NextivaONE is a customer communications service with decent voice over IP (VoIP) features for small business teams of 10 people or fewer. It has a colorful, friendly interface and reliable tools for business calling, along with basic social media account monitoring capabilities. That said, NextivaONE could use more AI and call monitoring features to keep up with the competition, such as automatic real-time transcription and call barging. We also experienced several technical issues with its limited video conferencing component. Accordingly, we have decreased our score by one star compared with the last time we reviewed it. Intermedia Unite and RingCentral RingEX offer more advanced AI features, equally dependable voice calling, and better video conferencing capabilities, so they are our Editors' Choice winners for VoIP services.

How Much Does NextivaONE Cost?

One of the most appealing aspects of NextivaONE is its price. The Core tier, the only one available for the product, costs just $15 per user per month (billed annually). The price doubles if you pay monthly. A 14-day trial is available.

With this plan, you get standard business communication features, including 100 SMS message sends per month, inbound and outbound calling, social media management for up to three accounts, team messaging, a unified email inbox, and unlimited video conferencing (in terms of the length and number of meetings). Customer-to-team texting, digital faxing, voice analytics, and voice call recording all cost extra. You need to reach out to the company for pricing on those features. As for AI features, the plan you only get voicemail transcription.

NextivaONE is among the most affordable VoIP services I've tested, matching 8x8 Work's more limited X1 plan. Ooma Office's Essentials plan ($19.95 per user per month) comes in just slightly higher. 8x8 Work has AI features that help you write texts and team messages, but those features cost extra. Ooma Office is short on AI features like NextivaONE but has comparable call quality. RingEx's ($20 per user per month, billed annually) and Unite's ($27.99 per user per month) base tiers cost more, though they offer superior AI and video conferencing features.

As mentioned, NextivaONE is available only for teams of 10 people or fewer. If your organization is larger, you need to move up to the company's traditional Core package (confusingly named Nextiva Core), which starts at $30 per user per month (billed annually). Aside from the limitation on the number of users, the main difference is that NextivaONE uses a self-service model; in other words, Nextiva says it will send you the resources to set up the service by yourself. Plans scale up in price and capabilities from there, with the Engage and Powersuite offerings, respectively, starting at $40 and $60 per user per month (billed annually). It's worth noting that the Nextiva platform extends well beyond VoIP calling to cover many aspects of customer interaction.

(Credit: Nextiva/PCMag)

Getting Started With NextivaONE

The setup process for NextivaONE mainly involves creating an admin account and configuring the phone lines. I didn't have any trouble adding users or attaching licenses to those profiles. Despite its self-service model, NextivaONE advertises a free onboarding service with one-on-one technical help. I asked Nextiva to clarify this offering and will update this review if I get a response.

In testing, I had a few issues with the service randomly logging me out. This happened on my iPhone, Google Chrome via my MacBook, and a Windows 11 laptop via the dedicated NextivaONE app. Sometimes, I even encountered an error in which I couldn't log back in after it booted me out. Usually, waiting about five minutes resolved the issue.

(Credit: Nextiva/PCMag)

NextivaONE's user interface is much more visually appealing than that of 8x8 Work and Vonage Business Communications, both of which have bland designs. Most features are easy to find. I was able to start messaging within seconds, and I launched a video meeting with a quick click.

Unlike Ooma Office, which requires your import file to have perfect formatting, NextivaONE is much more forgiving. If your file doesn’t quite match the template (which Nextiva makes available right on the import screen), you can remap fields such as name and phone number and then import. The process works extremely well.

(Credit: Nextiva/PCMag)

Nextiva offers chat, email, and phone support, and lets you submit an online help ticket. The NextivaONE pricing page claims 24/7 support, but I found conflicting information elsewhere on the site. I asked Nextiva for clarification and will update this review if I hear back.

During a support call, the technician I spoke with helped me through the aforementioned login issue related to a timeout error. Unfortunately, we were not able to resolve the issue. Regardless, the support experience was a little better than what I’ve experienced with most other VoIP products, mostly because the agent was responsive and thorough. I also tried the chat support and received a response almost immediately.

Desk Phone Support and Integrations

NextivaONE works with several dozen different desk phones and headsets from Cisco, Poly, and Yealink. That's better than what RingEX and Unite offer. Like Ooma Office, NextivaONE also offers first-party hardware.

As for integrations, NextivaONE supports the usual options—Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and Zendesk—via add-ons. Most options are CRMs. It can also sync contacts from your Google and Outlook accounts. I like how you can make a call directly from Outlook and see an alert if a contact is calling you with NextivaONE. The integration options are on par with 8x8 Work but fall well short of those for RingEX both in terms of number and variety.

Audio and Video Calling Experience

I conducted phone calls via NextivaONE between multiple platforms, including the browser, iOS, and Windows apps. I didn't hear any digital noise or interference, and NextivaONE makes calling easy and smooth. You can use the softphone dial pad to call anyone, although I don't like how the messaging features and softphone dialer are on separate sides of the interface.

You can transfer a call from NextivaONE to any other phone. That feature is easy to find in the iOS app and helpful if you don’t use only Nextiva for your business calls. You might want to transfer a call to your cell line, for example, which is surprisingly possible. As mentioned, the service does not provide AI call features beyond voicemail transcription.

In terms of video calls, NextivaONE needs a lot of work. You don't get AI summarization and transcription features, a car mode (for less distracted meetings on the go), or whiteboard collaboration. It also isn't possible to actually conduct a video call from the mobile app (it launches your mobile browser if you try to join one). Video meetings usually work in a mobile browser, but the experience is buggy and somewhat unintuitive. I didn't encounter any sort of distortion or lag with video calls via the desktop apps.

(Credit: Nextiva/PCMag)

NextivaONE's analytics are exceptional. You can easily see the total number of calls made, as well as details like call groups and locations. It's possible to split reports based on local and international calling, too. Its clear and colorful reports compare favorably to those of top competitors and even outclass them in some ways. You can also create custom reports with the specific features you want. The Voice Analytics feature, which unlocks real-time monitoring and gamification aspects, costs extra.

RingEx offers a much smoother video conferencing experience and goes much deeper with AI features. It can find parts of a video meeting in which a specific person spoke, generate messages, and transcribe calls in real time. Unite's AI Assistant can generate content and summarize information during calls.

NextivaONE's social media management service is a rudimentary tool that works like HootSuite. Once I connected my X account, I was able to schedule posts and monitor my feeds.

Administration Experience

The admin functions in NextivaONE are exceptional, starting with the aforementioned analytics reports. The interface makes it simple to add users and teams, configure the virtual receptionist, and set up call groups. A guided setup is optional.

Call center features, such as call barging, monitoring, and whispering, aren't available, however. Nextiva offers a fully hosted call center product that includes those features, but there's no easy upgrade path from NextivaONE to it. That said, I enjoy the helpful call mapping interface that lets you configure how to route calls at your company. I haven't encountered anything comparable in other apps I've tested. That said, advanced call routing based on an employee's skill level is available only with the Power Suite plan within Nextiva's traditional product line.