Telecommunications · head to head
RingCentral vs Five9
RingCentral
Telecommunications
Unified communications platform for enterprise
- From
- $24.99/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: RingCentral the pricing page shows no per user rate until you enter a user count, so the headline plan cost is not published outright; Five9 a 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month
- They diverge on capability: RingCentral covers VoIP calling, Five9 covers Intelligent routing.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which RingCentral and Five9 actually diverge.
| Attribute | RingCentral | Five9 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $24.99/month | $149/month |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android | Web, Desktop |
| Founded | 1999 | 2001 |
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 RingCentral
- VoIP calling
- Video conferencing
- Team messaging
- SMS/MMS
- File storage
- Call recording
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack
Only in Five9
- Intelligent routing
- IVR
- ACD
- Dialer
- WFM
- Quality management
- ServiceNow
- Microsoft Dynamics
Both cover
- Analytics
- Salesforce
- SOC2
- HIPAA
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
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
Five9
- Cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messagingnot RingCentral
- Routing and managing high volume customer interactionsnot RingCentral
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
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
Pricing, plan by plan
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
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
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 RingCentral or Five9 better?
- Neither clearly leads. RingCentral starts at $24.99/month and Five9 at $149/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, RingCentral or Five9?
- RingCentral starts at $24.99/month and Five9 at $149/month.
- Does RingCentral or Five9 run on more platforms?
- RingCentral runs on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android. Five9 runs on Web, Desktop.
- What is RingCentral best used for?
- RingCentral is most often used for cloud phone system with business numbers, extensions and call routing, combining voice, video meetings and team messaging in one subscription, adding contact centre and analytics capability to a distributed workforce. Of those, cloud phone system with business numbers, extensions and call routing and combining voice, video meetings and team messaging in one subscription are not what Five9 is typically brought in for.
- What can RingCentral do that Five9 cannot?
- RingCentral covers VoIP calling, Video conferencing, Team messaging, SMS/MMS. Five9 covers Intelligent routing, IVR, ACD, Dialer. Both handle Analytics, Salesforce, SOC2, HIPAA.