The 10 best RingCentral competitors in the UK

Are you comparing RingCentral alternatives? If you are looking for a simpler and more affordable cloud communication solution, discover the top 10 options available to you.

Table: 10 Best RingCentral Competitors

What is RingCentral?

RingCentral is a provider of cloud-based enterprise communication systems [1]. Its goal is to enable businesses to secure and consolidate all communications through voice and video calls, online fax, and messaging on a single platform.

Companies can choose virtual phone numbers from over 105 countries, with free incoming calls and localised voicemail in 18 languages to establish a local presence.

The application is accessible on mobile phones, desktop computers, and desk phones, and integrates with popular business applications.

Additionally, RingCentral's call management system provides a customizable dashboard with in-depth analytics and quality of service reports to monitor call quality, usage, and other key performance indicators.

Why look for an alternative to RingCentral?

RingCentral is just one of many communication solution providers available for small and medium-sized businesses. Carefully review the following criteria to make your choice.

You need a simpler solution

RingCentral is a comprehensive communication solution, but choosing between three plans can be confusing. For SMEs, having to switch from the Core plan to the Advanced plan when their needs expand can be costly.

Plus, a feature you consider basic, such as automatic call recording, is not available in all plans, and you may need to unnecessarily upgrade to a higher plan to access it.

There are many alternative service providers like Ringover offering simpler plans that are better suited for the profiles of small and medium-sized businesses.

You need a well-priced option

Although advertised with monthly fees starting at £18 per user/month, you won't have access to features such as advanced call monitoring and CRM integrations. For that, you need to upgrade to more expensive plans.

As a growing business, if you are looking for a comprehensive and cost-effective solution in the long term, you should take a look at alternatives to RingCentral such as Ringover. Ringover has a large range of features in its starter plan, which offers all essential features for SMEs in its Smart plan and doesn't have any user limits.

You need an easy-to-use option

Businesses need to have open communication channels for their customers right from the start. A cloud phone system should ideally be set up and ready to use within three to five minutes.

This is actually the case with Ringover, which is known for its intuitive interface and easy onboarding.

Spending more time than that on installation is a waste of time. If you find the RingCentral system too complicated and difficult to implement, it is best to consider other VoIP providers.

Top 10 RingCentral competitors

1. Ringover
2. Mitel
3. JustCall
4. Dialpad
5. Five9
6. Vonage
7. Cloudtalk
8. Nextiva
9. 8x8
10. 3CX

Best alternative #1: Ringover

In terms of features, pricing, and simplicity, Ringover is the best alternative to RingCentral. It is ideal for businesses looking for an easy-to-use solution with quick setup, unlimited calls to and from more than 110 destinations, and effortless call management.

The simplicity of pricing plans, call management, and user-friendliness has made Ringover often considered the top alternative to RingCentral.

Monthly plans start from £19 per user. The Smart plan offers all-in-one calling, video conferencing, and chat features, along with a range of productivity, collaboration, and customer support functionalities, as well as analytics and integrations with other business applications [2].

Businesses with a larger international presence can choose the Business plans to access more advanced features tailored for contact centres.

Key advantages of Ringover ➕

• 7-day free trial
• Performance analysis tools
• Easy integration with your business tools
• Unlimited calls

Ringover disadvantages ➖

• May not be suitable for very small businesses

Ringover pricing💲

Ringover has three plans available. The Smart plan is £19 per user/month, the Business plan is £39 per user/month, and the Advanced plan is £49 per user/month.

Video: Discover Ringover

Alternative #2: Mitel

Mitel is a Canadian telecommunications company that provides on-site, cloud-based, and hybrid business phone systems with voice, video, and text messaging applications.

They also offer AI-powered virtual agents and online collaboration tools.

Mitel pros ➕

• Easy integration with third-party applications
• Robust reporting functions

Mitel cons ➖

• Choosing the right plan can still be confusing
• The basic plan may not include all essential features

Mitel pricing💲

Because Mitel doesn't list their prices online, you'll have to get in touch with their sales team.

Alternative #3: JustCall

JustCall is a VoIP platform offering communication solutions for small and large businesses. It provides tools with numerous features and offers good flexibility.

JustCall pros ➕

• Decent customer support
• User-friendly

JustCall cons ➖

• Confusing rates make for unexpected bills
• The platform doesn't integrate well with CRMs, leading to a difficult user experience
• The software has been known to glitch

JustCall pricing💲

JustCall doesn't have their prices listed in British pounds, so you'll need to get in touch with their team for an accurate estimate.

Alternative #4: Dialpad

Dialpad is a cloud communication service provider that offers three plans to businesses: a sales centre, a contact centre, and business communications. Its services are bundled into three plans.

Dialpad pros ➕

• Easily scalable
• Includes over 20 third-party integrations

Dialpad cons ➖

• Prices are confusing because of additional fees
• Expensive for small teams

Dialpad pricing💲

If you only need business communications, there are plans beginning at £18 per user/month [3]. The contact centre software begins at £78 per user/month.

Alternative #5: Five9

Five9 is a telephony service specialised in customer service meant to ensure the incoming call flow is well managed and customer queries are properly answered. Thus, if you have large customer service demands, this type of service could be a potential solution.

However, this service can be difficult to onboard–even requiring dedicated attention from an IT team. Not to mention, integrations can also be a challenge to set up and configure. So if you have an existing selection of business applications in use, you may need to take into account the possibilities of delays or other obstacles.

Five9 pros ➕

• Decent customer service
• The platform is accessible from any Internet-connected device

Five9 cons ➖

• Difficult to begin using the platform
• The service is difficult to configure to your needs
• Complexities arise when setting up integrations

Five9 pricing💲

This is one of the most expensive VoIP solutions, with the cheapest plan starting at $150 per month. Unfortunately, they don't have pricing information online in British pounds.

Alternative #6: Vonage

Vonage offers omnichannel communication possibilities, and a few products available. For example, it offers a UCaaS option and a cloud contact centre software. Before committing to either of these two products, you'll need to do some research. Some of the plans can lack basic and essential features, like call recording.

Vonage pros ➕

• Longstanding VoIP provider

Vonage cons ➖

• Less expensive plans lack key features
• Call quality isn't top tier
• Customer service is lacking to the point that it's difficult to solve issues

Vonage pricing💲

If you're looking just for UCaaS, there is a relatively affordable option which begins at £10 per user/month. If you need more robust contact centre software, you'll need to get in touch with their sales team for an estimate.

Alternative #7: CloudTalk

Founded in 2018, CloudTalk is a relatively new VoIP provider [4]. Their product and feature offering is aligned with other options on the market. For example, CloudTalk allows you to set up automatic call distribution, interactive voice response (IVR) menus, and integrate your business phone system with other popular software, like Pipedrive or even popular recruiting tools like Jobadder and Bullhorn.

CloudTalk pros ➕

• Flexibility to add or remove users according to your needs
  

CloudTalk cons ➖

• Outbound calls are metered, meaning they're charged per minute
• Difficult to onboard so the software can be fully leveraged
• International call rates can be quite high

CloudTalk pricing💲

The prices for CloudTalk's three plans range from £25 to £50 per user/month.

Alternative #8: Nextiva

This longstanding VoIP provider has all the tools you need to conduct business with a VoIP system. Though it must be said, these tools are limited to the basics, notably texting, internet faxing, voice and video calls, and auto attendant.

Nextiva pros ➕

• Easy integration between their business phone and customer experience platform

Nextiva cons ➖

• Limited integrations available
• Basic service offerings
• Difficult-to-understand pricing plans
• Subscribing to both the customer experience platform and business phone requires a large budget

Nextiva pricing💲

You'll need to calculate your price based on the number of users, but the plans begin at about £19 per user/month.

Alternative #9: 8x8

If you use Microsoft Teams, 8x8 could be an option to consider since it has a certification for that software. But in addition, it has several features typical of a cloud phone like voice and videoconference, in addition to SMS messaging.

8x8 pros ➕

• A good selection of integrations available
• Uptime guarantee

8x8 cons ➖

• Long response times for customer service
• Caps on the amount of users
• So many features, it's hard to learn how to use

8x8 pricing💲

This business phone system provider has a starter plan with a low user limit, but if you want specific pricing information, you will need to contact their sales team. They don't list prices online in British pounds.

Alternative #10: 3CX

Having long been specialised in PABX telephone system installations, 3CX has gradually transitioned to a more comprehensive software with the advent of webRTC.

However, this Cyprian business is not like the other options on this list, as it does not provide phone service [5]. Instead, it sells a software that pairs with providers to give businesses access to features normally included in softphones like call recording and call queuing.

3CX pros ➕

• Free trial
• Unify communications into one interface

3CX cons ➖

• You'll have to pay for 3CX and the phone service provider
• Setup and integrations necessitate strong technical know-how
• The feature selection is limited to only the very basic

3CX pricing💲

Pay attention to 3CX's pricing, as it starts at £235 per year and rises rapidly if you scale up to more comprehensive plans.

What is the best alternative to RingCentral?

RingCentral's Core plan is offered at an attractive price for small businesses, but the lack of call management tools makes it less practical for growing businesses.

You need a simple, easy-to-use, and scalable communication system like the solution provided by Ringover.

Ringover offers simple and all-inclusive packages with a multitude of communication, collaboration, and productivity features.

It is easy to set up, and users can be easily added as the business grows.

You can now test and try Ringover for free and discover how our solution can help simplify your business telephony.

Bibliography

1. https://www.ringcentral.com/gb/en/solutions/office/call_p.html
2. https://www.ringover.co.uk/pricing
3. https://www.dialpad.com/pricing/#contact-center
4. https://www.cloudtalk.io/our-story/
5. https://www.3cx.com/company/

FAQ Alternatives to RingCentral

How much does RingCentral cost?

RingCentral offers three plans designed for business telephony: Essentials, Standard, Premium, and Ultimate.

The monthly licence fees per user for these plans range from about £13 to about £30 when billed annually. Monthly billing is more expensive. For example, the Premium plan is billed at about £29 per user/month when billed monthly.

With each upgrade, you have access to more professional services and the ability to integrate RingCentral with other business applications.

Who are the main competitors of RingCentral?

RingCentral has many competitors who offer comparable VoIP services for small, medium, and large businesses.

If you are not satisfied with the communication services offered by RingCentral, you can consider turning to its main competitor, Ringover. Other notable competitors include:

1. Mitel
2. JustCall
3. Dialpad
4. 3CX
5. Cloudtalk
6. Vonage
7. Five9
8. 8x8
9. 3CX