RingCentral alternatives: 10 better options for small businesses

Do you want your company to appear as professional as any large company without paying for bloated plans and lackluster customer support?

Of course.

Perhaps you’re here because you’re considering RingCentral, but something about their plans seems a little off. 

Or maybe you are a RingCentral customer but realize their texting limits and other constraints are deal breakers, and you need to move on.

Let’s explore the best RingCentral alternatives, what growing businesses can use instead, and why RingCentral might not be the right fit for your team.

Or, if you want the TL;DR, try OpenPhone for free to see what it’s like to easily delight your customers.

What are the best RingCentral alternatives?  

Many RingCentral alternatives offer more features at significantly lower costs. Here are ten service providers that are better suited for growing businesses:

1. OpenPhone
2. Ooma
3. Dialpad
4. Grasshopper
5. Nextiva
6. Phone.com
7. Google Voice
8. Zoom Phone
9. GoTo Connect
10. Vonage

Here’s how each of these providers compares at a glance:

Provider	Price	Unlimited calling to US & Canada	SMS/MMS to US & Canada	Shared phone numbers	Additional phone numbers
RingCentral	Starts at $20 per user per month	✓	25 messages per user per month	✓	$4.99 per number per month
OpenPhone	Starts at $15 per user per month	✓	✓	✓	$5 per number per month
Ooma	Starts at $19.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	✓	$9.95 per number per month
Dialpad	Starts at $15 per user per month	✓	For US & Canadian customers only	✓	Requires upgrade
Grasshopper	Starts at $28 per month	✓	Local numbers only	X	$10 per number per month
Nextiva	Starts at $23.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	✓	Requires the purchase of an additional user seat
Phone.com	Starts at $11.99 per user per month	Requires upgrade	✓	$5 per month	$15.99 per number per month
Google Voice	Starts at $16 per user per month(must have Google Workspace)	Unlimited calls to Canada from the US only	US customers only	Requires upgrade (ring groups only)	X
Zoom Phone	Starts at $10 per user per month	X	US & Canadian numbers only	$250 per user per year	$5 per number per month
GoTo Connect	Starts at $24 per user per month	X	For US & Canadian customers only	✓ (up to 8 phones)	$5 per number per month
Vonage	Starts at $19.99 per user per month (1-year contract)	✓	Local US and Canadian numbers only	Requires upgrade or $4.99 add-on for each call group	$14.99 per number per month

Keep reading as we look at each of these solutions in more detail below.

1. OpenPhone vs RingCentral

OpenPhone is a feature-rich business phone system built specifically for growing businesses. Simply put, OpenPhone has the same features as RingCentral but with a modern user experience and better price. (Save up to 79% by switching to OpenPhone!)

While both RingCentral and OpenPhone offer shared lines for incoming calls, OpenPhone lets your team field incoming texts together. This cuts down on the response time and helps your team give your customers the level of service that causes them to pinch themselves to see if they’re awake or dreaming. 

Check out the table below for a side-by-side comparison of OpenPhone’s and RingCentral’s pricing and features:

	OpenPhone	RingCentral
Price per month	$15 per user	$20 per user per month
Calls limit	Unlimited	Unlimited
SMS, MMS	✓	25 messages per user
Voicemail to text	✓	✓
Set business hours	✓	✓
Text message auto-replies	✓	X
Call recording	✓	Auto-call recordings only available with upgrade
Auto-attendant (phone menu)	✓	✓
Email integration	✓	✓
Slack integration	✓	Limited
CRM integrations	Upon upgrade	Upon upgrade
iOS and Android apps	✓	✓
Web-based app	✓	✓
Desktop apps for Mac & Windows	✓	✓

On top of everything listed above, OpenPhone offers many powerful features for modern business phone systems, including:

• Business hour settings
• Crystal-clear audio quality
• Call forwarding and call routing
• Browser-based and desktop apps
• Toll-free, Canada, and US numbers
• Multiple phone numbers tied to one account
• Shared phone numbers for customer support
• Lower international call and text rates compared to most traditional providers

OpenPhone’s features aren’t the only thing it has going for it. OpenPhone’s team constantly implements customer feedback into the product. In contrast, RingCentral’s feedback boards have hundreds of feature requests abandoned for years. (Check out our changelog to see what we’re up to.) As a result, OpenPhone customers rave about our service:

“We switched to OpenPhone from RingCentral during the COVID pandemic since it allowed us to work remotely without missing any calls. It allows us to have better customer service levels, quicker responses as anyone can respond to customers in real-time while traveling. We have tried other services over the years, and they didn’t have the same level of support we are getting with OpenPhone.“ — Amira Harris, president and owner, Aisle Travel™

“Way better pricing, Way better customer service, and a phone system that is always improving its functionality to better serve its customers!! That is why I switched from RingCentral to OpenPhone!” — Bob Richey, owner, Party Magic Entertainment

You can use a new phone number to confirm OpenPhone is an excellent fit during your free, seven-day trial. Then once you’re ready, you can easily move any existing US, Canadian, or North American toll-free number to OpenPhone. 

OpenPhone pricing

If you’re looking for a company with cost-efficient and transparent rates, OpenPhone offers three business-friendly pricing tiers with no annual contracts required: 

Starter

• Starting at $15 per user per month
• Includes the option to share a number with up to 10 teammates, auto-attendants, scheduled texts, and more 

Business

• Starting at $23 per user per month
• Unlocks call transfer, logs and analytics, HubSpot CRM integration, the ability to share your phone number with as many teammates as you need, and more

Enterprise

• Custom pricing for a custom plan
• Unlocks a dedicated account manager to tailor a plan to your team’s needs

See why thousands of businesses use OpenPhone by signing up for a free, seven-day trial.

How to switch and port your number from RingCentral

Want to port your number from RingCentral to OpenPhone so you can keep the same phone number? Here’s how easy it is:

1. Create an OpenPhone account.
2. Submit your porting request through the OpenPhone app.
3. If desired, keep your RingCentral contacts by exporting your RingCentral contacts as a CSV file, then importing your RingCentral CSV into OpenPhone.

2. Ooma vs RingCentral

Ooma is another RingCentral alternative that lets you manage calls and send text messages through US local or toll-free numbers. With its affordable low-tier plan, you can access a mobile app with an auto-attendant (IVR), virtual faxing, and an overhead-paging system.

Unfortunately, Ooma’s cost-effective plans — which are still far pricier than OpenPhone — come at the cost of robust features. The service doesn’t offer integrations or analytics at all. Plus, you must upgrade to access Ooma’s desktop app.

If you do choose to upgrade, you can access these features for less than the cost of RingCentral’s most basic plan:

• Ring groups
• Call recording
• Call forwarding
• Video conferencing
• Voicemail transcriptions

Ooma pricing

Ooma’s plans start with barebones communications necessities to a pricey plan with CRM integration, analytics, and text messaging. 

Check out the three tiers:

Essentials

• Starting at $19.95 per user per month
• Standard phone features along with a virtual receptionist, ring groups, and email audio attachments

Pro 

• Starting at $24.95 per user per month
• Adds text messaging, videoconferencing, Ooma’s desktop app, call recording, and analytics

Pro Plus

• Starting at $29.95 per user per month 
• Adds Salesforce integration, hot desking, call queuing, and advanced call management

Learn more about the ins and outs of Ooma in the Ooma vs RingCentral guide.

3. Dialpad vs RingCentral

Dialpad is a newer business phone solution than some providers mentioned here. It offers text messaging and calling in the US and Canada — if you’re willing to pay for each text message you send. Dialpad also offers voicemail greeting, voicemail transcription, and G Suite and Office 365 integrations. 

If faxing is a regular task for your employees, you can pay extra for an internet fax add-on with the basic plan. You can expect to pay $15 per user per month for the basic plan, but you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan if you need more integrations (like Zapier, Slack, or CRM). 

Comparing Dialpad vs RingCentral, RingCentral offers more advanced features. But you’ll need upgrades to access them. You get free voice calls to the US and Canada and voicemail transcriptions on the Core plan (base plan) that costs $20 per user per month, but no integrations or MMS support.

Dialpad’s most basic plan gives you access to some features only available on higher-tier plans on RingCentral, such as:

• Call recording
• MMS support
• Analytics and reporting
• G Suite and Office 365 integrations

Remember that with Dialpad’s Standard plan, you can only have one office location. If you want more, they require you to upgrade. 

The next plan tier lets you text internationally. It offers a few other features (you likely already expect), like the ability to sign up for multiple phone numbers. But, you must have at least three users on your account to access their higher-tier plan. 😬

Dialpad pricing

Dialpad offers three business communications plans, but you must meet minimum user requirements to upgrade from its basic plan. Annual plans are discounted by $5 per user per month.

Standard

• Starting at $15 per user per month
• Includes weekday customer support

Pro

• Starting at $25 per user per month (you must purchase a minimum of three licenses)
• Unlocks 24/7 customer support, international SMS, auto-replies, 100% uptime, and integrations with Zapier, HubSpot, Slack, Salesforce, and Zendesk

Enterprise

• Must contact for pricing (You must purchase a minimum of 100 licenses)
• Unlocks extensions and integrations with Azure, Okta, and OneLogin

4. Grasshopper vs RingCentral

Grasshopper is a VoIP provider popular among small businesses that includes all features in every plan so that you won’t pay for upgrades. Still, both Grasshopper and RingCentral have pricing structures that are difficult to grasp. Grasshopper charges you based on the amount of phone numbers and extensions you need, while RingCentral’s pricing is user-based.

Grasshopper’s Solo plan offers features only available on RingCentral’s Standard or Premium plan, such as auto-replies, auto-attendant, and voicemail transcriptions. 

If you’re an enterprise user, RingCentral makes more sense. Grasshopper is a good alternative to RingCentral if you want more features for a small team. Also, Grasshopper’s Solo plan offers features that cost a lot more on RingCentral because they’re available only on the Standard or Premium plan:

• Voicemail transcriptions (upgrade required on RingCentral)
• Auto-replies (unavailable on RingCentral)
• Auto-attendant (upgrade required on RingCentral)

However comparing Grasshopper vs RingCentral, both are legacy phone solutions where customers experience issues with clunky interfaces and collaborating on communication with their teamm

But Grasshopper’s platform and user experience are outdated. And it lacks many modern business phone features like shared phone numbers, call recording, and integrations.

If you can get past the phone extension-based rate structure, you can get the following features with Grasshopper:

• Auto-replies (unavailable on RingCentral)
• Auto-attendant (upgrade required on RingCentral)
• Voicemail transcriptions (upgrade required on RingCentral)

However, comparing Grasshopper vs RingCentral, both are legacy phone solutions where customers experience issues with clunky interfaces and collaborating on communication with their teammates.

Grasshopper pricing

A quick heads up about Grasshopper — the more phone numbers and extensions you want, the more you’ll spend each month. Monthly costs pile on quickly (especially for a service not built to scale past your small business needs).

Solo

• Starting at $28 per month
• Includes one phone number and three extensions

Partner

• Starting at $46 per month
• Includes three phone numbers and six extensions

Small Business

• Starting at $80 per month
• Includes five phone numbers and unlimited extensions

RingCentral’s starting price is $29.99 per month per user, but that only includes basic features. Advanced features like video conferencing, call recording, integrations, and 24/7 support are locked behind higher-priced plans and additional fees.

If your business has a few dozen employees, RingCentral can cost more than $1,500 per month if you want to use all their features and the call center solution.

For a small team, you probably don’t want to spend so much money on your phone system every month as the costs can quickly add up. 

There are plenty of RingCentral alternatives that are much more cost-effective for startups to use and easier to adopt. After all, you’re not just looking for a laundry list of features. You want a service that works and that your team likes to use.

5. Nextiva vs RingCentral

Nextiva offers essential features like unlimited calling in the US and Canada, team messaging, voicemail to text, and apps for mobile and desktop. But if you want your team to be able to send texts to customers, you’ll need to upgrade to the Professional plan. 

Nextiva offers only Outlook/Google Contacts integrations on their base plan. Both services have three pricing tiers. If you need Zapier or CRM integrations, you’re limited to one of the higher-tier plans. 

Nextiva offers more value to small businesses, but its pricing is as complex as RingCentral’s. Nextiva requires smaller teams to pay more per user but also runs a smidge less than RingCentral, with a starting price of $18.95 per user per month. 

However, with Nextiva that pricing only applies to teams of 20 users or larger. Nextiva charges smaller teams more per user ($23.95 per month). 

If you’re okay with not having access to the following features, Nextiva is a solid alternative to RingCentral:

• Group text messaging
• Additional phone numbers
• Slack and Zapier integrations

Nextiva pricing

Nextiva’s pricing structure is a bit of a bummer for small businesses. If you have a small team, you end up paying more per user compared to larger enterprises. Here is what you can expect to pay if you have a team of 1-4 users: 

Essential

• Starting at $23.95 per user per month
• Includes basic unlimited voice and video calling, voicemail, internet fax, and Outlook and Google integrations

Professional

• Starting at $27.95 per user per month
• Unlocks screen sharing, SMS and MMS, unlimited conference calling with 40 participants, and Salesforce/HubSpot integrations 

Enterprise

• Starting at $37.95 per user per month
• Includes call recording, voicemail transcriptions, and unlimited video conferencing recording

Learn more about how these two platforms stack up in our RingCentral vs Nextiva guide.

6. Phone.com vs RingCentral

Phone.com is a user-friendly business phone service, and it’s the only one that is HIPAA compliant. With the mid-tier plan, medical-related businesses that handle patient medical records can discuss patients’ health-related issues by phone. And it’s one of the less expensive RingCentral alternatives.

Phone.com does offer a basic plan for just $11.99 per user per month. Still, all you really get are one phone number, 300 minutes, and 1,000 texts monthly — far from enough for many teams. And if we’re being honest, beyond the HIPAA compliance, its mid-tier plan isn’t so impressive either. With it, you only get unlimited calls, texts, and video conferencing (with 25 people).

Phone.com makes this list because its highest-tier plan is the same price as RingCentral’s basic plan — and you’ll get a number of features that RingCentra’s Core plan lacks. These include:

• Call analytics
• CRM integrations
• Advanced video conferencing features

Phone.com pricing

Here are Phone.com’s plans if you’re willing to pay a bit more for HIPAA compliance, and you want upgrade to Plus or Pro to access features RingCentral doesn’t have:

Basic Users

• Starting at $11.99 per user per month
• Access to 500 pooled call minutes and 1000 pooled text segments with 1 phone number per account

Plus Users

• Starting at $15.99 per user per month
• Unlock unlimited minutes, one phone number per user, video conferencing, and conversational text messaging 

Pro Users 

• Starting at $23.99 per user per month
• Unlock all of the above Adds call recording, analytics, CRM integrations, and enhanced video conferencing for 100 participants 

Discover how these two platforms stack up in our Phone.com vs RingCentral guide.

7. Google Voice vs RingCentral

Google Voice’s platform isn’t the most feature-rich service. For instance, it lacks toll-free phone numbers and auto-replies. Still, it has nearly all the basic features, including unlimited calling, voicemail to text, and call recording. 

Business users will find that Google Voice’s base plan starts at $10 per user per month. However, there’s also another expense to factor into pricing: Google Voice’s business communication features are only available with a monthly subscription to Google Workspace. So, there’s another $6 per user per month from the budget. 

We’ve never been fans of RingCentral’s complex and expensive pricing. Still, if you don’t mind spending more between Google Voice vs RingCentral, RingCentral wins this one by offering access to more features like:

• Desktop app
• Document sharing
• Slack, Zapier, and CRM integration

Google Voice pricing

Are you considering Google Voice’s free version for your business? Keep in mind that it doesn’t come with essential business features such as automatic call recording, phone menus, and ring groups. If you don’t mind putting money toward it, you can access these features by setting up a Google Workspace account.

If you’re still interested in Google Voice for your business, these plans are available:

Starter 

• Starting at $10 per user per month
• Access for up to 10 team members 

Standard

• Starting at $20 per user per month
• Access to ring groups, multi-level auto attendants, and some other features for an unlimited number of users 

Premier 

• Starting at $30 per user per month
• Unlock all of the above features and advanced reporting

On top of that, each plan must pay $6 per user per month for Google Workspace — even if you prefer other tools.

8. RingCentral vs Zoom Phone

Zoom is a video conferencing staple. But over the years, Zoom has evolved to include VoIP phone offering. Now, Zoom Phone has features including voicemail transcription, unlimited auto attendants, call recording, and hot desking. 

While Zoom Phone is stocked with features, it’s tricky to navigate and time-consuming to set up. 

Perhaps, most challenging: Unlimited outbound calling is only available if you upgrade to the Unlimited, Business Plus, or Select plan. 

The Unlimited plan with Zoom is priced at $180 per user per year (or $15 per user per month), which is still lower than RingCentral’s base plan. Plus, you’ll get access to the features that only come with an upgrade on RingCentral:

• Hot desking
• Call recording
• CRM integration

However, one of Zoom Phone’s shortcomings is that you have to pay extra to get the benefits Zoom is known for — video conferencing. If Zoom Phone doesn’t hit the mark — and you don’t want to pay more for Zoom One — there are other options out there to help make your communication easier and more efficient.

Zoom Phone pricing

While Zoom Phone is now a household name, its pricing tiers can be complex and hard to wrap your head around. Even if you already have a Zoom subscription, adding a phone plan won’t save you any cash. 

If you need only the ability to call and text, you can choose one of these options:

Pro

• Custom quote for call recording
• Includes internal calling and iOS and Android apps

Metered

• Starting at $120 per user per year ($10 per user per month) 
• Includes metered outbound calling, phone extension numbers, and SMS and MMS support (for US and Canadian numbers only)

Unlimited

• Starting at $180 per user per year ($15 per user per month) 
• Unlocks unlimited outbound calling and an optional add-on for international calls in 19 countries

Select

• Starting at $240 per user per year ($20 per user per month) 
• Includes unlimited domestic calling in one of Zoom’s supported 40+ countries (although you lose SMS and MMS support)

But if you want Zoom video conferences and calls and texting, plan on upgrading to a Zoom One plan. Two tiers support Zoom Phone’s features:

Business Plus

• Starting at $250 per user per year
• Includes 300 attendees per meeting, 10 GB of cloud storage, and unlimited regional phone calls (comes with SMS and MMS, call queuing, and ACD)

Enterprise

• Contact for custom price 
• Includes 1,000 attendees per meeting, unlimited cloud storage, and PBX phone features (includes metered outbound calls and IVR but does not come with text support)

9. RingCentral vs GoTo Connect

GoTo Connect, formerly known as Jive, is a RingCentral alternative that supports shared phone numbers, auto-attendants, and more. 

With plans starting at $24 per user per month, GoTo Connect’s base plan is more expensive than RingCentral’s and pricier than all but one of the other alternatives on this list. And the starter plan is $24 per user per month for a starter plan that’s missing must-haves like call recording and voicemail to email, leading to many businesses moving onto GoTo Connect alternatives. 

If you upgrade to the next-tier plan, you’ll only save 99 cents per month compared to RingCentral’s Advanced plan, but you will get:

• Ring groups
• Real-time predictive analytics
• Video conferencing with 50 simultaneous webcams

Although GoTo Connect is a popular VoIP option, its pricing may not be the most competitive for smaller teams. However, it does offer some advanced features that may be worth the extra cost for some businesses.

GoTo Connect pricing

When it comes to GoTo Connect’s pricing, the number of users on your account is the key factor. 

The more users you have, the lower the cost per user; the fewer users you have, the higher the cost per user. To give you an idea of what to expect, here is their tiered pricing structure for teams of 2-10 people:

Basic

• Starting at $24 per user per month
• Unlocks call forwarding, ring groups, internal instant messaging, and 40 SMS messages per user per month

Standard

• Starting at $29 per user per month
• Access call recording, real-time analytics, and 80 SMS messages per user per month

Even if you’re not ready for the Standard plan’s features, GoTo Connect will still require you to upgrade once you reach 21 users on the Basic plan.

10. Vonage vs RingCentral

Like RingCentral, Vonage has pretty basic low-tier features. You can access a mobile and desktop app with unlimited calling, SMS, and team messaging. With both Vonage’s and RingCentral’s mid-tier plans, you can unlock the following:

• Video conferencing
• CRM integrations
• An auto-attendant feature

But beware: While Vonage for Business does let you connect to a desk phone, it also hides a lot of extra costs, like monthly fees for voicemail transcriptions, on-demand fees for call recording, and more add-on services. 

You could end up paying just as much as (if not more than) you would pay for RingCentral if you don’t keep an eye out for potential charges.

Vonage pricing

Vonage has three primary subscription plans to choose from but keep in mind that some hidden fees may lurk within each one. Also, if you’re part of a team with less than 20 people, you won’t be able to access the lower rates, which start at $14.99 per line per month.

Here are the plan options to consider and how much you’ll pay if you have a team of 4 users or less:

Mobile

• Starting at $19.99 per line per month
• Includes 24/7 customer support

Premium

• Starting at $29.99 per line per month
• Unlock auto-attendant and CRM integrations (HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, etc.)

Advanced

• Starting at $39.99 per line per month
• Access call recording (15 hours max) and voicemail transcriptions

Keep in mind that Vonage also requires a one-year minimum contract and doesn’t offer any free trial. 

Check out our guide on Vonage vs RingCentral for more info on how these two providers compare.

How we ranked RingCentral alternatives

We ranked the best RingCentral alternatives based on six factors:

We ranked the best RingCentral alternatives based on six factors:

1. Reliability: System issues like downtime can hurt your reputation. Over time, it leads to lost customers and directly impacts your top line.
2. Value for money: How much does the VoIP system return for each dollar invested? Does it save you enough money by reducing costs or offering better functionality?
3. Budget: Low pricing shouldn’t be the most important thing on your list, but you should still avoid hidden fees and excessive costs. 
4. Third-party integrations: We checked for tools commonly used in growing the team’s tech stacks. Business phone integrations can simplify workflows and funnel data into a single space. 
5. Ease of use: Complex systems are a recipe for low buy-in and increased spending on training the staff. The result could be a lower ROI. 
6. Customer support: Is customer support easy to reach? Can they offer quick solutions when you most need them?

Is RingCentral the best virtual phone system for your business?

RingCentral supports many must-have cloud-based phone system features. The platform is optimized for professional use, from basic call management and text messaging options to a contact center add-on that helps teams provide customer support. But with RingCentral, many teams may pay a lot without getting a ton in return.

Here’s why RingCentral isn’t suited for most businesses:

RingCentral pricing adds up

RingCentral’s starting price is $20 per month per user, which only includes basic features. Advanced features like video conferencing, automatic call recording, integrations, and 24/7 support are locked behind higher-priced plans and additional fees.

Suppose your business has a few dozen employees. In that case, RingCentral can cost more than $1,500 monthly if you want to use all their features and the call center solution.

As a growing business, you want to be mindful of your expenses. So spending a chunk of money on your monthly phone system bill may not be your best option. Those costs can add up quickly and take away from other vital areas of your business. 

For a small team, you likely probably don’t want to spend so much money going toward your phone system every month. Those costs can quickly add up. 

Since RingCentral caters to larger enterprises, plenty of RingCentral alternatives are far more cost-effective for startups to use and easier to adopt. After all, you’re not just looking for a laundry list of features. You want a service that works and that your team likes to use.

User experience falls short

Since RingCentral launched 20 years ago, it has kept the user interface and aesthetic of the early 2000s web products. Not a big deal for you? 

Think again.

Take a look at the apps on your home screen, and ask yourself these questions:

• Which ones do I choose to use every day?
• What apps are employees using for personal use?
• What is it about those apps that make people prefer them over others?

You and your employees probably use products like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram for personal communications. So why wouldn’t you want to use an intuitive service for work? 

If you provide anything else, your team may pivot to using their personal cellphone numbers, which can lead to:

• Business leaders not being able to monitor employee and customer interactions.
• New concerns emerging around how your team can continue conversations with existing customers when an employee leaves your company.
• Employees having issues switching out of work mode after hours, increasing the odds of burnout.
• Communication mishaps occurring if an employee’s business and personal contacts are in the same location.

And you end up wasting money on a service nobody actually uses. 

Shared numbers are limited

RingCentral also leaves a lot of room for error when sharing a phone number with your team. Since you can’t tell when someone else is sending a text message or is on an active call, you may accidentally reach out to the same client twice. 

On the flip side, some of RingCentral’s best alternatives — like OpenPhone — allow you to see when a colleague is viewing a conversation, typing, or on a call.

You can manage a shared phone number inbox as a team.

Texting creates bottlenecks instead of solutions

With RingCentral, your team can’t share responsibility for incoming text messages from a shared number. This delays your ability to quickly answer customers’ questions and address their concerns.

Remember the early ’00s when you had to monitor how many texts you sent so you didn’t exceed your plan’s limit? Swoop your hair over your eyes and turn up the emo because RingCentral will have your employees on guard. Your team may be reluctant to send many texts because texts aren’t unlimited on any plan. You’ll have a set amount of business SMS/MMS messages per user. 

In the United States, your monthly limit is:

Core: 25 per user

Advanced: 100 per user

Ultra: 200 per user

In Canada, your limit is even smaller:

Essentials: 25 per user

Standard: 50 per user

Premium: 100 per user

Ultimate: 250 per user

Expect to pay extra if you exceed your plan’s limit (which applies to both inbound and outbound messages). Or offset the costs by prepaying for text message bundles, which cost an unspecified amount after you sign up.

Best features locked behind expensive plans

Critical features like CRM and Slack integrations, real-time analytics, APIs, and 24/7 support are needed for modern businesses. With RingCentral, they lock all these features behind their higher-tier price plans. If you want to integrate Salesforce, Hubspot, or another CRM with RingCentral, you’ll sign up for the Advanced plan, which starts at $25 per user per month.

Slack is a tool used by many small and growing businesses. But RingCentral’s Slack integration is limited. You can integrate Slack to hop on calls and start video meetings with teammates, but that’s it — it doesn’t add extra benefits to your phone calls. 

When integrating Slack with your phone system, you want an integration that can send you updates about calls through Slack and even provide voicemail transcriptions for when you can’t check your voicemail.

Unresponsive support compared to RingCentral alternatives

Due to its size, RingCentral’s customer support team cannot effectively support all its customers. Based on publicly available reviews, it can take days to get a response from the support team. In addition, 24/7 support is locked behind higher-tier price plans. Here are some examples of how some customers feel about RingCentral’s support:

RingCentral pricing

RingCentral is on the pricier side when it comes to business phone systems, and they offer three plans to choose from. And you’ll need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan if you’re looking to record calls with RingCentral and get unlimited call recording storage. To give you a better idea of their pricing, here’s a breakdown:

Core 

• Starting at $20 per user per month
• Get unlimited calls in the US and Canada with business SMS

Advanced 

• Starting at $25 per user per month
• Access video meetings with voicemail transcriptions, automatic call recording, and CRM integrations

Ultra 

• Starting at $35 per user per month
• Get additional storage and device analytics

RingCentral has separate plans to support contact centers, AI-based sales coaching, and video meetings. 

Find out more about this platform: How does RingCentral work? (and will it work for your business?)

OpenPhone: The best RingCentral alternative

If you’re looking for a RingCentral alternative, look no further than OpenPhone. ✨ 

With OpenPhone, you can upgrade your business communications by making it easier than ever to build relationships with your customers. This means you can access your calls, texts, and team messages in one easy-to-navigate app. Plus, you’ll enjoy all the features your business needs at a low cost — without hidden fees.

Ready to make the switch? Start a free trial of OpenPhone today.