Zoom Phone vs RingCentral: which one actually fits a 10-200 seat office (2026)

1. RingCentral gives a UK buyer a price in pounds. We couldn't find one from Zoom.

We found no Zoom Phone price in pounds on any Zoom page we could reach, as of 12 October 2026. Zoom's pricing page shows prices by visitor location. Every check we ran came back in US dollars. Zoom's UK-style addresses (zoom.com/en-gb and zoom.us/en-gb) returned "page not found". Adding a currency or country setting to the address was ignored.

That's not proof Zoom has no UK price. A UK visitor may see one. It is proof that a UK buyer can't easily check one, and that no page-one comparison quotes one with a Zoom source. The £8 and £12 figures that circulate come from comparison sites. We found nothing from Zoom to back them, so we don't use them.

Zoom Phone does run in the UK. Zoom's own support articles cover UK number porting and UK text-message rules (checked Oct 2026). Zoom's 2019 UK launch post describes UK metered and unlimited calling plans and 999 emergency calling. Note the UK limits on texting: Zoom says MMS and international SMS "are not supported for UK numbers", that sending texts needs KYC (identity) paperwork such as proof of your registered address, and that SMS isn't supported in Ireland.

RingCentral publishes UK tiers in pounds on its own UK page, from Essentials at £12.99 / £17.99 to Ultimate at £29.99 / £33.99 (checked Sep 2026). VAT treatment isn't stated. That's the main reason we pick RingCentral for UK buyers.

2. The cost of paying monthly: 40-50% with RingCentral, 12-18% with Zoom, if Zoom lets you pay monthly at all

Both vendors headline their annual price. Here's what monthly billing adds, from each vendor's own figures.

Percentages are our arithmetic.

The Zoom rows come with a warning. We loaded Zoom's pricing page two ways on 12 October 2026 and got two different pages. The plain version shows each plan "billed monthly" and "billed annually", as in the table. The fully loaded version shows annual prices only, with this footnote: "All plans are billed annually as a single upfront charge. Monthly rates shown are calculated by dividing the annual total by 12 and are displayed for comparison purposes only ... you will not be charged on a monthly basis."

Both versions came from Zoom's own address on the same day. We can't tell you which is current, and we won't pretend to. If paying monthly matters to you, start Zoom's checkout and look at the billing options before you plan around it.

3. Cost per user over 36 months, at today's list prices

Nobody on page one models cost past a single month. Here's the 36-month total per user, US list price, before tax and add-ons.

Our arithmetic. This assumes no price rises. Both vendors can raise prices with 30 days' notice. RingCentral's US figures are for 1-5 users. Ask for your bracket's price. For CRM, compare Zoom Pro Plus with RingCentral Advanced: Zoom is $162 cheaper per user over three years on annual billing.

Zoom Phone: the upfront bill

One version of Zoom's page says annual plans are "billed annually as a single upfront charge". Zoom's terms say payments are "non-cancelable" and "non-refundable" for the term. Here's that upfront charge at list price, before tax (checked Oct 2026):

Our arithmetic: seats x price x 12.

• Leaving early. Nothing comes back. Cancel a 50-seat Unlimited plan in month three and the $9,600 is gone.
• The cheapest plan's meeting licence is cut down. The Unlimited plan card says "40 minutes per meeting, 100 participants per meeting" and "Limited AI capabilities". If your team also needs full Zoom Meetings, compare Pro Plus, not Unlimited.
• CRM costs can land on the CRM side. Zoom's Salesforce app needs "A Salesforce Enterprise or Unlimited account". Its Zendesk app needs "Zendesk Suite plan or customers with Support + Talk Partner Edition". If you're below those editions, you'd have to upgrade your CRM.
• Metered means every external call is charged. US & CA Metered is $10.50 (checked Oct 2026), and every external call is charged per minute. We didn't extract the per-minute rates.
• Live support. Depending on the page version: phone support over $200 a month in spend, or only with a Premier Support Package. Premier isn't priced publicly.
• Add-ons (checked Oct 2026): extra phone numbers $5 a month. International Calling $10 a month. Customer Engagement Pack $25 a month. Zoom doesn't say whether these are per user, per number or per account. Ask.
• Taxes and fees: extra, amount unstated.
• Porting. You must be paying for Zoom Phone before you can start a port, so you pay twice while it runs. Zoom's UK article gives "an average of 30 business days" for landlines. Port fees in either direction: unknown. Stalled ports are "automatically canceled" after 15 business days without a response from you.
• Leaving Zoom. Keep the account active until your numbers have ported away. Numbers not ported "may be released and available to other customers after 30 days".
• Setup fee and hardware prices: unknown. No rental offer on the pricing page.

RingCentral: the monthly premium

The headline is annual billing at the 1-5 user bracket. Per user per year at list price (checked Sep 2026):

Our arithmetic. Multiply by your seat count once RingCentral gives you your bracket's price.

• Leaving early. You pay "all sums remaining unpaid for the Services for the remainder of the then-current Term." Leave an annual Advanced plan after three months and you owe nine more months: $225 per user at list (checked Sep 2026).
• Taxes and fees. US federal, 911, compliance and state fees "may apply". Amount not stated. UK VAT: not stated.
• Mobile User extensions. Free to add. If one makes or receives calls in a month, it's charged "at the same rate per month as you are charged for Digital Lines."
• Calls outside the US and Canada are charged at RingCentral's international rates. UK tiers have capped minutes: 100 per user on Essentials.
• Extra numbers (checked Sep 2026): US local or toll-free $4.99 a month. UK free-phone or non-geographic £2 a month, local from £2 a month.
• Porting. RingCentral pays to move your number in, and charges nothing to move it out. UK: 5-10 or 15-30 business days, depending on which RingCentral document you read. Port away before you cancel, because UK numbers not yet ported "may be released".
• Desk phones. Renting needs a multi-year contract.
• Setup fee: unknown.