The 6 Best Dialpad Alternatives
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
This article is part of a larger series on Unified Communications.
Dialpad’s features are very comprehensive, especially for small businesses, but its limited video conferencing and minimum user requirements may mean it’s not the best solution for everyone. The best Dialpad alternatives have both quality voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) and unified communications (UC) features, but without the limitations. We found the top Dialpad competitors and ranked them based on cost, features, and ease of use.
These five best Dialpad alternatives for small businesses include:
- Nextiva: The overall best Dialpad alternative
- RingCentral MVP: Best Dialpad alternative for businesses looking to utilize third-party integrations
- 8×8: Best Dialpad alternative for businesses looking for international calling
- GoTo Connect: The Dialpad competitor best for businesses that need easy-to-set-up call routing options
- Vonage: Best Dialpad alternative for businesses that need a wide array of bundled plan features
Dialpad & Best Alternatives Compared at a Glance
Dialpad & Alternatives | Starting Price per Month | Key Features | Free Trial | FSB Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $15 per user |
| 14 days | Check out our Dialpad Review |
 | $18.95 per user |
| 7 days | 4.52 out of 5 |
 | $19.99 per user |
| 30 days | 4.51 out of 5 |
 | $15 per user |
| 30 days | 4.38 out of 5 |
 | $22 per user |
| 14 days | 4 out of 5 |
| $19.99 per line |
| 14 days | 3.49 out of 5 |
Nextiva: Best Overall Dialpad Alternative
Nextiva
Overall Score:
4.52 / 5
What We Like
- 99.999% uptime
- Visual voicemail
- Professionally recorded greetings
What's Missing
- Lacks unlimited international calling
- Voicemail transcription is not available at base tiers
- Lacks video meetings and conference calls with the Essential plan
How It Compares to Dialpad
- Nextiva has a 99.999% SLA for all tiers. Dialpad has a 100% uptime service level agreement (SLA), but only at the top tier.
- Business-level video conferencing is an add-on service for Dialpad that costs $15 per month. Nextiva has video conferencing starting at the Professional tier.
- Nextiva has four plan tiers compared to Dialpad’s three.
- Nextiva publishes all pricing structures for all plans, whereas the Enterprise tier is unpublished for Dialpad.
When comparing apples to apples, Nextiva is the best overall Dialpad competitor with its comparable uptime, international calling features, and unified communications functionality. In fact, whereas Dialpad tends to focus on being a business phone system with add-on unified communications as a service (UCaaS) features, Nextiva provides UCaaS features pretty much out of the box, at least after the Professional plan level.
As we covered in our Nextiva Review, it’s a great option for businesses looking for scalability, with four distinct plan tiers that have published pricing information. Nextiva also offers volume discounts, so as your business grows, you’ll start to see a lower cost per user.
Features like an auto-attendant, unlimited voicemail, and internet fax are all available immediately with Nextiva, so it serves as a good solution for businesses looking for telephony features. There are even a few call center add-ons available with Nextiva that provides some wiggle room should your call levels increase.
Also, through its CoSpace app, Nextiva provides task management features, a team calendar, scheduling for meetings, video conferencing, and chat. Overall, similar to a provider like RingCentral MVP, Nextiva provides new businesses with the tools they need to communicate and collaborate professionally.
Nextiva Pricing at a Glance*
- Essential: $18.95 per user, per month for unlimited video and voice calling, unlimited fax, voicemail-to-email notifications, and toll-free numbers
- Professional: $22.95 per user, per month for unlimited video conferencing for up to 250 participants, unlimited conference calls for up to 40 participants, call pop for up to 250 contacts, and professional setup
- Enterprise: $32.95 per user, per month for unlimited voice and video conferencing, unlimited call recording, unlimited call pop, voicemail transcription, voice analytics, and single sign-on (SSO)
- Ultimate: $57.95 per user, per month for pipeline management, customer journey analytics, and automated surveys
*Pricing is based on annual payment for 20 to 99 users. Monthly payment at a higher cost is also an option.
Nextiva Features
A look at Nextiva’s business communications interface. (Source: Nextiva)
- HIPAA compliant internet fax: Allows businesses with confidential information to easily send documents via fax without violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance laws.
- Call pop: This feature displays information about a contact so you can look at it before placing a call. These details will inform you about past calls, purchases, and engagement to better prepare you for the next call.
- Voicemail transcription: Voicemail transcription allows you to read voicemails while checking your email instead of taking the time to listen to each one. It’s also then easier to cut and paste text to contact records or forward the information to the appropriate team member.
RingCentral MVP: Best Dialpad Alternative for Integrations
RingCentral
Overall Score:
4.51 / 5
What We Like
- Vanity phone numbers are available
- HIPAA and HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) compliant
- Wide range of third-party integrations
What's Missing
- No professional greetings
- Unlimited internet fax only available at higher tiers
- Only 100 toll-free minutes with the Essentials Plan
How It Compares to Dialpad
- Starting at the Essentials tier, RingCentral MVP has unlimited internet faxing while Dialpad has a 100-page monthly limit.
- With RingCentral, there’s no need to add another video conferencing service. With Dialpad, video conferencing costs extra and is an add-on.
- Dialpad, which uses voice intelligence (VI), has better overall transcription features than RingCentral MVP.
- RingCentral MVP has a maximum video conferencing participant count of 200, which doubles Dialpad’s add-on attendee count.
At its base, UCaaS provider RingCentral MVP (which stands for Message, Video, and Phone) shines when it comes to integrations. The provider has all most businesses need, such as Salesforce, Zoho CRM, and Zendesk. This, along with its overall scalability, are among the reasons it tops our list of the best VoIP services for small businesses.
In addition to this, there are more than 200 ready-made third-party integrations in the RingCentral App Gallery. Additionally, RingCentral has an open application programming interface (API), allowing IT teams to connect with the software that isn’t available through the App Gallery. This ensures that users are more than capable of connecting their favorite software for convenience.
Like Nextiva, RingCentral MVP has four plan tiers, so it’s easy to scale when you need new features. Also, like Dialpad and Nextiva, RingCentral MVP becomes cheaper when you opt for annual billing. The inclusion of toll-free minutes even at its basic Essentials plan can be extra-compelling for businesses looking to expand their calling options to the national level.
RingCentral MVP provides useful tools when it comes to small business communications, and like Dialpad and Nextiva, plans include calling to the U.S. and Canada. Insofar as unified communications features, RingCentral MVP provides video conferencing for up to 200 attendees, team messaging, a mobile app, and some task management. Similar to Nextiva, GoTo Connect, and Dialpad, RingCentral also has internet faxing.
RingCentral MVP Pricing at a Glance*
- Essentials: $19.99 per user, per month for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, voicemail-to-text, team messaging, and document sharing for up to 20 users
- Standard: $27.99 per user, per month for phone numbers in over 100 countries, unlimited internet fax, unlimited audio conferences, and video conferences with up to 100 participants
- Premium: $34.99 per user, per month for advanced call handling features, video conferences with up to 200 participants, automatic call recording, real-time analytics, and multi-site admin and management options
- Ultimate: $49.99 per user, per month for device status reports and alerts as well as unlimited storage
*Pricing is based on an annual payment plan for two to 20 users, saving about 33% per year.
RingCentral MVP Features
RingCentral’s user interface allows subscribers some truly fine-tuned call controls. (Source: RingCentral)
- Multi-level auto-attendant: Your auto-attendant greets customers and ensures they are directed to the correct department.
- Advanced call management controls: RingCentral MVP offers features like call whisper, call barge, and call takeover, allowing authorized users to monitor the discussion and provide coaching to agents to help guide the conversation with customers.
- Real-time analytics: Real-time data helps you gain insight into the calls occurring, the data collected in the calls, and statistics about call center metrics that your agents should be following.
8×8: Best Dialpad Alternative for International Calling
8x8
Overall Score:
4.38 / 5
What We Like
- Mix and match plans
- Unmetered international calling to up to 48 countries, depending on the plan
- 30-day free trial for Express Plan
What's Missing
- Speech and text analytics are not available at lower tiers
- Express Plan doesn’t have internet fax
- No toll-free minutes are available
How It Compares to Dialpad
- Both Dialpad and 8×8 have international calling, but 8×8 allows unlimited calling to 48 countries.
- Like RingCentral MVP and Nextiva, 8×8 has a 99.999% uptime SLA, which, while lower than Dialpad’s 100%, is available at more plan tiers.
- At the base tier, 8×8 has the same number of video attendees as Dialpad’s add-on service. At the maximum plan level, the max attendee count scales to 500.
- Both Dialpad and 8×8 have extensive collaboration tools that allow coworkers to seamlessly communicate with one click.
When it comes to generating an international presence, 8×8 is one of the best VoIP services for international calling, as well as one of the best VoIP/UCaaS options for small businesses overall. In addition to providing dialing opportunities at metered rates in 120 countries, the service also grants unlimited calling in 48.
Besides having the ability to call numerous countries, 8×8 also has direct inward dialing (DID) numbers in 120 countries. Your customers can use these toll-free and local numbers in their local areas to reach your business without having to pay international calling rates.
In addition to global calling, 8×8 is a powerful VoIP/UCaaS solution. Calling is free in the U.S. and Canada, similar to other cheap VoIP services, and virtual fax is available as well. Plus, you can mix and match 8×8 plans among users based on the features they need in order to save money.
Likewise, video conferencing is excellent with 8×8. It supports both high-definition (HD) video and audio, and higher-tier plans have a 500-participant cap. Team collaboration features are also available as well as user presence so that your team always knows who is available.
8×8 also has dedicated plan tiers for contact centers. This is useful for businesses with high call volumes, and there’s also included software via the Frontdesk app that clearly displays for supervisors and receptionists which agents are available.
Other contact center as a service (CCaaS) features include monitoring software that allows you to listen in on calls and whisper or coach your team members. Unlike Dialpad and RingCentral MVP, 8×8’s contact center features have transparent pricing published on their site.
8×8 Pricing at a Glance*
- 8×8 Express: $15 per user, per month for up to 10 users, unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, intelligent call routing, and music on hold
- X2: $24 per user, per month for unlimited voice calling to 14 countries, video meetings with up to 500 participants, team messaging, and 99.999% uptime guarantee
- X4: $44 per user, per month for unlimited voice calling to 48 countries, supervisor analytics, advanced call management features, and 8×8 Frontdesk
*Pricing is based on annual payment that allows you to save up to 25%.
8×8 Features
A glimpse of the 8×8 smartphone experience. (Source: 8×8)
- Custom greeting: Get professionally recorded greetings to give customers a great first impression of your business. You can customize menu prompts and on-hold music as well.
- Skill-based routing: Send calls to agents who have the right skills to assist their needs. Using this type of routing increases productivity and customer satisfaction.
- HD audio and video: Having clear audio and video ensures that meetings can go on without issues. There will be no delay, even when screens are being shared and files are being transferred.
GoTo Connect: Best Dialpad Alternative for Call Routing
GoToConnect
Overall Score:
4.00 / 5
What We Like
- Unlimited extensions with all plans
- Unlimited calling to 50+ countries at higher tiers
- Visual dial plan editor
What's Missing
- Only top tiers provide call management features
- Entry-level plan is limited to 4 users
- Lacks international phone numbers
How It Compares to Dialpad
- Up to 250 meeting attendees, whereas Dialpad’s limit is just 100.
- Dialpad’s maximum video conferencing duration is 5 hours, but there are options to have unlimited meeting durations with GoTo Connect.
- GoTo Connect’s Dial Plan Editor makes configuring interactive voice response (IVR) menus simple.
As part of LogMeIn’s GoTo ecosystem of VoIP/UCaaS solutions, GoTo Connect is one of the most-supported solutions out of this list of Dialpad alternatives. This provider, formerly known as Jive, bundles in VoIP and UCaaS features, making it a worthy Dialpad competitor.
Call routing is critical for businesses so that customer satisfaction and the overall experience remain positive. With GoTo Connect’s Dial Plan Editor, you can quickly create menus and submenus and decide where incoming calls are routed as they come in.
Like 8×8, GoTo Connect has unlimited calling capabilities to foreign countries―this time, to 52 unique territories. Still, unlike 8×8, it doesn’t have options for international numbers.
Like other providers, such as fellow LogMeIn virtual number provider Grasshopper, GoTo Connect has unlimited extensions. Unlike Grasshopper, this feature is available at all plan tiers. This compares very favorably to Dialpad, which only has extensions for the Enterprise plan, and even then, you’re required to have at least 100 users.
While LogMeIn has a video conferencing-first solution with GoTo Meeting, video conferencing through GoTo Connect is very robust. At the maximum level, GoTo Connect users can host meetings with up to 250 participants. Additionally, there are options for unlimited meeting durations—Dialpad’s add-on service caps out at five hours.
GoTo Connect Pricing at a Glance*
- Basic: $22 per user, per month for local, toll-free, and vanity numbers, smart call routing, unlimited extensions, and 40-minute meeting durations for up to four participants
- Standard: $26 per user, per month for unlimited auto-attendant greetings, unlimited ring groups, international calling in 50+ countries, and unlimited meeting durations for up to 150 participants
- Premium: $39 per user, per month for up to 250 meeting participants, call analytics, call management features, customizable admin control, and real-time queue updates
*Pricing is based on annual payment for two to 20 users.
GoTo Connect Features
Work from anywhere using GoTo Connect’s intuitive interface. (Source: GoTo Connect)
- Smart call routing: Calls automatically go to an available agent so that customers don’t have to wait on hold for long.
- Customizable dial plans: This helps make sure that call flow is intuitive, even during times when the office is closed, like on weekends and holidays.
- Caller hold time report: This information is presented to agents so that they know how long customers have been waiting before they get on the line with them. With this information, agents can resolve the call as quickly as possible.
Vonage: Best Dialpad Alternative for Bundled Features
Vonage
Overall Score:
3.49 / 5
What We Like
- Plans are customizable
- Connect up to 3 phones to 1 extension
- 99.999% uptime guarantee
What's Missing
- No annual discount is available
- Lacks professional greetings
- Toll-free numbers require an additional fee
How It Compares to Dialpad
- Unlike Dialpad, pricing scales with the number of users with Vonage. With 40 users, a $19.99 plan becomes $14.99.
- Both providers grant call flip, which allows you to seamlessly transfer between internet protocol (IP) phones, smartphone apps, and softphones without the caller noticing.
- Vonage allows users to add a la carte features with ease. Dialpad simply doesn’t have the same number of add-on features.
With each Vonage Business Communications subscription, users are immediately treated to over 50 business phone and UCaaS features, with more available on an a la carte basis. This provides a fully functional business communications system without a bunch of features that are seldom used. As a result, Vonage offers the best plan bundles of all Dialpad alternatives.
Like most providers in this roundup of Dialpad competitors, Vonage has a 99.999%, aka “five nines,” uptime service level agreement (SLA). This means that yearly service downtime equates to about five minutes.
While this is slightly lower than Dialpad’s Enterprise tier’s 100% uptime guarantee, most will agree that five minutes doesn’t amount to much service unreliability. Additionally, the uptime guarantee is available at every tier, which isn’t an offer available from providers like 8×8.
Vonage stands out as one of the best call management systems thanks to features like call flip, follow me, call screening, busy lamp field, call blocking, and caller ID. This ensures that you have complete call control from start to finish. There’s also a multi-level auto-attendant with options for free, professionally recorded greetings on the higher-end plans.
Vonage Pricing at a Glance*
- Mobile: $19.99 per line, per month for unlimited calls and short message service (SMS) texts, access to the Vonage App Center, and unlimited team messaging
- Premium: $29.99 per line, per month for unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants, customer relationship management (CRM) integrations, and a multi-level auto-attendant
- Advanced: $39.99 per line, per month for visual voicemail, call groups, and up to 15 hours of on-demand call recording
*Pricing provided is based on one user.
Vonage Features
Manage your phone system from any device with Vonage’s easy-to-use admin portal. (Source: Vonage)
- SmartWAN: This tool provides a clearer image during video calls by prioritizing bandwidth and encryption needs while preventing congestion.
- Call announce: Tells agents who is calling so they can be better prepared for calls before they are connected to them.
- On-demand call recording: Any call can be recorded, but with this feature, you choose what calls are recorded instead of recording every call.
How We Evaluated the Best Dialpad Alternatives
Deciding which provider is best for small businesses is a tough proposition because each of these Dialpad competitors offers something different. For this reason, we used objective rating criteria, our own firsthand experiences with each of these Dialpad alternatives, and online reviews to determine a score for each provider. From that, we developed the best use cases for each one.
Out of the Dialpad competitors we reviewed, Nextiva stood out as the best Dialpad alternative with a score of 4.52 out of 5. Nextiva delivers strong dialing and UCaaS features and has a standout performance when looking at international dialing, virtual numbers, and integrations.
Here’s a breakdown of how we measured each provider:
20%
Pricing
30%
General Features
25%
More Niche Features
25%
Expert Score
20% of Overall Score
30% of Overall Score
For the best Dialpad alternatives, general features include things like meeting recording, team chat, analytics, calling features, and SLA. We also evaluated competitors by looking at customer service features and virtual number availability.
25% of Overall Score
These features are designed for the more advanced user. These include mobile applications for agents on the go, IP phone connectivity, video conferencing audio and video quality, and international calling and numbers.
25% of Overall Score
*Percentages of overall score
Bottom Line
VoIP/UCaaS providers deliver robust business communications features to small businesses. Dialpad is a standout solution for many businesses, but its limitations on internet faxing and its 100-participant video conferencing cap may not be your cup of tea. Fortunately, several Dialpad competitors more than make up for these potential shortcomings.
Nextiva leads the pack among the best Dialpad alternatives based on our thorough research. It has robust video conferencing, internet faxing, excellent call features and routing, and team collaboration through CoSpace. It also has great uptime, easy-to-use mobile apps for both iOS and Android, and every plan comes with visual voicemail. Get started with Nextiva today by signing up for their 14-day trial.
