Dialpad offers a sleek interface, AI voice smarts, and a range of calling and conferencing features — all designed to streamline omnichannel communication.
It’s a popular choice for businesses seeking a unified phone system and AI contact center solutions. But is it really the best deal for what it provides?
We’ll dissect Dialpad’s pricing plans, uncover its strengths and weaknesses, and see how it stacks up against a competitor like Nextiva. This way, you can decide if Dialpad offers the best value for your communication needs.
What Is Dialpad?
Dialpad is an AI-powered cloud communication platform offering a unified communications hub and features like VoIP calls, text messaging, video conferencing, team chat, voicemail transcription, and more.
One of the key aspects of Dialpad is its focus on artificial intelligence for an enhanced customer experience.
Dialpad AI offers features like call transcription, AI summaries of customer interactions, sentiment analysis, real-time coaching for calls, and AI sales tools. These features automate tasks and equip businesses with intelligent insights.
Dialpad Pricing & Plans
Dialpad offers a range of communication solutions to meet the needs of any business size. Here’s a breakdown of its three main business communication plans:
1. Standard plan (for small teams)
Dialpad’s Standard plan costs $15 per user per month and provides a basic assortment of business phone system features. Each user gets one local business phone number and can be licensed with a minimum of one seat and a maximum of one office.
Among the Standard plan’s features are:
- Unlimited calling within the US and Canada
- Visual voicemail
- Real-time analytics and reporting
- Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations
- SMS, MMS, and team messaging
- Meetings with up to 10 participants
- Business phone numbers (per user): 1 local number
- Maximum meeting duration of 5 hours per meeting
- Up to 3 office locations
Limitations: Support is limited to web and chat channels; phone support is not available. Users can only have one local business phone number. This plan lacks advanced call routing features and CRM integrations.
2. Pro plan (for growing businesses)
For businesses looking for more advanced features, Dialpad’s Pro plan is available at $25 per user per month. This includes all the features from the Standard plan while adding new features and increasing certain limits.
For example, departments and ring groups are increased to a maximum of 25 users, and the office maximum is increased from one to 10 (although the seat minimum is also increased to three).
Pro plan features include all features of the standard plan, plus:
- CRM integrations
- Microsoft Teams integration
- 10 office locations
- Additional local or international numbers
- Open APIs & webhooks
- Global SMS capabilities
- 25 ring groups (departments)
- Call recording
Limitations: While offering more features, the Pro plan still has limitations on the number of users per department/ring group (capped at 25) and maximum office locations (up to 10). A dedicated support number is also missing.
3. Enterprise plan (for large organizations)
Finally, there’s Dialpad’s Enterprise plan. As the name suggests, it’s designed for large enterprises that need a communications solution for many employees. While it requires a minimum of 100 seats, it can be used across an unlimited number of office locations.
Notably, the pricing plan for Enterprise is not disclosed, so interested businesses must reach out directly to see what it will cost their organization.
The Enterprise plan includes all the features in the Standard and Pro plans while adding:
- Unlimited ring groups (departments)
- Dial-by-extension
- Integrations with more apps and tools, including Microsoft Teams, Hubspot, and ServiceNow
- Advanced messaging and meeting features
- Premium support with a dedicated account manager, direct access to tier 2 support, and faster support response times than lower tiers
Limitations: The meeting limit is capped at 10 participants. Due to the custom nature of the plan, pricing details, and specific feature availability require contacting Dialpad directly.
Common features across plans
Some elements of Dialpad’s offerings are accessible on all plans, including certain calling and messaging features, security compliance, and chat support.
For users interested in messaging, these features include:
- SMS, MMS, and team messaging
- Audio chat rooms
- Topic-based team messaging and message threads
- File sharing for Slack integration
For users who host or join many meetings, participants can join meetings from their desktop or via a mobile browser, while users in the US and Canada can also dial in. Other common meeting features include:
- Unlimited meetings, with a maximum of 10 participants and a five-hour limit per meeting
- Desktop and mobile screen sharing
- Unlimited audio recordings
- In-meeting chat
- Meeting scheduling from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 calendar
Additionally, Dialpad has certain security features and compliance levels that are universal across plans. These include:
- User management and an admin portal
- Single sign-on with Okta
- HIPAA/BAA compliance
- Locked meeting rooms
Finally, all Dialpad users can expect support via an online knowledge base and community forum, multilingual web- and chat-based support, and live support options. Keep in mind that live support is available 24/7 for Pro and Enterprise users only and is not available to Standard users on weekends.
Internet fax (eFax) is only available as an add-on, regardless of your plan. After the first 1,000 faxes each month, each additional fax will cost $0.10, so organizations that send virtual faxes will need to factor this into their budget.
Additional costs and savings on Dialpad plans:
- Billing cycle: Annual billing offers a discount compared to the monthly rate.
- Per-minute charges: International calls outside included minutes and premium services like toll-free numbers incur additional charges.
- Toll-free numbers: Acquiring and maintaining toll-free numbers comes with extra costs on top of the base plan.
- Free trial: Dialpad offers a free trial with limitations on features and user access.
Dialpad Pricing & Plans Compared To Competitors
While Dialpad is a strong communication solution, it’s worth considering competitor options to ensure the best fit for your business needs. Dialpad offers a variety of features, but its limitations in certain areas might lead you to explore alternatives.
For instance, some users report occasional call drops and connectivity issues. Additionally, features like 24/7 support and advanced integrations may require upgrading to a higher-tier plan.
Nextiva stands out as a compelling alternative to Dialpad with several advantages:
💰Pricing structure
Nextiva offers a tiered pricing structure with three main plans: Essential, Professional, and Enterprise. These plans are comparable to Dialpad’s plans and include features like unlimited calling within the US and Canada, free toll-free numbers, and SMS/MMS messaging, even in the basic plan.
Nextiva excels in offering a bundled UCaaS experience, meaning many features like video conferencing and voicemail-to-email are included under a single plan, unlike Dialpad where separate plans might be needed for some features.
A well-structured tier system with each plan progressively adding valuable features like video conferencing capabilities, advanced integrations, and call recording simplifies the value for you. You can choose the plan that best suits your needs without overpaying.
| Essential | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| $18.95 per user per month | $22.95 per user per month | $32.95 per user per month |
| Unlimited calling in the US and Canada Free local and toll-free numbers (up to 1,500 toll-free minutes) Mobile SMS/MMS (up to 1,000 messages per user per month) Unlimited internet fax Voicemail-to-email notifications Integrations with Microsoft Outlook and Google Contacts Video calling (up to 45 minutes per meeting) 24/7 customer support | Everything in the Essential plan Unlimited conference calls (up to 40 participants) Unlimited video conferencing Screen sharing Multi-level auto attendant Mobile and desktop SMS/MMS Advanced integrations with popular CRM and customer-facing apps (including Salesforce and HubSpot) Up to 3,000 toll-free minutes | Everything in the Essential and Professional plans Unlimited participants in voice and video conferences Call recording Unlimited video conference recording Voicemail transcriptions Up to 12,500 toll-free minutes Single sign-on Integrations with Microsoft Teams More advanced integrations for CRM and customer-facing apps, and custom integration capability |
☎️ Focus on customer service
All Nextiva plans include 24/7 customer support, ensuring you have assistance whenever needed. Dialpad’s basic plan only offers chat and web support, with 24/7 support reserved for higher tiers.
🖇 Strong integrations
Nextiva boasts a robust integration library, including popular CRM and customer-facing apps like Salesforce and HubSpot. This seamless integration streamlines workflow and enhances team collaboration.
🔐 Security and compliance
Nextiva prioritizes security with world-class network security practices and compliance with various standards like HIPAA. This is crucial for businesses handling sensitive information.
📈 Call quality and reliability
Nextiva leverages VoIP technology for exceptional call quality and reliability. This ensures clear communication and a positive experience for your customers and team members.
Business Phone System Feature Highlights
Both Dialpad and Nextiva offer helpful business communications features, but which are deserving of special attention? Let’s highlight some of the key features for each and see what stands out.
Dialpad
Key features of Dialpad’s plans include:
- Unlimited calling for as many phone calls as needed within the service area
- HD voice quality for clear communications
- Call recording to help with maintaining records, training, and quality assurance
- AI-powered analytics for real-time, data-driven insights
- Multi-level auto attendant to direct calls through multiple levels of menu options
- Salesforce integrations to streamline workflows between the phone system and CRM
- 24/7 customer support (or 24/5 customer support for the Standard plan)
- Security compliance for standards such as HIPAA
Nextiva
Nextiva’s plans also provide important communications tools and features, including:
- Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone service for remarkable reliability and clear call quality
- Video conferencing for virtual meetings
- Team collaboration tools, including team messaging and file sharing
- Advanced IVR for pre-recording messages, text-to-speech technology, and a DTMF interface to efficiently assist callers
- Call pop to display customer data before you answer a call, helping to make every user more effective
- Advanced call routing to direct callers to the right department or team member every time
- Auto attendant/virtual receptionist to greet callers and help them reach the right extension
- Call analytics to monitor call quality, volume, and service-level performance
- Call recording to assist with training and quality assurance (QA)
- Mobile app to manage business communications on the go
- 24/7 customer support for all plans
- World-class network security, including ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, PCI, and HIPAA compliance
Expanded Comparison Table
How do Dialpad and Nextiva compare when they go head-to-head? See how their features compare in this handy chart:
| Feature or Functionality | Nextiva Essential | Nextiva Enterprise | Dialpad Standard | Dialpad Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (billed annually) | $18.95 | $32.95 | $15 | Not disclosed |
| Unlimited voice and video calling (US and Canada) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mobile apps (iOS and Android) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Video conference duration limit | 45 min | 45 min | 5 hours | 5 hours |
| Video conferencing participants | Unlimited | 10 | 10 | |
| Video meeting recording | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Meeting scheduling and calendar integrations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Team messaging | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Voicemail to email | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Toll-free numbers | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unlimited internet fax | ✅ | ✅ | Add-on | Add-on |
| Auto attendant | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| SMS/MMS | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Call recording | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Multi-level auto attendant | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Salesforce and HubSpot integrations | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Call queues | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Voicemail transcription | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Advanced analytics and reporting | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Microsoft Teams integration | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Single sign-on | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Nextiva prioritizes affordability, a bundled UCaaS experience, and a high volume of toll-free calls while Dialpad values cutting-edge AI features, mobile-centricity, and the possibility of advanced integrations tailored to your specific software.
Which Provider Is Right for Your Business?
Now that you understand what each provider offers, you can determine which is better for certain businesses based on their needs, size, and workforce.
Dialpad
Dialpad’s AI analytics and voice intelligence appeal to businesses looking for innovative tech solutions. Dialpad is designed with a mobile-centric workforce in mind, so it can accommodate salespeople, support agents, and consultants who predominantly work out of the office or in hybrid environments.
Global businesses, however, may find its lack of international calling a problem. Organizations with complex call center operations may find that Dialpad is not robust enough for their needs, and its limited scalability can be an issue for growing businesses.
Nextiva
Nextiva’s flexibility and scalability make it a fit for companies of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises. Customer-centric businesses can benefit from Nextiva’s strong CRM integration and customer service tools, which are exceptionally helpful for improving customer relationships and support.
Additionally, Nextiva’s suite of communication tools — including voice, video, and team messaging — provides a great solution for organizations looking to invest in unified communications.
Its robust mobile app and team collaboration tools also effectively support a distributed workforce, and it has a reputation for high reliability and uptime, which is great for businesses in which phone services are critical.
Plus, Nextiva’s own customer service is highly acclaimed and available at all times.
Overall
When you compare Dialpad and Nextiva, the latter has the edge for businesses looking for a robust, all-in-one communications platform with an emphasis on enhancing customer relationships and providing a seamless experience across channels.
Its features improve customer interactions and employee collaborations while providing valuable insights into your communications.
Nextiva caters to the needs of larger businesses with extensive customer service teams, sales teams, and contact centers. Growing businesses of all sizes will find that Nextiva is reliable and scalable.
The Verdict on Dialpad Pricing
Dialpad offers a feature-rich cloud communications platform with a variety of plans to suit different business needs. Let’s weigh its pros and cons.
Pros:
- Transparent tiers: Dialpad has three well-defined plans (Standard, Pro, and Enterprise) with clear pricing structures.
- Scalability: You can easily upgrade or downgrade plans as your business grows.
- Competitive base price: The Standard plan at $15 per user per month is competitive with other VoIP providers.
Cons:
- Limited features in base plan: The Standard plan lacks some advanced features like international calling and AI functionalities, which require upgrading to higher tiers.
- Potential hidden fees: Be aware of add-on costs for features like conference room lines and additional phone numbers.
- Enterprise-focused pricing: Higher tiers with advanced features can become expensive for small businesses.
Dialpad’s pricing can be a good fit for businesses that need a feature-rich cloud phone system with strong AI capabilities. However, it’s important to carefully consider your needs and factor in potential add-on costs before making a decision. It may not be ideal for small businesses that don’t need all the bells and whistles of AI capabilities and looking for a simplified solution.
When choosing Dialpad, ask yourself:
- Do you need international calling or SMS capabilities?
- How important are AI features like call coaching and transcriptions?
- How many users and office locations do you have?
You can then determine if Dialpad’s pricing aligns with your budget and requirements. Don’t forget to compare Dialpad’s pricing with other VoIP providers like Nextiva to find the best fit for your business.
Considering Dialpad alternatives? Check these out.👇
