6 Best RingCentral Alternatives in 2021

RingCentral is the leader in voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) solutions for companies. Its feature-rich plans come with voicemail-to-text, team messaging, and over 10 call management features. However, some business users may prefer RingCentral alternatives offering lower rates or unlimited international calling. We reviewed RingCentral competitors by looking at top features, mobile app functionality, and customer service options.

Based on our criteria, the six best RingCentral alternatives include:

• Nextiva: Better for larger teams that want savings on a full set of telephony features
• Grasshopper: A more appropriate choice for smaller teams that want a capable, yet affordable service
• 8×8:  A better choice for organizations that need to make frequent calls to international numbers
• Phone.com: A more affordable alternative for businesses with low monthly call volumes
• Vonage:  Better for teams that want to add features on an a la carte basis
• Ooma: An attractive alternative for teams that would prefer a system with affordable/straightforward pricing

How We Evaluated RingCentral Alternatives

VoIP small business phone systems keep your staff and customers connected while providing local and toll-free phone numbers. Most services include intuitive mobile applications, auto-attendants, and a range of affordable plans. Although RingCentral is one of the best VoIP providers, business users may find that a RingCentral competitor offers a better fit for their company’s needs.

With a score of 4.67 out of 5, Nextiva is the best RingCentral alternative. It gets the best ratings for features, offers plans comparable to RingCentral, and costs less. Its volume-based discounts make it a great choice for companies wanting to add more users and take advantage of a comprehensive VoIP phone system.

You can click on the tabs below to learn more about our evaluation criteria:

Nextiva: Best Overall RingCentral Alternative

RingCentral and Nextiva are very similar in the sense that they offer a full set of VoIP features at different price points in order to meet different business needs. However, Nextiva can be a better choice for larger organizations, as it offers better volume discounts than RingCentral. Depending on what package you go with, the service can cost as low as $17.95 per user, per month. That’s a strong value considering Nextiva’s impressive feature set.

Nextiva Pricing*

• Essential: $21.95 per user, per month for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, 1,500 toll-free minutes, and unlimited internet fax
• Professional: $25.95 per user, per month with unlimited conference calling for up to 40 participants, video calling, and 3,000 toll-free minutes
• Enterprise: $35.95 per user, per month for unlimited conference calling and participants, call recording, and 12,500 toll-free minutes
• Ultimate: $65.95 per user, per month for automated surveys, customer journey analytics, and 12,500 toll-free minutes

*Pricing is based on annual payments for one to four users. Adding more users or opting for 24-month or 36-month plans reduce your price further. For example, pricing for the Essential package can be as cheap as $17.95 per user, per month if you have more than 100 people signed on to a plan.

Nextiva Features

• Integrations: Easily connect your MS Outlook and Google Contacts accounts to your VoIP service on the basic plan or add extended integrations on upper-tier plans with software like Salesforce, Hubspot, Zendesk, Microsoft Teams, Oracle Sales Cloud, and ServiceNow. This is about even with what RingCentral offers.
• Call Pop: Personalize every phone call with customer data at your fingertips. You can customize your app to include industry-specific information and view customer sentiment data. Call Pop is available on all plans, except for the Essential package. This all works in a similar fashion to RingCentral.
• Voicemail options: Just like RingCentral, Nextiva allows each user to select the best method for accessing voicemail. Nextiva offers voicemail-to-email notifications, voicemail-to-SMS alerts, and voicemail transcription.

Visit Nextiva

Grasshopper: Easiest to Use RingCentral Alternative

RingCentral is a powerful phone system that works great for established teams. However, smaller businesses may find the service to be far too expensive for their needs. As a virtual phone system, Grasshopper requires an existing line to forward calls from, but it still has a respectable set of features like toll-free numbers, an automated attendant, and voicemail. Those looking to save money may find it to be the better option for them.

Grasshopper Pricing*

• Solo: $26 per month for one number and three extensions
• Partner: $44 per month for three phone numbers and six extensions
• Small Business: $80 per month for five phone numbers and unlimited extensions

*Pricing is based on an annual payment plan, but monthly plans are available for roughly 10% more over a year.

Grasshopper Features

• Instant response:  If you miss a call, you can automatically send a text message letting your caller know that you’re unavailable and giving the option to respond with call-back information. RingCentral is missing this feature.
• Virtual receptionist: The auto-attendant answering system provides a custom greeting and routes callers according to your call forwarding rules. You can change your greetings, rules, or extensions at any time. This works in a similar fashion to RingCentral, but it comes at a lower cost.
• Voicemail transcription: Turn your voicemails into searchable records by converting voice calls to text that’s sent to your email. You can read your new messages on any device, just like you can with RingCentral.

Visit Grasshopper

8×8: Best for Unlimited International Calling

RingCentral offers low international calling rates, but even those can add up to be very expensive if you need to stay in touch with your overseas contacts. Depending on what package you choose, 8×8 offers unlimited calling plans for 47 countries around the world. As such, it’s a better choice for teams with multinational business operations.

8×8 Pricing

• Express: $12 per user, per month for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, intelligent call routing, and video, voice, and messaging features
• X2: $24 per user, per month for unlimited voice calling to 14 countries, audio and video conferencing, and SMS, MMS, and team messaging*
• X4: $44 per user, per month for unlimited voice calling to 47 countries, monitor, whisper, and barge features*

*X2 and X4 plans are based on annual payments, but month-to-month options are also available.

8×8 Features

• Mix and match plans: 8×8 lets you select plans for different team members, so you can save money by using the Express plan for some employees while opting for unlimited international calling plans for others. RingCentral does not offer as much flexibility when it comes to your service plans
• Multilevel auto-attendant: Just like with RingCentral, 8×8 provides virtual receptionist options based on location, customer size, or priority. You can create several auto-attendants with different profiles and configure personalized call flows.
• Integrations: Help your staff serve customers quicker by integrating your phone system with Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, ServiceNow, or dozens of other applications. This is about in line with what RingCentral offers.

Visit 8×8

Phone.com: Excellent Value for Budget-conscious Businesses

RingCentral, like many VoIP providers on the market, provides unlimited domestic and calling. This is fantastic for teams that use their phone all the time, but many businesses could be forced to effectively pay for minutes they don’t need. Phone.com is novel in the sense that it has plans with limited monthly bundles of minutes at a lower cost, making it an attractive choice for those with low call volumes.

Phone.com Pricing*

• Basic: $12.99 per user, per month for 300 monthly minutes, 1,000 text messages, and over 40 features
• Plus: $19.99 per user, per month for unlimited monthly minutes and text messages, video recording, and voicemail transcription
• Pro: $29.99 per user, per month for unlimited minutes and text messages, customer relationship management (CRM) integration, and call analytics

*Plan pricing based on monthly payments, but annual plans are available. There are volume discounts as well.

Phone.com Features

• Unlimited extensions: With unlimited extensions, you can add every employee to your phone system without incurring a large monthly cost. This offer works exceptionally well when you want team members accessible, yet they don’t need unlimited minutes. This gives Phone.com a much lower cost per line than RingCentral.
• Click-to-call: Make it easy for website visitors to call by adding a piece of code to your website. People can click the button, which initiates an outbound call to the potential customer’s phone number. While it’s possible to do this with RingCentral, it’s far more intuitive with Phone.com
• Dial-by-name directory: Customize your auto-attendant by adding an employee directory. Users can enter the first or last name of the desired staff member, and the auto-attendant provides the employee’s name and extension. This works in a similar fashion to RingCentral.

Visit Phone.com

Vonage: Flexible Calling Solutions

RingCentral does a good job of offering all of its customers with a strong set of telephony features. However, it does not let you choose individual functions to add on, which means that with each version of the service, you may be paying for functionality you don’t need. Vonage allows customers to add features such as toll-free numbers and call recording on an a la carte basis, letting users choose the best package for their needs.

Vonage Pricing*

• Mobile: $19.99 per line, per month for unlimited calls in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, unlimited SMS, and team messaging
• Premium: $29.99 per line, per month for unlimited video meetings with up to 100 participants, a multilevel auto-attendant, and CRM integrations
• Advanced: $39.99 per line, per month for 15 hours of on-demand call recording, visual voicemail, and white glove setup services

*Plan pricing based on one user with discounts given when adding five or 20 users.

Vonage Features

• Vonage IT support: For $9.99 per user, per month, you can get an IT team at your disposal. Vonage Support PLUS powered by Soluto™ helps you with hardware installation, virus removal, and third-party integrations, like DropBox or QuickBooks. RingCentrals customer service options do not hold up in comparison.
• Multiple phones on one line: Select up to three phones to use on one extension, so you never miss a call. This provides a great deal of flexibility over RingCentral.  Plus, with the call flip features, you can seamlessly switch devices while remaining on the line with your customer.
• Team messaging: Once your team downloads the Vonage apps, everyone can start or join group chats, share files, and participate in video and voice calls. This is about even with RingCentral.

Visit Vonage

Ooma: Best for Small Remote Teams

If your office relies on remote teams, then Ooma is an affordable VoIP service. As with RingCentral, you’ll get call park, voicemail, and easy-to-use mobile apps. However, Ooma’s plans are less expensive, starting at $19.95 per user, per month with no contract required. Ooma also receives great ratings for its responsive customer service, making it a fantastic choice for business owners wanting to connect and support remote teams.

If your office relies on remote teams, then Ooma is an affordable VoIP service. As with RingCentral, you’ll get call park, voicemail, and easy-to-use mobile apps. However, Ooma’s plans are less expensive, starting at $19.95 per user, per month with no contract required. Ooma also receives great ratings for its responsive customer service, making it a fantastic choice for business owners wanting to connect and support remote teams.

Ooma Pricing

• Ooma Office: $19.99 per user, per month for unlimited calling in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, along with more than 35 standard call management and mobility features
• Ooma Office Pro: $24.99 per user, per month for video conferencing, call recording, and voicemail transcription

Ooma Features

• Ring groups: Reduce lost calls by creating ring groups for business departments. You can assign users and add multiple devices. Plus, you can choose from sequential or simultaneous ring options. This is about even with RingCentral.
• Conference bridge: With Ooma, all users get a conference bridge, allowing them to host a meeting with up to 10 participants. Small businesses can conduct meetings with each other or clients quickly and securely. The module works in a similar fashion to RingCentral.
• Virtual receptionist: Ooma offers an automated attendant module just like RingCentral. Along with standard attendant features, you can develop custom messages with general business information, create multi-language menus, and set different rules for business or after-hours calls. 

Visit Ooma

Bottom Line

Staying connected is vital to business communications. Several RingCentral competitors offer phone systems with similar features at a lower cost. Although our top pick is RingCentral, if you want a RingCentral alternative, go with Nextiva. You’ll get more toll-free minutes along with the unified communications features you can’t work without. For a detailed comparison of the two, you can also read our Nextiva vs RingCentral article.