Ooma and RingCentral are two well-known cloud phone systems featuring voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) services that help businesses manage calls anywhere. They make strong contenders in the unified communications space as they support core capabilities for video conferencing, team chat, and virtual fax.
Ooma is more affordable and has a straightforward call management system designed for startups and small teams. RingCentral is more feature-rich, providing large companies with an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered communications platform for managing large volumes of interactions.
In this Ooma vs RingCentral guide, we give you an overview of how these two popular VoIP solutions compare in terms of pricing, feature set, integrations, and usability. Explore the strengths and weaknesses of each provider to help you make the right buying decision for your business.
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| Monthly starting price (per user) | $19.95 | $30 |
| Business phone system | Basic call management | Advanced call management and phone system administration |
| Video conferencing | Up to 100 participants | Up to 200 participants |
| Messaging |
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| Third-party integrations |
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| Learn more | Visit Ooma | Visit RingCentral |
What is Ooma
Ooma provides hosted VoIP services for business and residential use. The Ooma Office plan is designed for small businesses looking for affordable cloud-based telephony without premium functionalities. Pricing starts at $19.95 per user monthly, with access to over 50 VoIP features. Upgrading to higher plan tiers unlocks additional tools for managing high call volumes, enhanced call management, meeting hosting capabilities, and team chat options.
A free VoIP phone service is available upon purchase of the Ooma Telo device. With an Omma account, you can purchase international calling plans starting at $17.99 monthly. This allows you to make unlimited calls from 10 to 70 countries from your landline or mobile phone.
Pros
Cons
What is RingCentral
RingCentral is an AI-powered communications platform known for its comprehensive feature set for business phone, video conferencing, and team messaging. It has the largest library of third-party integrations, including developer tools, marketing automation, and financial services. As a cloud telephony solution, RingCentral lets you set up advanced call routing rules for managing high call traffic and extract useful data insights from its extensive reporting dashboards.
Pros
Cons
Looking for a more comprehensive view of many VoIP solutions? Check out our VoIP Software Buyer’s Guide for a full list and individual product reviews.
Pricing: Tie
Choosing between RingCentral and Ooma for pricing boils down to prioritizing affordability with Ooma or seeking comprehensive value with RingCentral. Ooma is a budget-friendly pick if you’re looking for a full-featured phone system for less than $20. While RingCentral has a higher per-user cost, it offers value-based pricing as you get a wealth of phone features and collaboration tools in a single monthly plan.
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| Free plan available | Yes, but it requires a purchase of an Ooma Telo Device for $69.99 | ⛔️ |
| Free trial for paid plans | ⛔️ | 30 days |
| Monthly subscription plans (per user) |
Essentials: $19.95 for unlimited calls (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico),
virtual receptionist, free number transfer, paging support, and virtual fax
Pro: $24.95 for 250 SMS per month, 25 video attendees, call recording, voicemail
transcription, and analytics
Pro Plus: $29.95 for CRM integration, 1,000 SMS per month, 100 video attendees,
team chat, hot desking, and call queuing
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Core: $30 for unlimited calling, 25 SMS/MMS, 100 toll-free minutes, interactive
voice response (IVR), call management, team chat, video meetings, and collaboration tools
Advanced: $35 for 1,000 toll-free minutes, 100 SMS/MMS, advanced routing,
auto-call recording, call monitoring, integrations, and business analytics
Ultra: $45 for 10,000 toll-free minutes, 200 SMS/MMS, unlimited storage, and
device analytics
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| Annual subscription discount | ⛔️ | Save up to 33% |
| Volume discount for a certain number of users | Six users and above | 50 users and above |
| Additional features at extra cost |
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Ooma
Ooma has three-tiered plans with cheaper per-user pricing than most competitors. With a monthly starting fee of $19.95, you get more than 50 features for business phone and call mobility. As you move up the pricing tiers, Ooma unlocks more advanced calling capabilities, such as hot desking and call queuing.
While Ooma is more affordable than RingCentral, each service plan has certain limitations. For instance, you need at least a Pro subscription for call recording and voicemail transcription—features typically found in the base plan of other VoIP providers.
Unified communications features like team chat and a larger video meeting capacity require a Pro Plus subscription, costing $29.95 per user monthly. If you want to add more than six phone lines, contact the sales team for custom pricing and volume discounts.
Alternatively, home-based users with basic VoIP needs may opt for the Ooma Basic, a home phone service for only $5 monthly. It requires a one-time purchase of the Ooma Telo adapter to get unlimited U.S. calling, call blocking, and answering machine functionality.
RingCentral
Similarly, RingCentral uses a three-level pricing model for its business communications platform. The monthly per-user fee starts at $30 to $45, but pricing is reduced between $20 and $35 if you pay annually. Volume discounts are geared towards larger teams with a minimum size of 100 users.
Despite the hefty price tag, RingCentral offers considerable value to large companies seeking an all-in-one communications solution. The entry-level tier includes an advanced phone system, AI-powered meetings, and task management. A plan upgrade is only necessary if you need CRM integrations, in-depth analytics, or call monitoring.
Looking at its feature inclusions, RingCentral is ideal for enterprise-level organizations and businesses that need a communication system that grows alongside them.
Features: RingCentral
Ooma and RingCentral have all the call management features we’re looking for in a VoIP software provider, such as an auto-attendant, call recording, and ring groups. However, RingCentral goes above and beyond by providing advanced cloud communications software. In its recent update, RingCentral has leveraged AI across its platform for more efficient and intelligent interactions.
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| Business phone features | Virtual receptionist, call park, ring groups, hold music, transfer music, extension dialing, voicemail, call logs, company directory, and simultaneous ring | Visual voicemail, multi-level IVR, call queues, call recording, hot desking, call monitoring, complete call management, and phone system administration |
| Video conferencing | Meeting recording, remote control, and meeting logs | Video recording, remote control, breakout rooms, and whiteboards |
| Team messaging | Group chat for a max. of eight members | File sharing, task assignment, calendar sharing, and unlimited cloud storage |
| AI capabilities | ⛔️ | Meeting insights, closed captions, and live transcriptions |
Ooma
Ooma takes a more straightforward approach to its office phone plans to better cater to solopreneurs and small businesses. In addition to the U.S. and Canada, Ooma extends its unlimited call services to Mexico and Puerto Rico. The toll-free calling plan starts at $15 monthly for 1,500 minutes. Ooma also offers one of the lowest per-minute rates if you wish to make calls from various countries.
The starter plan includes essential business phone features for managing incoming calls. Create a multi-level virtual receptionist and add menu options like company directory, announcement, greetings, and call transfer. SMS allocation is from 250 to 1,000 per month, but you can increase the SMS limit by paying monthly starting at $20.
There are only five types of call metrics available in Ooma Office Analytics, including volume trends and call distribution. Video meeting tools are limited to whiteboards and screen sharing. While there’s a team chat functionality, you can only invite up to eight participants.
RingCentral
RingCentral has evolved into an AI cloud communications provider to help businesses streamline interactions across voice, video, and messaging channels. Its industry-leading phone system includes over 50 call management and administration features. Manage inbound calls with advanced routing rules and configure call flows with the intuitive visual editor.
As a global phone system, RingCentral provides virtual numbers in 110 countries and supports 18 languages for its desktop and mobile app. Analytics dashboards provide over 30 pre-built key performance indicators (KPI) and quality of service reports.
Collaboration features in RingCentral include file sharing, task management, chat, video meetings, and cloud storage. AI is deeply integrated into the platform, allowing users to automate call notes and extract relevant insights from previous calls.
Integrations: RingCentral
RingCentral and Ooma differ significantly in the number of app integrations. Ooma integrates with 11 applications, while RingCentral has a dedicated app library with over 300 pre-built business solutions. There’s also a rich source of application programming interface (API) documentation, allowing developers to incorporate RingCentral’s capabilities into their software.
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| Supported integrations |
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Up to 300 apps for productivity, CRM, customer support, and marketing automation |
| Email integration | ⛔️ | ✅ |
| Native file storage integration | ⛔️ | ✅ |
| Custom bots &d apps | ⛔️ | ✅ |
| Open APIs | ⛔️ | ✅ |
Ooma
Ooma’s integrated partners are limited to 11 applications, mainly CRM systems like HubSpot and Zendesk. While this is fewer than RingCentral, supported apps are widely used for sales and customer support initiatives. A Pro Plus subscription is required to unlock Ooma’s CRM integrations, making them inaccessible to users who can only afford the entry-level tier.
RingCentral
RingCentral has the largest ecosystem of integration apps in the VoIP space. With over 300 pre-built integrations, RingCentral ensures that your existing app stack readily integrates with its cloud service.
The RingCentral App Gallery covers a range of categories like collaboration, CRM, healthcare, retail, and productivity. You can also extend your team messaging experience by installing RingCentral add-ins. Bot and notification app add-ins let you automate tasks and get notified from your favorite apps without leaving the RingCentral app.
RingCentral has its own developer platform for building integrations and adding communication capabilities to existing software. It provides a suite of powerful APIs for voice, video, messaging, data, and fax, allowing you to create custom integrations for unique business needs.
Ease of use: RingCentral
Both RingCentral and Ooma have user-friendly interfaces that enable users to configure various features with much ease. In terms of overall design, RingCentral is more modern and visually appealing, providing users with a pleasant and seamless experience. While Ooma appears straightforward to use, the user portal looks outdated and lacks extensive user guides.
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| User interface | Outdated design, but can be straightforward to use | Customizable interface, but it has a slight learning curve due to the array of features |
| Knowledge base | ✅ | ✅ |
| Video tutorials | ⛔️ | ✅ |
| Training course | ⛔️ | ✅ |
| Community forum | ✅ | ✅ |
Ooma
Ooma boasts a quick setup process that can get users up and dialing in under 15 minutes. If you’re subscribed to Ooma Essentials, you can access its business phone system from your web browser or the Ooma Office mobile app. Access to the Ooma desktop app is exclusive to Pro and Pro Plus users.
Customization options are limited to phone features, including greetings, caller ID, distinctive ringtones, and call forwarding rules. The knowledge base provides basic information about Ooma Office features, but it lacks step-by-step guides and video tutorials.
RingCentral
RingCentral offers a smooth user experience, thanks to its modern and full-featured design. The mobile softphone app has various customization features, including tab order, theme, and navigation menu. This gives users the flexibility to configure the RingCentral layout based on their preferences and workflows.
Given its feature-rich nature, RingCentral offers a wealth of onboarding guides to make the setup and implementation seamless and less challenging. The RingCentral University allows new users to take short courses and administrator training.
Read more: Best VoIP for Small Business
Ooma vs RingCentral: Which to pick?
In the debate between Ooma vs RingCentral, both are widely recognized VoIP providers for small businesses due to their reliable phone, video, and messaging capabilities. They offer unlimited domestic calls, call management features, and virtual phone numbers. However, each provider has certain strengths that cater to a unique business need.
RingCentral wins in a landslide, thanks to its value-based pricing, generous inclusions, rich integrations, and intuitive user interface. With its AI-powered communications platform, RingCentral is a perfect fit for tech-savvy teams and large enterprises seeking advanced collaboration solutions and a powerful phone system for managing high call volumes.
Ooma has affordable monthly fees with basic phone functionality, making it a practical choice for startups and small businesses with limited budgets and straightforward communication needs. While it doesn’t have the scalability and extensive features of RingCentral, Ooma does well as a cost-effective VoIP solution.
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