Best Free VoIP Providers for Business 2023

Ready to switch your business to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), but not ready to add monthly phone service payments to your budget? We get it, which is why we’ve rounded up VoIP providers that offer free calls (and more). After our roundup, we have also discovered that Google Voice might be the best option overall for someone starting out. The others listed below are wonderful but each has different value for different audiences. 

Now, you do need to understand that free VoIP service comes with lots of limitations, which we’ll point out throughout this article. (And we’ll explain why you might want to go with a paid VoIP service too.)

In other words, don’t expect a free VoIP provider to be a 1:1 replacement for your old phone system.

If you can live with that, though, then we’ve got some VoIP companies worth looking at.

Google Voice is the only free VoIP provider on this list that offers free, unlimited calling to actual phone numbers (both landlines and cells). But since you get just one line for one person, it really only works for freelancers and other solopreneuers.

When you sign up for Google Voice (and we’re talking about the free Personal version here), you get a free VoIP number (you can usually get one for your local area). Then you can make outgoing calls and take incoming calls from your cell phone or desktop, as long as you have the Google Voice app. 

In fact, you get unlimited calling in both the United States and Canada. You can also send and receive unlimited text messages.

But again, Google Voice’s free solution won’t work for an entire team―or any business that needs more than one person to take calls, for that matter. (Google Voice does offer paid business plans that work for teams.) It’s better for the smallest of small businesses.

If you want VoIP mostly to help your team members communicate with each other, then take a look at Microsoft Teams.

While Teams has several paid plans, its free plan is robust enough to work for many small businesses. It offers unlimited calling (both video and audio calls) to other Teams users. Sure, you’re limited to 100 people in a call and only 60 minutes per meeting―but how often do you need 400 people to meet for 120 minutes?

Plus, Microsoft Teams comes with all sorts of handy features that can help your team stay in touch. There’s stuff like file sharing and chat, but also features that improve your video calls. Think virtual backgrounds and a shared canvas you can draw on during meetings. Oh, and Teams integrates with loads of other apps.

So though Teams won’t be much help with calling customers, its free calls can help your team collaborate and communicate.

OnSIP offers a free version of its sayso service―basically an app for inbound voice and video chatting.

You just add the OnSIP sayso widget to your website, and customers will be able to click a button that starts a voice or video call with one of your representatives. So whether they just have a question or need help placing an order, your customers can easily get in touch with your business.

OnSIP sayso even offers some basic calling rules, so you can set up schedules or choose which reps answer calls on which topics. (You get more advanced features, like analytics and screen sharing, when you upgrade to the paid plan.)

Just remember that OnSIP works for incoming calls only. It’s a great way for your customers to call you―but for outgoing calls, you’ll need another VoIP network.

You’ve probably heard of Skype―pretty much everyone has. And that’s why it’s great for scheduled conversations, like hiring interviews.

As you may know, Skype offers free video and audio calls to other Skype users. (You can pay to make calls to landline and cell phone numbers.) You can record calls, share your screen, and add live captions on calls of up to 100 participants. 

And you’re not limited to using Skype on your phone or computer, either. It’s available on lots of devices, from gaming consoles to Amazon Alexa. That means most people you need to talk to can get and use Skype (if they don’t already have the app installed). With that kind of availability, Skype is great for calling job candidates and other people you don’t expect to have specialized calling software.

But as with other free VoIP services, free Skype service probably won’t work for day-to-day calling. After all, you have to pay to make calls to actual phone numbers. So stick with Skype for occasional scheduled calls, and find another solution for your everyday phone service needs.

If you want one piece of software that offers calling, project management, customer relationship management, website building, and more, then you’ll like Bitrix24.

Much like Microsoft Teams, Bitrix24 offers communication tools―like audio calls, video calls, text chat, and more―for your internal team. Its video calls are a bit more limited than Teams, since you can only have 24 people in a call. 

But as we’ve said, Bitrix24 really stands out because of everything else it offers. Even on the free plan, you get basic CRM software, HR tools, website building software, and so, so much more. Sure, the features for all those are pretty basic on its free plan. But given the sheer number of things Bitrix24 lets you do, it’s still a great deal.

Again, free Bitrix24 can’t replace your normal phone system, since it’s limited to other users. Even so, its all-in-one business software is well worth looking at.

As mentioned above, you can find free VoIP service―but that doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for your business. 

Before you sign up, we want to point out some factors you need to consider. After all, you don’t want to be like the scientists in Jurassic Park―y’know, “so preoccupied with whether or not [you] could, [you] didn’t stop to think of [you] should.”

As you may have noticed in our reviews up above, most free VoIP services won’t work well for the vast majority of calls. 

In fact, providers like Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Bitrix24 let you make calls only to other users of those services. That’s fine if you mostly want to simplify calls between your employees. But unless you can convince all your customers, all your vendors―and everyone else you communicate with―to use your VoIP app of choice, you’re going to need something to supplement your free VoIP.

And sure, Google Voice does give you unlimited calling in both the United States and Canada, including calling to mobile phones and landlines. But you’re only getting one line and one number. For many businesses, that won’t be enough for all the calls you have to handle.  

But calls aren’t the only use you need to think about.

You’ll also want to think about all the great VoIP features you’re missing out on by not using a paid service.

For example, many business VoIP providers offer ring groups―an easy way to make sure phone calls are going to the relevant people in your organization. They also offer scheduling rules, so you can change how your phone system works depending on the time of day or week. And then there’s auto attendants, or services that answer calls and direct customers to the right line.

And that’s just the tip of the VoIP software iceberg.

But when you go with a free VoIP service, you miss out on all that. You won’t get any of the features that make VoIP calling so great for business.

Then there’s compatibility to think about. Most free VoIP services do work on both mobile phones and desktop computers. You just need the relevant VoIP app―also called a softphone, or any software that lets you make calls with your internet connection.

But when it comes to desk phones, you’re out of luck. 

Paid VoIP services, on the other hand, usually offer compatible business phone systems. So sure, you can choose to use VoIP through an app on your cell or desktop computer―but you can also get dedicated desk phones for your business. That way, you can enjoy a more traditional calling experience, without being tied to a landline.

Finally, you need to consider the (lack of) availability of free VoIP.

There simply aren’t that many free VoIP providers for business out there. (Some providers that used to offer free plans, like DialPad, have ended those programs.)

In comparison, you have tons of options for paid VoIP service. That means you can compare providers to get great deals and great features. You don’t have to settle for whatever is available.

So in most cases, we really, really recommend you don’t try to make free VoIP work for your business. Instead, pay for a cheap VoIP plan.

Business VoIP doesn’t have to cost you that much. For less than $20 per month, you can get started with quite a few excellent VoIP service providers.

We’ve created a comprehensive guide to the cheapest VoIP providers for business, but you can take a quick look at some of our favorites in the table below.

Aside from being affordable, you’ll also notice that some VoIP phone service providers offer free trials. For example, both 8x8 and Nextiva offer great free trials that let you test their VoIP technology for one month. 

So you can easily test out a new VoIP system before you start paying for phone service.

As we’ve said throughout this article, a free VoIP service probably won’t be a complete replacement for your old business phone system. But it can help you deal with specific communication needs―whether that’s internal team communication, fielding inbound customer service calls, or some other need.

With that in mind, one of the free VoIP providers above can supplement your existing phone system and keep your business connected. 

Want a VoIP service that can actually replace your old phone system? Take a look at our rankings of the best business VoIP providers.

Most paid VoIP services come with at least one free VoIP number―as do some free ones, like Google Voice. You’ll be able to choose from available numbers when you sign up for phone service.

We analyzed each VoIP service's affordability, overall value, suitability for growing businesses, ease-of-use, international calling features, and toll-free minutes, among other factors.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.