Telecommunications · head to head
Five9 vs RingCentral
RingCentral
Telecommunications
Unified communications platform for enterprise
- From
- $24.99/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Five9 a 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month; RingCentral the pricing page shows no per user rate until you enter a user count, so the headline plan cost is not published outright
- They diverge on capability: Five9 covers Intelligent routing, RingCentral covers VoIP calling.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Five9 and RingCentral actually diverge.
| Attribute | Five9 | RingCentral |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $149/month | $24.99/month |
| Platforms | Web, Desktop | Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android |
| Founded | 2001 | 1999 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Telecommunications).
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 Five9
- Intelligent routing
- IVR
- ACD
- Dialer
- WFM
- Quality management
- ServiceNow
- Microsoft Dynamics
Only in RingCentral
- VoIP calling
- Video conferencing
- Team messaging
- SMS/MMS
- File storage
- Call recording
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack
Both cover
- Analytics
- Salesforce
- SOC2
- HIPAA
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Five9
- Cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messagingnot RingCentral
- Routing and managing high volume customer interactionsnot RingCentral
RingCentral
- Cloud phone system with business numbers, extensions and call routingnot Five9
- Combining voice, video meetings and team messaging in one subscriptionnot Five9
- Adding contact centre and analytics capability to a distributed workforcenot Five9
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Five9
- A 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month
- Prices are per concurrent user rather than per named agent, which changes what a seat means when shifts overlap
- Voice is excluded from the Digital plan and requires a quote
- Usage based charges apply on top of the per seat rate
- Three of the five tiers publish no price at all
RingCentral
- The pricing page shows no per user rate until you enter a user count, so the headline plan cost is not published outright
- The advertised saving of up to 33 percent requires paying annually rather than monthly
- Cost centre management, multiple support admins, custom roles and adoption analytics are limited to the Advanced and Ultra packages
- AI Receptionist starts at $39 a month, Conversational Intelligence at $60 a month, the Call Queues Booster is $35 a month and the Business SMS Booster is $25 a month, all charged on top of the plan
- SMS is excluded from the free trial
Pricing, plan by plan
Five9
$149/month- Core$149/month
- Inbound/outbound
- IVR
- Basic CTI
- Premium$169/month
- Core + Chat/email
- Quality management
- Optimum$199/month
- Premium + WFM
- Proactive chat
- Ultimate$229/month
- Full suite
- Advanced analytics
RingCentral
$24.99/month- Essentials$24.99/month
- Calls, meetings, messaging
- Video conferencing
- File sharing
- Standard$34.99/month
- Everything in Essentials
- Advanced features
- Call recording
Which should you pick?
Choose RingCentral if
- You need voip calling.
- You work on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android.
- You also want video conferencing.
Questions people ask
- Is Five9 or RingCentral better?
- Neither clearly leads. Five9 starts at $149/month and RingCentral at $24.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Five9 or RingCentral?
- Five9 starts at $149/month and RingCentral at $24.99/month.
- Does Five9 or RingCentral run on more platforms?
- Five9 runs on Web, Desktop. RingCentral runs on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android.
- What is Five9 best used for?
- Five9 is most often used for cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messaging, routing and managing high volume customer interactions. Of those, cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messaging and routing and managing high volume customer interactions are not what RingCentral is typically brought in for.
- What can Five9 do that RingCentral cannot?
- Five9 covers Intelligent routing, IVR, ACD, Dialer. RingCentral covers VoIP calling, Video conferencing, Team messaging, SMS/MMS. Both handle Analytics, Salesforce, SOC2, HIPAA.