7 Best Hosted PBX Providers in 2025

When it comes to hosted PBX systems, RingCentral outperforms its competitors with its comprehensive suite of features for voice, videoconferencing, and team chat. Known for its complete business phone system, RingCentral has all the features for managing high call volumes, routing incoming calls, and spotting call data trends.

At no additional cost, users get a personal AI assistant for calls, meetings, and messaging. Live transcription converts spoken words into text in real time, while meeting recaps generate key takeaways and highlight clips. It also leverages generative AI for creating personalized responses and polished chat messages.

RingCentral is not without flaws, as it comes with a slight learning curve. Its extensive functionality contributes to its complex setup and configuration, which can be a disadvantage for beginners. If you’re new to hosted PBX systems, I recommend a user-friendly alternative like Ooma, known for its straightforward design and efficient call management.

• Shared lines: Assign a phone number to share all incoming and outgoing calls for multiple devices. Once a call comes in, it will ring all the devices added to that group, including desk phones and fax machines.
• Background noise reduction: The RingCentral app comes with built-in AI-powered noise reduction technology to filter unnecessary sounds like chatter, echoes, and clicking noises. You can set this feature to always on when making calls on the go.
• Call summaries: Uses AI to generate a summary of your long conversations, including their key moments, keywords, and sentiment. This empowers users to spend less time on note-taking and focus on high-impact tasks.

Add up to eight lines and 16 desk phones in a shared line group. (Source: RingCentral)

Among the cloud PBX providers listed, Nextiva distinguishes itself as a customer experience management platform. It unifies cloud telephony with digital channels like chat, email, video, reviews, and social media. This integration brings a complete conversational platform that helps businesses optimize the customer journey and analyze cross-channel interactions, enhancing client engagement and satisfaction.

Nextiva provides a digital engagement platform built around team and customer conversations. Aside from phone calls, users can connect with clients on any channel they prefer, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and review platforms. This consolidated approach empowers businesses to effortlessly engage, market, and support their customers.

To access Nextiva’s cloud PBX features, users must upgrade to the second-tier plan, priced at $35 per user—higher than the industry average. For a more affordable option, check out Zoom Phone, which starts at just $10 per user per month.

• Selective call acceptance: Create predefined criteria to determine whether to accept calls from specific numbers, including private or anonymous numbers. Users can also accept or block calls by time of day, holiday, or a combination of these.
• Voicemail to email: Have your voicemails sent to your email for easy access. You can have the audio message attached as a .wav file.
• Voice analytics: Create custom reports to monitor call activity across the company. Track missed calls, talk duration, and high call times.

Manage call features from a centralized user portal. (Source: Nextiva)

Ooma competes with virtual PBX companies by delivering a cost-effective and streamlined telephony solution for small businesses and home offices. The Ooma Office sticks with the essential business phone features, such as advanced call blocking, virtual extensions, and call forwarding. This no-frills approach is ideal for entry-level users seeking a reliable cloud PBX without the complexity of advanced functionalities.

The extensive range of call mobility features sets Ooma apart from other hosted PBX providers. Users can send calls from their extensions to another user’s mobile app, transfer mobile calls to an extension, and transmit faxes from their mobile devices. This flexibility enables users to access PBX functionalities from virtually anywhere.

In Ooma, unlocking collaboration capabilities requires users to subscribe to the Pro Plus plan, priced at $29.95. However, Ooma falls short as it lacks the depth and advanced tools RingCentral provides. With RingCentral, users have access to AI-powered videoconferencing, task management, and rich integration options.

• Call queuing: Place incoming calls on hold and route calls to the next available person. A single call queue can hold up to 25 calls simultaneously.
• Hybrid ring: Set your ring groups to ring both simultaneously and sequentially. When a call comes in, the first group will ring all devices at the same time. If no one answers for a specific period, it will move to the next subgroup.
• Dynamic caller ID: Change your caller ID on the fly when making an outbound call. Use this feature if you want to make a call on behalf of another user.

Ooma offers three ringing modes: sequential, hybrid, and simultaneous. (Source: Ooma)

Zoom, a popular videoconferencing app, has a VoIP phone system with flexible plans tailored to different call requirements. Unlike most cloud PBX providers that restrict users to unlimited local calls, Zoom Phone stands out with its three options: metered calling, unlimited regional calling, and unlimited calls to a selected country. Users can combine different plan types to accommodate the unique call volume of each team member.

All Zoom Phone plans provide the same VoIP features across plans, reducing the need to upgrade and unlock certain features. Users can host full-featured Zoom meetings and team channels, and access basic call center tools like call park, call monitoring, and queuing.

Unfortunately, Zoom Phone’s lack of built-in fax support might be a deal-breaker for teams who prefer sending confidential files via faxing. If this is something you need, go for Ooma, which includes virtual faxing on its entry-level plan. Users can send and receive faxes straight from their devices instead of an analog fax machine.

• Call monitoring: Zoom Phone offers various ways to monitor an ongoing call, including the ability to listen in, speak privately, join the conversation, or take full control of the call.
• Shared voicemail inbox: Enable multiple users to share the voicemail boxes of virtual receptionists, call queues, and other phone users. Play/unplayed status is synced for everyone who has access to the shared inboxes.
• Group call pickup: Allows other users to answer incoming calls on behalf of another member of the same pickup group without needing to access the user’s desk phone or Zoom app.

See who’s available before transferring a call. (Source: Zoom Phone)

If securing multiple phone lines is your priority, Phone.com shines with its comprehensive virtual number options—local, toll-free, custom, and global. It offers a wide selection of business numbers to choose from, allowing customers to choose the perfect fit that aligns with their brand identity and purpose. Volume discounts are also available for those obtaining over 10 business lines per account.

Like Zoom Phone, Phone.com offers the flexibility to combine pay-as-you-go and unlimited call plans to meet diverse calling needs. Metered plan users receive 500 call minutes, which can be shared across the entire account. Shared minutes prevent unused credits, and pay-as-you-go plans let businesses pay only for what they need—ideal for cost-conscious small teams and startups.

One of Phone.com’s biggest drawbacks is the limited number of app integrations. You must rely on Zapier (with monthly fees) to establish a connection between your app and Phone.com. Alternatively, RingCentral offers the largest inventory of third-party apps, with over 350 integrations.

• Live receptionist: Phone.com has a built-in live answering service that provides professionally trained operators who will answer your business calls, schedule appointments, and take orders.
• Call handling rules: Route inbound calls to a target destination based on a set of rules, including time, day of the week, or caller ID. You can route a call to a phone number, greeting, and automated menu.
• Fax-from-phone: Send a fax from your computer or mobile device and supply it with important details, including the cover page, subject, memo, and confirmation.

Forward calls to your desired destination. (Source: Phone.com)

Grasshopper is your best bet for a hosted PBX system to establish a credible and professional phone presence. While most hosted PBX providers listed are designed to handle complex communication needs, Grasshopper focuses on basic features for solopreneurs and small teams who simply need a virtual phone system.

All Grasshopper plans include custom greetings, call forwarding, incoming call control, and extensions. Businesses can also avail of add-on services to enhance their responsiveness and customer experience. Grasshopper features a Voice Studio where you can hire talented voice actors to record your prompts and greetings. For businesses requiring a personal touch in call handling, Grasshopper works with Ruby to provide live receptionist services.

On the downside, Grasshopper is missing a few features often included in many hosted PBX systems like instant messaging, video calling, and integrations. If you’re part of a remote team, consider RingCentral, which provides an impressive list of collaboration tools like group chat, task tracking, and file sharing.

• Extensions: Automatically route callers to a specific destination by pressing a digit on the dial pad. You can customize individual extensions by adding their own voicemail and forwarding rules.
• Simultaneous call forwarding: When an incoming call reaches a line that’s either busy or unanswered, this feature will forward the call to the next available number until someone picks up. You can forward up to 15 phone numbers per extension.
• VoIP/Wi-Fi calling: Send and receive calls over the internet, perfect for areas with poor cellular reception or when you want to save minutes or data. Incoming calls are automatically screened for spam.

Send instant text responses and make calls over the internet. (Source: Grasshopper)

GoTo Connect stands out as one of the most value-packed hosted PBX providers, with its robust range of features designed to support the evolving needs of small businesses. Its subscription plans seamlessly scale from a phone system to a customer experience platform or even a contact center software. This versatility benefits businesses anticipating growth, reducing the need for costly migrations or switching providers.

Beyond its complete business phone features, GoTo Connect offers unlimited international calls to 52 countries as well as 1,000 toll-free minutes, allowing users to accept large volumes of calls without incurring extra costs. Toll-free vanity numbers are also included without charges.

Like RingCentral, GoTo Connect’s extensive functionality can be a disadvantage for entry-level users prioritizing voice-focused communications. Grasshopper offers a straightforward solution designed for individuals and startups.

• Call filtering: Route incoming calls to a specific destination, such as voicemail, auto-attendant, or a prerecorded message. You can also choose to hang up a call from a spam caller.
• Attendant console: Provides a centralized hub for managing all incoming calls to your company lines. This gives phone operators a consolidated interface for transferring calls, tracking queues, and handling high call volumes.
• Virtual voicemail: Provides a dedicated space to manage your voicemails in the cloud. You can play audio files, send a text response, call back, or read transcriptions with ease.

Speed up connections for incoming calls by setting call filters. (Source: GoTo Connect)