Teams look past RingCentral RingEX when seat prices hide behind a selector, add-ons raise the bill, or the contract commits them for a full term. Most move to Dialpad or Nextiva for a printed price, to 3CX for a different licensing model, and to Yeastar or Wildix for a partner-installed system.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Dialpad
AI-built calling, messaging and meetings app · United States
Sells voice, meetings and AI call transcripts as one app, with a published per-seat price and a self-serve trial. Its Pro plan adds 24/7 support and CRM integrations, and SSO waits for Enterprise. It has no fax, SMS add-on catalog or marketplace on the scale RingCentral keeps.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want transcripts and call summaries on the entry plan and a seat price you can read.
Pricing: The pricing page lists Standard at $15 and Pro at $25 per user per month, with Enterprise by quote and a free trial offered on the lower plans. (free trial)
Full review: #2 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Dialpad →
2. Nextiva
Business phone with texting, video and chat in one app · United States
Packages calls, video, team chat and business texting in one per-user plan and publishes three tiers rather than a selector. The entry tier caps texting at 100 messages a month, and a toll-free number is an add-on. Contact-center tooling sits in separate products, so the stack is narrower.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want a short list of plans with texting and video included from the start.
Pricing: The Core plan is listed at $15 per user per month on the annual toggle (shown against $23 monthly), Engage at $25 and Scale at $75, with the higher plans by demo. (none)
Full review: #1 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Nextiva →
3. 3CX
Per-simultaneous-call licensing with a self-hosted option · Cyprus
Licenses the whole system per simultaneous call per year instead of per user, and lets you run it on your own server, at a cloud provider or hosted by 3CX. You supply or choose SIP trunks. Hosting is billed separately, and administration falls on you or a partner.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you have many staff but few simultaneous calls, or you want to run the PBX yourself.
Pricing: Basic, PRO and AI editions licensed annually per simultaneous-call tier (8 to 1,024 SC); hosting billed separately; free editions for up to 10 users (self-hosted 4SC Free Basic, shared SMB instance) (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit 3CX →
4. Net2Phone
Hosted business phone from a telecom carrier · United States
Offers the Unite suite in three tiers with unlimited calling to the US, Canada and Mexico, and unlimited calling to 40 or more countries from the middle tier up. Its lower annual rates are tied to a 36-month term, which is longer than the common one-year commitment.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if most of your calls leave North America and you can accept a long term for a lower rate.
Pricing: The Unite plans list Essentials at $28.99 per user per month on the monthly view and lower annual rates that the page ties to a 36-month term, with higher tiers priced per user. (free trial)
Full review: #3 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Net2Phone →
5. Intermedia Unite
Managed unified communications for mid-sized firms · United States
Prices two plans per user and bundles a free device, texting, chat and meetings of up to 100 participants. Free international calling covers 34 countries, and toll-free numbers cost extra. It is sold with a quote step, and a US-centered partner network handles larger rollouts.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want a managed mid-market suite with two plans and calls to 34 countries included.
Pricing: Unite Pro is listed at $27.99 and Unite Enterprise at $32.99 per user per month, with a quote required and no long-term contract stated as necessary on the vendor's page. (none)
Full review: #6 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Intermedia Unite →
6. CallHippo
Cloud phone with pay-per-number and per-user tiers · India
Starts from a free Basic tier and a Starter plan with a two-user minimum and 1,000 US and Canada minutes, rising to unlimited US and Canada minutes on Professional. Enterprise needs 20 users. It is built for small sales and support teams, not for multi-site voice with desk-phone fleets.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you are a small team that wants to start cheap and pay per user as it grows.
Pricing: CallHippo lists Basic at $0 per user per month (numbers paid separately), Starter at $18 with a minimum of two users, Professional at $30, and a 10-day free trial on its plans. (free plan)
Full review: #11 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit CallHippo →
7. Yeastar P-Series
PBX in cloud, software or appliance form · China
Sells the P-Series PBX as cloud or on-premises, with a 30-day trial of 10 extensions and 10 concurrent calls. It lists a Microsoft Teams integration and an omnichannel inbox for SMS and WhatsApp. Pricing runs through partners, so the quote comes from a reseller rather than a page.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want to own or host the PBX and keep your desk phones through a local partner.
Pricing: Yeastar offers a 30-day free trial with 10 extensions and 10 concurrent calls, three plan tiers (Standard, Enterprise and Ultimate), and prices through its partner network. (free trial)
Full review: #8 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Yeastar P-Series →
8. Wildix
Partner-sold unified communications with AI voice bots · Estonia
Licenses three levels by concurrent calls and devices per user, from PBX-Basic with two calls and one device to UC-Business with eight calls. Terms run monthly, yearly or five-year. Partners sell and support it, so price and service depend on the reseller you choose.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want a partner-installed system priced by licence level for branches or hybrid setups.
Pricing: Wildix prices through resellers: the plans page names PBX-Basic, UC-Essential, UC-Business and UC-Premium licenses and invites a demo or quote, with no seat price printed. (none)
Full review: #7 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Wildix →
9. GoTo Connect
Cloud phone system with AI receptionist and contact center steps · United States
Is a cloud phone system whose pricing page asks you to contact sales, with plans that step from phone to AI receptionist, customer-experience channels and a contact center. The phone plan lists free calls to 50 countries and video meetings of up to 250 participants.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want one cloud suite that can later grow into messaging channels and a contact center.
Pricing: No seat price is printed on the pricing page; each plan (Phone System, Phone System + AI Receptionist, Customer Experience, CX Complete, Contact Center) leads to Contact Sales. (none)
Full review: #13 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit GoTo Connect →
10. Zoom Phone
Phone service bundled with Zoom Workplace · United States
Adds phone to a Zoom Workplace plan, so one vendor covers calls, meetings and chat. The page lists domestic SMS and MMS, online fax of 50 pages a month and metered international calling. The cost depends on the Workplace tier you pair it with.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if your staff already live in Zoom meetings and you want the phone under the same account.
Pricing: Zoom lists three plans, from US and Canada Unlimited Phone with Workplace Basic upward, priced per user per month billed annually or monthly, with the amounts not shown in the text we could read. (none)
Full review: #5 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Zoom Phone →
11. Sangoma
Cloud, hybrid and on-premises business communications · United States
Delivers phones as cloud, hybrid or on-premises through partners, and its Business Voice Plus plan includes the Starbox appliance that keeps local calling alive during an internet outage. Its pages publish no seat price, and the buying path starts with a partner conversation.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if local calling must survive an internet outage and you will buy through an installer.
Pricing: Sangoma publishes no seat price on the pages we fetched and sells through a partner network, with cloud, hybrid and on-premises routes. (none)
Full review: #10 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Sangoma →
12. Zultys
Business phone platform with a hardware-as-a-service model · United States
Runs the same user experience across on-premises, virtual and hosted deployments, and offers hardware as a service so the phone hardware sits in the monthly fee. Its ZAC client includes an integrated contact center. It sells by quote through partners, with no printed seat price.
Switch from RingCentral RingEX if you want to choose between on-premises and hosted without changing the user experience.
Pricing: Zultys sells by quote through partners, with on-premises, virtual and hosted deployments plus a hardware-as-a-service option, and no seat price published on its site. (none)
Full review: #9 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Zultys →
Questions and answers
Can I leave RingCentral before my term ends?
Yes, but the agreement makes you pay the fees for the rest of the then-current term when you terminate for a reason other than RingCentral's material breach. Time your exit for the end of the term, and give notice at least 30 days before it ends so the service does not renew.
Does RingCentral renew automatically?
Yes. The service agreement says recurring services renew for successive periods of the same length as the initial term, unless either party gives notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the term expires. Put that date in a calendar when you sign, because a missed notice means another full period.
Can RingCentral raise the price at renewal?
Charges stay in effect for the initial term or the current renewal term, and RingCentral must give notice of a proposed increase at least 30 days before that term ends, according to the agreement. Ask for the renewal price in writing, and use the notice window to compare quotes elsewhere.
Can I keep my phone numbers when I switch?
Usually yes, through a port to the new carrier, though the process and timing differ by vendor. RingCentral publishes a numbering policy that covers numbers on its service. Ask the new vendor to run the port, and do not cancel RingCentral until the numbers have moved.
Which add-ons will I pay for elsewhere?
AI receptionist, advanced queue features and business texting are separate items on RingCentral's page, and several alternatives bundle some of them. Nextiva includes limited texting in its entry plan, and Intermedia lists texting in its plans. Check every alternative against your own list rather than its plan name.
What happens to trial hardware if I decide not to stay?
Free trial hardware must be returned within 21 days of cancelling the trial to avoid hardware charges, according to the plans page. SMS is not available during the trial, so test texting with a vendor that includes it in the trial before you decide.
Is there a cheaper way to run many users who rarely call at once?
Possibly. 3CX licenses by simultaneous call per year for the whole system, not per user, so a large staff with few concurrent calls can cost less than a seat-based plan. Hosting is billed separately, so add it before comparing.
