Nextiva vs RingCentral: Price, Features, & What’s Best in 2019

Nextiva and RingCentral are two different business phone systems that offer unlimited calling, automated attendants, multiple line support, and other functions. The majority of businesses will want to go with Nextiva, as it’s the best intersection of feature set and affordability. However, if you require more features or international calling, then RingCentral might be better for you.

When to Use Nextiva

Businesses that want a VoIP system with the best balance of strong features and value should choose Nextiva. It starts as low as $19.99 per month depending on the number of users you have. Even at its most basic tier, Nextiva offers a respectable set of core VoIP features like a web-based administration app, call forwarding, and voicemail-to-email functionality. Because of its great value, it’s an ideal choice for companies that don’t need international phone numbers.

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When to Use RingCentral

If you need to have international numbers as well as integrations with cloud repositories and CRM software, then RingCentral is for you. It comes at a higher starting price ($29.99 per user per month), but our readers also find that RingCentral has a very smooth user experience. For multinational companies or large call centers, RingCentral is the ideal fit.

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Nextiva vs RingCentral at a Glance

How We Evaluated Nextiva & RingCentral

Specific criteria we looked at include:

• Price – The direct cost of the service, as well as if any free trials available
• Call Management – We looked each platform’s ability to handle call forwarding, blocking, and holding functions
• Voicemail Handling – We looked whether the products offered voicemail-to-email and voicemail transcription functions
• Mobile App – The availability to take one’s work phone with them via the mobile app
• International Calling – The extent to which users can make international calls
• Automated Attendant – Many VoIP services offer a virtual receptionist that can answer and filter calls.
• Additional Features – Any added features that might make a VoIP solution perfect for specific use cases
• Software Integrations – The ability to connect data to other applications
• Ease of Use – VoIP solutions should be easy enough to be used by team members of all skill levels
• Customer Service – The level of help available to customers when needed

Based on our research, we recommend Nextiva for companies on a budget that are looking for a strong core set of features. For companies that have more advanced needs, like international phone numbers and CRM integration, we recommend making the extra investment in RingCentral. With that said, both solutions are exceptional and you’d be well-served by either one.

“Traditional phone systems still charge high rates for international calling and we need systems that allow us to connect with teams all over the world at a moment’s notice. We want our customers to get the highest levels of service, and we can’t have the line cutting out or dropping when they need help.”

– Matt Burns, Head of U.S. Customer Success, Monday.com

Nextiva vs RingCentral: Pricing & Features

Nextiva and RingCentral both offer various tiers of services that offer varying levels of functionality. Both companies offer volume discounts as well as discounts for signing up annually; your cost can be as low as $19.95 per month with Nextiva and as low as $29.99 per month with RingCentral.

Nextiva Pricing

Nextiva offers three different tiers of service: Office Pro, Pro Plus, and Office Enterprise. Prices for the Office Pro Edition range from $19.95 per user per month to $27.95 per user per month, and come with features like voicemail-to-email transcription, among others. More expensive versions offer modules such as conference bridge and the ability to record calls.

Nextiva Tiered Features

Office Pro

The Office Pro version of Nextiva offers unlimited domestic calling, free phone numbers for local and toll-free calling, unlimited fax functionality, and voicemail-to-email transcription. However, if you want conference bridge, call recording, and access to the Nextiva mobile app, you’ll need to upgrade to the upper levels.

The lack of conferencing bridging makes this version unusable for most established companies that often hold phone meetings. With that said, this is an ideal platform for businesses just starting out with VoIP technology that don’t need to use a mobile app or the bridging feature.

Office Pro Plus

For the extra money, Nextiva’s Office Pro Plus package offers conference bridge functionality for up to nine participants. You also get access to the Nextiva mobile app that delivers instant messages, screen sharing, and other collaboration modules into a single app that team members can use on the go.

The Office Pro Plus edition is a good package for established teams that need to hold phone conferences and want to use the mobile app when they are on the go. The combination of function and price make the most practical version for most small organizations.

Office Enterprise

Nextiva’s most expensive version comes with Nextiva Anywhere, which gives users the ability to make and receive calls from any device using just one phone number. Another big plus is that it comes with call recording for both incoming and outgoing calls. If you have a large number of remote workers and are looking for a uniform phone experience across devices, this is the package for you.

This edition is still missing some features that RingCentral offers, like international phone numbers. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you will still have to pay international calling fees with any tier of Nextiva. Still, if your company only has a presence in the U.S. and/or Canada, this is a good value.

RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral pricing plans are divided into four editions that range from $29.99 per user per month to $59.99 per user per month. Even at the cheapest tier of service, you get unlimited nationwide calls and a strong core set of features. It’s expensive, but it is a good fit for organizations that have offices in different countries.

RingCentral Tiered Features

Essentials

The Essentials package is the cheapest version of RingCentral available. This plan gives you 100 toll-free minutes as well as unlimited calling, SMS functionality, voicemail-to-email transcription, and conference calling for up to four participants. International calling is available for an additional fee.

This plan is limited to less than 10 users, so it’s not an ideal fit for companies with larger teams. In comparison, the cheapest version of Nextiva does not have a hard limit on the number of users you can bring into the system. In fact, the price goes down as part of the company’s volume discount. RingCentral offers a strong set of features for small teams, but larger teams with limited budgets may want to consider Nextiva.

Standard

With the Standard edition, you get all of the features of the Essentials edition as well as more toll-free calling minutes, an auto-attendant, and internet faxing. It starts at $34.99 per user per month, but can go down to as low as $29.99 per month if you have over 1,000 users.

This RingCentral pricing tier limits video meetings to just four participants. It also lacks unlimited faxing, which you’ll find in Nextiva’s cheapest tier. Still, the inclusion of the auto-attendant feature makes this package a good fit for small businesses that want a professional phone presence.

Premium

The Premium version of RingCentral is the vendor’s most popular package. For a starting price of $44.99 per user per month, you can hold conference calls for up to 100 users, as well as connect data to Salesforce and Zendesk. You also get automatic call recording at this tier.

RingCentral offers Salesforce and Zendesk integrations; Nextiva offers no integrations with CRM solutions in any of their versions. If you need to connect your phone service to Salesforce, then RingCentral is the better choice for you.

Ultimate

There are no major feature differences between this version and the Premium version. The main difference between the two is that this plan can accommodate up to 200 users in conference calls. It also offers 10,000 toll-free minutes, which is a large upgrade over the Premium plan. RingCentral’s Ultimate edition starts at $59.99 but can cost as low as $49.99 for companies with more than 1,000 users.

Nextiva is still a cheaper option, but RingCentral supports international numbers, whereas Nextiva only supports numbers in the U.S. and Canada. If you own a large company with offices in different countries, then RingCentral is likely the better choice.

Nextiva vs RingCentral: Ease of Use

From setup to everyday use, business VoIP services should be easy to use and understand so that your team can focus on making calls and getting work done. We looked at what users of both solutions have to say about each solution’s usability.

Nextiva Ease of Use

Nextiva’s setup support team makes it easy to get up and running with the system. The mobile app is also easy to use, and setting up new phones in the system is also painless. With that said, some users complained that the dashboard is a bit cluttered.

“It’s reliable, has a pretty simple admin dashboard to control everything, and setup was really simple. I did the entire office setup myself, which, after Nextiva helped configure the back-end, was mostly just plugging in phones. They’re great.” – Eric Rohrback, Associate Director of Operations, RedShift.

RingCentral Ease of Use

RingCentral is intuitive and user-friendly. Sections are clearly outlined and tool tips explain what each icon’s purpose is. The addition of how-to videos also helps users understand how to best leverage the service. RingCentral has the edge here because of its smooth interface.

Nextiva vs RingCentral: Customer Service

No matter how good a service is, there will likely come a time where you need help with something and need to reach out to the company directly. When evaluating Nextiva and RingCentral, we looked at the customer service options available as well as available hours on the company’s helpline.

Nextiva Customer Service

Nextiva has a customer support service that includes a knowledge base, a support ticketing system, live chat, and phone support that’s available from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST on weekdays and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST on weekends.

RingCentral Customer Service

RingCentral offers a range of different resources for its customers. Unlike Nextiva, their phone support is available 24/7. The company also offers a “RingCentral University” program where you can get answers that you and your team might face when getting set up. There are also a number of guides for setup and general use. RingCentral is the winner here for its round-the-clock phone support.

Nextiva vs RingCentral: Customer Reviews

In order to make the best purchasing decision for your company, it’s important to get the impressions of real customers of both Nextiva and RingCentral in order to gauge what it’s like to use these services out in the real world. We took a look at our readers’ reviews of each platform to learn what they think.

Nextiva Customer Reviews

Our readers are generally pleased with Nextiva, which they rated a four out of a possible five-star rating. They are particularly impressed with the service’s call quality as well as its responsive support team. With that said, some readers reported that the web app is somewhat cumbersome. Be sure to check out our Nextiva user review page for more reviews.

RingCentral Customer Reviews

All told, RingCentral users find it to be an effective phone system for businesses. Our readers particularly like the volume discounts available, as well the intuitive administrative portal. For more impressions from our readers, check out our user reviews of RingCentral.

Bottom Line

The truth of the matter is that most businesses would be well-served by either Nextiva or RingCentral. Nextiva comes at a significantly lower cost and it’s a better intersection of price and feature set than RingCentral. On the other hand, RingCentral has international features that Nextiva lacks.

If you’re on a tight budget but don’t want to compromise on VoIP functionality, Nextiva is a great fit, especially if you’re a smaller organization that wants things like unlimited calling and fax functionality even at the lowest tiers of service. If your company has teams in different countries, however, then RingCentral would be a better fit.

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