Which VoIP Provider Is Best?

Choosing a VoIP provider for your business is like finding the perfect pair of shoes. It must fit perfectly, providing comfort and functionality every day. Nextiva and RingCentral are the Nike and Adidas of the VoIP world, each offering similar functionality with a unique approach.  

But, when it comes down to deciding between the two business phone services, which one is the best? Is it Nextiva for its all-in-one communication features, or does RingCentral’s global reach give them the edge?

Our guide compares each platform to help you make the right decision for your business. While we believe Nextiva is better in many ways, there are a few reasons why RingCentral could meet your business needs.

RingCentral vs. Nextiva VoIP Comparison

Nextiva’s Essential bundle may be better if you want a more economical Voice over IP solution. It costs $18.95 per user per month and includes unlimited voice and video calls and several advanced features. On the other hand, RingCentral Office’s Core package costs $20 per user per month but lacks online faxing or a generous pool of toll-free minutes.

Nextiva’s business VoIP phone service is less expensive at most price points and offers significantly more toll-free minutes than RingCentral.

Nextiva vs. RingCentral VoIP Product Features & Pricing

Both RingCentral and Nextiva offer similar telephony features that appeal to business owners regarding call management features. However, there are a few instances where one service outperforms the other.

Nextiva Plans, Pricing & Features

With the Nextiva Essential plan, which is priced at $18.95 per user monthly, you get:

• Unlimited voice (phone calls) in the United States and Canada
• Video conferencing (screensharing available on the Professional plan or higher)
• Desktop and mobile apps (iOS and Android) for softphone functionality
• Auto attendant
• Business voicemail
• A toll-free number with 1,500 minutes included each month
• Microsoft Outlook and Google Contacts integrations
• Video meeting recording
• International calling rates are as low as $0.01/min.
• Call logs with detailed call history
• Send and receive unlimited internet faxes

Let’s say you upgrade to the Nextiva Enterprise plan, you get everything for $32.95 per user monthly:

• Unlimited participants on conference calls 
• Unlimited video conferencing participants
• Multi-level auto attendant
• Toll-free business number with 12,500 minutes included
• HubSpot integration is included on the Professional plan and higher
• SMS/MMS text messages for up to 2,000 messages per user
• Call recording (on-demand and automatic)
• Voicemail transcription with email or SMS notifications
• All advanced CRM and business software integrations
• Microsoft Teams integration with its team collaboration tools
• Enterprise-ready single sign-on support

No matter your budget, Nextiva has a business communications platform that works for you.

RingCentral Pricing Plans & Features 

The RingCentral Core plan is $20 per user monthly with slightly different features and more limitations. RingCentral Core plan includes: 

• Unlimited calls across the United States and Canada
• Toll-free phone number with only 100 minutes
• Business SMS up to 25 messages per user
• On-demand call recording
• Recorded video meetings
• Basic integrations (Office 365, Google, Slack)

However, if you opt for the Ultra plan at $35 per user monthly, you get pretty much everything they offer, with a few exceptions. The RingCentral Ultra plan includes: 

• Toll-free phone number with only 10,000 minutes
• Video meetings with up to 200 participants
• Automatic and on-demand call recording
• Unlimited internet fax
• Unlimited file storage with a limited retention period
• Multi-site (office) admin and billing
• Product adoption analytics
• Device analytics for troubleshooting downtime
• HubSpot contact syncs up to 10,000 records
• Popular CRM integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, and more
• Industry-specific integrations with VMWare, Canvas, Smarsh, and more
• Developer APIs for voice, messaging, video, and configuration

For pricing, Nextiva is the decisive winner here. However, RingCentral takes the lead when it comes to more features, but it will cost you. 

RingCentral vs. Nextiva Analytics

RingCentral also allows you to keep track of important KPIs and metrics. You can get reports like adoption and usage, organization numbers, quality of service, VoIP phone device status, and live reporting through the analytics portal provided by the solution.

Nextiva’s built-in business intelligence tool helps you make more informed business decisions, find hidden insights, and boost staff performance.

The Nextiva platform, in particular, has a real-time analytics tool that provides stats on everything in your contact center. You can also see the voice analytics data you need with Nextiva’s interactive maps and graphs.

Nextiva vs. RingCentral Customer Support

RingCentral lives under Nextiva’s shadow regarding its customer service, according to reviews on G2. For “Quality of Support,” Nextiva scored a 9.0, while RingCentral came in at a 7.6. And it’s not just the number of reviews — Nextiva has 2,202 customer reviews, while RingCentral has 683.

But if that wasn’t enough, Nextiva came out ahead on these G2 ratings: 

And to be fair, RingCentral scored higher than Nextiva when it came to file sharing, IVRs, and automatic call distribution functions. 

Nextiva vs. RingCentral Call Pops

Call Pop is a feature unique to Nextiva. This feature shows essential information about the caller on the screen before answering the phone and during your conversation. 

When a customer calls, Call Pop displays contact and critical account information, such as customer experience score, last survey score, account value, and last interaction sentiment.

Nextiva vs. RingCentral Performance & Uptime

Nextiva and RingCentral claim to have 99.999% uptime and carrier-grade data centers, meaning you should never lose service for more than six minutes each year.

RingCentral’s cloud architecture is built on geo-redundant data centers, ensuring your service remains operational even if the power goes out. 

Nextiva’s data centers, on the other hand, use fully uninterruptible power sources, which renders the highest uptime in the industry.

Nextiva offers 24/7 phone support and live chat support Monday – Friday, 5 am to 6 pm MST, and Saturday – Sunday, 5 am – 4 pm MST.

You are well-served regardless of how you contact Nextiva.

RingCentral has its own 24/7 customer service along with professional onboarding, but no information on its pricing is published. 

RingCentral vs. Nextiva Setup and Usability

RingCentral and Nextiva provide user-friendly, simple interfaces for desktop and mobile apps. Their devices and hardware are also pre-configured, making it easy for their users to use them.

Nextiva’s user interface is incredibly intuitive, making complex rules like call flows, user administration, and voicemail workflows a breeze.

RingCentral prioritizes intuitive navigation in all of its desktop and mobile platforms. The key features are accessible via big buttons, and you can send a message to every staff member in a department with a few touches.

RingCentral vs. Nextiva: Which Business Phone Provider Is Best for You?

An independent study of customer reviews by GetVoIP has determined that Nextiva has outperformed RingCentral in six categories: quality, installation, support, reliability, features, and price. 

Nextiva and RingCentral are excellent VoIP services and phone system solutions for any business. They both have enough PBX features to meet the demands of most companies. Besides, small businesses will benefit significantly from Nextiva’s volume, affordability, and long-term contract discounts.

Nevertheless, the best phone service for your business ultimately depends on your budget, unique needs, and which platform features are most important to you.

Nextiva is the right choice if you want:

• A complete business phone system suitable for SMBs and enterprises
• Included features like mobile apps, auto attendants, toll-free minutes, text messaging, call routing, and app integrations
• Use automation to direct and route calls based on holidays and business hours
• Highly rated 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, online tickets, and a knowledge base.
• A unified communication solution for voice, video, meetings, and SMS
• Excellent uptime and reliability with auto fail-over and monitoring
• Add-ons like SIP trunking, call centers, and contact centers, whenever you’re ready

We recommend getting a personalized demo to talk with an expert. They’ll provide you with a customized, accurate quote with taxes and fees out the door. Otherwise, set up a free trial for each service to see how it works.

Use Cases: Which VoIP Provider is Better?

Nextiva is the best choice for you if …

• If you’re looking for value, built-in features, and fast expansion, Nextiva is perfect for small businesses relying on voice and video communication.
• Choose the Essential plan for simpler pricing with plenty of features or the Enterprise plan for all-inclusive communication at a fixed monthly cost.
• You operate multiple offices or retail locations and want to streamline your company’s phone system.
• Your team members are mostly based in North America and want ultra-high reliability and superior call quality from Nextiva’s strategically located data centers.

Ready to see how Nextiva works for your business?
Talk to an expert to book a demo.

RingCentral is a good option for you if …

• You need advanced customer analytics and want to integrate with hundreds of different apps.
• Your video meetings tend to be smaller, and advanced call management isn’t required.
• You operate a single-location business, the Core plan should suffice, but consider the Ultra plan for multiple locations.
• You need international numbers for a workforce outside the United States.