VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone services allow you to make phone calls using the internet instead of a traditional landline phone. They are important tools for businesses seeking cost-effective communication solutions without compromising on quality and features.
However, with so many VoIP options available, finding a service that offers the perfect balance of affordability, reliability, and functionality can be challenging.
We have used the Nextiva VoIP service across our business and have had a great experience with it. We have also tested many popular services, like RingCentral and Zoom Phone, to see how they stack up. This has helped us gain a deeper understanding of different VoIP tools and their pros and cons.
In this article, we will share some of the best cheap VoIP services for small businesses. With our expertise and thorough comparison, you can make an informed decision.
If you are in a hurry, then take a quick look at our expert picks to choose a cheap VoIP phone service.
# | Services | Best For | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|
🥇 | Nextiva | All-in-one solution | $25 – user/month |
🥈 | Ooma Office Phone | VoIP phone solution for small businesses | $19.95 – user/month |
🥉 | Phone.com | New bloggers and business owners | $12.74 – user/month |
4 | Zoom Phone | Businesses already using Zoom for meetings | $10 per user/month |
5 | RingCentral | Large-scale businesses | $30 per user/month |
6 | Grasshopper | Budget-friendly solution | $18/month. |
What Is VoIP?
Making business phone calls without a landline connection is the technology known as VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol.
It’s common among many small and big businesses to use VoIP phone services for their professional communication. You can have a live voice call or send a scheduled message to your teammates, clients, or any of your connections with an internet facility.
You can also connect using video calls and group calls. Plus, you can send voice messages and video messages based on the VoIP service you are using for communication.
How We Test And Review Cheap VoIP Services
Choosing a VoIP phone service provider is easy as there are several options available. However, finding a cheap yet reliable VoIP phone service to set up your business communication can be tricky.
Although we have already used Nextiva for our own businesses, we wanted to make sure that we picked other great options for our readers.
That is why we tested the most popular options on the internet in real time. When doing that, we focused on the following criteria:
- Ease of use: We have picked services that come with a beginner-friendly interface and have helpful documentation and support options if you run into problems.
- Features: An ideal VoIP platform offers features like voice calls, video calls, instant messaging, call forwarding, recordings, and more.
- Reliability: For this showcase, we have only recommended the tools we have tested ourselves. We also took a look at customer reviews to find any ongoing issues.
- Pricing: We have only added tools with budget-friendly pricing options that are affordable for everyone, whether you are a blogger or a business owner.
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We thoroughly test and extensively review each VoIP service in the list to give you the best recommendations. For details, see our editorial process.
Having said that, let’s take a look at the best cheap VoIP services for all kinds of businesses.
1. Nextiva
Nextiva is the best cheap VoIP phone service on the market. It offers unlimited voice calls and internet fax facilities.
In our expert opinion, Nextiva is the best option for rapidly growing businesses because of its amazing features, affordability, and scalability. We use it for our communication needs across several of our partner companies and have had a positive experience with it. For more details, see our Nextiva review.
Plus, you can access the business phone from your desktop or mobile, making you available to your clients from anywhere.
Additionally, Nextiva provides local and toll-free numbers that can give your business a professional look from the start.
It integrates with popular email marketing, CRM, and other software. You can also set up an auto attendant to greet callers professionally, forward and transfer calls, receive voice mail, and display caller ID information.
Pros
- The service lets you track your calls in real time, giving you the data and reports you need to improve your communication.
- We were particularly impressed by Nextiva’s AI-powered features like intelligent call routing and virtual assistants that make your work easier for you.
- The tool allows advanced call management with call queuing, call parking, and call monitoring.
- It is a cloud-based phone service.
- When researching, we realized that the VoIP service offers a Nextiva One App where you can see the data for communication, collaboration, and customer relationship management in a central place.
- We appreciate Nextiva’s dedicated customer support, which provides great assistance and troubleshooting.
Cons
- Since Nextiva is a VoIP phone service, a powerful internet connection is required to work properly.
Why we recommend Nextiva: Nextiva is our top recommended VoIP phone service. It offers a complete and reliable phone system for any business size and niche. Plus, it provides HD call quality at an affordable price, making it a top choice for small businesses.
Pricing: Starts at $25 per user/month.
2. Ooma Office Phone
Ooma Office Phone is an affordable VoIP phone platform for small businesses. It is built for online communication between team members and customers.
We have extensively tested Ooma to make sure that it lives up to its reputation, and you can learn more in our Ooma review.
It has dozens of features to improve your workflow, like HD voice quality, unlimited calling in the USA and Canada, number porting, call forwarding, and voice mail.
Personally, we really like the virtual receptionist tool that makes your business look professional on every incoming call. Ooma also lets users select an extension to connect with its different teams automatically.
Other than that, the VoIP phone service offers specific solutions for different business niches, including dental, real estate, hospitality, insurance, and more.
Pros
- The platform has an easy setup and installation process. If you need help, then Ooma even has tons of resources like its business blog, podcast, webinars, FAQs, and more.
- It has a call-blocking service to prevent unwanted calls.
- It comes with a call recording feature that allows you to build an archive of your conversations for learning and other purposes.
- We really appreciate the physical device called Ooma Tello. It lets you connect your home phone system to the internet.
Cons
- When testing Ooma in real time, we came across some call quality issues and occasional service interruptions. Upon research, we found that other users have faced similar issues.
- It offers fewer integrations with third-party services.
Why we recommend Ooma: We recommend Ooma because it has been consistent in its service as a cheap VoIP phone solution for small businesses. Unlike other phone solutions, Ooma has no hidden charges and offers multiple plans to scale when your business grows.
Pricing: Starts at $19.95 per month/user.
3. Phone.com
Phone.com is a popular VoIP phone service that offers voice calls, video calls, text messaging, fax, and conference call features. We tried it out and were impressed by the speed test software that ensures the high quality of your calls. Plus, it checks for upload and download speeds, jitters, and pings.
Other than that, Phone.com includes a premium AI-powered Answer Bot service. This saves you time by checking for spam calls and routing your calls to the right team member every time.
The VoIP phone service lets you make cost-effective calls to international destinations, which really impressed us because some VoIP services charge extra for it.
Pros
- Phone.com offers local numbers, vanity numbers, and international numbers.
- It allows video conferencing with up to 100 users, and free conference calls are included in all the plans.
- It has virtual background templates for video calls.
- The tool offers advanced features like call blocking, call forwarding, call logs, recordings, auto attendant, and more.
- Upon testing, we found out that the tool sends you voicemail messages transcribed into text for easy access.
Cons
- We didn’t like that Phone.com only offers unlimited call time and multiple phone numbers in higher pricing plans.
- Some common features like call analytics and call recording are only available for the Pro plan users.
Why we recommend Phone.com: The service is super affordable and comes with a built-in speed test that helps improve your communication. This makes Phone.com an ideal choice for bloggers or business owners who are just starting out.
Pricing: Starts at $12.74 per user/month.
4. Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone is an affordable VoIP phone service that comes with HD voice quality, unlimited calling in the USA and Canada, and number porting. We already use the Zoom service for some of our company meetings, and we were also impressed by their VoIP features.
Zoom Phone sends voicemail transcripts and has management features like call forwarding, call waiting, and call transfer. This cloud-based tool offers a seamless transition from a call to a video conference using Zoom Meetings.
Other than that, we liked Zoom Phone’s AI-powered tools that allow noise cancellation and intelligent call routing.
Pros
- It comes with advanced features like call analytics, CRM integration, and auto attendant.
- Zoom Phone allows real-time messaging and file sharing between team members.
- You can connect the tool with the Zoom Scheduler to automate email and SMS reminders for your customers and team members.
- We like its mobile app because it lets you make and receive phone calls directly from your smartphone.
Cons
- When going through some customer reviews, we found out that many users have reported challenges with customer support responsiveness.
- In some areas, phone number availability might be restricted.
Why we recommend Zoom Phone: If you are already using Zoom for video conferencing and want to extend the functionality to communicate with your customers over phone calls, then Zoom Phone is a great choice.
Pricing: Starts at $10 per user/month.
5. RingCentral
RingCentral is a popular VoIP phone service for small to large-scale businesses. It has several communication tools that let you make voice calls, video calls, and conference calls. You are also able to send text messages and faxes.
We took a deep dive into RingCentral’s features, which you can read more about in our RingCentral review.
Plus, it offers AI tools that make your communication more powerful with personalized bot responses. These tools can handle routine tasks, route calls, and even provide basic information to callers.
Other than that, you can always use the analytics and call logs to monitor the performance of your communication with customers.
When researching, we particularly liked RingCentral’s inside platform, which allows your team to communicate in real time, share files, and collaborate on projects.
Pros
- The platform comes with team messaging and collaboration tools.
- It allows voice, video, and text messaging. Plus, you get features like call queuing, call distribution, and IVR for efficient call management.
- RingCentral offers excellent customer support.
- You can get local, toll-free, and international numbers.
- It also lets you send personalized outgoing calls with a customizable caller ID.
Cons
- Its cost is a bit higher than that of other VoIP services on the list.
- It has a learning curve for beginners looking to set up a phone service.
Why we recommend RingCentral: We recommend RingCentral for large-scale businesses because its powerful AI tools can boost sales.
Pricing: Starts at $30 per user/month.
5. Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a cheap VoIP phone service built for small businesses. From our testing, we believe that it has all the basic features you might need, like voice calls and text messaging for communication with your team and clients.
The service comes with call management features on its desktop and mobile apps. You can block spam calls, route calls to team members, and check your call logs.
Grasshopper is made with simplicity and flexibility in mind. This means that it is not bloated with features that may prove to be unnecessary.
Pros
- We were impressed by Grasshopper’s quick and intuitive setup, ideal for beginners.
- It comes with a virtual phone receptionist.
- The tool has features like call tracking, call forwarding, auto attendant, business texting, and more.
- You can also track call volume, duration, and other metrics with the proof.
- It provides dedicated business numbers, local numbers, and toll-free numbers.
Cons
- In our opinion, one downside of using Grasshopper is that it primarily focuses on the US and Canadian markets. This means that it’s not a good choice for businesses with international clients.
- You need to get the Pro plan for common features like call analytics.
Why we recommend Grasshopper: We recommend Grasshopper for its simplicity and budget-friendly pricing, making it a good choice for small businesses.
Pricing: Starts at $18/ month for a solo-person business.
Which Is the Best Cheap VoIP Phone Service?
Nextiva is the best cheap VoIP service. It offers all the necessary features and is affordable for small businesses to set up a communication system.
We also recommend Ooma and Phone.com as budget-friendly VoIP services for business communication.
Ooma comes with a virtual receptionist to answer your calls and route calls to the right extensions. It can make your small business presentable to all your callers.
On the other hand, Phone.com has an AI Answer Bot service that checks for spam calls and saves your time by transferring real clients to your team.
If you’re a small business and your target market is specifically the US and Canada, then we recommend Zoom Phone. It’s a cheap VoIP phone service with unlimited calling in those regions.
Frequently Asked Questions About VOIP
Here are some questions frequently asked by our readers about cheap VoIP phone services.
What are the advantages of using VoIP over a traditional phone service?
VoIP phones are newer than regular phones. They use the internet to make calls instead of a regular phone, which means you can save money because you don’t have to pay for a separate phone line.
Plus, VoIP boosts flexibility with features like call forwarding and voicemail-to-email, as well as the ability to use various devices for calls.
Can I keep my existing phone number with VoIP?
Yes, most VoIP providers offer number porting, which allows you to keep your current phone number and use it to receive calls from customers.
What should I do if I experience poor call quality with VoIP?
If you experience poor call quality with VoIP, you can start by checking your internet connection because it needs to be fast and steady for clear calls.
However, if it is working fine, then you should try moving closer to your router or using an ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi. Sometimes, restarting your router or VoIP phone can help.
If none of these tricks work, then you must contact your VoIP service provider for troubleshooting.
How does VoIP call quality compare to traditional phone service?
VoIP call quality has significantly improved over the years and can often match or exceed traditional phone service, especially with a stable internet connection.
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