When businesses ask us what a new phone system costs, they usually have one number in mind: the per-user price on a provider’s website. That number matters, but it is rarely what shows up on the bill. Below is how pricing works in 2026, what the major platforms publish, and the costs that are easy to miss.
Published per-user pricing in 2026
These are list prices for entry and mid tiers as published by each provider in late 2026. Promotions change often, so treat them as a starting point and confirm current pricing before you buy.
RingCentral RingEX: Core from $20 per user per month on annual billing, or $30 month to month. Higher tiers add automatic call recording, more toll-free minutes and deeper integrations.
Dialpad Connect: Standard from $15 per user per month on annual billing, with AI call transcription and summaries on every tier. Pro is $25 per user with a three-user minimum.
Nextiva: Core from $15 per user per month on annual billing, or $23 month to month.
Vonage Business Communications: from $19.99 per line per month, with a promotional annual rate of $13.99 advertised through December 31, 2026. Premium ($29.99) adds desk phone support and video meetings, and call recording is on Advanced ($39.99).
Microsoft Teams Phone: $10 per user per month as an add-on with no calling minutes, or about $17 with a domestic calling plan, on top of a Microsoft 365 license.
GoTo Connect: no longer publishes per-user pricing. It is quoted per business.
In practice, most small businesses we work with land between $20 and $35 per user per month once they pick the tier that includes what they actually use, such as call recording, call queues or CRM integration.
Costs that are not in the headline price
Taxes and regulatory fees. Federal, state and local taxes and surcharges, including Universal Service Fund and E911 fees, commonly add 10 to 25 percent to the subscription price. Ask for a quote that shows them.
Desk phones and headsets. Entry desk phones run roughly $90 to $150 each, and executive or conference phones cost more. Many teams use the mobile and desktop apps instead, which removes most of this cost.
Extra phone numbers. Plans usually include one local number per user. Additional local, toll-free or vanity numbers are often billed monthly, for example $4.99 per number per month at RingCentral.
Toll-free minutes and international calls. Included toll-free minutes are often pooled per account, and overage is billed per minute.
Add-ons. Call recording, AI receptionists, contact center queues and analytics are often priced separately or reserved for higher tiers.
Monthly billing. Month-to-month plans often cost 50 percent or more per user than an annual term on the same plan.
A worked example: a 10-person office
Say a 10-person office picks an entry plan at $20 per user on an annual term. Licensing is $200 a month. Taxes and fees at 10 to 25 percent bring that to roughly $220 to $250. If six people want desk phones at about $120 each, that is about $720 once. A toll-free number and a few extra local numbers add a little more each month. The total is often lower than a legacy phone system with copper lines, but it is not the $200 on the pricing page.
Other costs to check before you switch
Your internet connection. Cloud calling needs a stable connection with enough upload capacity. Our guide to whether your business internet is ready for VoIP covers the checks.
Number porting. Moving your existing numbers is usually free or low cost, but timing matters. See our step-by-step guide to porting business phone numbers.
Copper lines for alarms, fax and elevators. These often need their own replacement plan. Our guide to POTS line replacement in New Jersey explains the options.
An existing on-premise PBX. If your phone hardware still works, SIP trunking can replace the lines behind it and is priced per simultaneous call rather than per user.
Where we fit
We compare business phone systems across several platforms, price the tier you actually need for your seat count and term, and show taxes and fees up front so you can compare delivered prices, not list prices. Request a quote and we will put the numbers side by side.