If you’re looking for a Vonage alternative or exploring a new VoIP provider, that’s good news.
It means you’re ready to make your business phone system more flexible and affordable.
And although Vonage offers a solid solution for businesses who crave exactly that, you might struggle with its pricing and scalability if you’re a small or mid-sized business.
Do you want to consider other cloud phone system options beyond Vonage? Then you’re in the right place.
What Is Vonage?
Vonage is a cloud communications provider. It offers voice, video, and messaging services.
Vonage offers its unified communications solution, also known as Vonage Business Communications, to small and mid-market companies with these three pricing plans:
- Mobile, $19.99/month/line: this basic plan includes unlimited domestic calling, SMS and MMs, and apps on desktop and mobile devices.
- Premium, $29.99/month/line: get everything from Mobile, plus unlimited video meetings (up to 200 participants), virtual receptionist, integrations, analytics, and support for VoIP phones.
- Advanced, $39.99/month/line: the highest plan includes everything from Premium, plus single sign-on (SSO), call recording, voicemail transcription, and call groups.
To get these prices, Vonage requires new customers to sign a minimum 12-month contract, subject to early termination fees if canceled within a year.
Adding more lines reduces the cost per line. If you need more than 90 lines, you’ll need to contact Vonage’s sales team for pricing.
Vonage also offers packages for contact centers, conversational commerce, and communications APIs, but they haven’t made their pricing public.
Related: Vonage Pricing: Is It Worth It for Small Businesses?
Why Businesses Look for Vonage Alternatives
1. They want transparent pricing
Successful businesses stay on their toes and adapt to the changes and demands of the industry.
To do that, they need to know which tools and features fit into their workflows and budgets — and for that, they need to know what a solution will cost them without jumping through a dozen hoops.
Vonage doesn’t publish pricing for more than 90 lines, which can be a limiting factor for many businesses.
2. They need a solution that’s friendly for small and medium businesses
Vonage seems to be on a pivot to becoming a CPaaS provider. This makes it a perfect solution for developers and tech teams.
But for smaller, mid-size, or large businesses? Not so much. They need a phone system that’s both flexible and easy to use. Sound like you? Then you’ll need a complete VoIP phone system you can set up quickly — and one that grows and scales just like you do.
3. They need a seamless, glitch-free calling experience
Even though customers seem to be happy with Vonage’s service, some users report issues with call quality, like choppiness and glitching.
For many companies, the quality of customer calls directly correlates with customer happiness and revenue. If that’s you, finding an alternative might be worth the effort.
The last thing you want is to have a customer service or sales call drop, making people think you hung up on them. A quick look at Vonage’s status page suggests there are at least some concerns to be aware of.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Vonage Alternative
Here’s what to pay attention to and the questions to ask as you research Vonage alternatives:
- Features: what are your communication needs? Which features are essential vs. nice-to-have, including call management, admin, productivity, and integration?
- Pricing: which pricing plans offer the features your team needs? Is there an option to save by upgrading to an annual plan?
- Ease of use: how complicated is onboarding or setup? How about everyday management functions? Will you need extra IT staff to configure your phone system?
- Customer support: is live support available 24/7? Will you have to wait long for issue resolution?
- Call quality: can you be sure that voice calls will always be crisp and high-quality? Have you performed a rigorous network check?
- Reliability: what’s the risk of downtime? What procedures and redundancies are in place to prevent network issues?
- Scalability: how easily can you add or change numbers or features as your business needs evolve? Will those tweaks make financial and administrative sense?
With that, you’re ready to dive into the top 10 alternatives to Vonage.
Top 10 Vonage Business Alternatives
1. Nextiva
Nextiva is a complete cloud phone solution for modern companies. Its plans and features meet the needs of small businesses, growing companies, and large enterprises alike.
Nextiva combines customer support and team collaboration into a single tool. That includes voice, text messaging, video, integration, and powerful call management capabilities. Instead of jumping between a dozen apps, you can make the most impact with just one — Nextiva’s business phone app.
What are Nextiva’s top features?
Nextiva fosters customer happiness and team collaboration with VoIP features including:
- Call Pop, a feature that shows important call details on your screen, including details about the last interaction and survey responses from that caller.
- Advanced call routing to instantly send phone calls to the right department, delight customers, manage wait times, and scale your contact center.
- Team chat, so you can collaborate through instant messaging, screen sharing, message history, and video calls and resolve customer challenges quickly.
Nextiva’s pricing
All three of Nextiva’s plans offer powerful VoIP features while matching small business budgets. Check out the tiers:
- Essential, $25.95/user/month: get unlimited voice and video calling, voicemail, toll-free numbers, integrations with Outlook and Google Contacts, and unlimited internet fax.
- Professional, $30.95/user/month: on top of Essential, get unlimited conference calls (40 participants) and video conferencing, screen sharing, multi-level auto attendant, SMS, and MMS on mobile and desktop. You can also integrate with Salesforce and HubSpot.
- Enterprise, $40.95/user/month: add unlimited participants to voice and video conferencing, call recording, video recording, and voicemail transcription. Also, get SSO and more powerful integrations.
These prices apply to packages of 20–99 users. You can lower your monthly user price by opting for annual pricing. Additional volume discounts might also be available — request your no-obligation quote to see for yourself.
What makes it stand out from Vonage?
Nextiva provides out-of-the-box solutions to small and mid-size companies, offices, and mobile workplaces. It prides itself on 99.999% uptime and a customer service team that’s both empathetic and hyper-efficient.
Plus, there are the 8,400 Nextiva reviews that average 4.46 out of 5. Customers rate Nextiva highly due to ease of setup, admin features, return on investment, and the power of having everything they need in a single product.
2. GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect is a cloud phone system for small and mid-sized businesses. It includes phone, meeting, and messaging software in a single solution.
It’s part of GoTo’s product suite for businesses that want to connect with their customers alongside webinars, training, customer engagement, and contact center solutions.
GoTo Connect’s top features
Here are some of GoTo Connect’s key features:
- Customizable call routing that connects an incoming call to the correct endpoint for maximum convenience and productivity.
- Call filtering lets you provide the right experience to the right caller, like VIP customers or hot leads.
- Hot desking for flexible working options and easy switching between devices, desks, and locations.
Pricing
GoTo Connect offers two pricing tiers. One is for businesses looking for basic features, and the other is a fully featured phone, chat, and video conferencing system:
- Basic, $27/user/month: use simplified features like calling from phone, web, and apps. Get access to local and toll-free numbers, call routing, extensions, call forwarding, instant responses, limited recorded greetings, dial plans, ring groups, and call queues. Manage your meetings with team messaging, audio conferencing, and up to 150 participants.
- Standard, $32/user/month: get everything from Basic along with unlimited recorded greetings, dial plans, ring groups, and call queues, as well as hot desking, online faxing, free international minutes, and better call management and recording. Run meetings with up to 250 participants and with additional meeting management features.
Who’s it best for?
GoTo Connect is a solid choice for companies that are already comfortable with GoTo’s product suite and need simple and straightforward virtual phone features.
3. Ooma Office
Ooma Office is a business phone system focused on small businesses and teams that want to meet with each other, their partners, or customers with ease.
Ooma promises a quick, less-than-15-minute setup, as well as no need for any technical knowledge to do so. It offers a flexible, scalable voice and collaboration solution.
Ooma’s top features
Ooma Office gives all customers access to more than 50 standard features. Here are some highlight functionalities:
- Virtual receptionist for directing incoming calls and sharing essential information about the business.
- Extension dialing that makes it easy for a business to branch out when it grows.
- A mobile app that enables working from anywhere, handling calls and voicemails, sending documents, and call recording.
Pricing
Ooma Office offers three feature-rich pricing tiers, all of which include real-time customer support. Here’s what they are and what they include beyond the 50+ features:
- Essentials, $19.95/user/month: this plan includes unlimited calling in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, a virtual receptionist, and a mobile app.
- Pro, $24.95/user/month: get everything from Essentials, plus a desktop app, text messaging, video conferencing for up to 25 participants, and call recording.
- Pro Plus, $29.95/user/month: get features from Pro, plus CRM integration, video conferencing for up to 100 participants, hot desking, and call queuing.
Ooma’s website offers a short quiz to help visitors determine the best plan for them.
Ooma provides risk-free signup with a 30-day money-back guarantee in lieu of a free trial.
Who’s it best for?
Ooma Office is tailored to small businesses that implement a hybrid work approach, look for simple call center capabilities, and want to integrate their business communication with their CRM.
4. 3CX
3CX is a popular option among MSPs and IT pros. Why? Because it offers plenty of customization and a lower cost than a fully supported phone system. It’s a software-based PBX that can be hosted in the public cloud using Amazon EC2, Google Cloud, or DigitalOcean.
3CX provides a range of unified communication features (voice, video, and chat) across its mobile, desktop, and web clients. If you like adjusting and configuring your phone system, you’ll be quite satisfied replacing Vonage with 3CX.
As a heads-up, you will need to provide SIP trunks for 3CX to make and receive calls across the PSTN. This additional setup can be tricky, especially if you’re newer to it. Also, in early 2023, 3CX had a widely publicized security incident that would make any Fortune 500 CTO think twice.
3CX’s top features
Some of its highly praised features include:
- Highly flexible platform that supports many different devices and endpoints out of the box.
- Public cloud compatible for hosting the phone system in the cloud environment of one’s choice.
- User-friendly for end-users and IT admins, although it may appear to offer too many options.
Pricing
3CX offers a few different pricing tiers:
- 3CX Free: free service for up to 10 users, and you’ll need to supply the SIP trunking service and hosting.
- 3CX Small Business: $175 annually for 10 users, sold through a 3CX partner.
- 3CX Professional: $145 annually for 10 users and up to four simultaneous calls, self-hosted and sold through a 3CX partner.
- 3CX Enterprise: $180 annually for 10 users and up to four simultaneous calls, self-hosted and sold through a 3CX partner.
Aside from hosting and user licenses, simultaneous phone calls are a factor in the pricing. If your team members communicate with each other or customers frequently, you’ll need to pay more.
Who’s it best for?
When thinking about a Vonage alternative, 3CX could be a good option if you are confident in setting up and hardening a cloud environment, acquiring a SIP trunking service, and adjusting communication features.
5. Dialpad
Dialpad is a Vonage alternative that provides an intelligent business phone system to companies of all sizes.
For small businesses, it focuses on getting started with a phone system quickly — without extra hardware or dozens of apps. For enterprises, Dialpad is about bringing remote teams together. It makes hybrid work seamless through calls, messages, meetings, and a contact center built into a single workspace.
Dialpad leans into the capabilities of AI, such as transcribing calls in real-time, as well as meeting and voicemail transcription.
Dialpad’s top features
Here are some notable features of Dialpad:
- Unlimited meetings with high-definition video and audio.
- Unlimited calling within the customer’s country, the US, and Canada.
- Real-time analytics and reporting on call volume, usage, and adoption.
Pricing
Dialpad offers three pricing tiers:
- Standard, $23/user/month: get unlimited calling, messaging, AI features like call transcription and visual voicemail, integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, analytics, and support over the web and chat.
- Pro, $35/user/month: use the features from Standard, plus 24/7 live support, integration with Microsoft Teams and CRMs like Salesforce and Zendesk, local numbers in 70+ countries, 25 ring groups, 10 office locations, multiple phone numbers per account, global SMS, and open APIs.
- Enterprise, price on request: get everything from Pro, plus 100% uptime, unlimited office locations, and ring groups, dial-by-extension, integration with SSO providers, data retention policies, and priority live agent support.
You can lower your per-user monthly pricing by opting for annual pricing.
Dialpad also offers add-ons like room license fees ($34/room/month), additional toll-free or international numbers (from $15/number/month), and additional local numbers (from $5/number/month).
You can try Dialpad for free with a 14-day free trial.
Who’s it best for?
Dialpad might suit companies of various sizes that want to leverage AI in their business communications. But at the end of the day, do you really need AI transcription?
6. Phone.com
Phone.com is another Vonage competitor that offers a cloud-based business phone system.
It’s a solution for small businesses that want to be able to communicate wherever they are. Phone.com lets customers use their business phone number on any device, along with call management and collaboration features for efficient collaboration.
This VoIP provider offers voice, text, video, faxing, and conferencing capabilities.
Phone.com’s top features
Phone.com offers key business communication features, including:
- Call queues to route incoming calls to a specific group of numbers.
- Voice tagging lets callers pick from a menu option, and the person answering the call can customize their opening based on the chosen option.
- Account that works on any device, including making calls, sending messages, or launching a video meeting.
Pricing
Phone.com offers three pricing plans, which include:
- Basic, $14.99/user/month: get 500 pooled minutes, one phone number per account, up to 10 video conference participants, apps, and standard voice features.
- Plus, $21.99/user/month: all Basic features plus unlimited minutes, one phone number per user, text messaging, up to 25 video conferencing participants with the option of recording, and voicemail transcription.
- Pro, $31.99/user/month: everything from Plus along with call recording, analytics, CRM integration, and up to 100 video conferencing participants with whiteboard and transcription.
You can lower your per-user monthly pricing by opting for annual pricing, as well as asking for volume pricing.
All plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Who’s it best for?
Phone.com suits small businesses looking for a simple solution that will help them work and collaborate remotely. This includes industries like healthcare, retail, legal, education, and finance.
7. Zoom
You already know of Zoom as an online meeting solution, but Zoom also offers a business phone service.
Zoom Phone is a flexible business VoIP service with a single interface for video, voice, messaging, and meetings. It offers apps on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Zoom’s top features
Zoom Phone offers more than 40 features that make it a solid cloud phone service. The standout features include:
- Interactive voice response (IVR) that reduces admin workload by engaging callers and routing calls.
- On-demand call recording for easy call review in the future.
- Dialing personas to best represent the type of call a team member wants to make.
Pricing
With Zoom Phone, you get most features for call management, admin, and integrations. Three pricing tiers indicate different usage capacities:
- US & Canada Metered, $10/user/month: you get unlimited internal calling, metered outbound calls, a management portal, domestic SMS and MMS, a US and Canada number, and multi-device use.
- US & Canada Unlimited, $15/user/month: alongside the Metered features, this plan also includes unlimited outbound calling and an optional add-on for international calls.
- Global Select, $20/user/month: this option gives you unlimited regional calling in one of 48 countries and territories and a direct dial number.
There are also add-ons, such as toll-free numbers ($5/month), enhanced analytics and insights ($25/month), and additional phone numbers (from $5/month), you can select on top of each plan.
Who’s it best for?
Zoom Phone is a good choice for businesses looking for a user-friendly phone system. It certainly helps if you’re already familiar with Zoom’s platform.
The cost of additional numbers and reporting features can add up fast, meaning Zoom Phone is a better option for stable companies looking for a straightforward solution.
8. Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a simple virtual phone service, making it a worthy Vonage alternative for small businesses in the US and Canada. It works by adding a business number and essential call management features to an existing phone.
Grasshopper makes it easy to port over your existing number or select a vanity, toll-free, or local number. Getting started is as easy as creating an account and downloading the mobile app.
Grasshopper’s top features
Grasshopper keeps its features straightforward. Some of the most popular features include:
- Instant response that texts new callers when you can’t answer.
- Incoming call control that lets you screen callers, block calls, and set a custom schedule based on your working hours.
- Vanity numbers that are easy to remember and dial, like 1-800-NAME.
Pricing
Grasshopper offers three pricing plans, which allow access to all of Grasshopper’s features. What differentiates them is the number of users, phone numbers, and extensions:
- True Solo, $16/month: the right choice for a single user that needs one phone number and extension.
- Solo Plus, $31/month: gives you unlimited users, one phone number, and up to three extensions.
- Partner, $51/month: have unlimited users, three phone numbers, and six extensions.
- Small business, $89/month: get unlimited users, five phone numbers, and unlimited extensions.
You can lower the cost of your subscription by opting for annual pricing.
Grasshopper offers a free seven-day trial on all plans.
Who’s it best for?
Grasshopper is a solid option for small businesses, especially solopreneurs like photographers or consultants. Since it’s not HIPAA compliant, it may not be a good choice for healthcare organizations that handle sensitive data.
9. CallHippo
CallHippo is a flexible virtual phone system for small businesses. This Vonage challenger focuses on increasing agent productivity, automating workflows, tracking team performance, and lowering the cost of business communication.
CallHippo promises a rapid setup time — less than three minutes from buying a number to making your first call.
CallHippo’s top features
CallHippo offers a rich set of more than 30 features. Their top telephony and productivity features include:
- Power dialing that automates the dialing process and saves valuable time.
- Global connect, which maximizes call pickup and conversion rates for international customers based on their time zones.
- Gamification elements like leaderboards, rewards, and challenges to foster healthy competition.
Pricing
You can choose CallHippo’s office phone system or its call center solution. Both come with their own pricing structure. Unlike many VoIP providers, they charge extra for phone numbers, call forwarding, SMS service, and incoming call charges.
The office phone system’s plans include one free and three paid:
- Basic, $0/user/month: use click-to-dial, global connect, teams, voicemail, messaging, smart switch, and last called by. You’ll need to pay for numbers.
- Starter, $20/user/month: get everything from Basic, up to 1,000 calling minutes in the US and Canada, one free number, IVR, 2FA, business hours, and ring all devices.
- Professional, $35/user/month: use features from Starter, plus unlimited calling minutes in the US and Canada and advanced call management features like recording, analytics, tagging, and ratings.
- Ultimate, $50/user/month: on top of Professional features, you get access to advanced and custom integrations, custom greetings, a dedicated account manager, and 24/7 support.
CallHippo’s call center solution is available through these plans:
- Basic, $0/user/month: have unlimited users and features like click-to-dial, global connect, SMS, voicemail smart switch, and forwarding to a device. You’ll need to pay for numbers.
- Bronze, $20/user/month: get everything from Basic, plus a free number, call routing, webhooks, and paid call recording.
- Silver, $30/user/month: get everything from Bronze, plus powerful phone features like IVR, call queuing, working hours, call cascading, holiday routing, gamification, and call tagging.
- Platinum, $50/user/month: on top of the Bronze features, get the full feature package, including auto dialer, call barging, SSO, advanced analytics, and integrations.
You can enrich your plan with add-ons like WhatsApp Business ($15/number/month), website call button ($10/month), and more.
You can lower the cost of your subscription by opting for annual pricing.
CallHippo offers a free 10-day trial with all plans.
Who’s it best for?
CallHippo works well for lighter-duty sales, call center, and support teams. That applies to small businesses and startups, as well as growing teams.
10. 8×8
8×8 is a cloud phone service for businesses that want voice, video, chat, and call center software in one package. That’s not only to keep customers happy but also to keep employees connected and engaged.
It works as a contact center and a unified communications platform, as well as a scalable platform thanks to APIs and integrations.
8×8’s top features
8×8’s features are quite powerful, and they depend on the plan you choose. A few to keep in mind in your research include:
- Call handling, including caller ID, call forwarding, transfer, park, and ring groups.
- Barge, monitor, and whisper for supervisors to assist their agents in real time.
- Integrations with essential CRM, productivity, support, and service apps.
Pricing
8×8 offers five plans. The first two are unified communications plans, while the other three are contact center plans.
These plans include:
- X2: get all-in-one voice, video, and chat features, including unlimited users and voice calling to 14 countries. You can also run audio and video conferencing for up to 500 active participants, use SMS and team chat, and integrate with Microsoft Teams.
- X3: use advanced features for call handling and analytics, along with unlimited calling to 48 countries.
- X6: the first contact center plan includes skill-based routing, IVR, call recording, reporting, and customer journey mapping.
- X7: get everything from X6, plus multi-channel support and co-browsing.
- X8: this is an advanced contact center management plan that features everything from X7 plus quality management and speech and text analysis.
To find out the cost of these plans, you must speak with an 8×8 salesperson.
Who’s it best for?
8×8 is best for businesses that operate on a global scale — those that need a customizable solution to communicate with their customers and within the business.
Finding the Right Vonage Alternative Is Worth It
Let’s be real: each of these Vonage alternatives is a potential upgrade to your current phone system.
You have so many options to choose from — maybe the best one right in front of you?
Nextiva gives you the perfect mix of advanced features, unlimited nationwide calling, friendly customer service, easy-to-use apps, pre-configured VoIP desk phones, integration, and so much more. It also has attractive pricing, starting from $17.95 per user monthly for 100 users.
… And it won’t take a tech wizard to set it up, either!
If you’re a small or medium-sized business that wants to move quickly and work efficiently, Nextiva is the best Vonage alternative you can find.
You’ll make your team fully productive and improve your customer experience. Nextiva’s phone system will make you unstoppable.
