Best VoIP Service for Home | Top 8 Residential VoIPs Reviewed for 2023

The best VoIP service for home is excellent for helping families and friends stay connected, reduce bills and enjoy smooth conversations. With one, a user can make calls and send emails without incurring high costs, and if you’re looking to streamline your communications and keep more money in your pocket, it’s important to know the best home VoIP services available.

That said, there are plenty of residential VoIP services on the market, and we’ve reviewed their best features, pricing, and each provider’s pros and cons to help you find the best VoIP service for your home in 2023. Let’s take a look at them.

Top 8 Best VoIP Home Service Providers 

Taking into account factors such as value for money, features, uptime and reliability, and user reviews, we’ve ranked the market’s top 8 best residential VoIP providers:

1. Ooma — The best home VoIP provider with versatile features in its cost-effective plans that cover over 70 countries. Make free US calls with no monthly fees, allowing you to stay in touch with your family and friends.
2. 8×8 — An impressive service with a modern, easy-to-use interface that makes it ideal for first-time users. Besides its unlimited calling benefits in the US and Canada, its users can enjoy HD audio and video conferences.
3. Vonage — Used by over 100,000 businesses worldwide, this VoIP service is highly configurable, allowing you to tailor its interface to your needs. Vonage is the best VoIP for placing international calls because of its connections to many tier-one networks globally.
4. Phone.com — This budget-friendly VoIP offers various video, voice, and text features, with premium and free numbers available. Privacy-conscious users will appreciate its AES 256-bit encryption that keeps your communications secure.
5. DialPad — You can use this flexible service across your browsers, mobile phones, and computer devices, making it great for home offices and freelancers. Slack users will enjoy its instant messaging features that let you chat with family, friends, and clients.
6. Nextiva — Reliable service with advanced voicemail to email processing and call queuing features. It has some of the best mobile apps on the market, allowing you to schedule video calls, screen share, use group chats, and more, improving your communication with your family.
7. MightyCall — This cloud-based home VoIP is easy to set up as it doesn’t require any hardware. That makes it an ideal replacement for traditional landline phones, and its ease of use means senior citizens won’t have any issues using it.
8. VoIPLy — Never miss a call with this provider, thanks to its features that make your home and mobile phone ring when you have an incoming call. You can keep your existing number using this provider, and its 30-day money-back guarantee lets you try its services risk-free.

Top 8 Residential VoIP Providers Reviewed

We explore each one in more depth below to help you get a better idea of what these home VoIP services offer, their unique advantages and disadvantages, and everything in between. Let’s dive right in.

1. Ooma — Best Overall VoIP Services

Ooma is, without a doubt, the best residential VoIP service. It offers a variety of features at an affordable price. For example, with Ooma Telo, you get free U.S. calling with no monthly fees or contracts – just taxes and fees are applicable.

This makes staying connected with family and friends easy without worrying about long-distance charges or extra costs. And if you want to dial international numbers, you can call over 60 countries for only $17.99.

If you opt to go premium with Ooma, you can get access to a free second number from any area code in the US. This is perfect for those who want to keep their business and personal life separate or need an extra line for their home office.

Beyond this, Ooma offers Adaptive Redundancy technology that helps ensure clear call quality even when your internet connection isn’t at its best. This means you don’t have to worry about choppy conversations or garbled words – your calls will stay crystal clear no matter what.

Pros

• Services in over 70 countries
• Virtual receptionist with music on hold
• Offers features like call park and call forwarding
• Only a one-time cost needs to be incurred

Cons

• Limited basic plan features

Pricing

They offer two main plans: Ooma Basic and Ooma Premier. Here is a breakdown of their pricing:

• Ooma Basic — The Ooma Telo device costs $89.99, with free shipping. Plus, you get all the standard phone features with ZERO monthly fees.
• Ooma Premier — Same price for the Ooma Telo device, but the phone service costs $9.99 per month, and it includes all the features of Ooma Basic, plus additional advanced features such as call blocking, voicemail-to-email forwarding, and a second phone line.

Try Ooma risk-free now for a full month with its generous 30-day full refund policy.

2. 8×8 — Home Solution With Great Encryption

8×8 is an impressive VoIP with over 2 million customers worldwide, and its service is supported in over 50 countries. Beyond this, the platform is easy to use, has a clean UI, and has excellent communication and security features.

That said, 8×8 is available through a desktop app compatible with Windows and Mac; the platform can also be used through a browser. It has a variety of plans available with various features; plus, unlimited members can use the base plan.

It also offers unlimited calls within the USA and Canada — and all calls and messages are encrypted, ensuring secure communication. With all that said, one of the most impressive 8×8 features is its HD audio and video conferencing capabilities.

With the platform, you can enjoy seamless HD audio and video calls with up to 500 active participants, with screen-sharing capabilities. This is great for families who want to host video calls with multiple family members.

The platform also offers interactive meetings with live emoji reactions and integrations with CRMs such as HubSpot and Salesforce, plus customer support software such as Zendesk.

Pros

• An array of integrations
• Impressive HD audio and video features
• Clean UI and user-friendly interface

Cons

• Might be a bit advanced for some home users

Pricing

8×8 has three plans available. Here’s the pricing:

3. Vonage — Best VoIP for Placing International Calls

Vonage is a VoIP service used by 100,000+ businesses worldwide. The company has taken a more minimalistic approach to the platform design to get rid of bloated features. Plus, it offers different APIs and modules, meaning you can tailor the platform to your needs.

Beyond this, it boasts 50+ communication features, including video collaboration with Vonage meetings. And the quality of the calls is outstanding, thanks to the platform’s HD video and call capabilities.

In addition, Vonage’s call networks are connected to major carriers in the US and tier-one networks all over the world, so call quality is guaranteed no matter who you’re calling internationally.

With that said, Vonage’s video meetings can hold up to 16 users, but on a higher-tier plan, you can host up to 100 people on each conference call.

Plus, all of Vonage’s plans offer unlimited call and text messaging. This is perfect for those running home-based businesses with multiple users or families who want to use the platform to communicate with family and friends on multiple devices.

All in all, the interface of the Vonage app is clean and user-friendly, with all the features listed on the left-hand side of the platform.

Pros

• Highly customizable platform
• Clean, user-friendly app
• Very high quality HD video and calling technology

Cons

• It can be pricey if you need multiple new features

Pricing

Vonage has a variety of plans available depending on your needs. We’d encourage you to look at their website and contact them if you’re interested in their service so you can find the right package for you.

4. Phone.com — Top Budget-Friendly Residential VoIP

Phone.com is a budget-friendly VoIP full of voice, text, and video features. Prices start from as low as $11.99/user/month, with premium and free numbers available.

Besides this, it offers free mobile and desktop apps, with its service available on a user’s own cellular network and wifi. Plus, the app also filters SMS messages, so you can keep personal and business messages separate.

On the whole, the service offers high-quality HD video and calling capabilities that ensure clear communication in your phone conversations. Beyond all this, we like that most core VoIP features are included with every plan, including:

• SMS and voice messaging
• Free conference calling
• Voicemail to email services
• Video meetings

On top of this, Phone.com also offers good customer support to all users on all plans, with phone, email, and live chat options.

Lastly, all communication through Phone.com is protected with state-of-the-art AES 256-bit encryption to keep your communications secure and private.

Pros

• Affordable plans
• Secure encryption
• HD video and call capabilities

Cons

• No free trial is available

Pricing

Phone.com has three pricing plans available:

5. DialPad — Great Service for Instant Messaging

A newer VoIP on the market is DialPad, and it’s a tremendous residential VoIP solution, particularly if you need to regularly make international calls — with each of its plans, you can call internationally, and there are options for unlimited global calling.

Beyond this, every DialPad plan also offers unlimited local calls, making it an excellent option for families who often call family and friends locally and internationally and are looking to save money.

The solution also works well through your browser, mobile app, and on your desktop, so you have flexibility over how you use DialPad. Besides this, you can also keep your existing phone number or get a new one — just check whether your number can be transferred to VoIP.

One of the other standout features that DialPad offers is its instant messaging tools. If you’ve used Slack, then you’ll like the Slack-like messaging features within the platform — this is great, particularly if you’re regularly chatting with other family members or friends.

Unsurprisingly, you can also make high-quality HD video calls through the platform, as long as you have a wifi or cellular data connection.

Pros

• Unlimited local and international calls are available
• Relatively inexpensive monthly plans with a 14-day free trial
• Excellent instant messaging features

Cons

• No 24/7 support is available on the Standard plan

Pricing

DialPad has three plans available:

Besides having inexpensive plans for residential use, DialPad also lets you test the service risk-free for a full 2 weeks. Try it now before committing.

6. Nextiva — Provider With Unlimited Chat Features

Another excellent home VoIP service to check out is Nextiva. The platform offers unified communication with VoIP, video, and chat, and users can enjoy unlimited audio and video meetings with others.

The call features are really impressive, with text messaging, voicemail to email processing, call queuing, and unlimited calls within the USA and Canada — these make it a solid option and a top residential VoIP for Canadians.

Nextiva also offers a responsive desktop, Android, and iOS app, meaning users can stay connected wherever they are. Through the app, you can organize conference chats, calls, video calls, screen sharing, and group chats.

Being able to use these directly from the app is excellent, particularly if you’re looking for a VoIP that multiple people can use wherever they are — great for keeping in touch with family and friends.

Alongside these call features, Nextiva also boasts features more suited to businesses, such as productivity, customer experience, and CRM tools. Plus, they offer 24/7 customer support.

So you can be sure that you can sort out any problem with the platform at any time of day. In addition, all your communications through the platform are private with TLS & SRTP Encryption.

Pros

• Easy-to-use app
• Extensive communication features
• Workflow automation features

Cons

• Only available in the USA

Pricing

Nextiva’s pricing depends on the number of users you’ll need for the plan you’re purchasing. There are three plans available:

7. MightyCall — Easy to Set Up Without Hardware

MightyCall is a VoIP well-suited for use at home. It’s a no-frills communication platform with basic call management features. In addition, it’s cloud-based, compatible with PCs, Macs, Tablets, Android, and iOS devices, and there’s no hardware setup required — great for families looking to get rid of an expensive landline.

Beyond this, the app itself is user-friendly, and the UI is simplistic but well-designed, with simplified flow charts so that anyone can use the system. A useful feature for home use is that a MightyCall phone number doesn’t need to be registered with a SIM card or individual phone.

Besides this, new phone numbers can be added for $10, both local and international. You can even keep your existing phone number when switching to the service, and if you’re running any kind of business, you can use a variety of toll-free local and international phone numbers.

Other call features include voicemail, call blocking, caller ID, call forwarding, and unlimited calling and texting. On the whole, MightyCall is a good choice for users looking for an easy-to-use VoIP.

While the provider doesn’t offer a specialized residential plan, their basic plan offers the key features users need in a residential VoIP, and make it a solid option if you work or run a business from home.

Pros

• Affordable plans available
• Core VoIP features with every plan
• Responsive desktop and mobile app

Cons

• Lacks features such as HD video and audio technology

Pricing

MightyCall has three pricing plans available, with their small teams plan well suited for residential purposes:

8. VoIPLy — A VoIP With a Specialised Residential Plan

VoIPly offers a phenomenal plan for new customers — one that’s specifically customized to be used in the home. This is unique as many VoIP providers don’t offer specific residential packages, meaning they may contain features you don’t require in a residential setting.

That said, the communication platform has all the features you’ll need in a residential VoIP, such as HD audio for clear calls, call forwarding, three-way calling, and voicemail. The service also gives you international calling to over 50 countries, including the US and Canada.

VoIPLy’s mobile app also ensures you can make calls on the move as long as you have cellular data. With that said, what we love most is that you can configure it so that any incoming call will ring on your home VoIP phone and through the mobile app, so you never miss a call — and best of all, you can keep your existing number.

Overall, VoIPLy is an excellent option if you’re looking for an easy-to-use, affordable residential VoIP. You can get started with VoIPLy for as little as $7.46/month + the one-off hardware costs, and the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can use the service risk-free.

Pros

• Simple set up
• Impressive calling features
• Specialized residential plan
• The generous money-back guarantee period

Cons

• Basic compared to other VoIPs like Ooma

Pricing

VoIPLy is currently offering its adapter hardware for free, the pricing for the service is as follows:

• $8.95/month on a monthly plan
• $89.52 annually, equating to $7.46/month
  

  

8 Best VoIP Services for Home Compared

To help you narrow down your list of options, we’ve compiled the handy table below so you can easily compare the market’s best virtual phone number providers:

What’s the Difference Between Residential and Business VoIPs?

Residential and business VoIPs are similar, but typically business VoIPs have more features as business owners and their staff require a VoIP that meets more complex needs than someone needing a VoIP for residential purposes.

Most residential VoIPs include more basic features, such as calling, messaging, and sometimes video calling and conference calling capabilities.

Why Do I Need a VoIP for Home? | VoIP Benefits

Traditionally VoIPs have been more of a communication solution for businesses, but as their popularity has expanded, more and more people have been switching to VoIP at home. Here are some reasons for doing so:

Money Savings

VoIP services use the internet for making calls and not analog phone lines, so they’re typically able to offer lower calling rates, resulting in savings for customers. VoIP providers can also offer customized plans to customers.

For example, many VoIP providers offer a fixed amount of minutes per month or unlimited monthly calling for a fixed price, so customers know exactly the amount of money they’ll be paying and the number of minutes they can use.

Extra Features

VoIP solutions offer homeowners and families more features than traditional analog phone systems. For example, with a VoIP solution, users can have HD voice and video calls and host multiple users on the same call.

These features are handy for families and friends wanting to stay in contact. In addition, most providers offer a range of plans with pricing based on the number of users that a customer needs, which can further help people save money using VoIP over a traditional phone system.

Convenience and Quality

VoIPs are convenient as they can be used anywhere with an internet connection. In addition, many VoIPs also use HD voice calling and video calling, meaning that as long as a user has an internet connection, they’ll have crystal clear communication through voice and video.

How to Choose the Best VoIP Service for Home | Factors to Consider

We looked at several factors to choose the best VoIP service for home use; we had to consider the most important features that homeowners need in a VoIP. Here are the factors we took into consideration:

Price 

Price is one of the main reasons homeowners consider switching from a traditional phone plan to a VoIP. Fortunately, all the providers we looked at have affordable plans, and providers such as Ooma offer a free trial.

Call and Voice Features

Outside of price, arguably the most important VoIP features that a consumer will consider is its call and voice features. The best providers offer HD-quality voice and video calling capabilities.

In addition, to this HD quality, top providers such as Ooma offer unlimited video meetings with plans that can host up to 200 participants.

Many providers also offer unlimited local, national, and international calling within their plans, which is very important for someone looking for a residential VoIP, particularly if they’re calling friends and family in different places, nationwide, and abroad.

Installation

We considered how complex the installation would be for each VoIP provider. VoIP providers that are software-based just require users to download an app and run through the installation instructions to set up VoIP.

Other providers offer ‘do it yourself’ installation kits where you’ll have to pay a one-off price for hardware, and then you can install the VoIP yourself.

User Experience and Ease of Use

We had to consider each VoIP’s user experience and its ease of use. The top VoIP providers offer apps that can be used on desktop, mobile, and through a web browser.

These apps should be easy to use, have a control panel that clearly lays out the VoIP’s different features, and require little technical expertise to use effectively.

Residential VoIP FAQs