The Best VoIP Softphone Apps For Business: Price, UX & More (2024)

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Our research shows thatRingCentral provides the best softphone app for businesses because it offers superior customer support and high scalability. It also integrates easily with a number of the most popular software solutions that your business may already be using.

With businesses being more mindful of their expenses than ever, 8×8 is another great value solution with unbeatable security and a large feature catalog, while Zoom offers rock-bottom entry prices and seamless compatibility with its video conferencing platform.

Whether you’re looking for the cheapest VoIP phone service or something more substantial, there are tons of great softphones available thanks to the rise of hybrid work, but not all of them will be a good fit for your business. However, you can use our free comparison tool,– which takes less than a minute –to find out which ones are. On this page, we list our top picks.

In This Guide:

• VoIP Softphone vs Hardphone: What’s the Difference?
• 9 Best Softphone Apps For 2024
• What’s the Best Softphone App for iPhone and Android?
• How to Choose a VoIP Softphone App
• How We Research VoIP Software
• Verdict: What Is the Best Softphone App?

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9 Best Softphone Apps For 2024

If you already use one of the best business VoIP providers, you’ll probably have a softphone app included with your service package. If, for example, you’re already signed up with RingCentral, it would make sense to stick with its app because it will offer optimal integration with your existing phone system.

Alongside these provider softphone platforms, we’ve also listed several other standalone apps that can be used regardless of which VoIP service you use. We’re confident that you’ll find the right solution for your requirements – whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, head of a sales team, or part of a large enterprise. Here are Tech.co’s top picks:

1. RingCentral Office – Best overall softphone app for businesses
2. 8×8 Softphone App – best for sales teams
3. Zoom – Best value for money
4. Vonage – Best for training features
5. Counterpath Bria Teams – Best for team collaboration
6. Zoiper 5 PRO – Best for businesses handling sensitive data
7. GoToConnect – Best for businesses with large call volumes
8. Line2 – Best starter phone
9. 3CX Softphone – Best for Windows users

After collating dozens of hours of research, we put together this article to highlight the best softphone apps for businesses. We’ve checked which options are best for features like cost, customizability, and security. However, we’d advise getting a free quote tailored to your business (it takes less than a minute!) so you know exactly how much you’ll be paying.

If you’re committed to expanding your customer base, pairing your VoIP system with a CRM package is a no-brainer. Not only does the integration make it easy to share data across apps seamlessly, but it also lets you personalize each customer touch point to keep your client base happy.

1. RingCentral Office

• Best overall softphone app for business
• Price from $20 per user, per month

The RingCentral softphone application is the best choice for most businesses because it offers the best customer support, is highly scalable, and has strong external connectivity – ensuring it will work alongside your existing software and infrastructure. Its impressive capabilities don’t break the bank either, with the provider’s packages starting at $20 per month, making it a great option for most small businesses.

RingCentral Office features

RingCentral competes with the best video conferencing platforms on the market.

The app is bound to improve your team’s communication and collaboration, and is worthy of the top spot on this list. With a 4.5-star average customer rating across the App Store and the Google Play Store, it seems most users would agree with us.

RingCentral lets you switch devices during a call, as well as access files and add guest users – all of which are super useful and make the overall call experience smoother. There are voicemail-to-text and voicemail-to-email options, and you can even listen to your voicemails inside your web browser.

RingCentral also has a vast range of CRM integrations that will let you streamline your calls, and ensure all your data and information is being pulled through to the right places. Specifically, RingCentral offers more than 96 CRM integrations and syncs seamlessly with helpdesk options like Salesforce, Zendesk, HubSpot, and Freshdesk. However, unlike 8×8 which offers CRM integrations in its cheapest package, RingCentral users wanting the capability will need to upgrade to its middle-tier package, which costs $25 per month.

Find out if this is the right provider for your business by using our free comparison tool, which will match you to a softphone app based on your answers to a few quick questions about your business.

RingCentral Office pricing

RingCentral Office is available in three plans: Core, Advanced, and Ultra. The prices discussed below are based on two to 20 users when paid annually.

• RingCentral Core – ($20 per user, per month) RingCentral’s cheapest tier supports up to 20 lines, and includes unlimited calls within the US/CA, voicemail-to-text transcription, messaging, document sharing, and 25 SMSs per month. Due to the plan’s line and SMS limits and lack of analytics, it’s ideal for small businesses running relatively simple operations.
• RingCentral Advanced – ($25 per user, per month) This plan includes everything in Core, with additional calling features like call barge, call whisper, call queues, and call monitoring. The plan increases it’s business SMS limit to 100 per user per month too, making it a great option for small to midsize businesses looking to expand, but potentially too basic for enterprise-level businesses with large quantities of data.
• RingCentral Premium – ($35 per user, per month) This tier will grant you access to RingCentral’s business analytics platform, plus unlimited storage, device-level analytics and alerts, and other advanced features and reporting functions enterprises need, such as end-to-end encryption for video meetings. Business SMS is 200 per user per month. Due to this tier’s extensive feature offering, it’s a great fit for companies that require advanced calling and growth tools like customer service businesses.

Learn more about the provider’s cost in our RingCentral pricing guide.

Who should use RingCentral?

• Businesses that make regular video calls
• Small business after great value packages
• Businesses that require 24/7 customer support

Who shouldn’t use RingCentral?

• Businesses that want CRM integrations on the cheapest-tier
• Businesses regularly make charged calls

2. 8×8 Work

• Best for sales teams
• Price from $24 per user, per month

8×8 is an industry-leading VoIP system and our best pick for sales teams, due to its powerful sales, collaboration, and security features. However, you’ll have to fork out for one of its pricier packages to unlock advanced calling features like call whispering and barging, making it slightly less cost-effective than apps like Vonage that offer these capabilities in their entry-level tier.

8×8 Work features

8×8 team messenger and web conferencing features make it easy for teams to communicate from afar. The provider even lets users share files seamlessly through chat messages with its document-sharing feature – a capability that leading providers like Zoom and DialPad are currently missing.

8×8 is particularly good for managing high volumes of inbound calls thanks to features like a virtual receptionist, a call queue function, and the ability to create ring groups. The call queue is particularly important because it allows you to keep inbound callers on hold even when an agent isn’t available.

The provider is ideal for growing businesses that need to upskill staff quickly, too. From call recording and monitoring, 8×8 offers several training features, and its customer support service – which earned a perfect 5/5 help & support score in our research – provides a lifeline to users getting to grips with the service too.

8×8 isn’t perfect though. The provider’s entry price is higher than RingCentral, making it slightly less appropriate for businesses looking for a budget softphone app. Read more about the softphone in our full 8×8 pricing and featuresguide.

8×8 Work works on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. However, this is not a standalone softphone and is only available to those with a paid 8×8 X Series subscription or a free 8×8 Express trial.

8×8 pricing

8×8 offers five different pricing plans: the X2, X4, X6, X7, and X8.

• 8×8 X2 ($24 per user per month) This plan includes features like voicemail transcription, single sign-on, and call activity analytics, unlimited calling in 14 countries, and unlimited calling within the US and Canada. International calls come at a premium, however, making it a better fit for businesses only making domestic calls.
• 8×8 X4 ($44 per user, per month) This tieroffers robust analytics along with unlimited calls to 48 countries, and includes even more communication features than the X2 plan such as call barge and call whisper. X4 is a great fit for most global businesses, but those in need of enhanced growth features will be better off upgrading to a pricier tier.
• 8×8’s Contact Center plans – the X6, X7 and X8 – incrementally increase access to additional business features. The X6 plan ($85 per user, per month) lets you access call activity analytics, superior analytics, contact center reporting and analytics, and single sign-on.
• 8×8 X7 ($110 per user, per month) This package adds omnichannel routing of voice, chat, emails, SMS, social media, and messaging applications.
• 8×8 X8 ($140 per user, per month) This plan includes features like an autodialer, quality management, and speech analytics.

Plan X8 and above are designed for businesses that lean heavily on VoIP systems like call centers but will likely exceed the budgets of most small firms with mid-range VoIP needs.

Who should use 8×8?

• Businesses making high volumes of internal calls
• Sales and customer service businesses
• Businesses that regularly onboard and train staff

Who shouldn’t

use 8×8?

• Small businesses with limited VoIP needs
• Businesses making lots of international calls

3. Zoom

• Best value for money
• Price: $10 per month

Zoom saw a meteoric rise during the pandemic thanks to its notable ease of use and affordability, making it the go-to option for video chats. It boasts an incredible 3.3 trillion meeting minutes each year.

Zoom has been adding to its business offerings over the past few years, and Zoom Phone represents an excellent VoIP option with a solid softphone app. In our research, Zoom Phone ranked highly across most categories, netting an overall score of 4.4/5, taking the third sport in our ranking.

In fact, Zoom Phone was considered the best value option in our VoIP research with a 5/5 value for money score, which is saying something considering the competition.

Zoom features

In addition to a low starting price, all of its plans offer an array of inbound communication features, including voicemail-to-text, ring groups, call queues, and spam prevention. This makes Zoom one of the most cost-effective solutions for efficiently managing inbound calls – these features will ensure that your communication workflow is well-organized and running smoothly.

As for the actual app, Zoom is notorious for its easy-to-use interfaces. With high ratings across the App Store and the Play Store, there’s a good reason why Zoom is near the top of this list.

However, unlike advanced softphones like 8×8, the app doesn’t offer advanced calling features like predict dialing, custom call lists, and autodialer. Its security profile lags far behind its competition, with Zoom missing out key features like multi-factor authentication, user permissions, and strict password rules. This makes the app unsuitable for businesses handling sensitive business data, like those in healthcare.

Zoom doesn’t offer any onboarding support either, which may be a drawback for users getting started with the software for the first time.

Zoom pricing

Zoom Phone has three pricing plans: the Metered, Unlimited, and Global Select.

• Zoom Metered – ($10 per user, per month) Zoom’s entry-level tier includes unlimited metered domestic and international calls, multiple device access, and domestic SMS services. This pay-as-you-go package is ideal for solo intruders and small businesses making the occasional international call. However, as its name suggests Zoom Metered charges extra for outbound calls so don’t be fooled by its low monthly cost.
• Zoom Unlimited – ($15 per user, per month) This plan contains everything in Zoom’s Metered package with unlimited regional calling and the option for users to pay extra for unlimited calling to 19 countries, rather than charging them for each outbound call. This makes the plan best suited to businesses making large numbers of global calls.
• Zoom Pro Global Select – ($20 per user, per month) This tier includes everything in Zoom Unlimited with Unlimited Regional Calling in one of the 48 Countries and Territories, with additional direct dial number features. This makes it a great fit for larger businesses making regular international calls.

You may have noticed that Zoom Phone is one of the cheapest on this list. In fact, it’s easily the best value, undercutting many providers on price while still providing a lot of features. Counterpath Bria Teams is the only noteworthy softphone app that’s more affordable, and it doesn’t have nearly as many features. Simply put, if value for money is important to you, Zoom Phone is a no-brainer.

Learn more about how much the softphone app costs in this Zoom pricing guide.

Who should use Zoom?

• Businesses with basic softphone needs
• Startups with smaller budgets
• Businesses already using Zoom for video conferencing

Who shouldn’t use Zoom?

• Businesses handling sensitive data
• Businesses using Zoom for the first time
• Larger businesses with advanced VoIP needs

4. Vonage

• Excellent training features
• Price from: $13.99 per user, per month

Vonage is another quality VoIP system with a solid list of features, including call barge, voicemail to text, spam prevention, and the ability to expand user limits. These capabilities make Vonage almost as scalable as industry leaders like RingCentral and 8×8, which is why our researchers decided it’s a great option for businesses with evolving needs.

Our testers also found Vonage to be the best software for onboarding new employees, and it stands out more generally for staff training features thanks to well-crafted tools for handling inbound calls, from call transcripts to call recording. This excellent selection helped Vonage to a 4.4/5 score for overall features, the third highest out of the 12 VoIP providers we tested.

Vonage features

Retailers will find Vonage useful: upskilling employees is important for retail businesses, which often have lower-skilled workforces, some of which will be young or working part-time. Plus, retail teams deal with a higher-than-average number of inbound calls when compared to other industries, so Vonage’s wealth of features for dealing with incoming customer calls will be incredibly useful.

Vonage offers great communication features, including video chat options and unlimited SMS messages. Vonage is also another good candidate for switchers, since it allows a fast-scaling business to thrive once it has outgrown its previous softphone provider.

One area that Vonage falls short, however, is in reporting and analytics. The softphone app doesn’t offer advanced analytics in any of its packages, making it less useful than apps like RingCentral and 8×8 for businesses keen on using metrics to monitor their call performance.

Learn more about the app’s capabilities in our Vonage review.

Vonage pricing

Vonage offers three plans: Mobile, Premium, and Advanced.

• Vonage Mobile – ($13.99 per user, per month) Vonage’s entry-level plan includes core functionality like unlimited domestic calls, voicemail, spam prevention, call queue, caller ID, video calls, SMS messaging, transcripts, recording, and analytics. Mobile doesn’t include video options or integrations though, making it a poor choice for businesses looking for an all-in-one communication platform.
• Vonage Premium – ($20.99 per user, per month) This plan adds custom greetings, a virtual receptionist, unlimited meetings for up to 100 people, CRM integrations, and ring groups. Currently Vonage’s most popular plan, Premium is a safe option for businesses looking for a versatile inbound and outbound communication tool
• Vonage Advanced – ($27.99 per month) Vonage Advanced comes with everything in Premium with additional on-demand call recording, visual voicemail, and call group features, making it ideal for larger businesses with advanced calling needs.

Who should use Vonage?

• Retail and sales businesses
• Remote teams after a one-size-fits-all communication platform
• Businesses in need of a low-cost entry-level plan

Who shouldn’t use Vonage?

• Growing businesses that require advanced analytics
• Businesses that want advanced security features like multi-factor authentication and strict password rules

5. Counterpath Bria Teams

• Best for collaboration tools
• Price: $4.95 per user, per month

Counterpath Bria Teams is a carrier-grade SIP softphone application for Windows, Mac, and iOS/Android devices. It includes a range of features specifically designed for business users, and can be deployed within an enterprise environment.

Counterpath Bria is also the most affordable service on this list – even if you opt for the higher tier plan, which includes web conferencing.

Counterpath Bria Teams features

Naturally, Counterpath Bria’s tiny price tag comes with some trade-offs. While it offers a suite of basic features including team messaging, meeting recording, transfer and forward functionality, and HD voice and video calls, it’s missing a number of advanced capabilities.

Notably, it lacks sophisticated calling features like call barge, call monitoring, and customizable call routing, ruling it out from being used by mid-sized businesses handling large call volumes.

However,if you’re working with a tight budget and want a unified communications platform that eliminates the need to switch between different apps or tools, you can’t do much better than Counterpath Bria Teams. With one of its higher-tier plans, you’ll be able to consolidate all of your communication channels in one accessible platform.

If the standard offering doesn’t quite live up to your initial expectations, this softphone application can also be customized with several add-ons, such as screen share or contact management. This gives businesses willing to spend a few extra a useful way to boost their functionality.

Counterpath Bria Teams pricing

Counterpath Bria offers a lot of pricing plans, but only two of them are aimed at small businesses.

• Counterpath Bria Solo – ($2.95 per user per month) This plan offers standard audio and video features and HD audio and video support, with support for up to three devices. This plan is ideal for single users like traveling business people.
• Counterpath Bria Teams – ($4.95 per user per month) This tieroffers basic business phone functionality and beyond, with team messaging features, and call analytics, making it perfect for businesses looking for an effective, yet simple softphone solution.

If you’re looking for the best free softphone, Bria is worth considering: The Bria Solo Free plan costs nothing, and delivers standard audio and video calls for one device.

Who should use Counterpath Bria?

• Small businesses looking for a capable, free softphone app
• Solo entrepreneurs with basic softphone needs
• Professionals who travel a lot

Who shouldn’t use Counterpath Bria?

• Businesses that handle very sensitive data
• Mid-size businesses after advanced calling features

6. Zoiper 5 PRO

• Best for businesses handling sensitive data
• Price: $49.95 one-time cost

The Zoiper 5 PRO softphone application replaces the now discontinued Zoiper 3, Zoiper Classic, and Zoiper Web apps. It comes as a free version for non-commercial calls on iOS or Android, or businesses can pay a flat rate free of $49.95 for Zoiper 5 PRO – a fully-fledged VoIP packagecomplete with custom branding so you can put your business’s logo and name.

Somewhat surprisingly, Zopier’s security features outperform every other VoIP softphone on this list. The provider offers end-to-end military-grade encryption with standardized TLS, SRTP, and ZRTP protocols, making it an excellent option for businesses handling sensitive internal or customer data.

Upgrading to Zoiper 5 PRO enables functionality on Windows or Mac as well as iOS/Android devices, provides military-grade encryption for added security, and grants access to a unified communications functionality.

We must admit, however, that the interface is a bit outdated, especially compared to more modern solutions like Zoom and RingCentral. What’s more, there are a limited number of CRM integrations available compared to the top providers on our list, and with no API to connect up CRM platforms Zoiper doesn’t integrate with, you’ll be much more limited in your quest to pull all your customer data together around the same platform.

These factors will inevitably be turn-offs for businesses after an ultra-streamlined and intuitive platform but from a security standpoint, it’s still one of the best free softphones you can buy.

Zoiper 5 PRO features

Zopier 5 PRO offers a number of useful features including advanced audio features, auto answer, a Click 2 Dial CRM integration, and end-to-end military-grade encryption.

Unique to this list, Zoiper is a one-time purchase, after which you can place free calls between Zoiper users, and benefit from no recurring monthly fees. Zoiper 5 PRO also works with Asterisk, Freeswitch, Cisco CallManager, 3CX, Elastix, and most other modern SIP-based PBXs.

Zoiper 5 PRO pricing

Zoiper offers its service for a one-time fee, giving you access to everything forever without a monthly bill. You can expect to pay $49.95 once for Zoiper 5 PRO.This one-time fee makes Zoiper 5 PRO an incredibly great value app, especially for businesses keen to keep long-term overheads low.

Who should use Zoiper 5 PRO?

• Businesses that want to avoid recurring payments
• Businesses handling sensitive company data
• Businesses that can do without the bells and whistles of pricier packages

Who shouldn’t use Zoiper 5 PRO?

• Businesses that need advanced calling features
• Businesses that want a one-size-fits-all communication solution
• Growing businesses that require a scalable softphone

7. GoTo Connect

• Best for businesses with high call volumes
• Price from $24 per user, per month

GoTo Connect is the phone system arm of the GoTo brand, offering a wide range of communication tools for businesses around the world. Our researchers found that GoTo sets itself apart because of its great security tools, a high customer satisfaction rating, and ability to easily manage large volumes of calls.

GoTo Connect features

GoTo Connect’s team messaging features and intuitive softphone app interface make it easy to connect with your team. This means the software is better suited for rapidly expanding teams than most of the others we tested. To compare, Google Voice, our overall top pick, only scores 2.9/5 for scalability.

Another benefit of choosing GoTo Connect is the vast array of integrations it comes with. Salesforce, Slack, Google Workplace, and Windows 365 are all supported, as well as GoTo Meeting and other apps in the GoTo brand family. This makes it a good option for teams that contain remote workers, who will benefit from a communications solution that doesn’t require a complex, multi-step setup process and is ready to slot in seamlessly alongside other software tools already in use.

GoTo Connect pricing

GoTo Connect offers two pricing plans: Basic and Standard.

• GoTo Basic – ($27 per user, per month) GoTo’s entry-level plan offers basic call features like number porting, smart call routing, and call forwarding. Lots of call features like ring groups and customizable dial plans are limited, however, capping its use and making it unsuitable for businesses that require more advanced functions.
• GoTo Standard – ($32 per user, per month) This tier lets you make calls to 50+ countries for free, and also offers advanced features like call recording and real-time analytics, making it ideal for mid-sized international organizations.

Who should use GoTo?

• Remote of fully-remote businesses
• Businesses already using GoTo business solutions
• Businesses looking to expand in the future

Who shouldn’t use GoTo?

• Businesses that require specific external integrations
• Businesses looking for rock-bottom entry prices

8. Line2

• Best starter phone
• Price from $15.99 per user, per month

This softphone is only available to Line2 Pro subscribers. The Pro Plan provides an affordable, fully-featured solution for VoIP, and offers many great features for mobile workers.

Line2 features

Line2 represents one of the more affordable options on the list, particularly given everything you get with the plan. Even the higher tier plan is more affordable than half the options on this list, and it offers some serious heft as far as analytics, call quality, and telephone features are concerned. You can even set up a vanity number – an easy-to-remember custom phone number associated with specific words, phrases or numeric patterns.

As part of the Line2 Pro Plan service, the softphone application provides an ideal solution for mobile workers who want to enjoy the full benefits of a VoIP service when they’re away from their desks or are out in the field. However, although Line2 will let you create ring groups and manage a call queue, there aren’t many additional inbound communications features available. If you’re expecting large volumes of inbound calls from customers, we’d recommend a provider like GoTo Connect or RingCentral.

Line2 pricing

Line2 offers one one-price plan, with a discount for yearly billing. Billed monthly, Line2 costs $15.99 per month, though it costs just $13.75 per month when billed annually. Either way, you’ll get access to unlimited SMS and calls within the US and Canada, call blocking, call screening, voicemail transcriptions and recordings, call forwarding, and caller ID.

Who should use Line2?

• Businesses looking to keep costs low
• Businesses that want to set up a vanity number

Who shouldn’t use Line2?

• Businesses that need advanced inbound communication features
• Growing businesses that require a scalable solution

9. 3CX Softphone

• Best for Windows 365 users
• Price from: $175 per 10 users, per year

3CX integrates with Windows 365 seamlessly, and the entire app can be set up in just a few clicks, which is always great for beginners. However, if you’re working with any operating system other than Windows, feel free to move along. The pricing is the unique part of 3CX. It’s free for the first year, which is obviously attractive, but it’s not without its caveats.

The functionality is certainly a bit limited when compared with the other available options like RingCentral and 8×8, and the interface leaves a lot to be desired in terms of staying on the modern style. Still, for the price, it’s a solid enough option to meet the needs of many small businesses.

3CX Softphone features

3CX offers a wide range of useful calling features including call recording, auto attendant, call logging, ring groups, and more. It also includes video conferencing on all tiers, making it a great fit for remote or hybrid teams.

However, its 3CX’s integration with Windows 365 that really separates it from other VoIP softphones on this list, alongside its unique pricing structure that offers a great deal for businesses with larger teams.

3CX Softphone pricing

3CX offers three paid plan options for most businesses: Small Business,Professional, and Enterprise.

• 3CX Small Business – (From $275 per year per 10 users) This plan offers call queues, voicemail-to-text, team messaging, listen-in, call whisper, call barging, and video conferencing for up to 25 participants. As the name implies, the plan is geared towards businesses with smaller teams and fairly basic softphone needs.
• 3CX Professional – (From $145 per 10 users) This plan adds advanced features that include integrations for Microsoft 365 and CRM, call recording, hot desking, SMS, and a cap of up to 100 participants on video conference, making it perfect for growing businesses already leveraging Microsoft software.
• 3CX Enterprise (From $180 per year per 10 users). The provider’s advances tier adds custom phone logos, Microsoft Teams, skill-based routing, and start/stop call recording, but its price is determined on a case-by-case basis.

The service also offers a permanent free plan with live chat, team messaging, WhatsApp, video conferencing features, and more. For a complimentary plan, its offering is quite impressive. But if you’re a business user that requires slightly more advanced capabilities like desk phone support and call reporting, it will fall short.

Who should use 3CX?

• Businesses with large team numbers
• Businesses that rely on Windows 365

Who shouldn’t use 3CX?

• Businesses that require advanced calling features
• Solo entrepreneurs and small businesses with teams under 10 people

What’s the Best Softphone App for iPhone and Android?

The best softphone app for iPhone and Android is RingCentral because it allows you to access plentiful features, low costs, and a vast number of integrations, no matter what device you use.

Again, RingCentral isn’t the only softphone app that works on the iPhone and Android. You might need a different set of features, a lower price point, or some different integrations that one of the other providers on this list. Every single provider on this list has an Android and iPhone app, so there’s no need to check on your equipment ahead of time.

Here’s a quick look at the interfaces you’ll get from RingCentral, 8×8, and Vonage (our top three picks).

You can also view the ratings and reviews on the App Store and the Google Play Store to further verify that the softphone apps are still maintained and functional, and that the features you need are included on the mobile and desktop versions. They’re all free to download, so if the VoIP service offers a free plan or free trial, you can use this to test out the mobile app.

Don’t forget to compare softphone providers to see how much it will cost your business.

How We Research VoIP Software and Softphone Apps

Tech.co’s in-house research team compared all of the top VoIP software providers against each other. To do this, we broke down all of the core categories that matter most to consumers. We settled on seven main areas of investigation:

• Price –What is the overall cost to the business, given the price and the value offered?
• Features –What can the platform do?
• External connections – Does the platform integrate with any existing communication infrastructure?
• Customer support – How does the provider offer assistance should something goes wrong?
• Security –How secure is your data on the platform?
• Scalability –Can the software keep up with a fast-growing company?
• Customer score –How have other users rated the platform?

Once each provider was tested and researched, we gave them a 5-star rating for each area listed above, as well as an overall 5-star rating that factored in all seven research categories. In the end, RingCentral took the lead, with 8×8 and Vonage close behind.

You can also learn more about our in-depth research process to find out how we rate and rank these softphone apps and VoIP providers.

How to Choose a VoIP Softphone App

Each business needs something slightly different out of a softphone. So, before investing in a new app it’s important to make the following considerations.

• Prioritize must-have features – Whether you plan to do with your VoIP softphone, businesses should be keenly aware of what VoIP features they need before selecting an app. Do you need AI time-saving features? Do you need advanced calling features like call screening and call transfer? These are all questions to ask yourself before choosing an app.
• Consider integrations – If you’re planning to integrate your VoIP softphone apps with existing business systems, you’ll need to make sure the products are compatible first. It’s also worth considering what extra integrations your business may benefit from in the future, to ensure the app will keep up with your needs in the long-term.
• Be mindful of extra costs – Most softphone apps have a straightforward pricing structure. However, it’s common for providers to charge extras for services like international calls and number porting. To avoid getting caught out by surprise bills, we’d recommend doing your homework before signing the dotted line.
• Research customer support options – Whether you’re new to VoIP softphones or well-versed in the technology, chances are you’ll require technical support at some point. To make sure you’re able to resolve issues fast, you should assess how regularly support is offered, and via what channels.
• Review security measures – VoIP security is a top concern for businesses in 2024. To ensure sensitive data is safeguarded, you should check for advanced features like end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and use permissions.

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