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Introduction to Zoom Phone Pricing
Zoom Phone has quickly become a go-to business calling solution, largely because of its affordability and ability to sit inside the broader Zoom ecosystem. But while Zoom Phone pricing looks attractive on paper, the real question most buyers have is: What do you actually get for the cost?
This breakdown takes a closer look at the cost of Zoom Phone, how each tier differs, what’s included vs. what requires extra purchase, and when the value makes sense. Whether you’re evaluating Zoom for the first time or rethinking your renewal, this guide will help you understand the true cost of ownership and also give you an alternative to Zoom telephony that you may want to consider.
Zoom Phone System Pricing
Zoom offers three pricing plans: US & CA Unlimited, which costs $15/user/month (billed monthly or annually), Pro Plus, which costs $21.99/user/month (billed monthly) or $18.33/user/month (billed annually) and lastly, Business Plus, which costs $26.99/user/month (billed monthly) or $22.49/user/month (billed annually).
Let us now see a complete breakdown of Zoom Phone cost, what you get with each, who they are best for, and their shortcomings
US & CA Unlimited Plan
Zoom’s entry-level phone plan offers unlimited domestic calling within the U.S. and Canada, plus SMS/MMS, a dedicated business phone number, call recording, voicemail transcription, and the ability to make and receive calls from multiple devices. It also includes integrations with platforms like Salesforce and Slack and provides access to Zoom’s admin portal to manage users and call flows.
This setup works well for small and mid-sized businesses that need a basic cloud phone system for calling and texting, and are already reliant upon Zoom for meetings or internal collaboration. However, this platform lacks more advanced telephony capabilities like robust call routing logic (round robin, weighted routing), HIPAA compliance, and deeper automation features. Additionally, international calling requires paid add-ons, which can drive up total cost quickly.
Pro Plus
The Pro Plus plan offers all that in the US & CA Unlimited and then bundles it with Zoom Workplace Pro for business meetings, team chat, whiteboards, docs, mail, calendar, workflow automation, and 10GB of cloud storage. Along with that, it includes Zoom’s AI Companion with call summarization, voicemail prioritization, and extraction of tasks.
This plan is ideal for small to mid-sized organizations that seek a unified communications suite of phone, chat, meetings, and internal workspace tools all in one place. But while that greatly expands collaboration capabilities, it still doesn’t significantly upgrade the core VoIP feature set. Companies looking for a no-frills, reliable phone system often find themselves paying for a full collaboration suite they might never fully use.
Business Plus
Business Plus includes everything in Pro Plus, plus more advanced collaboration and workspace features like unlimited whiteboards, enhanced scheduling, more administrative controls, and expanded storage. It also includes unlimited domestic online faxing and enterprise-level tools like SSO and managed domains.
It’s best for medium or larger organizations that want a full UCaaS platform, offering phone, meetings, email, docs, storage, and collaboration under one vendor. It’s also the most expensive Zoom Phone bundle, and many companies end up paying a premium for workplace features rather than enhanced VoIP functionality.
Zoom Phone Add-ons
The core plans for Zoom phone system cover basic calling, SMS/MMS, voicemail, auto-attendants, IVR, call queues, and device support, but for a more powerful or customized phone setup, Zoom offers a set of optional add-ons that extend the capabilities of the platform.
Key add-ons include:
- Additional phone numbers (local, toll-free, or international): Charges from about US $5 per number/month.
- Toll-free numbers: Let clients call you free of charge and increase accessibility and customer-facing professionalism.
- Zoom Community: International calling add-on costs $10/month for unlimited calling to 15+ countries/regions; good value for businesses with global clients or distributed teams requiring regular international calls.
- Zoom Phone Power Pack: For $25 per user/month, or $300 per year, it unlocks enhanced call-queue analytics, historical call data, better reporting, team SMS from main company numbers/auto-receptionists/call queues, and improved call-center capabilities. This add-on is most relevant for call centers or teams needing deeper insight into call performance and customer handling.
- Hardware as a Service (HaaS): If desk phones or dedicated hardware are required, Zoom provides a leasing option for compatible devices on a month-to-month basis as well.
Because Zoom Phone system is modular, businesses can mix and match, starting with a basic license, then picking only the add-ons they need. That brings flexibility: You can build out a simple system for small teams or scale into a robust call-center model featuring multiple lines, toll-free numbers, global calling, and analytics.
However, this flexibility comes with some trade-offs. Adding numbers, toll-free lines, international calling, or Power Pack for many users can add up fast, making Zoom Phone expensive if you need more than basic VoIP. For businesses that only want core calling/SMS functionality, the add-ons might feel like unnecessary overhead.
Overall Summary:
Zoom Phone works best for businesses looking to place everything, including, calling, meetings, chat, email, and document collaboration, etc., in one ecosystem, especially those who are already invested in Zoom’s broader workplace tools. For teams whose primary needs are more sophisticated VoIP functionalities, HIPAA compliance, AI-driven workflows, missed-call automation, or health-focused features, the Zoom Phone plans often fall short. This is where solutions like Emitrr offer significantly better value for money. Emitrr offers advanced call handling, automation, HIPAA compliance, AI call summaries, and strong workflow tools without forcing you into expensive bundles of collaboration features.
Zoom Phone Pricing vs Emitrr Pricing: A Comparison
Let us take a look at the pros and cons of Zoom phone system pricing and then look at the pricing of Emitrr.
Pros and Cons of Zoom Phone Pricing
Pros of Zoom Phone System Pricing
- Lower entry-level cost: The cost of Zoom Phone starts around $15/user/month (annually), making it appealing for basic calling within the US & Canada.
- Offers phone plus workplace: Zoom telephony bundles include collaboration tools like Meetings, Team Chat, Docs, Whiteboard, Mail, Calendar, and storage, along with calling features, making it ideal for teams that want phone + workplace in a single stack.
- Unlimited domestic calling: Zoom business phone offers unlimited domestic calling even in the lowest plan.
- Scalability for large teams: Zoom phone service allows users to access features like multi-user admin, SSO, managed domains, compliance, add-ons, etc., making it easy for businesses to scale.
Cons of Zoom Phone System Pricing
- Core capabilities require upgrades: Basic capabilities like global calling, advanced routing, call queue analytics, and compliance options are offered as add-ons or tied to the higher plans.
- Poor utilisation of features: With the Zoom phone system, you may end up paying for Meetings, Whiteboards, Docs, Chat, etc., even if you only need VoIP.
- Metered international calling: International calling is metered, and global numbers cost extra, making it expensive for teams with cross-border communication.
- Limited faxing: Faxing limits are restrictive (50 pages in basic, unlimited only in Business Plus).
- Potentially expensive: Can become pricey at scale because add-ons stack quickly (global numbers, call queues, advanced analytics, contact center).
- Poorly priced: VoIP features are locked behind upper tiers, whereas lower tiers feel are bundled mainly for collaboration.
- Not healthcare-friendly: Zoom app is not ideal for clinics, healthcare, or HIPAA use cases unless upgraded. Compliance and secure faxing are not fully native in their entry plans.
Emitrr Pricing
For a business that simply needs an effective VoIP phone system and has no use for additional features like Whiteboards, meetings, etc., a software like Emitrr could offer more value for money.
Here’s an overview of Emitrr pricing. For VoIP, there are 2 pricing plans – Standard and Professional.
| Name of the plan | Pricing if paid annually | Pricing if paid monthly |
| Standard | $20 per user per month | $25 per user per month |
| Professional | $30 per user per month | $35 per user per month |
Key features of Standard Plan:
- Calling (1000 mins/user)
- HD Voice
- Call Hold Music
- Call Recording (manual)
- Call Queue Groups
- Call Extensions
- Call Routing (Sequential + Simultaneous)
- Call Transfer
- Call Forwarding
- Number Porting
- Contact Sync
- Set personal working hours
- Mobile App
Key features of Professional Plan:
Everything in Standard plus
- AI Call Transcription
- AI Call Summary
- IVR (Interactive Voice Response) / Call Tree
- Call Recording (automated)
- Call Routing (Round Robin)
- Missed Call Auto Text
- Call Conference
- Voicemail Transcription
- HIPAA Compliance
- User Access Levels
- Access Management
- Faxing
- Mobile/Desktop App
If you are a business looking for a budget-friendly VoIP system that packs in advanced features without expensive add-ons, then you should go with a system like Emitrr instead of Zoom Phone. The Standard plan starts at $20/user/month, and by paying just $10 more (Professional at $30/user/month), you unlock AI call transcription, AI summaries, automated call recording, IVR, round-robin routing, voicemail transcription, HIPAA compliance, conferencing, faxing, and more. This makes Emitrr perfect for clinics, medical practices, and service businesses that want AI-powered communication, predictable pricing, and a feature-rich phone system that works out of the box.
However, if you’re a larger or global operation that needs advanced telecom infrastructure like multi-country numbers, extensive integrations, enterprise-grade administration, or heavy collaboration tools bundled together, then Zoom Telephony may be a better choice.
How Emitrr Offers Better Value for Money as Compared to Zoom Phone?
If so far, you like what Emitrr offers, then here are a few more reasons why we think it is a better value for money over Zoom Phone system.
AI-powered call intelligence
Zoom business phone offers basic AI functionalities tied mostly to call summaries and collaboration workflows. However, Emitrr goes deeper with AI designed specifically for high-volume clinics: AI agent, AI call routing, AI rule engine, AI call queuing, AI voicemail extraction, and automated missed-call texting. This helps eliminate manual call handling while ensuring all calls are catered to. Emitrr also offers an AI SMS agent if you prefer communicating with your customers via SMS, you may want to check this out:
Transparent pricing
Zoom Phone pricing escalates quickly once Power Pack, faxing tiers, international calling, or AI upgrades are added. Emitrr keeps it straightforward and truly all-in with no hidden fees, no forced UCaaS bundles, and no surprise compliance charges. What you sign for is exactly what you pay for.
Excellent customer support
Emitrr boasts a perfect 5/5 rating on Capterra for its customer support, highlighting our commitment to exceptional customer support. With Emitrr, you’ll never feel stranded and will receive prompt and effective solutions to any challenges you may encounter.
Easy integration with CRM/EHR/EMR tools
Emitrr seamlessly connects with over 500 tools and software such as Mailchimp, Hubspot, Athenahealth, Drchrono, Dentrix, Denticon, and more, ensuring that your customer data syncs effortlessly and your business operations run smoothly without interruption.
FAQs
The cost of Zoom Phone starts at around $15 per user/month and goes up to $22.49 per user/month. The platform charges additional for international calling and a few add-on features.
If you’re using Zoom Phone for phone calls, cost depends on your plan: with an unlimited plan (US/Canada), domestic calls are covered. Otherwise, under “metered” plans, you pay per minute for each call, which starts at around US $10 per user/month, while the unlimited plan for U.S./Canada calling is about US $15/user/month.
Zoom’s popularity dipped due to security concerns, feature limitations for business communication, and pricing that doesn’t scale well for teams, leading many organizations to switch to more reliable, all-in-one platforms like Emitrr for calls, messaging, reviews, reminders, and automation without add-ons.
Historically, free/basic Zoom meetings were limited to 40 minutes per session (for group meetings), meaning after 40 minutes the meeting would end, prompting many users to upgrade to a paid plan. That’s why this “40-minute limit” became well-known.
Some of the biggest problems with the Zoom app are high costs for long-distance calls; the potential for users to tire of using video conferencing services; and the complexity of costs associated with adding audio, video, data storage/backup, etc.
Zoom Phone is part of the broader Zoom ecosystem, combining phone, conferencing, team chat, and meeting tools. Whereas other providers like OpenPhone, Emitrr (or similar VoIP platforms) often position themselves as simpler, more predictable cloud phone systems especially for small businesses needing just calls/phone features, with fewer bundled extras and predictable pricing.
Yes. Zoom Phone supports making and receiving calls to regular phone numbers (landlines and mobiles), not just other Zoom users. That’s the core of its VoIP functionality: bridging internet calling with traditional telephony.
Platforms like Emitrr, RingCentral, Vonage, etc., are quickly replacing traditional options like Zoom phone service by offering better integrations, AI calling agents, team workspaces, and more, all under one roof at a better price.
Conclusion
After looking at Zoom phone cost in detail, it is clear that it may be the ideal choice for large-scale businesses that require VoIP and workplace features. Whereas, businesses that are looking for a robust VoIP phone system that offers great value for money, flexibility, and a strong communication feature set may find software like Emitrr to be far better.
If you belong to the latter category, then book a free demo with Emitrr and see what more this AI-powered phone system can do for you.