How do the big cloud phone services differ on price and features?
Summary
They all give you a company number that can call any landline or cell phone. The differences are in the billing unit and in which tier gets which feature. Most charge per user, with entry plans at $15 to $20 a month on annual billing, but Grasshopper charges one flat price per company and 8x8 only quotes. Because auto attendants, call recording, texting, and CRM integrations sit on the entry plan at some providers and on a higher tier at others, the fair comparison is between plans that include the same features.
Published prices
These come from each provider's US pricing page, per user per month. Taxes and fees are extra except where noted.
| Service | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Phone | US & CA Unlimited $16; Pro Plus $20.50; Business Plus $24.50 | $18; $24; $29 | The top two tiers bundle a paid Zoom Workplace plan |
| Google Voice | Not shown | Starter $10; Standard $20; Premier $30 | Google Workspace billed separately; no billing term shown |
| Teams Phone | Standard $10; pay-as-you-go calling $13; Calling Plan $17; domestic and international $34 | Not shown | Teams license extra. The $13, $17, and $34 plans include US communication taxes and fees |
| RingCentral RingEX | Core $20; Advanced $25 | $30; $35 | Over 100 users is quote-only; the top package has no public price |
| Nextiva | Core $15; Engage $25 | $23; $50 | Annual pricing needs 1 to 100 employees, a new account, and a 12-month term |
| Dialpad | Standard $15; Pro $25 | $27; $35 | Enterprise is quote-only |
| Quo | Starter $15; Business $23; Scale $35 | $19; $33; $47 | One number per user; extra numbers $5 a month |
| Ooma Office | Not shown | Essentials $19.95; Pro $24.95; Pro Plus $29.95 | No contract; one-time $29.95 activation fee |
Grasshopper sells flat per-company plans with no user cap, starting at $14 a month billed annually. 8x8 lists no US prices at all; its pricing page offers only a sales chat and a quote request.
The gap between annual and monthly billing varies a lot. Quo Starter moves from $15 to $19, Dialpad Standard from $15 to $27, and Nextiva Engage doubles from $25 to $50.
Where the common features start
Auto attendants are on every Zoom Phone and Nextiva plan and on Ooma Office Essentials, which also includes ring groups. Google Voice starts them at Standard, and ring groups need the Workspace version of Standard. Quo adds phone menus on Business. In Teams, you build one with a Teams Phone license in the organization plus a free Resource Account license.
Call recording is on every Zoom Phone plan and every Google Voice plan, with automatic recording reserved for Voice Premier. RingCentral RingEX Core includes on-demand recording, Quo Starter records manually and Business automatically, Ooma starts recording at Pro, and on Nextiva Core it is an add-on.
Texting limits differ more than the prices do. RingCentral RingEX allows 25 texts per user per month on Core and 100 on Advanced; Nextiva 100 on Core and 500 on Engage; Ooma 250 a month on Pro and 1,000 on Pro Plus. Quo has no cap for US and Canada numbers, and Google Voice texts only US numbers.
CRM integration is where entry plans are thinnest. Dialpad starts it at Pro, RingCentral at Advanced, Quo at Business, and Ooma at Pro Plus; Nextiva sells it as an add-on on every plan. Zoom Phone is the exception, with a Salesforce integration on its cheapest plan.
If a pricing page did not tie a feature to a tier, it is left out above. That does not mean the feature is missing.
Terms outside the price table
Teams Phone Standard at $10 comes with no Microsoft number and no minutes. To reach outside numbers you either move to a Calling Plan version or contract a carrier through a route such as Operator Connect. The $17 Calling Plan includes 3,000 outbound domestic minutes in the US, UK, and Canada.
Business texting costs extra everywhere it needs carrier registration. Quo charges $19.50 once plus $1.50 to $3 a month, and RingCentral requires TCR registration for SMS and does not allow texting during its free trial.
Only two of these pricing pages state an uptime figure: 99.999% for Teams Phone and 99.9% for Dialpad Enterprise.
Sources
- zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone
- knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/voice/compare-voice-subscriptions
- microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/microsoft-teams-phone
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/aa-cq-reference-prerequisites-licensing
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/pstn-connectivity
- ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html
- nextiva.com/nextiva-pricing
- dialpad.com/llm-info
- dialpad.com/pricing
- quo.com/pricing
- ooma.com/small-business-phone-systems/plans
- grasshopper.com/pricing
- grasshopper.com/blog/phone-system-pricing
- 8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing
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Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.