Best Virtual Phone Number Companies Compared and Reviewed

Whether you need a local number to build trust or a toll-free number to project authority, you can get a phone number that matches your needs no matter where you’re actually located. That’s what virtual phone number companies provide. We’ve found Nextiva and Ooma to be the best options for most people because of their affordable pricing for businesses of all sizes.

The Best Virtual Phone Number Company for Most

With Nextiva, you can get a virtual phone number with an area code from any state in the United States, as well as Washington D.C. Get one number for your business or multiple numbers with different area codes.

As soon as you pick a virtual phone number, you can use it immediately thanks to Nextiva’s instant activation. Getting it all set up takes less than five minutes. Just pick a number, choose where you want the calls to go, and that’s it. To sweeten the deal, all of Nextiva’s VoIP plans include voicemail, call forwarding, and extensions with no additional equipment required.

The Best Virtual Phone Number Companies to Consider

The best virtual phone numbers are Nextiva, Ooma, Vonage, RingCentral, Grasshopper, GoTo Connect, eVoice, and Google Voice.

All of these options have been heavily researched by our team of experts here at Crazy Egg and narrowed down based on strict criteria. They’re all high-quality and reputable services. But four virtual phone numbers stand out from the rest, making them the best choice for most businesses:

• Nextiva – Best for most (For a limited time get 25% off, plus a free phone, when you sign up!)
• Ooma – Best for Traditional Desk Phones
• Vonage – Best for SMS Messaging
• RingCentral – Best All-in-One Virtual Phone Service

When It Makes Sense to Invest In a Virtual Phone Number

Whether you’re looking to switch from traditional landlines or are a small business just getting started, it’s a great way to keep costs low.

Virtual phone numbers also give you and your team the mobility you need to answer calls on the devices you already own. So, you don’t need any expensive equipment and there are no installation fees.

Aside from saving money, it’s an easy way to snag a local number (even if you aren’t based in the area you’re servicing).

For solopreneurs, a virtual number means you can talk to clients while separating personal and business calls on your mobile device. Not only is this a smart move for you, but it also makes your business appear established to new leads.

Virtual phone numbers may also make sense if you’re starting to hire employees who need their own numbers.

You can easily add new lines in a few clicks at a fraction of the cost of traditional business phone systems, with no additional equipment or hardware required.

Nextiva – Best for Most

Nextiva continuously comes in as our top pick because it is affordable and known for reliability (among dozens of other factors). Whether you’re a small team just getting up and running or a mid-market business switching from traditional landlines, it’s a smart choice that won’t leave you guessing.

Nextiva gives you free phone numbers, unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, unlimited online faxing, an auto-attendant, and 24/7 support. You get everything you need to centralize business communications. In fact, we like Nextiva so much that we named it the best business phone system on the market.

The best part is that all comes on the entry-level plan.

Nextiva has 99.999% uptime data centers. Nextiva has gone a full calendar year multiple times without reporting an outage. That’s impressive.

When a user’s power is out, you won’t lose communication, calls can be automatically forwarded to a cell phone. 

It provides customers with a virtual phone number and offers a complete CRM tool that integrates seamlessly into the virtual phone system and can help manage an entire business.

Users can see customer insights when receiving calls, including the caller’s name, business info, and the value of the account.

Nextiva has softphone and hardware options, such as the mobile app, VoIP desk phones, or conferencing phones.

Nextiva charges on a per-user, per-extension basis. There are four plans available. The pricing below reflects a special discounted rate for our readers. You can get up to 20% off some plans! Using this discount helps make Nextiva highly competitive on price with other packages on our list.

The Essential plan is the starter package, but it delivers unlimited voice calling, video calling, and faxes. It starts at $14.95 per user per month, billed annually.

The Professional plan is for smaller teams and includes unlimited conference calls, video conferencing, and business texts. It has professional setup and starts at $20.95 per user per month, billed annually.

The Enterprise plan is for small to medium teams. It includes unlimited video conference participants and video conference recording. It also has extended integrations with apps like Microsoft Teams. This plan starts at $26.95 per user per month, billed annually.

In each pricing tier, you receive some of the best customer service responsiveness in this product category. Additionally, Nextiva provides comprehensive training to its customers, ensuring they immediately know how to use the features most important to them.

We put together a comprehensive Nextiva review, so you can learn more about the pros and cons of this service.

Nextiva has competitive pricing, a CRM tool, and exceptional customer service. It is the complete package for businesses of all sizes.

Ooma – Best for Traditional Desk Phones

Having a virtual phone number doesn’t mean you have to make calls from a mobile app or computer. You can still attach that number to a traditional desktop phone—which is where Ooma shines above the crowd.

Built for small businesses, Ooma is perfect for those of you who have teams working in traditional office environments. 

The best part about Ooma is that the setup is ultra-simple. Even though you might be dealing with new hardware for phones and headsets, everything is ready to go out of the box.

Your Ooma phone can be set up in less than 15 minutes—no technical experience required.

This is perfect for smaller businesses that don’t have a dedicated IT staff on site. You won’t have to deal with any complex instructions for setup and ongoing maintenance. 

For calling on the go, Ooma does have a mobile app and a desktop app. However, only the mobile app is available on the entry-level plan. You’ll need to upgrade to the mid-tier package if you want access to the Ooma desktop application. 

Ooma comes with more than 50 standard features, including a virtual receptionist, ring groups, call parking, call forwarding, overhead paging, voicemail, and more. 

You’ll get unlimited calling within the US, Canada, Mexica, and Puerto Rico. Ooma even gives you a toll-free number with up to 500 minutes of inbound calls per month. To learn more about this service’s features, read through our detailed Ooma review.

Plans start at $19.95 per user per month, and you can get a free virtual phone number when you sign up.

Vonage – Best For SMS Messaging

Vonage has a wide range of business communication solutions for various use cases. From unified communications to contact center solutions and communication APIs, this provider has a lot to offer. 

But one standout of Vonage over other virtual phone numbers on the market is its SMS messaging features. 

Every Vonage Unified Communications plan comes with unlimited SMS, unlimited calling, and unlimited team messaging. You can use these plans to send texts and make calls from your smartphone or computer.

This is the easiest way for you to quickly set up a virtual phone number that supports messaging at scale. In addition to standard SMS texts, you can even send and receive images, videos, and other multimedia files. 

Vonage’s SMS works well for internal communication and texting with customers alike. 

Using 10DLC compliance, you can use Vonage to register your virtual phone numbers. This helps legitimize your business and prevents your SMS messages from appearing as spam when you’re communicating with customers. 

Vonage is also built to scale. So whether you have five, 50, or 500 employees, they can accommodate your needs and grow with you as hiring increases. 

Plans start at $17.99 per month per line. This starting rate drops to $14.99 if you have 20 or more employees, which is a great deal for unlimited calls and SMS messaging.

You’ll need to upgrade to a Premium plan if you want IP desk phone compatibility, CRM integration, and unlimited meetings for up to 100 attendees.

Learn more about all of Vonage’s features and pricing tiers by checking out our Vonage review.

Contact sales to get started today.

RingCentral – Best All-in-One Virtual Phone Service

RingCentral has it all, making it the perfect option for business users who want more than just a basic virtual phone number.

Beyond inbound and outbound calling capabilities, RingCentral supports two-way texting, faxing, and business chat—all from the same app. 

As a cloud phone system, you can easily use it on all of your devices. It works just as well on your desktop as it does on a smartphone.

RingCentral’s interface is extremely easy to use, which is great for those who don’t have experience with using software like this in the past. You have the option of customizing the interface, too, making it even more useful for your specific needs.

RingCentral even has the capability to move with you as you’re on the go. You can seamlessly transition a live call from your computer to your mobile device or even from your mobile device to a desk phone. Whether you’re on an audio or video call, this can be handled with a single click.

If you are using your virtual phone numbers at different physical locations, RingCentral allows you to create custom hours of operation for each location.

The platform comes with everything else you’d expect in a complete phone solution. Voicemail, call log reports, visual voicemail, and voice-to-text are all included. Premium plans support advanced features like call recording and multi-level auto attendant so you never miss an opportunity to coach your team.

Best of all, all RingCentral phone plans come with unlimited calls within the US and Canada. 

Whether you have a team of five, 50, or 500 people, RingCentral is powerful and versatile enough to support your needs. Unlock significant cost savings with RingCentral’s volume discounts, available exclusively for businesses with 50 or more users. To learn more about this package, read through our detailed RingCentral review.

Plans start at $20 per user per month. You can get started in minutes and try it free for 15 days.

More Great Virtual Phone Number Companies

Grasshopper – Best for Solopreneurs and Small Teams

Grasshopper is the best for solopreneurs and small business owners. That’s because you don’t have to be a tech wizard to get started. That ease of getting started is what many users love the most. 

Plus, the helpful features of Grasshopper add to the value. There’s no hardware, no wires, and it can be set up in five minutes. This can take your company from looking like a mom-and-pop to a noteworthy and professional business overnight.

Not only can you keep your personal and business numbers separate while using one device, but you can make your fledgling or small business appear larger through automatic greetings that refer customers to other departments.

Grasshopper users can even pay a small fee to have a professional voice actor record their greeting.

Grasshopper lets users set up a local number, a toll-free number, or import a current number depending on their needs. It also has a vanity number option. Examples of vanity numbers are “1-800-FITNESS” or “1-800-PLUMBER.”

It has desktop and mobile apps, WiFi calling, 24/7 customer support, and multiple extensions. It also includes business texting and auto-texting responses.

Pricing plans are for one to five phone numbers, but more can be added if needed. Grasshopper has a seven-day free trial so users can try before they buy. Users save over 10% with annual billing, but monthly billing is also available.

The Solo plan starts at $28 per month. It provides one phone number with three extensions. The Partner plan starts at $46 per month and gives users three phone numbers with six extensions. The Small Business plan is the largest and starts at $80 per month. It provides five phone numbers with unlimited extensions.

Grasshopper is somewhat expensive for such a simple tool. If you own a larger business with complex needs, Grasshopper will not work for you.

But, if you’re a solopreneur or small team ready to take the next step, Grasshopper is your best option.

GoTo Connect – Best for Automotive Businesses

GoTo Connect is a robust PBX communications solution that can work for a wide array of businesses. Get a toll-free number and port over any local numbers you have on any of GoTo Connect’s plans, alongside its phone, meeting, and collaboration platform.

It includes voice and video conferencing, provides hardware like phones and headsets, and offers a mobile app for businesses and professionals on the go. GoTo Connect also delivers 99.99% uptime and 24/7 customer support.

GoTo Connect, used by companies like Ford and Michelin, integrates with automotive systems like E-Leads, VIN Solution, Purple Cloud, Momentum, and Dealer Socket. This makes it a powerful tool for everyone in the auto world, from dealerships to manufacturers.

It has call forwarding, call cues, and ring groups to ensure customers are transferred to the right employee. While customers are put on hold, promotions can be played. These allow dealerships to mention hot deals and sell more vehicles.

Another great feature is the video conferencing tools to host virtual training. GoTo Connect allows users to share documents, stream live videos, and send pictures to customers. And the support center is there to keep track of customer communications across multiple dealerships. 

GoTo Connect pricing is separated into three plans which depend on the number of users.

The Basic plan is a simplified phone system starting at $22 per user per month billed annually.

The Standard plan delivers a chat, phone, and video conferencing platform, starting at $26 per user per month, billed annually.

The Premium plan includes support center features and starts at $39 per user per month.

Those prices reflect a user base of two to 10 team members. You’ll pay less per user the larger your team, with the Standard and Premium plans going as low as $20 and $30 per user per month, respectively, for 101 users or more.

GoTo Connect offers reliable service overall and is competitively priced. It specializes in specific industries, and its support center is extremely effective.

eVoice – Best for Sending Faxes

If sending faxes is a large part of your business, eVoice is worth looking into. This is a basic virtual phone number service that comes at an affordable price.

With eVoice, customers can answer and route calls professionally from the platform. It gives users the appearance of a larger business and it even has customized studio-recorded greetings available.

Its services also include a 24/7 auto attendant and the ability to choose and use a local phone number,

But eVoice really shines with its faxing capabilities. Users can create and send online faxes straight from eVoice and quickly forward faxes to other email addresses.

This is done through its outbound faxing feature. It costs an additional $1.95 per user per month and also allows users to set up email and text alerts when new faxes arrive, plus create and include custom cover sheets.

Pricing is straightforward: The one plan is $12 per user per month billed annually. This increases to $14 per user per month if billed monthly. It includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.

That makes it easy to utilize eVoice without worrying if you’re missing out on key features. There’s just one plan with everything eVoice has to offer, from unlimited calling and conferencing to voicemail-to-text and call routing. Then, just add on the faxing module for a little bit more and you’ll be all set.

Since the faxing feature is a per-user add-on to your bill, we definitely recommend eVoice for smaller or solo operations, or even just for a small subset of a larger team. If you have just a couple of people who handle faxes in your organization, you can probably get all that you need out of eVoice for under $60 per month total.

eVoice is one of the most inexpensive virtual phone number companies available. You pay for what you get for here. It lacks many features, including any CRM tools, but it’s extremely inexpensive and great for outbound faxing.

Google Voice – Best for Google Workspace Integration

Google Voice is perfect for businesses needing a virtual phone number service that integrates with Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite.

It works with smartphones, desk phones, and computers. Google Voice prides itself on simplicity and easy setup, plus it offers 24/7 customer support.

Google Voice allows billing, porting, and number assignments to be seamlessly organized into Google Workspace.

So, of course, it integrates with apps like Google Calendar and Google Meet. Google Voice works with Gmail, too, meaning you can initiate calls directly from within email messages. 

Google Voice gives you a specific phone number to use for your Gmail calls. Customers will recognize the custom phone number each time you call, rather than likely ignoring a call from a randomly generated number.

The AI auto-transcribes voicemails and categorizes spam before a call goes through. There’s also a do not disturb mode for when users are ready to unwind.

Pricing is separated into three plans.

The Starter plan costs $10 per user per month, and it allows up to 10 users and 10 domestic locations.

The Standard plan costs $20 per user per month. It allows unlimited users and unlimited domestic locations.

The Premier plan costs $30 per user per month, and it allows for international calling and locations.

Google Voice is a simple virtual phone number service and should be used by people who love Google Workspace. If you’re familiar with other Google Apps, this will be an easy learning curve.

You can learn more about this app through our guide to how Google Voice works.

Methodology for Choosing the Best Virtual Phone Number Companies

There are some key factors to consider when picking the right virtual phone number company. If you understand the importance of these, choosing the right one will be a breeze. If any or all of these considerations ring true with your situation, make sure to keep them top-of-mind during your purchasing decision.

Setup Time

A quick onboarding process is especially important for established businesses. Virtual phone number companies must have helpful onboarding for teams to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Most businesses can’t afford to have their phone lines down for an extended period. This will cause them to miss sales, lose opportunities, and damage relationships with existing clients.

If you hear of a virtual phone number company with a grueling onboarding process, stay away.

Setup time is less critical for solopreneurs getting their first business line. They have ample time to continue taking calls on their cell number during setup.

Hardware Obligations

Virtual phone number companies serve their customers through hardware, software, or a combination of both.

Hardware includes office phones, conference call phones, and headsets. Software usually means downloading an app to turn your mobile phone or computer into a softphone.

Business owners just starting out will lean toward a software-only service. New entrepreneurs don’t typically need all the extra hardware, and this will make onboarding simpler.

Larger businesses with many employees and a physical location will lean toward hardware or a hybrid service. If you’re conducting regular conference calls, it would be inefficient to have only mobile phones for employees. Virtual phone number hardware is also more professional within an office setting.

Team Size

Perhaps the most critical factor to consider is your team’s size. Virtual phone number companies can specialize in different sizes and their pricing often scales based on the number of users.

If you have a larger team, pick a provider that has large team features included. You will also want to choose one with user-based pricing. User-based pricing plans get cheaper the more users sign up, which is beneficial to teams with dozens of users.

Smaller businesses should look at virtual phone number companies that help smaller audiences. These teams will typically want to choose usage-based pricing plans. If you have lower call volumes, this will save your team money.

Expanding Your Knowledge: Best Virtual Phone Number Companies

The Top Virtual Phone Number Companies in Summary

Choosing a virtual phone number company doesn’t have to be complicated. Different companies tailor to diverse audiences. It’s important to factor in the criteria mentioned in the methodology section before choosing.

Nextiva provides a combination of usability and powerful features that make it the top option for most organizations. Solopreneurs ready to take over the world should consider Grasshopper, while specialty industries like automotive companies should consider the tailored features of GoTo Connect.