Looking for the best 8×8 alternative for your business? Or at least weighing your options? You’ve come to the right place.
We’re diving into 10 of the best 8×8 competitors ranked by their prices, features, and integrations. If you’re looking to compare all 10 alternatives at a glance, you can use our handy comparison chart at the end of the lineup.
Why most businesses go with 8×8 alternatives
8×8 provides virtual phone software to call centers, customer support teams, and similarly-sized enterprise businesses. The service’s biggest claim to fame: Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), which means it combines voice dialing, video conferencing, and messaging features onto the same platform.
On the basic plan (limited to just five users), you can access tools like:
- Auto-attendants
- Music on hold
- Unlimited calling in the US and Canada
But 8×8’s communication platform isn’t without significant limitations.
For starters, 8×8 was founded in 1987 — and as a legacy provider, still hangs onto an outdated interface. Users report the UI is clunky and confusing, which makes it difficult to intuitively navigate from one page to the next. This may be problematic as you migrate new team members or look for key analytics like call trends or handle times.
There’s also a steep learning curve required to set up certain features. Once you purchase a number and pay for your plan, you’ll have to navigate to a separate online portal to customize individual phone numbers.
Then comes the time-consuming tasks. To set up call recordings, admins need to manually adjust the settings for every single user on your team to one of three options: on-demand, automatic, or never. If you own a larger business with 100+ team members, your admins might spend hours just configuring numbers and setting up access.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end of 8×8’s call recording limitations. Even after you’ve spent a few hours setting up call recordings for each user, you won’t be able to store these recordings for future reference. However, your call recordings are still no longer available after 90 days unless you pay for an add-on fee. If you ever cancel that add-on fee, those recordings are deleted.
You should know many of 8×8’s ‘unified communications’ features are locked behind higher paywalls. For example, 8×8 doesn’t offer texting on the basic plan.
But if you decide to upgrade, you may be paying for unnecessary bells and whistles. You probably don’t need live-streaming on YouTube or internet fax for your business — still that’s what you’ll get on the X4 plan.
You can try to use third-party integrations to access more features without upgrading further. However, 8×8’s integrations probably won’t work the way you might assume. For example, their Salesforce and HubSpot integrations don’t log texts, meaning you can’t push business messages to your current CRM. Plus, some of 8×8’s integrations require an additional purchase to unlock. The Microsoft Teams integration, for example, is only available as an add-on.
The final nail in the coffin? Poor customer service. Thanks to 8×8’s older interface and clunky system, many clients need customer support to smooth out the kinks. Here’s the catch though: getting in touch with an agent could take hours or even days.
Former customers have shared these reviews of 8×8:
“8×8 has been a very poor customer experience for my small business. It took over four weeks to port over two numbers and the after-sale support has been non-existent. 8×8 is great when they are looking to get a signed contract. Then, they assign you to an account manager that doesn’t reply to questions or concerns. My phone is a critical tool for my small business and I made a big mistake choosing 8×8.” – Consumer Affairs
“Called customer services which was located in the Philippines. The line was very crackly and I had to end the call as I could not hear what the agent was saying. Once I finally logged the issue, I received six phone calls back from them — in the middle of the night!” – TrustPilot
“Tried to set up a trial on Express to see features of the service. It said 1-2 working days to get started. I get an email 8 days later with a broken link to start the trial. I called customer service, and had a ‘customer service’ agent laugh and say they can’t help me as I am not a paying customer.” – TrustPilot
The 10 best 8×8 alternatives
8×8 is an older business communication solution that struggles to compete with modern alternatives. Many of the basic calling features businesses have come to expect are locked behind expensive paywalls. Plus, 8×8 doesn’t provide unified communications on its basic plan — you have to upgrade for SMS and MMS support.
If you’re looking for a cloud communications provider with better features, flexible prices, and an updated interface, check out the 8×8 competitors below — starting with the highest rated.
1. OpenPhone: The best alternative to 8×8
OpenPhone is an intuitive business phone solution serving growing teams of all sizes.
Getting up and running using OpenPhone is flat-out simple. With OpenPhone, you can customize all your phone settings in a matter of minutes. Our interface was designed to make it easy for your team to start making calls and texts just like they would on their cell phones. It’s easy to enable and disable specific functions on your business number(s), including automatic call recording. If you’re unsure about something or want a helping hand, read our comprehensive support docs or reach out to our support team.
Unlike 8×8, OpenPhone lets you access essential business features right from our Starter plan. These include:
- Unlimited call recording storage: You never need to upgrade for the space your team needs.
- Texting tools: You can easily provide a better customer experience by automating specific touchpoints and answering messages quickly. For example, you can use auto-replies to respond to customers if you miss their call or voice message (i.e., “Sorry we missed you! How can we help?”). If you need to text clients outside your time zone, you can set up scheduled texts that automatically send messages at appropriate hours. Want to respond to common questions without manually typing the same message? Templated snippets enable your team to answer FAQs quickly and consistently.
- Integrations with the tools you’re already using. You can connect your system with Salesforce or HubSpot to automatically log all calls, texts, and call recordings. Plus, we make it easy to integrate and automate specific tasks with third-party connections like Slack, Google Contacts, and Zapier.
OpenPhone also provides more scalability for growing teams and enterprises. Unlike 8×8, you’re never forced to upgrade to a higher tier plan once your team reaches a larger size, so you can keep growing and using the same features until you’re ready to upgrade. Plus, each new member of your OpenPhone plan comes with one free local or toll-free phone number.
If you want some of your colleagues to work together from a team inbox, you can also create shared numbers. Everyone can make or take phone calls and texts from the same number, which means they can easily share the responsibility for incoming calls and messages. Even if you’re away from your desk or preoccupied with another task, there can always be a team member ready to pick up the phone.
But phones aren’t the only devices you can use to access OpenPhone. We offer desktop, browser, and mobile apps that let you call or text from anywhere. As long as you have access to the internet, you can manage calls with your team all over the world.
Need to delegate tasks while you’re out on the run? You can use OpenPhone’s internal instant messaging tools (i.e., threads and mentions) to tag co-workers underneath call recordings, voicemails, or text messages. This means your team can always put your collective best feet forward, and you won’t have to break your workflow by logging into a separate communication platform.
OpenPhone is the #1 business phone service provider on G2 — and past 8×8 customers agree:
“I really like the ease of setup. I’m moving from 8×8 and it is night and day. OpenPhone is simple to use and a pleasure to look at. The stats are one click away! One Click! With 8×8, I had to jump around different website silos. Even then, I wasn’t sure how to get back to the main admin area. With OpenPhone, everything is clear and the data being pulled is useful. I love the collaboration tool as well.” – G2
Key features of OpenPhone
- One local or toll-free number per user on your plan
- Free calls and texts in the US and Canada
- Voicemail to text
- Integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Google Contacts, Zapier, and more
- SMS and MMS support
- Phone menus
- Call recordings
- Texting automations (snippets, auto-replies, and scheduled texts)
- Shared phone numbers with internal threads and mentions
OpenPhone pricing
- Starter: $15 per user per month
- Business: $23 per user per month
- Enterprise: Custom contract and pricing
2. Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone is a cloud phone service that works alongside the Zoom video platform. You can purchase the service by itself, or group it with your pre-existing Zoom business plan.
Every Zoom Phone plan comes with unlimited internal calls. However, you pay per minute for outbound calls with Zoom Phone unless you upgrade.
Plus, Zoom Phone doesn’t support SMS or MMS on the basic plan. Not only is upgrading expensive (an additional $60 per user per year), but no amount of upgrading lets you text outside of the US or Canada. You also won’t be able to text from a shared number.
If you want to message international customers and avoid expensive upgrades and add-ons, you may want to look for a Zoom Phone alternative.
Key features of Zoom Phone
- Unlimited inbound calls
- A US or Canadian phone number
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Voicemail transcriptions
- Auto-attendants
Zoom Phone pricing
- Pro: $10 per user per month ($120 per user per year)
- Metered: $15 per user per month ($180 per user per year) to get domestic texting and unlimited outbound calls to the US & Canada
- Unlimited: $20 per user per month ($240 per user per year) to get unlimited calling to 40+ countries
- Select: Call for a quote
3. Mitel Cloud Connect
Mitel Cloud Connect is a VoIP service offered by Mitel, another unified communications platform. The company primarily serves enterprise brands with video calls, phone services, and text messaging tools. If you don’t want to use IP desk phones, you can use the company’s mobile or desktop app instead.
But Mitel Cloud Connect is more limited than other VoIP alternatives. For starters, the platform doesn’t offer many third-party integrations. You won’t be able to bring any texts, call recordings, or other conversation history into HubSpot, Slack, or other key workflow tools.
Although the buggy and inconsistent mobile app can be difficult to use, getting help from Mitel may not be possible. According to reviewers, trying to contact customer support agents may be ‘too cumbersome to consider:
“Too many things are taken out of the administrators hands, requiring endless tickets back and forth with Mitel Support. Ticket responses are slow, and in many cases tickets are closed without full resolution. Call quality lacks due to high Jitter and frequent dropped calls.” – G2
You should know there are no prices mentioned for Mitel Cloud Connect. There is also no straightforward information about plan tiers and features. The only thing discussed are ‘user’ tiers, which may vary in price depending on your business needs.
The lack of transparency surrounding Mitel Cloud Connect may prevent your company from making an informed decision. Plus, it forces you to directly contact Mitel for a quote — something small business owners don’t have time to do.
Key features of Mitel Cloud Connect
- SMS and MMS support
- Call routing
- Unlimited domestic calls
- PBX features
- Voicemail to email notifications
Mitel Cloud Connect pricing
Mitel doesn’t list any prices on its website. Although there’s an article on the helpdesk explaining how the user profile system works, there’s no mention of prices anywhere online. The only way to get an accurate quote is to contact the company directly.
4. Ooma
Ooma is a virtual phone service provider that supports both home and business owners. You can access 50+ standard features on every Ooma business plan, including virtual receptionists, digital fax, and hold music.
With Ooma, you can purchase landlines directly from the company or install the app on your Android or iOS device. If you want to use Ooma from your computer, you have to upgrade to the second plan ($24.95 per user per month). There’s no browser app provided at all.
Like 8×8 and Zoom Phone, Ooma doesn’t offer business texting on the basic plan. You need to upgrade to Ooma Office Pro, which costs $24.95 per user per month. If you want access to more advanced features, including Ooma’s Salesforce integration, upgrade again to Ooma Office Pro Plus ($29.99 per user per month).
Ooma’s prices are slightly less expensive than 8×8’s. However, you get fewer features and integrations on every plan — and no text support on the basic plan.
Key features of Ooma
- Unlimited calls in Mexico, Canada, and the US
- Set business hours
- Customizable ring groups
- Local or toll-free numbers
Ooma pricing
- Ooma Office: $19.95 per user per month
- Ooma Office Pro: $24.95 per user per month to access texting, voicemail transcriptions, call recording, and Ooma’s desktop app
- Ooma Office Pro Plus: $29.99 per user per month to get Ooma’s Salesforce integration, call queues, and meeting recordings
5. Vonage
Vonage is an older business communications platform operating through VoIP technology. All members of your plan can make unlimited calls in the US, Canada, and Mexico. If you’d rather use on-premise devices, you can tap into landline hardware like Vonage’s IP desk phones.
But Vonage is an expensive 8×8 alternative with hidden costs and fees. With Vonage, you won’t have access to a business number unless you sign up for a one-year contract. Plus, you can’t integrate with any CRMs (like Zoho, Zendesk, or Salesforce) unless you pay for a Premium plan ($29.99 per month per line).
And unless you’re ready to pay $39.99 per line per month, you don’t get access to call recordings at all.
Key features of Vonage
- Desktop and mobile apps
- The Vonage App Center (20 integrations)
- Unlimited calls and texts in Canada, the US, and Mexico (unlimited SMS not available in Mexico)
Vonage pricing
The amount you pay for Vonage depends on the number of users on your plan. If you’re looking to manage between one and four users, here’s what you can expect to pay:
- Mobile: $19.99 per line per month
- Premium: $29.99 per line per month to access CRM integrations and multi-level auto-attendants
- Advanced: $39.99 per line per month to get call groups and visual voicemail
Keep in mind these prices don’t include Vonage’s taxes and fees, which aren’t directly listed on the company’s website.
6. Nextiva
Nextiva’s unified communications platform serves enterprise brands and larger corporations. The basic plan only provides call and video functionality — with significant limitations on both. You can’t make unlimited conference calls unless you pay for the Professional plan.
Nextiva is also another 8×8 alternative that locks call recordings and texting behind higher price tags. The company even limits the amount of toll-free minutes you can use per month. The basic plan comes with just 1,500 minutes, which translates to 25 hours of call time. You can upgrade to the Professional plan to get up to 3,000 minutes or pay for the Enterprise plan to max out with 12,500 minutes. Unlimited toll-free minutes aren’t available at all.
If your business relies on call recordings and toll-free numbers to address and delight its customers, Nextiva may be an expensive option that limits your ability to scale.
Key features of Nextiva
- Audio voicemail
- Local or toll-free numbers
- Unlimited digital fax
- Integrations with Outlook and Google Contacts
- Video conference calls (up to 45 minutes)
Nextiva pricing
Nextiva’s prices scale to the size of your team. Businesses with one to four users pay:
- Essential: $23.95 per user per month
- Professional: $27.95 per user per month to unlock texting, CRM integrations, and unlimited conference calls
- Enterprise: $37.95 per user per month to access call recordings, voicemail transcriptions, and unlimited video conference recordings
7. GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect’s cloud phone system and virtual meeting platform rebranded from Jive in 2019. Apart from its basic calling and texting features, it provides video meetings, screen sharing tools, and integrations with current CRMs (including Salesforce).
Unfortunately, GoTo Connect is far less competitive than other 8×8 alternatives. The platform doesn’t offer unlimited calling at all, and its texting services are only available to businesses in the US and Canada. Shared phone numbers are available — but only for eight devices at a time. And since you can only have up to 20 users on the basic plan, GoTo Connect may not be a cost-effective option for your growing business.
Key features of GoTo Connect
- Local, vanity, and toll-free numbers
- Call forwarding
- Call routing
- Call management queues
- Instant responses
GoTo Connect pricing
- Basic: $24 per user per month (20 users max and 40 SMS credits per month)
- Standard: $29 per user per month to get call recordings, unlimited ring groups, and auto-attendant greetings (80 SMS credits per month)
8. Dialpad
Dialpad is a virtual phone service powered by AI. Many of the AI solutions Dialpad provides are tailored to contact centers. For example, you can use their live coaching to find out if you’re talking too fast or too slow.
Although you can purchase additional phone numbers, you must upgrade to Dialpad’s second tier to add them to your plan. You can try porting an existing number to save on costs, but beware — only the first ported number is free.
The biggest limitation for Dialpad users? No guaranteed uptime unless you pay for the Enterprise plan. Since even a 1% dip in uptime can cost thousands of dollars in lost sales, so you have to make a hard decision if you use Dialpad: pay up now or pay for it later.
Key features of Dialpad
- Business SMS and MMS support
- AI-powered call transcriptions
- Integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
- Unlimited video meetings
- Customer support (web chat and phone)
Pricing
- Standard: $15 per user per month (one user minimum)
- Pro: $25 per user per month (three user minimum) to access international texting, multiple numbers, auto-replies, and CRM integrations
- Enterprise: Custom price (100 user minimum) to get unlimited ring groups, dial by extensions, priority support, and 100% uptime
9. RingCentral
RingCentral is a cloud-based communication platform established in 1999 geared largely toward call centers. Their platform bundles five services (SMS, fax, phone, text, and video meetings). Still, if you’re looking for a one-stop shop, RingCentral may fall short in a few different aspects.
RingCentral requires you to pay extra for the basic features small business owners need. If you want third-party integrations, automatic call recording, or unlimited storage, you’ll have to upgrade to the highest plan — up to $62.99 per user per month.
You’ll also have to pay taxes and fees like:
- Federal Universal Service Recovery Fee
- E911 Service Fee
- Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee
- 911 Fee
- State and Local Taxes
There’s also a lot of red tape surrounding RingCentral’s products and features. For example:
- Free trials are limited to just five users and two desktop phones. You can’t use SMS at all. Plus, all users are limited to 50 minutes of call time each
- You can only rent RingCentral’s IP phones with a multi-year contract. Month-to-month contracts don’t provide access
- You can only send up to 25 texts per user per month on their base plan and store 5,000 texts per user
- Unlimited storage is only available on the highest tier ($49.99 per user per month)
RingCentral is one of the most expensive phone providers on this list. And between the red tape and confusing add-ons, an alternative to RingCentral may be a better fit.
Key features of RingCentral
- Voicemail to text
- ‘Enhanced’ business SMS
- Team messaging
- File sharing
- Unlimited calling in the US and Canada
RingCentral pricing
RingCentral’s pricing works with economies of scale. The more users you have, the less you’ll pay. The fewer users you have, the more you’ll pay.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Essentials: $19.99 per user per month (20-user limit)
- Standard: $27.99 per user per month
- Premium: $34.99 per user per month
- Ultimate: $49.99 per user per month
Just keep in mind that teams of 21 users or more can’t access the Essentials plan at all.
10. Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a legacy VoIP service that’s specifically built for small business owners. Unlike other 8×8 alternatives, you don’t pay for the number of users on your plan. Instead, you pay to access a certain amount of phone numbers and extensions. Additional phone numbers cost $10 per number per month.
All Grasshopper plans include the same basic features, like virtual voicemails and WiFi calling. However, none of the plans offer automation (beyond auto-reply texts to first-time callers only) or integrations — no matter how much you pay. This could be problematic as your business starts to grow and make daily tasks more time-consuming in the long run.
Plus, Grasshopper’s price per additional number is nearly twice as expensive as other options on the market. You’re essentially paying double for a less functional phone number, even though it won’t have access to call recordings or international texting at all.
Key features of Grasshopper
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Call forwarding
- Virtual fax
- Call reporting
- Call transfers
- Instant responses
- Custom greetings
- Virtual receptionists
Grasshopper pricing
- Solo: $28 per month for one phone number and three extensions
- Partner: $46 per month for three phone numbers and six extensions
- Small Business: $80 per month for five phone numbers and unlimited extensions
The 10 best 8×8 alternatives compared
Want to evaluate the best 8×8 alternatives at a glance? Use this chart to compare each provider side by side:
| Provider | Price | Unlimited calling to US & Canada | Unlimited SMS, MMS to US & Canada | Shared phone numbers | Additional phone numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8x8 | Starts at $24 per user per month | ✓ | X | ✓ | $5 per number per month |
| Zoom Phone | Starts at $10 per user per month | X | X | $250 per user per year | $5 per number per month |
| OpenPhone | Starts at $15 per user per month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $5 per number per month |
| Mitel Cloud Connect | Must contact for pricing | Unlimited in domestic area only | SMS only | X | Must contact for pricing |
| Ooma | Starts at $19.95 per user per month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $9.95 per number per month |
| Vonage | Starts at $19.99 per user per month (1-year contract) | ✓ | SMS only, for US & Canadian customers only | Requires upgrade or $4.99 add-on for each call group | $14.99 per number per month |
| Nextiva | Starts at $23.95 per user per month | ✓ | Requires upgrade | ✓ | Requires the purchase of an additional user seat |
| GoTo Connect | Starts at $24 per user per month | X | Only available in US & Canada | ✓ (up to 8 phones) | $5 per number per month |
| Dialpad | Starts at $15 per user per month | ✓ | For US & Canadian customers only | ✓ | Requires upgrade |
| RingCentral | Starts at $19.99 per user per month | ✓ | X | ✓ | $4.99 per number per month |
| Grasshopper | Starts at $28 per month | ✓ | US numbers only | X | $10 per number per month |
OpenPhone: the best 8×8 phone service alternative
Is your current business phone system an anchor weighing down your team? If you’re looking for a phone solution your team can use to work together and provide a better customer experience effortlessly, OpenPhone is a no-brainer.
Thousands of companies trust our platform to build better relationships with their customers. You can collaborate on calls and texts using shared numbers, communicate internally with threads and mentions, and even tap into our automation features with auto-replies, snippets, and Zapier integrations. And with competitive pricing built to grow alongside your brand, you’ll have plenty of freedom to easily scale your phone communications.
OpenPhone is the business phone service alternative to 8×8 and beyond. Start a seven-day free trial today to see for yourself.
