8x8 review: Lots of cloud communication plans, but less transparency (2024)

Based in Campbell, California, 8×8’s service plans include unlimited calling within the United States, Puerto Rico, and at least 12 countries, high-quality video and audio conferencing, business texting, team chat, and integration with Microsoft Teams. You must upgrade to access certain contact center features, such as call monitor, whisper, and barge or omnichannel routing, among other valuable tools.

We reviewed and rated 8×8 and will discuss its various features, advantages, disadvantages, and which service plan is most likely to provide the most satisfaction to potential customers. Additionally, Fortune Recommends ranks 8×8 as one of the best VoIP services for small businesses. All rates and fees are current as of April 26, 2024, and are subject to change.

8×8 service plan overview

8×8 offers a mixture of features across several plans, ranging from tools for unified communications to more robust tiers for developing capable contact center systems. X2, the entry-level tier, starts at $25 per month, per user, and offers standard VoIP tools, such as calling and texting; it also supports team chat and video conferencing. We tested 8×8’s calling and conferencing capabilities across multiple devices and found that the sound and audio quality were of great quality.

8×8 has no free tier or trial, but you can watch a demo to learn how it works. To understand what 8×8 plan may suit your company’s needs better, we break down its plans below according to pricing and available features. Please note that 8×8 does not make its pricing public. You must contact the sales team to get a quote that is accurate to your specific needs. The prices below are what we were quoted for businesses with 99 or fewer users.

Best 8×8 VoIP Plan: X4

After weighing all plan options and pricing, we believe 8×8’s X4 plan represents the best value when compared to available features. Customers get voice, text, chat, video conferencing, and internet fax, making the X4 a great choice for maintaining several channels of communication and collaboration.

Although X6 and up are explicitly designed for CCaaS, X4 does include contact center tools, such as call whisper, barge, and monitor. Moreover, 8×8’s X4 plan includes supervisor and call activity analytics, information that can provide the necessary data to improve customer support activities.

With a starting price quote of $45 per user, per month, if you had a team of 99 people or fewer, you could expect to pay upward of $4,445 monthly. For comparison, Dialpad’s Pro plan offers a similar range of service features. Buying Pro for 99 users would start at $2,475 per month with an annual subscription. While less expensive than other tiers, the variety of X4’s features combined with its overall cost makes it more ideal for at least midrange businesses rather than smaller or startup companies.

8×8 X4 plan benefits and disadvantages

Other services 8×8 offers

While 8×8’s service highlights its unlimited domestic calling and texting and contact center features, other useful tools could make it an ideal solution for businesses:

• HD video and audio conferencing: Using the app or web browser, you can hold video meetings with potentially hundreds of participants. In testing features, we found 8×8’s video and audio conferencing tools provided excellent call quality.
• “Hot” and “cold” media storage: 8×8 will let you maintain and retrieve audio and video calls over a period of time. Some licenses let you retain data for a month to 130 days; the “cold” storage add-on holds call or meeting data for up to 10 years.
• 8×8 Secure Pay: Your customers call agents to make purchases and enter payment information using their phones. However, their card numbers are hidden from agents during payment.
• Intelligent Customer Assistant: A chatbot artificial intelligence (AI) tool that provides a self-help option for your company’s customers. You can resolve issues without live agents or provide a smooth segue to obtaining human assistance.

The 8×8 platform and customer support

In testing and researching 8×8, we find the service best suits businesses with a strong working familiarity with virtual phone systems or cloud communications. Moreover, it lends itself to a level of complexity that isn’t “starter-friendly.” There is enough of a learning curve that you may need to work with the sales and support teams to understand how best to set up your system and get the most out of it. Per our experience, it is a promising all-in-one communication hub once you get everything set up.

Speaking of support, we found that 8×8 offers a great customer support experience. Whether we reached out by phone or chat, we were able to get connected with a live agent immediately. The team members with whom we interacted were each able to provide the necessary guidance quickly to get the most out of the service. If you need to connect with 8×8’s customer support team, you can reach someone by phone, chat, or by completing a form on the company’s website.

Is 8×8 secure?

Major security issues risk a company’s reputation, could cost millions of dollars to repair, and impact its survival. For this reason, it makes perfect sense to wonder about 8×8’s commitment to security.

8×8 uses encryption measures, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)/Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to ensure call and data security. Moreover, the brand obtained various third-party security and certifications, notably recognition for meeting Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requirements. 8×8 also submits to third-party auditing every year.

In researching any potential history of breaches or security concerns, we found a reference to an alleged incident in September 2022 where there was an attempted ransomware attack. 8×8 stated several IT servers were accessed by an unauthorized third party at one point, leading to a situation that impacted a few EU customers. 8×8 also stated that all relevant information was passed along to data protection authorities and considered the issue to be successfully contained.

As of January 2023, 8×8 said it couldn’t determine any direct impact on its UCaaS or CCaaS products and customers.

8×8 user reviews

8×8 earned hundreds of customer reviews and ratings, with most user reviews skewing positive. Customers praised 8×8 for its wide array of service tools and the quality of its support team. While most 8×8 users had good things to say about their experiences, a sizeable portion of customers weren’t happy. Dissatisfied users found 8×8 challenging to use and complained about 8×8’s high prices relative to quality.

Compare 8×8 alternatives

8×8	Dialpad	Intermedia Unite
Starting pricing	Starting pricing	Starting pricing
$28.00	$23.00	$27.99
Unlimited domestic calling and texting?	Unlimited domestic calling and texting?	Unlimited domestic calling and texting?
Yes	Yes	Yes
International calling supported?	International calling supported?	International calling supported?
Yes	Yes	Yes
Other services	Other services	Other services
Omnichannel communication, IVR, all and video storage, secure payment processing, and AI chatbot	Omnichannel communication, AI-powered collaboration tools, real-time reports and analytics, CRM integrations, and ring groups	Omnichannel communication, remote office, presence indicator, file backup, and receptionist view
	Read our Dialpad review	Read our Intermedia Unite review

Is 8×8 right for you?

8×8 may be a good choice for your business based on certain key factors. If your company has a sizable customer base and needs a complex contact center, 8×8 should be a good fit. It also works best for those familiar with cloud-based phone systems and compatible hardware. While pricing may be an issue for small companies or those operating on a tight budget, 8×8 could work for enterprise-level businesses.

If cost is an issue, or you only need a simple cloud phone system, more suitable providers are available.

Frequently asked questions