Dialpad vs RingCentral: Which Is Best?

Voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephone systems are a staple in business settings. Dialpad and RingCentral are two VoIP systems that each have their pros and cons, but are both intuitive phone solutions for different kinds of businesses. Dialpad starts at $15 monthly serving a minimum of one user, while RingCentral starts at $19.99 and serves up to 20 users.

• Dialpad: Best for freelancers and startups
• RingCentral: Best for established teams

Dialpad vs RingCentral at a Glance

How We Evaluated Dialpad vs RingCentral

While both Dialpad and RingCentral are VoIP systems that deliver excellent call quality and customer support, there are noticeable differences between the two. The major differences are the menu of included features offered with each of their plans. However, to compare the two, we also considered things that could impact user experience, like scalability, uptime, and how each company responded to customer service requests.

To determine which business phone system is better for small businesses, we evaluated the following:

• Price
• Ease of use
• Standard and advanced features like auto-attendants, video chat, and SMS capabilities
• Number of supported users and extensions
• User reviews and customer support offerings

While both systems have their benefits, we ultimately found that RingCentral is our preferred service between the two systems for the majority of businesses. Its prices are reasonable and include so many features, making it ideal for businesses that need multiple ways to communicate with their customers and those looking to scale. It is also our top pick as a small business VoIP service, although there are still times when Dialpad is the better alternative.

When to Use Dialpad

If you are a freelancer or your company is a team of less than 20, then Dialpad is a better option for you. Its features are ideal for a smaller setting or for businesses that don’t need as many bells and whistles, like the ability to support large conference calls or alerts to know which of your team members are at their desks. It also has a lower per-user cost, making it a more economical option for professionals just getting started.

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Dialpad Pricing

Dialpad offers many useful features that are ideal for smaller and growing businesses at a lower cost than offered by RingCentral or by other RingCentral alternatives. You can choose to be billed monthly or annually:

• Standard: $15 monthly per user; $20 per user, per month per user on an annual basis
• Pro: $25 monthly per user; $30 per user, per month on an annual basis
• Enterprise: Contact the sales team to get an individualized quote for your business

Dialpad Pros & Cons

Features That Make Dialpad Great for Freelancers & Startups

In addition to a more attractive price for smaller teams, Dialpad offers unlimited calling anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. While its standard features are not as robust as other systems, all service tiers have the capability to record calls, allowing you to quickly pull up your call history and listen to old recordings along with call handling options like three-way calling, click-to-call, and number forwarding to help you to handle your calls more easily.

You can also integrate the software with G Suite or Office 365 in every tier. However, one of the best parts about Dialpad is that it automatically prompts you to create call notes related to the call you just hung up from, and gives you the option to set a call back date, making it ideal for professionals and small companies that pride themselves on a customer-first philosophy.

Dialpad Customer Service

Although only the higher two service tiers have 24/7 customer service available, Dialpad offers three ways to get in touch with customer service:

• Phone support: Customer service agents are standing by 24 hours a day, five days a week. Weekend phone support is not available at this time.
• Live chat: At the bottom right corner of your Dialpad landing page is a chat button. Clicking on it will enable you to chat live with a customer service agent.
• Help center: Browse through guides and support resources in Dialpad’s help center to find the answers you need.

Dialpad Customer Reviews

Clients enjoy the simplicity of Dialpad. It has overall positive reviews regarding its ease of use and satisfying business needs. On the other hand, there are consistent reports of a buggy or glitchy portal, making it difficult to continue with business as usual. You can learn more about this service, its plans, and what other users are saying by visiting their website.

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When to Use RingCentral

Established businesses that have a large number of employees are a better fit for RingCentral due to its many features. It could also be a good match for businesses that have experienced rapid growth and need a system that can handle the new call volume. Either way, RingCentral is a better choice for companies that are familiar with VoIP technology and have robust calling needs.

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RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral has four service tiers and allows you to be charged monthly or annually, with annual prices being about 33% cheaper than monthly prices. The prices below reflect two to 19 users:

• Essentials: $29.99 monthly per user; $19.99 per user, per month when billed on an annual basis
• Standard: $34.99 monthly per user; $24.99 per user, per month when billed on an annual basis
• Premium: $44.99 monthly per user; $34.99 per user, per month when billed on an annual basis
• Ultimate: $59.99 monthly per user; $49.99 per user, per month when billed on an annual basis

RingCentral Pros & Cons

Features That Make RingCentral Great for Established Businesses

• Conference calling: With the Standard package on up, RingCentral allows you to video conference with 100 to 200 participants at the same time, as well as audio conference with unlimited participants.
• Unlimited internet faxing: Users can send and receive as many internet faxes as they like with premium versions of the service.
• Toll-free minutes: Every RingCentral plan comes with a bundle of included toll-free minutes, while Dialpad requires a monthly payment of $7 for toll-free minutes. RingCentral’s included minutes range from 100 with the Essentials plan to 10,000 minutes with the Ultimate plan.
• Integrations: One direct benefit unique to RingCentral is its App Gallery. This online app “store” allows you to download business integrations that you already use every day. Some of these include Google Drive, One Drive, and Jira. This feature is not available with Dialpad.

RingCentral Customer Service

24/7 chat and phone support are offered to RingCentral customers who subscribe to the higher three service tiers. However, there are multiple ways to get in touch with customer service. These include:

• Community support: Browse RingCentral’s support forum to find answers to your questions, or post a new question if you don’t see what you’re looking for.
• RingCentral knowledge base: Read tutorials and learn how to use RingCentral features by exploring RingCentral’s knowledge base.
• Chat: Type your questions to the ChatBot on the screen to find answers to commonly asked questions.
• Social media: Connect with RingCentral on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
• Submit a support case: If you’re encountering a more complex issue than the above resources can help with, contact RingCentral directly and submit a support case online.

RingCentral Customer Reviews

Customers are overall very happy with RingCentral, enjoying its many features and its user-friendly user interface (UI). Customers also like how clear and consistent the phone call quality is. However, there are complaints of the customer service team being hit or miss; some customers have positive experiences, others have overwhelmingly negative experiences. You can learn more by visiting our RingCentral reviews page or by visiting their website.

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When to Use an Alternative Option: Grasshopper

While Dialpad and RingCentral include a number of great business benefits, both have complicated pricing tiers and more features than a small team might need. If you are looking for a good middle-ground option for a team of three to five, consider Grasshopper. Its simple virtual phone plans $26 for one number and three extensions and don’t require any additional equipment. Visit Grasshopper to find out how to take advantage of its free seven-day trial.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Does either service offer international calling?

Both do. If you’re curious about the international calling rates, Dialpad’s are listed here and RingCentral’s are listed here.

Can I sync contacts with either service?

Yes, you can. Each service allows you to sync your existing contacts in different ways. For example, RingCentral lets you sync your contacts with MS Outlook while Dialpad does not. The process varies between the two systems, with each requiring a different set of rules. Read how to manually sync Dialpad contacts by clicking here. To learn about RingCentral’s directory sync, click here.