Can I keep my phone numbers when I leave 8x8?

Yes, in most cases, by porting them to the new provider. In the US and Canada, porting depends on cooperation between carriers, and 8x8's terms let it charge a reasonable administrative fee for each port-out attempt. Outside those two countries, 8x8 has no obligation to port out a number if it would mean moving a larger block.

How do I cancel an 8x8 contract?

Send a notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before your current term ends; otherwise the agreement renews automatically for another twelve months. Check your order form for the term length first, because the service terms default to 36 months when the order does not name one, and you owe the full term.

Can I get out of 8x8 in the first month?

Yes, within 30 days of the start of the agreement, if the service does not meet your requirements. 8x8 then refunds unused prepaid service fees, and refunds equipment returned undamaged within 30 days, minus a $25 restocking fee per piece. Usage charges already incurred stay due.

Will 911 emergency calls still work after I switch?

Yes, cloud phone systems handle 911, but plan it before you port your numbers. GoTo Connect lists Emergency Calling (E911) on every plan, and 8x8's own terms make the customer place warning labels about the limitations or unavailability of 911 dialing on or near any equipment used at a US or Canada location. Ask the new provider how 911 works for remote and mobile users before you sign.

Can I use my existing desk phones with a new provider?

Often yes, if the phones are standard SIP devices that the new provider supports; ask for its compatible device list before buying. Check the plan too: at Vonage, desk phone support starts on Premium ($29.99 per line, $20.99 with the online discount), and the Mobile plan runs on the desktop and mobile apps.

Are international calls included in business phone plans?

Rarely: most plans include unlimited calling to the US and Canada and bill other countries separately. RingCentral limits unlimited calls to the US and Canada, Zoom Phone sells unlimited calling to more than 15 countries as a $10 monthly add-on, and GoTo Connect includes calling to more than 50 countries on every plan.

Do I have to register before sending business texts?

Yes, in the US business texting needs a registration, and providers pass its fees on. Vonage writes that Campaign Registry fees apply to mandatory business registration for SMS, and that SMS is not available in Mexico. Ask each provider whether that registration fee is included before you compare text allowances.

How long does it take to switch business phone providers?

Plan for two to four weeks: set up users and call flows, port the numbers, then run both systems side by side until the port completes. Free trials help you rehearse before signing, such as Dialpad Connect's 14-day trial. Start before your 8x8 renewal notice date.

8x8 Alternatives

Six business phone systems to replace <em>8x8</em>, compared on published prices, contract terms and support, and when 8x8 is still the right call.

RingCentral is the best 8x8 alternative in 2026 for most teams that run a real phone system: it publishes its prices (Core is $20 per user a month billed annually), handles multiple sites and adds a contact center when you need one. Dialpad suits teams that want AI transcripts and call summaries on every plan from $15, Nextiva small businesses that want calls, texts and video at the same entry price, Zoom Phone teams already on Zoom, GoTo Connect offices with desk phones and a need for 24/7 support, and Vonage small teams that buy per line.

8x8 is a capable cloud phone and contact center platform. People leave because it shows no prices on its website, its service terms default to a 36-month first term that renews by itself, and you can only cut licenses at renewal.

Romain CochardCEO of Hack'celeration

Updated 20266alternatives compared6comparison guides read2026prices checked

The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always flagged on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.

The honest take

Why teams look past 8x8

8x8 sells a cloud business phone system, often called UCaaS (unified communications as a service): each employee gets a number and an extension, calls go through the internet instead of a copper line, and the same app handles voicemail, call queues, team chat and video meetings. A contact center product sits on top for teams that answer customers all day.

Before comparing, know the unit you pay for. Almost every provider in this category charges per user (one seat, one extension) per month, with a lower rate when you commit for a year. Usage then adds up on top: toll-free minutes, text messages above an allowance, international calls, extra numbers. Here are the reasons buyers look past 8x8, each with the fact behind it.

Leaving RingCentral or Vonage instead? See our guides to switching from RingCentral and switching from Vonage, and our Dialpad alternatives.

You cannot price it without a sales call

8x8 does not display its prices on its website: you get a quote after a call with sales. That makes a side-by-side comparison slow. RingCentral, Dialpad, Nextiva, Zoom Phone and Vonage all publish a per-user price, from $10.50 a month for Zoom Phone Metered to $20 for RingCentral Core on an annual plan.

The first term defaults to 36 months

The 8x8 UCaaS and CCaaS service terms say you pay for the whole initial term named in your first order, or thirty-six months if the order names none. Read the order form line by line: three years is a long time to keep a phone system you are unsure about. RingCentral and Nextiva publish annual and month-to-month rates, and Vonage sells month to month at its standard rate or 30% cheaper online on a one-year contract.

You can only cut licenses at renewal

Under the same terms, reducing the number of licenses or moving to a cheaper tier only takes effect for a renewal term, with at least 45 days' notice before it starts. If you lose ten staff in month eight, you keep paying for their seats until renewal. Month-to-month plans at RingCentral ($30 for Core) or Nextiva ($23 for Core) avoid that trap, at a higher rate.

Renewal is automatic, and the price can rise

The agreement renews for twelve months unless one side gives notice at least 30 days before the term ends. At renewal, 8x8 may raise rates by up to 5%, or up to its list price with 60 days' notice. Put the notice date in your calendar the day you sign, whatever provider you pick.

Small teams pay for more than they use

8x8 is built for multi-site companies and contact centers, and its sales process follows that. A ten-person office that only needs numbers, voicemail and a mobile app can buy Nextiva Core or Dialpad Standard at $15 per user a month billed annually, or $150 a month for the whole team, without a quote.

Support complaints come back often

In 2026 user reviews, 8x8 customers describe email and ticket replies that take days or weeks, and monthly bills that kept coming after a cancellation 8x8 had confirmed. These are user reports, not a measured rate, but they recur. 8x8's own service terms promise standard support by web chat and phone during its normal business hours. GoTo Connect includes 24/7 support on every plan, and Dialpad from its Pro plan.

Best overall 8x8 replacement

RingCentral

4.2/5

Price fromRingEX Core $20, Advanced $25, Ultra $35 per user per month billed annually ($30, $35, $45 billed monthly); RingCX contact center from $65 per user

Free planNo

TrialDemo on request

Best forMulti-site companies of 20 to 500 people that want the same depth as 8x8, with prices they can read before a sales call.

RingCentral is the closest like-for-like replacement for 8x8. Its phone product, RingEX, gives every user a number, an extension, a desktop and mobile app, voicemail, call queues, team messaging and video meetings, and it adds a contact center, RingCX, for teams that take customer calls all day. Most 8x8 customers can rebuild their call flows here without losing a feature.

How the price reads against 8x8: you see it without asking. Core is $20 per user per month on an annual plan and $30 month to month; Advanced is $25 or $35 and adds multi-site features, more toll-free minutes and more texts; Ultra is $35 or $45. Its apps connect to automation tools too, as in our guide to RingCentral with Make. For 20 users, Core costs $400 a month on an annual plan or $600 month to month, so the annual commitment saves $2,400 a year. RingCX starts at $65 per user.

The catch is in the allowances. Core includes 100 toll-free minutes (Advanced 1,000, Ultra 10,000) and 25 text messages per user per month, and unlimited calling covers the US and Canada only. Extra toll-free minutes are sold on top. A support line with a toll-free number burns through 100 minutes fast, so price Advanced (1,000 toll-free minutes) if customers call you on an 800 number.

Standout features

Prices published for every RingEX plan
Contact center from $65 per user on the same platform
Multi-site features on Advanced

+Pros

✓Covers what 8x8 covers, phone, video and messaging, in one app
✓Month-to-month option at $30 for Core
✓Large catalog of integrations and AI add-ons

−Cons

✗Core includes only 100 toll-free minutes and 25 texts per user a month
✗Unlimited calls cover the US and Canada only
✗AI add-ons cost extra, from $39 for the AI receptionist

RingCentral vs 8x8

Criterion	RingCentral	8x8
Price shown online	Yes, from $20 per user	No, quote only
Contact center	RingCX from $65 per user	8x8 contact center, quote
Billing options	Annual or monthly	Term in your order

Verdict

Pick RingCentral if you need everything 8x8 does, on several sites, with a price you can model. If your team is under ten people and only needs calls and texts, Nextiva or Dialpad cost less.

Visit RingCentral →

Best for AI transcripts and call summaries

Dialpad

4.1/5

Price fromConnect Standard $15, Pro $25 per user per month billed annually ($27, $35 billed monthly); Enterprise on quote; Support (contact center) from $89 per user a month billed annually ($109 monthly)

Free planNo

Trial14-day free trial of Dialpad Connect

Best forSales and service teams of 5 to 200 people who want transcripts, summaries and call analytics without buying an AI add-on.

Dialpad is a cloud phone system built around its own speech recognition. Dialpad Connect, the business phone product, transcribes calls in real time, writes summaries with action items after each call and shows call analytics, all from the entry plan. It runs on desktop, mobile, tablets and desk phones, and sells a separate contact center (Dialpad Support) and sales dialer (Dialpad Sell).

How the price reads against 8x8: Standard is $15 per user per month on an annual plan ($27 month to month), Pro $25 ($35 month to month), and Enterprise is quoted. Ten users on Standard cost $150 a month on an annual plan, or $270 month to month. Pro adds the CRM integrations, 24/7 support and multi-office management that a company leaving 8x8 usually needs, so most will compare 8x8 with Dialpad Pro rather than Standard. The contact center starts at $89 per user a month on Support Essentials, billed annually ($109 month to month).

Where it differs: Dialpad puts AI on every call rather than in a paid add-on, which is its main draw for teams that review calls. It supports local numbers in more than 50 countries. The trade-off is support: 24/7 help starts on Pro, and Standard is a small-team plan.

Standout features

Live transcripts and AI call summaries on Standard
Local numbers in more than 50 countries
14-day free trial

+Pros

✓AI included instead of sold per feature
✓Low entry price at $15 per user on an annual plan
✓Clean apps on desktop and mobile

−Cons

✗24/7 support and CRM integrations start on Pro ($25)
✗Unlimited office locations only on Enterprise
✗Contact center is a separate product, from $89 per user billed annually

Dialpad vs 8x8

Criterion	Dialpad	8x8
Entry price	$15 per user, annual	Quote only
AI on calls	Transcripts and summaries included	Varies by plan, quote
Trial	14 days	Demo with sales

Verdict

Pick Dialpad if your team lives on calls and wants every one transcribed and summarized. If you need heavy multi-site routing or a contact center bundled with the phone system, RingCentral fits better. To push call data into your other apps, see our guide to Dialpad with Make.

Visit Dialpad →

Best for small businesses that want one price for calls, texts and video

Nextiva

4.1/5

Price fromNEXT Core $15, Engage $25, Scale $75 per user per month billed annually ($23, $50 billed monthly); annual price for 1 to 100 employees on a 12-month term

Free planNo

TrialDemo on request

Best forSmall businesses of 1 to 100 employees that want calls, texts, video and a shared inbox at a published price.

Nextiva sells its business phone system as part of the NEXT platform: voice and video calls, business text messages, team messaging and shared inboxes for customer conversations, with an AI agent, XBert, sold on top. For a small business leaving 8x8, it covers the phone system and adds a customer inbox that many small teams use in place of a help desk.

How the price reads against 8x8: NEXT Core is $15 per user per month on an annual plan, $23 month to month; Engage is $25 or $50 and adds live chat, 500 business texts per user and 2,000 toll-free inbound minutes; Scale is $75 for sales and service teams. Ten users on Core cost $150 a month on an annual plan or $230 month to month, a gap of $960 a year.

Read the condition behind the low rate. The annual small-business price applies to new customers with 1 to 100 employees who sign a paid term of 12 months or more. Above 100 employees that rate does not apply: Nextiva's enterprise plans start with Essential at $75 per agent a month, and Professional and Premium are quoted by sales. Two more lines to read: on Core, a toll-free number and toll-free inbound minutes are add-ons (Engage includes 2,000 minutes), and desk phones are billed as an add-on. XBert AI conversations are billed at $1.50 each, and the XBert AI Employee starts at $99 a month for packages from 100 conversations.

Standout features

Core includes unlimited voice and video and 100 business texts per user
Shared team inboxes for customer conversations
Published prices for 1 to 100 employees

+Pros

✓Same $15 entry price as Dialpad Standard
✓Monthly billing available on Core and Engage
✓Calls and customer messages in one platform

−Cons

✗Annual price needs a 12-month minimum term
✗Monthly Engage doubles to $50 per user
✗AI agent conversations cost $1.50 each

Nextiva vs 8x8

Criterion	Nextiva	8x8
Entry price	$15 per user, annual	Quote only
Term for the low rate	12 months	Order term, 36 months by default
Customer inbox	Shared inboxes from Core	Contact center product

Verdict

Pick Nextiva if you have fewer than 100 employees and want calls, texts and a customer inbox at a fixed price. If you run several sites with complex routing or need AI on every call, look at RingCentral or Dialpad. Our page on Nextiva with Zapier shows what you can automate, and our Nextiva alternatives list what else fits a small team.

Visit Nextiva →

Cheapest entry price for teams already on Zoom

Zoom Phone

3.9/5

Price fromUS & CA Metered $10.50, US & CA Unlimited $16, Pro Plus $20.50, Business Plus $24.50 per user per month, billed annually as a single upfront charge

Free planNo

TrialFree trial on Pro Plus

Best forTeams of 5 to 200 people that already use Zoom Meetings and want calls in the same app at the lowest entry price.

Zoom Phone is the cloud phone system inside Zoom Workplace. Users call, text and send faxes from the same app they use for meetings, and admins manage numbers, call queues and auto attendants in the same console as Zoom licenses. For a team whose day already runs on Zoom, it removes one app and one vendor.

How the price reads against 8x8: US & CA Metered is $10.50 per user per month (calls billed by the minute), US & CA Unlimited $16, and the bundles with Zoom Workplace are $20.50 for Pro Plus and $24.50 for Business Plus. Twenty users on Metered cost $210 a month. The phone plans include domestic texting and 50 pages of online fax per month, and Business Plus makes fax unlimited.

The trap is the billing. Zoom shows monthly rates for comparison, but all plans are billed annually as a single upfront charge. Twenty users on Unlimited means one invoice of $3,840 at signature. Unlimited international calling to more than 15 countries is a $10 monthly add-on, and each extra number costs $5 a month.

Standout features

Entry price from $10.50 per user (Metered)
Phone, meetings and chat in the Zoom app
Online fax included, 50 pages a month

+Pros

✓Cheap for teams that make few outbound calls
✓One admin console for meetings and phone
✓Bundles with Zoom Workplace from $20.50

−Cons

✗Billed annually, upfront, in one charge
✗International calling is a $10 monthly add-on
✗Metered plan bills calls by the minute

Zoom Phone vs 8x8

Criterion	Zoom Phone	8x8
Entry price	$10.50 per user, Metered	Quote only
Billing	Annual, one upfront charge	Term in your order
Meetings	Zoom Meetings in the same app	8x8 meetings

Verdict

Pick Zoom Phone if your team already pays for Zoom and wants the cheapest per-user phone line. If you need a contact center, deep routing or a monthly bill, RingCentral or Nextiva fit better.

Visit Zoom Phone →

Best for desk phones and 24/7 support

GoTo Connect

3.8/5

Price fromQuote only: Phone System, Customer Experience (CX), CX Complete and Contact Center plans priced by a sales representative

Free planNo

TrialDemo on request

Best forOffices and clinics of 20 to 500 people with desk phones, several sites and a need for support at any hour.

GoTo Connect, from the company behind GoTo Meeting and LogMeIn, is a cloud phone system with a strong hardware story: it works with desk phones as well as the softphone app, with hot desking, paging and intercom on every plan. Every plan includes unlimited auto attendants, ring groups and dial plans, multi-site management, 1,000 shared toll-free minutes and calling to more than 50 countries.

How the price reads against 8x8: the same way. GoTo Connect asks you to pick a plan and talk to a sales representative, so you will not escape the quote process by switching here. What you gain is 24/7 support on every plan, which is the first complaint of many 8x8 customers, and an upgrade path to a customer experience platform with WhatsApp, social channels, web chat and SMS campaigns.

Where it falls short: AI call summaries, transcripts and sentiment analysis are add-ons on the phone plan, and the shared contact limit on the base Phone System plan is 2,000. Ask for the add-on prices in writing before you compare quotes.

Standout features

24/7 support on every plan
1,000 shared toll-free minutes and calling to 50+ countries
Unlimited auto attendants, ring groups and dial plans

+Pros

✓Desk phone support, paging and intercom
✓Multi-site management included
✓Path to WhatsApp and social channels on CX plans

−Cons

✗No public price, quote only like 8x8
✗AI summaries and transcripts are add-ons on Phone System
✗Base plan limits shared contacts to 2,000

GoTo Connect vs 8x8

Criterion	GoTo Connect	8x8
Price shown online	No, quote only	No, quote only
Support	24/7 on every plan	Business hours by default in its terms
Toll-free minutes	1,000 shared	Quote

Verdict

Pick GoTo Connect if you run desk phones across several offices and want support at any hour. If you want to read a price before talking to sales, choose RingCentral, Dialpad or Nextiva instead.

Visit GoTo Connect →

Best per-line pricing for small teams

Vonage Business Communications

3.7/5

Price fromMobile $19.99, Premium $29.99, Advanced $39.99 per line per month; 30% off online ($13.99, $20.99, $27.99) on a 1-year contract, up to 99 lines

Free planNo

TrialDemo on request

Best forSmall businesses of 2 to 99 lines that buy online and want to pick features line by line.

Vonage Business Communications (VBC) is the business phone service of Vonage. It is sold per line in three plans: Mobile (desktop and mobile apps, unlimited domestic calling, texts and voicemail), Premium (adds VoIP desk phones, video meetings for up to 200 people, team messaging and single sign-on) and Advanced (adds 15 hours of on-demand call recording per month, visual voicemail with transcription and call groups). One local company number is included with online purchases.

How the price reads against 8x8: Mobile is $19.99 per line per month at the standard rate, Premium $29.99 and Advanced $39.99. Bought online, a 30% discount brings them to $13.99, $20.99 and $27.99, for up to 99 lines and on a minimum one-year contract; the same plans are sold month to month at the standard rate. The discount is not a first-year teaser: it runs for the life of the service, but it covers only the line charges, not add-ons or hardware. Ten Mobile lines cost $139.90 a month with the discount, against $199.90 without.

The trap is the exit. Cancelling during the contract term triggers early termination fees that can reach the total price of the contract: for ten discounted Mobile lines, up to $1,678.80 over a year.

Standout features

Plans sold per line, from $13.99 online
Video meetings for up to 200 people on Premium
15 hours of call recording a month on Advanced

+Pros

✓Clear three-plan ladder
✓One local number included online
✓App Center with third-party integrations

−Cons

✗Desk phones need Premium or above
✗Early termination fees up to the full contract price
✗Call recording capped at 15 hours a month

Vonage Business Communications vs 8x8

Criterion	Vonage Business Communications	8x8
Entry price	$13.99 per line online, 1-year contract	Quote only
Exit during term	Fees up to the contract total	Pay the remaining commitment
Desk phones	From Premium	Supported

Verdict

Pick Vonage if you are a small team that wants to buy online, per line, and keep things simple. If you might shrink within the year, take its monthly plan at the standard rate rather than the discounted contract; if you want AI on every call, Dialpad fits better.

Visit Vonage →

At a glance

6 8x8 alternatives compared

Scores are our editorial score out of 5, the plain average of five criteria: ease of use, value for money, calling features, AI and analytics, and support and terms. The last column says what each tool does better than 8x8 for the buyer it suits.

		Best for	Edge over 8x8			Free plan	Team size	Visit
1	RingCentral	Best overall 8x8 replacement	Prices public, contact center on the same platform	4.2/5	$20 per user billed annually, $30 monthly	—	20 to 500 users	Visit →
2	Dialpad	Best for AI transcripts and call summaries	AI transcripts and summaries on every plan	4.1/5	$15 per user billed annually	—	5 to 200 users	Visit →
3	Nextiva	Best for small businesses that want one price for calls, texts and video	Calls, texts and customer inbox from $15	4.1/5	$15 per user billed annually, $23 monthly	—	1 to 100 employees	Visit →
4	Zoom Phone	Cheapest entry price for teams already on Zoom	Low entry price, inside Zoom	3.9/5	$10.50 per user, billed annually upfront	—	Zoom customers	Visit →
5	GoTo Connect	Best for desk phones and 24/7 support	24/7 support and desk phones	3.8/5	Quote only	—	Multi-site offices	Visit →
6	Vonage Business Communications	Best per-line pricing for small teams	Per-line plans with 30% off online	3.7/5	$13.99 per line online, $19.99 standard	—	2 to 99 lines	Visit →

Prices in US dollars before taxes and regulatory fees, per user or per line per month, read on each vendor's pricing page in 2026.

Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com

Pick by your reason

You're leaving 8x8 because... take this

You want to see prices before a sales callRingCentral

Core $20 per user billed annually, every plan public.

You want every call transcribed and summarizedDialpad

AI transcripts and recaps from Standard, $15 per user.

You are under 100 employees and want texts and a customer inboxNextiva

NEXT Core $15 per user on a 12-month term.

Your team already runs on ZoomZoom Phone

From $10.50 per user, billed annually upfront.

Support response time is why you are leavingGoTo Connect

24/7 support on every plan.

You buy for a handful of lines onlineVonage

Mobile at $13.99 per line with the online discount.

Buyer's guide

How to choose an 8x8 alternative

A business phone system in the cloud, UCaaS, replaces the office PBX (the box in the server room that routed calls between desk phones). The provider hosts the switch in its data centers. Your employees get a direct number and an extension, and they answer on a desktop app, a mobile app or a desk phone that plugs into the internet. Calls travel as data, using VoIP (voice over internet protocol). Around the calls, the same subscription adds voicemail, auto attendants (the menu that says "press 1 for sales"), ring groups, call queues, call recording, team chat, video meetings and texting.

You pay in a few units. The main one is the seat: one user, with one extension, per month. Then come allowances and usage: toll-free minutes (calls customers make to your 800 number, which you pay for), text messages per user, international minutes, extra numbers and fax pages. A contact center (CCaaS) is a different product, priced per agent at three to six times the rate of a phone seat, for teams that answer queues of customers all day with routing, supervision and analytics. 8x8 sells both, so first decide which one you are replacing.

What to demand before you compare: a published or written per-user price on annual and monthly billing, the allowances included per user, the length of the first term and how it renews, whether you can reduce seats during the term, the porting process for your numbers, and the support hours on your plan. For broader shortlists, see our rankings of the best VoIP business phone systems, VoIP phones for small business, phone systems for call centers and call center software.

Turn every quote into a monthly cost per user

Compare on the same billing and the same plan level. For 20 users on an annual plan: RingCentral Core $400 a month, Nextiva Core $300, Dialpad Standard $300, Zoom Phone Metered $210 plus per-minute calls. Ask 8x8 and GoTo Connect for the same 20-user figure, in writing, with the term length next to it.

Read the term before the price

A low rate tied to a long term can cost more than a higher monthly rate. 8x8's terms default to 36 months, Nextiva's annual rate needs 12 months, Vonage's online discount needs one year and its early termination fees can reach the full contract. Zoom Phone bills the year upfront.

Count toll-free minutes and texts

If customers call an 800 number, your allowance matters more than the seat price. RingCentral Core includes 100 toll-free minutes, Advanced 1,000; GoTo Connect includes 1,000 shared; Nextiva Engage 2,000 inbound. Texts run from 25 per user on RingCentral Core to 500 on Nextiva Engage.

Separate the phone system from the contact center

If only a few people answer customers, a phone system with call queues is enough. If a team answers all day with service levels, price a contact center: RingCX from $65 per user, Dialpad Support from $89 per user billed annually. Dedicated contact center suites such as Five9, Talkdesk or NICE CXone also appear on other lists; they replace the 8x8 contact center, not the phone system, so we left them out.

Plan the number port early

Your numbers move by porting, which depends on carriers outside both providers' control. 8x8 may charge an administrative fee for each port-out. Start the port while the old contract still runs, so calls never stop.

Look at the tools left out

Other lists also name Net2Phone, a per-user phone system for small and midsize teams, Quo (formerly OpenPhone) for very small teams sharing numbers, and Aircall, sold to sales and support teams (see our Aircall review). We left them out because each overlaps a pick above for the same buyer.

Written price per user, annual and monthly
Allowances: toll-free minutes, texts, international
First term length and renewal notice date
Right to reduce seats during the term
Number porting process and fees
Support hours included on your plan

FAQ · 8 questions