like a multilevel IVR and integrations with popular CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce.
The Pro plan provides contact center features for small businesses, such as a supervisor workspace and call monitoring. However, the Core and Pro plans don’t include autodialers. In contrast, the Power plan offers a preview and progressive dialer for faster customer engagement.
Unlike the other three plans, which require a minimum of three users, the Enterprise plan has a five-user minimum. The Enterprise plan also offers the most advanced call center features, including a predictive dialer that uses artificial intelligence to make calls.
- Ring groups: Distribute calls more efficiently to specific teams. MightyCall uses a simultaneous ring to ensure no call will go unanswered.
- Call queue: Create virtual lines for different departments in your company. Configure the greetings, hold music, and designate specific agents to answer calls in the queue.
- Agent workspace: The user-friendly interface allows agents to multitask efficiently by providing a visual overview of client information, call flows, collaboration with other agents, and communication with supervisors.
The agent workspace provides easy access to client information and collaborative tools. (Source: MightyCall)
Nextiva: Best for Customer Engagement
What We Liked
- Social media and review site management for more efficient marketing
- Custom dashboards with reporting and analytics
- 24/7 email, chat, and phone support
Where It Falls Behind
- AI features unavailable on the base plans
- CRM integrations only as an add-on feature across plans
- Voicemail transcription locked behind the most expensive plan
How It Compares to 8x8
- 8×8 includes skill-based routing on all of its contact center plans, but Nextiva only offers intelligent routing on one plan as an add-on feature
- Nextiva has threaded conversations, which organize all communications from different channels in one place and allow agents to see all previous communications with a contact. 8×8 doesn’t have this feature
- Unlike 8×8, Nextiva offers a toll-free minute allowance, the maximum being 10,000
- Both providers offer 24/7 customer support across plans
Our Expert Opinion
Nextiva is the top alternative to 8×8 for customer engagement thanks to its robust dashboard features that provide detailed call activity and social media analytics. One standout feature is its conversation analysis, which uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to evaluate customers’ needs.
Additionally, the customer journey tool includes a customer experience score, automatic conversation analysis, and smart recommendations, all of which deliver meaningful insights into customer behavior. Each Nextiva plan also includes integrations with multiple social media platforms and review sites, like Facebook and Google Reviews, so you can monitor and interact with customers from the Nextiva platform instead of managing accounts on multiple platforms.
While Nextiva is excellent for customer engagement, many advanced features require additional charges. For example, call transcription, intelligent routing, and CRM integrations are add-ons that can only be accessed from the highest-tier plan. If you need more inclusive plans, check out RingCentral for hundreds of integrations, artificial intelligence, and other advanced features.
Plans and Pricing (per user) | Digital | Core | Engage | Power Suite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly | $25 | $36 | $50 | $75 |
Annually | $20 | $30 | $40 | $60 |
Nextiva offers four scalable plans for small businesses: Digital, Core, Engage, and Power Suite. The Digital plan provides omnichannel support to solopreneurs and start-ups that need social engagement tools such as email and messaging applications. In contrast, the Core plan is best for small teams who need access to voice, video, and text messaging features.
The Core plan is the first plan that includes access to the simple IVR, voicemail transcriptions, and video meetings. Then, the Engage plan is best for businesses that need call center features such as inbound and outbound voice, live chat, and a toll-free number to make it easier for customers to stay in contact with your businesses.
The highest-tier option is the Power Suite plan, which includes 10,000 toll-free minutes, access to the advanced IVR, and a supervisor dashboard for businesses that need to run a large-scale sales and services call center. Additionally, each Nextiva plan includes add-on features to create a more robust business phone system.
- Team chat: The Nextiva app allows you to collaborate by chatting one-on-one or as a team. It also supports video chat, audioconferencing, and group messaging.
- Chatbot: Let conversational AI handle customers’ frequently asked questions and process routine requests. With menial tasks taken care of, human agents focus on concerns needing more attention.
- Conversational inbox: Use the unified digital user inbox to keep all your communication with customers in one place. This inbox can curate communication from social media platforms, review sites, email, text, and chat.
The digital user inbox is Nextiva’s central hub for communication. (Source: Nextiva)
How We Evaluated the Best 8×8 Alternatives
To objectively assess VoIP providers, I used a scoring guide that includes accessible pricing points, call management capabilities, user-friendliness, and customer assistance as criteria points.
Learn how I evaluated the best 8×8 alternatives by clicking on the tabs below:
20% of Overall Score
Since businesses prioritize affordability, the cost of monthly subscriptions is among our pricing considerations. I ranked providers with entry-level packages priced less than $35, and those with second-tier plans priced less than $60 earned more points. Finally, I checked if the provider offered annual pricing and volume discounts.
25% of Overall Score
The essential features of a VoIP solution were critical to this evaluation, so I checked whether providers offered unlimited domestic calling, call management, mobile apps, and videoconferencing. I also evaluated each provider’s SLA uptime, giving more points to those with a guaranteed 99.999% availability or higher.
20% of Overall Score
I also focused on features relevant to remote teams and contact centers, such as international calling and an IVR system. Providers offering more than three types of virtual numbers, artificial intelligence, and a wide range of integrations earned more points.
10% of Overall Score
Since not all team members are tech-savvy, I checked if the software solution requires technical know-how to set up and operate. I also considered how intuitive the interface is to ensure there’s little to no learning curve when using the platform.
10% of Overall Score
The providers that offer 24/7 customer support earned more points in this evaluation. I also reviewed their communication channels, noting whether they have phone, email, and live chat support or if users have to purchase support plans to access these features.
15% of Overall Score
I assessed each platform’s ease of use, popularity, and standout features to calculate the expert score. Looking at the subscription plans and inclusions, I evaluated whether or not the provider was a good value for small business owners.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
8×8 competes with other VoIP phone systems or unified communication providers with cloud contact centers or team collaboration tools. Our top three 8×8 competitors are GoTo Connect, RingCentral, and Phone.com because each provider offers features that benefit small businesses, such as virtual numbers, videoconferencing, and business integrations.
8×8 doesn’t publish its pricing for subscription plans. Businesses must contact the provider to get the exact rates. However, the most recent quote from a sales associate outlined that 8×8 has several business phone plans, priced at $24 and $45 per user, per month.
8×8 is a unified communication and contact center solution often chosen by businesses focused on enhancing customer experience (CX) or those using Microsoft 365 as their primary workspace platform. 8×8 is particularly popular among small businesses in education, technology, healthcare, financial services, and retail.
Bottom Line
8×8 is a great business phone system, but other platforms offer transparent pricing, provide more features on their basic plans, and integrate with a comprehensive range of third-party tools. After assessing alternatives to 8×8, we found that GoTo Connect is the best option for small businesses.
As a cloud-based business communication platform, GoTo Connect offers unlimited call-handling features, 24/7 customer support, and scalable plans customized to your business needs. It also enables users to collaborate via instant messaging and videoconferencing, accommodating up to 250 participants. To try out GoTo Connect, sign up for the 14-day free trial.
