NextivaPaid
A business phone platform whose XBert AI receptionist answers calls, texts, and web chat, books appointments, and hands off to a human — priced per 100 interactions, not per minute.
Communication comparison
Nextiva vs Quo (formerly OpenPhone)
Pricing, pros, cons, and ideal use cases — side by side.
A shared business phone number for small teams, with an AI agent named Sona that answers calls around the clock on every plan.
At a glance
| Nextiva | Quo (formerly OpenPhone) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | PaidXBert AI receptionist $99/month per 100 interactions (calls, texts, or chats), then $0.99 per interaction; a conversation counts when a call lasts 30+ seconds or a text/chat receives 3+ AI responses; 30-day money-back guarantee. Phone plans on annual billing: Core $15/user/mo ($23 month-to-month), Engage $25/user/mo ($50 month-to-month), Scale $75/user/mo; Enterprise Essential from $75/agent/mo, Professional and Premium contact-sales. All as read on the vendor's AI receptionist page and pricing page in early October 2026. | PaidStarter $19/user/month monthly, $15 annual. Business $33/month, $23 annual. Scale $47/month, $35 annual. The Sona AI agent is included on all plans with 1,000 automation credits per month (roughly 10 calls); AI call summaries and transcripts cover Sona-handled calls on Starter and all calls on Business and Scale. AI call tagging is Scale-only. |
| Category | Communication | Communication |
| Ideal for | SMBs replacing a human answering service and an aging phone system at the same timeDental, medical, and legal offices whose intake calls run longMulti-location businesses that want calls, texts, and web chat answered by one agentContact-center teams on Nextiva's Enterprise tiers adding front-door automation | Solo operators and teams under about 20 peopleBusinesses that run on texting as much as callingAgencies and consultancies needing a shared client-facing numberAnyone who wants published pricing instead of a demo call |
Pros & cons
Nextiva
Pros
- Published list price for the AI receptionist, rare in this category
- Voice, SMS, and web chat handled by one agent
- Session pricing favors long intake calls over per-minute rivals
- SOC 2 certified and HIPAA compliant per the vendor, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Phone system and receptionist from one vendor, so there is no integration to maintain
Cons
- 50 conversations still cost $99 — no volume discounts at the low end
- Reviewers report unclear session edge cases and contradictory product pages
- Weak at capturing email addresses by voice
- Replacing your phone system is a far bigger switching cost than adding a standalone agent
- Overkill if you only need after-hours answering
Quo (formerly OpenPhone)
Pros
- Full price ladder published — no demo required to evaluate
- AI phone agent included on every tier, not an add-on
- Shared inbox for calls and texts across the team
- Sub-$20 entry point on annual billing
- Connects to Claude and ChatGPT for analysing calls and contacts
Cons
- Included AI credits cover only about 10 calls a month — high call volume needs a different tool
- Full transcripts and summaries require Business or above
- Not a contact center: no advanced routing, queueing, or workforce management
- Recent rebrand means older documentation, integrations, and reviews still say OpenPhone
Which should you choose?
Nextiva is built around smbs replacing a human answering service and an aging phone system at the same time; Quo (formerly OpenPhone) leans more toward solo operators and teams under about 20 people. Shortlist the one whose strengths line up with your biggest constraint.
Still deciding between Nextiva and Quo (formerly OpenPhone)?
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