RingCentral vs Zoom: Comparing UCaaS Platforms
RingCentral and Zoom represent two different paths to unified communications. RingCentral started with telephony and expanded into video. Zoom started with video and expanded into telephony. Today both offer complete UCaaS platforms, but their strengths still reflect their origins. RingCentral leads in traditional telephony features while Zoom leads in video experience and user adoption.
Feature Comparison
How RingCentral and Zoom stack up across key capabilities.
Voice & Telephony
RingCentral leads
RingCentral Purpose-built enterprise telephony with advanced IVR, multi-level auto-attendants, call queues, and extensive call management. Telephony is RingCentral's core DNA.
Zoom Zoom Phone offers solid cloud PBX capabilities that have matured rapidly. Good for most businesses but fewer advanced telephony features than RingCentral.
Video Conferencing
Zoom leads RingCentral RingCentral Video is capable with AI summaries and transcription. Good quality but not the industry benchmark for video.
Zoom Zoom Meetings is the gold standard for video conferencing. Best-in-class quality, reliability, and user experience. Supports up to 1,000 participants.
Contact Center
RingCentral leads RingCentral RingCX is a mature omnichannel contact center with WFM, quality management, and AI routing. Strong enterprise capabilities.
Zoom Zoom Contact Center is newer but growing quickly. AI-powered routing, video-enabled customer service, and native Zoom integration.
User Adoption
Zoom leads RingCentral Requires training and change management for most deployments. Full-featured but has a learning curve.
Zoom Massive existing user base means many employees already know Zoom. Adding Zoom Phone to existing Zoom deployments is near-frictionless.
Integrations
Even match RingCentral 300+ pre-built integrations. The deepest integration ecosystem in UCaaS.
Zoom Growing integration marketplace (2,500+ apps in Zoom Marketplace). Strong productivity tool integrations but fewer telephony-specific integrations.
AI Features
Zoom leads RingCentral RingSense AI provides conversation intelligence, transcription, and call summaries as an add-on.
Zoom Zoom AI Companion offers meeting summaries, smart recording highlights, and composing assistance across the platform. Included at no extra cost.
Pricing
Zoom leads RingCentral Competitive UCaaS pricing with multiple tiers. Enterprise plans can be expensive with add-ons for AI and contact center.
Zoom Aggressive pricing strategy, especially for Zoom Phone. AI Companion included free. Often the more cost-effective option for combined video + phone.
Pros & Cons
RingCentral
Strengths
- Enterprise telephony is best in class
- Deepest integration ecosystem (300+ apps)
- Mature contact center platform (RingCX)
- Strongest advanced call routing capabilities
- 99.999% uptime SLA
Limitations
- Video experience lags behind Zoom
- AI features require paid add-on (RingSense)
- Steeper learning curve for end users
- Higher total cost for full platform
Best For
Organizations where enterprise telephony is the primary requirement and advanced call management features are non-negotiable. Best for companies in industries like healthcare, finance, and legal where phone system reliability is mission-critical.
Zoom
Strengths
- Best-in-class video conferencing experience
- Massive existing user base reduces training needs
- Zoom AI Companion included at no extra cost
- Aggressive, competitive pricing
- Rapidly maturing telephony capabilities
Limitations
- Telephony features less mature than RingCentral
- Contact center is newer and less proven
- Advanced call routing options are limited
- Enterprise telephony pedigree is shorter
Best For
Video-first organizations that want to consolidate their communication tools on a familiar platform. Ideal for companies already using Zoom Meetings that want to add telephony without introducing a new vendor or requiring extensive retraining.
Our Verdict
Choose RingCentral if enterprise telephony, advanced call routing, and deep third-party integrations are your primary requirements. Choose Zoom if video collaboration is your core workflow and you want to add telephony to a platform your team already knows and loves. For organizations where phone system reliability is mission-critical, RingCentral has the edge. For video-first cultures looking to consolidate tools, Zoom Phone is increasingly compelling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I add Zoom Phone if I already use Zoom Meetings?
Is Zoom Phone reliable enough for enterprise use?
Can Catch Advisors get better pricing than going direct?
What about Microsoft Teams as an alternative to both?
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