9 Vonage Alternatives & Competitors for 2023

Vonage is a unified communications platform equipped with basic call management, unlimited team chat, and video conferencing capabilities. However, many companies look for Vonage alternatives because essential tools (e.g., call recording and internet fax) are offered as add-ons, increasing subscription costs. Its integrations and video meeting features are also limited.

Based on our research, these are the top Vonage competitors that are worth considering as your next voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) solution:

• RingCentral: Best overall Vonage alternative with robust unified communications
• Nextiva: Ideal business communications software for sales teams to manage leads
• Dialpad: Best for task automation with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) features
• 8×8: Solid choice for businesses that want flexibility in subscription plans
• GoTo Connect: Best for companies that provide customer service to a global market
• Zoom One: Ideal for remote teams with regular online meetings
• Grasshopper: Excellent choice for businesses that need to separate phone numbers for departments or projects
• Google Voice: Free, affordable alternative for solopreneurs and small teams
• Ooma: Top option for brick-and-mortar companies

Vonage & Best Alternatives at a Glance

*Zoom One and Google Voice also offer a free plan with limited features.

RingCentral: Best Overall Vonage Alternative for Unified Communications

RingCentral MVP, our top pick for the best business phone system, is the top alternative to Vonage thanks to its extensive unified communications capabilities. Its robust call management system has answering rules, call forwarding, and call transfer. Virtual fax, call monitoring, and call recording, which are add-ons in Vonage, are already included in RingCentral MVP’s subscription plans, starting from the third-tier package.

The provider offers a toll-free minute allowance, ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 bundles depending on your chosen plan. Its video meetings accommodate up to 200 participants and support a 24-hour duration. Its team chat lets you collaborate with colleagues in real time, manage tasks, and share files.

Compared to other services like Vonage, RingCentral has expensive monthly subscription fees. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option with useful call management and collaboration features, consider Google Voice.

RingCentral Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Core: $30 for message and phone functionality for 20 users
• Advanced: $35 for an unlimited number of users, unlimited internet fax, audio conferencing, third-party integrations, and video conferencing for up to 24 hours and 100 participants
• Ultra: $45 for automatic call recording, real-time analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) integration, devices status reports, and video meetings with up to 200 participants

*Pricing is based on monthly billing; save up to 40% with annual billing. RingCentral also has available volume discounts.

RingCentral Features

• Team huddle: This informal, always-on meeting space allows team members to have a quick brainstorming session or a casual chit-chat. Designed to replicate real-life spontaneous conversations, it lets people enter and exit virtual rooms as they please.
• Live transcription: Follow the meeting discussion by reading the automatically generated transcription near the chatbox. Late attendees are able to catch up on the conversation thanks to this feature.
• Voicemail-to-text: RingCentral converts voicemails into text form, making it easier for users to know which messages to prioritize. There’s no need to play the audio file over and over to get the important details.

Nextiva: Best for Lead Management

Nextiva, one of our top picks for small business VoIP services, is an excellent Vonage alternative for sales teams because it has a built-in lead management tool mapping out the entire sales pipeline. The platform allows users to add tasks and deadlines for each stage of the sales process, making it easier to follow up with prospects and close deals.

The sales tool complements Nextiva’s robust call management system, which consists of call groups, multi-level auto-attendants, and call recording. As you accommodate callers, the VoIP platform creates accurate customer profiles that better inform your communication strategies.

Unfortunately, though, Nextiva limits video meetings to 45 minutes. If you’re looking for Vonage alternatives with robust conferencing features, go for Zoom One, which has a 30-hour duration, or GoTo Connect, which places no time limits on sessions.

Nextiva Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Essential: $30.95 per user for a free local and toll-free number, a maximum of 1,500 toll-free minutes, auto-attendant, and video meetings of up to 45 minutes
• Professional: $35.95 per user for unlimited conference calls for 40 participants, up to 3,000 toll-free minutes, mobile SMS and multimedia messaging service (MMS), and multi-level auto-attendant
• Enterprise: $45.95 per user for unlimited conference calls for unlimited participants, up to 12,500 toll-free minutes, call recording, and enterprise integrations with the most popular CRM tools
• Free trial: 7 days

*Pricing is based on monthly billing for one to four users; save up to 25% with annual billing. Like RingCentral, Nextiva offers volume discounts.

Nextiva Features

• Voicemail forwarding: Share a voicemail message to another extension’s mailbox. This makes it easy for team members to relay important information to each other and ensure that all parties involved in a task or project are in the loop.
• Advanced interactive voice response (IVR): Powered by conversational AI, this feature promotes self-service among callers. The IVR system answers frequently asked questions, schedules appointments, takes in callback requests, and facilitates payments.
• Priority alerts: Set a specific ringtone for high-value customers. Add up to 12 phone numbers to a priority alert list and configure the time or holiday schedule.

Dialpad: Best Vonage Alternative for Task Automation

Dialpad is the best alternative to Vonage when you’re looking to improve your business communications with the assistance of advanced AI. The provider features various AI tools, including real-time call transcriptions, live speech coaching, and automated post-call summaries.

With real-time call transcriptions, agents do away with note-taking and focus better on addressing the concern a customer raised. Live speech coaching highlights recommendations on how customer service representatives can improve how they engage with the caller. On the other hand, the post-call summaries help team members remember the next action steps and work on them immediately without the need to replay call recordings.

While Dialpad provides different AI tools, it has limited third-party integrations. If you plan to add business apps to the phone system, it’s better to choose RingCentral, as the platform has more integrations than Dialpad.

Dialpad Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Standard: $23 per user for one local number, multi-level auto-attendant, a maximum of three ring groups, and up to 10 video meeting participants
• Pro: $35 per user for a maximum of 25 ring groups, international SMS, and integrations with CRM systems and open APIs
• Enterprise: Customized quote for extensions, an unlimited number of ring groups, and integrations with single sign-on service providers
• Free trial: 14 days

*Pricing is based on monthly billing. The entry-level plan’s fee lowers from $23 to $15 with annual billing.

Dialpad Features

• Call flip: Transfer seamlessly from one device to another without interrupting the live call. Team members who are always on the go easily move from their desktop to mobile whenever they go outside the office.
• Simultaneous ring: Alert several devices of an incoming call to ensure that your team accommodates all customer queries. The VoIP app works across iOS, Android, Mac, and PC, allowing you to pick up the call from the device you’re currently on.
• Call transfer: Move a live call to another qualified customer service representative in your organization. This feature facilitates better team productivity while creating a smooth customer experience.

8×8: Best for Subscription Fee Flexibility

If you like Vonage’s flexible pricing, but don’t want to pay more for standard call management features, 8×8 should be among your top VoIP Vonage alternatives. 8×8 allows users to mix and match plans and get the features fit to their unique business needs. Unlike Vonage though, 8×8 doesn’t offer features as add-ons, as they are included in subscription plans.

One of its notable offerings is unlimited voice calls to 48 countries. The phone system comes with sophisticated call handling capabilities, like caller ID, call forwarding, transfer, park, hunt groups, and ring groups. The highest-tier subscription package has call monitoring tools, like whisper and barge.

However, the disadvantage of choosing 8×8 is that the integration with Microsoft Teams comes with an additional fee. Other VoIP solutions like Dialpad and GoTo Connect can be connected to Teams for free.

8×8 Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• X2: $28 per user for unlimited voice calling to 14 countries, multi-level auto-attendant, team messaging with document sharing, and video meetings for up to 500 participants
• X4: $57 per user for unlimited voice calling to 48 countries, 8×8 Frontdesk, and supervisor analytics

*Pricing is based on monthly billing; save up to 23% with annual billing.

8×8 Features

• Call queue: Create a virtual line for incoming calls and distribute customers to the next available agent. To improve customer experience, allow callers to leave voicemails instead of waiting in the queue.
• Visual voicemail: See a complete list of your voicemails and decide which ones to prioritize first. 8×8 sends a visual voicemail to the email inbox, making sharing messages with other team members easy.
• Call monitoring: Let team leaders assist new agents in handling customer inquiries. Whisper advice to team members without the customer knowing or barge into the conversation to resolve concerns directly.

GoTo Connect: Best for Establishing International Presence

In the aspect of international calling, GoTo Connect is a superior Vonage competitor. It allows businesses to make and receive unlimited calls between 50-plus countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The free international calls are offered in the highest-tier subscription package priced at $32 per user, per month.

On top of the global calling capabilities, GoTo Connect offers 1,000 toll-free minutes in the Standard plan. If you run SMS marketing campaigns, choose other VoIP platforms because GoTo Connect only has 80 text credits. Consider Nextiva, as it offers unlimited text messages.

GoTo Connect Monthly Pricing at a Glance

• Basic: $27 per user for one ring group and call queue, 3 cents per toll-free minute, a maximum of 40 minutes and four participants in video meetings, and 40 SMS credits
• Standard: $32 per user for unlimited ring groups and call queues, unlimited international calls to 50-plus countries, up to 1,000 toll-free minutes, unlimited meeting duration for 150 participants, and 80 SMS credits
• Free trial: 14 days

GoTo Connect Features

• Video meetings: Host meetings for an unlimited duration for up to 150 participants. Use the built-in drawing tools, such as a pointer, pen, and highlighter, to illustrate points during presentations better.
• Hotdesking: Let team members log into any phone on your system and find their user profile settings automatically configured into that device. With this feature, employees are able to work on any desktop computer, Android, or iOS phone.
• Call forwarding: Direct calls to another phone number. Use this to maintain a single phone number as primary contact information and ensure customers won’t hear busy signals.

Zoom One: Best for Remote Teams With Regular Online Meetings

Among Vonage competitors, Zoom One is the best option for those seeking a unified communications (UC) platform with great video conferencing tools. Its free version already packs valuable features: virtual backgrounds, screen sharing, host controls, and personal meeting ID. When you upgrade the plan, you’ll have a wider range of capabilities, such as 1,000 meeting participants and unlimited whiteboards.

The provider has improved security features too. Hosts are able to lock a meeting, create a waiting room to gatekeep attendees, remove a participant, and put watermarks on screen-sharing sessions.

The only drawback of choosing this platform is that its VoIP capabilities are unavailable in the entry-level paid package. You must have the Business Plus subscription to make calls, secure toll-free numbers, and create routing rules for IVRs and holiday hours. Other Vonage alternatives like Google Voice and Dialpad have several business phone features in their affordable entry-level plans.

Zoom One Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Basic: Free for a maximum of 40-minute meeting duration and 100 participants, three whiteboards, and team chat
• Pro: $15.99 per user for a maximum of 30-hour meeting duration and 100 participants, 5GB cloud storage, and free premium apps for a year
• Business: $19.99 per user for a maximum of 300 meeting attendees, unlimited whiteboards, and automatic recording transcripts
• Business Plus: $25 per user for metered and unlimited outbound calling, toll-free numbers, automatic call distribution (ACD), and call monitoring
• Enterprise: Customized quote for a maximum of 1,000 meeting participants, Webinar 500, and local and unlimited cloud recording

*Pricing is based on monthly billing; save up to 21% with annual billing.

Zoom One Features

• Waiting room: Control the people joining your meeting by placing attendees in the Waiting Room. Give them access to the meeting one by one or all at once.
• Zoom Whiteboard: Brainstorm ideas with a virtual canvas in your meeting room. Draw shapes, add texts, and insert images to explain concepts better.
• Quick reply to meeting invite: If you’re in the middle of working on an important task and a colleague invites you to a huddle, decline and send a brief reason for being unable to attend. Zoom One lets you choose among template messages, including “I’ll call you back” or “I can’t meet right now.”

Grasshopper: Best for Securing Separate Phone Numbers for Different Teams

If you plan to get multiple phone numbers for different departments within the company or various campaigns, Grasshopper must be at the top of your options for alternatives to Vonage. This phone system provider has a flat rate for phone numbers and extensions. For $89, your team will be able to share unlimited extensions and five phone numbers. The number options include local, toll-free, and vanity.

All Grasshopper’s pricing plans include call management features, such as transfer, forwarding, and voicemail. However, note that this VoIP provider doesn’t have team chat and video conferencing capabilities. If these are important tools for you, along with the range of number options, go for the top Vonage substitute, which is RingCentral MVP. The additional numbers only cost $4.99 plus taxes and fees.

Grasshopper Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Solo: $34 for one phone number and three extensions
• Partner: $56 for three phone numbers and six extensions
• Small Business: $92 for five phone numbers and unlimited extensions
• Free trial: 7 days

*Pricing is based on monthly billing; save up to 10% with annual billing.

Grasshopper Features

• Business texting: Send and receive SMS through your business phone number. Picture messages or MMS are also allowed using Grasshopper’s local numbers.
• Call blasting: Ring multiple devices simultaneously to never miss a call. This feature is an add-on that costs $10 per month.
• Virtual fax: Receive faxes on the Grasshopper app or in your email. With this, you can keep all communications in one place using one phone number. Plus, you won’t need an actual fax machine that is costly to maintain.

Google Voice: Best for Affordability

Businesses looking for a cheaper alternative to Vonage will find Google Voice as the most suitable VoIP solution. The platform has a forever-free version, which comes with a phone number and unlimited calls and texts within the U.S. Its paid subscription starts at $10 per user, letting users maximize voicemail transcription, call forwarding, and mobile and web applications. Plus, you can count on the provider’s SLA and 24/7 support.

Before subscribing to Google Voice, note that the provider only offers local phone numbers. If you need toll-free and vanity numbers at an affordable subscription fee, Grasshopper is the better choice. For international numbers, Dialpad and 8×8 are great options.

Google Voice Monthly Pricing at a Glance

• Personal: Free for one user, unlimited calls to the U.S., and unlimited texts within the U.S.
• Starter: $10 per user for up to 10 users, call forwarding, access to mobile apps, and integration with Google Calendar and Meet
• Standard: $20 per user for an unlimited number of users, multi-level auto-attendant, ring groups, and desk phone and analog telephone adapter (ATA) support
• Premier: $30 per user for advanced reporting and automatic call recording

Google Voice Features

• Call recording: Review how customer service representatives engage with customers by playing actual call recordings. With this feature, you’re also able to preserve important information needed for addressing disputes.
• Multi-level auto-attendant: Play prerecorded messages of menu options as customers call your phone number. Google Voice uses text-to-speech technology and, at the same time, allows users to upload their own audio files.
• Spam call detection: A red text that says “suspected spam caller” appears when a suspicious call comes through your phone system. You have the option to confirm it or mark it as not spam. Google Voice uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to identify spam calls.

Ooma: Best for Brick & Mortar Businesses

Ooma is the ideal Vonage substitute for brick-and-mortar companies, featuring overhead paging systems and intercoms. With Vonage, the internet protocol (IP) phone paging system is an add-on priced at $4.99 monthly on top of the monthly subscription cost. With a reliable paging system from Ooma, it’s easy for those managing retail stores, warehousing facilities, and large offices to broadcast important alerts, appointment reminders, and emergency notifications.

Aside from the paging system, Ooma provides analog fax machine support across all its plans. Unfortunately, access to the desktop app and SMS services are unavailable in its entry-level package, which costs $19.95 per user, per month. If these are essential features to you, go for Google Voice instead, as these capabilities are offered in its $10-per-user plan.

Ooma Monthly Pricing at a Glance*

• Essentials: $19.95 per user for one toll-free number, access to the mobile app, ring groups, and virtual receptionist
• Pro: $24.95 per user for access to the desktop app, text messaging, video conferencing, and call recording
• Pro Plus: $29.95 per user for call queueing, integration with CRM systems, meetings recording, and hotdesking
• Free trial: 30-day money-back guarantee

*Applicable fees and taxes are not included.

Ooma Features

• Conference bridge: Help remote team members dial into virtual meetings from any phone anywhere in the world. Ooma’s conference bridge accommodates up to 10 participants.
• Seven-digit dialing: Make dialing more efficient by allowing employees to dial a local number without dialing the area code. Configure the area code settings in the “Numbers” tab on your Ooma Office Manager dashboard.
• Voicemail-to-email: Get voicemail notifications via email. The email you receive contains a transcription of the audio message, letting you read through the text and helping you decide if it needs immediate attention.

How We Evaluated the Best Vonage Alternatives

To assess the top apps like Vonage, we considered pricing, general and advanced features, ease of use, and customer support. We added our expert opinion on its value for money and popularity in the evaluation.

Learn how we assessed the VoIP platforms by clicking on the tabs below:

Bottom Line

Vonage is an excellent VoIP solution for organizations that want to cherry-pick features based on their communication needs. However, if you need a range of advanced call management and productivity tools, your monthly fee may quickly increase with the add-ons. In this case, it’s better to explore feature-rich unified communications platforms.

Among the top alternatives we evaluated, RingCentral is the best overall, as it packs robust call management, team messaging, and video conferencing capabilities. Moreover, it integrates with various business tools, facilitating an easier, smoother transition process for teams. Sign up for RingCentral’s 14-day free trial.

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