The best hosted private branch exchange (PBX) providers offer the scalability, flexibility, and cost-saving benefits of a cloud-based phone system. They deliver a wealth of features like advanced call management, visual voicemail, call analytics, and video conferencing. These modern capabilities give you an enhanced calling experience and the ability to operate remotely. Monthly per-user plans start at $15, depending on the provider.
Best Hosted PBX Providers Compared
Hosted PBX Providers | Monthly Starting Price (per User) | Key Features | Learn More |
|---|---|---|---|
RingCentral: Best for High-level Business Communications | |||
 4.66 out of 5 | $40 |
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Nextiva: Best for Customer Communications | |||
 4.56 out of 5 | $30.95 |
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Dialpad: Best for Voice Intelligence Features | |||
 4.50 out of 5 | $23 |
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Phone.com: Best for Varying Call Volumes | |||
 4.38 out of 5 | $14.99 |
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Vonage: Best for Customizable PBX Service | |||
 4.37 out of 5 | $19.99 |
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Grasshopper: Best for Phone-based Interactions | |||
 3.89 out of 5 | $31 (flat rate) |
| or |
Find out how cloud phone solutions are extremely useful for small businesses in our guide about voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone systems.
RingCentral: Best Overall for High-level Business Communications
What We Liked
- Complete call management and phone system administration
- All plans include extensive team chat and video meeting features
- In-depth call analytics system
Where It Falls Behind
- Base plan lacks customer relationship management (CRM) integrations
- Lacks unlimited SMS (restrictions apply)
- The most expensive option on this list
RingCentral Monthly Pricing (per User) Pay annually to save up to 33%. Volume discounts apply for 50+ users.
- Core: $40 for one phone number, 100 toll-free minutes, unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada, 25 SMS, visual voicemail, complete call management, multi-level interactive voice response (IVR), basic call queues, on-demand call recording, team chat, and 100 video attendees
- Advanced: $45 for 1,000 toll-free minutes, 100 SMS, advanced call routing and monitoring, automatic call recording, hot desking, unlimited e-fax, advanced integrations, and business analytics
- Ultra: $55 for 10,000 toll-free minutes, 200 SMS, unlimited storage, and device analytics
- Free trial: 14 days (maximum of five users)
RingCentral takes the spot as the best hosted PBX provider as it has all the features you’d expect for advanced call management, messaging, and video meetings. Native integrations support up to 350 third-party apps—giving you a comprehensive phone app ecosystem.
Upgrading to higher-tier plans unlocks enterprise-level functions like business analytics, multi-site management, and global support. Whether you’re looking to scale or connect with your global workforce, RingCentral supports various use cases for a seamless employee and customer experience.
RingCentral’s hefty price tag is its biggest drawback, with a monthly starting fee of $40 per user. If you’re after affordability and don’t need all the fancy features, check out Grasshopper. This virtual phone provider charges a flat monthly fee for unlimited users and heavily focuses on phone-based interactions.
RingCentral Features
Proactively monitor call performance with the RingCentral analytics portal. (Source: RingCentral)
- Business analytics: Get real-time insights and gather reporting metrics on the RingCentral Analytics portal. It delivers business-relevant data like company numbers, live reports, service quality, and device status.
- Hot desking: Enables remote employees to share a common phone while keeping their own voicemail access and extension profiles.
- Advanced call monitoring: Listen to agent conversations with clients and use coaching tools like call barging, whisper, monitor, and takeover.
Nextiva: Best for Customer Communications
What We Liked
- Generous toll-free minute bundles
- Modern and intuitive interface
- Drag-and-drop call flow builder
Where It Falls Behind
- No free trial
- Base plan doesn’t support SMS/MMS and integrations
- Enterprise account required for call recording and voicemail transcription
Nextiva Monthly Pricing (per User) Pay yearly and save up to 22%. Volume discounts apply for five users or more.
- Essential: $30.95 for one phone number, unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada, 1,500 toll-free minutes, unlimited e-fax, video recording, auto-attendant, call log, hold music, team chat, and 45-minute video calls
- Professional: $35.95 for 40 conference participants, 3,000 toll-free minutes, 1,000 SMS/MMS, CRM integrations, and multi-level auto-attendant
- Enterprise: $45.95 for unlimited participants, 12,500 toll-free minutes, 2,000 SMS/MMS, voicemail transcription, and single sign-on
Nextiva works as a customer experience management software that tracks every customer’s sentiment, experience, and feedback. It works differently from other hosted PBX service providers as it uniquely manages all customer and team interactions in one place.
The NextivaONE platform supports customer-facing chat so you can proactively engage with your prospects. You can also communicate with them via any channel like SMS, video, email, and phone. Other customer experience tools let you send surveys, automate responses, and organize your contact list.
All Nextiva plans include unlimited domestic calls and toll-free minutes, which may be unnecessary for businesses with low call volumes. In this case, you’re better off with Phone.com, which offers shared minutes and additional minute bundles.
Nextiva Features
Nextiva analytics uses standard and customized reports for analyzing call experiences. (Source: Nextiva)
- Call analytics: Create custom reports based on your business needs and use data to measure employee performance and marketing campaigns.
- Call pop: Know who your callers are before picking up the phone. The call pop feature reveals important caller information, including the last interaction and account value.
- Smart automation: Establish strong customer relationships with Nextiva’s smart automation tools. Send surveys, campaigns, and automated welcome greetings.
Dialpad: Best for Voice Intelligence
What We Liked
- Rich voice intelligence features
- Excellent ease of use
- Local number support in 70+ countries
Where It Falls Behind
- Video calls are limited to 10 people
- Enterprise account required for user extensions
- Additional $15 charge for toll-free numbers
Dialpad Monthly Pricing (per User) Annual billing plans start at $15 per user.
- Standard: $23 for one local number, unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada, multi-level auto-attendant, visual voicemail, custom call routing, SMS/MMS, team chat, five-hour video calls, call transcriptions, and real-time analytics
- Pro: $35 for hold queues, 25 ring groups, international SMS, and CRM integrations
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for extensions and unlimited ring groups
- Free trial: 14 days
Dialpad is one of the hosted PBX solution providers that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline interactions and make data more accessible. It has its own proprietary AI that powers a variety of features, such as live transcription, sentiment analysis, call summary, and real-time analytics.
If you’re accepting calls after hours, Dialpad Ai will automatically transcribe your voicemail and send it straight to your inbox. It also works with incoming calls by tracking keywords, sentiments, and action items in a call summary.
On the downside, Dialpad charges high fees when it comes to toll-free numbers and user extensions. Toll-free numbers start at $15, while extensions require an Enterprise account. Consider Grasshopper, which offers flat monthly pricing for multiple toll-free numbers and extensions. This provides greater cost savings if you need several virtual phone numbers for your phone campaigns.
Dialpad Features
Dialpad’s Voice Intelligence ensures you won’t lose track of your action items after a call ends. (Source: Dialpad)
- Call flip: Move a call from your desktop to your mobile device without interrupting the conversation. Call controls are readily available once the call switches over.
- Call routing: Dialpad offers a host of call routing features to enhance phone communication. Manage incoming calls with features like call transfer, call park, and call forwarding.
- Web conferencing: Dialpad makes online conferencing even better with its high-definition audio and video. It has extensive screen sharing capabilities and advanced conference call controls, such as mute all and meeting lock.
Phone.com: Best for Varying Call Volumes
What We Liked
- Mix-and-match metered and unlimited plans
- Calls to France, Germany, and U.K. are part of your Phone.com plan
- Standard voice features included in all plans
Where It Falls Behind
- Basic and Plus users are charged $8 monthly for call recording
- Pro account required for call analytics
- Outbound SMS has extra fees
Phone.com Monthly Pricing Save up to 15% by paying yearly. Volume discounts apply to five users or more.
- Basic: $14.99 for one phone number, 500 pooled minutes, auto-attendant, call transfer, caller ID, call waiting, and hold music, greetings, 10 video attendees, and audio conferencing
- Plus: $21.99 for unlimited domestic calls, voicemail transcription, 25 video attendees, and desk phone compatibility
- Pro: $31.99 for call analytics, call recording, 100 video attendees, and Zapier integration
Phone.com is one of the few VoIP PBX providers with metered phone plans that cater to small businesses with low or fluctuating call volumes. Metered plans start as low as $14.99 per user, monthly—the cheapest hosted PBX plan in this list. Besides the U.S. and Canada, you can use your local minutes to call countries like France, Germany, Italy, Israel, and the U.K.
While Phone.com’s metered plan is relatively cheap, rest assured it doesn’t skimp on capabilities. Subscribing to the Basic plan includes up to 50 standard voice features, one phone number, and 10-participant video conferencing.
One of Phone.com’s biggest drawbacks is the limited number of app integrations. You need to rely on Zapier (with monthly fees) to establish a connection between your app and Phone.com. In this case, choose RingCentral, which offers the largest inventory of an app ecosystem, with over 350 third-party integrations.
Phone.com Features
Phone.com lets you customize your phone extensions through a web browser. (Source: Phone.com)
- Dial-by-name directory: In the auto-attendant, users can use their dialpad to enter the first or last name of the person they’re trying to reach instead of waiting to be routed.
- Virtual extensions: Set up multiple extensions to route incoming calls to different departments and employees. You can also create one for your voicemail, desktop, mobile device, and desk phone.
- Schedules: Route incoming calls to different menus, numbers, extensions, and greetings based on the time and day the call comes through. Calls ringing outside business hours go directly to voicemail or another extension.
Vonage: Best for Customizable PBX Service
What We Liked
- Up to 43 standard phone features
- A la carte pricing with several add-ons
- Intuitive mobile app
Where It Falls Behind
- Charges extra for basic functionalities like call queues and local numbers
- A minimum of one-year contract is required for a main local company number
- App center only supports 20 third-party integrations
Vonage Monthly Pricing Discounts are available for new accounts and bulk subscriptions.
- Mobile: $19.99 per user for unlimited calls within the U.S. and Canada, unlimited SMS, unlimited team messaging, access to Vonage App Center, and up to 43 voice features
- Premium: $29.99 per user multi-level auto-attendant, 100 video attendees, desk phone compatibility, and CRM integrations
- Advanced: $39.99 per user for on-demand call recording, call group, and visual voicemail
With its a la carte offering, Vonage is the best cloud PBX phone system for companies needing more flexibility to add their desired feature for their phone plans. Mix and match add-on features to create your own monthly plan so you don’t need to upgrade to higher tiers to unlock a specific capability.
Vonage is also known for its application programming interface (API) offerings for voice, video, and SMS. This allows you to embed and customize your communications across your online platforms.
Despite the rich customization options of Vonage, this provider lags behind when it comes to app integrations, virtual phone numbers, and feature inclusions. A one-year contract is required to get a local company number, while toll-free numbers have additional charges. Consider Grasshopper instead if you want a low-cost way to purchase multiple virtual phone numbers for several users.
Vonage Features
Vonage lets you assign business inboxes to teams to ensure faster service delivery. (Source: Vonage)
- Business inbox: Capture message-based conversations like SMS, MMS, and Facebook Messenger within a unified inbox. Add photos, emojis, audio, and video.
- Call continuity: In the event of a power outage or internet issue, this feature will automatically reroute your calls to a backup phone number of your choice.
- Spam shield: All phone numbers of every incoming call run against a database of numbers associated with robocalls, scams, and telemarketing. When the number matches the list, it will warn you of phone spam before answering.
Grasshopper: Best for Phone-based Interactions
What We Liked
- Allows unlimited users with no extra charge
- Choose from local or toll-free vanity numbers
- All-inclusive plans
Where It Falls Behind
- Limited phone features
- No app integrations
- Lacks team chat and video calling
Grasshopper Monthly Pricing All plans support unlimited users. Save 10% with annual billing.
- Solo: $31 for one phone number and three extensions
- Partner: $51 for three phone numbers and six extensions
- Small Business: $89 for five phone numbers and unlimited extensions
- Free trial: 7 days
Note: All plans include business SMS, call forwarding, voicemail, e-fax, call transfers, custom greetings, and reporting.
As a virtual phone system, Grasshopper works for small businesses that rely on phone calls and text messaging to reach customers. Subscribing to any plan gives you a dedicated business number (local, toll-free, or vanity), which you can use to make and receive calls and texts.
Compared to all the providers in this list, Grasshopper is the only option with a flat-rate subscription—charging a fixed monthly fee for all features and unlimited user access. Voicemail transcription, incoming call control, and simultaneous call handling are part of its all-inclusive package.
On the downside, Grasshopper lacks instant messaging and video calling—features that often come included in many hosted PBX providers. If you’re part of a remote team, consider Nextiva, which provides an impressive list of collaboration tools like group chat, task tracking, and file sharing.
Grasshopper Features
Grasshopper eliminates the risk of losing prospects by sending an instant response. (Source: Grasshopper)
- Virtual receptionist: Grasshopper integrates with Ruby, a live answering service, to answer incoming calls to your business. From scheduling appointments to collecting information, a virtual receptionist creates positive connections with your customers.
- Instant response: When you miss a call, this feature will automatically send a text message to the caller. Customize the message by including your company logo and website link.
- Custom phone greetings: Customize your phone greeting to welcome and direct your callers. Grasshopper allows you to record it independently or request a professional voice actor to record it for you.
Getting started with a cloud PBX system? Our guide on how to set up a VoIP system will teach you everything you need to know about VoIP phone installation.
How We Evaluated the Best Hosted PBX Providers
Since all hosted PBX providers are cloud-based, it’s important to look at each provider’s primary and advanced capabilities. To differentiate each solution, we considered various use cases, available features, and subscription costs. We also evaluated their limitations in terms of video participant capacity, number of third-party integrations, and the variety of call functions.
Learn how we evaluated the top hosted PBX providers by clicking on the tabs below:
15% of Overall Score
We compared the subscription plans of each provider, including the discount and annual billing options. In addition, we looked for the most affordable solutions for budget-conscious solopreneurs and small business owners.
25% of Overall Score
We analyzed each service’s offerings to ensure it provided general VoIP features, such as unlimited local calling, conference calling, and a mobile app. We also examined call management capabilities like auto-attendant, call analytics, and custom greetings.
20% of Overall Score
While advanced features aren’t must-haves, they differentiate hosted PBX providers and make them more powerful for certain businesses. We looked for features like international calling, international numbers, interactive voice response, and software integrations.
10% of Overall Score
We assessed the usability of each software by testing it ourselves and analyzing customer reviews from reliable websites. We reviewed the feedback of recent users and checked for learning curves during the setup and configuration phase.
10% of Overall Score
We looked at the types of support channels the provider offers, including phone, live chat, and an email ticketing system. Additional points are awarded if all support channels are available 24/7.
20% of Overall Score
We examined the overall value of each provider’s offerings, including its ease of use and standout features. Additionally, we reviewed their value for money and the popularity of the best hosted IP PBX providers.
Frequently Asked Questions
A hosted private branch exchange (PBX) is a cloud-based telephony network with various call functionalities, such as audio conferencing, extensions, greetings, and call queues. Unlike the traditional PBX, which relies on an analog connection, a hosted PBX relies on internet connectivity to deliver phone system functionalities.
Connecting to a hosted PBX provider enables your business to make calls via the internet without the upfront hardware expenses. All the back-end equipment is managed and maintained by the service provider, which will handle all your calls via the cloud. With a hosted PBX, users get the added benefits of modern communication features like advanced call management, messaging, and video calling.
The right hosted PBX provider for your business depends on three main factors: your budget, the business phone capabilities you need, and your required level of security. To ensure the provider has all you need, check out what customers say about them on legitimate review websites. Visit their website to explore their service offerings, quality of customer support, uptime, and system reliability.
Bottom Line
Selecting a hosted PBX provider is critical for businesses wanting to enhance their communication system. It enables them to easily manage a distributed workforce and maintain uninterrupted contact with customers.
RingCentral is our top choice for the best cloud PBX provider with its sophisticated call management, rich collaboration features, and expanded integrations. Sign up for a 14-day trial today to determine if it suits your business communications needs.
