Dialpad vs RingCentral: which business phone should you choose in 2026?

Dialpad Sell is an outbound sales product; RingCentral RingEX is a business phone with SMS and meetings. Price, dialer, SMS, routing and AI compared.

Published 20 October 2026. Prices and features from each vendor's own pages.

The short answer

DialpadPaid from $39/seat

Choose it if your reps spend the day dialling lists and you want a progressive dialer.

RingCentralPaid from $20/seat

Choose it if you want one business phone with a number for every user, SMS and meetings for $20.

PromptLabIn the CRM from $23.99/seat

Choose it if your reps call customers they already work with, not long cold lists.

Dialpad and RingCentral both sell cloud phones, but the plans compared here are built for different jobs. Dialpad Sell is an outbound sales product with AI call recaps and live coaching. RingCentral's RingEX is a business phone plan that brings calls, SMS, meetings and messaging together.

Below, the two are compared on price, the dialer, SMS, routing and numbers, and AI. We use Dialpad Sell for Dialpad, because it is the sales product. Every figure comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages; prices are per user a month, billed annually, unless we say otherwise.

Dialpad vs RingCentral at a glance

With PromptLab in the third column: the same job done inside a CRM.

Dialpad vs RingCentral, with PromptLab: prices and features
Checked on 20 October 2026	Dialpad	RingCentral	PromptLab
Pricing
Free plan
Paid plans, a month	$39 – $79per seat	$20 – $25per seat	$23.99per seat on Professional
Free trial		14 days
Billing	Billed annually	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Sales calling
Phone numbers	1 per user	1 per user	1 local, US or Canada
Call recording
Call transcripts and AI summaries
Power dialer	From$79/month
SMS from the same number
IVR and call routing
CRM integrations	Salesforce, HubSpot	From$25/month	Built in

Pricing: $39 to $79 against $20 to $25

RingEX has two published plans: Core at $20 and Advanced at $25 a user. Its two AI Customer Engagement bundles are by quote, and so are teams of more than 100 users. Monthly billing costs $30 and $35. Dialpad Sell has three plans: Essentials at $39, Advanced at $59 and Premium at $79, or $49, $70 and $95 billed monthly.

The gap closes on Dialpad's other product. Dialpad Connect, its business phone, is $15 for Standard and $25 for Pro. RingEX and Dialpad Connect both have a 14-day free trial, Dialpad Sell Essentials can be tried free, and neither vendor has a free plan.

Dialer and outbound calling

Dialpad's power dialer, Dialpad Dialer, calls through a list and connects reps only to answered calls; it comes with Sell Premium at $79. Voicemail drop and local presence dialling come with Advanced at $59.

RingEX's plan page lists no power dialer; RingCentral's separate contact centre product, RingCX, starts at $65 a user. RingEX Core includes unlimited US and Canada calling and on-demand call recording, with automatic recording from Advanced. A team that mostly dials lists will lean to Dialpad Sell; one that needs a phone for the whole company will lean to RingEX.

SMS, call routing and numbers

RingEX Core includes 25 SMS a user a month, and Advanced includes 100. Automated or marketing SMS is sold separately as High Volume SMS, from $0.0119 a message, and the 14-day trial doesn't include SMS. Every plan has a multi-level auto attendant and IVR, and each user gets a phone number at no extra cost; more numbers are $4.99 a month each.

Dialpad Sell includes inbound SMS and 250 outbound SMS, pooled across the account, plus department IVR and round-robin routing on every plan. Each user gets a direct line, and extra local and toll-free numbers are an add-on.

AI and CRM integrations

Dialpad Sell puts AI transcripts and recaps on its entry plan, Live Coach on Advanced at $59, and AI scorecards and playbooks on Premium at $79. Dialpad says Sell integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho.

RingEX also transcribes calls on every plan, and its AI Assistant takes notes and action items in the desktop and mobile apps. Conversational Intelligence, for deeper sales insights, is an add-on from $60. CRM integrations start on Advanced at $25, and RingCentral lists 330+ integrations across 200+ companies.

We make PromptLab, so here is where it fits.

Or call from inside your CRM

PromptLab's Professional plan has a dialer in the browser. You get a local US or Canadian number, call contacts from their record and take inbound calls, with voicemail for the ones you miss.

Every call is recorded, transcribed and summarised, and the action items land on the contact. Two-way SMS runs from the same number. There's no power dialer or IVR, so a team that works long call lists will still want a dedicated dialer.

See what's in each plan

Try PromptLab freeIncluded in PromptLab Professional, from $23.99 a user a month, with a 14-day free trial.

Which should you choose?

Choose Dialpad if…

Your reps spend the day dialling lists and you want a progressive dialer.
You want AI recaps on the entry plan and live coaching from $59.
You also like Dialpad Connect at $15 a user for the rest of the company.

Choose RingCentral if…

You want one business phone with a number for every user, SMS and meetings for $20.
You want an auto attendant and IVR across the whole company.
You want a 14-day trial and 330+ integrations to choose from.

Choose PromptLab if…

Your reps call customers they already work with, not long cold lists.
You want every call recorded, summarised and logged on the contact without a sync.
You want calls, SMS, email and WhatsApp in one CRM.

Frequently asked questions

Is RingCentral cheaper than Dialpad?

Yes, against Dialpad Sell: RingEX is $20 to $25 a user a month billed annually, against $39 to $79. Dialpad Connect, Dialpad's phone product, is $15 and $25.

Does RingCentral have a power dialer?

Its RingEX plan page lists none; RingCentral's contact centre product, RingCX, is sold separately from $65 a user. Dialpad's power dialer, Dialpad Dialer, comes with Dialpad Sell Premium at $79.

Does RingCentral include SMS?

Yes. Core includes 25 SMS a user a month and Advanced includes 100. Automated or marketing SMS is a separate product, High Volume SMS, from $0.0119 a message.

Does RingCentral include AI call notes?

Yes. On every RingEX plan, the AI Assistant for Phone transcribes calls and takes notes and action items in the desktop and mobile apps. Conversational Intelligence, for deeper sales insights, is an add-on from $60.

Do Dialpad and RingCentral have free trials?

RingEX has a 14-day free trial, without SMS. Dialpad Connect has a 14-day free trial, and Dialpad Sell Essentials can be tried free. Neither has a free plan.

Is there a CRM with a built-in dialer?

Yes. PromptLab's Professional plan, at $23.99 a user a month, includes a browser dialer with a local US or Canadian number, call recording, transcripts, AI summaries and two-way SMS, with a 14-day free trial.