- RingCentral RingEX Core lists at $25 per user per month billed yearly ($35 monthly) with 25 SMS per user a month; Quo plans list at $15, $23 and $35 per user billed yearly.
- Our pick is Quo for an owner and a helper, chosen on its published pricing and features; none of the phone tools here were tested by us.
- For two users over 12 months billed yearly: RingCentral Core $600, Quo Starter $360, Quo Business $552, Google Voice Starter $240 (our arithmetic).
- Aircall starts at three licenses ($30 each on Essentials), so it does not fit a one- or two-person business.
- All prices were read from each vendor's page on 2026-10-08.
RingCentral alternatives are worth pricing when you are one owner with a helper or two, not a 50-seat office. RingCentral's own plans and pricing page, read on 2026-10-08, lists RingEX Core at $25 a user a month billed yearly ($35 billed monthly) for 1 to 10 users, with 25 texts per user per month included. That is a full phone system with meetings and team chat. If all you need is a business number that rings your cell, takes texts and shares an inbox, you can pay less. Everything below was read from each vendor's own page on 2026-10-08.
- Why people look past RingCentral, from its own page
- How we checked
- Side-by-side table (checked 2026-10-08)
- Quo: our pick, not tested by us
- Google Voice for Workspace: lowest listed price, not tested by us
- Aircall: built for call teams, not tested by us
- 12-month cost for an owner and one helper
- Switching checklist
Part of our complete guide: how to find vending machine locations.
The short answer
- Pick Quo if you want a business number on the phone you already carry, shared texting with a helper, and a low price per user. Plans list at $15, $23 and $35 per user per month billed yearly. We have not tested it; this pick comes from its published pricing and features.
- Pick Google Voice for Workspace if you already live in Google Workspace and want the lowest listed price: $10 per user per month on Starter.
- Pick Aircall only if you run a small call team. Its plans start at three licenses.
- Stay with RingCentral if you need video meetings, team chat and a phone system in one bill, or you have several locations.
Affiliate link. We earn a commission if you sign up through it, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which tool we recommend.
VendBuddy is our product, and it has nothing to do with phone systems. We include one line about it near the end only because phone calls are where many operators win or lose a placement. None of the phone tools here were tested by us, so every number below is a published one and we say so each time.
Why people look past RingCentral, from its own page
We are not going to invent complaints. These are things the pricing page itself shows, and they matter for a tiny business:
- It is priced per user for a full suite. Core bundles calling, meetings and team chat. If you never run a video meeting, you are paying for features that sit unused.
- Texting is capped. Core lists 25 SMS per user per month, and Advanced lists 100. An operator who texts refund replies and restock confirmations all week can pass 25 quickly. RingCentral sells a Business SMS Booster as an add-on at $25.
- The better features sit one tier up. CRM integrations and multi-site support are listed under Advanced at $30 a user a month billed yearly, $40 billed monthly.
- The AI and contact-center bundles say "contact us for pricing." There is no number to plan around.
None of this makes RingCentral a poor product. It means it is sized for a different buyer than a one-truck route.
How we checked
On 2026-10-08 we read RingCentral's plans and pricing page, Quo's pricing page, Google Voice on Google Workspace and Aircall's pricing page. We copied plan names, prices and limits. We did not sign up for any of them, place a call or send a text, so we cannot tell you about call quality, support or how the apps feel day to day. We give no scores, because a score for a tool we have not used would be invented.
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Start building free →Side-by-side table (checked 2026-10-08)
| What you care about | RingCentral RingEX | Quo | Google Voice (Workspace) | Aircall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per user per month | Core $25 billed yearly, $35 monthly. Advanced $30 / $40 | Starter $15 / $19. Business $23 / $33. Scale $35 / $47 (yearly / monthly) | Starter $10, Standard $20, Premier $30 | Essentials $30, Professional $50 per license |
| Minimum seats | Prices shown for 1 to 10 users | No minimum shown | Starter is for up to 10 users | 3 licenses on Essentials and Professional; 25 on Enterprise |
| Calling and texting | Unlimited domestic calling. Core: 25 SMS per user a month; Advanced: 100 | Unlimited* calling and texting in the US and Canada (see the page footnote) | Unlimited domestic calling and US texting* | Unlimited calls in the US and Canada; SMS and MMS |
| Shared line for a helper | Team plans | Starter: shared number for up to 10 paid users | Starter: one number for all devices; ring groups on Standard | Shared inbox on Essentials |
| Call recording | On-demand on Core | Manual on Starter, automatic on Business and Scale | Easy recording on Starter; automatic on Premier | Included, with AI transcripts on Essentials |
| Free trial | Not shown on the page we read | 7 days | Not shown on the page we read | Free access to test the platform, per its FAQ |
| Tested by us? | No | No | No | No |
Sources: the four pages linked above, read 2026-10-08. Plans change often; confirm on the vendor page before you buy.
Quo gives a 7-day trial, which is enough to port a number or test texting with a helper before you pay.
Affiliate link. We earn a commission if you sign up through it, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which tool we recommend.
Quo: our pick, not tested by us
Best for: an owner-operator who wants a separate business number on the phone they already carry, with a shared inbox for a spouse or driver. Price: Starter $15, Business $23, Scale $35 per user per month billed yearly; $19, $33 and $47 billed monthly.
What its pricing page lists: one number per user, unlimited calling and texting in the US and Canada (with an asterisk, so read the footnote), voicemail transcripts on every plan, a shared number for up to 10 paid users on Starter and unlimited paid users on Business and Scale, and integrations with Google Contacts, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM and Jobber. Extra numbers are $5 a month each. Texting needs a one-time carrier review fee of $19.50 and a monthly messaging fee listed at $1.50 to $3.
Downsides from the page: Starter has manual call recording only, and the shared number caps at 10 users and 10 open tasks. The carrier fees are real money for texting. We did not test call quality, and no video meetings or team chat are listed in what we read.
Skip it if you need desk phones, a multi-site phone system or video meetings in the same account. We wrote a longer setup guide, with the text templates, in business phone setup for vending operators.
Google Voice for Workspace: lowest listed price, not tested by us
Best for: a business that already runs Google Workspace and wants a number at a low price. Starter is $10 a user a month for up to 10 users, with one number for all devices, unlimited domestic calling and US texting, 24/7 support, three-way calling and call recording. Standard at $20 adds auto attendants and ring groups. Premier at $30 adds automatic call recording and transcription.
Downside from the page: the starter plan has no auto attendant and no ring groups, and we did not check whether you also need a paid Workspace plan to buy a license. Check that before you count it as $10. If you only want the free, personal version, read Google Voice alternatives.
Aircall: built for call teams, not tested by us
Best for: a team of three or more that lives on the phone. Essentials is $30 a license a month with SMS and MMS, a shared inbox, call recordings with AI transcripts, IVR and 250+ integrations. Professional is $50 a license and adds a power dialer and call campaigns. Minimum is three licenses.
Downside from the page: a one- or two-person business cannot buy it as listed. Three Essentials licenses is $90 a month before any add-ons. Read Aircall alternatives if that sounds like your problem.
12-month cost for an owner and one helper
This is our arithmetic from the prices above, for two users for 12 months. It leaves out taxes, carrier fees, extra numbers and any Google Workspace subscription.
| Plan | Billed yearly (2 users) | Billed monthly (2 users) |
|---|---|---|
| RingCentral Core | $25 x 2 x 12 = $600 | $35 x 2 x 12 = $840 |
| RingCentral Advanced | $30 x 2 x 12 = $720 | $40 x 2 x 12 = $960 |
| Quo Starter | $15 x 2 x 12 = $360 | $19 x 2 x 12 = $456 |
| Quo Business | $23 x 2 x 12 = $552 | $33 x 2 x 12 = $792 |
| Google Voice Starter | $10 x 2 x 12 = $240 | Monthly price not shown |
| Aircall Essentials (3-license minimum) | $30 x 3 x 12 = $1,080 (the page does not say if this is the yearly or monthly rate) | Same figure; billing period not stated |
On these numbers the gap between RingCentral Core and Quo Starter is $240 a year for two seats billed yearly. Whether that is worth giving up video meetings and team chat is your call. For a route driver and an owner, it usually is.
Switching checklist
- Do not cancel first. Start the new trial, then ask to port your existing number. Porting is not instant, and your sticker number should keep working the whole time.
- Export your call and contact history if you want to keep it, and note who has the old voicemail greeting.
- Record a new greeting with your business name and when you reply.
- Register for texting early. Business texting on a new number needs carrier registration, which Quo lists at a one-time $19.50 plus a monthly fee. Do it on day one, not the day a customer texts.
- Cancel the old plan on a written date after the new line has worked for a week.
When to stay with RingCentral
Stay if you actually use the video meetings and team chat, if you have more than one site, or if your phones are desk phones and a rollout would take longer than a year of savings. Stay if you are mid-contract and cancelling costs more than you would save. And stay if a partner or landlord already uses RingCentral and calls need to flow through it.
Worth reading before you sign anything: the contract walkthrough covers which terms get pushed back on and which ones you can safely give away. Commission is rarely the clause that hurts you later.
How to choose
Ask what the number is for. A number on the sticker of a machine is a complaint line, and the job is to catch texts and voicemail without your family dinner turning into the refund desk. That points to a light app with a shared inbox, not a phone system. Next, how many people answer? One or two means a small per-user plan. Last, do you call out? Operators who pitch properties by phone care about a clean caller ID, call recording and a place to log what was said, and a few care about dialing speed. If dialing is the real need, see our guide to the best auto dialer for small business first.
The calls that matter most are the first ones to a property manager. Need someone to call first? Find them with VendBuddy, our product: searching a ZIP is free, and one credit gets the best contact on file for one business. It is built for vending operators looking for locations and is not a phone system. Scripts for the call itself are in how to cold call vending machine locations.
More phone guides
- Business phone setup for vending operators: numbers, hours, auto-replies and the text templates.
- Aircall alternatives: options when three licenses is too many.
- Google Voice alternatives: when the free number stops being enough.
- Best auto dialer for small business: real dialers with checked prices.
If a separate business number on your own phone is the goal, the free trial is the cheapest way to see whether it fits.
Affiliate link. We earn a commission if you sign up through it, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which tool we recommend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best RingCentral alternative for a small business?
For an owner with a helper or two, we pick Quo, because its published plans start at $15 per user per month billed yearly and include a shared number and voicemail transcripts. We have not tested it. Google Voice for Workspace lists lower, at $10 per user, and fits businesses already on Google Workspace. Prices were read from each vendor's page on 2026-10-08.
How much does RingCentral cost for a small business?
RingEX Core is listed at $25 per user per month billed yearly or $35 billed monthly, and Advanced at $30 and $40, with prices shown for 1 to 10 users on 2026-10-08. Core includes 25 SMS per user per month, so heavy texting needs an add-on.
Is there a free alternative to RingCentral?
Personal Google Voice is listed at $0 a month with one number for all your devices, unlimited domestic calling and US texting, and it requires an existing mobile number. It is built for one person, not a shared team inbox.
Can I keep my phone number if I switch from RingCentral?
Most providers let you port a number in, but check the porting rules of the new provider first. Start the new trial, request the port, and cancel the old plan only after the number has moved and a call has worked. Porting is not instant.
Do I need a phone system for a vending business?
Usually not. A vending route needs a separate business number for the sticker on each machine, texts for refund requests and a shared inbox if a helper answers. That is a light app, not a phone system with desk phones.
What is selling, which buildings say yes, and the numbers before you buy a machine. Free, confirm from your inbox, unsubscribe in one click. Refer one friend and get 25 VendBuddy credits.
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change, so check the official source. Revenue and income figures are examples, not promises. See our terms.