Business phone
How much does a business phone system cost? Entry plans from $10.50 to $30 a user
Quick answer
A cloud business phone system costs $10.50 to $30 per user per month on its entry plan when billed annually, and $19.95 to $40 month to month. For five users that is about $52.50 to $150 a month on annual billing. Higher plans run to $75 a user. Add regulatory fees and taxes, extra numbers at $5 to $9.99 a month, and, on some plans, per-minute calls or texting rates.
Cloud phone systems charge per user (or per line, or per licence) per month, and most show two prices: one for annual billing and a higher one month to month. Here is what the seven systems in our business phone systems ranking charge on their entry plans, read from their own pricing pages between Sep 24 and Sep 27, 2026.
Entry plans
| Company | Entry plan | Billed annually | Month to month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Phone | US & CA Metered | $10.50 per user | None (see below) |
| Nextiva | Core | $15 per user | $23 per user |
| Dialpad | Standard | $15 per user | $27 per user |
| Ooma Office | Essentials | Not published | $19.95 per user |
| Vonage | Mobile | Promotion only | $19.99 per line |
| RingCentral | Core | $20 per user | $30 per user |
| Aircall | Essentials | $30 per licence, 3 minimum | $40 per licence |
Ooma sells month to month with no contract; its fixed-term deals carry a discount it doesn't price on the page. Vonage shows a 12-month price only as a promotion with an end date that had passed when we read it, so we don't use it. Zoom's page shows a $12 monthly figure for Metered, but its footnote says all plans are billed annually upfront, so we don't treat it as a monthly plan.
What five users pay
Most small teams buy per seat, so multiply. On annual billing (month to month for Ooma and Vonage, which publish no annual price), five users cost about:
- Zoom Phone Metered: $52.50 a month, before per-minute calls.
- Nextiva Core or Dialpad Standard: $75 a month.
- Ooma Office Essentials: $99.75 a month, no contract.
- Vonage Mobile: $99.95 a month, no contract.
- RingCentral Core: $100 a month.
- Aircall Essentials: $150 a month.
Month to month, the gap widens: RingCentral Core is $150, Dialpad Standard $135 and Nextiva Core $115 for five users, and Aircall Essentials $200.
Typical and top plans
The next plan up usually adds call recording, fax, call queues or team chat:
- RingCentral Advanced: $25 annually, $35 monthly, adds unlimited internet fax.
- Dialpad Pro: $25 annually, $35 monthly, adds 24/7 support and CRM integrations, with a three-seat minimum.
- Nextiva Engage: $25 on an annual term.
- Ooma Office Pro: $24.95, adds texting, video meetings and call recording; Pro Plus is $29.95.
- Vonage Premium: $29.99; Advanced, with call recording, is $39.99.
- Zoom US & CA Unlimited: $16; Pro Plus $20.50; Business Plus $24.50.
- Aircall Professional: $50 annually, $70 monthly.
The most expensive published plan is Nextiva Scale at $75 a user. Dialpad Enterprise and Aircall Enterprise are quote-only.
Fees on top
- Regulatory fees and taxes. RingCentral lists a Federal Universal Service Recovery Fee, E911 fee and a Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee, without amounts. Zoom and Vonage prices exclude taxes and fees.
- Per-minute calling. Zoom's Metered plan charges US and Canada calls per minute at rates behind a "See rates" link.
- Extra numbers. Zoom charges $5 a month per extra number, Aircall $6, and Ooma $9.99. A toll-free number on Dialpad is $15 a month annually or $17 monthly, plus $0.02 a minute for incoming calls.
- Texting. Aircall's domestic SMS and MMS are "contact us for rates". RingCentral Core includes 25 texts per user a month.
- Add-ons. Nextiva's call recording and online fax on Core, Dialpad's fax licence and Vonage's paperless fax are paid add-ons with no published price.
- Reactivation. Nextiva may charge up to $25 to restore service cut off for non-payment.
Renewals and leaving early
Renewal terms matter as much as the entry price. Ooma's fixed-term deals drop their discount after one year. Vonage's terms renew at "the then-current rate".
Leaving an annual term early usually costs the rest of it at RingCentral, Nextiva, Dialpad, Zoom and Aircall, and up to the full contract price at Vonage. Our contracts and cancelling guide explains each.
How to budget
Take the entry plan on the billing you'll use, multiply by your users, and add a line for fees and extra numbers. Then check that the plan includes what you need: if you'd have to move up a plan for call recording or texting, budget for that plan instead. Our guides and the methodology explain what we compare, and our list for teams of 2 to 10 prices each system for five users.