Phone system pricing has a reputation for arriving as a quote you cannot take apart: a monthly figure, a contract length, and a strong suggestion not to look inside. It deserves better, because underneath, VoIP pricing is one of the simpler sums in business IT: a per-user subscription, optional hardware, a call bundle decision and a handful of one-off fees. This page lays the whole sum out with 2026 UK numbers, ending with a worked example you can rebuild with your own headcount, so any quote you receive can be checked line by line.
Context for why the market is busy: the analogue switch-off ends traditional lines by the end of January 2027, so every business still on them is buying one of these systems this cycle, and quote quality varies accordingly.
The core: per-user monthly pricing
Hosted VoIP is sold per user per month, and UK pricing lands in three bands:
- Entry (£5 to £10 per user): calling, voicemail, mobile and desktop apps, basic call routing. Fine for small teams whose phone needs are “make and take calls professionally”.
- Standard (£10 to £15 per user): adds the office-grade layer most businesses actually use: auto-attendant menus, ring groups, call recording options, CRM integrations, proper reporting.
- Full-featured (£15 to £20+ per user): contact-centre leaning: call queues with wallboards, supervisor tools, analytics, compliance-grade recording.
Two structural notes: minimum-user counts and 12-to-36-month terms are standard (longer terms price lower per month but cost flexibility), and the Teams Phone route prices differently (an add-on to Microsoft licences, typically £7 to £15 all-in) and belongs in any Microsoft-centric comparison.
Call bundles: read this line twice
The per-user price may or may not include calls, and this is where quotes mislead most:
- Inclusive bundles (unlimited or capped UK landline and mobile minutes) commonly add £2 to £5 per user where not already baked in. For most businesses this is the right buy: predictable, and the arithmetic of per-minute billing rarely wins.
- Pay-as-you-go rates suit genuinely low-call operations, but check the mobile and international rates before assuming: the headline landline rate is never the one that stings.
- The comparison trap: one quote “from £7.99” without calls against another at £12 with unlimited calls is not a £4 saving. Normalise every quote to include your realistic call pattern before comparing.
Hardware: the optional line
VoIP’s quiet cost advantage is that hardware became optional: the apps on existing computers and mobiles (softphones, with a decent headset at £25 to £80) are fully capable, and plenty of businesses deploy nothing else.
Where physical handsets earn their place (reception desks, workshops, kitchens, phone-heavy desks): £60 to £120 for standard desk phones, £120 to £250 for receptionist and cordless models. Most providers offer rental (a few pounds per user monthly) or bundle “free” handsets into longer contracts; both are financing arrangements, not gifts, and pricing the handsets separately usually reads cheaper over the term. A 20-person office typically needs handsets for a third to a half of seats, not all of them.
One genuine dependency belongs in the budget even though it is not a phone line item: the connection and QoS groundwork. Calls are only as good as the network they ride, and a router that cannot prioritise voice will make a premium system sound like a cheap one.
One-offs and the fees quotes forget
- Number porting: moving your existing numbers across runs £10 to £30 per number as a one-off (multi-number blocks priced as projects). Porting is regulated and routine; treat any provider vagueness about it as a flag, since your numbers are the asset you must keep.
- Setup and configuration: frequently waived on contract signings; £100 to £500 where charged for a small business, covering call-flow design, menu recording, user setup and testing.
- Early-termination on the old service: the fee that surprises: check your current contract’s end date before signing anything new, because overlap months are pure waste.
- The exit-fee question for the new contract: ask it before signing, in writing. The market’s better providers answer plainly.
The worked example: 10 users, honestly built
A 10-person office, standard tier, mixed hardware:
- Subscriptions: 10 × £12 (standard tier, inclusive UK calls) = £120/month
- Handsets: 4 desk phones bought outright at ~£90 = £360 one-off (the other 6 users on apps and headsets, ~£40 each = £240 one-off)
- Porting the main number block: ~£50 one-off
- Setup: waived on a 24-month term
Total: roughly £120 a month plus £650 of one-offs, or about £147 a month amortised over the first two years, ex VAT. Against the ISDN-era equivalent (line rentals, a maintained PBX in a cupboard, per-minute billing), this is the cheaper *and* more capable configuration, which is why the migration argument mostly makes itself once the numbers are laid out. Scale is close to linear: double the users, roughly double the subscription line, with the one-offs growing slower.
That figure slots into the IT budget’s connectivity line, and the cloud telephony explainer covers what the money buys mechanically.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a VoIP phone system cost per user in the UK?
£5 to £20 per user per month in 2026 depending on feature tier, with £10 to £15 the common landing zone for SMEs once inclusive UK call bundles are counted. One-offs (handsets where wanted, porting, sometimes setup) typically add a few hundred pounds for a small office.
Do we have to buy desk phones?
No: the mobile and desktop apps are complete phones, and headset-plus-app is a fully professional setup. Buy physical handsets only for the seats and spaces that genuinely want them; that decision alone often halves the hardware line.
What does it cost to keep our existing numbers?
Porting typically runs £10 to £30 per number as a one-off, is regulated, and preserves the numbers your customers know. Any quote that is vague on porting cost or timeline deserves a direct question, because the number is the part of the system you actually own.
Are “free handsets” on longer contracts a good deal?
They are financing, priced into the term. Compare the total contract cost against the same term with handsets bought outright; outright usually wins, and it keeps the hardware yours if you switch provider later.
What affects call quality more, the system or the broadband?
The broadband, decisively: any mainstream VoIP platform sounds excellent on a sound connection with voice prioritisation configured, and poor on a saturated one. Budget the connectivity check as part of the phone project, not after it.
When should we buy, given the 2027 switch-off?
Before your current lines force the issue: stop-sell already applies, and installation lead times plus porting are easier without a deadline. Businesses moving in 2026 are choosing their moment; later movers will be taking appointments.
Get a quote you can take apart
The free IT health check includes the telephony numbers: your current line and call spend, the right tier and hardware mix for how your business actually uses phones, connectivity checked for voice, and a like-for-like figure built the way this page builds one. Get in touch and see the whole sum before anyone quotes you a sealed one.
