There are a lot of options out there when it comes to getting a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) system. Technology has come a long way in making calls clearer and more reliable. We compare two different VoIP systems, RingCentral and Google Voice, to help you decide which is the better option to fulfill your needs.
Featured Partners
1
RingCentral
$20 per user, per month (paid annually)
Yes
Yes
2
Zoom Phone
Starts at $10 per user, per month
Yes
Yes
3
Nextiva
$18.95 per user, per month
Yes
Yes
Google Voice vs. RingCentral: At a Glance
Whereas RingCentral is the luxury sedan of VoIP services, with a ton of extras, such as more than 200 integrations, Google Voice is the basic daily driver. It gets the job done effectively but doesn’t have all the extras that some business owners would expect with a VoIP provider. As such, the pricing of both systems is quite different.
RingCentral starts with the Essentials plan at $19.99 and goes as high as $69.99 per line, per month, if you pay on a monthly basis. Google Voice has individual plans for free and business plans starting at $10 per user, per month, going as high as $30 per user, per month.
Starting Price $20 per line per month (if billed annually)
Voice Mail to Text Yes
Toll-Free Numbers Yes
$20 per line per month (if billed annually)
Yes
Yes
RingCentral is a cloud-based platform that serves as a complete unified communications system for small businesses. It allows employees to communicate with the public easily with phone, fax, text and video chat services. RingCentral also helps teams better collaborate with group chats and messaging. The system is designed for expansion with more than 200 possible integrations that include Slack and CMS configurations. Because there is so much there, it can be challenging to navigate through the platform.RingCentral
Google Voice
Starting Price
Free
Voice Mail to Text
Yes
Toll-Free Numbers
No
Free
Yes
No
Google Voice is a cost-effective solution that integrates with Google’s suite of products including Google Calendar and Google Meet. Users can’t go wrong with one line for free, and the other business plans start as little as $10 per user per month. With the $20 per user per month plan, there are unlimited users who get extensive international calling capabilities. Google doesn’t charge for international calls to the U.S. One major downside to Google Voice is that you still need a primary phone line to connect through.
- Free calling to the U.S. from any country
- Google Meet integration
- Unlimited texting
- Limited integrations
- Quality can be problematic
- Need existing phone line
How RingCentral and Google Voice Stack Up
| RingCentral | Google Voice | |
|---|---|---|
|
Free Trial
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Unlimited Domestic Calls
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Team Messaging
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Video Conferencing
|
200 participants max
|
No video conferencing
|
|
Integrations
|
More than 200 integrations
|
Google Workspace
|
|
Uptime Service Level Agreement
|
100.00%
|
99.90%
|
|
Customer Support
|
24/7 phone and chat support
|
24/7 phone and chat support
|
As you can see, there are a lot of similarities between RingCentral and Google Voice with some key differences. RingCentral offers a free, 15-day trial while Google Voice has one line for free that users can try. Business plans on Google Voice don’t come with a free trial. Where the two platforms begin to differ is with video conferencing. Google Voice is only starting to roll out one-on-one video calls but currently doesn’t have video conferencing tied to the VoIP platform.
RingCentral will integrate with popular platforms such as Salesforce and Slack, while Google Voice only integrates with the Google Workspace suite, limiting its cross-work functions.
While both claim to have a 99% uptime guarantee, Google Voice is a bit convoluted in how it defines that. It only pays if there are 45 minutes of downtime in a month but it doesn’t count outages for less than 10 minutes. This can be confusing and frustrating if you’re having regular outages. We give RingCentral the edge when it comes to customer support as Google has typically lacked in support quality.
Bottom Line
RingCentral and Google Voice will both allow you to make unlimited domestic calls and texts. We prefer RingCentral for those who have complex business platforms and need teams and programs to communicate with ease. For those with international hubs calling the United States, Google Voice is the better solution with unlimited calls. However, when it comes to clarity and call quality, RingCentral is the clear winner.
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