Some telecom operators offer a free cloud PBX with a few features to try. As usual, such operators primarily sell telephony and provide a free service as an additional advantage to stand out. If clients need something more robust, they purchase advanced features.

3CX offers a free phone system with limited features, but at the same time, the company has other pricing plans for different B2B buyer personas. In this case, new clients just try a service for free and can upgrade their plan.

As usual, the freemium model suits companies that don’t sell a cloud PBX as a main service. For example, they can primarily provide VoIP services and offer a free hosted PBX to retain existing customers. If you plan to become a professional cloud PBX provider and don’t have an extensive subscriber base yet, focus on other models discussed further.

This model offers only one pricing plan for all subscribers. For a cloud PBX, you can create a single package with all possible features. Your prospects' only decision is whether to purchase this plan or choose another cloud PBX provider.

The company in the screenshot below decided to set one pricing plan ($59,99) for all standard features, such as call transfer, voicemails, IVR, etc. There’s no option to choose add-ons or other packages in their positioning.

Flat-rate pricing can be suitable for companies aiming to test an MVP because there’s no need to analyze competitors thoroughly and create different buyer personas. In other cases, it will be hard to attract a lot of subscribers and scale the cloud PBX service with only one package. To offer a professional service, you should focus on models with different pricing plans.

This model involves creating multiple packages for different opportunities or calculating used storage, features, or other measurable points after the subscription periods. The more customers use a cloud PBX, the more they pay.

SIPcity, a VoIP provider, specified many packages with only differences in the number of local numbers and SIP channels. Customers will see all packages and find out the approximate number of numbers and SIP channels that best suit them. Free cloud PBX features are also included in every plan.

As a rule, usage-based pricing suits companies that sell other telecom services primarily and want to retain existing subscribers. For telecom operators that want to make a cloud PBX service a main, it will be harder to attract new customers because the positioning based on only usage isn’t clear for end customers. Focusing on sought-after features and forming plans based on competitive advantages is much better.

In this case, companies form a few packages with additional parameters and let users create their best plan. Usually, cloud PBX providers offer three pricing plans and target different B2B buyer personas.

Nextiva offers Essential, Professional, and Enterprise plans. Each further package has all the features of the previous one and adds new features. Moreover, potential customers can choose the number of users and combine it with plans — as a result, they get a unique pricing package designed for specific needs.

Though tiered pricing requires thorough market analysis and complicated implementation, it will scale the service and increase revenue. As for the number of packages, it’s better to create three or four plans and highlight the most popular. If you form fewer, it will be harder to attract new buyer personas, and if you create more, various packages can confuse users.

Besides, you can offer an annual billing with a significant discount, which benefits both sides. This approach can help you get upfront resources and survive a financial crisis (as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic).

This model means that your customers will pay a fixed price only for employees they have. You can set one price for one user and offer to specify the number. Or you can form packages with only differences in the number of users (this strategy is similar to the usage-based pricing discussed above).

IP Telecom, Ireland’s VoIP provider, offers only one price per user for its phone system. The company specifies that its service has all essential features and provides a discount depending on the number of users purchased.

The problem with this model is the same as with the usage-based pricing. Instead of focusing on cloud PBX advantages and competitive characteristics, this model highlights the secondary points that won’t attract customers effectively.

In this case, companies may have a basic package with a minimal set of features and offer add-ons or sell completely distinct features. They specify different pricing for each feature and sell them separately.

OnSIP provides a basic phone system package with essential functionality and offers the option to purchase separate features such as auto attendant, enhanced music on hold, call recording, etc. Customers can customize their plans with such possibilities.

Offering features out of packages is good only when you have experienced sales reps who understand a cloud PBX service perfectly. As a rule, companies choose this model if they have knowledgeable product experts ready to train their staff regularly. Otherwise, it’s much better to form packages with sought-after features — this will help your reps get a positive sales experience without deep expertise.

We’ve covered different pricing models for a cloud PBX service and shown you various options. Nevertheless, telecom operators' experience has shown that tiered pricing is the best model for cloud PBX providers. It’s not as complex for customers as per-feature pricing and targets different B2B buyer personas. Despite the complicated implementation, the results will compensate as specific companies can choose the most appropriate plan.

Other models aren’t ideal for the following reasons: high expenses on maintaining clients, weak motivation for sales reps, or unclear package conditions. Of course, the final decision will depend on the clients you want to target, so you can try different models and decide what’s best for your cloud PBX service.