Softwr

Customer Support · head to head

Dialpad Contact Center vs EspoCRM

Dialpad Contact Center logo

Dialpad Contact Center

Customer Support

AI-powered cloud contact center

From
$95/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
EspoCRM logo

EspoCRM

CRM

AGPL open source CRM in PHP that you can self-host free or buy as cloud with seat minimums

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only EspoCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Dialpad Contact Center the AI agent is sold as a pool of prepaid credits rather than a seat price, so cost depends on conversation volume; EspoCRM the AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • They diverge on capability: Dialpad Contact Center covers Voice Intelligence, EspoCRM covers Entity manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dialpad Contact Center and EspoCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where Dialpad Contact Center and EspoCRM differ
AttributeDialpad Contact CenterEspoCRM
Starting price$95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Ios, AndroidWeb, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Dialpad Contact Center

  • Voice Intelligence
  • Real-time transcription
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Agent coaching
  • Quality assurance
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot

Only in EspoCRM

  • Entity manager
  • Dynamic logic
  • Email integration
  • Sales pipeline
  • Case management
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Workflow automation
  • REST API

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Dialpad Contact Center

  • Cloud contact centre with voice, messaging and AI assistancenot EspoCRM
  • Routing and monitoring customer calls with live transcriptionnot EspoCRM

EspoCRM

  • A small business that wants a CRM on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer datanot Dialpad Contact Center
  • A public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out US-hosted commercial CRMnot Dialpad Contact Center
  • A developer or agency needing a CRM whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configurationnot Dialpad Contact Center
  • An organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the CRM twice a monthnot Dialpad Contact Center

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Dialpad Contact Center

  • The AI agent is sold as a pool of prepaid credits rather than a seat price, so cost depends on conversation volume
  • No per user price, seat minimum or feature comparison is published for any plan
  • The pricing page directs every enquiry to sales or an ROI calculator instead of stating a rate

EspoCRM

  • The AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • Cloud plans carry seat minimums of three, five and ten users, so a two-person consultancy pays for three seats and a small team wanting the Ultimate features pays for ten.
  • Record ceilings are real on the cheaper cloud tiers, with Basic capped at 100,000 records, and hitting the cap means a tier upgrade rather than a small overage charge.
  • Marketing automation, sequences and native telephony are thin compared with HubSpot or Zoho, so most deployments end up wiring in a separate mailing tool and a separate dialler.
  • Self-hosting shifts the entire cost to your own team: PHP version upgrades, database backups and security patching are yours, and a neglected instance becomes an internet-facing liability holding your customer list.

Pricing, plan by plan

Dialpad Contact Center

$95/month
  • Essentials$95/month
    • Voice
    • Real-time AI
    • Analytics
  • Advanced$135/month
    • Essentials + Digital
    • WFM
    • Custom integrations
  • Premium$170/month
    • Advanced + Full suite
    • SLA guarantee

EspoCRM

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPLv3 licence, no fee
    • Runs on PHP with MySQL or MariaDB
    • Advanced Pack, Sales Pack and other extensions sold separately as one-off purchases
  • Cloud Basic$15/month
    • Three-user minimum
    • 3GB storage per user
    • Up to 100,000 records
  • Cloud Enterprise$25/month
    • Five-user minimum
    • 10GB storage per user
    • Up to 10 million records, extendable for a fee
  • Cloud Ultimate$69/month
    • Ten-user minimum
    • 400GB total storage
    • Unlimited records

Which should you pick?

Choose Dialpad Contact Center if

  • You need voice intelligence.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android.
  • You also want real-time transcription.
Dialpad Contact Center review

Choose EspoCRM if

  • You need entity manager.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
  • You also want dynamic logic.
EspoCRM review

Questions people ask

Is Dialpad Contact Center or EspoCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. Dialpad Contact Center starts at $95/month and EspoCRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dialpad Contact Center or EspoCRM?
EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $95/month for Dialpad Contact Center and Free for EspoCRM.
Does Dialpad Contact Center or EspoCRM run on more platforms?
Dialpad Contact Center runs on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android. EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
Can I use EspoCRM for free?
Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Dialpad Contact Center starts at $95/month.
What is Dialpad Contact Center best used for?
Dialpad Contact Center is most often used for cloud contact centre with voice, messaging and ai assistance, routing and monitoring customer calls with live transcription. Of those, cloud contact centre with voice, messaging and ai assistance and routing and monitoring customer calls with live transcription are not what EspoCRM is typically brought in for.
What can Dialpad Contact Center do that EspoCRM cannot?
Dialpad Contact Center covers Voice Intelligence, Real-time transcription, Sentiment analysis, Agent coaching. EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dialpad Contact Center: How does Dialpad pricing work?

Dialpad uses conversation-based pricing where you purchase a pool of AI Agent Credits. Customers are charged only when AI delivers value by retrieving information or executing actions like scheduling or order lookup.

Source
EspoCRM: Is the self-hosted version really full featured?

The core CRM is, but several paid extension packs including Advanced Pack for reports and BPM are sold separately as one-off purchases and are not in the free download.

Dialpad Contact Center: What is Dialpad's free trial offer?

Dialpad offers a "Try free" option, but the page does not specify the trial duration or terms. Customers can also request a demo from the sales team.

Source
EspoCRM: What are the cloud seat minimums?

Three users on Basic, five on Enterprise and ten on Ultimate, so the advertised per-user rate is not the smallest bill you can pay.

Dialpad Contact Center: Does Dialpad charge for idle time?

No. Dialpad's conversation-based model only charges when the AI actively does work. If no work is done, there are no charges.

Source
EspoCRM: What does it need to run?

PHP, MySQL or MariaDB and a web server. It installs on ordinary shared hosting or a small VPS, which is unusual for a modern CRM.

EspoCRM: Can I move from cloud to self-hosted later?

Yes. EspoCRM states customers own their database and data files, so an export and reinstall is possible, though you take on all maintenance when you do.

Share

Related pages

More on Dialpad Contact Center

More on EspoCRM

Keep looking

Other head to heads