RingCentral vs. Dialpad: Which Phone System Is Better?

• RingCentral and Dialpad are two of the leading cloud-based business phone systems that support small business communications.
• RingCentral and Dialpad offer a unique mix of features and subscription plans that we'll highlight to help you determine which provider is the best fit for your small business.
• Our comparison will dive into the similarities and differences between RingCentral and Dialpad, highlighting each provider's pricing, features, and the information you need to select the best cloud-based communications system for your business.
• This article is for business owners choosing between RingCentral and Dialpad as their unified communications service provider.

Every modern business needs effective communication tools for phone calls, messages and video conferences. Today's business phone systems do more than connect phone calls; they also integrate with popular CRM tools and provide detailed analytics to help businesses make smarter decisions. However, identifying the best unified platform with the ideal mix of features can be a challenge when so many good choices are available. 

Two of the leading options for cloud-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone solutions are RingCentral and Dialpad. We'll compare the features between these two similar products so you can identify the best solution for your business communications needs.

RingCentral vs. Dialpad

Both RingCentral and Dialpad are effective unified communications platforms with a long list of features and tools. However, you'll want to consider the key differences between the two before making a purchase.

RingCentral: Who do we recommend it for?

RingCentral is a reliable cloud-based phone system with effective tools for calls, messages and video conferences. The company boasts an uptime of 99.999%, which equates to only 78 seconds of interruption per quarter.

RingCentral's core product is RingCentral MVP, which ranges in price from $19.99 to $49.99 per user per month if billed annually. RingCentral supports hundreds of meeting participants, hundreds of software integration and advanced features for monitoring calls in real time, whispering to your employees as they assist customers, and entering into conversations as needed.

We recommend RingCentral for businesses of any size looking for a powerful and collaborative phone system. Here are some of RingCentral's distinguishing features:

• The ability to host audio conferences with up to 1,000 participants
• Great mobile app for iOS and Android devices
• Your own implementation specialist 
• Pre-configured IP desk phones (optional)

Tip: Want to learn more about RingCentral? Read our full RingCentral review to see why we selected it as the best business phone system for collaboration.

Dialpad: Who do we recommend it for?

Dialpad is a cloud-hosted communications platform designed for team and customer interactions across phone, chat and video. The company's all-in-one business communications solution is available through three plans that range in price and features from $15 to $25 per user per month if billed annually. 

Dialpad's phone system offers extensive calling and routing features. Its artificial intelligence (AI) technology can transcribe meetings in real time, automate post-call summaries, detect customer sentiment, log action items, and create to-do lists. All of Dialpad's intelligent voice tools are designed to help companies make the most of every conversation and customer interaction. The company has contact center options with inbound and outbound support in addition to its outbound sales dialer offering.

We recommend Dialpad for small businesses that embrace new technology and place a strong emphasis on efficient systems. Here are some of Dialpad's most attractive features:

• Very fast setup
• The ability to take and flip calls with any device
• Powerful voice analytics and automation
• Automatic data backup and redundancy

Tip: Want to learn more about Dialpad? Read our full Dialpad review to see why we selected it as the best business phone for voice analytics.

Product and service comparisons

Take a quick look to understand where RingCentral and Dialpad are strongest when compared side by side. For the purpose of this chart, we assumed the role of a small or midsize business with an upper-tier plan from each provider.

Plans

• RingCentral: RingCentral MVP offers four plans – Essentials, Standard, Premium and Ultimate – that start at $19.99 per user per month. However, businesses with more than 20 user accounts must start with the Standard plan. According to RingCentral, its Premium plan offers the best value.
  
  
• Dialpad: Dialpad Business Communications is available in three plans – Standard, Pro and Enterprise – that start at $15 per user per month. Unlike RingCentral, Dialpad requires a minimum of 100 users for access to the top-tier Enterprise option, which adds an industry-leading guarantee of 100% uptime. According to Dialpad, the middle-tier Pro plan with a three-seat minimum offers the best value.

Winner: RingCentral offers more variety and customization in its subscription plans, and it does not impose minimum seat requirements for its top offering.

Pricing

• RingCentral: RingCentral MVP plans range in price from $19.99 to $49.99 per monthly user when billed annually. Monthly options are also available for an upcharge of 33%. Enterprise-level clients that purchase more than 100 licenses can receive an additional discount. RingCentral accepts debit cards and credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.
  
  
• Dialpad: Dialpad's two business communications plans are priced at $15 and $25 per user per month when billed annually. It does not list the price of its Enterprise plan, which requires a minimum of 100 licenses. Dialpad offers discounted rates for annual subscribers and accepts all major credit cards.

Winner: Dialpad's starting price and midlevel plans are both less expensive than similar offerings from RingCentral.

Features

• RingCentral: RingCentral MVP has every basic VoIP calling feature you'd expect, including local numbers, call screening, extensions, call forwarding, call flip and visual voicemail. It also provides advanced features from the analytics portal, such as quality-of-service reports, live reports and meeting dashboards. You can hold unlimited video conference calls with up to 200 people or audio conferencing with up to 1,000 participants.
  
  
• Dialpad: Dialpad offers great basic features for custom call routing, toll-free numbers, HD calls, device switching, custom IVR and visual voicemail. Its advanced features include automatic post-call notes, call transcripts and speech coaching. With Dialpad's voice intelligence software, you can automatically track keywords that come up, measure customer sentiment, and automate post-call summaries to better engage in conversations as they take place.

Source: Dialpad

Winner: It's a tie. Dialpad stands out with more advanced features that can help businesses make the most out of every meeting and customer interaction. However, RingCentral allows far more meeting participants and integrations that many businesses will find attractive.

Ease of use

• RingCentral: RingCental is considered easy to set up and use. Its mobile app for iOS and Android makes it easy to take calls, host meetings, message co-workers, set up conferences, and configure system settings from any device.
  
  
• Dialpad: With fast installation, one-click meetings, and built-in AI to take notes for you while you engage in the conversation, Dialpad takes ease of business communications to a whole new level.

Winner: You can get Dialpad up and running with new phone lines and department designations for an entire business in just a few minutes.

Integrations

• RingCentral: RingCentral has over 2,000 integrations. Its extensive app gallery features everything a business could expect, including Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Dubber, Kuando Busylight and Prodoscore. You can also build apps with RingCentral's application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits.
  
  

  

  Source: RingCentral

• Dialpad: Dialpad offers a solid selection of software integrations with popular business tools, including Slack, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, HubSpot and Zendesk. Its open API and Zappier integrations are also available to build feature-rich applications.

Winner: RingCentral's selection of software integrations is larger.

Support

• RingCentral: Customer support is available by chat or phone 24/7 for all but the entry-level Essentials plans. Most RingCentral plans also include professional implementation, with personalized services such as planning, designing, project management and ongoing support.
  
  
• Dialpad: Depending on which business communications plan you select, customer service is 24/5 to 24/7.

Winner: RingCentral's professional implementation specialists give it the edge here.

Employee self-service

• RingCentral: RingCentral has a robust resource center full of useful webinars, videos, case studies, whitepapers and other learning materials to help users maximize the communications tools.
  
  
• Dialpad: Dialpad has a comprehensive library of e-books, instructional videos, webinars, infographics, and other research to help users work better outside the office or gain a better understanding of unified communications as a service (UCaaS) jargon.

Winner: The two companies offer similar self-service and educational resources for employees.

Additional services

• RingCentral: RingCentral allows you to expand your system as needed with additional toll-free domestic and international numbers, vanity numbers, high-volume SMS, and room licenses for an extra monthly fee. RingCentral also has a free video meeting and messaging solution, as well as four contact center products.
  
  
• Dialpad: Toll-free numbers are available for $15 per month, plus 2 cents per minute. A fax number is also available with 100 pages per month, plus 10 cents per page for any overages. Dialpad also has a free video conference service, multiple contact center options and a powerful sales dialer for outbound calling.

Source: RingCentral

Winner: RingCentral has a slight edge over Dialpad, with more ways to customize and expand your communication system's capabilities.

RingCentral vs. Dialpad recap

Both RingCentral and Dialpad are solid choices for a unified communications platform to handle all of your calls, meetings and messages. However, these two companies do have enough variety in their features to make one of them a better fit for your business.

Choose RingCentral if any of the following are true:

• Your sales team wants to host large video webinars.
• You need to host audio calls with hundreds of people.
• You want automatic reports.
• Your office needs hot-desking capabilities.

Choose Dialpad if the following statements represent your needs:

• You want more engaging video meetings.
• You would like a quick recap of all your calls with important discussion points.
• You need to provide real-time coaching for your support agents.
• You want a tool that improves the more you use it.

FAQs

Does Dialpad have a free version?

Dialpad offers free video meetings with 10 participants for up to 45 minutes per meeting. While the free version is limited compared to the $15-per-month Business option, it still offers features such as call recording, screen sharing, HD audio and chat. The free version also integrates with Salesforce, Slack, Intercom, Evernote, HubSpot, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar.

Does RingCentral have a free version?

RingCentral has a free video conferencing and team messaging solution. RingCentral Video Pro allows you to host meetings with up to 100 participants for 24 hours per meeting. Its limited free service also includes 10 hours of call recording and the ability to store your meetings for up to seven days. Meeting participants can enjoy HD video and voice, virtual backdrops, closed captioning, and screen sharing.

Do RingCentral and Dialpad support desktop phones?

Analog desktop phones may require an adapter to function properly. Dialpad is compatible with certain Polycom and Obihai desk phones that you can purchase directly from the company and assign to user accounts. RingCental also sells pre-configured IP desk, cordless, receptionist and conference phones to fit every business need.