Practice Phone Price Index: what business phone systems cost in 2026

What does the index find?

8 of the 13 priced vendors list a base plan below $130 for 5 seats before add-ons (Spruce Health, Mango Voice, RingCentral RingEX, Nextiva, Dialpad, Zoom Phone, Ooma Office, Microsoft Teams Phone). RingCentral RingEX, Dialpad, Zoom Phone publish a plan that includes all four. Edition Q4 2026, checked 2026-10-13.

Three patterns hold across the dataset. First, the lowest seat prices come from general business platforms on annual terms, not from practice-specific vendors. Second, the dental-specific vendors that price per location are the most expensive for small teams and the cheapest for large ones. Third, no vendor in the dataset publishes a single plan that includes two-way texting, eFax, AI summaries and a BAA at its lowest price; those pieces are add-ons, higher tiers or unpublished.

ZentryVoice’s position follows from that third pattern. On seat price alone it is not the cheapest; Zoom Phone, Nextiva and Dialpad list lower annual-term prices. For the equal bundle, its published total is the lowest in the dataset because the add-ons are priced per practice rather than per seat and the BAA and AI summaries are included. That is the claim this index is built to let readers check.

How is the index built?

What counts as a published price. A dollar figure shown on the vendor’s own pricing page on the check date, for a plan a small practice can buy. Prices that require a quote are recorded as “quote-only”. Where a vendor publishes no price but a credible third party reports one, the figure is included and marked “reported” with its source; those rows are flagged until confirmed on the vendor’s page.

Lowest tier. Each vendor is represented by its lowest published tier. Annual-term prices are used when a vendor shows both, and the term is stated, because that is the number vendors lead with. Monthly-term prices, where published, are in the dataset.

Scenarios. Three practice sizes: 2 seats (a solo clinician and a front desk), 5 seats (a typical single-location office) and 15 seats (a group or multi-location practice). The monthly estimate is the per-user price multiplied by seats. For per-location vendors it is the per-location price, which the table also divides by seats so the two models can be compared.

Bundle normalization. The index does not add estimated add-on costs to competitor figures, because most vendors do not publish them. Instead each row carries flags for two-way SMS, eFax, AI summaries, BAA and desk phones: included, add-on, not offered or not published. ZentryVoice’s equal-bundle figure adds its published texting and eFax prices to the seat total. Readers comparing bundles should add each vendor’s add-on quotes themselves; the hidden costs guide lists what to ask for.

Check date and provenance. Every value links to the page it was read from, with the source type (vendor or third-party) and the date. The CSV carries the same fields. Prices change; the check date is the claim, not the price itself.

Publisher. ZentryVoice publishes this index. The dataset is open, the method is stated, and the ZentryVoice row uses the same fields as every other row.

The index

Checked 2026-10-13 unless stated. ✓ included · ✗ not offered · add-on priced separately · ? not published. ZentryVoice figures are seat price only; add SMS and eFax ($15 per practice each) for the equal-bundle comparison in the findings.

Download the dataset: practice-phone-price-index.csv (CC BY 4.0).

How do the pricing models compare for a 5-seat office?

The 5-seat scenario is where the two pricing models cross. A per-location vendor such as Weave charges one price for the office; at 5 seats that works out to about $199 per location per month (reported, checked 2026-10-13) divided by five per seat, before the setup fee of $500–$750 (reported one-time implementation fee (costbench, iplum); per location for multi-location groups, checked 2026-10-13). A per-user vendor charges five seat prices, and the add-ons are either per seat or per account. The per-user versus per-location guide derives the break-even seat count.

Estimates use each vendor's lowest published tier for 5 seats; per-location prices are divided by seats. Bundles differ: add-ons, SMS volume and BAA eligibility are listed per vendor, and "reported" means the figure comes from a third-party source pending confirmation on the vendor's page. See the Practice Phone Price Index for the method.

Which vendors are the better choice on price?

A fair index names where the publisher loses. For a practice that needs calls only, with no texting, fax or BAA, Zoom Phone, Nextiva and Dialpad on annual terms are cheaper per seat than ZentryVoice. For a large dental group on one site, a per-location price can beat any per-user price once the team passes the break-even seat count. For a practice already paying for a patient-engagement suite that bundles texting, adding a separate texting line may be redundant.

The comparison pages cover each vendor in detail, including where it is the stronger choice.

How ZentryVoice handles this

ZentryVoice publishes every price on one page and keeps this index as the proof behind its positioning: the lowest published all-in price for a compliance-ready unified platform, not the cheapest seat on the market.

• Seat: $20 per user per month, month-to-month, with voicemail transcription, AI call summaries, live reporting and soft extensions included.
• Add-ons: HIPAA SMS and compliance eFax at $15 per practice per month each, not per seat.
• BAA: countersigned at signup at no charge.
• Desk phones: optional, $119 one-time.

The pricing page has the line-item table and a calculator; the vertical guides cover the compliance frame for each kind of practice.

Changelog

• 2026-10-13 · Q4 2026 edition. First publication with 16 vendors. Prices confirmed on vendor pages where published (Spruce Health, Mango Voice, Nextiva, Zoom Phone, Ooma Office); the rest are reported from third-party sources and flagged pending confirmation. Five patient-communication suites are included for completeness and marked where they are not phone systems.