When it comes to video conferencing software, RingCentral and Zoom are two of the most popular options.
While there are many Zoom alternatives, RingCentral is one of the closest competitors.
Both platforms have plenty to offer businesses of all sizes, but there are some key differences between them.
In this article, we will compare the features, integrations, and pricing options of RingCentral and Zoom.
Knowing these comparisons will help you decide which platform works best for your business.
Is RingCentral the Same as Zoom?
No, these two web conferencing software platforms represent two different companies.
- RingCentral is a VoIP service that offers video conferencing as one of its features.
- Zoom, on the other hand, is a video conferencing platform that also offers VoIP services.
Both RingCentral and Zoom offer HD video and audio quality, as well as the ability to share screens.
They also both support up to 100 participants in a single meeting (without paying for add-ons).
RingCentral vs Zoom Overview
RingCentral and Zoom are two of the most popular video conferencing software platforms.
Both offer interesting options for businesses.
What Is RingCentral?
RingCentral is a cloud-based VoIP phone system for business.
It offers features like call forwarding, HD voice, and automatic call recording.
RingCentral gives you a mobile app that lets you make and receive calls on your smartphone.
Its video conferencing features include screen sharing and video recording.
What Is Zoom?
Zoom is a video conferencing software that offers high-definition audio and video, screen sharing, and collaboration features.
It also offers a mobile app that allows users to join meetings from their smartphones or tablets.
RingCentral vs Zoom Features
Zoom and RingCentral offer some of the same types of features, but differences also exist.
Let’s explore the most important features of each platform.
RingCentral Features
RingCentral provides the following main features:
- Video conferencing
- Voicemail and greeting
- Toll-free and local numbers
- Unlimited business SMS
- Multi-level IVR
- Online meetings
- Internet fax
- Desktop and mobile apps
Video conferencing
The RingCentral video conferencing feature lets you hold HD video meetings with up to 100 participants.
You can share your screen, record your meetings, and use the platform’s collaboration features.
Voicemail and greeting
With RingCentral, you can set up a voicemail box for each user.
You can also create custom greetings that play when someone calls your business number.
Online meetings
RingCentral’s online meeting feature lets you hold HD video meetings with up to 100 participants.
You can share your screen, record your meetings, and use the platform’s collaboration features.
Other RingCentral Features
- Toll-free and local numbers: RingCentral offers both toll-free and local phone numbers for businesses in the United States.
- Unlimited business SMS: RingCentral’s unlimited business SMS feature lets you send text messages to any US mobile number.
- Multi-level IVR: With the multi-level IVR feature, you can create a custom menu of options for callers to choose from when they call your business number.
- Internet fax: The Internet fax feature helps you send and receive faxes using your computer or mobile device.
- Desktop and mobile apps: RingCentral offers desktop and mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices.
Zoom Features
Zoom provides the following main features.
- Zoom video conferencing
- Screen sharing
- Calendar scheduling
- Audio-only conferencing
- Webinars
- Cloud storage
- Cross-platform messaging
- End-to-end encryption
- Password protection
Video conferencing
With the Zoom video communications feature, your business can hold HD video meetings with up to 1000 participants.
You can share your screen, use the platform’s collaboration features, and record your meetings.
Other Zoom Features
- Screen sharing: Zoom’s screen sharing feature lets you share your screen with other meeting participants.
- Calendar scheduling: With the calendar scheduling feature, you can schedule Zoom meetings in advance.
- Audio-only conferencing: The audio-only conferencing feature lets you hold audio-only meetings.
- Webinars: With the webinar feature, you can host live presentation events.
- Cloud storage: Zoom’s cloud storage feature helps you store your meeting recordings in the cloud.
- Cross-platform messaging: With cross-platform messaging, you can send messages to other Zoom users regardless of what device they’re using.
- End-to-end encryption: End-to-end encryption ensures that your meeting data remains encrypted from start to finish.
- Password protection: The password protection feature lets you set a password for your Zoom meetings.
RingCentral vs Zoom Meetings
Let’s expand on the Meetings features for both software platforms.
You need to know how they both work before choosing the best fit for your business needs.
RingCentral Meetings
The RingCentral meeting feature lets you host HD video meetings with up to 100 participants.
You can also join a meeting from any device, including your mobile phone.
The RingCentral Meetings feature comes with the following:
- Screen sharing
- Recording
- Meeting transcripts
- Group chat
Zoom Meetings
With Zoom, you can host video meetings with up to 100 participants for free.
If you need more participants, the Large Meeting add-on gives you room for 1,000 attendees.
As with RingCentral, attendees can join from a desktop, mobile phone, or laptop.
Other important Zoom Meetings features include the following:
- Breakout rooms
- Webinars
- Transcripts
- Group chat
- Screen sharing
Related: Free webinar recording tools
RingCentral vs Zoom Integrations
Both Zoom and RingCentral provide plenty of options when it comes to integrating the other software used by your company.
RingCentral Integrations
RingCentral offers integrations with popular business applications, such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and Google.
Integrating Salesforce with RingCentral makes it simple to view your RingCentral call logs in Salesforce.
You can also click to dial a number from within Salesforce.
Additionally, the integration lets you receive real-time notifications for new voicemails and faxes.
Using Zendesk and RingCentral together means having a complete picture of your customer interactions.
You can take advantage of features like the following:
- Reporting and analytics
- Seamless ticketing
- AI-powered chatbots
With Zendesk and RingCentral, you can create a seamless omnichannel experience for your customers.
The Google integration lets you make calls from Gmail and receive real-time notifications for new voicemails, faxes, and missed calls.
RingCentral also integrates with Akazio, Microsoft Outlook, Skype for Business, Microsoft Office 365, and Oracle Sales Cloud.
Using Akazio, you can record RingCentral calls and save them in Akazio.
The Microsoft Outlook integration lets you manage your RingCentral calls and messages from within Outlook.
With Skype for Business, you can make and receive VoIP calls using your Skype for Business client.
When you integrate RingCentral with Office 365, you can view your RingCentral call logs in Microsoft Outlook.
The Oracle Sales Cloud integration gives you the ability to click to dial a number from within Oracle Sales Cloud.
Zoom Integrations
Zoom integrates with Google Apps, Slack, Salesforce, and several other popular business applications.
- #AskAway
- DocuSign eSignature
- Mentimeter
- AI Notetaker by Fathom
- AI Business Cards by Warmly
- HubSpot App for Zoom Meetings
- Advice Online
- Eventurf
- vSolution App
- InVision Freehand – Whiteboard
- Modjo
- Screenloop
- Chorus.ai
- Wingman
- Meetgeek AI
The Google integration lets you start or join a meeting from Gmail with one click.
You can also schedule Zoom meetings directly from Google Calendar.
Slack is a collaboration tool that’s often used by remote teams.
With the Slack integration, you can start or join a Zoom meeting with one click.
You can also receive notifications for new voicemails, faxes, and missed calls.
With #AskAway, you gain the opportunity to know your team better via icebreaker questions.
The app makes it fun to build your company culture.
It comes with over 1,000 questions to use for your team.
The Salesforce integration lets you do similar things as when integrating it with RingCentral.
You can use Salesforce and Zoom to view Zoom call logs within your already-existing Salesforce database.
The DocuSign eSignature integration lets you sign documents electronically.
You can get documents signed while conducting Zoom meetings with clients and vendors.
Mentimeter is an interactive presentation tool that lets you create polls and surveys.
It also makes it possible to create Word Clouds and Q&A sessions while on Zoom meetings.
With AI Notetaker by Fathom, you can transcribe your Zoom meetings in real-time.
Warmly AI Business Cards uses artificial intelligence to scan business cards and add the information to your contact list.
Use it to create business card backgrounds on Zoom presentations.
The HubSpot App for Zoom Meetings lets you start or join a meeting from within HubSpot.
With Advice Online, you can get expert advice on any topic 24/7.
Eventurf is an event planning tool that lets you schedule and manage each Zoom meeting.
The vSolution App is a secondary video conferencing solution that integrates with Zoom.
InVision Freehand – Whiteboard is an online whiteboard tool.
Use it to collaborate with others in real-time.
Modjo is a tool that lets you record your Zoom meetings.
It will also transcribe each session automatically.
Using Screenloop, you can more effectively conduct interviews on Zoom.
Chorus.ai is another tool that transcribes Zoom meetings.
It uses artificial intelligence to provide accurate transcriptions.
Wingman is a tool that helps your sales team perform more effectively.
Meetgeek AI uses artificial intelligence for note-taking and automatically transcribes all Zoom meetings.
The Meetgeek AI integration also provides productivity insights.
RingCentral vs Zoom Phone Capabilities
Both Zoom and RingCentral also provide phone features.
Here’s a review of each platform’s phone capabilities.
RingCentral Phone
RingCentral offers plenty of VoIP features.
- Toll-free and vanity numbers
- Local numbers
- Extensions
- Call delegation
- Presence and head-up display
- Call screening
- Call flip
- Call forwarding
- Call park
- Paging
- Intercom
- RingOut
- Answering rules
- Shared lines
- Internet fax
- Visual voicemail
- Voicemail-to-email
Let’s review each of these features in more detail.
The toll-free and vanity numbers feature lends instant credibility to your company.
The local numbers feature gives you a local presence in any country.
Using extensions helps to link each employee to all your local and satellite offices.
Administration assistants can place calls for busy executives when using call delegation.
The feature helps when executives need to maintain a high call volume.
With presence and head-up display, colleagues easily see the availability of other employees.
It displays as “do not disturb”, “invisible”, or “available” to help improve productivity.
Call screening helps you know who’s calling before you answer.
It’s especially useful for sales and customer service teams.
The call flip feature helps when someone needs to transfer a call from their desk phone to their mobile device.
It’s useful when the person needs to leave the office while remaining on the call.
Call forwarding automatically forwards all calls to another number.
Call park helps when someone needs to take a call on another line.
The paging feature sends an audio page to all phones in the office.
The intercom feature is useful for making announcements to multiple people at once.
With RingOut, you can make and receive calls from any device with the touch of one button.
The answering rules feature routes calls from the main number to any of several mailboxes and extensions.
Shared lines let multiple people answer the same call.
The Internet fax feature lets you send and receive faxes without a physical fax machine.
Visual voicemail shows you a list of voicemails with time stamps.
Voicemail-to-email automatically sends voicemails to your email inbox.
Zoom Phone
Here are the main Zoom phone calling features:
- Zoom mobile and desktop app
- Call transfer
- Desk phone support
- Call forwarding
- Call recording
- Voicemail
- Call blocking
- Call hold
- Elevate to meeting
- Listen (Monitor)
- Barge
- Whisper
- Takeover
- Presence
You can download the Zoom mobile and desktop on both iOS and Android devices.
The app lets you make and receive calls, as well as send text messages.
With call transfer, you can easily transfer any call to the correct person.
Call forwarding lets you forward calls to another number or voicemail.
You can also record calls with Zoom Phone.
The voicemail feature saves messages if you’re unable to answer a call.
Call blocking helps you block unwanted callers.
With call hold, you can put a caller on hold while remaining on the line.
The “elevate to meeting” feature lets you turn any call into a Zoom meeting.
Listen (Monitor) allows you to listen in on active calls.
The Listen feature helps an assistant take notes for others within the company, for instance.
Barge lets you join an active call as a third person.
Whisper is useful for coaching someone during a call without the other person knowing.
The Takeover option is helpful when a supervisor or executive must come into the call and take it over.
With the Presence feature, you can see a contact’s availability before transferring calls over to them.
RingCentral vs Zoom Pricing
Now that we’ve gone over the features of both RingCentral and Zoom, let’s compare the pricing.
RingCentral Pricing
The pricing for RingCentral depends on the number of users.
We’ll first provide monthly pricing that reflects the annual billing plan.
For up to 20 users, the price is $19.99/user/month.
It’s called the Essentials Plan.
With this plan, you get phone and message capability.
You can obtain toll-free or regular business phone numbers.
The Essentials Plan also provides voicemail-to-text, enhanced business SMS, document sharing, and team messaging features.
On the Standard Plan, you get everything in the Essentials Plan for $27.99/user/month.
It adds the following features:
- Business numbers for 100+ countries
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited audio conferencing
- Unlimited Internet fax
- Up to 24-hour meeting times
- Up to 100 participants in video meetings
- Integrations available include Slack, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365
- Quality-of-service reports
- 24/7 customer support services
You’ll pay $34.99/user/month on the Premium Plan.
The Premium Plan gives you everything in the Standard Plan along with these additional features.
- Single sign-on
- Automatic call recording
- Hot desking
- Multi-site admin
- Video meetings that include up to 200 people
- Real-time analytics
- Industry-specific integrations (Smarsh or Canvas, for instance)
- Up to 8-digit extensions
- CRM integrations (Zendesk, Salesforce, and more)
- Custom integrations
- Developer platform integrations
The Ultimate Plan gives you everything in the Premium Plan.
It costs $49.99/user/month and gives you the following features.
- Device status alerts
- Unlimited storage
- Device status reports
If you pay on a month-to-month basis, the monthly pricing looks like this:
- Essentials Plan: $29.99
- Standard Plan: $37.99
- Premium Plan: $44.99
- Ultimate Plan: $59.99
Zoom Pricing
Zoom offers a free plan for its customers.
On the Free Plan, you can add up to 100 participants to each meeting.
You get unlimited one-to-one meetings with a 30-minute time limit.
The Free Plan provides unlimited group meetings with a 40-minute time limit for each conference.
The plan also provides group and private chat options.
The paid plan options for Zoom break down into three plans.
The Pro Plan works well for smaller teams. It costs $149.90 annually.
It gives you everything from the Free Plan, plus these additional features:
- Pay for the $600 per year Large Meetings add-on to host up to 1,000 participants at each meeting
- Social media streaming
- Group meetings can last up to 30 hours
- Cloud recording option (1 GB of storage)
You’ll pay $199.90 annually for the Business Plan license.
It’s an option that works best for small business owners.
It provides everything in the Pro Plan and a few extra features:
- Host up to 300 participants
- Use the paid Large Meetings add-on to host up to 2,000 participants
- Recording transcriptions
- Single sign-on
- Company branding
- Managed domains
- Up to 99 licenses
An Enterprise Plan is available for $240 per year.
It’s for larger corporations.
It provides everything in the Business Plan.
It also adds these two features:
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Host up to 500 participants
RingCentral vs Zoom Help and Support
Both RingCentral and Zoom provide 24/7 customer support services.
RingCentral Help and Support
RingCentral customers can reach out to the customer service team by phone or email.
You can also start a live chat with a customer service representative on their website.
The company’s knowledge center offers plenty of customer support options.
If you like to get help on social media, that’s available through the RingCentral Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook platforms.
Zoom Help and Support
Zoom provides its customers with similar options for reaching out to the customer support team.
You can start a live chat, submit an email ticket, call on the phone, or join the community forum.
You can also view the FAQs section on their website for answers to common questions.
Zoom breaks its customer service options into the following categories:
- My Zoom Account
- Admin Management
- Billing and Payments
- Device Management
- Security Management
RingCentral vs Zoom Pros and Cons
Both RingCentral and Zoom work well as video conferencing software options.
Let’s review the pros and cons of each platform as you decide on the best option for your needs.
RingCentral Pros
Some of the advantages of RingCentral include the following:
- The ability to handle a high call volume
- System reliability
- Supports complex business needs
- Simple integration with other software platforms
- You can use it on any device
- Reliable customer support options
- Crystal-clear audio
- Integrates with many software options
A key RingCentral advantage includes its easy setup process.
You can open an account, set up your dashboard, and start using the system almost immediately.
You’ll see your phone options and data security, online meetings, and call management features in one place.
RingCentral Cons
There are a few disadvantages to review when it comes to using RingCentral:
- It doesn’t offer a free plan (although it does includes a 15-day free trial)
- The interface is not as user-friendly as some of the other options
- Some large businesses may not like the fact that Linux support isn’t available
Zoom Pros
Now, let’s review some of the advantages of using Zoom:
- It’s easy to use
- The interface is straightforward
- You can join a meeting without having to create an account
- Has an app for almost every device
Zoom is one of the most user-friendly video conferencing software platforms available.
Anyone can navigate the interface, regardless of their level of tech experience.
Another big advantage of Zoom is that it offers a free plan.
It’s a big selling point for small businesses and startups working with a tight budget.
Zoom also has an app for almost every type of device.
The feature makes it easy to join a meeting, regardless of where you are or what type of device you’re using.
Zoom Cons
There are a few disadvantages of using Zoom worth mentioning.
Yes, Zoom offers a free plan.
It’s quite basic, though.
It only allows you to host meetings with up to 100 participants for 40 minutes at a time.
Some security concerns also surround Zoom.
The company has faced criticism for its handling of user data and privacy in the past.
Wrapping Up
So, which is better – RingCentral or Zoom?
It ultimately depends on your needs.
If you’re looking for a video conferencing software platform that’s easy to use and offers a free plan, Zoom is the better option.
If you need a more complex system to support your business needs and don’t mind paying for it, RingCentral is a good choice.
Take the next step by looking at each system’s features.
Make your choice based on which platform fits your business needs best.
