Best magicJack Alternatives: Ranked and Reviewed

Our research found that 8×8 is the best magicJack alternative, offering the best VoIP solution for small businesses thanks to a massive feature catalog and perfect scores on security and customer support.

While magicJack for Business lets users get started for as little as $9.99 per month, in comparison to other VoIP systems magicJack isn’t the best option for small businesses, as it provides very few scalable features, weak security, and minimal customer support. If you’re looking for flexibility and modern communication tools, the best softphone apps for business could also provide an effective alternative worth exploring.

Read on to learn more about these VoIP solutions, from pricing to features, and don’t forget to check out our VoIP comparison page for a customized quote for your business.

In this guide:

• Best magicJack Alternative: Ranked
• Best magicJack Alternatives Reviews
• Should You Choose magicJack Anyway?
• Why Businesses Look for a magicJack Alternative
• How to Switch From magicJack to Another VoIP Provider?
• Methodology: How We Test magicJack Alternatives
• Verdict: Can You Do Better than magicJack?

What’s the Best magicJack Alternative?

Want to move on from magicJack? Take a look at how its top competitors compare side-by-side in our comparison table below:

Best magicJack Alternatives Reviews

Now that you have a basic idea of what these magicJack alternatives can offer, let’s take a deeper dive into how these VoIP providers compared to magicJack on everything from features to pricing. Also, make sure to check out our guide to the best VoIP providers for more information on this popular services.

1. 8×8 – Best alternative for small businesses
2. Zoom Phone – Best value alternative
3. Goto Connect – Best alternative for scalability features
4. Ooma – Great alternative for customer experience
5. Net2Phone US – Great for international businesses

1. 8×8

• Best Alternative For Small Businesses
• Price from: $15/user/month

8×8 is one of our top VoIP providers, which means it’s far and away better than magicJack, particularly for small businesses. In fact, our research found that 8×8 is the best VoIP provider for sales teams, due to its extensive outgoing call features and training options.

8×8 really comes into its own when it comes to calling features. Aside from granting users access to fairly standard VoIP features like call forwarding, call recording, ring groups, and power keys, the platform lets you benefit from advanced tools like Interactive Voice Response (IVR) live call response and a virtual receptionist that helps agents manage multiple calls at once. This gives 8×8 a leg up over magicJack over businesses with advanced calling needs, as the provider only offers basic calling features.

8×8’s calling features are extensive, making it a better choice than magicJack for businesses managing high call volumes. Source: Tech.co user testing

On top of all that, 8×8 is much better for businesses in need of reliable support. The VoIP platform provides 24/7 support via web case submissions, phone lines, live chat, and its new AI-powered virtual assistant Otto. 8×8 also lets you pose questions to other users through its community support page. In contrast, magicJack’s phone lines are only open from Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 7 PM EST, and that platform has no live chat feature, making it harder for users who need instant support.

Learn more in our 8×8 pricing guide

8×8 pricing vs magicJack pricing

There are downsides, though. 8×8 can get a bit expensive compared to magicJack, particularly when you want the advanced features only found in the costlier pricing plans. While 8×8’s pricing isn’t currently listed publicly, its estimated that its VoIP packages start at $15 per user, per month, and can get as expensive as $140 per user, per month.

In contrast, magicJack’s monthly price of $9.99 per user – is a steal. However, while this may seem like magicJack is a better value pick, the fact that it has one pricing plan means it’s virtually not scalable at all, whereas 8×8 is very much capable of growing alongside your business, and its needs evolve.

8×8 will be the best choice for…

• Sales teams, as 8×8’s outbound calling features and integrated communication tools are far stronger than magicJack’s
• Businesses handling sensitive data, as 8×8 is  HIPAA & GPDR certified, and protects accounts with multi-factor authentication, unlike magicJack
• International businesses, as 8×8 offers unlimited calling to 14-48 countries, unlike magicJack

2. Zoom

• Best value alternative
• Price from: $10/user/month

You’ve heard of Zoom web conferencing software, now check out its VoIP solution. Zoom Phone is a robust, affordable VoIP solution that is certainly better than magicJack. It offers a lower starting price of $10 per user, per month than magicJack, and a much broader array of calling features.

After compiling reviews from user review sites like TrustRadius and TrustPilot, our research also found that Zoom Phone is the most popular VoIP option in our research among actual users.

Zoom Phone offers some of the best security options on the market. It includes standard safeguards like multi-factor authentication and user permissions and uses best-in-class encryption standards to secure calls. But even back when Zoom Phone didn’t have these features, it’s security profile was still better than magicJack’s though, which performed extremely poor in our research category as it fails to offer basic compliance certifications.

It took me a couple of taps to check my voicemail with Zoom Phone. Source: Tech.co user testing

Another thing that separates Zoom Phone from much of its competition is its smooth user journey. When I tested Zoom Phone out I was really impressed by how clean and simple its interface was. Unlike magicJack, the software was very uncluttered and intuitive. Its integration with Google Calendar was seamless too. In fact, I was able to sync the VoIP platform and my calender in a couple of seconds, which was really useful.

“I thought it was a really clean looking interface, really professional. I like the home screen but you’ve just got like really simple new meeting, join, schedule, new meeting stands out as well so I found that task really easy, there’s no problems with setting that up at all.” – Ollie Simpson from Tech.co’s user testing team

There are some downsides to Zoom Phone, however. For instance, it doesn’t have the best customer support, lacking onboarding support and email helpline options. It does offer 24/7 live support, a live chat function, and a knowledge forum though, all features that magicJack doesn’t provide. This gives Zoom Phone a leg up over magicJack when it comes to customer support.

Overall, Zoom Phone is clearly better than magicJack, but make sure these low scores aren’t dealbreakers for your business.

Zoom Phone pricing vs magicJack pricing

Zoom Phone is actually one of the best VoIP options on our list when it comes to pricing and value, with a low starting price of only $10 per user, per month that provides unlimited domestic and international minutes. On top of that, Zoom Phone has two other plans at $15 per user, per month and $20 per user, per month, whereas magicJack just offers the single plan for $15.99 per user, per month.

While it doesn’t top magicJack’s rock bottom entry price of $9.99 per user, per month, Zoom Phone’s pricing options does give businesses more flexibility and choice, which is why our research puts Zoom Phone ahead of magicJack in this category.

Zoom Phone will be the best choice for…

• Budget-conscious businesses, as Zoom’s entry price of $10 per user, per month undercut magicJack’s entry price of $15.99 per user, per month
• Businesses handling sensitive data, as Zoom encrypts calls and has much better data security features are much better than magicJack’s
• Businesses already using Zoom for video conferencing, as the platform integrates seamlessly into the service

3. GoTo Connect

• Great value alternative
• Price from: $26/user/month

GoTo Connect is another top magicJack alternative, thanks to its excellent value packages starting at $24 per user, per month. If fact, our research and testing found that GoTo is decidedly better than the VoIP provider in every category, offering more external software connections – including CRM like Salesforce, Zendesk, and Zoho CRM – and receiving better reviews from customer feedback sites.

GoTo Connect’s security features trump magicJack’s too, offering advanced tools like encryption and user-permissions – both features that its competitor lacks. However, while GoTo’s feature packed plans make it better value than magicJack overall, it’s entry price may put off businesses looking for rock-bottom prices. It’s uptime guarantee of 99.996% is a hairs-breath worse that magicJacks 99.999% too – but this shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for businesses prioritizing system reliability.

Learn more about how the VoIP systems compare in our Ooma vs magicJack price and feature guide.

GoTo Connect vs magicJack pricing

GoTo Connect is definitely on the expensive side compared to magicJack, with prices starting at $26 per user, per month and getting as high as $80 per user, per month, there’s no plan as affordable as the $9.99 per user, per month you’ll get with magicJack.

Still, GoTo Connect obviously offers way more advanced business features at these prices, so it’s worth a look to see if it’s a good fit for you.

GoTo Connect will be the best choice for…

• Growing businesses, as GoTo Connect offers lots of packages for businesses to upgrade to as their needs evolve, unlike magicJack that currently retails one plan
• Businesses making high call volumes, as GoTo connects offers much more sophisticated call features than magicJack
• Businesses handling sensitive data, as GoTo’s security safeguards are heads and shoulders above magicJack

4.Ooma

• Great customer experience
• Price from: $19.95/user/month

Ooma is a decidedly popular VoIP solution and an excellent magicJack alternative, similarly scoring higher than the low-cost option in most categories. Ooma’s brightest jewel in its crown is the customer support, which provides 24/7 live chat and phone support across all of its pricing plans.

It was easy to access to past call logs with Ooma through its Dashboard tab. Source: Tech.co user testing

Ooma pricing vs magicJack pricing

Ooma is notably unlike magicJack — and similar to 8×8 — in that it provides a lot of pricing plans, and they start at a notably higher price than magicJack’s $1.99 per user, per month price tag.

The starting plan for Ooma will run you $19.95 per user, per month with the most expensive plan reaching as high as $49.99 per user, per month. Again, though, these Ooma plans offer a lot more than magicJack, which still makes them an excellent value compared their feature-barren counterpart.

Ooma will be the best choice for…

• Call centers and retail businesses, as Ooma’s inbound and outbound communication tools are much stronger than magicJacks
• Businesses using a VoIP system for the first time, as Ooma offers 24/7 help and support, unlike magicJack
• International businesses, as Ooma lets you make international calls for fraction of the price as magicJack

5.Net2Phone

• Great for international businesses
• Price from: $19.99/user/month

Now that we’re near the bottom of the list, the alternatives aren’t nearly as impressive, but rest assured, Net2Phone is still better than magicJack. As an excellent value pick that has lots of features at lower pricing levels, Net2Phone represents a more than solid option, offering a decent array of outbound and in-bound calling features – from ring groups to external video calling.

That’s kind of the story with Net2Phone. While it performed will in our research overall, due to its confident toolkit and affordable packages, it wasn’t as consistent in other categories. For example, after testing the provider out, we were disappointed that most plans lacked basic web conferencing integrations, making it a bad fit for businesses looking to integrate their VoIP system into their specific software setup.

All things considered, Net2Phone is certainly still better than magicJack, but options like 8×8 and Zoom Phone definitely offer more for a comparable price.

Net2Phone pricing vs magicJack pricing

Net2Phone has a lot of pricing plans that vary pretty substantially in price, particularly compared to the single $1.99 per user, per month cost of magicJack.

Net2Phone starts at $19.99 per user, per month, which is an excellent starting point, albeit a tad more expensive than some other options. The most expensive option, however, gets as high as $31.99 per user, per month, which is a hearty cost. Fortunately, that plan comes with a lot of features for larger companies, so small business can probably opt for the less expensive options to keep costs down.

Net2Phone will be the best choice for…

• Growing businesses, as Net2Phone’s pricing structure is much more scalable than magicJack – which only currently offers one plan
• International businesses, as Net2Phone provides unlimited to calling to 40+ countries on all plan, compared to magicJack which only offers international calling to the US and Canada

Should You Choose magicJack Anyway?

In earnest, there aren’t a lot of good reason to choose magicJack from a business standpoint. Yes, at $9.99 per user, per month, the price is a tad lower than competitors, but this is a classic “you get what you pay for” situation.

For one, magicJack offers far fewer features and external connections than the majority of providers, scoring the lowest of any service in our research in both categories. On top of that, it provides virtually no security, meagre customer support, and poor scalable potential.

Even worse, customers don’t tend to love magic Jack either, scoring the lowest score in our customer support research category. The only situation in which we’d recommend magicJack is if you’re an extremely small business or sole entrepreneur that needs to cut cost as much as possible and only need unlimited domestic and international minutes.

Why Businesses Look for a magicJack Alternative

magicJack is an affordable, straightforward calling system, but that’s about it. While its bare-bones approach to VoIP will be suitable for startups and micro businesses, most businesses will be unsatisfied with the service for a number of reasons.

First, magicJack lacks very basic call-handling features like call recording, call monitoring, and call transcripts. This makes the VoIP service inapt for businesses that make daily calls or manage large-scale communications. It doesn’t offer any other alternative communication tools either. So businesses looking for unified calling, instant messaging, and web conferencing solutions will be better off searching elsewhere. 

magicJack is also completely incapable of integrating into other systems, lacking standard CRM, helpdesk, and workspace integrations. This limits the VoIP system’s potential for businesses looking to centralize processes and share data across multiple platforms. Finally, another major reason businesses will decide to move on from magicJack’s service, is because of its terrible scalability.

The service doesn’t offer unlimited calls from places other than the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and its package is static, offering no option to add on extra features when your business’s needs evolve. Ultimately, this means if you’re looking to hire more team members, reach customers in different locations, or increase your call quantities, you’ll be better off moving on from magicJack. 

Methodology: How We Test magicJack Alternatives