Small businesses seeking the best business phone systems for their needs often turn to VoIP solutions because of their affordability and robust features. Modern VoIP systems go beyond clear, digital phone calls. They’re now sophisticated communication tools with video, email, fax, and SMS and private messaging functionality. RingCentral and Nextiva are two excellent providers with extensive VoIP capabilities. We’ll compare their features, integrations and costs to help you choose the right business phone system for your needs.
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It gained popularity with the adoption of broadband internet; however, its roots can be traced back to 1973 and ARPANET – the precursor to the modern internet.
Criteria
RingCentral
Nextiva
Starting prices
From $20 per user per month
From $17.95 per user per month
Free trial for paid plans
Yes
No (30-day money-back guarantee offered)
Telephony
Call groups and transfers, multisite management, multilevel IVR
Advanced call management, auto attendant (IVR), voicemail-to-email or text
Communication and collaboration
HD video calls and conferencing, closed captioning, real-time web chat
HD video conferencing, customizable surveys, dedicated collaboration rooms
Analytics and reporting
Customizable dashboard reports, team performance tracking, live sales and support statistics
Customizable dashboard reports, marketing campaign tracking, performance scoreboards
Onboarding, ease of use and customer service
Intuitive for users, 24/7 customer support, customizable navigation menu, self-service options
User-friendly setup, 24/7 customer support, self-service options, intuitive controls
Integrations
330 integrations, adaptive add-ins, API interface
100-plus third-party integrations, APIs, SDKs, developer support service
RingCentral is well suited for businesses that want to improve teamwork and strengthen customer relationships. It’s a comprehensive, collaborative VoIP system packed with features, including video conferencing, web chat and toll-free VoIP numbers. RingCentral’s highly intuitive interactive voice response (IVR) system efficiently routes incoming calls and messages. We particularly liked its customer survey tool and agent performance-tracking capabilities. We were also impressed by its reasonable price and 24/7 phone and live chat customer service – something few vendors provide. Learn more in our full review of RingCentral.
RingCentral’s multilevel IVR includes centralized phone routing management and support for multiple languages. Source: RingCentral
Nextiva is an excellent business phone system provider with robust VoIP functionality. Its wide range of features makes it ideal for companies that want actionable insights into customer communication. We like how the platform’s clever IVR tool streamlines call routing and distribution so your team can better service customer inquiries. Nextiva will also route inbound messages via SMS, email and web chat. The platform collects data from all communication channels and identifies opportunities for improvement. We were impressed by the Nextiva Analytics feature – a great data analytics tool for monitoring marketing campaign success. We also appreciate that the system is easy to set up and use and that the company provides around-the-clock customer support. Learn more in our full review of Nextiva.
VoIP, PBX and KSU are the three primary business phone system types. All have cloud-hosted and on-premises versions. 
Nextiva’s detailed analytics capabilities give you a real-time overview of your organization’s activities. Source: Nextiva
We compared RingCentral and Nextiva on pricing and essential VoIP phone system benefits. Here’s how they measure up. 
RingCentral’s visual IVR Editor lets you customize how incoming calls and messages are handled. Source: RingCentral
Nextiva’s call-routing capabilities let you automatically forward all incoming calls to a specific number. Source: Nextiva
Winner
Both Nextiva and RingCentral offer advanced audio telephony, call routing and IVR features. Additionally, both make it easy to customize your phone system to suit your needs. We choose RingCentral as the winner for its telephony service because the vendor has more features and provides smart multisite management.
Cloud-based PBX phone systems use the internet and a VoIP service provider to maintain all the necessary phone system hardware and software.
RingCentral’s survey feature lets you check in on customers throughout the customer journey. Source: RingCentral
If you need a stand-alone live chat solution, check out our reviews of the best live chat software to compare and contrast top providers. 
Nextiva’s survey software allows you to customize surveys so they reflect your brand. Source: Nextiva
Winner
We prefer RingCentral’s communication and collaboration tools. You can have up to 200 participants on a video call as opposed to Nextiva’s 25. RingCentral’s closed captioning is real time and impressive, allowing participants with hearing issues to participate. Both services offer excellent live web chat features. However, RingCentral’s surveying features – especially the ability to deploy surveys at different customer journey stages – are particularly valuable.
RingCentral provides predictive analytics to help you create better call flows and customer interaction strategies. Source: RingCentral
Nextiva lets you create custom scoreboards to display call metrics and encourage healthy competition. Source: Nextiva
Nextiva lets you sync marketing and campaign tracking data with Salesforce. Read our Salesforce Marketing Cloud review to learn more about this solution’s wide-ranging capabilities.
Winner
Nextiva wins for analytics and reporting. While both platforms offer excellent call and activity analysis, customizable dashboards, and performance tracking, Nextiva’s service is more in-depth and flexible. The gap between them is further widened with Nextiva’s smart AI integration. We really liked that Nextiva’s gamification and campaign-tracking features make it easier to improve employee performance.
Is your company choosing between VoIP and landline phone systems? Consider your team’s size, hardware budget and the features you need.
Winner
Both companies excel when it comes to ease of use and around-the-clock customer service by phone, email and web chat. The knowledge base and self-service options are also exceptional. RingCentral narrowly wins this category because of its customizable dashboard, unified inbox and excellent BBB rating.
Nextiva used to have its own built-in CRM. However, it no longer offers this feature to new customers.
Winner
RingCentral wins this category thanks to its 330 integrations, overshadowing Nextiva’s 100-plus offerings. We were also impressed that RingCentral doesn’t require subscribers to select more expensive service plans to access most integrations. That said, Nextiva’s apps will more than suffice for most companies on higher plans.
RingCentral offers a free 14-day trial for five colleagues with 250 free minutes.
Plan
Annual price (per user per month)
Monthly price (per user per month)
Features
Core
$20
$30
Advanced
$25
$35
Everything in Core, plus:
Ultra
$35
$45
Everything in Advanced, plus:
The entry-level Core plan – $20 per month (billed annually) – has an impressive feature set, including SMS and MMS messaging, IVR functionality, and unlimited domestic calling. You also get single sign-on, video meetings with up to 100 participants and access to APIs.
We like that all packages come with a business phone number, unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, AI “meeting insights” and live transcriptions, team messaging, and document-sharing features.
Although the service is more expensive than alternatives like Zoom and Dialpad, RingCentral’s pricing is generally competitive. Jumps in price to higher tiers are slight; the additional features would be valuable add-ons for larger companies and businesses using a CRM system.
Read our Dialpad review to compare its features and pricing with RingCentral and Nextiva.
There are three primary Nextiva service levels: Essential, Professional and Enterprise. Prices vary by user number and whether you pay monthly or annually. (Prices noted are per user per month.)
Number of users
Essential
monthly/annual price
Professional
monthly/annual price
Enterprise
monthly/annual price
1-4
$30.95/$23.95
$35.95/$27.95
$45.95/$37.95
5-19
$29.95/$21.95
$33.95/$25.95
$43.95/$35.95
20-99
$25.95/$18.95
$30.95/$22.95
$40.95/$32.95
100+
$24.95/$17.95
$29.95/$21.95
$39.95/$31.95
The following features are available on these plans:
The Essential tier benefits from valuable features, particularly unlimited video and audio conferencing and Outlook and Google contacts integration. We were disappointed that other features, like HubSpot and Salesforce integration, screen sharing, and mobile and desktop SMS and MMS, are available only to Professional-level subscribers.
Winner
RingCentral offers more features on its entry-level plan. We like that the vendor is generous with feature availability, offering unlimited domestic calling and unlimited video meetings with no time limit and up to 100 participants. However, if your organization has over 20 staff members, you’ll likely pay less with Nextiva.
RingCentral and Nextiva are market-leading business phone system providers that utilize VoIP functionality. Many businesses will value both vendors’ comprehensive features.
RingCentral’s extensive features, including video conferencing and team messaging, facilitate collaboration for local or dispersed teams. The platform integrates with over 300 apps, helping you further extend its collaboration features. We were impressed by how well the system handles customer inquiries and sales calls across multiple channels.
Nextiva’s in-depth analytics and reporting provide businesses with a clear, real-time view of performance quality at every customer touch point – and what they must improve. It’s a highly adaptable and flexible VoIP solution for businesses; you can easily customize it and add extra analytical functionality. Nextiva’s omnichannel solution, when implemented, will help sales teams sell more and service teams better care for customers.
RingCentral and Nextiva share many core features, including intuitive user interfaces, customizable dashboards, well-executed omnichannel communications and well-stocked app marketplaces. RingCentral’s range of communications tools is broader than Nextiva’s. However, Nextiva provides more analytics and reporting tools for users.
RingCentral is a leading VoIP and omnichannel communications platform. It’s designed to help companies improve their internal and customer communications. It has a large app marketplace with over 330 integrations, including leading CRM providers, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and productivity-enhancement apps. It offers more customization than many other VoIP platforms, a real-time web chat service and a well-executed multilevel IVR system.
B. newsletter is your digest of bite-sized news, thought & brand leadership, and entertainment. All in one email.
Our mission is to help you take your team, your business and your career to the next level. Whether you're here for product recommendations, research or career advice, we're happy you're here!