What does a phone system cost a business with ten or fewer people?
Summary
At published U.S. prices with annual billing, an entry-level cloud phone plan costs about $75 to $105 a month for five people and $150 to $210 for ten. Quo Starter is the cheapest of the six plans below, and Teams Phone lands at the top once you add the Teams license it requires. Monthly billing can push a ten-person bill to $300, and adding a phone menu raises the per-user rate by $8 to $10 on some plans.
Five and ten users, side by side
Annual-billing prices where offered, U.S. dollars, before taxes and fees:
| Plan | Per user | 5 users | 10 users | Notes | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quo Starter | $15 | $75 | $150 | $19 per user monthly | Check current plans |
| Zoom Phone US & CA Unlimited | $16 | $80 | $160 | $18 per user monthly | Check current plans |
| Google Voice Starter + Workspace Business Starter | $17 | $85 | $170 | $10 + $7 (Google Workspace subscription); Starter caps at 10 users | Check current plans |
| Ooma Office Essentials | $19.95 | $99.75 | $199.50 | Monthly only; one-time $29.95 activation fee | Check current plans |
| RingCentral RingEX Core | $20 | $100 | $200 | $30 per user monthly | Check current plans |
| Teams Phone with Calling Plan + Teams Essentials | $21 | $105 | $210 | $17 + $4 (Microsoft Teams Essentials license); paid yearly; the calling plan includes calling taxes and fees | Check current plans |
Scroll sideways on a phone.
Every plan a five-to-nine person business could buy, including the ones not above, is ranked by three-year cost on the 5–9 seat page.
The Google and Microsoft rows assume you're buying the base license for the phone. A company already paying for Workspace or Microsoft 365 adds only $10 or $17 per user.
Grasshopper works differently. It charges one flat price per company with no user cap, starting at $14 a month billed annually, so headcount doesn't change the bill. For a single owner, our one-person business article runs the U.S. numbers.
Paying monthly instead
Ten users on monthly billing would pay $190 at Quo, $180 at Zoom Phone, and $300 at RingCentral. That's $20 a month more than annual at Zoom and $100 more at RingCentral. Ooma Office only bills monthly and doesn't require a contract.
One company's first year
Five people on Quo Starter, billed annually, with one extra number:
- Subscriptions: $180 per user per year × 5 = $900
- Extra number: $5 a month × 12 = $60
- Business texting registration (A2P 10DLC): Quo passes on a one-time $19.50 plus $1.50 to $3 a month, so $37.50 to $55.50 for the year
Total: $997.50 to $1,015.50, before taxes and fees. Desk phones cost extra.
When the main line needs a menu
Somewhere between five and ten people, most companies want callers to hear "press 1 for sales, 2 for support." That menu isn't in every entry plan.
Quo puts phone menus on Business ($23 annual, $33 monthly), $8 more per user than Starter, or $80 a month for ten people. Google Voice Starter has no auto attendant or ring groups, and Standard costs $10 more per user. Zoom Phone includes an auto attendant (IVR) in its cheapest plan, so the price doesn't move. At RingCentral, the jump comes with CRM integrations, which start on Advanced at $25 annual or $35 monthly.
Sources
- quo.com/pricing
- zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone
- knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/voice/compare-voice-subscriptions
- knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/billing/compare-flexible-and-annual-fixed-term-payment-plans
- ooma.com/small-business-phone-systems/plans
- ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html
- microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/microsoft-teams-phone
- microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/essentials
- grasshopper.com/pricing
Related on this site
- Does a one-person business need a phone system? The US arithmetic
- What 10 to 20 people pay a month
- Monthly vs annual billing: 1.28x more on 10 phone plans
- How far apart are business VoIP prices, from entry plans to the top tiers?
- How many users does it take for a company-wide phone price to beat per-user pricing?
- Do you need to register before texting customers from a business number?
- Seat cost calculator
- Compare every US plan at your team size
Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.