RingCentral vs Vonage: Which Is Better for Small Businesses?

RingCentral and Vonage are two of the biggest names in cloud communications. Both provide voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) solutions for businesses, but each takes a different focus. Vonage offers a more straightforward VoIP solution with more customized pricing plans, while RingCentral delivers a robust, unrivaled feature set.

Both providers deliver the standard unlimited calls and messaging you’d expect, but available features and pricing are what set the two products apart. Small-to-midsize businesses with very specific feature requests will appreciate Vonage’s “add-on” pricing options, but companies (big and small) with broad needs will value RingCentral’s comprehensive functionality.

• RingCentral: Best for businesses that need a robust, scalable cloud communications solution
• Vonage: Best for businesses that want clear-cut personalized plans that satisfy needs

RingCentral vs Vonage at a Glance

Takeaway: RingCentral and Vonage are both excellent cloud communication providers for businesses, but RingCentral takes first place due to its scalability, advanced features, network quality, and available support. Small-to-enterprise businesses looking for an all-in-one cloud-based communication service will value RingCentral’s exceptional feature set and next-level reliability. Vonage indulges customers who may have a very finite use case for VoIP services and don’t need the entire communications package.

How We Evaluated RingCentral vs Vonage

Vonage and RingCentral provide the fundamentals you’d expect with a VoIP service, but they serve audiences in different ways, which makes drawing a direct comparison difficult. To evaluate each solution fairly, we looked closely at the following criteria:

• Price: We looked at the available pricing tiers to see which solution offered the most functionality for the least amount of money.
• Scalability: We analyzed each service’s pricing structure to see how easily it scaled. We also looked at the more advanced feature sets of the highest tier packages to see which offered the most extensive functionality.
• Basic features: We compared which must-have features were provided on the most basic plans.
• Advanced features: We looked to see what the above-and-beyond features each provider offered, and then we compared them to see which were at lower pricing tiers.
• Call management features: Call management is one of the most important characteristics of a VoIP provider, so we looked closely at available features like virtual waiting rooms, auto-attendants, multilevel IVRs, caller ID, call forwarding, call recording, and more.
• Integrations: We looked to see how each provider simplifies workflows by allowing third-party integrations.
• Overall customer reviews: We dove deep into customer reviews to find out what the day-to-day end-users think about each service.

When to Use RingCentral

RingCentral has become a major contender in the cloud communications space. Its scalability and feature-packed capabilities make it a top choice for growing startups and enterprises alike. Whether you need to provide video conferencing support to clients, chat with your team, or send files to clients securely, RingCentral makes digital communications integrated and straightforward.

Pricing plans start at $29.99 per user, per month (for up to 20 users) to access RingCentral’s Essentials plan. This package includes basic functionality like team messaging, document sharing, unlimited domestic calls, unlimited business SMS, and more. Next to its top alternatives, RingCentral takes the lead for its feature-rich communication options, reliable network quality, and extensive third-party integrations.

RingCentral Pros & Cons

RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral is a business phone system that provides pricing plans based on estimated users and the desired features. Additional users and more advanced features will require a higher monthly cost, while basic functionality and fewer users will drive the price down. Regardless of your plan, you can purchase extra toll-free, local, and international numbers for $4.99 to $14.99 per user, per month.

The pricing tiers below were calculated based on the assumption of two to 20 users on the plan, billed monthly.

• Essentials: $29.99 per user, per month with up to 20 users and 100 toll-free minutes. Unlimited domestic calls and unlimited business SMS are included, as well as basic features like voicemail-to-text, team messaging, and file sharing.
• Standard: $34.99 per user, per month with no limit on users and 1,000 toll-free minutes. Expands features to include unlimited internet fax and audio conferencing, as well as 100-participant video meetings and basic integrations.
• Premium: $44.99 per user, per month with no limit on users and 2,500 toll-free minutes. Includes functionality like advanced call management, single sign-on (SSO), 200-participant video meetings, advanced integrations, and access to open APIs.
• Ultimate: $59.99 per user, per month with no limit on users and 10,000 toll-free minutes. Plan includes unlimited storage and device status reports and alerts.

Annual pricing is also available at a discounted rate.

RingCentral also has three tiers of Contact Center solutions (Basic, Advanced, Ultimate), but you’ll need to contact sales for pricing.

Why RingCentral Is the Better Choice for Scaling Businesses

• Scalability: RingCentral makes it simple and affordable to scale your operations to match your growing customer base.
• Advanced features: Consolidate all your internal and external communications into one platform with industry-leading functionality.
• Third-party integrations: Maximize your productivity by integrating important solutions like Salesforce, Slack, Zendesk, Google Workspace, and more.

Visit our RingCentral reviews page to learn more about pricing, features, and other top considerations.

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When to Use Vonage

Vonage is a cloud communications platform that offers flexible voice, video, messaging, and data solutions to small-to-midsize businesses. Vonage’s low-cost solutions and add-on pricing make it an excellent platform for companies with finite use cases. With Vonage, you pay for what you need—nothing more, nothing less.

Vonage’s pricing plans start at $19.99 per line, per month, which include basic features like unlimited calling, unlimited SMS, and team messaging. Small businesses looking to satisfy specific communications needs will love Vonage’s add-on features, including advanced support, toll-free numbers, call recording, and voicemail transcription.

Vonage Pros & Cons

Vonage Pricing

Vonage’s pay-for-what-you-need pricing lets businesses pay for the exact features that they need. The premium tiers don’t compete with RingCentral when it comes to functionality, but they do provide lower prices per line, per month.

Tailored quotes are available for additional licensing on each plan. The following monthly prices were calculated with an assumption of two users.

Communications Plans

• Mobile: $19.99 per line, per month. Small business phone system that provides unlimited domestic calling, unlimited SMS, and unlimited team messaging.
• Premium: $29.99 per line, per month. Adds video functionality (up to 100 participants), multilevel auto-attendant, and customer relationship management (CRM) integrations.
• Advanced: $39.99 per line, per month. Provides call recording, call forwarding to multiple extensions, voicemail transcription, and initial setup.

Contact Center Plans

Vonage also offers contact center plans that include Salesforce integration, dynamic recording, call recording, analytics, and more. Quotes are available upon request.

Why Vonage Is the Better Choice for Businesses on a Tight Budget

• Adaptable pricing: Small teams that need a cloud communications solution (but don’t need all the bells and whistles) will love Vonage’s flexible pricing.
• Robust knowledge center: Vonage keeps you going and problem-solving by providing fantastic FAQs, how-tos, and resources.
• Powerful developer and API platform: By acquiring Nexmo, Vonage expands its API functionality to empower developers to build programmable communications into websites, mobile apps, business systems, and more.

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RingCentral vs Vonage: Which Is Better for Small Businesses?

RingCentral and Vonage serve different businesses, but they have a lot in common:

• Easy to use: RingCentral and Vonage both provide intuitive solutions that are simple and straightforward for users and customers.
• Unlimited calling, SMS, and team messaging: Both platforms provide unlimited domestic calling, business SMS, and team messaging.
• Unified communications tools: Vonage and RingCentral provide a complete cloud communications package with calls, SMS, team messaging, video conferencing, and more.

RingCentral and Vonage share several functionalities, but RingCentral comes out on top for its scalability, advanced features, and extensive third-party integrations. Businesses looking for an all-in-one cloud communications solution will find RingCentral provides everything they’re looking for.

Bottom Line

Cloud communications are the future of employee and customer engagement, and voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) service providers like Vonage and RingCentral make it accessible and affordable for businesses of all sizes.

RingCentral and Vonage provide the cloud-based engagement services that businesses need, but RingCentral delivers more bang for your buck with feature-packed pricing plans that are meant to scale with you. From startup to enterprise, you can count on RingCentral for your cloud communications throughout the entire journey.