Office Technology

A softphone app lets you use your cell phone, tablet, or computer to make and receive business calls. The best softphone apps integrate with your other business software, include toll-free minutes and international calling, and have flexible plans or pricing options so you can get the most value for your money. We compared several options and identified the five best softphone apps based on features like these as well as affordability and overall ease of use: : Overall best softphone app and best for integrating phone system, project, and customer management tools : Top softphone app for organizations with a global customer base : Most affordable softphone app by mixing metered and unlimited plans : Best simple softphone app for small teams able to share phone lines : Best softphone app that works with existing business phone systems See fullscreen table × *Some providers offer discounts for annual prepayment or higher numbers of users (volume), or both. Nextiva: Best Overall Softphone App *Nextiva pricing is based on two to two to 99 users with monthly billing. Pay annually to save much more. is one of the best business phone systems thanks to its options for professionally recorded greetings, call flip, and numerous integrations. Nextiva also stands out because of its superb support—even with the base plan, phone, email and chat support is available. Other providers, like GoTo Connect, only provide this extensive level of support at higher plan tiers. Unlike , which can only forward calls to devices with an existing phone number, Nextiva completely replaces your current phone system. Plus, all plans include at least 1,500 toll-free minutes. In comparison, also provides toll-free minutes, but you’re limited to 5,000 on its highest plan tier versus 12,500 with Nextiva. Explore more user ratings and features in our Nextiva review. Nextiva Features Integrations: Integrated phone systems streamline your group’s workflows by reducing app switching and syncing data. Out-of-the-box integrations mean you can connect your customer relationship management (CRM) or project management tools with just a few clicks. APIs let your developer team add voice, video, or instant messaging to your most-used devices. Nextiva has integration options in categories such as CRM, help desk, productivity, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Unified communications: Nextiva puts several voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) communications channels on one platform, including one-to-one and group messaging, video, voice, unlimited electronic faxing, and texting. Combine this with two-sync for your CRM to easily track conversations across many channels. Softphone apps: Nextiva apps allow your employees to use their favorite (and most convenient) devices to join video meetings, collaborate with their co-workers, and answer incoming calls. Nextiva’s softphone app consistently is recognized for its ease of use. GoTo Connect: Best Softphone App for Unlimited International Calling *GoTo Connect pricing is based on two to 10 users with monthly billing. Prepay annually to save up to 12%. Per-minute international calling rates add up quickly if your customers live outside of the U.S. However, solves this problem by providing unlimited international calling to 52 countries on two out of three plans. Plus, you don’t need to put down a deposit as and require. GoTo Connect subscriptions include advanced features that other softphone apps charge more for. GoTo Connect Premium costs $39 per user, per month for two to 10 people with monthly billing. It has live metrics, call whisper and barge, and short message service (SMS) queues. A comparable plan from Nextiva is $40.95. GoTo Connect Features International calling: Unmetered international calling means you don’t have to worry about unpredictable per-minute charges on your bill. Softphone apps with unlimited international calling are rare. 8x8 and GoTo Connect are the only providers with this service. But, only GoTo Connect supports unmetered calls to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Croatia, Estonia, and French Guiana. Contact center tools: GoTo Connect Premium delivers insights about your call center while empowering supervisors to make decisions based on real-time data. Customizable dashboards keep important metrics on the screen, and managers can listen to calls, coach agents, and join a call. Video meetings: Although GoTo Connect supports fewer participants than 8x8's 500, it has a higher capacity than Nextiva or Phone.com. Cloud recordings are stored for one year, and mobile users can join a meeting and share their screen. Phone.com: Best Softphone App for Metered & Unlimited Calling Plans *Phone.com pricing is based on one to four users and monthly billing. Save 20% with annual prepayment. All packages include an automated attendant, video conferencing, and inbound faxing. It’s one of our picks for the best small business VoIP services, as are and , but only Phone.com offers metered plans. Plus, you can mix and match calling packages to meet different needs. As such, Phone.com provides the most affordable subscriptions on our list. Unlimited packages support sales, marketing, and customer service teams that need to connect via video, phone, or text without time limits. For part-time staff, contractors, and remote employees who may make an occasional call or use different software, the budget-friendly metered plan is a good fit. Phone.com also doesn’t restrict the number of users on base plans, meaning you could add 25 metered users for $179.75 per month with annual billing. In contrast, some providers, like , cap their lowest-priced subscriptions to 20 users. Phone.com Features Small team scalability: Get the most value out of your phone system by selecting plans based on employee usage. International calling: Phone.com charges U.S. local rates to landline numbers in Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. In comparison, GoTo Connect offers it in 52 countries. However, you’ll pay more than $29 for service with GoTo Connect versus $12.99 to $19.99 with Phone.com. Mobile apps: Turn any smartphone into a business phone with Phone.com’s iOS and Android apps. Users can view their business calls, texts, and voicemails (and respond to customers) without carrying a second cell phone. Grasshopper: Best Softphone App for Sharing Phone Lines *Grasshopper pricing is based on monthly payments. Select annual billing to save more than 10%. is the best virtual phone number provider because it’s easy on your budget and supports toll-free, vanity, and local phone numbers. It’s the only softphone app on our list that doesn’t charge per-user fees. Instead, the Partner and Small Business subscriptions bundle multiple lines and extensions into one flat rate. Other applications, including Nextiva, are more complicated to set up than Grasshopper due to their advanced feature sets. Grasshopper keeps it simple with basic VoIP calling, texting, and incoming fax capabilities. And you can reach out to U.S.-based customer support teams 24/7 on your preferred channel, an option that’s more limited with other providers. Grasshopper Features Unlimited extensions: While other softphone apps include unlimited extensions, you’re still paying a per-user fee. Grasshopper’s pricing model is different―with the Small Business plan, you can assign your small sales team one phone number and give each employee their own extension. Use your other four phone numbers to direct calls to different departments or allow your sales reps to have extensions on other lines. Customer service: Your small team may not include technical support employees, making your softphone app’s customer service essential. Grasshopper lets your team request assistance using their preferred channel. The U.S.-based contact center provides customer service through phone, live chat, email, Twitter, and Facebook. Desktop and mobile apps: Turn your personal device into a business tool with Grasshopper’s softphone apps. It shows you which line or extension your customers call, provides transcribed voicemails, and lets you adjust your user settings. You can even sign and email faxes and portable document formats (PDFs). Counterpath Bria: Best Softphone App for Use With Existing VoIP Phone Systems *Counterpath Bria pricing is based on annual billing. is the only softphone app that works with an existing phone system, making it the best fit for organizations with multiple locations and phone services. Instead of downloading up to five different apps on your devices, Counterpath Bria consolidates all communications into a single application. It supports most major VoIP systems and popular features, such as call recording, video conferencing, and team messaging. Like , you can use Counterpath Bria APIs to set up custom integrations with your technical support, help desk, or project management tools. In addition, the persistent chat rooms promote spontaneous interactions among remote employees, and users can seamlessly move from a chat to a video call. Counterpath Bria Features Call management: Use the Counterpath Bria softphone apps to transfer calls, place callers on hold, or record conversations. Integrated contact lists and presence data show you who’s available to take the call. Multi-account Functionality: Respond to customers from multiple business locations without confusing them with unknown phone numbers. Simply toggle between business phone systems right from the Counterpath Bria app. Remote teamwork: The team messaging and collaboration features let employees drag and drop files and share screens. Users can switch devices without restarting conversations and jump into a video or audio call with a single click. How We Evaluated the Best Softphone Apps The best softphone apps turn your smartphone or computer into a tool for business communication and collaboration. However, softphone apps vary widely in price, function, and overall usability. We assessed the best softphone apps based on pricing and feature sets while reviewing standout features, popularity, and ease of use. Learn how we evaluated the best softphone apps for small businesses by clicking on the tabs below: Bottom Line Softphone apps enable your team to work from anywhere using smartphones, tablets, laptops, or computers. The services come at different price points, and some, like Nextiva, can replace your current phone system, whereas others, like Counterpath Bria, work with your existing VoIP phone service. earns 4.39 out of 5, making it the best overall softphone app. It integrates with multiple third-party platforms and includes toll-free numbers, even at the base level. The mobile and desktop apps receive high user ratings and unify conversations from different channels onto one platform and device. Try it out by signing up for a seven-day free trial.

CloudTalk is an excellent cloud-based call center solution for businesses with a global customer base. However, its pricing and set of features do not match businesses that need to support multiple communication channels or have more advanced needs. We examined various platforms to help you look around for the best CloudTalk alternatives—prioritizing the availability of essential call management tools and their pricing options. According to our research, the best CloudTalk competitors include: : Best overall CloudTalk alternative and excellent option for those with unlimited international calling needs : Best option for businesses with tight budgets looking for an omnichannel contact center : Top alternative for companies with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) needs like workforce management tools : Best for those handling highly sensitive client information, including healthcare and finance organizations : Top contender for unlimited local calling and software integrations : Ideal for sales teams looking for a call center solution with excellent auto-dialing features CloudTalk & Best Alternatives at a Glance See fullscreen table × GoTo Connect: Best Overall CloudTalk Alternative for Small Businesses is a cloud-based business phone system with call center and video conferencing features. It is the best overall CloudTalk alternative due to its great balance of affordable pricing and comprehensive features, including virtual meetings. Additionally—unlike CloudTalk, which charges per minute—it offers unlimited calls to up to 52 countries, perfect for those with high global call volumes. While hardware isn’t required, those who prefer to utilize one can choose from more than 150 desk phone models. Additionally, GoTo Connect makes it easy for users to customize call flows with its virtual drag-and-drop editor. It also integrates with popular software, like Slack and Salesforce, for a more efficient workflow. However, its low-cost entry-level plan comes with a lot of limitations. For example, it only allows a maximum of four video conferencing participants and only one customized call flow. Moreover, advanced call management features—such as listen, whisper, and barge—are only available in the most expensive tier. If your business doesn’t have a tight budget and has a great need for these tools, you can check out alternatives like . GoTo Connect Pricing at a Glance* Basic: $29 per user, per month for one customizable call flow through the GoTo Connect dial plan editor, unlimited extensions, one ring group, and 40 minutes of video conferencing with four participants Standard: $39 per user, per month for unlimited customized call flows, unlimited ring groups, unlimited international calls to up to 52 countries, and unlimited video conferencing duration with 150 participants Premium: Starts at $49 per user, per month for a customizable cloud contact center platform *Prices are applicable for monthly billing and one user. Annual and volume discounts are available. GoTo Connect Features Business phone system: Choose local, toll-free, or vanity phone numbers for your virtual phone system that you can access from any device. You can also port your existing number, customize call flows, and set up your e-fax. Call center features: Manage large call volumes with tools like unlimited call queueing, wait time announcement, precall announcement, and advanced ring strategies. Video conferencing: Host virtual meetings to up to 250 participants, with one-click screen sharing and unlimited duration. Discover more plan inclusions and capabilities through our GoTo Connect review to find out if its packages work for you. Freshdesk Contact Center: Most Affordable Omnichannel Contact Center provides an intuitive platform that seamlessly integrates with other Freshworks products, such as Freshsales and Freshservice. It is the most budget-friendly option for businesses that need an omnichannel solution supporting calls, emails, and social media messages. Its paid plans have the lowest per-user monthly fees that start at $18 per agent, great for those wanting to utilize a basic cloud-based solution for their call management needs. Those who want to try it out can also sign up for a 21-day free trial or its free plan if its inclusions fit their current needs. Its plans are packaged in a way where premium plans and more incoming call minutes are locked in higher tiers. While CloudTalk has more international phone number coverage, Freshdesk Contact Center isn’t too far behind with its support for over 90 countries. However, if your business receives high inbound call volumes, you might need to look into CloudTalk more. It provides unlimited inbound call minutes in all plans, unlike Freshdesk Contact Center, which comes with limited incoming call minutes even at its highest subscription tier. Freshdesk Contact Center Pricing at a Glance* Free: Free for an unlimited number of agents, unlimited concurrent calls, call blocking, inbound caller ID, call metrics, custom greetings and messages, and GDPR compliance Growth: $18 per agent, per month for 2,000 incoming call minutes, team routing, basic reports, most third-party software integrations, and 100 per minute API limits Pro: $47 per agent, per month for 3,000 incoming call minutes, interactive voice response (IVR) phone trees, custom reports, all third-party software integrations, and 400 per minute API limits Enterprise: $83 per agent, per month for 5,000 incoming call minutes, speech-enabled IVR phone trees, omnichannel routing, service-level breached call reports, and 500 per minute API limits *Rates are exclusive of per-minute fees. Freshdesk Contact Center Features Inbound and outbound call management: Handle outgoing and incoming calls with features like call queues and power dialing. Call monitoring: Ensure ideal customer experience by monitoring your team’s performance through tools like call barging and detailed real-time reports on agent activities and call metrics. Affordable pricing: Freshdesk Contact Center is among the most budget-friendly call center software for businesses with growing needs. Read our Freshdesk Contact Center review for more details and to determine if its offerings suit your needs. Talkdesk: Best AI-powered Call Center offers a contact center platform with comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features, such as virtual agent and workforce management tools. It provides flexible deployment options—allowing it to be built in the cloud, on-premise, or with a combination of both. Apart from a more robust set of capabilities compared to CloudTalk’s, it also allows more integrations with third-party tools and provides access to an API for more customized and advanced connections. Unlike CloudTalk, Talkdesk does not display straightforward pricing, and those interested need to talk to a sales representative to request a customized quote. However, it does provide a starting fee estimate of $75 per user, per month—applicable for three-year subscriptions. This steeper price point and the lack of a free trial makes it a good choice only for companies with higher budgets and advanced needs. Talkdesk Pricing at a Glance* CX Cloud Essentials: $75 per user, per month for voice engagement, call routing, business intelligence, API access, and third-party app integrations CX Cloud Elevate: $95 per user, per month for voice and digital engagement, quality management, screen recording, and a virtual agent CX Cloud Elite: $125 per user, per month for custom reporting, performance management, 100% uptime service level agreement (SLA), and one add-on, like customer experience analytics Experience Clouds: Customized pricing for industry workspace, industry integrations, industry workflows, industry virtual agents, and an add-on, such as workforce management *Estimated rates exclusive of usage and telco fees and are applicable for subscriptions with a minimum contract length of three years. Talkdesk also provides concurrent and per-hour login consumption pricing. Contact its sales team for a customized quote. Talkdesk Features Voice and digital engagement: Send and receive calls, chats, texts, and emails in a single platform so you can reach your customers in their preferred channel. Workforce management: This AI-powered tool lets you optimize team management and automate work scheduling for more efficient operations. Third-party app integrations and API access: Integrate Talkdesk with your customized applications—through APIs and SDKs—and popular apps, such as Salesforce, Slack, and Zendesk. 8x8 Contact Center: Best for Businesses Handling Sensitive Client Data boasts a reliable platform with 99.999% uptime SLA and numerous security and compliance certificates for various industries. Examples are compliance with the HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, FISMA/NIST SP 800-53 R4, and CPNI. Those with strict data compliance standards can consider 8x8 Contact Center as their communication solution. Additionally, offers a reliable platform that supports omnichannel engagement, including calls, texts, social media channels, emails, and chats. While most of the providers in this list come with usage-based pricing for calls, 8x8 Contact Center offers unlimited calling to 48 countries. This inclusion is great for businesses with an international customer base handling high call volumes. While 8x8 Contact Center provides omnichannel messaging management tools, it is only available in higher plans that can be steep for those with tight budgets. Additionally, it doesn’t provide free trials, unlike other providers like CloudTalk. It also charges added fees for premium capabilities—like long-term media storage. 8x8 Contact Center Pricing at a Glance* X6: $125 per user, per month for unlimited calls to 48 countries, post-call survey, 99.999% uptime SLA, and preview, progressive, and predictive dialers X7: $138 per user, per month for skills-based routing, omnichannel routing, and co-browsing X8: $175 per user, per month for quality management, speech analytics, screen recording, and real-time multi-screen monitoring *Users can mix and match plans and the number of licenses according to their needs. 8x8 Contact Center Features Omnichannel routing: Unify your multi-channel communications to provide ideal customer experiences across channels, such as voice, messaging apps, social media, email, and SMS. Native CRM and CRM integrations: Consolidate your customer data and call center functionalities in a single platform through its built-in customer relationship manager (CRM) or by integrating its system with popular CRMs, like HubSpot. Customer experience analytics: Identify opportunities for customer experience improvements through a complete visualization of their journey. Aircall: Best for Unlimited Local Calling & Software Integrations is a cloud-based call center solution with business phone system features, including toll-free, local, and international numbers, collaboration, and analytics tools. It can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection through mobile and desktop devices. Unlike most providers that charge calls per minute, Aircall comes with unlimited calling features within the U.S. and Canada—great for those handling high local call volumes. While Aircall is an excellent option for support and sales teams, its advanced tools and price can be too much for those with average call volume and tight budgets. Moreover, it lacks capabilities that other providers, like , offer, such as internet fax, video conferencing, team messaging, and file sharing. Aircall Pricing at a Glance* Essentials: $40 per user, per month for unlimited calls within the U.S. and Canada, one-year data recording storage, call queueing, API access, and integrations with 95+ third-party software Professional: $70 per user, per month for unlimited data recording storage, queue callback, call whisper, advanced analytics, and a power dialer Custom: Customized pricing for features and inclusions bundled according to your needs *SMS and international calling bundles are available as add-ons. Aircall Features Queue callback: Offer your callers an option to leave the waiting line and receive your response at a later time. Power dialer: Make calls in rapid succession with a powerful sales dialer that automatically adds numbers from any webpage. Third-party software integrations, webhooks, and API access: Make your workflows more efficient by integrating your own apps or existing third-party software through one-click installations, webhooks, and APIs. Want to learn more about this platform? Check out our Aircall review for a comprehensive discussion on its features, pricing, and what users think about its system. Kixie: Best for Sales Teams That Need Auto-dialing is a cloud-based platform with voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP), contact center, and team management tools. While most contact centers are heavily focused on managing messages across channels, a lot of Kixie’s features are beneficial for sales teams. Most tools aim to improve team performance, better answer rates, and higher lead conversions, including auto-dialing, live coaching, and real-time dashboards. Unlike most providers, Kixie requires a minimum quarterly contract, which can be a disadvantage for those who do not want to be tied to longer contracts. However, it does provide a seven-day free trial that can help users determine if its platform is an excellent match to their needs. Kixie Pricing at a Glance* Integrated: $35 per user, per month on a quarterly basis for business phone services, text messaging, IVR, missed call alerts, ring groups, and a sales leaderboard Professional: $65 per user, per month on a quarterly basis for local presence dialing*, live call coaching, Intelligent AutoDialer, text templates, and instant website lead caller Enterprise: Customized pricing with an extended trial period for custom features, like automations, integrations, and auto-dialing *Additional charges apply for some features, like unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada and local presence dialing. Kixie Features Sales leaderboard: Motivate your agents by displaying a leaderboard showcasing all agents’ names and photos, including call duration, total connections, and total calls. Intelligent AutoDialer: Automatically connect your sales teams with your leads with its auto-dialer. It triggers calls from your customer relationship management (CRM) system once a lead conducts certain activities, such as checking your pricing page or submitting a response to your form. AI-powered spam detection: Instantly get rid of numbers with a low connection rate with this AI-powered feature that helps you lessen the chances of your numbers getting marked as spam. How We Evaluated the Best CloudTalk Competitors To find out the top alternatives, we analyzed call center software with inclusions similar to CloudTalk’s. These call center features include unlimited call queues, international phone numbers, third-party software integrations, and automated call distribution (ACD). We also recognized CloudTalk’s feature gaps—such as clear and reliable uptime SLA. According to our analysis, is the best alternative to CloudTalk—scoring 4.26 out of 5. It offers budget-friendly plans with a 14-day free trial. Its set of tools are also comparable to CloudTalk’s, which addresses the need to manage high call volumes, agent performance, and workflows. Learn more about how we determined our scores by clicking on the following tabs: Bottom Line is an excellent call center solution for businesses looking for an affordable platform to route callers to the most appropriate agents. It also provides tools that help develop better agent performance and workflows. While it provides wider international phone coverage, it charges overseas calls per minute. This type of billing can blow up costs for those with high outbound minutes. platform is comparable with CloudTalk and it makes it the best alternative for international calling needs. It offers unlimited calls to 52 countries and features that CloudTalk lacks, such as video conferencing. Sign up for its two-week free trial to determine if it satisfies your current business needs.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking is the method of sending and receiving communications over the internet through private branch exchange (PBX) equipment. It replaces traditional phone lines by upgrading your PBX to an internet-based phone network. Through this technology, your on-premise phone system benefits from unified communications services, such as video conferencing and instant messaging. Keep reading to learn what is SIP trunking, how it works, and how it will optimize your business communications. How SIP Trunking Works SIP is a protocol that initiates and terminates cloud-based communications, such as voice calls, video chats, and instant messaging. It is used to support voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) to send and receive calls over the internet. Below is a simplified summary of how SIP trunking works: You use the office phone to make a call, which goes through the PBX phone system. Once the phone system identifies the destination of your call, it will deliver the call to your internet telephony service provider (ITSP). Next, the ITSP will use SIP trunking to connect the SIP-based PBX to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The PSTN routes the call around and delivers the call to the ITSP of your recipient. SIP trunks use a packet-switched network to break down voice calls into digital packets and direct them over a network to their destination. This enables business telephone systems to conduct real-time communications over the internet, such as video conferencing and instant messaging. Top Benefits of Switching to SIP Trunking SIP trunking transforms your business communications by upgrading your PBX to a cloud-based phone system. From bigger cost savings to unified communications, SIP trunking delivers an optimized calling experience for its users. Here are other potential benefits of SIP trunking: 1. Reduced Overhead Costs One of the primary benefits of SIP trunking is it eliminates the need for traditional telephone lines, which requires users to buy circuits by the bundle to make simultaneous calls. SIP trunking providers use a virtual phone line bundle that relies on internet connectivity to deliver voice services. This leads to significant cost savings, which is ideal for businesses requiring multiple telephone lines to handle large calls. Since SIP trunking uses digital lines, it offers more control over your network infrastructure. This reduces the costs and requirements for installation, in-house equipment, and maintenance of a traditional phone system. Another benefit is the lower call charges for international and long-distance calls. SIP trunking providers offer simplified pricing packages based on usage, features, and add-ons. 2. Better Flexibility When Adding New Phone Lines SIP trunking is easily scalable, depending on usage. It makes adding channels and coping with increasing call volumes possible—perfect for fast-growing businesses. SIP trunking allows users to choose the right number of channels they need instead of paying for lines they don’t use. Also, no need to worry about physical installations since most providers offer unlimited capacity. SIP numbers are portable and have no location-based restrictions, allowing international companies to create a local number in other locations without a physical address. Plus, SIP trunking enables you to keep your existing phone number even if you’re changing offices. 3. Greater Reliability During Bad Weather or Network Issues Whether it’s bad weather, equipment failure, or network issues, SIP trunking is more reliable than traditional phone systems. In case of failure, SIP trunking allows users to keep using their phones by routing calls to other devices or lines. The right SIP trunking provider should provide a disaster preparedness plan for troubleshooting. 4. Access to Enhanced Communications Services SIP trunking boasts of its multichannel functionality by offering unified communications services, such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and application integration. SIP trunk providers have the expertise to give you the right services quickly and easily. If you’re ready to scale up your business phone system with SIP trunking, learn how to set up a VoIP system to access enhanced communications services like team messaging and video conferencing. Potential Drawbacks of SIP Trunking SIP trunking involves a few issues that may likely affect the quality and delivery of phone calls. However, most of the problems stem from misconfiguration instead of the technology itself. Here are the potential drawbacks to consider before investing in SIP trunking: 1. Requires a Costly Upfront Investment SIP trunking is resource-intensive unless you have an existing PBX infrastructure. Switching to SIP trunks demands a robust network infrastructure, SIP-compatible PBX, and VoIP-compatible phones. These all require a large upfront investment. A single PBX box costs over $1,000, and you have to purchase a plan from an SIP trunking provider to access its software for your phone system. Also, you may need additional cables and maintenance for on-premise setups and outsource support if you don’t have an internal IT team. 2. Compatibility Issues With SIP Trunking Providers Many first-time SIP users face compatibility issues when choosing a SIP trunking provider for their existing PBX. It also happens in non-PBX devices, such as fax machines previously connected to PSTN lines. This puts significant pressure on businesses to determine whether their PBX is compatible with the selected provider. 3. Good Bandwidth Is a Must Businesses with poor internet won’t get enough bandwidth to handle VoIP calls or access VoIP dedicated server hosting. If you have a single data connection, your internet connectivity should support your phone system, including other processes that require data. If not, your existing call volume will affect bandwidth performance. Factors to Consider When Choosing the Right SIP Trunk Provider A SIP trunking provider helps businesses use their existing PBX to transition into an internet-enabled telephone network. The right one should provide your business with feature-rich plans that fit your budget and communication needs. Here are the factors to consider when choosing an SIP trunking provider: Top SIP Trunking Providers for Small Businesses There are plenty of options to choose from when looking for a SIP trunking provider. However, each provider differs based on features, scalability, and pricing plans. To narrow down your choice, we’ve already picked the best options for you. Here are the best SIP trunking providers for a seamless transition of your phone system: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What is the difference between VoIP & SIP? VoIP, which stands for voice-over-internet-protocol, refers to any phone call made over the internet. SIP, which stands for Session Initiation Protocol, initiates and terminates communication sessions in VoIP platforms, including messaging, voice, and video. Does switching to SIP trunking require a huge investment? The initial setup cost for SIP trunking depends on the existing PBX hardware you already have. It’s up to you whether you want to retire your old equipment and purchase new. Expect to pay between $500 and $2,000 for this equipment investment. To get more savings, compare the setup costs with available providers. What are the requirements to set up SIP trunking? There are three requirements for SIP trunking implementation: internet connection with adequate bandwidth, VoIP phone, and SIP-compatible PBX. If you have an outdated PBX system, you will need to buy a gateway to connect it to SIP trunks. Otherwise, newer systems don’t require additional hardware. Bottom Line SIP trunking revolutionizes business phone systems without requiring a large upfront investment. SIP trunks’ internet-based solutions make them more reliable, flexible, affordable, and scalable compared to traditional telephone lines. This makes SIP trunking a useful transitional technology for fast-growing companies that want to control their telecom spending. If you’re looking for the best SIP trunking provider, try Elastic SIP Trunking to access on-demand cloud features and pay-as-you-go pricing plans. It will help you utilize SIP trunking for better global connectivity.

The best Phone.com alternatives offer diverse functionality while still providing the essential voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) business calling features Phone.com users appreciate, such as an inexpensive base plan, toll-free numbers, and an auto-attendant. We examined several competitors, rated them on usability, features, and pricing, and identified the best use cases for six phone.com alternatives. Based on our comparison, the best Phone.com alternatives include: : Overall best Phone.com alternative for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) : Best alternative to Phone.com for mid-to-large-size companies wanting international phone numbers : Top choice for seasonal, a la carte add-on options : Best affordable Phone.com alternative with artificial intelligence (AI) features : Great option for solopreneurs or startups that want a free business phone number with call recording : Best virtual Phone.com alternative for small, remote teams that don’t need more than five phone numbers Phone.com & Best Alternatives at a Glance See fullscreen table × Nextiva: Best Overall Phone.com Alternative is the best overall alternative for SMBs because the unified communications (UC) platform includes professionally recorded greetings and toll-free minutes. No other providers offer free recordings for your auto-attendant or voicemail system, and Nextiva subscriptions include more toll-free minutes than . Nextiva works well for small businesses with on-site and remote employees. All plans include desk phone compatibility, whereas RingCentral and Vonage don’t include this in entry-tier packages. Nextiva also provides 24/7 phone, email, and chat support. In comparison, RingCentral and Dialpad don’t offer phone support on their base plans. As one of the best small business VoIP services, Nextiva keeps your teams connected with its CoSpace application. It’s a shared workspace for your team, allowing them to interact via instant message, group chat, or video. Although Nextiva is our top Phone.com alternative, you may want to consider another provider if you don't need toll-free numbers and minutes or professional greetings. For instance, is less expensive than Nextiva, yet offers advanced analytics, text messaging, and call recording on the base plan, whereas Nextiva locks these features behind pricier tiers. Nextiva Pricing at a Glance* Essential: $30.95 per user, per month for unmetered calling in the U.S. and Canada, unlimited faxing, team messaging, one-to-one video calls, a local and toll-free number, and 1,500 toll-free minutes Professional: $35.95 per user, per month for 40 audio conference participants, 250 video meeting attendees, 3,000 toll-free minutes, short message service (SMS), 250 call pops, and one professional greeting Enterprise: $45.95 per user, per month for unlimited audio conferencing participants, 12,500 toll-free minutes, unlimited call pops, call and video recording, voicemail transcription, and three professional greetings Ultimate: $75.95 per user, per month for surveys, survey analytics, spam protection, and custom survey landing pages *Pricing is based on one to four people with monthly billing. Save with discounts for additional users and annual billing. Nextiva Features Unified communications: Nextiva puts instant messaging, text conversations, group chat, video, and voice capabilities into one platform. You also get unlimited faxing with all plans, unlike RingCentral, which leaves it off the base plan. Call pops: Use call pops to give agents more context about incoming callers before they pick up the phone. They can view previous customer interactions, customer experience scores, and survey ratings. Music on hold messaging: All subscriptions supply free professional recordings, except Essential. Music on hold messaging can be a mix of music and promotional messages. You provide the script, and Nextiva takes it from there. Read more about Nextiva's features in our comprehensive Nextiva review. RingCentral MVP: Best Phone.com Alternative for International Phone Numbers is the best business phone system for midsize or larger organizations looking to expand globally. While it offers a unified communications platform similar to and supplies toll-free minutes, Nextiva doesn’t provide international phone numbers. In contrast, RingCentral lets you choose international local or toll-free numbers, depending on the location. If your company’s growth also includes adding international employees, RingCentral can help. All RingCentral products support 17 languages, so your team can get localized voice prompts and callers interact with multilingual interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Like RingCentral MVP, also supports global workforces in over 40 countries, but it doesn’t advertise support for multiple languages. However, RingCentral only provides volume discounts for companies with 100 or more users. As such, its plans cost more than other competitors. offers international numbers in more than 96 countries and may be your more affordable alternative. Check out the differences between these providers in our RingCentral versus Vonage comparison. RingCentral MVP Pricing at a Glance* Essentials: $29.99 per user, per month for up to 20 users, a local or toll-free number, 100 toll-free minutes, unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, texting, and team messaging Standard: $37.99 per user, per month for unlimited faxing, 1,000 toll-free minutes, audio conferencing, video meetings with 100 people, and on-demand call recording Premium: $44.99 per user, per month for 2,500 toll-free minutes, video conferences with 200 participants, automatic call recording, single sign-on (SSO), and real-time analytics Ultimate: $59.99 per user, per month for 10,000 toll-free minutes, device status reports and alerts, and unlimited cloud storage *Pricing is based on two to 20 people with monthly billing. Save up to 33% with annual prepayment and additional discounts with 100 or more users. RingCentral MVP Features Team collaboration: Connect your team, regardless of where they live, using RingCentral MVP tools. Users can view services in their preferred language and work together in multiple ways, such as group chats or video meetings. Integrations: RingCentral works with hundreds of third-party apps, including customer relationship managers (CRMs), developer tools, and productivity platforms. With a vast range of options, RingCentral is great for large organizations wanting to improve workflows using integrated services. Security: Although other Phone.com alternatives provide services compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards, RingCentral has additional certifications. RingCentral MVP and apps are certified by the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) and earned a McAfee CloudTrust rating of Enterprise-Ready. Vonage Business Communications: Best Phone.com Alternative for Seasonal a la Carte Add-ons differs from other Phone.com competitors because it offers many features as optional add-ons. While the cost of add-ons can make Vonage less affordable than other providers, it’s a good fit for companies needing extra support during peak seasons. For instance, you may use the low-priced Mobile plan year-round but want to add call groups during cycles with higher call volumes or call recording when training seasonal staff. In these cases, paying $4.99 for call groups, which ring up to 28 extensions simultaneously or sequentially, or adding 500 hours of call recording time for $49.99 per month may be cheaper than paying for higher-priced subscriptions year-round. Vonage Business Communications also helps manage call quality with its SmartWAN feature. You can prevent congestion, prioritize voice and video calls, and view performance statistics. If you require ring groups and call recording throughout the year, offers a better solution. Three ring groups and call recording come with the Standard plan, and you can choose annual billing to drop the price to $15 per user, per month. Vonage Business Communications Pricing at a Glance* Mobile: $19.99 per user, per month for unlimited calling in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, unmetered SMS, team messaging, and Vonage app center integrations Premium: $29.99 per user, per month for video meetings with 100 people, multi-level auto-attendant, CRM integrations, and internet protocol (IP) phone compatibility Advanced: $39.99 per user, per month for on-demand call recording, call groups, and visual voicemail *Pricing is based on one to four people. Vonage Business Communications Features Siri for iPhones: Vonage Business Communications users can use Siri to start a hands-free call using their iPhone. This feature is perfect for sales teams and others constantly on the go. By the way, RingCentral also works with Siri and lets you send a hands-free text message. Mobility: Vonage supports the how and where you work. Your team can connect up to three devices to the service, including desk phones and softphone apps on your computer or cell phone. Plus, you can easily switch devices mid-call, just like with Nextiva and RingCentral. Quality management: As your business moves to cloud-based services, it can be challenging for your internet to keep up. The SmartWAN feature provides information required for quality of service (QoS) and experience (QoE) reports. It helps optimize internet traffic and can reduce the need to purchase more expensive broadband packages. Our Vonage review walks you through many of the more important business communications features that the provider offers. Dialpad: Best Phone.com Alternative for AI Features gives the most bang for your buck with artificial intelligence (AI) by way of AI-based tools for automating tasks and advanced analytics. It also offers the most feature-rich entry-tier subscription compared to other Phone.com alternatives. Dialpad’s Standard plan includes features like call recording, voicemail transcription, spam protection, and multi-level auto-attendants for $15 per user, per month with annual billing. In contrast, Nextiva only offers spam detection on its Ultimate plan ($67.95 per user, per month with yearly prepayment). RingCentral MVP charges $34.99 per user, per month with annual billing for its Premium subscription with automatic call recording. Likewise, both providers lock real-time and voice analytics behind higher tiers. Although includes call recording on its free and paid versions, it lacks AI-driven tools and advanced analytics. Other standout Dialpad features include international texting on the Pro plan and advanced routing tools like round-robin, fixed order, and longest idle. However, toll-free numbers are an add-on cost, and Dialpad restricts video conferencing to 10 participants unless you opt for a paid Dialpad Meetings subscription. If you host large meetings with 200 or 250 people, the upper-level and packages have higher conference limits and advanced features. Your total cost of ownership (TCO) for an upper package with these Phone.com alternatives could be about the same as subscriptions to both Dialpad voice and video services, which caps participants at 100. Dialpad Pricing at a Glance* Standard: $20 per user, per month for a local number, unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, call recording, multi-level auto-attendant, spam protection, voicemail transcription, and unlimited texting Pro: $30 per user, per month with a three-license minimum for international SMS, integrations, and 25 ring groups Enterprise: If you need 100 or more licenses, contact Dialpad for a custom quote for unlimited ring groups and single sign-on (SSO) integrations *Pricing is based on monthly billing. Choose annual for additional discounts. Dialpad Features Analytics and reporting: Drill down into usage and performance using Dialpad’s reporting capabilities. It tracks various metrics for keywords, on-hold queues, caller sentiment, and call data. AI-based voice intelligence generates the insights used for improving customer experiences. Speech coaching: The real-time assist speech coaching tool displays on-screen suggestions to your employees. It can remind them to speak clearly, avoid filler words like “um,” and slow down. Productivity: Dialpad plans provide AI-based tools to reduce your team’s after-call work (ACW). Once you’ve enabled voice intelligence, you can automatically create a real-time transcript at the start of every call. The software generates call summaries, highlights, and action items. Not sure if this is the provider for you. Head over to our Dialpad review - it goes in-depth to help you make an informed decision about your business phone system. Google Voice: Best Phone.com Alternative for Startups & Solopreneurs is an excellent Phone.com alternative and is on our list of the best cheap VoIP services. Individuals get a phone number, unlimited calling and texting in the U.S., and voicemail for free, making it a great option if you need a second phone number for business. Unlike Nextiva, all Google Voice subscriptions include spam protection and call recording. The Starter package is also useful for small teams of up to 10. It’s the most affordable base plan at $10 per user, per month, but also requires a separate Google Workspace subscription, starting at $6 per user, per month. The Standard package includes features such as auto-attendants, desk phone compatibility, and ring groups. If you already use Google Workspace, adding Google Voice delivers extra value. For five users, you’ll pay the same price for the Google Workspace and Standard voice combo ($80 per month) as you would for Small Business plan ($80 per month with annual billing). But Google Voice lacks built-in video conferencing and doesn’t support toll-free numbers. In this case, would be more suitable than Google Voice. A team of five or 10 pays $25.95 per user, per month with annual billing on Nextiva’s Professional plan. While more expensive, the extra cost pays for a local and toll-free number, 3,000 toll-free minutes, a professionally recorded greeting, and conferences with 250 participants. Google Voice Pricing at a Glance* Personal: No monthly charge for one phone number, unlimited calling in the U.S., call recording, voicemail transcription, and unlimited texting Starter: $10 per user, per month for up to 10 users, unlimited calling and texting, do not disturb (DND), call recording, and voicemail transcripts Standard: $20 per user, per month for auto-attendants, desk phone compatibility, and ring groups Premier: $30 per user, per month to add international locations and export voice to BigQuery *Paid subscriptions are an add-on to a Google Workspace plan, starting at $6 per user, per month. Google Voice Features Google integrations: Google seamlessly works with your Gmail and Google Calendar apps. You can start a call right from your inbox or send calls straight to voicemail if your calendar shows you’re busy. Voicemail transcription: Save time by reading your voicemail messages from your email or Google Voice app. Google uses artificial intelligence to transcribe customer messages and bolds new messages in the mobile app. Auto-attendants: The Google Voice auto-attendant lets callers choose from a list of options, and it automatically routes them to the right team. You can set different actions for after-hours calls or holiday closures. Plus, Google can send calls to an individual, another auto-attendant, or number. Read more in our Google Voice review - it goes in-depth to help you understand the business applications of the provider. Grasshopper: Best Phone.com Alternative for Sharing Five Lines Like Google Voice, is a popular virtual number provider offering local, toll-free, and vanity phone numbers. It doesn’t charge per-user fees, and you can forward calls to cell phone and landline numbers. Users choose Grasshopper because the mobile app is super user-friendly and setup doesn’t require any technical skills. Subscriptions with unlimited extensions mean you can add a contractor or temporary employee without increasing your phone bill. Unfortunately, Grasshopper doesn’t offer HIPAA-compliant services or integrated video conferencing. All of the other Phone.com alternatives can meet HIPAA standards and all except Google Voice have native video conferencing features. All Grasshopper features are included in every plan tier, unlike other Phone.com alternatives. Plus, like , Grasshopper offers add-on features, such as 35% off services and professionally recorded greetings starting at $75. See exactly how Grasshopper and Phone.com stack up in our Phone.com vs Grasshopper head-to-head comparison. Grasshopper Pricing at a Glance* Solo: $29 per month for one local, toll-free, or vanity phone number and three extensions Partner: $49 per month for three numbers and six extensions Small Business: $89 per month for five numbers and unlimited extensions *Pricing is based on monthly billing. Choose annual and save up to 10%. Grasshopper Features Mobile and desktop apps: Use your cellular data or internet connection to make and receive calls, text with co-workers and clients, and view business contacts. Grasshopper apps also give you a voicemail box for reading transcriptions or listening to the messages. Informational extensions: Contact Grasshopper Customer Care to create up to five topics and five subtopics with enhanced extensions. Your messages can be any length, making them perfect for sharing your business hours or latest promotions without tying up your phone line. Call reports: Discover details about usage, activity, or calls with Grasshopper reports. You can filter results according to a business number, time frame, or call forwarding number. These give a small team insight into call volumes, but as your business grows, you may prefer a solution like Dialpad for advanced analytics. Read our Grasshopper guide to understand more about the virtual phone system. How We Evaluated the Best Phone.com Alternatives Phone.com competitors provide several features doesn’t offer, such as toll-free minutes and AI-based analytics. But the providers and subscriptions vary greatly in price and functionality, so we looked at general and advanced features to compare vendors. We scored each service based on its overall value for the money and user ratings. Check out our full Phone.com review to see the pros and cons, then consider our top recommended alternative, Nextiva. earned 4.54 out of 5 based on our criteria, making it the best Phone.com alternative. It provides annual and volume-based discounts, free professional voice recordings, and an auto-attendant. Like Phone.com, Nextiva supports video conferencing but lets you meet with up to 250 people instead of just 100. Learn more in our Nextiva review or try it yourself with a seven-day free trial. Here's a breakdown of how we measured each provider: Bottom Line is an affordable and popular phone system, yet it lacks features some businesses may want, such as advanced analytics and toll-free minutes. As such, there are some cases where a Phone.com competitor may fit your needs better. We assessed several Phone.com alternatives and compared them based on our rating system and potential business use cases. Based on our research, is the best Phone.com alternative. It provides a unified communications platform where your team can collaborate in real time and turn any chat into a voice or video call. Unlike Phone.com, Nextiva also offers toll-free minutes with every plan. Check out Nextiva to learn if it’s right for your business.

A softphone is a software-based phone application that transmits calls over the internet through a computer or mobile device. It comes with standard desk phone functionalities like mute, transfer, hold, and a dial pad. Since it operates on a computer, softphones have expanded call management features, such as video conferencing, voicemail management, online chat, and SMS capabilities. Find out what is a softphone and how your business can benefit from it. How Softphones Work in Modern Business A softphone works by making, receiving, and managing voice calls over the internet. To understand the ins and outs of how a softphone works, here’s a complete breakdown: A softphone works just like a traditional desk phone, except it uses software to make calls. It facilitates the transmission of voice and multimedia content over the internet without using a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone. Voice calls take place over a computer or any mobile device with a working microphone and speaker. Once you install a softphone app on a device, it operates like any other telephone along with a wealth of additional functionalities. Softphones enable users to send out call invitations, view their calendar, send group messages, and access messages through any softphone-enabled device. A session initiation protocol (SIP) server facilitates real-time VoIP sessions, converting your voice into digital signals over the internet. This eliminates the need for PBX (private branch exchange) hardware since it relies on a cloud-based PBX. Important VoIP business phone features are built into the software, creating a user-friendly interface. Chief Benefits of a Softphone Softphones are among the best business phone systems for different communication and collaboration needs. In this age of remote working, a reliable business phone solution has become a necessity in managing teams working in different locations simultaneously. A few of the more specific benefits softphones offer compared to traditional phone technology are: 1. Bigger Cost Savings Softphones offer a cost-effective solution when it comes to installing and maintaining a business phone system. Since desk phones are configured using a dedicated network line, installation and maintenance are expensive—leading to huge upfront costs for businesses. With softphones, the software is directly available from the vendor’s website, ready to be installed on your selected device, be it a computer, laptop, or smartphone. Subscription plans come at different price points and packages to suit every budget and business need. Popular softphone apps, such as those offered by Nextiva and competitors like and , start at $15 to $19.99 per user, per month. Making international calls through softphones is cheaper than traditional landlines since you’re making calls via the internet. Many softphone providers offer free unlimited calls to the U.S. and Canada, including a toll-free number in several countries. 2. Manage Calls Wherever You Are Softphones operate entirely in the cloud, allowing you to manage calls anywhere provided there’s an internet connection. This makes softphones a flexible solution for remote and hybrid work environments since users have access to a suite of unified communication tools to get work done wherever they go. 3. Unified Communications Solution Softphones support various forms of communication into a single platform. It combines the basic features of an office phone system with advanced communication channels, such as team messaging, video conferencing, and advanced call handling. Softphones allow users to send group messages, join online meetings, and interact with clients almost instantly. There’s no need to switch between apps or open multiple browsers to access information and exchange files. 4. Better Team Collaboration Softphones enhance team experience by giving employees access to various collaboration tools, such as cloud-based apps, visual voicemail, and customizable keys. Most softphone providers integrate their services with other third-party platforms to provide a better team experience and expand functionality. Potential Disadvantages of a Softphone While softphones are a clear standout over traditional desk phones, there are a few potential downsides when integrating them into your business communication system. Here are the drawbacks of softphones to consider before using this technology: 1. Internet Dependency Softphones need a stable internet connection to work. Moreover, unpredictable situations like weather disturbances, power outages, and bandwidth limitations affect call quality and service accessibility. This makes softphones an inconvenience for offices lacking a strong internet connection. 2. Learning Curves for Beginners Embracing new technology in your business requires a bit of training that involves a few learning curves. Although softphone providers strive to build a user-friendly interface, new updates require users to undergo training to fully understand how softphones work. 3. Device Compatibility Besides poor internet connection, device compatibility is also a big issue when using softphones. Softphone access is dependent on the device, so you have to make sure it is up to date, including its operating system. Users should also invest in good-quality headphones to maximize call quality. Choppy and delayed calls are common issues when using wireless connectivity. Alternatives to Softphones While softphones offer comprehensive communication solutions, you might be looking for alternatives that better suit your business. Other options provide a dedicated office phone solution, an integrated messaging platform, or call center phone systems for support teams. Here are a few recommended alternatives: IP Phones & Desk Phones There are two common types of phone systems for business: landline desk phones and internet protocol (IP) phones. Landline desk phones use an on-premise PBX to manage multiple calls; they are reliable and deliver excellent call quality. Meanwhile, IP phones use VoIP technology to deliver voice calls over the internet. Unlike desk phones, IP phones offer a host of features, such as call analytics, auto-attendant, and call hand-off. Many businesses are still opting for traditional desk phones and IP phones despite the multiple functionalities of softphones. They require dedicated hardware, providing exceptional voice quality and ensuring calls remain crystal-clear. Smartphone Apps In the age of social networking, most people view social media platforms as the easiest way to communicate with other users without their phone numbers. Some widely used smartphone apps include WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger. These applications also help users form nested connections with their social media accounts. For example, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp allow users to send messages across these platforms and connect with other users within this family of apps. Smartphone apps as a messaging service are recommended for personal use. On the other hand, business calling and large-scale conferencing are conducted more efficiently with a softphone app. Browser-based Dialing Systems Browser-based dialing systems are the best choice for small businesses that want to improve the performance of their telemarketing operations and maximize reach with prospects. This makes it easier to accommodate high volumes of calls and track the entire customer journey. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What is the difference between VoIP phones & softphones? VoIP phones work similarly to traditional desk phones. They come with a dial pad, microphone, earpiece, and a small screen. What makes it different from a softphone is that you don’t need hardware to manage calls. The entire phone system exists as software within your device, ready to use wherever you go. What are examples of softphones? Softphones are software-based solutions designed to use VoIP technology to manage calls over the internet. They are typically built to look and function like the dialer screen on most smartphones, but can operate on desktop computers as well as on mobile devices. How do I use a softphone? Softphones run across multiple devices, such as desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Usage depends on the provider, but it's no different than opening any software program. They come with a dial pad where you enter the recipient’s contact information. When making calls, simply speak through your device or a headset connected to your computer. Bottom Line Softphones make an incredible addition to your business phone system. They offer a range of features to streamline end-to-end communications and facilitate team collaboration. Softphones are a perfect fit for small businesses looking for bigger cost savings, greater ability to manage large volumes of calls, or an all-in-one communications solution. If you want to learn more about the role VoIP systems play in your business, check out our guide about small business VoIP services. It’ll help you find the best VoIP providers for business communication.

The best CallRail alternatives offer similar features, like intelligent call routing and dynamic number insertion (DNI). However, various CallRail competitors offer lower prices, richer data, unique functionality, or international numbers in more regions. To help you find the best CallRail alternative for your business, we compared several call tracking software systems based on price, features, and ease of use. The five best CallRail alternatives include: : Overall best alternative to CallRail, and best for international phone numbers and text campaigns : Best call tracking software for monitoring ecommerce transactions : Most budget-friendly alternative to CallRail for $1 U.S.-based local and toll-free numbers : Best call tracking software for optimizing customer service center interactions : Best CallRail alternative for media agencies needing comprehensive data on pay-per-call buyers CallRail & Best Alternatives Compared at a Glance See fullscreen table × CallTrackingMetrics: Best Overall CallRail Alternative is the best CallRail alternative based on our criteria. Among the reasons why is because it supplies international phone numbers in more than 80 countries and is the only provider that tracks text messaging campaigns. It also stands out because you get additional per-minute savings if you forward calls to your softphone instead of your cell phone or desk phone. On the entry-level plan, you’ll pay $0.038 per minute for local incoming calls to a softphone—the lowest rate offered on base plans by among the best CallRail alternatives. Although CallTrackingMetrics doesn’t offer subscriptions with phone numbers and minutes like , the company says, “If you can attach a number to it, you can track it.” This applies to forms, text messages, chat conversations, and calls. In comparison, only tracks calls, and doesn’t monitor text messages. Along with call tracking, CallTrackingMetrics provides an interactive voice response (IVR) system and schedule-based routing on the base plan. You can also choose the Growth version for advanced options, including geographic routing. These are similar to voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone features for businesses. However, CallTrackingMetrics is more expensive than other alternatives and locks Salesforce integrations behind its priciest plan, Connect, which costs $299 per month. If you’re looking specifically for Salesforce integrations, and offers it with all subscriptions through Zapier. Plus, Retreaver provides international numbers in over 50 countries, including U.K.-based toll-free numbers. CallTrackingMetrics Pricing at a Glance* Performance: $39 per month for unlimited users, call recording, bulk text messaging campaigns, call routing, $2.50 local numbers, and $3.50 toll-free numbers Growth: $99 per month for marketing agency tools, GeoContact, smart routing, call queues, file sharing, and $1.50 local and $2.25 toll-free numbers Connect: $299 per month for conference calls, smart dialer, internal team chat, $1.25 local numbers, and $2 toll-free numbers Enterprise: Request a quote for personalized training packages, service level agreement (SLA), and a dedicated account manager *Pricing is based on a monthly payment and doesn’t include usage fees. Choose annual billing for additional savings. CallTrackingMetrics Features Multi-channel tracking: Keep tabs on your campaigns across all channels using CallTrackingMetrics. Score and tag any conversations related to your unique phone number, including Google Ads and text messages. Plus, return on investment (ROI) reports and keyword performance stats show how your campaigns perform across multiple channels. Advanced routing: CallTrackingMetrics supports several routing methods to ensure your callers get to the agents best equipped to help them, which is vital if your international callers need a bilingual agent. Artificial intelligence (AI) can send leads to reps based on location, previous call history, or to the nearest call center location. Mobile apps and softphones: With intuitive apps for Android and iOS apps and an integrated softphone, your agents can answer and make calls worldwide. CallTrackingMetrics tracks each conversation, and users can view alerts without unlocking their smartphone. WhatConverts: Best CallRail Alternative for Inclusive Plans for Ecommerce Companies is the only call tracking software on our list with customizable plans that include local or toll-free numbers. It also integrates with popular ecommerce software like and . As such, you can attach marketing details to online orders to better understand how or why customers choose your business. WhatConverts puts your ecommerce data in the same dashboards used for keyword and campaign tracking, providing a unified look at your leads and conversions. Like , WhatConverts subscriptions support chat, call, and form tracking but not text messages. The handy online tool lets you choose up to 12, 29, or 133 local numbers on the Plus, Pro, and Agency plans or nine, 17, or 80 toll-free numbers. In contrast, you’ll pay up to $5 per number with other CallRail competitors. However, if you want to add your agency’s branding to the dashboard or emails, WhatConverts charges an extra $50 per month on all plans. In this case, offers better pricing and completely customizable reporting tools for your clients. WhatConverts Pricing at a Glance* Plus: $30 per account for unlimited users, six local numbers, 335 local minutes, call recording, and integrations as well as ecommerce call, form, and chat tracking Pro: $50 per account for 15 local numbers, 625 local minutes, voicemail, IVR, and a custom report builder Agency: $200 for unlimited accounts for agencies, 67 local numbers, and 2,855 local minutes *WhatConverts plans are customizable, so you can adjust your phone numbers and minutes using the online calculator. WhatConverts Features Lead management: WhatConverts provides a comprehensive toolbox for filtering, qualifying, and valuing leads. Your dashboard offers several views to see how conversions vary by channel, keyword, or campaign. Integrate your customer relationship management (CRM) software to automatically update lead information in WhatsConverts. Real-time reporting: Keep your team on top of the latest leads by notifying users in your team communication and collaboration programs, such as Slack, or view them on your desktop or mobile phone. Ecommerce integrations: While most call tracking apps connect with WordPress and Google Analytics, they don’t have built-in integrations for BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Squarespace. With WhatConverts, you can access all integrations, webhooks, and APIs with any subscription. Retreaver: Best CallRail Alternative for $1 Local or Toll-free Numbers is the most budget-friendly alternative to CallRail for purchasing and tracking phone numbers. Unlike other providers, Retreaver charges a flat fee regardless of whether the number is local or toll-free―you’ll pay just $1 to add a phone number with Retreaver. Minutes cost 5 cents each, but if your volume exceeds 5,000 minutes per month, Retreaver provides preferred pricing to lower your usage costs. Regardless of call volume, all users get the same standard features, which is a refreshing change from other CallRail competitors that use a tiered pricing model. Although Retreaver costs less than other providers, it doesn’t skimp on features. Attribute-based call routing sends leads to the best agent based on geo-location, segment, product, or offer. In addition, you can use the Retreaver dashboard to view call analytics in real time. But Retreaver lacks the multi-channel tracking available with and doesn’t provide transparent pricing on its website. If you only want to track phone calls, reach out to the Retreaver sales team to explore your options. If you need to see how campaigns reflect on your live chat, text, and form activity, consider CallTrackingMetrics. Retreaver Pricing at a Glance Retreaver doesn’t provide multiple plans. Instead, you pay a flat rate of $1 per phone number and 5 cents per minute. Retreaver offers lower per minute rates for usage over 5,000 minutes per month. Retreaver Features In-depth conversion reporting: View the number of conversions by attribute, source, or buyer. Look at data showing which sources send the most calls versus the most sales, or drill down into your callers' keywords, advertisements, or lifecycle. Live call controls: Your remote team transfers calls to other staff, even if they don’t have contact center software. Plus, they are able to share details with a co-worker before the caller comes on the line. Marketing automation: Retreaver lets you automate the next action based on the outcome of a call. Create custom call flows by automatically sending a text message or alerting your management team. Convirza: Best CallRail Alternative for Optimizing Customer Service Interactions Like other CallRail competitors, provides call tracking tools for sales and marketing. However, it’s the only provider that lets you track outbound calls and helps you improve your customer service center. The affordable Conversation Analytics add-on is a valuable feature that provides insights based on 45 indicators, including the caller’s agitation level. Use this information to identify coaching opportunities for your team while assessing common caller pain points. You get three weeks to try out the software, whereas others, including CallRail, only provide two. Plus, you can use Convirza’s pay-as-you-go plan without paying a monthly fee. The cost per number and minute is slightly higher than comparable plan. Still, Ringba charges a per-minute fee for call recording and isn't as helpful for improving call center performance. Convirza (like ) offers additional discounts if your call volume increases. While Convirza doesn’t provide much information about its integration, professional subscriptions include API access, which enable you to customize software connections. Still, it lacks out-of-the-box integrations offered by and . If you don’t have a developer on your team and need specific integrations, take a look at those two CallRail alternatives. Convirza Pricing at a Glance* Starter: No monthly fee for unlimited users, geo-routing, voicemail, online and offline call tracking, and $4 phone numbers Professional: $69 per month for white-glove onboarding, application programming interfaces (APIs), user-level permissions, and $2 numbers Agency: $179 per month for agency white labeling, a dedicated account manager, and $1 phone numbers You Build It: Companies with high-volume calls contact sales for a quote on bundled features and enterprise customizations *Additional usage fees for minutes and text messages apply. Convirza Features Conversation analytics: Natural speech recognition technology and more than 300,000 algorithms analyze your calls to deliver in-depth insights. It detects keywords, complaints, the amount of silence, and compliments. This feature increases your visibility into agent performance, lead quality, and consumer sentiment. Advanced routing: You don’t need to upgrade your plan or buy add-ons to route calls based on geography, schedules, or percentage. For instance, you can direct a higher number of calls to your skilled agents and ensure newer trainees aren’t overwhelmed. Call tracking: Accurate and comprehensive call tracking tools give your customer service agents details about the caller before picking up the phone. Plus, all information is documented in Convirza's call reports and available minutes after your agent hangs up. Call trends and regional data are viewable from a single dashboard. Ringba: Best CallRail Alternative for Comprehensive Data for Media Agencies comprehensive reports and lead profiles deliver more information than other call tracking services, making it the best solution for media agencies. Moreover, it doesn’t lock white label options behind pricier tiers or require an add-on package like CallRail. Instead, customize your reports and tools with your branding elements, including a buyer portal, to replicate the look of proprietary software. Real-time caller data enrichment empowers your pay-per-call network, allowing you to identify your buyer’s ideal clients and command a higher price per lead. In addition, you can use this data with other features, such as the IVR system, and integrate it with a self-service bidding portal. The automated real-time bidding (RTB) software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize your earnings per call and automatically route calls based on your predicted return on investment (ROI). However, small businesses that want to track campaigns to improve their ad spend may prefer a system like , as it's less expensive and focuses less on software for media agencies. Another solid CallRail alternative for in-house marketing teams is , which lets you monitor interactions across multiple channels, including live chat and text messaging. Ringba Pricing at a Glance Basic: No monthly fee for $3 per month for local numbers and $0.065 per minute of local tracking, $4 per month for toll-free numbers and $0.075 of toll-free tracking, and $0.01 per minute of call recording Premium: $99 per month for $2 local numbers at $0.045 per minute, $3 toll-free numbers at $0.055 per minute, and $0.005 per minute of call recording Enterprise: Create a custom plan by contacting Ringba sales Ringba Features White labeling: Ringba’s intuitive visual editor lets you create a completely custom portal for buyers. Host Ringba software on your own domain and integrate your merchant account to automatically bill buyers and create a seamless customer experience. Advanced analytics engine: Dig into your leads and buyers with dedicated reports for administrators, publishers, and buyers. Custom reporting options let you break down statistics based on an unlimited number of parameters and view your data as a pie chart, table, or bar chart for an interactive view. Caller attribution: Advanced attribution tracking technology offers granular details about each lead, including carrier data, referring source information, keywords, browser, device, and location. All data is available in real time through the Ringba dashboard, and automated routing tools match leads to the right buyer. How We Evaluated the Best CallRail Alternatives Alternatives to CallRail range in price from $25 to $299 for monthly subscriptions, and their feature sets are just as diverse. Unlike voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) business phone systems, most call tracking providers don’t provide unlimited minutes. We looked at CallRail competitors in terms of subscription pricing and add-on costs to see how each service stacked up. In addition, we compared general and advanced features, from call recording to conversion tracking. Lastly, we rated each service based on an expert score. earned 4.66 out of 5, making it the best CallRail alternative. The wide selection of plans and international phone numbers makes it an excellent option for companies of all sizes. It supports workflow automation and tracks campaigns across calls, text, chat, and forms. Plus, you get a free month when you sign up for a monthly or annual plan. Here's a breakdown of how we measured each provider: Bottom Line Call tracking software provides powerful insights into how people find your business even though they don’t provide unlimited calling like call management systems. Instead, you pay per-minute fees for calls and text messages. The best call tracking tools for your business are easy to use and affordable. Plus, they should deliver insights that help you optimize your ad spend and personalize interactions with leads. According to our research, the best CallRail alternative is . It’s the only platform that can track data across multiple channels, including live chat conversations, text messages, phone calls, and forms. It also supports bulk text messaging campaigns and offers phone numbers in more than 80 countries. Request a demo of CallTrackingMetrics or sign up for a subscription to get your first month free.

Zoom and Amazon Chime are unified communications solutions that offer audio and video conferencing features. Zoom is the more popular option for businesses operating remotely, thanks to its easy-to-use system and full-featured capabilities that you can connect to over 1,000 apps. Meanwhile, Amazon Chime is great for businesses looking for a platform offering online chatting as well as simple video conferencing and handling business calls. Based on our comparison, the best use cases for Zoom vs Amazon Chime are as follows: : Better for small to large-sized teams that want a feature-rich platform to facilitate team collaboration : Better for businesses that want a simple video conferencing platform with no long-term subscription involved Zoom vs Amazon Chime at a Glance *Based on a monthly pricing plan. **Users have to integrate Amazon Chime SDK (software development kit) to their communications app to extend meeting functionality. Best for Pricing: Zoom *Zoom pricing is based on a monthly subscription plan and is available in annual billing plans. **Amazon Chime pricing is available on a per-day and monthly plan subscription. offers more flexible subscription plans for businesses of all sizes. It comes in a free version and three paid subscriptions. While also has a free option, there’s only one paid monthly plan. Furthermore, its Pro plan doesn’t offer as many features as Zoom’s plans. Zoom’s free plan allows users to host up to 100 participants for up to 40 minutes with basic features, such as screen sharing and group chats. Paid versions offer up to a 500-participant capacity and advanced video conferencing features, such as social media streaming, recording transcripts, and language interpretations. Amazon Chime’s Basic plan only lets users attend meetings hosted by an Amazon Chime Pro user. The Pro plan is available through the pay-as-you-go service, charging users for access only on days they use the platform. The features included are hosting meetings and assigning delegates for scheduling. Best for Video & Audio Conferencing: Zoom stands out when hosting large-scale audio and video conferencing meetings. Users get high-definition (HD) video quality, including access to multiple video conferencing functionalities, such as a breakout room, waiting room, host control, whiteboarding, and live transcription. For international dial-in numbers, Zoom takes the lead by offering over 90 countries. Another advantage of using Zoom is that users have an option to participate in meetings for 30 hours straight. While allows users to host meetings for several days, each session has a 24-hour limit. The host should end the meeting after 24 hours and require attendees to dial back into the meeting using the same meeting ID, provided the user remains subscribed to the Pro plan. Amazon Chime focuses on a no-frills approach to hosting meetings, offering basic collaboration features like screen sharing and meeting recording. Each meeting has a 250-participant capacity and displays up to 25 attendees. Amazon Chime makes it easy to conduct meetings with people outside the company because it doesn’t require users to install an application. Best for UCaaS Features: Zoom Both and support basic communication features, but Zoom takes it one step ahead with its extended plans and add-ons. Zoom enables users to facilitate large group video meetings with access to team collaboration tools, such as cloud storage and project management apps. Plus, the Large Meetings add-on ($14.99 per month for the Pro plan) allows you to extend participant capacity up to 1,000. Amazon Chime offers the basic features of what you expect from a unified communications (UC) platform. The drawback is that it doesn’t provide as much functionality as Zoom does for team collaboration. For example, Amazon Chime supports group chat, screen sharing, and facilitating business calls. However, it doesn’t offer whiteboarding, presentation tools, and other advanced audio and video conferencing features. What makes Amazon Chime unique from Zoom is its ability to join meetings using Alexa or Slack. Since Amazon Chime is built on top of Amazon Web Services (AWS), it’s ideal for users already in the Amazon ecosystem of solutions. Best for Team Collaboration: Zoom provides a more flexible virtual work platform because of the range of features it offers, including multi-share, whiteboarding, host controls, collaborative annotation, and company branding. You’ll want to upgrade to a paid plan for more advanced features, such as polling, co-host controls, meeting scheduler, and live transcription. offers a more simplified team experience but provides useful features for team collaboration. For example, Voice Focus reduces the sound level of ambient sounds, such as lawnmowers, running water, paper shuffling, and other unwanted external noises. Upgrading to Amazon Chime’s Pro Plan provides users the ability to record meetings and use chatbots to automate tasks and access information. For file attachments, utilize the Amazon Chime Assistant to retrieve files uploaded in the chat rooms. Best for Integrations: Zoom is the better video conference software for teams that need to connect their third-party applications. With over 1,000 integrations available, Zooms offers various categories: analytics, collaboration, customer service, education, event management, finance, and scheduling. Check the Zoom App Marketplace for the complete list of integrations. Amazon Chime has no listed integrations. Users have to enable Amazon Chime SDK, a software development kit that integrates with other AWS services. It incorporates communication components (i.e., messaging or video) into any web or mobile platform. Amazon Chime SDK works independently from Amazon Chime, but it doesn’t affect meetings hosted via Amazon Chime. Best for Customer Support: Zoom is a more reliable option for customer service. However, you have to upgrade to a paid plan to get real-time support because the free trial only offers the help center. Paid plans offer live chat, web tickets, and phone support. The Premium Support add-on helps users resolve their issues quickly, but you have to subscribe to its Enterprise plan to get the monthly rate. Visit The Zoom Learning Center for live training and on-demand courses. Amazon Chime doesn’t have as many options for customer support. In the event of a technical issue, the Amazon Chime Administrator is available for Team or Enterprise AWS account subscribers to submit support requests. For a personalized demo, users need an Amazon Chime account. Best Alternatives While Amazon Chime and Zoom offer basic communication and collaboration features, you may want to explore other alternatives that best fit your business needs. Other video conferencing providers may offer budget-friendly prices, different collaboration tools, and more robust unified communications features. A few Amazon Chime and Zoom alternatives include: : For a video conferencing platform with robust functionality, check out RingCentral, as it comes with tiered plans available at reasonable prices and comprehensive features. This is great for small to mid-sized businesses looking for a complete phone solution with a call management system. : Businesses looking for seamless audio and video conferencing quality should consider BlueJeans. However, it doesn’t have all the features for team collaboration, such as file sharing and webinar tools. Also, live feedback and screen sharing capabilities are somewhat lacking. But if you’re looking for excellent call quality, strong security features, and unlimited meeting durations, BlueJeans certainly delivers. : Like Amazon Chime, Google Meet offers a standalone video conferencing solution with basic collaboration features, such as screen sharing, file sharing, and whiteboard. This is perfect for businesses looking for a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform with a user-friendly interface that integrates with other Google Products. How We Evaluated Zoom vs AWS Chime Amazon Chime and Zoom are dedicated video conferencing solutions that offer essential collaboration tools, such as screen sharing, meeting recordings, and team messaging. However, each platform comes with different pricing plans and features that cater to unique business needs. To determine which platform will benefit your small business, we evaluated each one based on pricing plans, integrations, customer support, and team collaboration tools. Here’s a complete breakdown of these factors: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Is Amazon Chime more secure than Zoom? Both and use a 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to protect your meeting content, including messages, video, voice, and screen share. However, Zoom has a history of security issues, potentially making Amazon Chime a safer option. On the other hand, Amazon Chime is built on AWS cloud. It uses a data center and network architecture that meets the requirements of many security-sensitive businesses. Still, Zoom has been making huge strides when it comes to security—adding transport layer security (TLS) and end-to-end encryption to prevent attacks like Zoombombing. Do I need an Amazon Chime account to join a meeting? No. Attending Amazon Chime meetings is possible as long as you have a meeting ID and the latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Check out Amazon Chime’s system requirements for the complete list of web browsers. Do Slack users have access to Amazon Chime meetings? Yes. Slack comes with an Amazon Chime Meetings app, where users connect with their team members instantly. There’s no need to create an Amazon Chime account if you have your Slack credentials. Bottom Line While and are both reliable video conferencing tools, businesses that often engage in team collaboration consider Zoom as the best video conference software because of the advanced features it offers. Meanwhile, businesses that want a simplified communication platform turn to Amazon Chime—no long-term contract needed. Still, the choice depends on the features you need to support communications within your business.

The Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings debate is a close one. Both offer free-forever plans, integrations, and high-definition (HD) video conferencing. However, Zoom is virtual conferencing software with robust in-meeting collaboration tools, whereas Microsoft Teams is business collaboration software with conferencing features. The best solution for your business depends on how you need to use the software, your budget, and your desired tools and features. Based on our comparison, the best use cases for Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings are as follows: : Better for companies wanting a secure virtual workspace and more budget-friendly paid plans or those wanting video conferencing bundled along with the other Microsoft productivity apps they use for business : Better for small businesses looking for a free plan with video recording and breakout rooms, companies hosting large video conferences or webinars, and those wanting the most robust video conferencing tools Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings at a Glance *Pricing is based on Microsoft Teams' entry-tier plan, Essentials, with annual prepayment. **Pricing is based on Zoom's base-level plan, Pro, with monthly payments. Best for Pricing: Microsoft Teams *Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 subscriptions require annual prepayment. On March 1, 2022, Microsoft 365 Business Basic increases to $6 per user, per month and Microsoft 365 Business Premium will be $22. **Zoom Meetings prices are based on monthly billing, but you can save 17% by choosing annual billing. is far more budget-friendly than Zoom Meetings. You save more than $10 per user each month for Microsoft Teams Essentials and Business Basic compared to the Zoom Meetings Pro plan. It amounts to a yearly per-user savings of up to more than $100 per user, even factoring in Zoom’s annual discount. This holds true whether your company has nine or 99 employees. Businesses needing accounts for more than nine users are required to subscribe to the Zoom Business plan for $19.99 per user, per month. This increases the annual cost for 10 employees to $1,999 per year versus $600 for Microsoft Teams. However, Zoom’s higher-priced tier includes several features unavailable in its Free or Pro plan, such as single sign-on (SSO), 300-participant meeting capacity, recording transcripts, and phone support for customer service. The additional cost for Zoom Meetings may be worth it if you want built-in social media streaming or the option to increase your meeting capacity to 500 or 1,000 people for a one-time fee or monthly add-on subscription. It costs $50 per month for up to 500 participants, or $90 a month if you want capacity for 1,000 attendees. Zoom also caps cloud storage at 1GB on all but the Enterprise version, with additional storage starting at $40 per 100GB. Microsoft Teams provides 10GB on paid versions, plus an extra 1TB per organization on Microsoft 365 Business Basic. The top-tier $20 Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription provides 1TB per user. To get a similar cloud capacity, you’ll pay about $166 per TB with Zoom’s add-on packages in addition to the monthly plan costs. Best Free Plan for Meetings: Zoom Meetings Both and have robust free-forever versions with a maximum participant capacity of 100. However, Zoom is the better choice if you frequently meet with co-workers and customers one-to-one. Zoom doesn’t meter the duration of conferences between two people, whereas Microsoft Teams imposes a 60-minute time limit. Zoom also provides more features for group conferences on the free version. You can record meetings locally to your device or server, send participants to waiting rooms, and create up to 50 breakout sessions. Only paid Microsoft Teams subscriptions offer these features. In addition, Zoom lets you highlight or spotlight up to nine participant videos, whereas Microsoft Teams allows seven. With that said, there are a few reasons you might still prefer Microsoft Teams over Zoom. Free conferences can last 60 minutes in Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings, and the free plan includes 5GB of cloud storage for shared files and media. Zoom doesn’t offer free storage capacity. Microsoft Teams also supports unlimited chat messages and real-time collaboration in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, whereas Zoom allows co-annotation within documents. Best for Large Video Conferences: Zoom Although both are on our list of the best video conferencing software, makes it easy to connect with larger audiences. For starters, all paid plans include social media streaming, a feature not offered by Microsoft Teams. Zoom’s social streaming feature enables you to reach a far wider audience without purchasing a separate webinar subscription. It’s also a good choice for occasional large conferences, as you can increase capacity to 500 or 1,000 people with a one-time fee of $50 or $90 (or maintain higher limits indefinitely by paying this every month). Microsoft Teams and Zoom both allow up to 50 breakout rooms, but Zoom’s increased capacity means you can invite more users per session. The Zoom Meetings Enterprise plan—available to organizations with 50 or more users—comes with Webinar 500. It lets you broadcast virtual presentations to a view-and-listen-only audience. Microsoft Teams Business Standard supports webinars with attendee sign-up pages and confirmation emails. While not included on the Microsoft Teams pricing page, Microsoft does offer enterprise plans with live event capabilities, including Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 and Office 365 EI, E3, and E5. The subscriptions range from $8 to $57 per user, per month. With one of these subscriptions, you can host conferences with up to 20,000 view-only attendees, at least through June 30, 2022. Best for Remote Collaboration: Microsoft Teams earns a top spot for remote teamwork. Your employees can alternate between messaging and videos across various Teams and channels. Business Basic and higher tiers include email hosting for companywide addresses and increase your file transfer limit to 1TB compared to the 512MB included with Zoom Meetings. “Together” mode is unique to Microsoft Teams and puts video participants into a shared background. It also costs less to access recording transcriptions with Teams—$5 per user with no minimum compared to $19.99 per person with a minimum of 10 people with Zoom. Other tools, like higher cloud storage limits and email hosting turn Microsoft Teams into a unified communications (UC) platform. Employees can communicate via video, email, or chat. Notably, Microsoft Teams lacks co-annotation during screen sharing. Your team can collaborate on documents, presentations, or spreadsheets, but you can’t mark up a screen together unless using the whiteboard feature. This is slightly more complicated than Zoom’s simple co-annotation feature. Best for Apps & Integrations: Microsoft Teams edges out Zoom Meetings for the simple reason that paid plans come with Microsoft Office and productivity suite apps. These apps increase your team’s capabilities without purchasing additional software. For instance, Microsoft Stream lets your employees upload, share, and view videos in one spot, perfect for onboarding and ongoing training. Yammer functions as a company intranet, allowing teams to update and engage with each other. At just $12.99 per user, per month, the Standard package provides each user with desktop versions of the office tools and includes the Microsoft Bookings app. Use this platform to schedule appointments, send reminders, and manage staff availability. While Zoom Meetings integrates with Microsoft Outlook and thousands of other productivity, calendar, scheduling, and other business apps, it doesn’t have its own software suite. Still, when comparing Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings, a few hundred more apps connect to Zoom. If you need a specific integration with a customer relationship management (CRM) software or a scheduling application, you may want to view the app marketplace for both providers before picking one. Best for Security & Customer Support: Microsoft Teams and both meet or exceed industry security standards. However, we rank Microsoft Teams higher because extra security and support measures are available at a lower cost and without a minimum number of users. In contrast, Zoom locks SSO, the admin portal for user management, and phone support behind its 10-user minimum Business plan tier. Although Zoom and Microsoft Teams both offer either two-factor or multi-factor authentication, Teams versions enforce it, meaning users can’t toggle the feature on or off. Plus, paid Microsoft Teams plans come with a service-level agreement (SLA) with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime. Zoom doesn’t mention an SLA in its plan comparisons. If your employees collaborate on or create sensitive documents, Microsoft’s sensitivity labels are a helpful feature. You can add these to protect content based on predefined user permissions. Best Alternatives Many businesses use Microsoft Teams or Zoom because the plans are affordable, and there are plenty of features to support a remote workforce. However, companies looking for an all-in-one unified communications as a service (UCaaS) voice, video, and chat solution, or open application programming interfaces (APIs), may prefer a different tool. A few Zoom Meetings vs Microsoft Teams alternatives include: : Add phone capabilities with RingCentral’s voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) platform. It comes with video and audio conferencing, team messaging, file sharing, and on-screen co-annotation capabilities. Learn more about this provider in our expert RingCentral review. : Choose an open-source team messaging platform for customized workflows. Rocket.Chat offers self-hosted and cloud-based subscriptions with omnichannel messaging and advanced integrations. Find out why it made our list of the best team chat apps for small businesses. : Start or join a video conference for free using Google Meet. Users can share screens, co-annotate documents, and chat in real time. Paid versions include breakout rooms and polling, making it one of the best Zoom alternatives. Or see how it stacks up to Teams in our head-to-head Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams comparison. How We Evaluated Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings Industry leaders and both offer free plans and paid subscriptions for solopreneurs and small to medium businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprises. But the feature sets and pricing vary greatly. Our Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings head-to-head comparison rates each tool based on pricing, general features, and collaboration tools. In addition, we assessed how user-friendly each platform is and gave it an expert score for overall value, unique features, and popularity. Here’s a complete breakdown of the factors used in our review: Pricing: We examined the tiered pricing models to determine the monthly and annual cost of Microsoft Teams vs Zoom Meetings. In our comparison, we also looked at the minimum and maximum numbers of licenses supported per plan, length of contracts, and the prices of various add-on features. General features: We explored the features available with free and paid plans, including audio and video conferencing limits, in-meeting collaboration tools, and cloud storage. Plus, we considered the types of integrations and apps that come with subscriptions. Ease of use: We looked at the process for scheduling and starting a video meeting and navigating the user interface in web browsers and mobile or desktop apps. We also checked out various customer service channels and knowledge bases. Distributed teams: We evaluated how the platforms differ regarding remote teamwork and collaboration. We scored tools higher for offering screen sharing, co-annotation, and whiteboards. Expert score: We looked at unique or standout features and rated products according to the best overall value for the money. Additionally, we reviewed user ratings and considered the widespread popularity of each platform, as well as our own firsthand experience using the platforms. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Which is easier to use: Zoom Meetings or Microsoft Teams? Zoom Meetings is easier to use because it’s dedicated to video conferencing, and so focuses on video and messaging features. In contrast, Microsoft Teams lets you create multiple Teams and Channels with video and chat capabilities. These additional features mean it could take a few more clicks to do similar tasks. See why both made our list of the best video conferencing software. Can you use Zoom & Microsoft Teams together? Yes, your company can integrate and use both Zoom and Microsoft Teams without switching platforms. The integration lets you create a meeting in Teams and view it on your Zoom account. Plus, you can initiate a meeting or join one using either platform. Is mobile screen sharing supported on Microsoft Teams or Zoom? Yes, Microsoft Teams and Zoom both allow users to share their screens on iOS and Android phones. Notably, this differs from competitor Google Meet, which only enables screen sharing for desktop users. Bottom Line and are top team collaboration and web conferencing platforms that support in-office as well as distributed teams, webinars, messaging, and more. Both provide secure services and mobile apps. However, the software systems each offer have diverse feature sets, from collaboration tools to built-in apps, and have significantly different costs. When it comes to Microsoft Teams vs Zoom, in most categories we rate Teams higher. It’s more affordable for small teams yet has plans with enterprise-grade features, such as device management and advanced security options. Plus, it can save your business money as Office and productivity apps are included in monthly plans starting at $5 per user. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Microsoft 365 Business Basic to see if it’s a good fit for your team.