6 Best Ooma Alternatives 2020

Ooma is a popular voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) solution because of its affordability, simple pricing structure, and general usability. However, businesses that want their phone service to include more advanced features like video conferencing and software integrations may have to look elsewhere. To help, we looked at some of the best Ooma competitors on the market and compared them based on pricing, features, and usability.

Which Ooma Alternative is Best for You?

How We Evaluated Ooma Alternatives

To be considered as an alternative to Ooma, services had to include calling, texting, and voicemail. They also had to be offered at price points that most smaller teams could afford. That said, we did consider some of Ooma’s more expensive competitors provided they had features that Ooma does not, like video conferencing, team messaging, and call center features such as live call transfer.

We evaluated business phone services offered by Ooma’s competitors based on the following:

• Price per individual user and teams of less than 20
• Initial setup and on-going ease of use
• Call management features and added functionality like auto-attendants
• Customer relationship management (CRM) or similar business tool integration
• System reliability and overall sound quality
• Customer support options

Based on the above, we find that RingCentral is the best alternative to Ooma. The system is quite powerful and comes at price points to meet any business budgets. Its highly-rated plans, which also earn the service our best overall pick for small business VoIP service are also exceptionally easy to use and come with advanced capabilities for video chat and connecting call data with outside business software.

RingCentral: Best Overall Ooma Alternative for Small Businesses

What it is: A full-featured VoIP service with flexible pricing plans, which start at $19.99 per user, per month, and powerful features.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: RingCentral is a small business telephony service that includes unlimited domestic calling and an automated attendant to handle your call traffic without human intervention, just like Ooma. RingCentral also comes with modules like video calling, file sharing, and integrations with third-party software, and for that, we find it to be the best Ooma competitor on the market for most people.

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RingCentral Pricing

• Essentials: $19.99 per user, per month for up to 20 users, unlimited calling, and unlimited texting*
• Standard: $24.99 per user, per month with unlimited audio conferencing and video meetings for up to 100 participants*
• Premium: $34.99 per user, per month with unlimited call recording, analytics, and integrations with outside business software*
• Ultimate: $49.99 per user, per month with device status reports and unlimited storage*

*Pricing is on an annual basis for two to 19 users. Volume discounts are available, and so are monthly plans that come at an extra cost.

In an attempt to ease some of the strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, RingCentral has temporarily made their Office Premium tier free for K-12 educators, healthcare providers, and nonprofit organizations. This provides, among other things, a free automated attendant and video conferencing for up to 100 people. You can read their COVID-19 offer page for more details.

RingCentral Features

• Automated attendant: RingCentral offers a much more robust attendant than Ooma’s virtual receptionist features. Advanced tiers of the service even allow forwarding to outside lines.
• Video calling: RingCentral offers HD video chat for up to 200 people at once, which is something that Ooma simply cannot do at this time.
• Software integrations: Intermediate and advanced packages offer the ability to connect call data with Slack and Salesforce, which you can learn more about by visiting our head-to-head Ooma vs RingCentral comparison guide. Ooma has no such capabilities.

For more details about the differences between RingCentral’s plans or how the service can help your business, check out our RingCentral user reviews page.

Grasshopper: Best Virtual Phone Alternative to Ooma

What it is: A virtual phone solution with affordable pricing starting at $20 per month.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: Grasshopper offers nearly all of the same core features of Ooma, but it costs a great deal less than Ooma, with prices starting at $26 per month for one number and three extensions. However, Grasshopper requires an existing alternative phone line to work as it relies on forwarding calls. That said, Grasshopper is a perfect Ooma competitor for smaller teams that are looking to save money but also want a powerful phone system.

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Grasshopper Pricing

• Solopreneur: $20 per month for one user*
• Partnership: $46 per month for three users*
• Small Team: $70 per month for six users*

*Pricing is on an annual basis. Buying accounts for additional users is available for an additional price on a per-account basis.

Grasshoppers Features

• Automated attendant: Grasshopper offers an automated attendant that works in a very similar fashion to Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist module.
• Mobile app: Grasshopper comes with apps for iOS and Android so that you can effectively take your work phone wherever you go.
• Phone numbers: Advanced Grasshopper packages come with the ability to adopt multiple toll-free numbers at no extra cost. Ooma lacks this option.

For more details on how Grasshopper can help your company, check out our Grasshopper user reviews page.

8×8: Best 8×8 Alternative for International Calling

What it is: A VoIP service with optional unlimited international calls.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: While Ooma is less expensive than the X2 tier, it lacks the international calling features found in 8×8. 8×8 is a small business VoIP system that comes with many of the capabilities of Ooma. However, the big difference is that 8×8 also comes standard with international calling for up to 47 countries around the world. Pricing plans start at $12 per user, per month. This system is best for companies that need to make a lot of calls overseas.

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8×8 Pricing

• 8×8 Express: $12 per user, per month for unlimited domestic calling and texting
• X2: $25 per user, per month with a multilevel auto-attendant and unlimited calls to up to 14 countries
• X4: $45 per user, per month with unlimited calls to up to 47 countries

8×8 Features

• International calling: The most advanced version of 8×8 lets you make calls to nearly 50 countries at no additional cost. Ooma charges a per-minute rate for calls made to overseas numbers.
• Video calling: 8×8 offers video calls for up to 50 people at once in all tiers, putting it ahead of Ooma, which offers no video calling.
• Automated attendant: The X2 and X4 packages offer a multilevel auto-attendant that can forward calls to external lines, which is much more than what Ooma can do at this time.

Phone.com: Best Ooma Alternative for Low-call Volumes

What it is: A VoIP solution with both unlimited and pay-as-you-go plans.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: Ooma is an affordable solution, but it forces users into paying for unlimited calling even if they don’t need it. We love Phone.com’s flexibility that lets companies pay only for the minutes they need. It also has an impressively low starting price of just $9.99 per month for 300 monthly minutes. Phone.com is a fantastic choice for teams with low monthly call volumes that are looking to save money.

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Phone.com Pricing

• Base: $9.99 per month for 300 monthly minutes or $24.99 per month for unlimited calling*
• Plus: $14.99 per month for 500 monthly minutes or $32.99 per month for unlimited calling*
• Pro: $29.99 per month for 1,000 monthly minutes or $49.99 per month for unlimited calling*

*Pricing is on an annual basis. Monthly plans are available for an additional fee.

Phone.com Features

• Flexible plans: Unlike Ooma, Phone.com lets you choose between plans with unlimited minutes and those with pay-as-you-go-plans.
• Automated attendant: Phone.com offers an automated attendant that works very similarly to the one found in Ooma.
• Conference calling: Ooma offers conference calls for up to 300 people at a time.

Google Voice: Best Free Ooma Alternative

What it is: A free, no-frills virtual phone service.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: At $19.95 per month, Ooma could be very expensive for very small teams. This is especially true if they don’t need features like an automated attendant or faxing. The service is completely free to anyone with a Google account. While it lacks many of the features that Ooma has, it is a fantastic option for solo workers, freelancers, or anyone else who is looking for a dedicated business line at no cost.

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Google Voice Pricing

• Google Voice is completely free. There are some fees for calling select numbers in North America and international locations. Check out their international call rates page for more information.

Google Voice Features

• Free local number: Google Voice lets you choose local numbers from nearly anywhere in the United States, free of charge.
• Intuitive: Because Google Voice has such a basic feature set, it is extraordinarily easy to use
• Call recording: Google Voice comes standard with call recording functionality. This is especially impressive because many paid systems do not come with this.

Talkroute: Best Ooma Alternative for Call Centers

What it is: A virtual phone service with specialized call center features.

Why it is a great alternative to Ooma: Ooma is a solid phone system, but it lacks many of the features you’d need to handle a lot of incoming calls at once. Talkroute offers the features you’d find in Ooma, but it also comes with live call transfer, call queuing, and other features that lend themselves particularly well to call center environments. As such, we recommend Talkroute to businesses with sales and service teams that need to better manage their call traffic.

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Talkroute Pricing

• Basic: $19 per month for one local or toll-free number, one account user, and 500 monthly text messages
• Plus: $39 per month for two local or toll-free numbers, three account users, and unlimited texting
• Pro: $59 per month for three local or toll-free numbers, 10 account users, and call recording
• Enterprise: $99 per month for five local or toll-free numbers and 20 account users

Talkroute Features

• Call center functionality: Talkroute beats Ooma when it comes to features such as call transfer, call queuing, and shared inboxes that can help call center staff manage their workflows better.
• Voice studio: Talkroute’s Pro and Enterprise editions come with a professionally recorded voice greeting for your company. Ooma does not have this feature.
• 24/7 support: Talkroute matches Ooma in the sense that it offers 24/7 phone support if you need help using the solution.

Bottom Line

Ooma is a solid business phone system, but it’s not for everyone. In fact, there are a lot of systems on the market that offer features that Ooma does not or offer lower pricing. It’s important to look at the service’s alternatives before making the decision to invest your money in Ooma.

We recommend RingCentral to any business that has decided that Ooma does not serve their needs, but still wants a capable phone service. RingCentral also offers a free trial so that you can try it out for yourself. Click the button below to get started today.

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