The old-school landline is becoming history in British homes. With the UK’s PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) switch-off now in motion, homes across the country are looking for modem replacements.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the clear winner here. When compared to the old copper wire system, its features, mobility, and cost savings are hard to ignore.
For many homeowners, the move to VoIP isn’t just about keeping up with technology: it’s about saving money, gaining more flexibility and getting features that used to be available only on business phone systems.
However, selecting the right provider from among dozens of choices seems daunting. Where do you draw the line on cost vs. reliability? What features are most important for a family home vs an office? This muddleheadedness often results in a decision paralysis and expensive mistakes with contracts that don’t fit.
This guide has got you covered; we’ve listed down the UK’s best home VoIP providers to help you compare and choose the one that fits your needs.
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Top 6 Cheap VoIP Providers For Home In UK: A Quick Glance
Before we get into the details, below is a quick overview of six of the cheapest VoIP providers available for homes in the UK:
| Provider | Starting Monthly Price | Key Home Features | Best For | Contract Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
bOnline Starter |
£7 + VAT |
Mobile app dedicated to your project, free UK number and call forwarding |
Micro-businesses and home offices |
12 months |
|
Google Voice Starter |
£8 per user |
UK number, spam blocking and SMS to UK/US |
Families with international contacts |
Monthly |
|
RingCentral Essentials |
£8.99 per user |
100 mins UK landline/mobile and team messaging |
Households with multiple users |
24 months |
|
NBC Call Center Basic |
£12.99 |
Recording only, simple IVR and 500 UK minutes |
Home-based customer support |
12 months |
|
Vonage Express |
£9.99 + VAT |
App, desktop calling and call groups |
Tech-savvy home users |
Monthly |
|
1-VoIP |
£6.95 |
US phone number for UK residents, unlimited US Calling and spam filtering |
Budget-conscious homeowners |
Monthly |
*Finding a cheap home VoIP provider that provides quality is not as simple as it seems. But we have a solution: ComparedBusiness UK. We will compare the top home VoIP providers for you and find you the perfect solution that fits your budget and needs.
Detailed Cheap Home VoIP Providers Review
Let’s dive into the details of the top six cheap VoIP providers for homes:
The bOnline Starter serves the small business and home office market directly. Their starter plan offers good value for money and is suitable for freelancers or families with a small home business.
Price Plan:
- The price plan is £7 + VAT per month, with no setup fees; however, you will need to provide your own IP phone or use their free softphone.
- 7-day free trial
- No cancellation penalties
Key Benefits:
- Free digital phone line and number
- Unlimited UK landlines calls
- Free App for IOSS and Android
- Standard call diversion and voicemail to email
- Simple online portal for management
- 100 minutes for outbound landline calls
- 40+ calling features
- Outstanding 4.5 Trustpilot rating with 15,000+ reviews
Standout Features:
- Call recording on demand
- Professional greetings
- Visual voicemail
- Call forwarding
- Hold music
- Voicemail to email
Limitations:
- 100-minutes outbound calls can be less for heavy users
- Only compatible with Yealink and Polycom phones
- The web app can be sluggish when making mass changes
- Advanced tech features incur an additional cost.
- International calls are billed on top
Perfect For:
- Budget-conscious families
- Home workers
- Light to moderate callers
- Anyone wanting professional features at a cheap price
Final Verdict: A super value option for people working from home. It offers professional features at a domestic price, but the extra charges could mount up and quickly become expensive for families that routinely talk to family members on cellphones.
With their characteristic ease of use and integration, Google is now entering the UK VoIP space. However, it’s not as fully featured as some of the competition and is based more on trust than other options.
Price Plan:
- Starter Package: £8/month per user
- Requires Google Workspace: £5.90/month
- Total Cost: £13.90/month
Key Benefits:
- Offers deep integration with Google (Gmail, Calendar, Drive)
- AI-powered spam filtering to protect against robocalls
- Transcribes voicemails and also offer search feature to find old voicemails
- Sync calls across devices on iOS, Android and web
- It offers enterprise-class security and encryption
- Call from any device
Standout Features:
- Intelligent call routing using your calendar
- Multi-device ring (home, mobile and computer)
- Searchable voicemail history
- Google Workspace ecosystem
Limitations:
- You need a Google Workspace subscription
- Offer less UK functionality than US
- No phone support for individuals
- No CRM integration beyond using it with Google products
- Advanced features are only available on more expensive plans
Best For:
- Google Workspace existing users
- Tech-savvy households
- Home professionals using Google tools
- Families wanting tight-net integration
The Bottom Line: Google Voice Starter is great for households already invested in the Google universe. It has the most advanced spam protection and texting features. But if you need physical phones or advanced call routing capabilities, turn elsewhere.
RingCentral is now entering the home space from the enterprise world. It’s a stripped-down version of their business service, which contains all the fundamentals and great quality for calls at a lower price.
Pricing: The RingCentral Essentials comes at a price of £9.99/month (annual) or £12.99 (monthly).
Key Benefits:
- Unlimited UK calling (no limits to the minutes you use)
- Business SMS using your landline number
- Video Conferencing with up to 100 participants
- 99.99% uptime SLA guarantee
- Customer support available 24/7
- HD voice and secure calls with noise cancellation
Standout Features:
- Auto-attendant (basic)
- Call queues
- Visual voicemail
- On-deman call recording
- Call switch between devices
- Microsoft 365 integration
Limitations:
- Set-up fee not transparently advertised
- Premium features comes with pricey plans
- Support wait times can be high
- The interface can be a bit much for simple home use
- International calling requires add-on bundles
Final Verdict: RingCentral’s longer contract is built on the foundation of superior quality service. The device is perfect for households that have remote workers or small home businesses.
NBC (National Business Communications), a provider of call centre technology, offers a basic product that provides excellent value to home users seeking more than just call functionality.
Pricing:
- £9.99 a month when taken out on a 12-month contract
- The minimum requirement is 25 users, which takes the total to £249.75/month
- Call recording: £5/month
- AI auto-attendant: 2.99/month
- Handsets: from £5/month
Key Benefits:
- HD voice quality with low latency
- Multi-device access (desktop, mobile and tablet)
- Professional call handling
- Call center features as standard
- Warm call transfer capability between devices
- UK support with a quick response time
Standout Features:
- Intelligent call routing
- Queue management
- IVR functionality
- Hold music
Limitations:
- You need minimum of 25 users
- No caller ID with simple plan
- There are no CRM integrations
- Limited growth path
- There is no mobile app per se
Ideal For:
- Large multi-generational homes
- Small residential care facilities
- Family estates
- Home businesses needing 25+ lines
The Bottom Line: NBC provides niche features at mass-market rates. The call recording feature alone makes it a must-have for homes that are having private customer service being performed in-house. However, there is more of a learning curve, but users who require its particular powers will find it an investment well worth making.
The Express service of Vonage revamps their traditional residential VoIP package. It’s a good balance of simple and functional, as it offers mobility and multi-device support.
Pricing: Vonage Express comes at a price of £10/month with metered calling
Key Benefits:
- 30+ call features included
- No limit on inbound calls
- SLA 99.99% uptime guarantee
- 20+ years of VoIP experience
- Easy device switching available
- User-friendly SMS enables mobile app
- Visual voicemail with online playback
- Seamless connection to CRM software applications of your choice
Standout Features:
- Auto-attendant
- Cross-device calling
- Professional voicemail
- Caller ID and call forwarding
- Virtual receptionist
Limitations:
- Metered outbound calling (pay as you go)
- No SMS on Express plan
- No video conferencing on basic plan
- Inconsistent international rates
- Limited analytics
Best For:
- Light to moderate callers
- Home-based professionals
- Users valuing reliability
Final Verdict: Vonage Express is as flexible as you can get in today’s uncertain world. Its pay-as-you-go structure is designed for those who use it minimally, but heavy users may need to crunch the numbers. Multi-device ringing is one of the best features, as it makes sure not a single one of your calls goes unanswered.
1-VoIP offers a straightforward home-voice service at a great price. It offers core calling functionality at the lowest price point. It has served budget-conscious users for over fifteen years.
Pricing: It is billed in US dollars. Starts from $9.99/month (£7.50)
Key Benefits:
- US phone number for UK residents
- Unlimited US Calling
- Nomorobo spam filtering
- Works internationally without the cost of hardware
- Offer call forwarding globally
Standout Features:
- Virtual local presence
- US time zone support
- Offers multiple US local numbers
Limitations:
- US-centric (no good if you are in the UK only)
- Currency exchange rate fluctuations
- Limited UK-focused features
- US-based customer service hours
- The mobile app gets infrequent updates
- Features are exceptionally basic
- No local UK numbers
Best For:
- American expats in UK
- UK residents with US business
- Dual nationals
- International businesses needing US presence
Final Verdict: 1-VoIP works for a segment of the market, such as tech-savvy users who want to pay the least possible money. It’s best for those who want to run a US business from the UK and don’t have a high call budget.
Choosing the perfect home VoIP provider involves more than just comparing monthly prices. Here are some factors to consider to choose the best home VoIP provider:
Look beyond advertised monthly rates. Calculate the total cost, including:
- Fees to set up or activate the service (frequently waived for promotional deals)
- Equipment costs (desk phone, adapters)
- Additional per-minute charges for calls exceeding the package limits
- There is usually a 10 to 20% discount with annual billing, but it inflicts less flexibility
Contract terms vary from monthly to 3 years. With a longer contract, you may have protection from rate increases as well as some flexibility if your situation changes, but it also leads to expensive penalties if you decide to cancel.
Hence, it is better to look at 12-month contracts, as these offer flexibility and great value for money.
Most home VoIP providers offer free trials of 7 to 14 days. Utilise this period to test:
- Quality of the call during peak hours of internet usage
- Customer support responsiveness
- Mobile application reliability and its impact on battery
- Call forwarding and voicemail setup
Providers that don’t offer trials will usually have a money-back guarantee with comparable testing windows.
Consider your future needs and look at the scalability options offered by your provider. Ask these questions from your VoIP provider before signing the contract:
- Are you able to add lines or extensions with no difficulty?
- Does it work with smart home platforms such as Amazon Alexa?
- Is it easy to scale if your household needs change?
- Is there a restriction on the number of concurrent calls?
If the answers are satisfactory, proceed with that option; if not, seek another provider who offers easy scalability, as it can save you from costly relocations.
Place importance on features that are being used in and around the home:
- Key Features: Voicemail, call forwarding, a mobile app, and quick access to custom support.
- Useful Features: Caller ID, do not disturb, simultaneous ringing, and voicemail to email.
- Premium Features: Call recording, auto-attendants, analytics and CRM integration.
Don’t pay for what you don’t use, but do make sure you have all the necessary ones.
Customer support quality varies dramatically:
- Availability: 24/7 or just business hours only
- Channels: Telephone, email, live chat or community forums
- Response Time: How quickly does the customer support responds to your queries
Review independent review sites such as Trustpilot for real-life support experiences.
Critically review all the above factors and choose a provider who offers the best services at a competitive price. It’s difficult to keep up with all these factors, so contact ComparedBusiness UK, the best in the business, to compare the top providers and match you with a VoIP provider that aligns with your budget and needs.
Find The Best VoIP Providers With ComparedBusiness UK
Transitioning to VoIP from a traditional landline requires careful consideration of your home’s requirements as well as the level of technical comfort you are prepared to have and how much you want to spend. Trying to find a VoIP home provider that matches your needs is not as straightforward as it seems.
However, with CompareBusiness UK, you can find the top VoIP home providers within days. We have a pool of top VoIP home providers; all you need to do is list down your requirements, and we will find a VoIP provider that matches your needs.
Yes, most VoIP providers offer number pacing (PAC code transfer). It usually takes 10 working days, and there can be a one-time charge (£5 to £20).
VoIP uses very little bandwidth, mostly 100 kbps per call. Most broadband packages are able to handle a few concurrent calls. So most homes’ internet connections are compatible for VoIP services.
