Quick answer: For a US-billed sales team whose reps dial one number at a time, CloudTalk costs less: 20 reps on Essential with its US$15 Power Dialer add-on, plus an AI receptionist, come to US$1,308.69 a month against US$1,674 on RingCentral’s RingCX Standard with its AI Receptionist, billed annually. For multi-line dialling at 20 or 50 reps, RingCX lists lower once CloudTalk’s 11% fee is added, but its dialler minutes are extra. For AI that answers and follows up, start with Zian. As at 4 November 2026.
“CloudTalk vs RingCentral” pits a sales-and-support calling platform against a unified-communications suite, and for a sales team the deciding fact is where each keeps its dialler. CloudTalk sells one product in three plans (Starter, Essential, Expert) and adds its AI Sales Dialer as a Power or Parallel add-on to any of them. RingCentral sells RingEX for phone, meetings and chat, RingCX as a separate contact-centre product with the dialler built in, and its AI Receptionist (AIR) as an add-on. Below: seat prices, the three RingCentral products, both diallers, both AI receptionists and their rounding, contracts, international and Australian pricing, and a dialling team priced at 5, 20 and 50 reps. Vendor facts come from each vendor’s own pages, read on 4 November 2026, in US dollars unless marked A$.
Where Zian fits
If your reps’ calls also need answering, chasing and booking, Zian AI is our pick for that job, ahead of either phone system’s built-in AI: its agents answer inbound calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist that qualifies callers, books appointments, transfers calls and takes messages, then follow up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger. CloudTalk and RingCentral are both sound choices for the phone system and dialler underneath.
Zian’s agents also handle answering machines and voicemail, work in 30+ languages with voice cloning supported, and connect to HubSpot, Salesforce, HighLevel, Zapier and an API; SmartReach AI™ paces each follow-up and PrecisionPitch AI™ split-tests scripts against real outcomes. Zian has run outbound acquisition since 2017, and its home page reports 50,769+ qualified sales appointments set and a 926% increase in follow-ups.
Zian is not the only AI here that answers and books: CloudTalk’s AI Receptionist books into Google or Outlook and its voice agents can call out through its API, and RingCentral says AIR can “schedule or reschedule appointments by connecting directly to your calendar”. The honest limit: Zian is in a partnership-application beta with no published prices; each of its three listed plans, including Intel + Widgets (Free Forever), starts with a partnership application. If you would rather have it done for you, LeadsNow.ai is the done-for-you option: a managed, pay-per-result AI appointment-setting service that runs on Zian, answers leads in under 60 seconds, 24/7, and has set 50,769+ appointments.
CloudTalk vs RingCentral: the shortlist
Rows 1 and 2 are our picks when calls must be answered and leads followed up without adding headcount; rows 3 and 4 are the head-to-head, not ranked against each other.
| # | Option | What it is | Dialler | AI that answers calls | Entry price, as at 4 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zian AI | AI sales and reception agents platform, inbound and outbound | AI agents place outbound calls and handle answering machines and voicemail | AI receptionist 24/7: qualifies, books, transfers, takes messages; follow-up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Messenger | No published price; partnership-application beta; Intel + Widgets listed as Free Forever |
| 2 | LeadsNow.ai | Done-for-you AI appointment setting that runs on Zian | Run for you | Managed for you; leads answered in under 60 seconds, 24/7 | Pay-per-result |
| 3 | CloudTalk | Calling platform for sales and support, three plans plus add-ons | AI Sales Dialer: Power add-on US$15 a user (included on Expert), Parallel add-on US$39 a user on any plan | AI Receptionist: 50 free minutes in the first month, then from US$99 a month for 200 minutes | Starter US$25 a user a month billed annually (US$34 monthly); 1-licence minimum |
| 4 | RingCentral | RingEX (phone, meetings, chat) plus RingCX (contact centre) | In RingCX (none found in RingEX): voice broadcast, preview, predictive and progressive, from US$65 a user a month annual | AIR: US$49 a month standalone or US$39 as a RingEX add-on, 100 minutes, then US$0.50 a minute | RingEX Core US$20 a user a month billed annually (US$30 monthly) |
How we built this comparison. A capability counts only when the vendor’s own pricing page, product page, help article or release note places it on that plan, read in context for “add-on”, “coming soon”, “early access” and country limits. Where two of a vendor’s own pages disagree, we print both. “We could not find” means we searched that vendor’s pricing pages, product pages, help articles and release notes in its own vocabulary (Power Dialer, Parallel Dialer, AI Sales Dialer, VoiceAgent; Dialer, auto dialer, AIR, AIR Pro), with a positive control on each saved page. We used no vendor’s comparison pages for a rival’s facts. Zian and LeadsNow.ai are described only from their own published claims. Disclosure: zian.ai publishes this page and Zian AI appears in it, ranked first; LeadsNow.ai is a sister business that runs on Zian.
CloudTalk vs RingCentral seat prices, plan by plan
Both price per user a month and discount annual billing. CloudTalk says annual billing saves “≈ 30% off”; its figures work out to 25.6% to 29.0%. RingCentral says “Save up to 33% by paying annually” on RingEX (22.2% to 33.3% on its figures) and “Save up to 13%” on RingCX (12.1% to 13.6%). RingEX prices its 1–5 and 6–100 user bands the same; the 100+ band has no list price, and a 50-seat team falls in the 6–100 band, so it pays the list price below.
| Plan | Annual billing, per user a month | Monthly billing, per user a month | Minimum | What sets it apart for a sales team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CloudTalk Starter | US$25 | US$34 | 1 licence | Calling and call flows; no SMS; recording kept 1 month; Power and Parallel as add-ons |
| CloudTalk Essential | US$29 | US$39 | 1 licence | Adds IVR and skill routing, international SMS/MMS, voicemail drop, APIs and 95+ standard integrations |
| CloudTalk Expert | US$49 | US$69 | 3 licences | Adds power dialling (included), Smart Dialer, campaign management, WhatsApp inbox, Salesforce ecosystem, live monitoring, 24/7 phone support |
| RingEX Core | US$20 | US$30 | None stated | Unlimited US and Canada calling, 25 SMS a user a month, HD meetings for 300, AI Virtual Assistant included |
| RingEX Advanced | US$25 | US$35 | None stated | Adds CRM integrations, multi-site, core reporting, 100 SMS a user a month |
| RingEX Ultra | US$35 | US$45 | None stated | Adds RingCentral Webinar, unlimited storage, 200 SMS a user a month |
| RingCX Standard | US$65 | US$75 | Not stated | Contact centre: voice and 20+ digital channels, ACD, IVR, skills-based routing, dialler |
| RingCX Professional | US$95 | US$110 | Not stated | Adds AI Quality Management and AI Agent Assist |
| RingCX Elite | US$145 | US$165 | Not stated | Adds AI Supervisor Assist, AI Interaction Analytics, AI Workforce Management |
Three limbs change those numbers. First, fees: CloudTalk says “Customers billed in the United States or Canada also pay CloudTalk’s Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee of 11% of the software subscription (in Canada from 2 December 2026)”, and its US fees article adds “It is a CloudTalk fee: it is not a tax”. RingCentral says taxes and fees including a “Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee” “may apply”; its fee page describes that fee but we could not find a published rate on it, as at 4 November 2026. Second, seats: CloudTalk says “Every user on your account is a paid seat regardless of their role”, so an admin who never dials still costs a licence. Third, currency: CloudTalk says “Prices are listed in EUR; visitors outside Europe see the same figures in USD”; RingCentral prints Australian-dollar plans.
RingEX, RingCX or the AIR add-on: which RingCentral product a sales team needs
RingCentral splits across products the jobs a CloudTalk plan bundles.
| Job | RingCentral product | CloudTalk equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Company phone numbers, calling, meetings and team chat | RingEX Core, Advanced or Ultra (US$20–US$35 annual) | Any CloudTalk plan; conference calls from Essential; we could not find video meetings on its pricing page |
| A dialler for reps working a list | RingCX Standard or above (from US$65 annual) | Power add-on (US$15) or Parallel add-on (US$39) on any plan; Power included on Expert |
| An AI agent answering inbound calls | AIR: US$49 standalone or US$39 RingEX add-on (US and Canada); add-on only in the UK, Australia and the EU | AI Receptionist bundles from US$99 for 200 minutes |
| An AI agent calling leads outbound | AIR Pro, which supports “inbound and outbound conversations”, through an early-access programme | AI voice agents started through the CloudTalk API; AI Specialist from US$349 for 1,000 minutes |
| AI on human calls | AI Conversation Expert from US$60 a user a month; RingCX AI modules from US$20–US$25 a user | AI Conversation Intelligence add-on, US$9 a user |
We could not find an outbound-calling skill for AIR on its pricing page, its product page or its July, August and September 2026 release notes, as at 4 November 2026; the RingCX pricing page lists AIR as an add-on on its Standard, Professional and Elite plans without a separate price.
Where the dialler lives on CloudTalk and RingCentral
CloudTalk sells its dialler by the seat on top of any phone plan; RingCentral includes its dialler in every RingCX contact-centre seat and nowhere else we could find.
| Dialler question | CloudTalk | RingCentral |
|---|---|---|
| Click-to-call | All plans, from a CRM or browser | Calling from the RingEX app; RingCX also has a “full-featured manual dialer” |
| One line at a time (power/sequential) | Power add-on, US$15 a user a month billed annually, on Starter and Essential; included on Expert; 14-day trial | RingCX “smart power dialer”; preview and progressive modes on all four RingCX plans |
| Several lines at once (parallel/predictive) | Parallel add-on, US$39 a user a month, any plan, plus a Parallel Calling seat per agent; up to 5 lines (help centre) or up to 10 (pricing page) | Predictive dialling and voice broadcast on all four RingCX plans, from US$65 |
| Voicemail and pacing controls | Parallel: automatic voicemail detection and drop; Power: manual voicemail drop | Call abandonment rate control (Seed and Target Abandon Rate, recommended maximum 3%) and a DNC Manager |
| Dialler minutes | US and Canada calls inside the calling package, fair use 10,000 minutes a user a month | Standard “includes inbound and manual outbound minutes”; “Unlimited dialer minutes can be added”; we could not find a price, as at 4 November 2026 |
| Who switches it on | Rolled out “account by account”; Parallel seats “assigned by CloudTalk, not self-serve” | Bought with the RingCX seat |
CloudTalk’s own pages disagree on line count. Its pricing page says “Dial up to 10 numbers at once”, while its parallel mode article says up to 5 and adds “Up to 10 parallel calls can be enabled on request for some accounts.” Its machine-readable pricing file also labels Expert’s power dialler “(add-on)” while the Expert plan card says “Included” and the dialler plans article says “Included in the Expert plan at no extra cost”. Since the rebuilt AI Sales Dialer launched on 28 September 2026, “each agent who runs parallel campaigns needs a Parallel Calling seat, a paid add-on”; we could not find a seat price separate from the US$39 add-on. CloudTalk’s fair-use policy targets “sustained auto-dialing, continuous always-on calling, or telemarketing-scale outbound volume” (default 3,000 outbound minutes a user, 10,000 for US and Canada), so ask before running a call-centre-scale list.
On RingCentral, the RingCX pricing comparison marks its dialler (voice broadcast, preview, predictive and progressive) as included in all four plans, and its predictive dialler page says the dialler “is part of the Standard plan, which includes inbound and manual outbound minutes. Unlimited dialer minutes can be added for outbound-focused organizations.” We could not find a dialler on the RingEX pricing page’s feature list, and RingCentral’s auto-dialler and predictive-dialler pages both point to RingCX, as at 4 November 2026. For how one-line and multi-line dialling compare for an SDR team, see our PhoneBurner vs Nooks comparison of power and parallel dialling.
CloudTalk AI receptionist vs RingCentral AIR: price and billing increments
Both answer 24/7, route callers, book appointments and meter minutes: CloudTalk in prepaid bundles, RingCentral as a 100-minute allowance plus a per-minute rate.
| CloudTalk AI Receptionist | RingCentral AIR | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is sold | Add-on bundle on any CloudTalk plan; AI Specialist for workflows and outbound | US$49 standalone or US$39 add-on to RingEX in the US and Canada; add-on only in the UK, Australia and the EU |
| Included minutes and price | 50 minutes free in the first month; 200 for US$99, 500 for US$199, 1,000 for US$299, 2,500 for US$699 a month | 100 minutes a month, then US$0.50 a minute; “Additional minute bundles are available for purchase”, unpriced |
| Above the allowance | “Any usage beyond this prepaid amount is charged from credit”; no published rate (its pricing FAQ says “~$0.35–$0.50/min depending on your bundle”) | US$0.50 a minute pay-as-you-go |
| Billing increment | “billed on a per-minute basis”; we could not find whether a part-minute rounds up. CloudTalk phone calls are counted “in started-minute increments” | “Call time is rounded up and billed in 30-second increments” |
| Languages | “70+ languages and accents” | US list: English (US, UK, AUS), French (Canadian and European), Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese; Japanese added 23 September 2026 |
| Booking | Google Calendar or Outlook; the skill “books into exactly one calendar”, with Calendly or Cal.com connected through custom Tools for team scheduling; scheduling via SMS links “coming soon” | Google, Outlook and Calendly in the comparison table, though the plan card marks Calendly “coming soon”; RingCentral’s help centre has a Calendly booking guide for AIR that needs a paid Calendly plan |
| Outbound AI calls | Yes, started through the CloudTalk API, typically from HubSpot workflows, Zapier or Make | We could not find one for AIR; AIR Pro is in early access |
| Trial | Part of the 14-day trial, 50 AI Voice Agent minutes | 14-day free trial on both US plans |
CloudTalk says test calls “are real calls and are billed like any other VoiceAgent call”, and that unused allowances do not roll over. RingCentral’s Australian AIR is A$62 a month per account with 100 minutes, then A$0.80 a minute, also in 30-second increments, with appointment scheduling marked “coming soon” and three languages. For CloudTalk’s bundles against a per-conversation meter, see our CloudTalk vs Dialpad comparison; if you already run RingCentral, our RingCentral AI Receptionist setup guide walks through AIR Studio step by step.
How rounding changes an AI receptionist bill: 300 calls at four lengths
Billing increments decide this line more than the headline rate does. The table prices 300 AI-answered calls a month at four average lengths. RingCentral rounds each call up to the next 30 seconds; CloudTalk does not publish its rounding, so we show both an exact count and a whole-minute round-up, then pick the smallest bundle that covers the minutes. Both columns are before fees: a US-billed CloudTalk account adds 11% if that fee covers AI bundles (US$99 becomes US$109.89, US$199 becomes US$220.89 and US$299 becomes US$331.89), which narrows the 1:10 exact-minute row to US$220.89 against US$224 but changes no row’s lower option.
| Average call | AIR billed minutes (30-second round-up) | AIR monthly cost (US$49 + US$0.50 a minute over 100) | CloudTalk minutes, exact / rounded to whole minutes | CloudTalk bundle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0:40 | 300 | US$149 | 200 / 300 | US$99 (200 minutes) / US$199 (500) |
| 1:10 | 450 | US$224 | 350 / 600 | US$199 (500) / US$299 (1,000) |
| 2:10 | 750 | US$374 | 650 / 900 | US$299 (1,000) either way |
| 3:10 | 1,050 | US$524 | 950 / 1,200 | US$299 (1,000) / US$299 plus 200 minutes from credit at an unpublished rate, or US$699 (2,500) |
On these inputs CloudTalk’s AI line is lower in every row if it bills exact minutes. If it rounds every call up to a whole minute, AIR is lower on short calls: US$149 against US$199 at 0:40 and US$224 against US$299 at 1:10; and at 3:10 CloudTalk’s total then depends on an overage rate it does not publish. A 2:10 call is billed as 2:30 on AIR, so ask CloudTalk how it bills a part-minute before you sign.
Want every call answered and every lead chased? Zian’s AI agents answer inbound calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist, book appointments, place outbound calls and follow up by SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger, with HubSpot, Salesforce, HighLevel and Zapier integrations.
What 5, 20 and 50 dialling reps cost a month on CloudTalk and RingCentral
This is list-price arithmetic for a US-billed sales team, at annual-billing rates, computed by script. Every rep dials; the account adds one AI receptionist answering 300 inbound calls a month at 2 minutes 10 seconds each: US$299 on CloudTalk’s 1,000-minute bundle, US$374 on RingCentral’s standalone AIR (750 billed minutes; AIR is listed on monthly billing only), used because RingCX lists AIR as an add-on without a price. CloudTalk’s 11% fee is applied to every CloudTalk line, our cautious reading of “the software part of your subscription”; RingCentral’s totals exclude its own fees, whose rate it does not publish on its fee page, and RingCX’s optional unlimited dialler minutes, whose price we could not find, as at 4 November 2026. Both vendors’ totals also exclude taxes and Universal Service Fund fees, which CloudTalk calculates “as a percentage of your telecommunications services”. On a seats-and-add-ons-only reading of the 11% fee, subtract US$32.89 from each fee-inclusive CloudTalk total.
| Stack | Formula | 5 reps | 20 reps | 50 reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CloudTalk Essential + Power add-on (one line) | (US$29 + US$15) × reps + US$299, then + 11% | US$576.09 | US$1,308.69 | US$2,773.89 |
| CloudTalk Expert, power dialling included (one line) | US$49 × reps + US$299, then + 11% | US$603.84 | US$1,419.69 | US$3,051.39 |
| CloudTalk Essential + Parallel add-on (up to 5 lines) | (US$29 + US$39) × reps + US$299, then + 11% | US$709.29 | US$1,841.49 | US$4,105.89 |
| CloudTalk Essential + Parallel, before the 11% fee | (US$29 + US$39) × reps + US$299 | US$639.00 | US$1,659.00 | US$3,699.00 |
| RingCentral RingCX Standard + AIR (all dialling modes) | US$65 × reps + US$374, before RingCentral fees and dialler minutes | US$699.00 | US$1,674.00 | US$3,624.00 |
The Dialler-Mode Rule: if your reps dial one number at a time, CloudTalk lists lower than RingCentral at 5, 20 and 50 reps, even after its 11% US fee; if they need several lines at once, RingCX Standard lists lower at 20 and 50 reps once that fee is added, and at 5 reps only if the fee also covers the AI bundle (on seats and add-ons alone, CloudTalk’s 5-rep Parallel stack is US$676.40 against US$699), but only before RingCX’s dialler minutes, so get those quoted before you compare. The 5-rep gap on one-line dialling is US$122.91 a month (US$576.09 against US$699), and it grows to US$850.11 at 50 reps.
The rows are not like for like: RingCX Standard adds ACD, skills-based routing, 20+ digital channels and predictive pacing; CloudTalk Expert adds WhatsApp, Salesforce and live monitoring. Before its fee, CloudTalk’s Parallel stack is still lower at 5 reps (US$639 against US$699) and 20 reps (US$1,659 against US$1,674). On monthly billing the seats rise to US$39 and US$69 on CloudTalk and US$75 on RingCX; CloudTalk prints its dialler add-ons only as “Billed annually”, so ask their monthly price. For RingCentral priced against a dialler-first rival, see our JustCall vs RingCentral comparison.
International calling, numbers and Australian pricing
- CloudTalk numbers: local numbers in “160+ countries” on all three plans.
- CloudTalk calling: unlimited US and Canada calls on all three plans, under the 10,000-minute fair-use limit. An Australian account gets 500 Australian outbound minutes a user on Starter, 1,000 on Essential and unlimited on Expert (fair use applies), each with unlimited calls to the US and Canada. Geographic bundles (US$5 to US$25 a user a month; AU, NZ and UK at US$15) extend those minutes to more countries. Other calls come from prepaid credit “billed per started minute”, such as US$0.070 a minute to Australian mobiles.
- RingCentral calling: RingEX says “Unlimited phone calls are limited to US and CA markets only”; other international calls are charged at the rates in its international rates table, and extra international numbers start at US$5.99 a user a month. The table did not render in our saved copy, and we could not find a billing increment for RingEX international calls, as at 4 November 2026.
- RingCentral in Australia: RingEX Essentials A$22.99 a user a month annual (up to 49 users, 250 outbound minutes a user), and for 2 to 99 users Standard A$37.99, Premium A$45.99 and Ultimate A$66.99, each with an outbound-minute allowance; RingCentral shows these before GST. AIR is an A$62 add-on only.
- Texting: CloudTalk bills every SMS, MMS and WhatsApp message from credit (“There is no SMS bundle or package”), with SMS from Essential and WhatsApp on Expert with “at least 3 users” at US$0.01 a message. RingEX includes 25, 100 or 200 SMS a user a month by plan, notes “SMS availability in US only”, and lists RingCX’s digital channels as including SMS and WhatsApp.
Contracts, renewals and refunds on CloudTalk and RingCentral
Both reserve their lowest prices for annual billing, and both auto-renew. CloudTalk says monthly plans need no long-term contract, while annual billing “comes with a 12-month commitment”, and it “bills in advance and doesn’t offer refunds or credits for partial months, unused time, or plan changes”. RingCentral’s Terms of Service, last updated 23 February 2022, renew recurring services “for successive periods of the same length as the Initial Term” unless either party gives notice at least 30 days before the term ends. Before you sign either, check four things in the order form and terms:
- the notice period for non-renewal (both sets of terms say 30 days);
- what you owe if you leave mid-term (read CloudTalk’s Terms and Conditions and RingCentral’s Terms of Service);
- whether dropping seats below an agreed minimum withdraws a discount;
- whether add-ons and AI bundles renew on the seats’ term.
What changed at CloudTalk and RingCentral in the last 90 days
Release notes from 6 August to 4 November 2026.
| Date | Vendor and product | What shipped |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Nov 2026 | CloudTalk API | Message delivery-status webhook, including WhatsApp read receipts |
| 2 Nov 2026 | CloudTalk VoiceAgent | Outbound AI calls now match the dialled number to a CloudTalk contact, or take a named contact ID |
| 26 Oct 2026 | CloudTalk API | One post-call webhook carrying recording, transcript, AI-extracted data and Dialer disposition |
| October 2026 | RingCentral RingEX | AI data retention policy for AI notes and transcripts (7 to 365 days); porting order history |
| 28 Sep 2026 | CloudTalk AI Sales Dialer | Rebuilt dialler available alongside the legacy one; Parallel Calling seats per agent |
| 23 Sep 2026 | RingCentral AIR | Post-call summary emails, exact-answer FAQs, Japanese, keypad (DTMF) transfer; multi-question transfer for a limited group |
| 24 Aug 2026 | RingCentral AIR | Configurable personality, customisable booking texts, setup from an existing IVR, Channels page |
| August 2026 | RingCentral RingCX | Supervisor and Admin Overview dashboards; RingEX contacts synced into the RingCX softphone |
CloudTalk’s developer changelog lists 18 entries from 20 August to 3 November 2026; RingCentral’s AIR and RingCX release-note pages list nothing later than 23 September and August 2026 respectively, as at 4 November 2026.
Pick CloudTalk if, pick RingCentral if: the decision table
| If this is your situation | Pick | Why, from the vendors’ own pages |
|---|---|---|
| Calls go unanswered after hours and leads need calling back and chasing across channels | Zian; LeadsNow.ai if you want it run for you | AI receptionist 24/7 plus follow-up by voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Messenger |
| Reps dial one number at a time | CloudTalk Essential + Power, or Expert | US$576.09 against US$699 at 5 reps, US$2,773.89 against US$3,624 at 50, fee included |
| Reps need predictive dialling, voice broadcast or abandon-rate control | RingCentral RingCX | All four RingCX plans include predictive, progressive, preview and voice broadcast; get dialler minutes quoted |
| Reps want parallel dialling with voicemail detection on a phone plan | CloudTalk + Parallel add-on | US$39 a user on any plan, up to 5 lines by default; lower than RingCX before the 11% fee at 5 and 20 reps |
| You need company phones, video meetings and team chat but no dialler | RingCentral RingEX Core | US$20 a user annual with HD meetings for 300 participants |
| AI receptionist calls are short, about a minute or less | Ask CloudTalk how it rounds; AIR may be lower | For 300 calls AIR is US$149 at 0:40 and US$224 at 1:10, against CloudTalk US$99 or US$199 and US$199 or US$299 depending on rounding |
| AI receptionist calls run two minutes or longer | CloudTalk | Its 1,000-minute bundle (US$299) covers 300 calls at 2:10 either way, against AIR at US$374; at 3:10 AIR is US$524 |
| The AI must speak languages beyond RingCentral’s list | CloudTalk | “70+ languages and accents” |
| The AI must call leads outbound today | CloudTalk | Outbound VoiceAgent calls through the API; AIR Pro is early access |
| Your team is in Australia and wants local-currency billing | RingCentral | Australian-dollar RingEX plans; CloudTalk bills the same figures in US dollars or euros |
Who each option is wrong for
Zian is wrong for a team that only wants a cheaper phone line with no AI handling, and for a buyer who needs a published price today.
CloudTalk is wrong for a buyer who wants texts inside the seat price (every SMS and WhatsApp message is billed from credit), for WhatsApp on one or two seats (Expert and at least 3 users), for anyone who needs a refund path, for a team that wants video meetings in the phone seat (we could not find them on its pricing page, as at 4 November 2026), and for a US buyer who has not budgeted the 11% fee.
RingCentral is wrong for a small sales team that only needs a dialler, because the dialler lives in RingCX at US$65 a user a month or more, and unlimited dialler minutes are an extra whose price we could not find. It is a harder fit if AI receptionist calls run just past 30-second marks, if an AI agent must call leads outbound today, or if you want AIR without RingEX outside the US and Canada.
CloudTalk vs RingCentral: frequently asked questions
Is CloudTalk cheaper than RingCentral?
For a dialling sales team, usually yes. With one-line dialling and an AI receptionist, 20 reps cost US$1,308.69 a month on CloudTalk Essential with the Power add-on, including its 11% US fee, against US$1,674 on RingCentral’s RingCX Standard with AIR, billed annually. For plain calling with no dialler, RingEX Core at US$20 a user is cheaper than CloudTalk Starter at US$25. Prices as at 4 November 2026.
Does RingCentral have a power dialler?
Yes, in RingCX, its contact-centre product; we could not find one in RingEX. RingCentral’s RingCX pricing page lists voice broadcast, preview, predictive and progressive dialling on all four plans, from US$65 a user a month billed annually. RingCX Standard includes inbound and manual outbound minutes; unlimited dialler minutes are an add-on whose price we could not find on RingCentral’s pricing or dialler pages, as at 4 November 2026.
How much is CloudTalk’s power dialler?
CloudTalk’s Power add-on is US$15 a user a month billed annually on Starter and Essential, and included on Expert at US$49. Its Parallel add-on, which dials up to 5 lines with voicemail detection, is US$39 a user a month on any plan, and each agent needs a Parallel Calling seat assigned by CloudTalk.
Which AI receptionist costs less, CloudTalk’s or RingCentral’s?
CloudTalk’s, on calls of about two minutes or longer: 300 calls a month at 2 minutes 10 seconds fit its US$299 1,000-minute bundle, while RingCentral’s standalone AIR costs US$374. On short calls AIR can win: at 40 seconds it costs US$149 and at 1 minute 10 seconds US$224, against US$99 or US$199 and US$199 or US$299 on CloudTalk, depending on how CloudTalk rounds a part-minute, which it does not publish.
Does RingCentral round AI Receptionist minutes?
Yes. RingCentral’s AI Receptionist pricing page says “Call time is rounded up and billed in 30-second increments”, after 100 included minutes and at US$0.50 a minute in the US. A 2 minute 10 second call is billed as 2 minutes 30 seconds.
Can I use CloudTalk or RingCentral in Australia?
Yes. CloudTalk bills the same figures in US dollars or euros and gives an Australian account 500, 1,000 or unlimited Australian outbound minutes a user on Starter, Essential and Expert. RingCentral sells Australian-dollar RingEX plans from A$22.99 a user a month before GST, and AIR only as an A$62 add-on.
Do CloudTalk and RingCentral lock you into a contract?
Only on annual billing, which both use for their lowest prices. CloudTalk’s monthly plans can be cancelled at any time, but annual billing has a 12-month commitment and CloudTalk gives no refunds for unused time. RingCentral’s terms renew a term for the same length unless you give notice at least 30 days before it ends.
Ready to put AI on your inbound calls and your follow-up? Zian’s agents answer calls 24/7 as an AI receptionist and book appointments from inbound and outbound conversations across voice, SMS, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger, in 30+ languages. Zian is in a partnership-application beta.
Where every figure on this page comes from
| Figure | Who published it | Link | Date read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter US$25/US$34, Essential US$29/US$39, Expert US$49/US$69; minimum licences 1, 1, 3; Power US$15, Parallel US$39, Conversation Intelligence US$9; AI Receptionist 50 free minutes, US$99/200, US$199/500, US$299/1,000, US$699/2,500; AI Specialist US$349/1,000; “≈ 30% off”; 12-month commitment; no refunds; 11% fee; 160+ countries; “Dial up to 10 numbers at once”; Australian calling allowances; 70+ languages; Google or Outlook booking; 14-day trial with 50 AI minutes | CloudTalk | www.cloudtalk.io/pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| “Prices are listed in EUR; visitors outside Europe see the same figures in USD”; Expert power dialler labelled “(add-on)” | CloudTalk | www.cloudtalk.io/pricing.md | 4 November 2026 |
| “~$0.35–$0.50/min depending on your bundle”; AI Receptionist “designed for inbound calls” | CloudTalk | www.cloudtalk.io/ai-voice-agent-pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Power included on Expert; Parallel up to 5 lines; Parallel fair use 10,000/5,000 minutes; account-by-account rollout | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/17025709-ai-sales-dialer-plans-add-ons-and-how-to-get-access | 4 November 2026 |
| Up to 10 lines on request | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/17025675-parallel-mode-2-lines | 4 November 2026 |
| Parallel Calling seats assigned by CloudTalk | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/17025691-parallel-calling-seats | 4 November 2026 |
| Rebuilt AI Sales Dialer from 28 September 2026; seat is a paid add-on | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/17212695-introducing-the-ai-sales-dialer | 4 November 2026 |
| Calls counted in started-minute increments; VoiceAgent usage above package charged from credit; no SMS bundle | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/14634073-what-uses-credit | 4 November 2026 |
| Default 3,000 outbound minutes a user, 10,000 for US and Canada; FUP targets sustained auto-dialling | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/14633971-fair-usage-policy | 4 November 2026 |
| 11% fee, “not a tax”; USF fees “as a percentage of your telecommunications services” | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/9734196-us-taxes-charges-and-fees | 4 November 2026 |
| WhatsApp on Expert with at least 3 users, US$0.01 a message; messaging billed from credit | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/14652499-sms-mms-and-whatsapp-pricing | 4 November 2026 |
| Every user a paid seat; Australian package 500/1,000/unlimited; US and Canada up to 10,000 minutes a seat; no published overage rate for Voice Agents | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/13130387-understanding-pricing-plans-and-what-they-include | 4 November 2026 |
| VoiceAgent “billed on a per-minute basis”; test calls billed | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/11053795-getting-started-with-voiceagents | 4 November 2026 |
| Outbound VoiceAgent calls started through the API | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/11401649-voiceagents-for-outbound-calls | 4 November 2026 |
| Booking skill “books into exactly one calendar” | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/15923950-appointment-booking-skill-for-voice-agents | 4 November 2026 |
| Geographic bundles US$5 to US$25 a user; AU, NZ, UK US$15 | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/14655070-geographic-bundles-calling-add-ons | 4 November 2026 |
| “billed per started minute”; Australia mobile US$0.070 a minute | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/pay-as-you-go-call-rates | 4 November 2026 |
| Annual commitment fulfilled before a billing change; non-refundable charges | CloudTalk (help centre) | help.cloudtalk.io/en/articles/5591721-how-to-change-or-cancel-your-subscription | 4 November 2026 |
| Auto-renewal with 30 days’ notice; refunds clause | CloudTalk | www.cloudtalk.io/terms-and-conditions | 4 November 2026 |
| 18 changelog entries, 20 August to 3 November 2026 | CloudTalk | help.cloudtalk.io/changelog | 4 November 2026 |
| RingEX Core US$20/US$30, Advanced US$25/US$35, Ultra US$35/US$45; same 1–5 and 6–100 price; 25/100/200 SMS; “Save up to 33%”; unlimited calls US and CA only; international numbers from US$5.99; fees “may apply”; “SMS availability in US only” | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/business-phone | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR US$49 standalone or US$39 add-on, 100 minutes, US$0.50 a minute, 30-second increments; languages; Google, Outlook, Calendly and “Coming soon” card; 14-day trial | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/ai-receptionist | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR in Australia A$62 per account, 100 minutes, A$0.80 a minute, 30-second increments; scheduling coming soon; three languages | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/au/ai-receptionist | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR standalone only in the US and Canada; add-on in the UK, Australia and EU | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/ai-receptionist.html | 4 November 2026 |
| RingCX Standard US$65/US$75, Professional US$95/US$110, Elite US$145/US$165; “Save up to 13%”; dialler on all plans; AI modules US$20–US$25; AIR add-on | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/contact-center | 4 November 2026 |
| Dialler “part of the Standard plan”; “Unlimited dialer minutes can be added”; abandon-rate control, recommended maximum 3% | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/features/predictive-dialer | 4 November 2026 |
| RingCX “smart power dialer” and “full-featured manual dialer”; auto-dialling routed to RingCX | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/features/auto-dialer | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR Calendly booking; paid Calendly plan required | RingCentral (help centre) | support.ringcentral.com: Using Calendly appointment booking with an AI Receptionist | 4 November 2026 |
| AI Conversation Expert from US$60 a user a month | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/conversation-intelligence | 4 November 2026 |
| RingCX voice and 20+ digital channels including SMS and WhatsApp | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/ringcx.html | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR Pro supports “inbound and outbound conversations”; early access | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/products/air-pro.html | 4 November 2026 |
| RingEX Australia Essentials A$22.99, Standard A$37.99, Premium A$45.99, Ultimate A$66.99 (2 to 99 users), before GST; 250 outbound minutes on Essentials | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/pricing/au/business-phone | 4 November 2026 |
| Auto-renewal for the same length; 30 days’ notice; last updated 23 February 2022 | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/legal/eulatos.html | 4 November 2026 |
| Cost recovery fee described, no rate published | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/legal/taxes-and-fees/taxes-and-compliance.html | 4 November 2026 |
| International rates table | RingCentral | www.ringcentral.com/support/international-rates.html | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR release 23 September 2026 | RingCentral | support.ringcentral.com/release-notes/ai-receptionist.html | 4 November 2026 |
| AIR release 24 August 2026 | RingCentral | support.ringcentral.com/release-notes/ai-receptionist/release-notes-august-2026.html | 4 November 2026 |
| RingCX release August 2026 | RingCentral | support.ringcentral.com/release-notes/ringcx.html | 4 November 2026 |
| RingEX Core release October 2026 | RingCentral | support.ringcentral.com/release-notes/ringex/ringex-core.html | 4 November 2026 |
| 50,769+ qualified sales appointments set; 926% increase in follow-ups; outbound acquisition since 2017 | Zian AI | zian.ai | 4 November 2026 |
| Pay-per-result; leads answered in under 60 seconds, 24/7; 50,769+ appointments | LeadsNow.ai | leadsnow.ai | 4 November 2026 |
| Worked bill, rounding table and annual-saving percentages | zian.ai, calculated from the rows above | Calculated on this page | 4 November 2026 |