Ooma vs Vonage: Which Is Better for Small Businesses?
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
This article is part of a larger series on VoIP.
When comparing Ooma vs Vonage, both voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone systems provide user-friendly tools and modern features—from video conferencing to auto-attendants. However, Ooma takes the lead by offering more support for physical workplaces and including more features per subscription than Vonage. On the other hand, Vonage’s strength lies in its integrations and collaboration features, supporting remote teams.
Based on our evaluation, the best use cases for Vonage vs Ooma are as follows:
- Ooma: Better for small teams and brick-and-mortar companies wanting to switch from a landline service
- Vonage: Better for growing businesses with remote or hybrid teams needing customized plans and global support
If these two providers are not exactly what you need, expand your options by looking at the best small business VoIP services buyer’s guide.
Ooma vs Vonage at a Glance
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Starting Price | $19.95 per user, per month | $19.99 per user, per month |
Free Trial | 30 days | 14 days |
Estimated Time to Set Up | Less than 15 minutes | Five to 10 minutes |
Paging | Included | $4.99 per month |
Video Conferencing Capacity | 25 participants | 100 participants |
Electronic Faxing | Included | $14.99 per month |
Auto-attendant | ✔ | Included with Premium and Advanced plans |
Team Messaging | Enterprise plans only | ✔ |
Desk Phones for Sale or Lease | ✔ | ✔ |
For More Information |
Ooma pricing is for the base plan, and Vonage pricing is for the base plan with one to four users.
Best for Overall Value for the Price: Ooma
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(Ooma pricing is based on monthly billing.) |
(Vonage pricing is based on 1 to 4 users with monthly billing and includes a local phone number. A one-year contract may be required.) |
At first glance, Ooma and Vonage are comparatively priced. Both offer an entry-tier plan costing less than $20 per user, per month. Although Ooma doesn’t provide volume-based discounts like Vonage, Ooma costs less for one to four users, regardless of subscription tier. It’s also cheaper for teams of five to 19 people wanting a mid-tier plan.
Ooma’s plans come with more features at nearly every price point, such as an auto-attendant on the base plan or call recording on the Pro plan for $24.95 per user, per month. Only Vonage’s Advanced package, which costs over $14 more than Ooma Pro, includes call recording (limited to 15 hours). Or it’s available as an add-on feature that tacks an additional $4.99 to your monthly bill. Likewise, Vonage doesn’t offer a virtual receptionist with its Mobile package.
One caveat: If your team has five or more employees needing basic service for mobile phones, Vonage is less expensive. You’ll pay $14.99 to $17.99 per user, per month compared to $19.95 with Ooma. For a team of 20 people, you can save about $99 per month with Vonage’s entry-tier plan.
Brick-and-mortar businesses that use overhead paging systems or faxing services may prefer the Ooma Office plan because Vonage charges additional monthly fees for faxing and paging. Neither service offers discounts for annual billing, an option commonly found with other popular business phone systems like RingCentral and 8×8.
Best for Communication Channels: Ooma
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Ooma has a slight edge over Vonage for communication channels because its unlimited calling extends to Puerto Rico, and overhead paging is a standard feature, making it a better choice for commercial, industrial, and retail applications. Vonage charges $4.99 per month per paging group extension to broadcast an announcement through desk phones. Likewise, local paperless fax costs $14.99 a month, whereas Ooma includes these features with all subscriptions.
Vonage and Ooma services have standard call handling features, including call park, ring groups, music-on-hold, and call blocking. We rate Ooma higher because it includes a virtual receptionist with all plans, whereas it doesn’t come with the Vonage Mobile package.
Another perk with Ooma is the complimentary toll-free number. Vonage provides a main, local company number with online purchases and a one-year contract. A toll-free number with unlimited minutes costs $49.99 per month.
If your business focuses on digital communication, Vonage includes team messaging on its Mobile plan, and video conferencing comes with Premium packages. Ooma only offers instant chat on enterprise plans, but you have access to video conferencing on its Office Pro plan, which is similar to Vonage Premium. With that said, both systems are among the best small business VoIP services.
Ooma’s video conferencing platform (Source: YouTube)
Best for Collaboration: Vonage
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The Ooma vs Vonage debate has a clear winner for remote team collaboration, as Vonage supports the popular team messaging feature. Ooma does offer instant messaging on its enterprise plans, which are affordably priced. However, the platform is less advanced compared to Vonage. With Vonage, your team can share files or switch from a chat to a call with one click.
Access Vonage’s team messaging feature on your mobile phone, web browser, or desktop. (Source: Vonage)
Vonage also supports higher meeting limits for video and audio conferencing. Not only will more people be able to participate in Vonage meetings, but it doesn’t limit your time to two hours as Ooma does. Both platforms support team chat during video meetings and allow participants to join via a browser. Explore more collaboration and call handling features in our Vonage Business Communication (VBC) review.
Best for Support & Ease of Use: Ooma
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It’s easy to set up and install your Ooma or Vonage systems. Both providers offer installation wizards to guide you through the setup process, and contact the companies by phone if you have questions. Vonage takes less than 10 minutes to set up, depending on the number of users. Ooma says it should take less than 15 minutes to set up its phone system.
In addition, if you’re adding hardware to your order, Ooma will preconfigure your devices within 24 hours and ship them to your business. Once your desk phones arrive, simply plug them in, and they’re ready to go. Although hardware is purchasable from Vonage, it’s unclear if they pre-provision these devices for you.
When it comes to Ooma vs Vonage for mobile apps, we prefer the more modern interface of Vonage. It’s slightly easier to navigate than Ooma’s app and receives higher overall user ratings. An excellent application makes a huge difference for mobile-first or mobile-only users.
At the same time, Ooma better supports business owners with on-premise needs. All Ooma subscriptions work with IP desk phones, and you can buy a base station to connect analog telephones directly from Ooma. Check out our guide to learn about features and read more Ooma reviews.
Best for Integrations: Vonage
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Hands down, Vonage is the best choice if you want to integrate your business phone system with third-party services. The Mobile plan has more than 20 integrations, including Google and Microsoft calendars, but you’ll need the Premium package for customer relationship manager (CRM) integrations with ConnectWise, Zendesk, and Zoho. Some integrations cost extra, such as Bullhorn, and monthly fees range from $4.99 to $9.99.
Ooma doesn’t offer any integrations on its small business plans. Instead, you’ll need the Ooma Enterprise or Call Center packages. At this level, Ooma integrates with Salesforce, Zendesk, ServiceNow, and Microsoft Dynamics. Both companies offer APIs, but these only come with Ooma’s enterprise plans.
Vonage also has a unique add-on feature for business number inboxes. The shared inbox integrates with Facebook Messenger, allowing employees to send and receive Facebook messages from the Vonage application.
Best for Call Analytics: Vonage
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General and advanced call logs, reports, and filtering options | General call logs and basic reports, including call volumes and trends filtered by date or call type |
Vonage is our top pick for companies wanting deeper insights from their calling data. It has graphical call summary reports, and you can learn specifics by looking at the segments of each call according to their status in call queues and groups. Plus, use advanced filters to view data for extensions, duration, or voicemails, and get a quick view of general statistics for your most active or inactive lines.
Vonage also offers a speech analytics solution. (Source: Vonage)
Vonage lets you download, print, or email the reports. You will also be able to save commonly used reports and have them sent automatically to your email on a custom schedule. Like Vonage, Ooma’s main dashboard shows an overview of your call analytics, including hour-of-day metrics, call volume trends, and call distribution heat maps. The data includes virtual fax logs and audio conferences, and breaks down each report by call type.
However, Ooma doesn’t give the option of scheduling or emailing them. It does let you download a comma-separated values (CSV) file or chart. Ooma is more than sufficient for small businesses with low to medium call volumes. Vonage offers greater visibility and report automation, which is helpful for growing businesses.
If you’re looking for systems with more automation and analytics tools, check out these Vonage alternatives.
Best Vonage vs Ooma Alternatives
In our Ooma vs Vonage comparison, we noticed that both providers fall short on a few features, such as video conferencing capacity. Fortunately, several excellent VoIP and virtual phone services work for your budget and needs. Review a few of our top picks and check out the free trials offered by each service.
A few Vonage and Ooma alternatives include:
- RingCentral: Encourage collaboration with a full-featured digital workspace, including always-on chat-enabled video rooms. It also offers team messaging and file sharing. Prices start at $19.99 per user, per month with annual billing.
- Grasshopper: Give your three- to five-person team flexibility to answer calls where and how they want with Grasshopper. The user-friendly apps and basic call handling features keep a mobile team connected. Prices for a three- or five-line system range from $40 to $80 monthly with annual billing.
- 8×8: Use a unified communications platform to connect domestic and international teams as your business grows. The 8×8 Express plan costs $15 per user, per month, or choose an 8×8 X-series plan to host up to 500 participants in interactive video conferences and call up to 48 countries for free.
How We Evaluated Ooma vs Vonage
Ooma and Vonage are among the top VoIP providers, yet their features and pricing differ. To determine the best use cases for both systems, we compared Vonage vs Ooma on pricing, general and advanced features, ease of use, and overall value for the money.
Here’s a complete breakdown of these factors:
25%
Pricing
25%
General Features
25%
Advanced Features
25%
Expert Score
25% of Overall Score
We rated Ooma and Vonage on their per-user fees and add-on package pricing. We also gave points for longer free trials and volume-based or annual discounts.
25% of Overall Score
Virtual receptionists and call management tools are useful on any phone system. We confirmed each provider’s types of communication channels and reviewed basic call handling features, such as call forwarding and on-hold music.
25% of Overall Score
Systems with video conferencing, team messaging, and file sharing earned higher scores than those without. We examined audio and video meeting capacities and the analytics required to monitor multiple channels.
25% of Overall Score
We determined the overall value for the money for different use cases. In addition, we thought about ease of implementation and customer service levels. We also examined user reviews to generate an expert score.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use analog phones with Ooma or Vonage?
Yes. Ooma and Vonage support desk phones, but you’ll need an analog telephone adapter (ATA) or VoIP gateway. Ooma sells a base station that works with analog devices, or they’re available for purchase online. In addition, only Vonage Premium and Advanced users have access to desk phone functionality.
Does Vonage or Ooma offer a free plan?
Ooma’s free calling service is a good fit for solopreneurs working from home. It requires an Ooma Telo adapter, which is a one-time fee, and there aren’t any monthly service fees for a phone line. Vonage doesn’t offer a free version of its business or residential services.
Does each provider support international communications?
For irregular calling, Vonage is a good option, thanks to its relatively inexpensive international calling rates. Still, if you’re a frequent global caller, this can get expensive. Ooma, on the other hand, has unlimited calling to landlines in over 70 countries with its World Plus Plan. While Vonage offers unlimited international calling on its home-based plans, this isn’t something offered currently with its VoIP business solution.
Bottom Line
Ooma and Vonage receive high ratings for usability, and you can configure both systems within 10 to 15 minutes. The differences come down to specific features offered at each tier. Ooma provides more in-person tools, whereas Vonage does a better job supporting remote workforces.
Although it’s a pretty tight competition, we recommend Ooma over Vonage because it has more features and is less expensive in most cases. Ooma is easy to use and doesn’t require an IT team to configure or adjust settings. Additionally, Ooma also provides unlimited international calling to many areas around the globe. Its 30-day free trial gives you plenty of time to review the system before purchasing. Visit Ooma to learn about its features and sign up for a trial.
