Nextiva vs Dialpad
Nextiva vs Dialpad: white-glove support or AI in every seat?
Both cost $15 and $25 per user on annual contracts. Nextiva earns it with support and bundles. Dialpad earns it with transcription on the cheapest tier. Here is where each breaks.
7-day free trial on every plan · No per-minute charges · Competitor facts verified September 2026
Nextiva and Dialpad are the two mid-market suites most often chosen by small businesses that find RingCentral too heavy. Their annual prices are identical, $15 for the entry tier and $25 for the mid tier, so the decision rests on what those dollars buy. Nextiva buys you top-rated 24/7 support on every plan, a published AI receptionist and an Engage tier that bundles toll-free minutes, recording and reporting. Dialpad buys you real-time transcription and AI recaps on the cheapest seat, 250 texts per user, and month-to-month flexibility, but gates CRM integrations behind a 3-user minimum and answers the phone only by quote.
ROUND BY ROUND
Nextiva vs Dialpad, where each one wins.
Pricing
Dialpad winsOn 12-month contracts the two are identical: Nextiva Core $15 and Engage $25, Dialpad Standard $15 and Pro $25. Monthly billing separates them. Dialpad is $27 and $35; Nextiva is $23 for Core but $50 for Engage, double its annual rate. Fees are close, $3.95 plus $1.50 per line at Nextiva and a reported $2-5 per user at Dialpad. If you want to pay monthly and use the mid tier, Dialpad costs $15 less per seat.
Where Ody lands: Ody Growth is $33 monthly or $23 annual with identical features on both cycles and no fee line items.
Included AI: transcription and summaries
Dialpad winsDialpad includes real-time transcription, AI recaps and voicemail transcription on every tier, including the $15 Standard seat. Nextiva reserves AI call notes and real-time transcription for the Scale tier at $75 per user annual; Core and Engage get voicemail transcription and standard reporting. For a team that wants every call summarized without a premium tier, Dialpad is far ahead.
Where Ody lands: Ody includes voicemail transcription on every plan and AI summaries and transcripts of every call on Growth at $33.
AI receptionist
Nextiva winsNextiva publishes its XBert AI Receptionist: $99 a month for 100 interactions, then $0.99 per interaction, sold as an add-on to any plan with no contract on the add-on itself. Dialpad's AI Agent, the product that answers calls, is quote only with conversation-credit pricing. Neither is included, but Nextiva's is a product with a price you can plan around; Dialpad's is a conversation with sales.
Where Ody lands: Ody's AI receptionist is included on every plan with no interaction caps, credits or quote.
Support
Nextiva winsNextiva offers 24/7 phone, chat and email support on every plan, including Core, and is consistently rated among the best in the category with hands-on porting help. Dialpad Standard gets web and chat support only; 24/7 phone support requires Pro, which requires three users. For a small business that wants to call someone when the phone system misbehaves, Nextiva is the safer pick.
Where Ody lands: Ody offers email support on Starter, live chat on Growth, and phone support plus dedicated onboarding on Enterprise.
Texting and seat minimums
EvenNextiva includes 100 texts per user on Core and 500 on Engage with no seat minimum on any plan. Dialpad includes 250 per user on every tier, then $0.008 per send attempt, but Pro carries a 3-user minimum, toll-free numbers cost extra and cannot text, and Enterprise starts at 100 users. Dialpad's Standard allowance beats Nextiva Core; Nextiva's Engage beats Dialpad Pro and imposes no minimum. Even.
Where Ody lands: Ody includes per-user US and Canada texting on every plan with no seat minimum and toll-free numbers available.
PRICING
What each one actually costs.
Nextiva Core / Engage / Scale
Advertised annual prices are for new small-business customers (1-100 employees) on a paid 12-month or longer term; monthly billing is 35-100% higher (Engage doubles from $25 to $50). Every line adds a $3.95 Regulatory Recovery Fee and $1.50 E911 fee plus USF and taxes. The XBert AI Receptionist is a separate $99/mo add-on for 100 interactions, then $0.99 per interaction (a call over 30 seconds or a chat thread with 3+ AI replies). Contracts auto-renew; the early-termination fee equals the remaining months. No free trial on phone plans.
Dialpad Connect
AI Agent (the AI receptionist product) is priced by conversation credits, quote-only. 250 SMS/user/mo included, then $0.008/SMS, charged per attempt including failed sends. Toll-free numbers cost extra and can't text. Reviewers report a $2-5/user/mo administrative cost recovery fee plus E911 and taxes on top of list.
Ody
One number per user included; extra local or toll-free numbers $5/mo each. Business texting needs one-time 10DLC registration ($20 setup + $4/mo per texting number, handled during onboarding). International calling is a $5/mo add-on with $5 of usage included. Plans are billed monthly or prepaid annually (annual saves up to 30%). Taxes apply; there are no per-minute charges and no AI credits.
Try for free →PRICE PER TEAM SIZE
What a team pays each month.
Monthly billing, September 2026 list prices, before taxes and fees. Nextiva Engage ($50/user monthly, $25 on a 12-month contract) is the first Nextiva tier with recording, 500 texts and toll-free minutes included. Dialpad Standard ($27/user monthly, $15 annual) includes automatic recording, transcription and ring groups but no CRM integrations; Pro ($35 monthly, $25 annual) adds CRM with a 3-user minimum. Ody Growth ($33/user monthly, $23 annual) includes IVR, auto recording, analytics and the AI receptionist. Add ~$5.45/line at Nextiva and ~$2-5/user at Dialpad in fees.
SIDE BY SIDE
Feature by feature, all three.
Competitor facts from their published pricing & docs, verified September 2026. Ody facts mirror our pricing page.
| Feature | Nextiva Core / Engage / Scale | Dialpad Connect | Ody |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI answering | |||
| AI receptionist answers calls | NextivaAdd-on: XBert, $99/mo for 100 interactions | DialpadSeparate product, quote-only credit pricing | OdyIncluded on every plan |
| What the AI costs | Nextiva$99/mo + $0.99 per extra interaction | DialpadQuote-only conversation credits | Ody$0 extra. No credits, no minute bundles |
| AI call summaries & transcripts | NextivaScale ($75) only | DialpadIncluded on all tiers | OdyGrowth+ |
| Turn AI on/off per line & hour | Nextiva— | Dialpad— | Ody✓ |
| Phone system | |||
| US & Canada calling | Nextiva✓ | Dialpad✓ | Ody✓ |
| Business texting (SMS/MMS) | Nextiva100 / 500 / unlimited SMS per user by tier | Dialpad250 SMS/user/mo, then $0.008 per send attempt | OdyUS & Canada, 10DLC handled |
| Phone number included | Nextiva1 local number per user | Dialpad1 per user | Ody1 per user; extras $5/mo |
| Toll-free numbers | NextivaAdd-on on Core; included on Engage+ | DialpadExtra cost; can't send texts | Ody✓ |
| Free number porting | Nextiva✓ | Dialpad✓ | Ody✓ |
| Phone menus (IVR) | Nextiva✓ | DialpadRing groups capped at 3 on Standard | OdyGrowth+ |
| Auto call recording | NextivaAdd-on on Core; Engage+ | Dialpad✓ | OdyGrowth+ |
| Voicemail transcription | Nextiva✓ | Dialpad✓ | Ody✓ |
| Video meetings | NextivaIncluded on all plans | DialpadDialpad Meetings included | Ody— |
| Hardware required | NextivaOptional desk phones | DialpadOptional desk phones | OdyNone. Browser + iOS app |
| Team & integrations | |||
| Shared team inbox | NextivaTeam chat; customer SMS inbox on Engage+ | DialpadTeam messaging | Ody✓ |
| CRM integrations | NextivaSalesforce, HubSpot and others as paid add-ons | DialpadPro tier only (3-user min) | Ody43 integrations, every plan |
| ChatGPT / Claude (MCP) | Nextiva— | Dialpad— | Ody✓ |
| Developer API & webhooks | NextivaContact Center tiers; limited on SMB plans | DialpadPro+ | OdyEvery plan |
| Analytics & reporting | Nextiva2 dashboards on Core; advanced on Engage+ | Dialpad✓ | OdyGrowth+ |
| Commercial | |||
| Seat minimum | NextivaNone (annual price capped at 100 employees) | Dialpad1 (Standard), 3 (Pro), 100 (Enterprise) | OdyNone |
| Contract | Nextiva12-month minimum for annual price; auto-renews; ETF = remaining months | DialpadMonthly or annual | OdyBilled monthly or annually. Change plans in-app |
| Fees above list price | Nextiva$3.95 recovery + $1.50 E911 per line + USF + taxes | Dialpad$2-5/user/mo admin recovery fee (reported) + E911 + taxes | OdyTaxes only. No recovery or E911 line items |
| Free trial | NextivaNone; 30-day money-back with usage conditions | Dialpad14 days | Ody7 days, every plan, full product |
| Support | Nextiva24/7 phone, chat, email on all plans | DialpadStandard: web/chat only; 24/7 phone on Pro | OdyEmail (Starter), live chat (Growth), phone + onboarding (Enterprise) |
| Self-serve setup & plan changes | NextivaCore online; Engage/Scale via sales; cancel by written notice | Dialpad✓ | Ody✓ |
VERDICT BY USE CASE
Which one should you pick?
24/7 phone, chat and email on every plan with top ratings and hands-on porting. Dialpad's Standard tier is web and chat only.
Real-time transcription and AI recaps on the $15 seat, plus the Sell coaching stack. Nextiva puts AI notes on its $75 Scale tier.
Engage includes 2,000 toll-free minutes, recording, advanced reporting and live chat at $25 annual. Dialpad charges extra for toll-free numbers, which cannot text.
Dialpad's CRM integrations require the 3-user Pro tier and its AI Agent is quote only; Nextiva's CRM connectors are paid add-ons and XBert is $99 a month. Ody includes 43 integrations and a 24/7 AI receptionist on every plan from $19 per user, with no minimum.
EVERYTHING INCLUDED
The whole phone system,
with the AI built in. One price.
Scroll through what every Ody workspace ships with: a number, calling and texting, a shared inbox, and a receptionist that never clocks out.
ChatGPT
Claude
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