10 Best Cheap VoIP Phone Service Providers Of 2025

Zoom Phone is a well-rounded phone system with strong call routing features, call queueing tools and team chat for internal communication. The Unlimited plan includes IVR menus and call queues that are easy to set up with a drag-and-drop studio, enabling companies of any size to segment departments and organize an inbound call-handling strategy. The platform’s call monitoring dashboards enable supervisors to track agent performance, while AI transcription extracts to-do lists from voicemails and conversations. While many other VoIP phone systems limit each user’s monthly text allotment, Zoom lets you send unlimited texts.

If your team is under 10 users, you’ll find a lower cost with Google Voice’s Starter plan. However, if you’re looking for a full suite of routing and calling features, Zoom’s $15 price point is unbeatable. Note that while Zoom is famous for its video meetings, adding video meetings costs roughly $3 extra per month—which is still a great deal.

Learn more: Read our full Zoom Phone review.

Zoom Phone’s desktop app is spacious and easy to use.

I found Zoom Phone easy to set up and use, with a clean and modern-feeling interface. Compared to the web app, I preferred the layout of Zoom’s desktop app, with menu items atop the dashboard that let me jump between team chat, call logs, the dial pad and my calendar for video meetings. While AI can sometimes feel annoying and get in the way, Zoom does a good job of keeping its AI features subtle such as tucking extracted to-do lists under voicemail messages within the call log.

Zoom’s post-meeting AI summaries are subtle and don’t clutter the interface.

RingCentral’s business phone system, RingEX, is a complete unified communications platform that enables team collaboration with chat messaging and video conferencing for up to 200 participants. Its video meetings are as collaborative as Zoom’s, with whiteboards and AI features like live captions, translations and summaries. The team chat is pretty good, too, with functionality that feels like Slack, built directly into the dashboard. You can share files, send whiteboards and assign tasks within team chat channels.

RingCentral is famous for its VoIP phone system, which includes all the routing tools and supervisor support features most companies will need. You can set up as many IVR menus, call queues and ring groups as you want, and the customizable real-time analytics give RingCentral an advantage over cheaper options like Zoom and Google Voice.

While RingCentral’s month-to-month pricing is somewhat high, starting at $30 per user, the annual cost drops substantially to just $20 per month—slightly more than Zoom and equal to Google Voice’s Standard plan. RingCentral is a cost-effective option for a feature-rich phone system and team collaboration through video and chat.

Learn more: Read our full RingCentral review.

RingCentral’s dashboard is user-friendly, but the design feels a bit outdated.

Considering all its features and channels it offers, RingCentral had a very manageable learning curve. I found it easy to make calls and see when inbound calls were coming in. I loved RingCentral’s video meetings and found its AI captions and summaries just as helpful as Zoom’s, with potentially sharper HD video.

When I first tried using the analytics, I felt confused and overwhelmed by the blank boxes. However, as I added widgets, I realized how RingCentral’s real-time analytics are more customizable than those of most other phone systems.

RingCentral lets you design custom analytics by choosing which widgets you want to add.

Dialpad’s phone system has advanced AI features on all plans, including real-time call transcriptions that provide agents with running captions. These provide insights into agent performance and customer sentiment, leading to better supervisor feedback. The system’s real-time analytics dashboards leverage this data for more in-depth insights, which you can display in various visual styles. Higher-tier Dialpad plans build on this AI with specialized automations like customer satisfaction scores and agent scorecards that give targeted feedback.

Dialpad’s per-month pricing is costlier than many alternatives and is only a good value for companies looking to monitor agent performance and customer experience data. However, if you’re ready to commit to a full year, Dialpad’s monthly pricing is equal to Zoom Phone and a good value for any company.

Learn more: Read our full Dialpad review.

Dialpad includes advanced AI features like call summaries and action items.

When I used Dialpad, I found the interface modern and visually appealing, but the AI features initially felt overwhelming. While accurate, the real-time transcriptions sometimes felt unnecessary and distracting, and they also cluttered the call logs in the supervisor dashboard. However, they provided a much richer call history record than voicemail alone, and I could imagine them being very valuable for supervisors trying to review specific interactions or agent performance in detail.

Dialpad call summaries make it easier for supervisors and agents to search and sort through call records.

More than a cloud phone system, Nextiva is essentially a multichannel contact center. It includes channels no other business phone system can match, including live chat, email, social media and review sites. You can interact with customers on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, respond to feedback on review sites like Yelp and Amazon and handle emails, all from the same inbox where you receive business calls. These touchpoints unlock new marketing opportunities, expand your public presence and show customers you care about their satisfaction.

Nextiva’s live chat capabilities also provide major utility. You can embed a chat widget into your website or mobile app, catching customers when they’re considering a purchase. Alongside these channels, Nextiva has a reputable phone system with call queueing and skills-based routing and that’s more personalized than most competitors.

While Nextiva plans with messaging channels begin at $25 monthly, plans including voice functionality start at $36 per user. This is too expensive if you only need calling and texting, but it’s a fantastic value if you’re looking to build a complete contact center with multiple service touchpoints.

Learn more: Read our full Nextiva review.

Nextiva’s multichannel dashboard lets you manage all channels, including social media.

While I expected it to feel overwhelming, managing multiple communication channels on Nextiva was surprisingly intuitive. The setup process was straightforward as well. Nextiva’s pre-built integrations prompted me to log in to my social media channels and review sites once, and the platforms immediately synced in my multichannel inbox. When I clicked on a task, I could instantly respond using that digital channel, allowing me to jump between them seamlessly.

Nextiva’s pre-built integrations make it easy to connect third-party platforms.

At $10 monthly per user, Google Voice’s Starter plan is the cheapest VoIP phone system available. While the plan has few features, it enables unlimited calling and SMS, making it a great choice for companies without complex call routing needs that just need a basic phone system. Unfortunately, Google limits this plan to 10 users, so it’s only an option for small teams.

The $20 Standard plan is still a great value for teams of more than 10 or those who want call routing features. It’s a super user-friendly phone system that adds ring groups and IVR menus, letting you customize how you handle inbound calls.

At $30, Google Voice’s Premier plan isn’t worth the high cost for most U.S.-based teams. The plan adds BigQuery, which lets you build a database, but this functionality can be complex and not as user-friendly as alternatives’ pre-built analytics dashboards. However, it enables unlimited calling within 10 European countries for European numbers, so it’s a one-of-a-kind option if your team primarily does business in Europe.

Learn more: Read our full Google Voice review.

Google Voice’s dashboard features simple dial pads, call logs and SMS.

Google Voice is an impressively user-friendly VoIP system, largely thanks to its simplicity. The interface is clean and straightforward because it doesn’t have much going on—just a dial pad, call logs with voicemail and SMS logs. From the supervisor’s perspective, Google Voice was also a breeze. The simple menus let me quickly purchase numbers, assign them to users, link them into groups with custom routing orders and set up IVR menus.

Google Voice’s SMS interface.

OpenPhone offers one-of-a-kind number-sharing capabilities that enable your team members to jump between business numbers instantly. The dashboard left-hand menu displays all your assigned phone numbers, and clicking one populates your interface with that number’s task inbox. Multiple teammates can share phone numbers, too, making calls and sending texts from the same number simultaneously. These capabilities offer strong utility for small teams whose agents have flexible roles, often switching between departments or phone numbers.

At $19, the Starter plan is one of the more affordable options for month-to-month pricing. If you’re comfortable committing to a full year, the $15 beats Google’s Standard plan and matches Zoom Phone. The main drawback to these low-tier plans is that they lack call routing tools.

If you want to add high-level call routing functionality like ring groups, custom ring sequences and IVR menus, OpenPhone’s Business plan is a good value if you commit to a full year. At $33, the month-to-month pricing is too steep, and I’d suggest Zoom or Google Voice instead.

OpenPhone’s task inbox compiles SMS, missed calls and voicemail.

When using OpenPhone, two things stuck out to me: the effectiveness of the task inbox and the ease with which I could switch between numbers. Though many alternatives separate call logs, voicemails and SMS conversations, OpenPhone aggregates them into one inbox. This complements the number-sharing features well because when I switched between numbers, the dashboard inbox instantly caught me up to date on all communications that number had received. With OpenPhone, handling two or three business numbers throughout the day felt doable rather than daunting.

Managing the OpenPhone task inbox while receiving an inbound call.

While Aircall is one of the costlier VoIP providers in general, it can provide good value for teams seeking call center functionality. Aircall offers several unmatched VoIP features, including automated queue callbacks and power dialer functionality. Queue callbacks are a valuable feature for companies that frequently experience long hold times, enabling customers to hang up and improving customer experience. Paired with custom call routing and a shared call inbox among multiple agents, this queueing functionality will help reduce your wait times and make agents more efficient.

Similarly, Aircall’s power dialer functionality differentiates it from other business VoIP systems. It lets agents rapidly dial phone numbers consecutively from a list such as from your CRM system. This streamlines outbound calling efforts and can help sales teams reach more leads and prospective customers.

Compared to contact center software, which offers queueing and power dialing functionality for over $100, Aircall is a good deal. However, if you just need simple VoIP and basic IVR, you’re better off with something cheaper like Dialpad or Zoom Phone.

Learn more: Read our full Aircall review.

Aircall’s power dialer lets you rapidly dial contacts from a list.

Aircall was one of the most user-friendly phone systems I tried. The desktop app had a simple design—but I enjoyed the bright, pleasant color scheme—and didn’t feel too cluttered. I was impressed with how interconnected all the software’s VoIP features felt. For example, when I finished a call, Aircall prompted me to leave notes, open or end a ticket for the call, and add it to the power dialer list. This helped ensure that calls and tasks didn’t slip through the cracks.

Post-call, Aircall prompts you to leave a note or add the task to a power dialer campaign.

Intermedia Unite is a well-rounded unified communications platform that bundles a VoIP phone system, unlimited SMS texting, team chat and video meetings. The phone system offers solid call center features: IVR menus for inbound call distribution, ring groups and call queues to link and distinguish departments. Real-time supervisor dashboards and call monitoring help managers stay on top of customer service levels and agent activity. Intermedia’s team collaboration features are pretty good, too, with AI support tools like summaries for video meetings and an AI assistant that helps you draft team chat messages.

However, the main thing that sets Intermedia Unite apart from alternatives is its 33-country unlimited calling area, including popular destinations like the U.K., India and Hong Kong. If your team makes frequent calls overseas, you’ll likely save money with Intermedia Unite, as international calling fees add up quickly when you pay per minute. If you’re looking for more cost-effective team collaboration, you’re better off with Zoom Phone or Ooma.

Learn more: Read our full Intermedia Unite review.

Intermedia Unite Dial Pad and Service.

While using Intermedia Unite, I found the supervisor portal helpful and user-friendly. Real-time queue dashboards were front and center, and the analytics were easy to understand and navigate.

I thought it was user-friendly from an agent’s perspective too. It reminded me of RingCentral, with a dial pad as the primary display and team collaboration channels in the left-hand menu. However, I was slightly disappointed with Intermedia’s AI Assistant for team messaging. Its functionality, such as drafting and summarizing chat messages, wasted more time than just writing these messages myself.

Intermedia Unite’s AI Assistant sometimes feels like it clutters the interface.

Ooma Office is a well-priced unified communication platform offering standard features for routing and team collaboration. All plans include an IVR menu, extensions so your users can share numbers and basic call logs that track call activity and talk time. You can create ring groups with simultaneous ring so multiple users can share call responsibility.

However, Ooma is limited by its lack of call monitoring and the fact that the low-tier Essentials plan doesn’t include SMS or video meetings. Further, the Essentials plan is mobile-only since a desktop app is only included with the Pro and Pro Plus plans. These are big drawbacks that limit an agent’s user experience.

The main things that set Ooma apart are the fact that it includes unlimited calling to Mexico, and each plan includes a toll-free number with 500 toll-free minutes. If your company has low call volumes but wants to offer toll-free minutes to customers, Ooma may be a good choice, especially since the $19.95 month-to-month price point is better than average.

Learn more: Read our full Ooma Office review.

Voicemail transcription on Ooma Office’s desktop app.

When using Ooma’s Essentials plan, I felt severely limited by the fact that it was mobile only. If your agents are used to handling a mobile VoIP phone system, it may not feel so restrictive, but I prefer using a desktop display for VoIP, so the Essentials plan wasn’t a pleasant experience. I also missed the SMS functionality.

On the Pro plan, I felt much more at home. Ooma’s desktop app is easy to navigate, similar to RingCentral or Intermedia Unite. While the video meetings had clear video and audio, the software had virtually no collaborative features (only screen sharing). While the Pro Plus plan adds chat functionality, it still lacks engaging features that alternatives have such as whiteboards, virtual backgrounds or polls.

Ooma Office’s mobile app.

The 8×8 unified communications platform has middle-of-the-road pricing, starting at $25 monthly per user. It doesn’t publicize pricing information for higher-tier plans, so you’ll need to get a quote for a fuller pricing picture.

It includes team chat and a call routing system with IVR, ring groups and call queues. Notably, 8×8 offers unlimited calling to 14 countries. While not quite as many as Intermedia’s 33, it’s still far more than the unlimited coverage most providers offer and a few dollars cheaper per user.

The 8×8 service stands out with its 500-participant video capacity, which is twice as large as any alternative. The meetings are feature-rich, too, with live polls, whiteboards you can share in team chat and AI-generated summaries. Unlike other systems, 8×8 lets you livestream directly to YouTube, which enables webinars, workshops and demos to reach a wider audience.

Learn more: Read our full 8×8 review.

8×8 video meetings have tons of interactive features such as whiteboards.

The main thing that stood out to me about 8×8 was its video meetings. I found the live polls easy to make and imagine they’d be useful tools for companies using 8×8 to host larger meetings. The interface made it easy to share meeting recordings and whiteboards directly in team chat channels.

8×8 lets you share whiteboards and meeting recordings directly to team chat channels.