An Exclusive List of The Top Free and Commercial VoIP Software With Features and Comparison. Select the Best VoIP Tool Based on This In-depth Review:
VoIP software is an application that will allow you to make calls over the internet.
Voice over IP software is used by businesses because of their sophisticated functionality and scalability. These services are available at a reduced cost.
The two types of VoIP tools include Hard phones and Softphones. Get ready to explore the top VoIP Software that is available in the market along with their features.
The below graph displays the Employee’s Current Conferencing Methods.
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Table of Contents:
Overview of VoIP Software
VoIP software packages can be categorized into Free VoIP Phones, Free VoIP Gateways, Free VoIP Gatekeepers, Free VoIP Proxies, Free VoIP Software Development Libraries, and Free VoIP PBX.
VoIP Applications According To Business Size
As startup businesses don’t have existing telephone service, the use of VoIP tools/services will reduce the cost. Startup businesses can look for the service that provides the native mobile application that will allow employees to use their own phones. PBX will be a good option for small and medium-sized businesses.
Selection of the Pricing Plan
Gathering the information about the number of employees in your company, inbound call volume, and your requirement for international calling will help you to select the pricing plan.
Our TOP Recommendations:
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| RingCentral | SolarWinds | Ooma | Vonage |
| • Webinar • Unlimited Texting • Contact Center | • WAN Monitoring • Voice Quality Testing • SIP Trunking | • Call Blocking • Video Conferencing • Call recording | • Video Conference • Caller ID • Call Forwarding |
| Price: $19.99 monthly Trial version: 21 days | Price: $963 Trial version: 30 days | Price: $19.95 monthly Trial version: 60 days | Price: $19.99 monthly Trial version: NA |
| Visit Site >> | Visit Site >> | Visit Site >> | Visit Site >> |
Scalability of Voice Over IP Tool
To know the scalability of the tool you should evaluate the potential future state through a couple of points as shown below:
- Are the phone trees required?
- The requirement for IVR.
- Are multiple extensions required?
- Can you expand at any time?
- Availability of Mobile apps, etc.
Few More Tips For Tool Selection
While selecting a solution for your business you should also consider Features & Functionality, Third-party integration and UCaaS, Customer support, Security measures (Calls are encrypted, services in case of a security issue, proactiveness about security updates, etc.), and their emergency support services.
List of the Best VoIP Software
Some of the most popular VoIP tools are listed below:
- Talkroute
- RingCentral
- Brevo
- SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager
- Ooma
- Vonage
- CloudTalk
- Dialpad
- 8×8
- ZoiPer
- Skype
- Ekiga
- Jitsi
- MicroSIP
- TeamSpeak
- Twinkle
- Viber
Comparison of the Top VoIP Tools
| VoIP | Deployment | Video Conferencing | Business Texting | Encryption | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Talkroute | On-premise, cloud-hosted | Yes | Yes | Yes | Starts at $19/month |
| RingCentral | Cloud-based | Yes | Yes | Yes | Essentials plan: $19.99/user/month, Standard Plan: $27.99/user/month, Premium Plan: $34.99 /user/month, Ultimate plan: $49.99 /user/month |
Brevo | Cloud-based | — | — | Yes | Free to use. The pro plan costs $19. |
SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager | — | — | — | — | Starts at $1746. |
Ooma | Cloud-based | Yes | Yes | Yes | It starts at $19.95/ user/ month. |
| Vonage | Cloud-hosted, On-Premise. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mobile plan: $19.99/month, Premium: 29.99/month, Advanced: 39.99/month. |
CloudTalk | Cloud-based | Conference call feature available. | Yes | Yes | It starts at $20/user/month & billed annually. |
Dialpad | Cloud-based | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free for video conferencing. Price starts at $15/user/month. |
8×8 | Cloud-based. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Express: $12/user/month. X Series X2: $25/user/month. X Series X4: $45/user/month, etc. |
ZoiPer | On-premise, cloud-hosted. | Yes | — | Yes | $43.97 Per-user & unlimited licensing options for SDK. |
Skype | Cloud-based. | Yes, up to 50 people. | Yes | Yes | Free plan available. US: $3.59/month for international calling. |
Jitsi | Installed on PC. | Yes | — | — | Free and open source. |
Let’s Explore!!
#1) Talkroute
Best for small to large businesses.
Price: Talkroute offers the following subscription plans:
- Basic: $19/month
- Plus: $39/month
- Pro: $59/month
- Custom enterprise plan
Talkroute is a phenomenal VoIP platform that’ll help you talk, meet, and message via a single smartphone or computer device. It will turn any smartphone or desktop into a robust virtual phone system with a plethora of invaluable capabilities. You can use this software to easily make or receive calls over the Internet.
Just like calling, you can also use Talkroute to send and receive text messages over the internet. Talkroute also excels in the video conferencing department as it lets you hold meetings with up to 100 participants. The actual phone system is also highly customizable. You’ll have no issue configuring call routing, schedules, and other key facets of the system as you deem fit.
Features:
- Unlimited calling
- Text messaging
- Video Meetings
- Call forwarding and routing
- Advanced Reporting
Verdict: With Talkroute, you get an easy-to-use virtual phone system that’ll make communication convenient over the internet via your smartphone or desktop devices. Available as a web-based, mobile app, and desktop tool, this is definitely one of the finest VoIP systems out there today.
#2) RingCentral
Best for Small to Large Businesses.
Price: Essentials plan: $19.99 per user per month, Standard Plan: $27.99 per user per month, Premium Plan: $34.99 per user per month, Ultimate plan: $49.99 per user per month. A 21-day free trial is also available.
RingCentral is a cloud-based business communication system that offers a ton of intuitive features to make communication across teams and departments as seamless as possible. You get one platform that unifies all core aspects of communication, including messaging, calling, and video conferencing.
RingCentral also supports strong integration and can easily integrate with tons of existing apps of your organization such as Salesforce, Hubspot, etc. Another aspect that people really like about RingCentral is the AI-powered contact center. This feature allows businesses to provide customers with a top-notch omnichannel communication experience across multiple devices.
Features:
- Cloud-based phone system
- AI-Powered Contact Center
- HD Video Meetings
- Unlimited Team Messaging
- Strong Integrations and API
Verdict: Feature-rich and easy to deploy, RingCentral is a VoIP solution that we can confidently recommend to businesses of all sizes. The software is phenomenal at simplifying communication across teams and department at a reasonable price.
#3) Brevo
Best for Small and Large Businesses.
Price: Free to create a phone number. The paid pro plan will cost you $19.
With Brevo, you basically get a cloud-based phone system that’s ideal for businesses. The platform grants you the privilege of creating a business phone number online without charging a dime. Alternatively, you can also port your existing phone number with just a few easy clicks.
Brevo features an intuitive and clean dashboard, which gives you a 360 degree view of all your contacts. All of your lead and contact information is available to you in one place. The platform also automatically updates your calling history as well as contact information.
Features:
- Get international phone numbers
- Port your existing numbers
- Call recordings
- Set customizable welcome message
- Voicemail transcriptions
Verdict: Brevo offers you everything you need to set-up a robust phone system that caters to your local and international customers. The perfect call quality, 360 degree contact view, and a ton of advanced calling features make this one of the best phone systems that you can opt to empower your business.
#4) SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager
Best for medium to large-size businesses.
Pricing: The price for VoIP & Network Quality Manager starts at $1746. It offers a fully functional free trial for 30 days.
SolarWinds provides a VoIP monitoring software, VoIP & Network Quality Manager. It will provide deep critical call QoS metrics and WAN performance insights. It can perform real-time WAN monitoring and will help you with troubleshooting VoIP call quality problems.
It provides a visual VoIP call path trace. It can perform the monitoring of the Cisco VoIP gateway & PRI trunk and Cisco SIP & CUBE trunk monitoring. The tool simplifies the IP SLA setup.
Features:
- Real-time WAN monitoring will help you to make sure that the WAN circuits are performing as expected by using Cisco IP SLA metrics, synthetic traffic testing, and custom performance threshold and alerts.
- It provides the facility to plan and measure voice quality in advance for new VoIP deployments.
- It can provide valuable information like status, health, and utilization of SIP trunks & CUBE trunks, and audio & video call activity.
Verdict: SolarWinds provides this solution to monitor, alert, and troubleshoot VoIP and network quality issues. You will be able to gain deep insights into QoS metrics for gauging call quality.
Download SolarWinds VoIP Tool for Free >>
#5) Ooma
Best for customizable solutions for businesses of any size.
Pricing: Ooma offers two service plans i.e. Ooma Office ($19.95 per user per month) and Ooma Office Pro ($24 per user per month).
Ooma offers phone, video, and messaging solutions. These solutions are customizable for businesses of any size. It also has residential solutions like internet service and smart security solutions.
The various business solutions available with Ooma are small business phone systems, enterprise communications, POTS replacement, internet service, and managed Wi-Fi.
Ooma offers several functionalities like ring groups that make enabling callers to reach a group of extensions easier and multi-ring that enables the business phone number to ring your office phone, mobile app, etc.
Features:
- Ooma has features for video conferencing.
- Its virtual receptionist functionality helps with automating the management of incoming calls.
- It has enhanced call blocking capabilities.
- It contains many more functionalities like call recording.
Verdict: Ooma offers a desktop as well as a mobile app that makes the solutions accessible from the computer and by on-the-go workers. With the pro version, it offers several advanced features like voicemail transcription. It contains more than 35 features that keep everyone connected and working together seamlessly.
#6) Vonage
Best for Small to Large-Sized Businesses.
Pricing:
Mobile plan: $19.99/month/line
Premium: 29.99/month/line
Advanced: 39.99/month/line
With Vonage, you get an all-in-one VoIP service that is both simple and affordable. The best thing about their software is its scalability. You can continue to add extra features to best suit the needs of your growing business. This also makes it one of the best VoIP solutions out there for small businesses.
Another thing that is impressive about Vonage is the high-definition voice quality you can enjoy as a user. In addition, Vonage boasts its own carrier-grade network that connects to several major networks all across the globe and some popular carriers in the US. This allows you to talk directly over the phone with anyone you wish with immaculate voice clarity.
Features:
- Unlimited call quality, texting, messaging
- Block Caller ID
- AI Virtual Assistant
- Comprehensive Admin System
- Call conferencing
Verdict: Vonage offers a VoIP solution that we would recommend to businesses that just desire simple communication and collaborative action from their business phone system. It’s simple, affordable and scalable. As such, it has our highest recommendation.
#7) CloudTalk
Best for small to large businesses.
Pricing: It offers 3 plans as well as a custom enterprise plan. Prices are based on the number of seats and features. Monthly and annual plans with a 30% discount are available. Plans starting at only $20/month.
CloudTalk is a remote-ready business VoIP phone system for sales and customer service teams anywhere in the world. It helps the sales team dial faster and close more deals by automating the dialing process as well as customer service teams to keep customer satisfaction high by handling more calls with smart routing and IVR.
Connect CloudTalk to the business tools you love. CloudTalk helps businesses keep data synced by offering native integrations with CRMs, Helpdesks, Shopping carts as well as Zapier and API. CloudTalk seamlessly integrates with over 50+ business tools.
Features:
- VoIP
- Power dialer with scripts and surveys, Smart dialer, and Click-to-Call.
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) with Drag and Drop builder.
- Inbound call distribution and outbound dialing.
- SMS/Text messaging with templates.
- 50+ Integrations with CRMs (Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive & more) as well as Helpdesks (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Zoho, ..) and Zapier + API.
- It has functionalities for agent scripting, voice mail, call conferencing, and toll-free numbers.
- CloudTalk offers local phone numbers from 140+ countries (toll-free as well).
Verdict: CloudTalk provides cloud-based phone software that is super fast to deploy and set up even for a non-tech person. It lets you set up an online call center with all the bells and whistles from anywhere in the world while maintaining a local presence with national phone numbers.
It is GDPR and PCI compliant, has 99.99% uptime and great call quality ratings by customers. Pricing is very SMB friendly with plans starting at $20/month.
#8) Dialpad
Best for small to large businesses.
Pricing: It offers a free trial for 14 days. Its unlimited video conferencing is available for free. It offers flexible pricing plans for different modules, Business Phone System (Starts at $15/user/month), Video Conferencing (Free & $15/user/month), Contact Center (Get a quote), and Sales Dialer ($95/agent/month).
Dialpad is a VoIP platform that is powered by AI. It can analyze sentiment, take notes, etc. It can be integrated with several applications that will help you with knowledge about meetings, shared documents, etc. The solutions available with Dialpad are Business Phone System, Video Conferencing, Contact Center, and Sales Dialer.
Features:
- Dialpad makes use of the latest VoIP technology to provide crystal clear voice calling.
- It offers the features of business messaging over all connected devices such as SMS and MMS texts, and group messages.
- Its online meetings functionality will let you launch a conference call and send invites to participants on any device.
Verdict: Dialpad is easy to use and provides seamless transfer between devices. It will let you record calls, mute them, and put them on hold. It is accessible on any device, anywhere.
#9) 8×8
Best for small to medium-sized businesses.
Pricing: 8×8 has five pricing plans i.e. 8×8 Express ($12 per month per user), X Series X2 ($25 per month per user), X Series X4 ($45 per month per user), X Series X6 ($110 per month per user), X Series X8 ($172 per month per user). It offers a free trial of 30 days for the 8×8 Express plan.
8×8 has solutions to the Cloud Business Phone system, Cloud Contact Center, and Video Conferencing. It has features for call recordings, cross-platform team messaging, and enterprise-grade security. It will allow you to share the screen with HD video conferencing.
Features:
- 8×8 Express plan provides unlimited calling within the US and Canada.
- X Series X2 will allow unlimited calling within 14 countries.
- X Series X4 will allow unlimited calling within 47 Countries.
- X Series X6 will also allow unlimited calling within 47 countries.
Verdict: It provides mobile and desktop apps. It offers the features of Single Sign-On and personal call analytics. The platform has good reviews for its functionalities, easy-to-use interface, and mobile app.
#10) ZoiPer
Best for small to large businesses and individuals.
Price: ZoiPer is available for $43.97. It also offers a free version with limited functionalities like c2 voice calls, etc. For SDK, it offers flexible licensing options, for per-user or unlimited persons.
ZoiPer provides VoIP softphone. It supports Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. ZoiPer also provides the SDK that will the complete SIP tools package. It will give you access to ZoiPer’s core libraries. This SDK will help developers with voice & video calling, instant messaging, etc.
Features:
- ZoiPer will give you quality audio even if you have older hardware.
- It provides compatibility with most of the VoIP service providers and PBXs.
- The new version of ZoiPer i.e. ZoiPer 5 has the features of an intuitive interface, contacts, video, click 2 dial and encryption.
Verdict: As ZoiPer is built-in oldsk001 C/C++ and assembly there will be low memory and CPU usage. ZoiPer softphone solution can be used by service providers, call centers, VoIP integrators, etc.
#11) Skype
Best for small to large businesses and freelancers.
Price: Skype offers a free plan. For international calling, it has calling options for US ($3.59 per month), India ($9.59 per month), and North America ($8.39 per month).
Skype Web will help you to connect with people from anywhere. You can make calls to mobiles and landlines. It provides the facility to send text messages anytime, anywhere. It provides end-to-end encryption to help you keep your sensitive conversations private.
Skype can be used on Phone, Desktop, and Tablet. It also supports Alexa and Xbox. It has affordable international calling rates.
Features:
- It has features to help you hold an interview on Skype.
- The gallery feature will keep all the files, links, and photos separately for a particular contact.
- Skype can provide the local phone numbers for 26 countries.
- It has the feature of live subtitles.
- It has the functionality to record the call that will allow you to capture special moments.
Verdict: Skype will allow audio and HD video calling and has features of smart messaging. It will also allow you to share the screen.
#12) Ekiga
Price: Ekiga is a free and open-source tool.
Ekiga is a free and open-source tool that has functionalities for Softphone, Video conferencing, and Instant messenger. It supports Windows and Linux platforms. It has a GUI, hence it will be easier to use. You can make audio and video calls for free.
Features:
- It will allow you to make audio and video calls to landlines and cell phones.
- It provides HD sound and DVD quality for videos.
- It will allow you to send SMS to cell phones if it is supported by the service provider.
- It supports standard telephony features like call hold, call forwarding, etc.
Verdict: Ekiga is tested with various softphones, handphones, PBX, and service providers. It has the features of SIP Compliant, H.323v4 Compliant, and SIP dialog-info notifications.
#13) Jitsi
Best for small to large businesses.
Price: Jitsi is a free and open-source tool.
Jitsi is a collection of open-source projects that provide you functionalities for video conferencing for web and mobile. Advanced video routing concepts such as simulcast, bandwidth estimations, scalable video coding, etc. are supported by Jitsi.
Features:
- Jitsi-video bridge is a multiuser video XMPP server component.
- Jibri supports Jitsi Meet for recording and live streaming.
- libJitsi is a Java Media Library that can be used for secure audio and video communication.
- Jitsi Desktop is a legacy SIP and XMPP user agent.
Verdict: Jitsi-meet can be used for video conferencing. It will give you a secure, simple, and scalable solution.
#14) MicroSIP
Best for small to large businesses.
Price: It is a free and open-source tool.
MicroSIP is a SIP softphone. It supports Windows OS. It is based on the PJSIP. Person-to-person calls will be free with this open-source tool. The calls will be done through the open SIP protocol.
Features:
- It will allow you to make high-quality VoIP calls.
- You can call person-to-person or on regular telephones.
- It offers international calls at a cheap rate.
- It can be used for functions such as voice, video, simple messaging, etc.
- It has compatibility with SIP standards.
Verdict: As MicroSIP is written in C and C++, there will be minimal possible system resource usage. RAM usage will be less than 5MB. For the voice quality, it supports best voice codecs like Opus@24kHz, G.711 A-Law (PCMA), etc.
#15) TeamSpeak
Best for gamers.
Price: TeamSpeak has three licensing options i.e. Free Server License, Gamer License, and Commercial License (Get a quote). The price will be based on the number of server slots required and the virtual servers. For 64 slots & 1 virtual server cost will be $55, 128 slots & 2 virtual servers cost will be $100, etc.
TeamSpeak is the VoIP platform for Online Gaming. It will allow you to host your own private server. It has a Mobile App and SDK. With TeamSpeak, the resource usage will be lowest when compared to other VoIP software. It provides 3D surround sound.
Features:
- It provides military-grade encryption and advanced permission controls.
- It supports Codecs CELT, Speex, and Opus.
- It provides the facility of direct messaging and unlimited file transfer.
- It supports Gamepad and Joystick.
Verdict: TeamSpeak gives you full control through advanced permission controls like who can talk, who can join channels, etc. It provides offline mode or LAN functionality. It can be used on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS devices.
#16) Twinkle
Best for Linux users.
Price: Twinkle is free.
Twinkle is a softphone for Linux OS. It can be used for VoIP and instant messaging communications through SIP protocol. It is useful for the direct IP phone to IP phone communication or to route your calls and messages in a network through a SIP proxy.
Open Sound System (OSS) and Advanced Linux Sound Architecture are the two audio drivers that are supported by Twinkle.
Features:
- It provides security features like identity hiding, secure voice communication like ZRTP/SRTP, and AKAv1-MD5 digest authentication support for all SIP requests.
- It will allow you a 3-way conference calling.
- It has features like note, call direction for multiple possibilities, call transfer with consultation, call reject, DND, etc.
- It supports user-definable scripts triggered on the call events.
Verdict: You will get basic instant messaging capabilities such as sending and receiving plain text messages. Twinkle supports various audio codecs like G.711 A-law and provides AGC, Noise reduction, VAD, and AEC processing.
#17) Viber
Best for small to large businesses and freelancers.
Price: Viber offers the plan to make unlimited worldwide calls for $8.99 per month. It also offers a free plan.
Viber is an application that has the functionalities for VoIP and instant messaging. It will allow you to make calls and messages to anyone from anywhere. It has various features for calling and messaging. It supports cross-platform. You can make audio and video calls with Viber.
Features:
- It has the functionality for group chats.
- It provides a lot of stickers and GIFs to express your thoughts.
- You can send instant voice and video messages using Viber.
- It will allow you to send photos and videos.
- Viber will allow you to share videos, music, etc. in chats.
Verdict: Viber has advanced security features like end-to-end encryption and verifying the identity of a person you are chatting with. It has business solutions like ads, communities, commerce, business messages, and promotional stickers.
Also Read => Delete Your Skype Account
#18) HotTelecom
Best for small business enterprises and personal use. If you are working with the call centers, marketing, sales, and transportation industries and looking for service for global communication, then HotTelecom is your choice
Pricing: It is a good choice for VoIP service. Its pricing options include i.e. virtual numbers (starts from $5 per month), toll-free numbers (starts from $7 per month), and virtual PBX (starts from $15 per month). Contact them for more pricing options.
HotTelecom is a VoIP provider that is ideal for businesses working on a tight budget. It’s a one-stop-shop for the virtual number with a wide range of directions, services, and the perfect sound quality. HotTelecom services can be used for call forwarding to any devices worldwide.
Features
- Wide coverage with phone numbers of 100+ countries.
- Quick and responsive client support.
- Setup within 24 hours of Cloud PBX service with a wide range of features for your business.
Verdict: Product is good for call forwarding due to the widest database of phone numbers in 100+ countries and budget-friendly prices.
HotTelecom offers flexible pricing options that can be used by any kind of business, starting from small businesses (one-man band) and up to enterprise level. It is also easy to use with a simple account registration process.
#19) 3CX
Best for Small and Large Businesses.
Price: 3CX can accommodate up to 10 users for free. The small business plan will cost you $175/system. Whereas the professional and enterprise plans will cost $145/system and $180/system respectively. All plans are billed annually.
3CX makes it to our list for the wide array of benefits it offers all types of businesses, regardless of scale. This communication and VoIP platform stands out because of its stunning user-interface that makes setting up phone lines and extensions appear as easy as a walk in the park. You get a web-based management console that makes the whole experience seamless for administrators.
3CX can scale to meet your needs. It can easily accommodate businesses with just a few employees to hundreds of users. Security is another area where this communication platform shines. You get robust encryption, firewall compatibility and regular system updates to address vulnerabilities. 3CX also integrates seamlessly with other third-party applications like Microsoft 365.
Features:
- Multi-Level IVR
- Video Conferencing
- Call and Chat Reporting
- Call Recording
- Skill-Based Routing
Verdict: With 3CX, you get a scalable, feature-rich, easy to-use, and cost-effective VoIP system. As such, we would recommend it to small, medium, and large enterprises who wish to significantly improve their communication and collaboration within and outside their organization.
Conclusion
VoIP software can be selected based on the reliability of the service and features. Also, make sure if there are any up-front or hidden costs. Sometimes free software may have hidden upsells. We have reviewed some of the top VoIP solutions in this article.
3CX provides solutions for call flow Designer, Contact Centre, Hotel PBX, and CRM integration. ZoiPer is a softphone that provides quality audio even on the older hardware.
8*8 VoIP solution has features of HD video conferencing, screen sharing, call recordings, etc. TeamSpeak is a VoIP platform for online gaming. Ekiga, Jitsi, and MicroSIP are free VoIP software.
Hope this article will help you select the right VoIP software for your business.
Research process:
- Time taken to research this article: 17 Hours.
- Total tools researched: 13
- Top tools shortlisted: 10