VoIP for PC: 12 best Windows apps in 2024

Your cell phone may travel around in your pocket, but when you’re already on your Windows computer, there’s nothing more convenient than calling or texting straight from your PC. If you’re looking for VoIP software with desktop functionality, there are a handful of providers that might be the right fit for your business.

However, the best VoIP apps can do far more than let you make and receive calls from a PC. Great solutions offer auto-replies, shared numbers, toll-free numbers, call recording, and easy-to-navigate platforms that help build strong relationships with your customers. Here are 12 providers that support VoIP for PCs and how they add value to your business.

Comparing the best VoIP for PC solutions

Here’s how the 12 best VoIP apps compare:

A	B	C	D	E	F
Provider	Starting price	Unlimited calling to US & Canada	SMS/MMS to US & Canada	Shared phone numbers	Additional phone numbers
OpenPhone	$15 per user per month	✓	✓	✓	$5 per number per month
RingCentral	$20 per user per month	✓	25 messages per user per month	✓	$4.99 per number per month
Zoiper Softphone	Free for personal use	Requires upgrade	Requires upgrade	Requires a VoIP provider or PBX	Requires a VoIP provider or PBX
Google Voice	$10 per user per month (plus $6 per month for a Google Workspace)	Unlimited calls to Canada from the US only	US customers only	Requires upgrade (ring groups only)	X
Vonage	$13.99 per user per month (1-year contract)	✓	✓	Requires upgrade or $4.99 add-on for each call group	Starts at $4.99 per number per month
Ooma	$19.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	X	Starts at $9.99 per number per month
8×8	Contact for a quote	✓	X	✓	Contact for a quote
Dialpad	$15 per user per month	✓	For US & Canadian customers only	✓	Requires upgrade
3CX	Starts at $0 per user per month	Depends on SIP trunk	Requires upgrade	X	X
CloudTalk	$25 per user per month	US & Canadian customers only	Requires upgrade	Ring groups only	Region-specific pricing
Grasshopper	$14 per month	✓	Local numbers only	X	$9 per number per month
Nextiva	$18.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	✓	Requires the purchase of an additional user seat

Keep reading for the breakdown of each app’s pros, cons, and key features.

12 best VoIP for PC solutions

With over 94% of households owning at least one computer, VoIP solutions accessible through most computers and mobile devices have become more prevalent than ever. Here’s what you need to know about 12 of the best VoIP phone systems for businesses that want to manage phone calls and texts using their PCs.

1. OpenPhone: Best for growing businesses

OpenPhone is a business phone system that lets you make and receive calls and texts from any device. You can use OpenPhone’s PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, or browser apps to dial or text any phone number. 

You can even reach out to saved contacts with a single click. All you need to do is make OpenPhone your default calling app on your Windows device, you can also instantly click-to-call phone numbers on most websites — no need to tap Ctrl+C or Ctrl+V ever again.

To help you streamline your business communication, OpenPhone offers a handful of automations and integrations. For example, you can set up automated text messages and connect your phone to apps like Slack, Zapier, and (with an upgrade) CRMs to avoid wasting time hopping between platforms.

Want to ensure customers always get the support they need? Share your business phone numbers so any available team member can pick up text conversations or answer calls. 

If you need direct numbers for colleagues or phone numbers based on different area codes, when you sign up to OpenPhone, each user on your plan comes with one free US, Canadian, or toll-free number. 

Pros

• Unlimited calls in the US and Canada
• Shared numbers to divide calls among multiple team members
• Integrations with more than 5,000 third-party apps like Salesforce and HubSpot
• Auto-replies to save time
• Easy to set up and use

Cons

• No emergency 911 calling services*

*Nearly all virtual phone numbers share this problem. Since VoIP numbers aren’t tied to a physical address, they can’t be used to call emergency services.

Key features of OpenPhone

• Free calls and texts to anyone in the US or Canada
• Business app integrations (including Slack, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, and email)
• Text message automations (including scheduled messaging, snippets, and auto-replies)
• Shared phone numbers and contacts
• Call recording

OpenPhone pricing

• Starter: $15 per user per month for free calls and texts in the US and Canada, shared phone numbers, voicemail transcripts, and more
• Business: $23 per user per month for call transfers, group calling, auto call recording, and more
• Enterprise: Contact us for a custom price for priority support, a dedicated account manager, audit logs, and more

How to get a VoIP number for PC with OpenPhone

Getting a new phone number from almost anywhere in the world is a simple process when you choose OpenPhone as your virtual phone number provider. Follow these three steps:

1. Create an account with OpenPhone (when you sign up, you get a free, seven-day trial).
2. During signup, choose your city or area code in the US to select your preferred phone number.
3. Once the signup process is complete, you’re all set to use your new virtual phone number!

2. RingCentral: Best for desk phone rentals

RingCentral is a legacy business VoIP service provider that offers desktop, browser, and mobile apps with every plan. It also sells and rents VoIP-compatible desk phones and equipment, which is ideal for businesses that don’t want to give them up.

Its Essentials plan is pretty bare-bones — including little more than VoIP texting, calling, and voicemail transcriptions capabilities — but RingCentral still stands out for the fairly large number of integrations it offers when you upgrade. You can connect to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace with a second-tier plan or higher.

RingCentral doesn’t support a lot of text message automations and requires costly plans for CRM integrations and call recordings. Plus, you’ll have to pay extra if you want to send more than 25 texts per user per month. On top of that, if you want your call recording stored for more than 90 days, you’ll need to upgrade to the Ultra plan. 

However, with an upgrade, it can be a good PC VoIP solution if you want both voice and video call functionality on your computer (or any device).

Pros

• Unlimited calls to the US and Canada
• Salesforce and Zendesk integrations
• You can record calls from any device

Cons

• CRM integrations requires upgrade
• The base plan includes only 25 texts per user per month

Key features of RingCentral

• Free unlimited calls in the US and Canada
• Business app integrations (upgrade required)
• Call recording (upgrade required)

RingCentral pricing

RingCentral’s pricing varies depending on the number of users on your account. For teams of 1-20 users:

• Core: $20 per user per month (max 20 users) for IVR, API access, unlimited domestic calling, and more
• Advanced: $25 per user per month for automatic call recording, unlimited internet fax, call monitoring, and more
• Ultra: $35 per user per month for business analytics, unlimited storage, and more

3. Zoiper: Best for PBX systems

Zoiper is a VoIP softphone powered by session initiation protocol (SIP) technology. This makes it possible for businesses to access SIP-powered features like video calls and instant messaging with a one-time desktop app purchase or a mobile app subscription. SMS (but not MMS) is available if you purchase a custom-branded desktop app.

However, Zoiper doesn’t work on its own. To call or text, you need to connect an existing PBX or VoIP provider that Zoiper has configurations for, like 1-VoIP or Callcentric.

With a Zoiper plan, you can get features like call recording, call transfer, encryption, and (on desktop) click-to-call and CRM integrations. However, you need to pay separately for business access to the iOS, Android, and desktop apps, and you won’t get any collaboration features that link your team together. Plus, since you have to locally host the PC app if you go with Zoiper, you’ll need to purchase, download, and configure a new app with every update instead of getting automatic, free software updates.

Pros

• Runs on Windows, Android, and web browsers
• Supports faxing and instant messaging
• Conference calling

Cons

• No auto-replies, hard numbers, or other advanced features

Key features of Zoiper

• Unlimited voice and video calls
• CRM integrations
• Call recording

Zoiper pricing

Zoiper is free for personal use. You can upgrade to the business plan, which costs $49.95 for lifetime access, and you’ll get access to CRM integrations, video calling, SMS, and more.

4. Google Voice: Best for Google Workspace users

Google Voice is a good option for personal use. However, the free plan isn’t designed for businesses and lacks important features like call recording and ring groups.

For the many companies that use the Google software suite, Google Voice for business can feel like a natural solution for your VoIP calling needs. While Google Voice doesn’t offer a desktop app — which means you’ll need to log in through your browser to get VoIP for PC functionality — it’s an affordable VoIP phone solution that supports calls, texts, and two Google app integrations with every plan.

You’ll need upgrades to access more time-saving solutions. But while upgrades can unlock auto-attendants for automatic VoIP call routing and ring groups that let any available team member answer calls, there’s no way to automate texts or integrate with third-party apps on any Google Voice plan. Plus, it doesn’t support toll-free numbers if you need a way for customers across North America to be able to call you without paying long-distance fees.

Additionally, all calls, texts, and voice messages live in separate inboxes in Google Voice, making it more time-consuming to catch up on conversations than other VoIP solutions. 

Pros

• Integrates with Google Workspace apps
• Calls to the US and Canada are free from almost any country

Cons

• No integrations outside Google Workspace
• Texting is available in the US only

Key features of Google Voice

• Free unlimited calls and texts in the US
• Google Calendar and Google Meet integrations
• Call recording (upgrade required)

Google Voice pricing

To use Google Voice for business, you need a Google Workspace subscription, which starts at $6 per user per month, on top of your Voice subscription.

• Starter: $10 per user per month (max 10 users) for unlimited domestic calls, call forwarding, set business hours, and more
• Standard: $20 per user per month for auto-attendants, ring groups, ad-hoc call recording, and more
• Premier: $30 per user per month for advanced reporting with BigQuery, automatic call recording, and more

5. Vonage: Best for video conferencing 

Vonage is a legacy voice and video conferencing platform you can access from your desktop, phone, and browser. While it doesn’t offer a lot of native features with its Basic plan, you can access a number of third-party app integrations (including Slack and Google Workspace) with every plan. You can also upgrade to get CRM integrations like Salesforce, but keep in mind: These integrations often require extra monthly fees on top of the cost of your subscription.

Vonage also requires you to upgrade to access key features like call recordings and voicemail transcriptions.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Advanced features like APIs

Cons

• Toll-free numbers cost an extra $39.99 per month
• Voicemail transcriptions and call groups require upgrades

Key features of Vonage

• Free unlimited calls in the US, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico
• CRM integrations (upgrade and monthly fees usually required)
• Call recording (upgrade required)

Vonage pricing

Vonage’s price depends on the number of users on your account. For teams of 1-4 users: 

• Mobile: Starts at $13.99 per line per month for unlimited domestic calling, SMS and MMS, voicemail, and more
• Premium: Starts at $20.99 per line per month for select third-party integrations, team messaging, single sign-on, and more
• Advanced: Starts at $27.99 per line per month for on-demand call recording (15 hours per month), call groups, visual voicemail (with transcription), and more

6. Ooma: Best for faxing support

Ooma is a popular VoIP provider for small businesses available to use on an Android, iOS, or a compatible IP phone with their base plan. With Ooma, you might find yourself paying for features you don’t need, like analog fax machines and desk phone support, while still missing key features.

You’ll need to upgrade to the Office Pro plan to get VoIP for PC functionality, which costs $24.95 per user per month. If you do upgrade, you unlock text messaging, video conference calls, call recording, and voicemail transcriptions — though the latter two commonly come standard with many VoIP softphones. 

When you upgrade to Ooma’s Office Pro plan, you can integrate your phone system with Salesforce (along with Google Workspace and Office 365). However, other popular apps like Slack and Zapier don’t integrate with this small business phone system. 

Pros

• Texting available in the US and Canada
• Traditional faxing and virtual faxing support

Cons

• Texting and access to their desktop app require upgrade
• No Zapier integration

Key features of Ooma

• Free unlimited calls in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
• Ring groups
• Text messaging (upgrade required)
• Call recording (upgrade required)
• Desktop app (upgrade required)

Ooma pricing

• Ooma Office Essentials: $19.95 per user per month (doesn’t support VoIP for PC) for email audio attachments, virtual receptionists, ring groups, and more
• Ooma Office Pro: $24.95 per user per month provides access to Ooma’s desktop app, call recording, caller ID, texting, and more
• Ooma Office Pro Plus: $29.95 per user per month for CRM integrations, Team chat, and more

7. 8×8: Best for omnichannel service

8×8 is a legacy cloud-based contact center solution designed to help sales and customer support teams manage a high volume of calls. You can use its desktop, mobile, and web apps to make unlimited calls in up to 48 countries.

8×8’s mid-tier and top-tier plans can be good VoIP for PC solutions if your team wants to get interactive video conferencing features, like screen sharing and polls, along with call management features like ring groups and call forwarding. Additionally, 8×8 lets you put customers on hold and play music for them with its music-on-hold feature, which delivers a pleasant and professional experience. 

However, 8×8 falls flat in the texting department. Group texting isn’t available, and you won’t be able to text from a shared number. You’ll also need to manually set up the call recording settings for each user on your plan, which can take a lot of time. Plus, once you set up recordings in their desktop app, call recordings are deleted after 130 days unless you upgrade.

Pros

• Unlimited calls to 48 countries
• Omnichannel routing for agents

Cons

• Texting feature is available only to US and Canadian customers
• Limited storage options on the X2 plan
• Desktop app is difficult to navigate

Key features of 8×8

• Free unlimited calls in the US, Canada, and 46 other countries
• SMS and MMS
• Call recording storage for up to 130 days (upgrade required) 

8×8 pricing

While 8×8 requires you to contact their sales team for a specific quote. Here is their last publicly shared pricing:

• X2: $24 per user per month for Microsoft Teams integration, SMS, MMS, team chat, and more
• X4: $44 per user per month for supervisor analytics, unlimited voice calling to 48 countries, and more
• X6: Pricing is unavailable online; the plan includes IVR, call recording CRM, skills-based routing, and more
• X7: Pricing is unavailable online; the plan includes co-browsing, omnichannel support for social media, and more
• X8: Pricing is unavailable online; the plan includes speech and text analytics, quality management, and more

8. Dialpad: Best for large contact centers

Dialpad is a VoIP app designed for contact centers. Its AI Contact Center can offer real-time transcriptions and tell your team if they’re speaking too fast or too slow on every call. Additionally, it delivers instant call summaries with action items your reps can access in conversation threads or by email. 

However, the cons of Dialpad are that it creates limitations for your business and can get expensive. For example, its basic plan only supports three ring groups — and a mid-tier plan sets a limit of 25 — so you might not be able to set up shared numbers for every department. Plus, you have to upgrade if you need more than one number per user on your team. 

Additionally, if you don’t upgrade to the Enterprise plan, there’s no uptime guarantee, which can lead to dropped calls when customers speak with your reps.

Pros

• Transcribes calls in real time
• Comes with caller ID

Cons

• International texting requires upgrade
• Shared numbers require upgrade
• Toll-free numbers require upgrade

Key features of Dialpad

• Free unlimited calls and texts in the US and Canada (international texting requires an upgrade)
• CRM integrations ( requires upgrade)
• Ring groups ( require upgrade for more than three users to receive call notifications simultaneously)

Dialpad pricing

• Standard: $15 per user per month for unlimited calling, AI-powered call and voicemail transcriptions, real-time analytics and reporting, and more
• Pro: $25 per user per month (three-user minimum) for CRM integrations like HubSpot, local number support, open APIs and webhooks, and more
• Enterprise: Pricing is unavailable online; the plan includes 100% uptime, dial-by-extension, and more

9. 3CX: Best for businesses that already have their own hardware

3CX is a free calling platform that offers virtual PBX, WhatsApp messaging, and video call solutions with every plan. Whether you’re using Windows, Mac, the web, or a mobile app, you can use 3CX to integrate live chat with your website and easily escalate conversations to call center representatives for extra support.

3CX has annual plans to use private hosting environments that help you avoid VoIP issues caused by shared traffic. With 3CX, you’ll also end up footing a larger bill to access vital business phone features like call recording or SMS and MMS functionality.

Pros

• Offers a free plan for up to 10 users
• Business hours

Cons

• SMS and MMS require upgrade
• CRM integration requires upgrade

Key features of 3CX

• WhatsApp integration
• Ring groups (upgrade required for more than one)
• Call recording (upgrade required)

3CX pricing

3CX has a fairly complex pricing system that varies depending on the size of your team. You can access the following pricing for up to 10 users on a business phone system hosted by 3CX.

• SMB Free: Free (max 10 users, shared hosting) for team messaging, video conferencing, mobile and desktop apps, and more
• Small Business: $175 per year (max 20 users, shared hosting) for multi-level IVR, call and chat reporting, any number of desk phones, and more
• Professional: $195 per year plus hosting fees (max four simultaneous calls [or more with over 10 users], dedicated hosting) for the option to install on premises or self-host, call recording, CRM integration, and more
• Enterprise: $245 per year plus hosting fees (max four simultaneous calls [or more with over 10 users], dedicated hosting) for custom IP phone logo, skill-based routing, and more
  

If you want to self-host your phone system using Amazon, Google, or Azure, you can choose from the following plans (pricing for up to 10 users):

• Professional: $445 per year (max four simultaneous calls — or more with over 10 users)
• Enterprise: $495 per year (max four simultaneous calls — or more with over 10 users) 

10. CloudTalk: Best for customer experience

CloudTalk is call center software that offers local numbers in over 160 countries. Available as a desktop, web, and mobile app, it supports ring groups and call queuing functionality that automatically distributes calls to the right agents (based on your preset rules) with every plan. You can also compile shared contacts from third-party platforms with ease.

However, CloudTalk isn’t the best PC VoIP solution for companies that make a lot of outgoing calls. You need to pay per minute when dialing your clients. You also can’t have text messaging capabilities or unlimited call recording storage unless you upgrade.

Pros

• Set up 3-way calls
• Transfer calls to other team members
• Transfer calls to other team members

Cons

• SMS messaging requires upgrade
• Unlimited call recording storage requires upgrade

Key features of CloudTalk

• Free inbound calls for standard local numbers (excludes toll-free numbers and high-cost country numbers like Sri Lanka and Cote d’Ivoire)
• Call recording (upgrade required for more than one month of storage)
• Ring groups

CloudTalk pricing

• Starter: $25 per user per month for call recording, click-to-call, international numbers (160+ countries), and more
• Essential: $30 per user per month for advanced real-time analytics, skill-based routing, unlimited concurrent calls, and more
• Expert: $50 per user per month for Salesforce integration, live call monitoring, single sign-on, and more
• Custom: Pricing is unavailable online; the plan includes custom reporting, enterprise-level security, and more

11. Grasshopper: Best for multi-digit phone extensions

Grasshopper is a small business VoIP solution available on desktops and mobile phones. It offers the same set of phone features with every plan — including text messaging, voicemail transcriptions, and call transfers. 

You can choose your Grasshopper plan based on the number of phone lines and extensions you need. Its phone number extensions let you automatically route customers to the department or rep they need, helping them avoid listening to lengthy auto attendants.

Unfortunately, Grasshopper won’t scale with your business for long. You can’t unlock more features, like integrations or automations, when you upgrade. 

While Grasshopper offers add-ons like simultaneous ring, they come at a high cost — for example, $9 extra per month for each additional number, and even then, you won’t get a shared inbox where your team can work together.

Grasshopper may market itself as the best VoIP for small businesses, but there are far more feature-rich options.

Pros

• Auto-attendant (phone menu) with extensions

Cons

• No shared phone numbers
• No call recording
• No international text messaging

Key features of Grasshopper

• Free unlimited calls and texts in the US and Canada
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Auto-replies

Grasshopper pricing

• True Solo: $14 per month for one user, one phone number, and one extension
• Solo Plus: $25 per month for unlimited users, one number, and three extensions
• Small Business: $55 per month for unlimited users, four numbers, and unlimited extensions

Additional numbers cost $9 per month.

12. Nextiva: Best for people who use Microsoft products

Nextiva is a well-known VoIP system for contact centers. It offers direct integrations with Microsoft products, which is ideal for businesses that use Teams. It also comes with built-in CRM software that lets you track all interactions between your customers and agents.

However, Nextiva lacks important business features that help businesses grow. For example, texting customers from your PC requires an upgrade to its Professional plan at $27.95 per user per month. Even essential features like call recording and voice transcriptions are locked behind a paywall.

If you’re running a large-scale enterprise, Nextiva could be the perfect match. In contrast, with all the upgrades needed to access vital features for most businesses, it might be too expensive for most growing companies.

Pros

• Microsoft Dynamics integrations
• Ability to make unlimited calls within the US and Canada
• Video calling features

Cons

• Voice transcription and call recordings require upgrade
• Toll-free minutes are limited on each plan
• SMS and MMS have a capped message limit

Key features of Nextiva

• Unlimited online faxing
• Instant messaging
• Auto attendant
• Do not disturb mode
• Voicemail greetings

Nextiva pricing

Nextiva offers three different plans:

• Essential: $18.95 per user per month for Microsoft and Google integrations, auto-attendant, internet fax, and more
• Professional: $22.95 per user per month for voicemail transcriptions, texting capabilities, screen sharing, and more
• Enterprise: $32.95 per user per month for call recording, Microsoft Teams integration, video conferencing, and more

What to look for in the best VoIP apps for PCs

When shopping for a VoIP for PC solution, keep an eye out for these eight features to get the most out of your business phone service with any device.

1. Clear upfront pricing

The best VoIP services don’t have any hidden fees. Choose a provider that shares add-on costs and international calling rates upfront instead of hiding additional fees behind hard-to-find pages or in their terms and conditions.

2. Integrations

Integrations can help you streamline your workflow by eliminating busy work. Identify the business apps you regularly use and select a VoIP platform that can integrate with your most-used software.

For example, OpenPhone integrations with Zapier, Slack, and Gmail come with every plan. On the OpenPhone Business plan, you can connect your phone to HubSpot, Salesforce, Gong, and more.

3. Texting automations

Manually typing and sending text messages can take a lot of time. VoIP software that helps you streamline at least part of the process is ideal. 

OpenPhone, for instance, lets you schedule texts, set up auto-replies, and save time with snippets, which are text message templates you can create for the conversations you frequently have.

4. Shared numbers

VoIP software that lets you share phone numbers can help ensure you’re not playing phone tag with your customers during business hours. 

While ring groups and call queues can offer similar benefits, shared numbers on platforms like OpenPhone allow for smoother collaboration by letting your team share notes and see when other team members are typing or on calls. In OpenPhone, you can tag teammates to work together on responses or assign tasks. 

5. Shared contacts

If you want to keep all your VoIP users on the same page, your business needs a solution that supports the ability to share contacts with your workspace. With OpenPhone, you can also share contacts with specific teammates or inboxes in your workspace.

6. MMS support

Not every business VoIP provider with SMS functionality supports MMS. However, you need MMS to share images, GIFs, videos, audio, and other forms of media that help you better support your customers. Plus, MMS lets you send texts with more than 160 characters, so your message won’t reach your customers in multiple out-of-order pieces.

7. Call recordings

If you’re doing quality assurance, training your team members, interviewing job candidates, or keeping a record of verbal agreements, call recordings can come in handy. Choose a PC VoIP solution that offers call recordings without time-based storage limits to ensure your records don’t get erased and you don’t have to worry about archiving recordings for later reference.

8. Clear conversation histories

VoIP providers (like OpenPhone) that keep all your call recordings, texts, and voicemails in a single view can help you avoid missing important messages so you can make all your clients feel understood and supported. Avoid choosing providers that split up your messages into separate folders to maintain a full view of your conversations.

Get the best PC VoIP solution: OpenPhone

When your business phone system lets you make and receive VoIP calls and texts from your Windows computer, you can support your clients without reaching for your phone. With OpenPhone, you can further boost your efficiency with robust automations, integrations, click-to-call functionality, and all the VoIP features you need to get the most from your VoIP for PC solution. Start your free trial of OpenPhone today.