Whether you’re running a startup, a small or mid-sized enterprise, or a multinational corporation, you need a cloud phone system for business communication.
RingCentral is one of the widely used business phone systems. It offers features such as omnichannel contact center solutions, a personal AI assistant for team messaging and note-taking, and an integrated VoIP phone system.
However, owing to challenges such as compliance fees, overcharging on advanced features, time limits on active calls, and support issues, battle-hardened VoIP folks look for RingCentral competitors to fill in these shortcomings.
Throughout this article, we cover the best RingCentral alternatives and their pros and cons—to help you make the right choice.
- ⏰60-Second Summary
- 1. Dialpad (Best for AI-based communication workflows)
- 2. OpenPhone (Best for startups and small businesses)
- 3. Nextiva (Best for hybrid and remote teams)
- 4. Zoom Phone (Best for teams in the Zoom ecosystem)
- 5. 8×8 (Best for unlimited international calling)
- 6. Ooma Office (Best for teams on a lean budget)
- 7. Vonage (Best for customized workflows)
- 8. Grasshopper (Best for solopreneurs)
- 9. Ringover (Best for advanced customer analysis)
- 10. Phonexa (Best for marketing teams)
- ClickUp: Best for end-to-end project management and collaboration
⏰60-Second Summary
- Dialpad: Best for AI-based communication workflows
- OpenPhone: Best for startups and small businesses
- Nextiva: Best for hybrid and remote teams
- Zoom Phone: Best for teams in the Zoom ecosystem
- 8×8: Best for unlimited international calling
- Ooma Office: Best for teams on a lean budget
- Vonage: Best for customized workflows
- Grasshopper: Best for solopreneurs
- Ringover: Best for advanced customer analytics
- Phonexa: Best for multichannel call tracking
What Should You Look for in RingCentral Alternatives?
Is there an ideal cloud phone system for your requirements?
The primary aim of VoIP systems is to make phone calls over the Internet. But the right tool for your business must also have the following features:
- Cloud-based flexibility: Pick a cloud-based communication platform your team can access from anywhere, enabling remote work without sacrificing efficiency
- Premium call quality: Find a tool that offers clear audio and minimal dropped calls
- Detailed and actionable insights: Choose an alternative that can track call volumes and team performance for implementing data-driven improvements
- Wide range of integrations: Pick a platform that integrates with other CRM and productivity tools to reduce constant app-switching
- Call recording and forwarding: Opt for a tool with these advanced features as they aid with quality assurance and training
- AI-powered data analysis: Pick a tool that supports AI-enabled routing and sentiment analysis to facilitate personalized customer service
The 10 Best RingCentral Alternatives
Here’s our curated list of the 10 best RingCentral alternatives. Whether you seek to improve collaboration between remote teams or want a tool to help with international calling, these options stand out due to their unique functionalities.
1. Dialpad (Best for AI-based communication workflows)
Dialpad is a great RingCentral alternative that combines voice, video, messaging, and contact center tools in one glitch-free, easy-to-use cloud-based platform.
Its Voice Intelligence (Vi) feature—which offers real-time transcription, sentiment analysis, and call coaching—is particularly impressive. It can even auto-generate summaries and track keywords to help you communicate better.
Dialpad best features
- AI-powered meeting assistant: Use ‘AI Recaps’—meeting summaries and notes—to keep everyone on the same page
- Integrations: Integrate with popular CRM systems and productivity tools, such as Zendesk, Salesforce, etc.
Dialpad limitations
- Some users report inconsistent call quality, particularly in areas with poor internet connectivity
- The tool lacks the flexibility in terms of call handling & routing for departments
Dialpad pricing
Business Communication
- Standard: $27/month per user
- Pro: $35/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
AI Meetings
- Free
- Business: $20/month per user
Dialpad ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (1,800+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (500+ reviews)
2. OpenPhone (Best for startups and small businesses)
With OpenPhone, you can make calls, send texts, and set business hours with custom greetings from any device of your choice. Other notable features include voicemail transcription, auto-attendant, and email integration.
The tool seamlessly integrates with HubSpot to automatically log calls, texts, and voicemails, making it easy to maintain updated customer records without manually entering any data.
OpenPhone best features
- AI responses: Get AI-suggested text replies based on the context of the conversation
- Message filters: Use filters and labels to quickly categorize and locate specific conversations
- Voicemail transcriptions: Get transcriptions along with audio recordings of all calls that reach voicemail when you are unavailable to take calls
OpenPhone limitations
- The initial setup process can be confusing, especially when configuring integrations or custom features
- Lacks advanced call analytics, which would be helpful for teams needing deeper insights into call performance
OpenPhone pricing
- Free
- Starter: $19/month per user
- Business: $33/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
OpenPhone ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.1/5 (50+ reviews)
➡️ Read More: How to Use AI for Meeting Notes
3. Nextiva (Best for hybrid and remote teams)
Nextiva provides a unified customer experience with key features such as unlimited domestic calling, conference calls, collaboration rooms, voicemail transcription, and a multi-level attendant. Plus, it can integrate with 24+ tools, including Zendesk, ConnectWise, and Microsoft Teams.
Nexativa’s most impressive feature is its high-quality async video conferencing (which supports 250+ participants), making it perfect for remote teams.
Nextiva best features
- Real-time performance metrics: Display SLAs and KPIs on home page widgets to increase accountability within teams and enhance productivity
- Centralized communication: Consolidate team conversations across phone calls, texts, chat, video, and more in one platform
- Custom dashboards: Analyze data on custom and intuitive dashboards for informed decision-making
Nextiva limitations
- The service is unreliable and not the most intuitive or user-friendly
- Sometimes, the Nextiva app becomes glitchy, and you can’t silence the alert on your desktop without being in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode
Nextiva pricing
- Small business
- Digital: $25/month per user
- Core: $36/month per user
- Engage: $50/month per user
- Power Suite: $75/month per user
- Enterprise
- Essential: $129/month per agent
- Professional: $159/month per agent
- Premium: $199/month per agent
Nextiva ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (3,200+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (900+ reviews)
4. Zoom Phone (Best for teams in the Zoom ecosystem)
Zoom Phone’s cloud-based VoIP solution comes packed with features like voicemail transcription, unlimited auto attendants, and call recording. Plus, its AI Companion, a huge time-saver for any business, can compile post-call summaries and extract tasks from voicemails.
Zoom Phone best features
- Team collaboration: Have 1:1 or group conversations with your team members, share files, and get summaries of chat threads to quickly catch up
- Call recording: Record calls and use transcriptions and playbacks to quickly retrieve information
Zoom Phone limitations
- Some users reported that the setup process was confusing, call routing and other functions very unclear and hard to set up
- If the internet connection is not stable, the quality of the meeting can be hampered
Zoom Phone pricing
- US & Canada Metered: Starting at $10/month per user
- US & Canada Unlimited: Starting at $15/month per user
- Pro Plus: $21.99/month per user
- Business Plus: $26.99/month per user
Zoom Phone ratings and reviews
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (200+ reviews)
5. 8×8 (Best for unlimited international calling)
8×8 offers unlimited voice calls in 14 countries. It is a reliable alternative to RingCentral, which limits calls and texts to the US and Canada and charges extra for international calls.
Beyond standard communication features, 8×8 includes speech analytics for real-time insights into conversation trends, customer sentiment, and agent activity. You also get shareable, auto-generated post-call transcripts.
8×8 best features
- Call monitoring: Coach agents during live calls or step in directly using the call barge feature when needed
- Audio and video conferencing: Host meetings for up to 500 participants and get AI-generated summaries, content snapshots, recordings, chat history, and more
- Data analytics: Collect and analyze data from communications across the cloud to make better business decisions
8×8 limitations
- The desktop and mobile apps notifications don’t link up in real time
- The video conference features are a little glitchy, making it an unsuitable all-around remote work solution
8×8 pricing
- Custom pricing
8×8 ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (700+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4/5 (300+ reviews)
6. Ooma Office (Best for teams on a lean budget)
Ooma Office is a solid choice for small businesses on a tight budget. Its basic plan includes advanced features like auto-attendants, virtual faxing, ring groups, and a public address system.
In addition to that, this tool offers voicemail, call forwarding, and 500 minutes of toll-free calling a month. You can make unlimited calls within the US and Canada and unlimited international calls to 60+ countries. Its intuitive, easy-to-use interface can integrate with CRM tools like Salesforce, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace.
Ooma Office best features
- Virtual receptionist: Route calls to relevant extensions and create custom messages for different business functions, operating hours, and locations
- Ring groups: Create ring groups for various departments and ring associated numbers sequentially or all at once
- Video conferencing: Make team meetings more productive with features like background noise suppression, simultaneous screen sharing, online whiteboards, etc.
Ooma Office limitations
- Some users reported problems with messages not being received and calls not being forwarded
- Voicemail doesn’t always record or transcribe properly
Ooma Office pricing
- Essentials: $19.95/month per user
- Pro: $24.95/month per user
- Pro Plus: $29.95/month per user
Ooma Office ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (200+ reviews)
7. Vonage (Best for customized workflows)
Vonage’s cloud-based VoIP solution comes with an extensive API library, letting businesses customize and integrate communication apps directly into their business phone system. It also offers add-ons like cross-channel customer texting, call recording, queueing, and virtual faxing and lets you host and plan virtual conferences with up to 200 participants.
With Vonage, you can make unlimited, high-quality calls, participate in team chats and video conferencing, and utilize smart communication features like automated responses, queues, IVR, and call recording.
Vonage best features
- Collaborative brainstorming: Brainstorm with your team members during meetings on a virtual whiteboard
- Flexible pricing: Start with a basic plan and pay only for the features you choose, deciding the cost according to your needs
- AI assistant: Use an AI-powered virtual assistant for call routing or basic support automation
Vonage limitations
- Some users felt that integrating third-party applications into Vonage was challenging and needed dedicated technical expertise
- Call drops, lags, echoes, and poor connectivity often hamper the overall user experience
Vonage pricing
- Mobile: $19.99/month per extension
- Premium: $29.99/month per extension
- Advanced: $39.99/month per extension
Vonage ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (400+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.1/5 (300+ reviews
➡️ Read More: 10 Virtual Meeting Etiquette Rules for Work
8. Grasshopper (Best for solopreneurs)
If you’re a one-person army looking for a simple yet professional cloud phone system, Grasshopper is a good choice. Grasshopper lets you forward calls to any device, create unlimited extensions, and set up custom greetings for your business. It even transcribes voicemails and emails them to you, ensuring you never miss important messages.
When signing up on Grasshopper, you can choose from toll-free, local, or vanity numbers or even transfer your existing number. Plus, you gain access to tools like unlimited SMS, auto-replies, and phone number extensions.
Grasshopper best features
- Auto attendant: Use the 24/7 automated call attendant to receive calls, direct customers to self-service, and take messages
- Instant responses: Set automatic text replies with images and hyperlinks to respond to customers reaching out during non-business hours
- Call forwarding: Redirect routine query calls to informational extensions and use customized greetings to engage customers while they wait
Grasshopper limitations
- You cannot send mass texts or multiple texts to more than one person without them seeing each other’s phone numbers
- Some users reported that the platform was slow and visually outdated, and the smartphone app had multiple glitches
Grasshopper pricing
- True Solo: $14/month
- Solo Plus: $25/month
- Small Business: $55/month
Grasshopper ratings and reviews
- G2: 4/5 (100+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)
9. Ringover (Best for advanced customer analysis)
Ringover is a solid option for sales and customer service teams because of its AI-powered real-time analytics and smart insights. The tool doesn’t just transcribe calls—it tags and categorizes them based on sentiment, keywords, and call quality.
Advanced sentiment analysis and keyword tracking help teams create conference agendas and discussion points aimed at improving customer satisfaction and engagement.
Ringover best features
- Analytics and reporting: Get a complete overview of your team member’s activities and performance on a real-time dashboard accessible on mobile and desktop apps
- Integrations: Integrate with CRM, communication, storage, and productivity tools to streamline business workflows
- Goal-setting and KPIs: Establish clear objectives and KPIs to measure progress and set benchmarks
Ringover limitations
- There are some issues with the stability of communication, and the software (desktop app) comes with multiple bugs
- Some users faced trouble switching from one phone line to another
Ringover pricing
- Smart: $29/month per user
- Business: $54/month per user
- Advanced: $64/month per user
Ringover ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
10. Phonexa (Best for marketing teams)
Phonexa, a popular RingCentral alternative, is a multi-purpose marketing automation solution that combines call tracking, lead distribution, and analytics into a unified system.
Its ‘Call Logic’ platform manages and tracks calls with detailed insights across channels like paid search, social media, email campaigns, and offline marketing. It helps marketers gain full visibility into call quality, conversion rates, and call durations.
Phonexa best features
- Call routing: Track leads from multiple marketing channels and route them to the right sales reps
- IVR: Use IVR functionality and a voice studio for self-service and callback scheduling
- Custom dashboards: Get real-time insights into campaign performance on dynamic and customizable dashboards
Phonexa limitations
- Does not allow searching leads by phone number instead of only email addresses and lead IDs
- ML & AI capability to run deep analytics are missing
Phonexa pricing
- Lite: $250/month
- Premium: $500/month
- Enterprise: $1000/month
- Custom: Custom pricing
Phonexa ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.9/5 (100+ reviews)
- Capterra: 5/5 (60+ reviews)
Other Video Communication Tools
There’s more to team communication than unlimited calls and text messages. The ideal tool not only simplifies team collaboration but handles every other aspect of your business with the same expertise.
Drumroll 🥁: ClickUp, the everything app for work, best suits this integrated approach.
An AI-powered project management platform, ClickUp centralizes communication and keeps your productivity on track—all in one platform.
ClickUp: Best for end-to-end project management and collaboration
ClickUp brings work communication and task management into one place, helping you get things done faster without jumping between different apps.
ClickUp Chat, turns a message into a task with a single click, and the associated information in chats, documents, notes, etc., gets automatically linked. This way, the context isn’t lost, and everyone’s always on the same page.
Centralization, or convergence, as we call it, is a great feature when you’re handling hundreds of voice calls a day.
Whether you use RingCentral or its alternatives, you can use ClickUp to catch all your notes from the call in a ClickUp Doc, create action items from the notes using ClickUp Tasks, assign them to the right people, and you’re good!
Plus, you have ClickUp SyncUps, which are quick huddles where you can instantly connect with your teammates for hassle-free real-time communications, whether one-on-one or group chat.
Want to save a meeting or huddle? Just Clip it.
Whether you’re documenting processes, explaining troubleshooting steps, or giving project updates, use ClickUp Clips to capture everything in a video without switching between different tools. After the meeting, the clips can be shared with all team members to ensure everyone knows what to do and how to do it. If you want to make it public, simply update the permissions.
Once the video is recorded, ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s built-in AI assistant, automatically transcribes it. You can easily search for keywords in the transcript to jump straight to the most important parts.
The masterstroke in all this is ClickUp Meetings, which combines smart meeting agendas and follow-ups with a project management platform.
All meeting recordings are automatically saved and linked to the relevant tasks, creating an accessible archive for future reference. And there’s more:
- Integrated task management: Schedule, host, and record meetings within the same workspace where you track tasks and goals
- Real-time collaboration: Share screens, link tasks, and chat live with up to 200 people in a single SyncUp
- Screen sharing: Record clips and attach them to any conversation or task, comment on specific sections for targeted queries/feedback, and search for information with AI-powered transcriptions
- Meeting manager: Power up your meetings with ClickUp’s Task Checklists to track agenda and action items, ClickUp’s Assign Comments to ensure each task is attached to its rightful owner, and ClickUp’s Recurring Tasks to automate follow-ups and reminders
ClickUp limitations
- ClickUp offers a vast array of features, which can be overwhelming at times
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $7 per workspace member per month
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (9,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,000+ reviews)
Have Uninterrupted Conversations With ClickUp
Modern teams, powered by the best tools, champion business communication.
The best RingCentral alternatives scale with your business, offer proactive customer support, and have transparent pricing. With the calling part sorted, all you need is the right platform to integrate all those insights into your business.
For this, ClickUp is the first choice for VoIP leaders, combining features such as ClickUp Chat, ClickUp Brain, and ClickUp Clips with project management.
With ClickUp, you don’t just communicate with your team members; you can assign tasks, set goals, and track progress—ultimately eliminating communication silos.
To see how project management supercharges your business communication tools, sign up on ClickUp for free.