How Much Are International Calls? A Small Business Guide

How much international calls cost varies based on the country you are calling and the type of business phone system you use. Voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) business phone systems offer some of the most affordable international calling rates—ranging between $.01 and $1 per minute, depending on the country you call. In comparison, international calls using public switched telephone networks (PSTN), aka landline analog phones, can cost as much as $5 per minute.

If you make frequent calls overseas, consider these VoIP providers to see which offer the best international calling rates and plans for your business needs.

Per Minute International Calling Rates Comparison

The cost of VoIP international calling varies from provider to provider. Use this chart to better understand how much international calls cost (based on USD per-minute rates) when dialing customers, clients, or vendors in different territories:

*All prices are per minute in USD

For this article, we explored per-minute rates charged by top complete business phone systems, but if you’re just trying to add low-cost international calling and don’t mind using a separate service, another option to consider is WhatsApp. It’s not a full-featured phone system, but as long as both parties have the app installed, it offers unlimited calling to international territories by using your internet connection or cellular data plan. Calls over WhatsApp are usually free, but do count against your cellular plan’s minutes.

VoIP Providers With International Calling at a Glance

We have created a calculator to help you determine which provider will offer you the lowest cost for international calls. To use this calculator, select the country you intend to call the most and enter how many minutes you expect to use each month. If you don’t know how many minutes you might use, simply leave the field blank set to the default of 1 minute to see the per-minute charge:

Continue reading to learn more about how each of the top providers, their service, and their international calling rates compare.

RingCentral

RingCentral MVP has a very extensive set of features, and as you may have noticed from our RingCentral review, they are one of the best on the market. Features like a great app experience on both softphones and smart devices and multiple plan options make it a great choice for small businesses that will need more features as they grow.

With RingCentral MVP’s basic plan, Essentials, you’ll be able to make unlimited calls within the U.S. and Canada. If you want to call outside of these countries, you’ll also have options. You’ll need to purchase a calling credits package to place most international calls, and calls will be billed at the current rates that RingCentral regularly publishes.

When it comes to the cost of international calls, RingCentral doesn’t always win out. But for those with extensive calling requirements, there’s the RingCentral Global Office Unlimited plan. This plan grants access to more than 100 countries for a preset monthly price.

For this plan, a minimum of 250 users is a requirement. RingCentral also makes this plan available in 16 languages. While this may be a bit prohibitive for companies that don’t make many calls overseas, it represents significant savings for larger companies in need of frequent international calling.

Looking for a more local presence in the countries where you do business? RingCentral also offers local and toll-free business numbers in more than 100 countries. These are very useful for a few reasons:

• Phone numbers in smaller jurisdictions will make your business appear more local
• Phone numbers with toll-free prefixes make your business appear more national and, thus, bigger

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GoTo Connect

With access to free calling in 52 countries, GoTo Connect is a good option if you’re looking for a competitively priced VoIP international call provider. As we covered in our GoTo Connect review, one of the standout aspects of this product offered by LogMeIn is its feature set.

With GoTo Connect, even the most basic plans have features like local, toll-free, and vanity numbers as well as unlimited extensions. The basic plan also includes an auto-attendant and a call queue, as well as the service’s easy-to-use Visual Dial Plan Editor.

There are three plans available with GoTo Connect: Basic, Standard, and Premium. For international calling, the Basic plan charges per minute, but with both Standard and Premium, you’ll have unlimited access to the full list of 52 countries. If you’re dialing outside of these countries, you will be charged per minute based on the territory you’re calling.

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8×8

If you’ve read our 8×8 review, you know 8×8 is the VoIP system we recommend for smaller businesses that need contact center features. The provider has a strong unified communications profile that has also earned it a space on the Gartner Magic Quadrant. As a provider, 8×8 also has a stellar auto-attendant that’s particularly suited for businesses with international offices.

8×8 has unmetered calling to 47 countries, which includes territories like Belgium, Australia, the United Kingdom, and China. In addition to these, you can call more than 200 other destinations subject to their international calling rates. This is a huge amount of countries—you can even dial Antarctica if needed.

Per-minute pricing varies significantly, with cheaper options like Andorra costing around 13 cents and more expensive zones like Algeria costing almost $1 per minute. This provider also offers international business numbers. In fact, they provide international inbound numbers in 121 countries.

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Broadvoice

Broadvoice is known for its b-hive cloud communications system. It provides all the classics of unified communications as a service (UCaaS), including VoIP phone with short message service (SMS) texting, video conferencing, and chat. They also offer virtual contact centers.

Broadvoice is a good option for international calling because it grants unlimited usage to 60 countries via landline and 29 mobile destinations. For those countries not covered through Broadvoice’s plans, there are also international rates to reach just about every global destination. However, unlike 8×8 and RingCentral, Broadvoice doesn’t offer international virtual numbers for businesses.

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Phone.com

Phone.com, which we explore more fully in our Phone.com review, is a VoIP provider that provides businesses with low-cost options when they need to make international calls. They provide unlimited calling to Germany, France, Italy, Israel, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. If your business makes calls to one (or more) of those seven countries, this is a great option for your business.

The Basic plan includes 300 pooled minutes, which can be ideal for a company that needs to make international calls only on occasion. If you exceed the amount of pooled minutes for the month, a fee will be added.

So if 300 minutes would be cutting it close, opt for the Phone.com Plus or Pro plan, which include unlimited minutes. These plans also provide unlimited text messaging and allow more participants in video conferencing, making it easier and less expensive for larger companies to communicate with one another.

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Ooma

Ooma has three plans with free international calling options you can choose from, but there is also a Basic plan with low rates for all international calls. The Basic plan is ideal for companies that only call internationally occasionally.

For companies that make North American calls frequently, the Ooma Premier plan includes free calling to Canada and Mexico. The Ooma World and World Plus plans give you more options for calling other countries.

If you opt to get one of the World plans, instead of paying the per-minute rates Ooma charges for international calls, you will pay a set rate for unlimited minutes to specific countries. Check out our expert Ooma review for more information.

Ooma World Plans:

• World Plan: Unlimited minutes to landlines in more than 60 countries, and mobile phones in more than 10 countries
• World Plus Plan: Unlimited calling to landlines in more than 70 countries, and mobile phones in more than 40 countries

If you call a territory or country that is not included in your plan, Ooma charges a low-cost rate per minute. The international calls made by businesses typically start at about 1.4 cents per minute. Ooma also has some overall competitive features for VoIP. For more information, take a second and check our Ooma review.

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Nextiva

Nextiva is a four-tiered VoIP provider that also has some extensive unified communications (UC) features for businesses. The service includes support for desk phones, softphones, and both iOS and Android apps.

Nextiva’s pricing is very competitive, and having four tiers also grants scalability options. Features like volume discounts also earn the provider some accolades, as we covered in our Nextiva review.

Unlike the other providers, Nextiva doesn’t have an unlimited plan with a preset number of countries you can call. Instead, for international calling, you are charged per minute—fortunately, Nextiva’s rates are fairly competitive.

For example, to call the United Kingdom or even South Korea using Nextiva, you’ll only pay about 1 cent and 2 cents per minute, respectively. Nextiva may not be the best choice if you’re going to be making frequent global calls, but it is useful for a business that calls less frequently to international territories.

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Types of International Calling Plans

To determine how much a provider’s international calling plan will cost your business, it is important to consider your specific needs. If your business calls one specific international location every day, a plan that includes free calling to that country will cost you less, even if their per-minute rates to other countries are more expensive compared to other providers.

If you only make international calls on occasion, a provider offering pay-as-you-go plans that are lower in cost on average may be more in line with what you need. If you place calls to multiple countries worldwide, a plan that includes unlimited international calling to multiple locations would be best for your business, even if the monthly plan seems more expense as per-minute costs do add up.

Here’s how each type of plan works:

• Pay-as-you-go structure: For occasional calling, a pay-as-you-go plan is useful. With these plans, you pay a preset rate to call specific countries. The rate depends on the country, and you will see the call detail and charges applied to your next bill. Nextiva is a good example of a provider that doesn’t offer unlimited calling but does have low international calling rates. Read our full Nextiva review to find out if it is a good option for your business.
• Included in the plan: Some providers cater to businesses that make international calls on a regular basis. Rather than paying for calls individually, your plan provides unlimited calling to the countries you need. All of the providers in this guide have plans that include some form of unlimited calling to specific countries. While RingCentral provides unlimited calling to more than 100 countries, 8×8 provides international phone numbers in more than 120 locales. See how RingCentral vs 8×8 compare head to head in our review.
• Preset minutes and calling credit bundles: These types of plans have a preset number of minutes you can use for international calls. This serves as a good in between option. If you run out of minutes, additional time can be purchased from the provider. The Basic plan offered by Phone.com is one example of this.

Bottom Line

There’s simply no comparison as far as how much international calls cost using VoIP compared to a traditional landline service. VoIP is the far less expensive option and doesn’t depend on an aging copper wire system to make overseas calls.

When selecting an international VoIP calling plan, choose the most budget-friendly option based on your business’ calling needs. Some companies don’t need to call international locations consistently and will only need a plan that offers metered minutes, whereas other companies will call too frequently for this to be financially practical. Determine your business needs and contact one of the best VoIP providers to find the best fit for your business.