The 7 Best Business VoIP Providers in the UK 2023

Our research found that the best VoIP provider in the UK is 8×8. It is a comprehensive solution that offers a broad range of impressive features, unlimited minutes, an extensive range of software integrations, and robust security measures. It is best suited for expanding businesses because its plans are scalable, meaning they can grow alongside the business. RingCentral is our second-best UK VoIP service, offering lower-cost packages, but with fewer features.

On 5 September 2023, BT OpenReach stopped selling WLR products because all UK landlines will be phased out in 2025, making it crucial for businesses to switch to a VoIP phone system. We have selected seven of the top UK VoIP providers that could fit seamlessly into your business communication.

Read on to find out what each of these providers do best, worst, and what they cost. Alternatively, cut straight to the chase and use our handy VoIP service comparison tool to find your best-suited provider.

What is a VoIP system?

VoIP stands for ‘Voice over Internet Protocol,' which means the phone connection operates over Wi-Fi and not via physical phone lines.

VoIP systems can be used on laptops, desktop computers, tablets, or smartphones. It can also be used with office phones, and the best office phones are usually compatible with major VoIP systems. If portability is a priority, tablets and smartphones can also make VoIP calls.

A Wi-Fi connection will ensure your calls are cheaper, long distance calls are clearer, and it will offer more reliability than a standard phone line. Some providers also offer HD voice quality, which means they can sound clearer than standard phone calls.

VoIP phone systems enable much cheaper domestic calls, and low price-per-minute international calls, too.

Soon it will be necessary for all businesses to be online due to the Big Switch Off in 2025, when all UK landlines will officially be turned off.

1. 8×8 – Best all-round business VoIP provider in the UK

8×8 VoIP Pricing

Since our last update, 8×8 no longer publicly lists its pricing, so you'll have to contact its sales team directly for a quote. From what we do know about its pricing, affordability is not 8×8's forte. We scored it a 2.5/5 for price in our analysis, placing it as one of the most expensive phone systems on the market. That being said, 8×8 is bursting with more standout features than its competitors.

It is worth noting that it does offer five pricing tiers for different-sized operations, the latter three are best suited to larger call centres. As of February 2023, 8×8 no longer offers the Express plan, which was its cheapest option. The lowest tier is now its X2 package.

Check out our full-length 8×8 review for more information.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

8×8 VoIP Features

From the X2 plan upwards, we like that 8×8 provides all of the most important features for productive comms with customers and clients. This includes unlimited minutes and local numbers to ring groups, call queues, visual voicemail, auto-attendant, business SMS, and team messaging.

This is why we rated 8×8 a stellar 4.6/5 for features, the highest rank in this category, outshining GoToConnect, Nuacom, and bOnline, whose features are comparatively limited.

It’s also worth noting that 8×8 can integrate with a solid range of CRM systems: Salesforce, Copper, Freshdesk, Hubspot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Zendesk, Zoho, 1CRM, Bullhorn, Copper, and Sugar. Integrating with one of these is a great way to develop a great customer experience strategy.

8×8’s security features also impressed us, ensuring users have multiple compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, password rules, and TLS/SRTP encryption. While we awarded it a perfect 5/5 for this category, it does fall short in the department of spam prevention, where GoTo and Vonage excel.

If you choose to invest in 8×8 now, you can avoid switching providers later down the line because its plans have the capacity to grow with your business, earning it a 4.9/5 for scalability.

We gave 8×8 another perfect 5/5 for customer support. It has a user forum and a knowledge base to explore, a 24/7 live chat function, and a phone line for urgent matters. Email support is also available for your queries that aren't time sensitive.

Despite offering numerous customer support options, it achieved lower overall scores on consumer review websites with an average rating of 3.5/5 when compared with 4.6/5 and 4.5/5 for Nuacom and bOnline, respectively.

One of our favourite features of 8×8 is that it's one of the most generous VoIP providers when it comes to call conferencing and video meetings, with a capacity for a whopping 500 people to join in at once. This is ideal if you often hold company-wide meetings, or you’re looking to scale your business at pace.

2. RingCentral – Best business VoIP provider for customer service teams

RingCentral VoIP Pricing

At first glance, RingCentral is an affordable option and is cheaper than 8×8. However, it receives a lower score for pricing (2.3/5) because it offers less value for your money. As you’ll see in our analysis below, the majority of RingCentral’s standout features are only available with its premium packages.

While other providers offer unlimited minutes right from the off, 8×8 has limited minutes on its entry-level plans. If you want a system that is great value for money, GoToConnect and bOnline offer more cost-effective plans.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

RingCentral VoIP Features

RingCentral's great range of features accommodate numerous incoming calls, including a virtual receptionist, local toll-free numbers, customisable greetings, and hold music on all of its plans. With this broad range of features, we gave it a 4.3/5 for this category.

When you upgrade to a Premium or Ultimate plan, you can set up ring groups and call queues that will help organise your callers with ease. We found that RingCentral's external video calling and SMS features can also enhance your team's accessibility to customers.

A really important factor for small businesses looking to upscale their operations is whether a provider can grow with you. RingCentral’s scalability is on par with 8×8, scoring a near-perfect 4.9/5 in our research, offering team messaging, task management, and software integrations (on Premium and Ultimate), helping streamline your internal and external communications.

We believe that RingCentral excels with its customer support, earning a perfect score of 5/5. It has 24/7 live support, a knowledge hub, a user forum, as well as phone and email support. Its 99.999% uptime SLA guarantee means your system will stay connected and your customers will be able to get hold of you.

Training is critical in the world of customer service – your team’s phone manner is all important. RingCentral comes with features that can help with this, including call transcripts, call recording, call monitoring, call whisper, and call barge. It is worth noting that these are not included in RingCentral’s cheapest packages, so you’ll have to pay a little more for the full range of training and monitoring tools.

It’s worth mentioning that RingCentral comes with ready-made integrations with helpdesk, workspace, email, conferencing, and messaging platforms. It'll make it easy to manage customer data and unify your comms. Once again, most of this is only included with RingCentral’s Premium and Ultimate plans.

We think RingCentral is hot on 8×8’s heels in many aspects, with a breadth of features that come closer to 8×8 than any other provider. It just falls short of matching it, missing benefits like unlimited domestic minutes, and features that include custom call lists. Plus, ready-made integrations are available on fewer of its plans. However, it does match 8×8’s shining customer support offering and provides just as much scope to easily scale your business. It also matches 8×8's relatively moderate score on consumer review websites, with an average rating of 3.5/5, compared with Nuacom and bOnline's higher respective scores of 4.6/5 and 4.5/5.

For more details on features, read our RingCentral review.

RingCentral’s key features for businesses

*inclusive minutes per account, per month

One thing to be aware of is that RingCentral’s Essentials plan only provides VoIP system essentials, but not a lot more. RingCentral’s higher tier packages have video conferencing, CRM integrations, and generous inclusive minutes.

That said, once you do have access to CRM integrations, you’ll almost definitely be able to link RingCentral with your system of choice – it can integrate with 97 different CRM apps!

3. Vonage – Best VoIP provider for small businesses

Vonage is another global VoIP provider, with data centres in the US, Singapore, Sydney, Frankfurt, and Dublin. International data centres can be a plus for global teams, but if you deal with sensitive data, you may feel more comfortable signing up with a provider that is based in the UK or EU and subject to data protection laws. It also has a globally distributed network of offices, including one based in London. It is not clear whether it has a London-based call centre.

Vonage VoIP Pricing

Vonage’s value for money is its key strength, earning a score of 4.3/5 for pricing. With prices ranging from £10 to £25 per user, per month, Vonage’s monthly fees are incredibly low for such a comprehensive system. It gives users unified communications features, including video conferencing and team messaging, which are available on all plans. Another reason why it's a fantastic option for small businesses with tight budgets.

Read our Vonage review for more.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

Vonage VoIP Features

With unlimited users and unlimited inbound and outbound domestic minutes, we like that Vonage allows you to get up and running with fewer limitations on the amount of calls placed via your system. This feature is available on all plans at no extra cost, so even smaller budgets can benefit.

Small businesses are often looking to grow, so it’s important to choose a provider that can grow alongside you. Vonage excelled in our scalability comparison, scoring 4.5/5 on this front. The ring group, call queue, and call routing features on Vonage’s advanced plans will help your team handle the growing volumes of calls, while call recording, monitoring, and analytics will help you train new staff and ensure the quality of your business’s comms is top-notch.

Vonage offers a decent amount of customer support options, including a user forum, a knowledge base, live chat, email, and phone support. For immediate support, it's best to use the live chat function, which is available between 8am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, or on Saturdays from 9am until 5.30pm. Finally, Vonage’s 99.999% uptime guarantee means it’s unlikely that your income stream will be unexpectedly affected by downtime, which is a huge plus.

As we've mentioned, Vonage offers great value for money. In this respect, it almost beats all of the VoIP providers on this list. The exceptions are bOnline, which offers a very similar level of value for money (bOnline is cheaper than Vonage, but also less robust); and GoTo, which offers the best bang for your buck.

Vonage is quite popular with its users, earning a high overall score of 4/5 on consumer review sites.

Read our in-depth analysis of the best phone systems for small businesses.

Vonage’s key features for businesses

One of our gripes with Vonage's plans is that many key features require an additional cost. This isn’t ideal when other VoIP providers include things like CRM integration and onboarding support for free. That said, Vonage’s monthly fees are already cheap enough that paying extra on top shouldn’t break too far into your budget.

4. GoToConnect – Best business VoIP provider for startups

GoToConnect VoIP Pricing

If bang for your buck is what you’re after, GoToConnect might be the right choice. Earning a top score of 4.5/5 in our pricing analysis, GoTo offers the best value for money of all the VoIP providers on this list.

Check out our in-depth GoToConnect review.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

GoToConnect VoIP Features

GoTo's Connect system includes unlimited domestic inbound and outbound minutes on all plans. With its Standard plan, GoTo includes free international calling to and from 50+ countries, while still providing solid, unified communication features for collaboration across the board.

As your customer base grows, you’ll need a VoIP system that can help you communicate with potential customers and clients as professionally as possible. With GoToConnect, you can set up a virtual receptionist, customisable on-hold music, recorded greetings, and voicemail. This will give callers a polished experience when they get in touch.

We like that you can set up local numbers so that customers don’t have to pay to phone you. All of these features are available on GoTo’s cheapest package, which is great for budget-conscious new businesses.

You likely won’t stay the size of a startup forever. Fortunately, GoToConnect offers an unlimited user limit and call management features that ensure the system is scalable. This is why we gave it a scalability score of 4.4/5 in our analysis.

GoTo is let down by its customer support, only earning a 3.4/5 in this category. Its support team can be reached by email or phone and agents are available around the clock to answer queries. However, there are several steps to go through before the support number is available and they do not offer live chat. It seems GoTo encourages the use of its knowledge hub, which can be accessed at your convenience. When compared with 8×8 and RingCentral, which both offer live chat, GoTo could offer more straightforward support options to quickly squash any system issues.

Our research found that GoToConnect makes it easier to scale than if you chose Nuacom, Dialpad, or bOnline. Its strongest advantage is the fact that it offers better value for money than all of the providers on this page.

As mentioned, GoToConnect didn't fare so well when we compared integrations. Only Dialpad has a smaller range of ready-made integrations than GoToConnect – the other providers on this page all come ready to integrate with a larger range of software. It's also worth noting that GoToConnect's set of features isn't as comprehensive as those you'd get with 8×8, RingCentral, Dialpad, or Vonage.

When compared with its competitors, GoToConnect does well, with an average customer review score of 4.4, better than 8×8, RingCentral, and Vonage.

GoToConnect’s key features for businesses

The first thing you might notice here is that even GoToConnect’s cheapest plan comes with the vast majority of the features we know to be the most important for businesses, proving it is great value for money. However, it doesn't include international minutes, but these are unlikely to be integral to the operations of a UK startup.

That said, there are a few other weaknesses to pluck out from our key features analysis. GoToConnect provides free CRM integration, but it can only integrate with Salesforce or Zoho. When compared with RingCentral, which can integrate with 97 different CRM systems, GoToConnect comes off as a little stingy.

Finally, it’s worth noting that GoToConnect’s video conferencing platform will only allow up to four participants per call on the Basic plan. This will be enough for you if your team is no larger than this, but you may need to upgrade to the Standard plan for larger, video-based meetings.

5. bOnline – Best business VoIP provider for desk phone compatibility

bOnline is aimed at UK-based small businesses. It has earned an ‘excellent' rating on Trustpilot partly due to its helpful customer service based out of its offices in Surrey. While its team may be UK-based, its data is not. With ‘geographically dispersed' servers, we can't be 100% certain of the locations. Therefore, if your company deals with sensitive or personal data, you may feel more confident dealing with a provider that stations its servers in the UK or EU.

bOnline VoIP Pricing

One of our favourite things about bOnline is its pricing, earning a good score of 4.3/5 in our cost analysis. Ranging from just £7 to £15.50 per user, per month, it’s one of the cheapest VoIP providers you’ll come across. With unlimited minutes available on most plans, as well as free Yealink T31P desk phones on the Unlimited & Video package, bOnline offers excellent value for money.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

bOnline VoIP Features

With a bOnline system, we found that you'll have a high chance of avoiding extra spending as it is compatible with seven desk phone providers, whereas the average provider is compatible with an average of four. If you already have desk phones in use, it’s important to choose a system (like bOnline) that can neatly slot into your existing setup. Otherwise, you may have to purchase brand new phones. It's important to note that Cisco is not included on bOnline’s list of compatible phone brands. So, if you already have Cisco phones on your premises, bOnline may not be your best choice.

Unfortunately, bOnline scores rather low in terms of scalability. It lacks some key features for management purposes, such as call monitoring functions and transcription, so it may not be the best fit for expanding teams or startups looking to grow.

Due to a lack of compliance certifications and multi-factor authentication, we gave bOnline a 1/5 for security, which is the lowest on the board.

You can reach bOnline's customer support via phone line and live chat, but there is no email or 14/7 availability, which brings its score down to 3/5. However, it does provide a 99.999% uptime guarantee, which means that it's unlikely your operations will come to a halt due to a lost connection.

Among its competitors, bOnline stood out to us when it comes to price, offering as much bang for your buck as Vonage (bOnline offers fewer features, but it is also cheaper). Here it's beaten only by GoToConnect, the best VoIP provider for value for money.

Despite its shortcomings, bOnline boasts an excellent reputation among existing customers, with an average rating of 4.5/5 on consumer review sites – the second-highest score in our research, beaten only by Nuacom.

bOnline’s key features for businesses

*Inclusive minutes per user, per month

bOnline’s cheapest package, Starter, is really basic, offering very few key features we’d recommend for businesses.

This plan should only suit you if you’re a one-man operation, have a pretty small customer base, and are just looking to set up a professional phone number. If you run a larger business, you’ll find much more value in bOnline’s other plans.

Take note: bOnline charges £5 per month for CRM integration on its Pay As You Go and Unlimited Calling plans. This is a pain as other providers include ready-made CRM integrations in their packages. However, these two bOnline plans are pretty cheap to start with, so an extra fiver shouldn’t eat into your budget. Helpfully, bOnline can integrate with 11 different CRM systems, including Salesforce, MS Dynamics, and Hubspot.

6. Dialpad – Best business VoIP provider for conversational AI

Dialpad VoIP Pricing

We found that Dialpad’s pricing reflected the featured offered, so it scores a reasonable 4/5 in our pricing analysis. Starting at £12 per user, per month, Dialpad is certainly affordable, but its plans don’t offer quite as much value for money as GoTo, Vonage, or bOnline. You should also take note of the fact that its Enterprise plan comes with custom pricing – this will be worked out on a case-by-case basis, so you'll need to contact the provider directly for a tailored quote.

Read our full Dialpad review for more information.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

Dialpad VoIP Features

Our research highlighted that Dialpad offers standout features that can streamline your workflow, such as the use of conversational AI. This feature is most helpful for businesses with sales teams, call centres, or contact centres because the tool helps your team quickly make sense of high volumes of calls, with instant visibility over outcomes, the next steps, and access to in-the-moment coaching. Dialpad includes unlimited outbound and inbound call minutes, which is a huge plus.

When choosing a VoIP system for your business, we recommend choosing a system that can accommodate your business's growth. Dialpad only scores a 3.3/5 for scalability, meaning it lacks some key features for larger teams, such as call monitoring or integrations with other software systems. There is a call centre add-on that may mitigate some of these shortcomings.

Dialpad can be reached via phone, live chat, and it has a knowledge hub, which earned it a solid 4.5/5 for customer support. It doesn't offer email support. If this is something you require, consider 8×8 or RingCentral, which can be contacted via email.

We noticed Dialpad has the fewest ready-made integrations of all the providers on this list, meaning there isn't seamless integration with other software. It's also not as easy to scale as 8×8, RingCentral, Vonage, GoToConnect, or Nuacom. This means you may outgrow your plan when your business expands.

However, we like that Dialpad offers a great selection of customer support channels, earning a customer support score of 4.5/5. This is only beaten only by 8×8 and RingCentral. Its variety of features is solid and, once again, 8×8 and RingCentral are the only VoIP providers that offer a comprehensive array of features. Dialpad finally one ups the giants when it comes to price and customer satisfaction – Dialpad's prices are cheaper, and its average customer review score (4.4/5) is higher than 8×8's and RingCentral's (both 3.5).

Dialpad’s key features for businesses

Dialpad’s Pro and Enterprise plans provide a lot of the important features needed by businesses, such as call queues, CRM integration and an uptime guarantee (on its Enterprise plan). Alongside GoToConnect and Nuacom, Dialpad is one of the only providers we analysed that offers ring group functionality on its cheapest plan, which is plus for users.

However, there are limitations worth highlighting. Firstly, ready-made CRM system integration is only available with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Hubspot, which is something to be aware of if you use another system for your customer relationship management. That said, the software does have an open API, so you may be able to create your own integration with a CRM system of your choice.

While it's a necessary feature for larger businesses, it’s a little disappointing that the uptime guarantee is only included on Dialpad’s Enterprise plan. With a 100% guarantee, you can rest easy in the knowledge that your system should never go down. It’s a shame this excellent promise isn’t replicated for Standard and Pro users.

Finally, Dialpad only enables you to set up one local number per system user. If you’d like your integral team members to be contactable on a variety of numbers, this is not possible with Dialpad. If this is a priority, you should look at RingCentral or 8×8.

7. Nuacom – Best business VoIP provider for customer satisfaction

Nuacom scores an extremely solid 4.9/5 Trustpilot rating, thanks to its excellent Ireland-based customer support team. It's a cloud-based system, which means its data is stored in various locations rather than in one geographic area. If your businesses works with sensitive or private data and want it protected by UK or EU law, this may not be an ideal choice.

Nuacom VoIP Pricing

As of August 2023, Nuacom's pricing is no longer public, so you'll need to contact them for an accurate quote. 

In our cost analysis, Nuacom was not our top VoIP provider out there for value for money. When Nuacom's prices were public, its Unlimited plan started at £14.99 per user, per month, making it the most expensive entry-level VoIP package we looked at. The price then jumped to £29.99 per user, per month on the Call Centre plan, which is quite a big leap to take for growing businesses that want to move onto the advanced packages. That said, Nuacom is still cheaper overall than 8×8 and RingCentral, so it earned an above average score of 3.8/5.

Check out our in-depth Nuacom review.

Pricing correct as of November 2023

Nuacom VoIP Features

We like that Nuacom provides unlimited inbound and outbound domestic minutes on all of its plans. With Unlimited, its entry-level plan, you’d expect nothing less.

If you're looking to upscale your business, your phone system needs to follow suit. Nuacom receives an above average score (3.8/5) for its scalability. It lacks security features such as compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, and secure password rules, which are important for larger teams that need to protect business and customer data.

In terms of customer support, Nuacom can be reached via email, phone, or live chat, and it has a user forum and knowledge hub.

Overall, Nuacom only provides users with a fairly average system. With 3.8/5 for scalability, it is easier to scale than Dialpad and bOnline, but not as easy to scale as 8×8, RingCentral, Vonage, or GoToConnect.

We scored Nuacom a rather humble 3.2/5 for features as it has a minimal offering when compared with the other top VoIP providers on this list. It lacks any collaboration features, so it can't be used for in-house communication. This is a pretty hefty limitation and means you'll have to rely on another system for this.

Of all the UK VoIP providers we analysed, Nuacom has the best overall review score from its customers. Its average user ratings across software review sites G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and TrustRadius is a phenomenal 4.6/5.

Nuacom’s key features for businesses

With Nuacom, you can set up ring groups and call queues even on the cheapest plan, which is generous considering that most VoIP providers only offer these features with their advanced plans (GoTo is the only other provider on this list that makes these features available straight away).

On the flipside, one downfall for Nuacom is that it doesn’t come with any video conferencing capability. In fact, it doesn’t provide any unified communications features, with no sign of team messaging or document sharing tools either. Nuacom may be all about the VoIP phone technology but, nowadays, it’s reasonable for you to expect a comprehensive collaboration platform from your VoIP provider, so you don’t have to pay more to sign up to additional systems. It seems Nuacom is a little behind on this front.

It’s also interesting that Nuacom’s uptime guarantees are optional. We presume they’re add-ons that you can pay extra for, or negotiate to be included in your package.

Top-rated VoIP providers in London

While not essential, using a London-based VoIP provider can be beneficial if your HQ, operations, and customers are based in or around the UK's capital. You may benefit from improved call quality and shared business hours with customers, meaning you can offer more convenient customer service. You'll also be safe in the knowledge that your VoIP provider is 100% compliant with UK regulations when it comes to data protection.

Based on our research, here are some of the best London-based VoIP providers and their selling points:

• Gamma – One of the largest VoIP providers in the UK with a big presence in London. Offers hosted PBX solutions, SIP trunking, mobile integration, and cloud UC.
• Voipfone – This provider is popular for its low-cost VoIP lines and call plans.
• Voipstudio – Another provider that offers virtual PBX hosted in London with SIP trunking, number porting, and no long-term contracts.
• TalkTalk – This well-known telecom provider offers VoIP solutions for London-based businesses bundled with broadband.

If you want to maintain your 020 area code, it’s good to know that a VoIP provider can issue you with a 020 area code even if it is not located in London. This is a huge plus if you are taking calls from various locations but want to maintain the legitimacy of a London number.

Luckily, all of the providers on our list have a London office despite some of them having an international presence.

How did we find the best business VoIP providers in the UK?

We researched the top seven providers to determine the best VoIP system in the UK. We rigorously tested each provider against a number of criteria that are deemed essential when purchasing the ideal VoIP system. This includes:

• Pricing – a significant factor when choosing a product is whether it’s good value for money. Cheaper isn't always better, so we take a comprehensive view of factors. This includes the price itself, whether a free plan is available, and whether or not the best features are available across all plans.
• Features – in this category, we take an in-depth look at the product to gain an insight into what it actually provides and what you can actually do with the product.
• External connections – it’s important to know whether a provider can seamlessly integrate into your existing business communications infrastructure.
• Customer support – network connectivity can be a troublesome element to business operations, so we want to know what options are available to get you back on track when something goes wrong.
• Security options – confidentiality is critical for both your clients and your business, so we looked into which internal security features were provided and how secure each provider is.
• Scalability – when your business grows, you want your software to accommodate this. Scalability takes into account the ease of upscaling your plan with your provider so that you don't have to make a switch later down the line.
• Customer score – taking stock of what existing customers really think of the product, we looked at average scores across G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and Trust Radius.