7 Best VoIP Apps for Small Businesses in 2026

The Fit Small Business editorial process follows strict standards of accuracy, clarity, authority, objectivity, and accessibility to provide the best answers. Our expert writers, who conduct thorough research, ensure that all content is reliable, well-organized, and offers valuable insights. By adhering to these principles, we deliver trustworthy, easy-to-understand, and unbiased recommendations.

In this guide, I analyzed leading VoIP apps, including plan costs and customer service features. See my full evaluation criteria by scrolling down to the methodology section at the end of the article.

Faithe J. Day, Ph.D.

Lead Writer, VoIP at Fit Small Business

RingCentral is my top choice for growing businesses that want their phone service connected to the rest of their work. Its apps combine business calls, messages, and video meetings, while the integration marketplace helps connect communications with tools employees already use. A sales team using a CRM and a support team using a helpdesk can both benefit from that broader ecosystem.

I also like the flexibility it offers as a business adds employees, locations, or departments. Call handling and auto-attendants help route customers, while team messaging and meetings support internal communication. RingCentral is a stronger fit for those needs than a service focused mainly on a second business number.

The tradeoff is that the subscription can become more expensive as you add advanced tools. Business texting has allowances and registration requirements, and customer engagement features may require a separate bundle or add-on. Core provides a starting point for everyday communications, while Advanced adds capabilities for more demanding operations. For a solo owner who mainly needs calls, texts, and voicemail, Grasshopper is a simpler option.

Prices are per user, per month. Annual figures are monthly equivalents billed annually. Premium customer engagement tools are available through bundles and add-ons.

• App integrations: Connect RingCentral with business applications through a marketplace of more than 500 prebuilt integrations. Available connections and features depend on the subscription.
• Call handling: Route customer calls through auto-attendants and customized rules so employees can answer at the appropriate destination. More advanced configurations support businesses with multiple departments or locations.
• Hot desking: Employees can sign into supported shared desk phones to use their extensions and voicemail. This suits offices where employees share workstations or rotate between desks.

Zoom Phone is a strong fit for remote teams already using Zoom Workplace. Business calls share a familiar environment with meetings and messaging, reducing the number of separate tools employees need to learn. Its apps support mobile and desktop calling, with recording and AI tools available in the published phone offering.

I also like its metered and unlimited plan options. The US & CA Metered plan starts at $12 per user monthly, or $10.50 with annual billing, plus usage charges. The Unlimited plan is easier to budget for when employees make frequent domestic calls. Pro Plus and Business Plus bundle phone service with paid Zoom Workplace capabilities for teams that need longer meetings and broader collaboration tools.

That said, I would choose Zoom Phone for a team invested in Zoom’s collaboration tools; Nextiva may be a better fit when the priority is a broader customer engagement platform.

Prices are per user, per month. Annual figures are monthly equivalents billed annually. Metered service adds usage charges; US & CA Unlimited covers domestic calls. International calling is metered unless covered by a separate package.

• Call routing: Use auto-attendants, queues, and business-hour rules to direct incoming calls. These system settings support employees using the Zoom Workplace apps.
• Multi-device calling: Handle calls from supported mobile and desktop devices and move a live conversation between your own devices using call flip.
• AI companion: Post-call summaries, voicemail prioritization, and task extraction help employees organize follow-up work.

Nextiva is my pick for businesses that want their phone service to support a broader customer communication strategy. Core includes voice, SMS, video meetings, team chat, and mobile app access at the platform level. Businesses can start with everyday communications and move to more advanced customer engagement features as their needs develop.

There are also distinct Nextiva apps for different needs. NextivaONE supports mobile calling, texting, voicemail, and business contacts, while its desktop interface provides video and team collaboration. The newer NEXT mobile app brings calls, texts, and email into customer inboxes. Available channels depend on the account’s product and subscription, so the experience is more varied than a single app with an identical feature set across devices.

Based on these features, I recommend Nextiva for sales and service teams that want to connect phone conversations with other customer interactions. Engage adds customer-to-team SMS, live chat, and reporting, while Scale adds more advanced customer experience tools. For a small business that only needs a dedicated work number, that breadth may be more than necessary. Google Voice or Grasshopper provides a simpler starting point.

Prices are per user, per month. Core and Engage annual small-business rates require a new customer with 1–100 employees signing a paid agreement with a minimum term of 12 months. Add-ons and usage charges may apply.

• Call pull: Move an active call to the mobile app without transferring the customer to another employee. It is useful when a conversation starts at a desk and continues as the employee leaves the office.
• Customer communication tools: Engage adds customer-to-team SMS, live chat, and reporting, while Scale provides more advanced routing and AI-supported customer experience capabilities.
• App options: NextivaONE and NEXT provide different interfaces for calls and customer conversations.

GoTo Connect is my choice for businesses that want more control over how customer calls move through their organization. Its visual dial plan editor helps build routing flows for departments, locations, and business hours. Unlimited auto-attendants, call queues, and ring groups enable more complex operations without requiring employees to manage these settings in their calling apps.

The Phone System package combines calling with meeting and messaging capabilities. GoTo Connect also offers AI Receptionist, Customer Experience (CX), CX Complete, and Contact Center packages. Those options let businesses add automated answering, shared customer inboxes, digital channels, or supervisor tools as their operations grow.

I would choose GoTo Connect for a business where the call flow itself is a major priority, such as a company with several departments or a busy customer service operation. International calling to eligible destinations is another benefit, with coverage differing by region. The main drawback is quote-based pricing, which makes it harder to compare total costs without a proposal. A simpler service like Grasshopper may be sufficient for a small team with straightforward routing.

Packages differ in AI receptionist, customer engagement, and contact center capabilities. International calling and messaging allowances vary by region.

• Dial plan editor: Build visual routing flows for business hours, departments, and destinations. Unlimited auto-attendants and ring groups support more complex call handling.
• Customer experience packages: CX adds shared inboxes, additional customer channels, reporting, and AI call summaries. 
• Virtual fax: Use virtual fax features to send and receive documents digitally.

Talkroute stands out to me for small businesses that need structured call routing and want multiple users covered by a single package. Its $19 Basic plan includes one user, Plus includes three users for $39, and Pro includes ten for $59. Additional users cost $5 per month, making the service easier to compare with per-user subscriptions once you account for team size.

Its routing capabilities grow with the plan. Basic includes forwarding and call stacking, while Plus adds a call menu, simultaneous ring, live transfers, and business hours. Pro adds unlimited menus, recording, scheduled forwarding, reporting, and Voice Studio clips. I recommend Plus or Pro for businesses that need callers directed to specific employees or departments.

Talkroute also includes video meetings across its phone plans and supports connections through Zapier, webhooks, and an API. That expands its usefulness beyond a basic forwarding service. The limitations are destination coverage and support-channel availability: outbound calls are limited to the US and Canada, and only email support is available around the clock. This makes Zoom Phone a better choice for businesses with international outbound calling needs.

Additional users cost $5 per month each. Basic includes 500 texts monthly, Plus 2,000, and Pro 5,000. Local-number messaging registration fees depend on the plan. A seven-day trial is available. Optional add-ons are priced separately.

• Call menus and routing: Plus adds one menu, simultaneous ring, live transfers, and business hours. Pro adds unlimited menus and scheduled forwarding for more involved call flows.
• Recording and reporting: Pro includes call recording and downloadable reporting, giving businesses more visibility into their phone activity.
• Connected workflows: Zapier, webhooks, and API access provide ways to connect Talkroute with other business tools.

Google Voice is my pick for businesses that already use Google Workspace and want a phone service managed in the same environment. Calling, voicemail, and texting work through its web and mobile interfaces, while Gmail and Calendar connections support familiar workflows. Voice subscriptions for a team are administered through Workspace and billed separately.

The Workspace plans start at $10 per user monthly for Starter, $20 for Standard, and $30 for Premier. Starter supports up to ten users. Standard adds auto-attendants, ring groups, and call queuing, while Premier adds automatic recording, transcription, AI notes, and BigQuery reporting. Those differences make the higher tiers more useful for businesses with shared calling and reporting needs.

Google also offers free consumer Voice and paid standalone subscriptions for individual users in the US. These individual subscriptions are separate from an organization’s Workspace deployment. Therefore, I recommend Google Voice for a business that values that Google connection, but note that RingCentral or Nextiva offers a broader communication and integration environment.

Standalone subscriptions are available to individual users in the US without a paid Workspace subscription. Team deployments require Workspace, billed separately. Promotional discounts are excluded from these regular rates. Calling and texting are subject to applicable usage terms.

• Workspace connections: Use Calendar working-hour settings and receive voicemail and SMS notifications in Gmail, bringing phone activity into familiar business workflows.
• Routing and AI: Workspace Standard includes auto-attendants, ring groups, and call queuing; Premier adds automatic recording, transcription, and AI notes. 
• SIP Link and hardware: Eligible deployments can connect carrier PSTN services through certified session border controllers using SIP Link.

Grasshopper often tops my list of business messaging apps, but what also stands out is how simple it is to set up and use. Unlike more complex VoIP platforms, Grasshopper focuses solely on essential phone features such as call forwarding, voicemail, and texting. I found this makes it especially appealing for freelancers or solo business owners who don’t want to deal with advanced configurations.

I recommend Grasshopper for solopreneurs and small teams that need a professional phone presence without paying per user. However, if your business requires collaboration tools like video meetings or team chat, you’ll quickly outgrow Grasshopper and should consider a more robust platform like RingCentral or a low-cost option like Zoom Phone.

True Solo supports one user; Solo Plus and Small Business support unlimited users. A seven-day trial is available without a credit card.

• Automatic call recording: Record inbound, outbound, or both types of calls with controls assigned at the extension level. Administrators can manage which conversations are saved.
• Business texting: Send and receive messages from a business number to keep work conversations separate from personal texts. 
• Instant Response: Automatically acknowledge a new caller via text after a missed call, so an owner can respond when unavailable to answer.