Nextiva vs. RingCentral, which is better? Both are well known names when it comes to the best business Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. Why? More than just hype, RingCentral and Nextiva’s VoIP services are backed by ease of use, effortless third-party integration, excellent customer service and industry expertise.
In fact, Nextiva is so confident you’ll love their VoIP services that instead of an About page, their website features a nextiva-is-the-best page, covering their 94% customer satisfaction rate and 5/5 network rating.
Meanwhile, RingCentral is the VoIP industry’s self-proclaimed “#1 cloud communications provider” according to their About page. With multiple industry accolades and 400,000 business clients worldwide, it's far from an empty claim. In April this year, Gartner recognized RingCentral as a global 2021 ‘Voice of the Customer’ Customers’ Choice for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).
Bottom line? Both Nextiva and RingCentral exemplify characteristics of the best VoIP services, but which is better for streamlining your business communications? We explore the answer and what you should be looking for in a VoIP provider, below.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral evaluation explanation
Our Nextiva and RingCentral evaluations are based on:
- An in-depth look at the plan types offered by both companies
- The principal features of each VoIP provider
- Nextiva pricing and RingCentral pricing
- Their customer service, to help you decide if these services will meet your communication needs
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Pricing and Plans
Nextiva $$
If you’re looking for a more affordable VoIP plan, Nextiva’s Essential package may be your best option. Beginning at $18.95/user/month, it includes unlimited voice and video calls.
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RingCentral $$
In contrast, RingCentral Office’s Essentials plan is $19.99/user/month, but is limited to a maximum of 10 users and doesn’t include a video option.
Startups and small businesses
Nextiva $$
If you’re looking for a more affordable VoIP plan, Nextiva’s Essential package may well be your best option. Beginning at $18.95/user/month, it includes unlimited voice and video calls.
RingCentral $$
In contrast, RingCentral Office’s Essentials plan is $19.99/user/month, but is limited to a maximum of 10 users and doesn’t include a video option.
Small-to-medium businesses
Both companies offer mid-range packages, but the most appropriate plan for your team depends on business specific VoIP needs.
RingCentral $$
If your business has a global presence, you could benefit from RingCentral Office’s Standard plan. Starting at $27.99/user/month, this package enables you to add business phone numbers from more than 100 countries to your VoIP phone services.
Nextiva $$
Should you need to make video calls with large numbers of participants, Nextiva’s Professional plan enables you to add up to 250 participants to a call and costs $22.95/user/month. If you’d prefer unlimited participants, the Nextiva Enterprise plan ($32.95 per user per month) could be the right choice for your organization.
For those still undecided, both companies offer free trials. In the case of Nextiva, this is limited to a seven-day free trial of the Essential plan, while RingCentral Office offers a 15-day free trial for up to five users.
Large-scale organizations
If yours is a larger organization, both Nextiva and RingCentral offer an Ultimate plan as well.
Nextiva $$
Beginning at $57.95/user/month, Nextiva’s service includes features such as sales productivity and pipeline management.
RingCentral $$
The RingCentral equivalent is $49.99/user/month and includes features such as device status reports.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral VoIP Features
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Analytics
RingCentral
In terms of providing customer insight, RingCentral Office has a clear advantage over its rival. With its Premium or Ultimate plans, you’ll receive real-time analytics on calls made via the service. Through the use of AI and machine learning, the platform can monitor your agents’ conversations with customers for info such as call length, average calls per day, and missed calls.
Nextiva
Although Nextiva does enable you to see details of your customers’ journeys and send out automated surveys, these features are restricted to the Ultimate plan.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Call pops
If you’d like to learn more about the individual features offered by these companies, read our full reviews of Nextiva VoIP services and RingCentral VoIP services.
Unique to Nextiva, this feature displays key details relating to a caller on screen during your conversation. The display includes details of your most recent interaction with the individual and whether this exchange was positive or negative. You’ll also see the value of the customer’s account and they have responded to any automated surveys sent by your organization.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Performance
Both companies claim to offer 99.999% uptime and carrier-grade data centers, meaning you should never lose service for more than a couple of minutes a year.
Nextiva
Nextiva’s data centers operate from full uninterruptible power sources, which, it states, provide the best uptime in the industry.
RingCentral
RingCentral’s cloud architecture depends on geo-redundant data centers, which should ensure your service continues in the event of power outages.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Support
Both companies also provide an online ticketing system to deal with customer queries, and their websites also offer dedicated resources sections, with blogs, case studies, and product demos for more generalized support.
If you have a question or concern, both companies offer online chat, phone support, and online ticketing support.
Nextiva
Nextiva’s staff are available over the phone during Mondays to Fridays between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. You can reach them on the weekends between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., MST.
RingCentral
With RingCentral Office, you’ll receive 24/7 phone and online chat support if you opt for the Standard Plan or higher.
Nextiva vs. RingCentral Verdict
When it comes to Nextiva VoIP service vs RingCentral VoIP service, thanks to affordability, superb VoIP products and competitive features, each brand is a winning choice for any business’ VoIP phone service.
It’s a difficult decision to make, but picking the right VoIP provider really boils down to the context of your business requirements. Whichever provider you opt for, both Nextiva and RingCentral can offer market-leading cloud PBX solutions.
One way to identify which is better for your business is to think about the size of the company and how quickly it’s looking to scale.
Best for smaller businesses: Nextiva
If yours is a smaller organization and you rely heavily on video communication, Nextiva’s services could be ideal.
Best for global and growing businesses: RingCentral
For larger organizations seeking more complex features, such as in-depth customer analytics, RingCentral Office could prove more attractive, with the added reassurance of the 24/7 customer service option.
For those truly in a dilemma over which would be the best fit at their organization, it’s worth considering a free trial of both services to gain a more robust insight into the solutions on offer.
Katy Ward is a freelance journalist and editor with more than 10 years' experience writing about tech and finance. Throughout her career, she has worked with tech giants such as Google and Yahoo!, as well as a host of fintech start-ups. Her work has appeared in national newspapers and independent media outlets.