Best VoIP for small business
Business phone systems with calling, texting and AI call features, compared on the per-user rate each vendor publishes as a static number.
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Quo fits a small team that wants AI call summaries, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations and unlimited US/Canada calling from an entry-level, clearly published rate. Nextiva fits a business planning to grow into a full contact center. Its tier ladder runs from a basic Core plan up through dedicated Enterprise Contact Center plans on the same platform.
The short answer
- Quo's Starter plan is $19/user/month monthly ($15/user/month annually). It includes one phone number per user, unlimited US/Canada calling and messaging, and its Sona AI agent. Its Business tier ($33/user/month monthly) adds AI call summaries, transcripts and CRM integrations, per quo.com/pricing.
- Nextiva's Core plan is $15/user/month monthly ($23/user/month annually, described by Nextiva as a 35% saving structure). Its Scale plan at $75/user/month adds AI transcription, skills-based routing and journey orchestration, per nextiva.com/pricing.
- RingCentral's and Dialpad's core per-user phone plan pricing could not be read as a static figure. Both render their rate through an interactive user-count selector rather than a fixed price table.
Small business VoIP tools compared
| Tool | Starting price | AI features included? | CRM integrations | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quo | $19/user/mo (Starter, monthly) | Yes, Sona AI agent from Starter tier | HubSpot and Salesforce named (Business tier and above) | A small team wanting AI call handling and CRM sync from an entry-level plan | A business wanting CRM integrations without upgrading past Starter |
| Nextiva | $15/user/mo (Core, monthly) | No, AI transcription/summary starts at the Scale tier ($75/user/mo) | Not detailed on the small-business pricing page | A business planning to grow into a full contact center on one platform | A small team wanting AI features without a large tier jump |
| RingCentral | Could not verify, interactive pricing tool | AI Receptionist available as an add-on from $39 | Not detailed in static form | A business willing to use an interactive calculator to get a real quote | A buyer wanting to read a flat rate without using the selector |
Figures checked on quo.com/pricing and nextiva.com/pricing, September 2026. RingCentral's and Dialpad's core phone-plan pricing renders through an interactive tool rather than a static table; Grasshopper's pricing page detected the fetch as being outside its supported US/Canada region and returned no plan details, so none of these three vendors' base per-user rates are quoted as fixed figures here.
How the two published options differ in practice
Quo
The clearest published tier ladder of the vendors checked here. Three plans from $19 to $47 per user per month, each adding a specific, named set of features. Group calling and IVR at Business, AI call tags and priority support at Scale. Additional phone numbers cost $5/month each beyond the one included per user. Automated SMS through Zapier or the API runs $0.01 per message. Not for: a business wanting the lowest entry price if Nextiva's $15/user/month Core plan meets its needs otherwise.
Nextiva
Structured to scale a business from a basic Core phone plan through Engage (customer-to-team SMS, inbound call center) up to a full Scale tier with AI transcription and journey orchestration. It then goes further into dedicated Enterprise Contact Center plans starting at $75/agent/month. That range suits a company that expects to outgrow a basic phone system without switching vendors. Not for: a small team wanting AI call features without jumping to the $75/user/month Scale tier.
How to choose
Choose Quo if you're a small team that wants AI call summaries, HubSpot and Salesforce links and a clear posted rate. Choose Nextiva if you plan to grow into a full contact center on the same platform.
Disclosure: SalesCrew is our product. SalesCrew runs outbound calls through Vapi as one channel and logs each outcome on a contact. Business phone numbers, inbound routing and SMS sit in the same record, so every call and text lands on one timeline (see SalesCrew phone).
Questions
- Is OpenPhone still called OpenPhone?
- No. openphone.com now redirects permanently to quo.com, and the product is branded Quo. Any current comparison should reference Quo, not OpenPhone. The two names may still appear interchangeably in older material.
- What's the cheapest published VoIP plan here?
- Quo's Starter plan is $19/user/month monthly ($15/user/month billed annually). It includes one phone number per user and unlimited US/Canada calling and messaging, per quo.com/pricing. Nextiva's Core plan is $15/user/month monthly. That is slightly cheaper on the surface, but it jumps to $23/user/month on its annual rate structure.
- Why don't RingCentral and Dialpad have prices in the table?
- Both vendors render their per-user rate through an interactive selector rather than a static price table. RingCentral's page references add-on pricing (AI Receptionist from $39, Conversational Intelligence at $60) but not the base per-user rate itself in a form that could be read directly. Dialpad's fetched page detailed only its AI Agent credit system, not its core Connect phone plans.
- Does either published tool include AI features standard?
- Quo includes its Sona AI agent starting on its cheapest Starter tier. AI call summaries and transcripts are reserved for the Business tier and above. Nextiva's Scale tier ($75/user/month) adds AI transcription and summary. Its cheaper Core and Engage tiers do not include it.