Business phone contracts: annual terms, cancelling early and auto-renewal

The cheapest prices in our business phone systems and virtual phone numbers rankings usually assume you pay for a year. That price comes with a term, and the term decides what leaving costs. Here is what each provider's own terms say. All were checked on Sep 24, 2026.

If you cancel an annual or fixed term early

• Dialpad: you owe the charges for the rest of the annual term, and fees already paid are not refunded.
• RingCentral: you pay, within 30 days, everything remaining for the rest of the term, plus taxes and fees.
• Nextiva: on a minimum-term contract you owe the charges for the whole term, plus any disconnect fee.
• Vonage: an early termination fee applies on an annual contract, and it can run up to the total price of the contract.
• Ooma Office: on a signed fixed term, leaving after the first 30 days costs the fees that would have been due to the end of the term.

If you are on a monthly plan

• Vonage charges no early termination fee on monthly plans, but gives no refund once you cancel.
• Ooma Office is month to month unless you sign a fixed term, with no early-termination fee.
• Nextiva asks for 30 days' notice before the current term ends to cancel a month-to-month plan.
• Phone.com runs in 30-day terms: cancel mid-term and you owe the rest of that term plus any disconnection fee, and prepaid charges are not refunded.
• Google Voice can be cancelled at any time, and charges only for the days before you cancel.
• Grasshopper states no early-termination fee; you cancel by sending a ticket to its billing department.
• Quo states no separate early-termination fee, but fees already paid are not refunded.

Automatic renewal

• RingCentral renews for another term of the same length unless either side gives 30 days' notice before the term ends.
• Quo renews for the same period again unless either side gives 30 days' notice.
• Grasshopper renews monthly or annually, matching the plan you bought, until you or Grasshopper end it.
• Phone.com renews every 30 days.

When a discounted rate ends

• Vonage's 30%-off rate lasts only for the annual contract; after that you pay the then-current rate.
• Ooma Office's one-year discount ends and the account moves to the standard monthly rate.
• Nextiva charges roughly 35-50% more per user if you skip the annual contract, for example $23 instead of $15 for Core.

How to leave without paying for unused months

• Before you sign, decide how long you will stay. If you are not sure, a month-to-month plan costs more each month but ends cleanly.
• Put the renewal date in your calendar with the notice period in front of it: 30 days for RingCentral and Quo.
• Cancel in the way the terms ask, for example a billing ticket for Grasshopper.