Vonage vs RingCentral: Which VoIP is Best in 2024?

Vonage and RingCentral are popular voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) platforms sharing similar call management features, including a multi-level auto-attendant, call forwarding, call recording, and call screening. The software solutions have unified communication features, allowing businesses to communicate with customers and colleagues via short messaging service (SMS), instant messaging, and video conferencing. While the two apps have many similarities, they differ in many aspects, from pricing and third-party integrations to customer support.

In this comparison, we determined that RingCentral is better for companies handling large volumes of calls, thanks to its robust unified communications (UCaaS) tools. Meanwhile, Vonage is the ideal solution for organizations dealing with fluctuating call volumes because it allows users to add and remove certain VoIP features depending on present communication demands.

Vonage vs RingCentral: Which is better?

Vonage: Best for fluctuating call volumes

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Pros

• Reliable service with 99.999% uptime guarantee
• Unlimited text messaging in all subscription plans
• Easy-to-navigate platform
• Minute bundles for international calls to up to 85 countries

Cons

• Only allows 20 third-party integrations
• Doesn’t offer annual discounts

Our Rating: 4.12/5

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Key features

AI virtual assistant: This uses conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to answer customer queries or facilitate an action, such as routing calls to agents who can handle their concerns or gathering survey feedback.

Shared line appearance: Keep track of the other users’ phones and pick up calls on other extensions when a particular agent isn’t available. This feature lets you put a call on hold and let another user resume the conversation.

Call park: Put an active call on hold and place it in a communal parking spot to let other team members retrieve the call. This is useful when an agent isn’t sure where to transfer the call. 

IP phone paging system: Announce an important update and let stakeholders hear it through their speakerphones. This works on Cisco, Polycom, and Yealink devices. The system supports broadcasting to up to 500 recipients.

Business inbox: See all your messages from different channels in one place. Vonage’s inbox supports SMS, multimedia messaging service (MMS), and Facebook Messenger.

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Our ratings

Pricing: 2.81/5

General features and interface: 4.17/5

Core VoIP features: 3.96/5

Advanced features: 4.25/5

Integration and compatibility: 4.17/5

UX: 4.69/5

Security and compliance: 5.00/5

Customer support and service: 4/5

User scores: 4.07/5

Who is Vonage best for?

Vonage is the best VoIP for small businesses dealing with changing call volumes every now and then since the platform offers the flexibility of adding and removing VoIP features when your communication demands increase or decline. By default, you have access to over 40 tools, covering call management, collaboration, and mobility capabilities. When the volume of calls surges, you have the option to add extra features, like call queues, secondary line appearance, and virtual phone extensions. Remove them once the call volumes are reduced.

The platform’s smart numbers help manage fluctuating call volumes. The feature allows you to customize voice workflows, thereby accommodating current call center demands. When a customer calls, the smart number lets you route the call to your business’ nearest local office, play a prerecorded announcement, or inform the customer about the agent’s schedule availability. Use Vonage when dealing with varying call volumes. In case you need a refresher on cloud-based business phone systems, read our comprehensive what is VoIP guide.

Vonage is a business phone system equipped with over 40 standard features, including conference call, call logs, follow me, and simultaneous ring. Aside from call-handling tools, the vendor offers different types of phone numbers, including local, toll-free, and international. The team messaging tool supports group chats and voice and video calls. Meanwhile, for video meetings, users may host a maximum of 200 attendees. Vonage integrates with 20 third-party apps, including popular customer relationship management (CRM) solutions: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and HubSpot.

RingCentral: Best for large call volumes

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Pros

• Integrates with over 300 third-party apps
• Less than six minutes of annual downtime thanks to the 99.999% uptime guarantee
• Large video conferencing capacity
• Offers up to 10,000 toll-free minutes

Cons

• Doesn’t offer unlimited texting
• More expensive than other VoIP providers

Our Rating: 4.32/5

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Key features

Call monitoring: Observe active calls to evaluate agent-customer interactions in real-time. Use whisper to listen discreetly to phone conversations. If you need to address the customer directly, use the barge or takeover tools.

Call delegation: Allow assistants to pick up phone calls on behalf of executives. This enables managers to focus on more important tasks, without missing answering customer queries. An executive may have 10 assistants, and an assistant may support 10 executives.

RingOut: If you have an unstable internet connection, use a landline or mobile phone to make the call. RingOut will display your RingCentral number as your caller ID. With this, a familiar phone number appears on the customers’ end even though you use a different device. Learn more about the benefits of using VoIP vs landline. 

Visual voicemail: See a list of your voicemail on your desktop or mobile phone. When you click a message, you’ll find a voicemail transcription, allowing you to get the message instantly without playing the audio file.

Visual IVR editor: Create a phone tree without hassle using the platform’s visual interface. Use the plus icon to add routing options, like connecting callers to a specific phone number, directory, or voicemail.

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Our ratings

Pricing: 3.59/5

General features and interface: 4.31/5

Core features: 4.58/5

Advanced features: 4.5/5

Integration and compatibility: 4.38/5

UX: 4.69/5

Security and compliance: 5/5

Customer support and service: 3.75/5

User scores: 4.10/5

Who is RingCentral best for?

RingCentral is best for companies managing large call volumes since it offers robust call-handling tools. Its multi-level auto-attendant automatically answers inbound calls and routes them to appropriate departments or service representatives. It supports up to eight-digit extensions, further allowing businesses to efficiently distribute calls to the right destinations without requiring a human agent. The team messaging tool makes consultation with managers and fellow service representatives easy and seamless, enabling the team to resolve queries faster.

With the platform’s excellent third-party integrations, users reduce app switching, contributing to overall agent efficiency. Agents won’t have to open a separate computer program to see customer profiles. When RingCentral is connected to a customer relationship management (CRM) app, the CRM profile automatically pops up when an inbound call matching a CRM record comes through the phone system. Given all these capabilities, RingCentral is the ideal solution when you receive multiple calls a day.  

RingCentral is a unified communications solution that supports voice calls, team messaging, and video conferencing. Its phone system includes advanced tools like interactive voice response (IVR), heads-up display, hot desking, call delegation, and background noise reduction. 

Meanwhile, the chat app lets users send files and assign tasks to colleagues, facilitating seamless team collaboration. Video meetings accommodate up to 500 participants and run up to 24 hours. RingCentral features a wide range of third-party integrations, including Zendesk, Slack, Google Drive, and Zapier.

Vonage vs RingCentral: A detailed comparison

Vonage vs RingCentral: Pricing & value

With RingCentral’s annual discounts and the default features already included in its subscription plans, the platform is the more affordable choice, winning the Vonage vs RingCentral pricing round.

Vonage

Vonage offers three subscription plans, with an entry-level fee of $19.99 per user, per month. It offers discounts for more than four users but requires a minimum one-year contract for new accounts. When you cancel your subscription during the contract term, early termination fees apply, ranging up to the total price of the service contract. Certain VoIP features, like artificial intelligence (AI) virtual assistant, call recording, and call queues, have add-on fees.

• Mobile: $19.99 per user for access to desktop and mobile apps, unlimited calling within the United States (US), Canada, and Mexico. SMS and MMS, voicemail, and virtual receptionist.
• Premium: $29.99 per user for team messaging, video meetings, access to the app center, and single sign-on. 
• Advanced: $39.99 per user for call groups, on-demand call recording, and visual voicemail. 

RingCentral

RingCentral features three subscription packages, with a starting rate of $30 per user, per month. While Vonage is more affordable than RingCentral at first glance, note that some features that require extra fees in Vonage are default tools on RingCentral. These include call recording, call queues, and phone extensions. 

On top of that, RingCentral provides annual discounts, which Vonage doesn’t offer. When you choose the annual billing arrangement, you’ll be able to save up to 33% or pay only $20 for the entry-level plan, which is relatively the same cost as Vonage’s base-tier package. Unlike Vonage, RingCentral has a 14-day free trial. 

RingCentral’s add-on fees only apply to advanced tools, like push-to-talk, live reports for real-time call queue management, and the video conference room system.

• Core: $30 per user for unlimited domestic calling within the US and Canada, 100 toll-free minutes, 25 SMS credits per user, basic call queues, and receptionist console
• Advanced: $35 per user for 1,000 toll-free minutes, 100 SMS credits per user, advanced call monitoring, up to eight-digit extensions, and unlimited internet fax
• Ultra: $45 per user for 10,000 toll-free minutes, 200 SMS credits per user, unlimited storage for files, messaging, and recordings, and device analytics and alerts

Vonage vs RingCentral: Call management

RingCentral emerges as the superior choice in the call management category of this Vonage vs RingCentral guide since it offers a comprehensive set of tools, including an IVR, toll-free minutes, and call monitoring. Nonetheless, both providers have robust VoIP security features and comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) guidelines.

Vonage

To help users manage phone calls, Vonage features call forwarding, call screening, call blocking, and follow me. Call tagging, which involves adding labels to conversations, makes it easy to distinguish customer interactions. You’ll know instantly why customers are calling or which departments are responsible for such calls. 

Unlike RingCentral, Vonage doesn’t have an IVR, only a virtual receptionist who automatically answers calls and greets callers. As mentioned, some call management features, including the AI virtual assistant, secondary line appearance, and virtual phone extensions, come with an extra cost.

RingCentral

RingCentral has a more robust call management system, offering tools you won’t find on Vonage. For one, it has an IVR that intelligently distributes calls to agents after processing touch-tone or voice responses to the phone menu. It features call monitoring tools, like whisper, barge, and monitor, which allow supervisors to assess agent performance in real-time. 

Moreover, it has a toll-free minutes allowance, helping businesses cater to customers nationwide. The most expensive RingCentral plan comes with 10,000 toll-free minutes. More minute bundles are available at an additional cost. 

Vonage vs RingCentral: Instant messaging

In the instant messaging round, RingCentral gains a step ahead because it supports chats with external contacts and task management, features Vonage doesn’t have.

Vonage

Vonage’s team chat tool lets users collaborate instantly with each other without needing an external app. Send direct messages to individual colleagues or a team channel with multiple participants. Reply to specific messages and create a thread to make the conversation more organized. The platform allows the sending of emojis, which makes chats more engaging. If you need to discuss matters in depth, launch a voice or video call by clicking the phone and video icons at the chat window’s top right corner. Vonage supports file sharing, although the exact attachment limit is unclear. 

RingCentral

As we evaluated RingCentral vs Vonage instant messaging tools, we found that RingCentral has a better offering, as it offers advanced features like task management and inclusion of external contacts, which Vonage doesn’t have. Aside from supporting one-on-one and group chats, rich text editing, and file sharing, RingCentral lets users create and assign tasks to team members. To complete task creation, specify the to-do’s due date and frequency and add a category and color tags.

RingCentral’s team messaging tool allows businesses to include external contacts in group chats. With this, it’s easier to discuss matters with clients as you won’t need a third-party app. 

Vonage vs RingCentral: Video conferencing

Since RingCentral features artificial intelligence (AI) tools and hosts more participants in a session compared to Vonage, it’s the clear winner in the RingCentral vs Vonage video conferencing battle.

Vonage

Vonage’s video conferencing platform hosts a maximum of 200 participants in one session and supports up to 15 hours of meeting recording. Attendees collaborate through different tools, including chat, whiteboard, and virtual backgrounds. 

In terms of privacy features, you may activate waiting rooms to filter through the people attempting to join the session or mute participants and disable audio or video when necessary. Lock meetings to prevent new participants from entering the meeting. Note that Vonage’s video conferencing isn’t available until the second-tier plan, which costs $29.99 per user, monthly.

RingCentral

RingCentral accommodates up to 200 participants in its most expensive subscription plan. However, it offers a large meeting add-on, which can host a maximum of 500 attendees. Aside from chat and whiteboard, the platform lets attendees collaborate on meeting notes simultaneously in real-time. When you’re hosting a large group and would like to facilitate more engaging discussions, split the audience into breakout groups. Meanwhile, if you want team members to come and go to meetings as they please (similar to your in-person informal chitchats in the office’s break room), use Team Huddle. 

The best part about RingCentral’s video conferencing platform is it’s powered by AI. During the meeting, the platform displays transcriptions and closed captions. After the session, it automatically generates meeting summaries, transcripts, highlights reels, and automated chapters, enabling teams to remember what was discussed and work on the agreed to-dos right away. 

Unlike Vonage, RingCentral’s video meeting feature is available in all plans, including the entry-level package that costs $30 per user, per month. 

Vonage vs RingCentral: Third-party integrations

In the integration round for Vonage vs RingCentral, RingCentral comes out ahead since it natively connects with over 300 solutions. Vonage only works with 20 third-party apps.

Vonage

The Vonage App Center showcases the apps that integrate with the unified communications system. The most popular apps included are Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, HubSpot, and Clio. It works seamlessly with Zapier, so you’re able to connect the platform to a hundred more apps, though with limited configurations. All in all, Vonage natively integrates with 20 third-party solutions. Unfortunately, some Vonage integrations like Salesforce and Bullhorn require an extra fee. 

RingCentral

RingCentral features more third-party apps in its integration gallery. Some of the solutions are Google Drive, Microsoft Outlook, Mailchimp, Freshdesk, and Jira. In addition, you may automate workflows with over 500 apps using Zapier. The advantage of choosing RingCentral is the integrations don’t require extra fees. Productivity integrations like Office 365, Google Workspace, and Slack are already available in the entry-level plan. The platform features over 300 out-of-the-box integrations.

Vonage vs RingCentral: Ease of setup and use

Because both providers facilitate a simple account creation and login process and feature intuitive interfaces, we consider the two providers tied in the ease of setup and use round.

Vonage

Vonage appeals to first-time VoIP users because it’s easy to set up and navigate. The administrator adds employees to the account, and the end users receive an email with a username and a link to set up the password. Once you finalize the password, you can go to app.vonage.com to log in.

The actual unified communications platform has a neat, simple interface. On the left side panel, you’ll see the communication features: Calls, Voicemail, SMS, Team Messaging, and Meetings. It also contains navigation tools for accessing contacts, third-party integrations, and reports. With this, making phone calls, messaging team members, and launching video meetings don’t require extensive technical training. 

RingCentral

RingCentral’s sign-up process is fast and easy: Just key in your work email and country in the input fields. The provider will send an email confirming your account. The link provided there will direct you to the login page.

Similar to Vonage, RingCentral has an easy-to-navigate interface despite the wide range of features it offers. Its side panel contains icons that take you to different communication capabilities: voice calls, team messaging, video meetings, SMS, and fax. Similarly, the contacts, settings, and apps can be found in the sidebar.

Vonage vs RingCentral: Customer service

Vonage offers the option to have an information technology (IT) team set up the apps businesses need for client and team communications. Because of this hands-on customer support, Vonage wins in the customer service round.

Vonage

Vonage features a dedicated hub with all the resources needed to navigate the platform and maximize its features. The Vonage Business Communications Support has a search bar that allows users to find specific topics, removing the need to scroll through piles of content. Similarly, the provider has the Vonage Business Cloud Community, where users can ask questions and start or participate in discussions. 

Aside from self-help channels, Vonage offers phone support. A 24/7 chatbot is likewise available to answer queries from businesses. On top of that, the vendor provides orange glove setup services, similar to IT support, where the Vonage team installs the software solutions you need for your business communications. Note that this service is exclusively available in its most expensive plan. 

RingCentral

RingCentral features a comprehensive set of customer support services. For businesses that prefer finding solutions on their own, the provider has a knowledge base that contains various how-to articles for different topics. The RingCentral Community allows users to read up on the latest news and announcements from the provider and engage in discussions. The vendor regularly publishes release notes to inform customers about the new features on its platform.

As for the direct communication channels, users can get assistance from RingCentral representatives through phone and chat. This service is available in all subscription plans.

Which is right for your business?

In our assessment of RingCentral vs Vonage, RingCentral emerged as the superior platform, winning in several categories. While Vonage’s entry-level plan is the more affordable option at first glance, RingCentral’s annual discounts and robust inclusions in the base-tier package make the platform an equally budget-friendly choice for small businesses. Moreover, Vonage’s add-on features can make the monthly subscription more expensive.

Meanwhile, in terms of call management, instant messaging, video conferencing, and third-party integrations, RingCentral has more unique capabilities than Vonage. RingCentral allows users to monitor active calls, assign and manage tasks, and host up to 500 video meeting participants. In addition, the provider connects to over 300 third-party apps, whereas Vonage only natively integrates with 20 solutions. However, Vonage takes a step ahead in the customer service category since it offers an orange glove setup, which RingCentral doesn’t have.

In summary, choose RingCentral and take advantage of its robust unified communication features when accommodating a large volume of calls. But if you have fluctuating call volumes, go for Vonage and maximize its a la carte pricing and personalized customer support to deal with the rapid changes in communication demands.

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