Ooma vs. magicJack
Ooma and magicJack are two of the most popular home phone options in the VoIP category. To help customers choose between these two competitors, we’ve compared pricing, features, contract terms, service reliability and other factors to help you make a well-informed decision about your home phone service.
- Phone service – $0.00/mo*
- Ooma Telo –
$89.99Save: $40 - + RISK-FREE 30-DAY RETURN
*You pay applicable monthly taxes and fees. Check here.
Plans and Pricing
Cost and plans are likely two major factors in choosing your residential VoIP phone service. Here is an analysis of plans and pricing between Ooma and magicJack.
Pricing
Estimated magicJack cost:
$39/year, with a small discount available as an introductory promotion.
Estimated Ooma Cost:
Basic service is completely free (all you pay are monthly applicable taxes and fees). Premier service costs just $9.99/month to get access to additional advanced features.
While Vonage offers cheap short-term costs, Ooma has been found to be a more affordable option in the long run.
Plans
Both Ooma and magicJack offer free activation and international calling plans that are much more affordable compared to traditional phone service providers. The biggest upfront cost with Ooma is the purchase of hardware, such as the Ooma Telo. However, this device works with existing phones. Both Ooma and magicJack also require no contracts with their plans.
To learn more about Ooma’s pricing, click here.
Features
Features are also a big deciding factor when you’re looking at home VoIP services. With Ooma’s Basic service, you get the standard feature set you would expect: voicemail, caller-ID, 911 services, among others.Ooma also offers Premier Service for just $9.99/month that includes an expanded set of features, including 3-way calling, voicemail forwarding, and transferring your existing number. Both Basic and Premier customers can enjoy Ooma’s free calling app for iOS and Android, which lets you recieve calls and messages on the go.
While magicJack does provide many of the same features as Ooma, one thing that does differentiate the service tiers is smart home integration. Unlike magicJack, Ooma can connect to many smart home devices and solutions with Ooma Home. There are several smart home functions you can enjoy with Ooma, including:
- Initiating phone calls through Amazon Alexa
- Dialing your local 911 dispatcher, even when you are not at home.
- Receiving notifications on your mobile phone when smart home security devices are triggered, such as a smoke alarm or water sensor.
More feature comparisons
Ooma Premier customers can also enjoy powerful call blocking tools to protect against telemarketers, spammers, robocalls, anonymous callers and custom numbers. Call blocking is more limited with magicJack. While you can block specific numbers, protection against telemarketers is limited to signing up for the national Do Not Call Registry.
magicJack comes with equipped with a number of popular features that Ooma also offers, like the ability to receive phone calls on your smartphone, call waiting, voicemail, call forwarding, and conferencing. However, compared to the advanced home VoIP features that Ooma has, magicJack is more of a standard, run-of-the-mill option.
Customer Service and Quality
Ooma has a consistent high ranking with homeowners when it comes to call quality and customer service. In addition to stellar customer reviews, PCMag named Ooma an Editor’s Choice, citing a no-hassle setup, low cost, clear voice quality, and easy-to-use web interface.
While magicJack offers competitive costs and plans, PCMag gave magicJack only two stars, specifically citing poor customer service and excessive upselling. For tech support, it was the lowest ranked service, as the company only offers support via chat or email with no phone support.
In contrast, Ooma is one of the few home VoIP providers that offers 24/7 chat support and phone support from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, and from noon to 9 p.m. on weekends. Personnel also keep customers informed of any service disruptions, and works to solve any issues quickly and painlessly.
Although Ooma and magicJack provide low-cost home VoIP service, magicJack’s poor customer service makes Ooma the winner when comparing the two companies. CNET cited the service with magicJack as a “tradeoff between price and reliability.” Although Ooma may require you to purchase equipment upfront, in the long run, you will get a better value in the long run with great customer service along the way.
Ooma Telo White
Get crystal-clear nationwide calling for free. All you pay are applicable monthly taxes and fees.Ooma Telo –
Ooma Telo + HD3 Handset
Get the perfect starter pack for free home phone service. Just pay applicable taxes and fees.Ooma Telo HD3 –
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