Best Cheap VoIP Providers: Lowest Cost Plans From Top Rated Cloud Phones

With the closure of the UK landline network on the horizon, cloud phone systems are set to become the norm. And for cost-conscious businesses, choosing the best cheap VoIP provider should be a priority during the transition to digital in 2027.

Below, we’ve ranked the best VoIP providers by how little they require you to pay for their cheapest plans, with costs starting from just £7 per user, per month. We’ve also included what other features you may need to purchase with each plan, where relevant, and how cheap it is to scale into a provider’s more comprehensive plans as your business grows.

1. bOnline: Cheapest VoIP Provider

Of all the VoIPs we’ve researched, bOnline stood out as the cheapest option for UK businesses with plans starting from just £7 per user, per month.

In other words, it’s highly competitive in terms of price, offering zero limits on user numbers, streamlined but robust call management and training features, and potential add-ons should you need them.

Here’s a summary of what bOnline could offer your operations, plus a quick run-down of the three plans bOnline offers:

What does bOnline do well?

All in all, bOnline scored excellently across our eight testing areas – particularly in terms of its communication channels and call management features.

Its communication tools include instant team messaging, video calling, and audio conferencing. You’ll have to go without e-fax or SMS support, but whether this is crucial to your business comms depends on your workflow.

As for its call management capabilities, bOnline again has all the key features covered. Custom call routing, call queues, and ring groups are included as standard, ideal for small customer service teams.

And with a cheaper Starter package than any other provider, it is a superb option to keep costs low. Even its Unlimited Calling plan is a cheaper option than all others for unlimited minutes per user.

Are there any downsides to bOnline?

While bOnline is the cheapest provider around, its low price is offset by a potential need for greater spending elsewhere.

Should you require call recording (with three years storage), HD video conferencing (with up to 24 participants) or CRM integration (via Hubspot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM and many others), you’ll need to pay £5 extra per month for each of them respectively.

That could total £15 per month more than you initially thought. However, on the bright side, it is possible to get these features with bOnline’s lowest-cost plan; on all other providers on this page, you need to purchase higher-cost plans outright to receive one or more of them.

Another main drawback of bOnline’s plans is that it is only compatible with Yealink brand phones, which could mean additional costs if your business needs to purchase new hardware. Its Unlimited Calling plan can have hardware included for £15.50 per user, per month, though this is another extra cost you may rather avoid.

bOnline also lacks some advanced security features, such as multi-factor authentication, and user access controls of more secure providers like Google Voice. Plus, it misses out on some more advanced features entirely, which may be a concern for businesses looking at long-term scalability.

Who is bOnline best suited to?

bOnline is best suited to small businesses and startups that are primarily concerned with achieving low cost and basic functionality. Its affordability makes it an ideal choice for new businesses establishing their first telephone system, especially when advanced features and scalability are not immediate priorities.

Given the cost of its add-ons, it might not be a long-term option for certain businesses. Specifically, if you expect or hope to be regularly calling internationally, use CRM integrations, conduct video calls or require call recording, then bOnline could become a comparatively expensive provider in the future.

2. NBC Cloud Voice: Best Cheap VoIP For a Small Business

NBC Cloud Voice is marketed as a budget-friendly solution for communications businesses and we have found no reason to disagree.

In fact, we think it’s an excellent choice for small businesses based in the UK since it offers unlimited calling time under its Enterprise and Mobility plans, making it a cost-effective choice for businesses dealing with ballooning call volumes.

Here’s a summary of what NBC offers alongside the price point of its various plans.

What does NBC Cloud Voice do well?

NBC’s cheapest plan Call Centre Basic costs a reasonable £10 per user, per month – the same as the cheapest plans by Google Voice and Vonage (but more than bOnline). It offers the basic features you need for call management, including HD voice, extension dialling, holding (with hold music), call forwarding, voicemail and voicemail to email.

You can get more advanced call management tools via NBC like custom call routing, call queues, call reporting and hunt groups – however, that’s only part of the Enterprise plan (£18 per user, per month) and above. You’ll also need this plan for team video and audio conferencing, number porting, messaging and alternative numbers, as well as training and support.

NBC’s Enterprise and Mobility (£25 per user per month) plans are nearly identical, with both offering unlimited calling, so we reckon the Enterprise plan could be better value for many businesses that don’t need desk phones or a mobile app.

Are there any downsides to NBC?

Unlike bOnline’s cheapest plan, you don’t get call routing on Call Centre Basic. Meanwhile, Google Voice’s Starter plan has many more features for a similar cost including multi-level auto attendant, ring groups, and text messaging records.

You’ll also need to pay between £2 and £5 per month each for call recording and storage, an AI auto-attendant, calling international numbers or its own-brand handsets.

Meanwhile, NBC’s Cloud Voice plans all miss out on CRM integrations and the advanced training features some of our favourite VoIPs offer (albeit, for greater cost). That means, if you think your business will need them in the future, you will have to change providers to achieve it.

Who is NBC best suited to?

For a simple, low-cost solution that can handle high call volumes, NBC Cloud Voice is a superb VoIP solution. You’ll have to live without many advanced features, but its affordability and straightforward usability should appeal to smaller companies on tight budgets requiring just the core VoIP service: advanced communication tools.

The lack of CRM integrations and advanced training tools could hinder businesses looking to expand or enhance customer service capabilities. As such, NBC might be less suitable for organisations that need a more comprehensive system to support growth and customer interaction.

3. Google Voice: Best Cheap VoIP With an Online Workspace

For users already invested in the Google Workspace ecosystem, or want an online workspace to connect with their VoIP system, Google Voice is an obvious choice.

It offers free calls to the US from any country, which can be highly cost-effective for businesses operating on an international scale. And there are plenty of other perks too, albeit with some drawbacks thrown in there depending on your business needs.

Here’s a summary of what Google Voice can offer your business, as well as the prices of each Google Voice plan.

*Google Voice pricing structure uses USD ($), however, we have converted these values to British Pounds (£) for ease of comparison. Pricing correct as of August 2024.

How much is Google Voice with Google Workspace?

While the above prices for Google Voice plans are correct, since Google Voice is an add-on on top of Google Workspace, you need to purchase a Google Workspace license to use it.

Depending on your business needs, this can be a convenient integration, since you’ll have access to all Google-related tools, including Google Docs and Slides, and get your own Business Gmail account.

Being integrated into the Google System for all your operations is incredibly secure, too. Its international expertise puts it above all the VoIP competition in this area according to our research, with advanced security controls and compliance features.

Namely, Google Vault – its cloud-based tool to manage and retain data in Google Workspace and via other Google apps – keeps all your documents and other important information locked away with class-leading encryption, and only shareable at your behest.

Meanwhile, Google Voice also supplies end-to-end encryption to keep the content of your calls private specifically. Plus the whole system has multi-factor authentication, requiring users to verify their identity through passwords, fingerprints, SMS codes or the Google authentication app.

If your business isn’t already using Google Workspace, here’s a quick look at the pricing for the three cheapest plans and what each offers. And unlike Google Voice, there is a specific pricing structure in British Pounds (£) for UK businesses:

After you’ve purchased Google Workspace, you can then get Google Voice. As explained three Google Voice plans —Starter, Standard, and Premier — include unlimited calls between Google Voice numbers and to the US from any Google Voice number, as well as full integration with Google Services including Google Calendar and Google Meet.

Each can be accessed via Android/iOS mobile and web applications, has 24/7 support for any problems and core call management features such as multi-level auto attendant, ring groups and desk phone/ATA support.

Consequently, the cheapest the whole Google (Workspace + Voice) package could be is around £13 per month.

That’s not the cheapest price on this page, however, it is not far off and betters the functionality of many similarly priced plans. For instance, it beats NBC with an additional multi-level auto attendant, ring group functionality, and text messaging records on Google Starter. Similarly, it offers video conferencing built into the cost, unlike bOnline.

Are there any downsides to Google Voice?

Depending on your business needs, a potentially major disadvantage to Google Voice is its inherent Google integration. While this brings with it upsides, as explained above, the downside is you cannot integrate any third-party software. Businesses that regularly use CRM tools, or need to integrate any non-Google software, will need to look elsewhere.

Similarly, it has next to no training features compared to other providers. It does have call recording and basic analytics to harness but lags behind the likes of bOnline and Vonage due to a lack of call monitoring, whisper, and barge functionality. Still, these basics it does have are more advanced than RingCentral Standard’s low-cast plan, which reserves training tools for higher price tags.

Who is Google Voice best suited to?

Since you need a Google Workspace subscription to utilise Google Voice, we would only recommend businesses already using Google Workspace to pick up Google Voice as their VoIP provider.

For those that are, integrating both services can be a cost-effective solution, offering more features per pound of spend than many other options. Meanwhile, its robust and largely unmatched spam prevention features make it a standout choice for companies facing frequent spam calls.

Similarly, given its superb security features, Google is a top option for businesses in heavily regulated industries where privacy is a must, such as healthcare and finance.

RingCentral: Best Value VoIP Provider

For businesses not looking for the cheapest plans around, RingCentral is our top-rated VoIP provider.

As a VoIP provider, we found it offers more features and value for money than any other option we’ve tested. Many of these advanced tools are only available on its higher cost plans, but it does still offer packages from £12.99 per user, per month, allowing you to upgrade later on, and you can test each of its plans for free via a trial period.

Here’s what else you need to know about RingCentral.

What does RingCentral do well?

While not the cheapest on the market, RingCentral’s pricing is competitive considering the extensive features and integrations it can provide.

Unlike bOnline’s cheapest plan, RingCentral’s lowest priced ‘Essentials’ package offers both mobile and desktop apps and 24/7 Customer Support as standard. Albeit, that still costs around £3 extra per user, per month.

Besides that cheap plan, RingCentral is a superb option for long-term scalability. That’s because we found its higher-cost Premium plan to be more comprehensive than any other similarly priced buy, earning it top-spot on our Best VoIP Providers roundup.

If and when your business is willing to spend its £25 per user, per month fee, you’ll be treated to the widest range of call management, communication, and training features we’ve found for the money.

Are there any downsides to RingCentral?

RingCentral’s lowest-cost plan isn’t our favourite choice when balancing cost and functionality, since many of its best features are locked away at higher price points.

You’ll need to pay for at least the Standard plan (£19.99 per user, per month) for software integrations with popular tools like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Slack. Standard is the minimum required for Multi-Level IVR, too.

And you’ll need to spend even more, via RingCentral Premium (£24.99 per user, per month), if you want to have CRM integration via the likes of Salesforce and Zendesk or training features like call barge or whisper functions.

And all its plans lack unlimited calling minutes, which might be a problem for call centre organisations or active staff calling teams.

Who is RingCentral best suited to?

RingCentral is best suited to organisations that require a robust all-in-one solution for their communication needs. Businesses will need to be willing to invest a bit more for greater quality and extensive features.

Its cheapest Essentials plan does only the basics, so we don’t think it offers amazing value compared to other providers.

Its Standard plan is likely to be more suitable for small to medium enterprises, especially if video conferencing (for over 200 people) and on-demand call recording are a must.

Still, that is more expensive than opting for bOnline‘s cheapest plan and purchasing these as add-ons (even if you do get other tools such as popular integrations and a multi-level IVR to compensate).

Ultimately, RingCentral is a VoIP provider for the long term. Its cheap plans are serviceable but don’t offer as much value for money compared to other providers like bOnline.

Instead, RingCentral’s most advanced features are part of its higher-tier plans. RingCentral Premium earned our number one pick of the best VoIP plans on the UK market for medium-sized businesses, and if your business can stick with RingCentral as you scale up to this plan – or you can afford it from the get-go – it’s the most comprehensive option around.

Vonage: Best Cheap VoIP For Calling Features

Vonage’s low entry price and comprehensive set of calling features as part of its entry-level plan make it an attractive low-cost telephone line for many small businesses.

While it isn’t as cheap as other VoIP providers, it does have greater scope for scaling up in the future, as Vonage has some of the most comprehensive features going (second only to RingCentral from options on this page).

Here are some more details about what Vonage can offer your business.

What does Vonage do well?

Costing £10 per user per month, Vonage Express (its cheapest plan) has a nearly identical cost to NBC and Google Voice. Although is £3 per user, per month more expensive than bOnline’s cheapest offering, we think it’s still solid value for money.

For that price, you’ll get use of a desktop and mobile app with over 30 calling features to use on a metered calling allowance. Those features include call reporting, screening, holding (with music on hold), parking, waiting, flipping, forwarding and blocking, plus voicemail to email.

Each user has a dynamic caller ID and can be tagged by other users into a call. While, you’ve also got a dashboard with basic analytics and call logs, plus an admin portal to set user permissions.

You can also hold Vonage Meetings (audio/video) and use a virtual receptionist to provide a suitable user journey for those who ring your business. However, these tools are only available on the Core plan, which costs £18 per user, per month.

You must purchase a minimum of five users for Vonage Express, though on its other plans, you can purchase just a single user if you wish.

Are there any drawbacks to Vonage?

Like RingCentral, some of Vonage’s more advanced features are locked away at a higher price point than its cheapest Express plan.

Call management tools for recording, monitoring, queuing, groups and receptionist features only come into play in its Pro plan (£20 per user, per month) too. Meanwhile, you can only get CRM integrations on its Max plan (£25 per user, per month)Vonage has limited integration with CRM and Helpdesk software on its lowest-priced plans.

Meanwhile, to get unlimited minutes, you’ll need to pay around £5 more than bOnline.

All this might deter small businesses looking to integrate their communication systems more fully with other business operations, and potentially limiting its overall value for those needing more than basic call functionality.

Who is Vonage best suited to?

Like NBC, Vonage should appeal to small businesses after low-cost monthly fees, while still receiving a robust suite of calling features.

Its pricing structure makes it attractive for businesses looking to streamline internal communications without significant investment in integrated software solutions offered by more all-around VoIP providers like RingCentral and 8×8.

A lack of receptionist and call handling tools at its two cheapest plans means call centre operations may want to look elsewhere, however. Likewise, businesses requiring integration with CRM and other software will need to stump up the money for its most expensive package.

How To Choose the Best Cheap VoIP Provider for Your Business

Above all, price is often the determining factor for businesses. As such, when picking the best VoIP for your needs, you need to consider the bottom line cost (or, the best value option for your specific business needs). This requires you to consider several different features:

1. Pricing Structures

Compare the pricing plans offered by different providers. We recommend you look beyond the initial cost per user and consider any additional fees for setup, equipment, or extra features that you require.

For instance, many of the providers we listed here either require additional payment or for your business to opt for a slightly higher-priced package for specific features, such as call recording or video conferencing.

2. Contract Terms and Lengths

It’s also worth considering how long you want to commit to a specific VoIP provider. Some providers may offer discounts for annual contracts, or three-year commitments in some instances.

We also recommend reviewing the terms of any contracts carefully, as you may find cancellation policies and contract renewal terms that bring unexpected costs in the future.

3. Trial Periods

Long contracts might not be preferential for a business looking to cut costs in the short-term, or for a first-time VoIP business looking to see what features work for them. However, you can often make use of free trial periods to check if a service is right for you.

Some VoIP providers offer money-back guarantees, too, if the trial is too limiting for your business needs.

4. Scalability, Integration and Compatability

Choosing one VoIP provider that could meet all your future business needs down the line, rather than chopping and changing your plans as required, can sometimes keep costs lower.

This is because you won’t have any of the costs of changing providers, such as any changeover fees, costs of adapting and integrating existing hardware or software with a specific VoIP, or losses in efficiency when you and your staff need to learn your VoIP system.

So, if a provider offers flexible plans or add-on features to accommodate an increasing number of users or additional functionalities as your business expands, it can be both an easier and more cost-effective solution for the long term.

Of course, this only applies to businesses that may need greater functionality in the future, with tools for CRM integration, analytics or advanced calling tools often reserved for higher price tags.

If your business isn’t likely to require any further tools down the line, sticking with the cheapest plan around shouldn’t pose any problems.

5. Features

Of course, price interacts with what features you need. Basic features like call forwarding, voicemail-to-email transcription, and mobile integration should come as standard.

However, as mentioned, many providers restrict their advanced features such as video conferencing, CRM integration, and call analytics, for certain plans. So, it’s worth considering what plan offers the best value for the functionality you need.

6. Customer Support

Quality customer support is crucial for resolving issues promptly as and when they arise. Look for providers that offer 24/7 support and multiple channels of communication such as phone, email, and live chat.

7. Security and Compliance

Since VoIP systems tend to handle sensitive business communications, robust security measures are essential – especially in certain sectors, such as healthcare. Verify that the provider implements encryption protocols and compliance with industry standards such as GDPR or HIPAA, depending on your business’s requirements.

How Did We Find The Cheapest VoIP Providers in the UK?

Selecting the cheapest VoIP providers saw the Expert Market team uncover the price point of each VoIP provider’s lowest cost plan, and rank them accordingly.

These plans have been thoroughly researched, tested and evaluated – do check out our best VoIP provider page for an in-depth look not focused on price-point – to be sure that each offers solid value for money.

This process typically consists of conducting market research to narrow down the software that’s worth digging into a little more and then assessing each against a range of research criteria.

Informed by readers and businesses we speak to regularly, we identified eight overarching assessment categories that we used to assess each VoIP provider, each with a different weighting:

Scoring criteria with respective weighting

• Call Management (25%): an analysis of a given platform’s call management features, including call routing functionality and the presence of a virtual receptionist.
• Communication Channels (20%): assessment of the tools available within a VoIP platform for internal communication, including team messaging, video conferencing, and SMS capabilities.
• Training Features (20%): the ability of the VoIP service to support the training of employees, from call review features like call recording and call data reporting, to live call coaching features like call barge or call whisper tools.
• Pricing (10%): the pricing structure associated with the VoIP service, such as monthly subscription fees, call rates, setup fees, and any additional charges for add-on features or services.
• Software Integrations (10%): the VoIP service’s ability to connect and integrate with external software systems, such as integration varying CRM, helpdesk, and external video conferencing platforms.
• Hardware Integrations (5%): the ability of a VoIP service to integrate with different phone brands.
• Customer Support (5%): the extent of assistance and resources provided by the VoIP service provider to customers including technical support, online resources, and access to customer support representatives.
• Security Options (5%): the measures and features implemented by the VoIP service to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and protection of voice communications and data.