Dialpad — Independent Software Review

AI-powered Contact Center & Communications

Compliance Transparency Index

Grade: A — Score: 98/100

Best For

• Remote and hybrid teams that need voice, video, and messaging in a single app with AI transcription included on every plan.
• Small to mid-sized businesses looking for an affordable entry point at $15/user/month with real-time AI features that competitors typically gate behind premium tiers.
• Contact centers that want AI-native coaching, real-time sentiment analysis, and AI CSAT scoring without bolting on third-party tools.
• Sales teams that need in-call coaching with live battle cards, playbook adherence tracking, and automated CRM logging via Dialpad Sell starting at $39/user/month.
• Organizations in regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal) that require HIPAA-ready communications with BAA support and SOC 2 Type II certification.

Not Ideal For

• Teams with heavy international calling needs. Unlimited calling covers only the US and Canada. International calling is metered per minute, and even the Global Unlimited Calling add-on has a monthly minute cap.
• Organizations that need large video meetings. All Connect plans cap video at 10 participants by default. The Large Meetings add-on ($15/user/month) expands capacity to 1,500, but this is an additional cost.
• Budget-conscious teams that need CRM integrations or SSO. Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zendesk connections require the Pro plan at minimum ($25/user/month). SSO requires the Enterprise plan (contact sales).
• Small support teams expecting contact center features at Connect prices. The jump from Connect ($15-$25/user/month) to Support Essentials ($80/user/month) is significant, and these are separate products with separate billing.

Operational Overview

Pricing Structure

Connect Standard: $15/user/month (billed annually), $27/user/month (billed monthly)

• Unlimited calling (US & Canada)
• AI call transcription and AI Recaps
• SMS/MMS messaging (250 outbound SMS/month)
• Video meetings (10 participants, 5-hour limit; Large Meetings add-on available for up to 1,500)
• Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integration
• 1 business phone number per user
• Web and chat support

Connect Pro: $25/user/month (billed annually), $35/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Standard
• CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk)
• International SMS
• Hold queues
• 24/7 phone support
• Local and international business numbers
• Up to 10 office locations

Connect Enterprise: Contact sales

• Everything in Pro
• Single sign-on (SSO via SAML/SCIM)
• 99.9% uptime SLA
• Unlimited office locations
• Unlimited ring groups
• Priority routing and user access controls

Sell Essentials: $39/user/month (billed annually), $49/user/month (billed monthly)

• Coaching team setup
• Call monitoring (listen-in, whisper, barge)
• AI Recaps with CRM sync
• Call recording and transcription

Sell Advanced: $95/user/month (billed annually), $110/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Essentials
• Real-time objection guidance
• Custom Moments logging to CRM
• Local presence dialing
• Voicemail drop

Sell Premium: $150/user/month (billed annually), $170/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Advanced
• AI Playbooks for call consistency
• AI Scorecards for automated quality scoring

Support Essentials (AI Contact Center): $80/user/month (billed annually), $95/user/month (billed monthly)

• Omnichannel customer support
• AI-powered call routing and queuing
• Real-time transcription and agent monitoring
• Call recording

Support Advanced: $115/user/month (billed annually), $135/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Essentials
• Real-time coaching with AI Live Coach cards
• Custom Moments tracking and CRM logging
• Additional digital channels

Support Premium: $150/user/month (billed annually), $170/user/month (billed monthly)

• Everything in Advanced
• Automated quality management
• AI CSAT scoring on all calls
• Admin and Reporting APIs

Alternative Consideration

Consider switching to Zendesk: Zendesk offers a more traditional customer service platform with extensive ticketing features.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Dialpad's AI transcription compare to competitors like RingCentral and Zoom?

Dialpad uses its proprietary DialpadGPT model, trained on over 10 billion business conversations, which produces real-time transcription on all plans including the $15/month Standard tier. RingCentral and Zoom offer transcription features as well, but typically gate real-time capabilities or advanced analytics behind higher-tier plans. Dialpad also generates AI Recaps with automated action items after every call, which most competitors offer only as premium add-ons.

Does Dialpad work with Salesforce and other CRM platforms?

Yes, but CRM integrations require the Pro plan ($25/user/month billed annually) or higher. Dialpad integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Zoho CRM, and ServiceNow. The integration logs calls, syncs transcripts, and surfaces customer context during live calls. The Standard plan only includes Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integration.

What is the difference between Dialpad Connect, Support, and Sell?

Dialpad Connect is the business phone system (UCaaS) starting at $15/user/month billed annually, covering voice, video, messaging, and team chat. Dialpad Support is the AI-powered contact center product (CCaaS) starting at $80/user/month billed annually, adding omnichannel routing, AI CSAT scoring, real-time agent coaching, and workforce management. Dialpad Sell is the sales dialer starting at $39/user/month billed annually, with live battle cards, AI Playbooks, and automated CRM logging. They are separate products with separate pricing.

Does Dialpad offer a free trial?

Yes. Dialpad offers a 14-day free trial for the Connect Standard and Pro plans with full feature access. A credit card is required to start the trial. AI Agents and Support plans require contacting sales for a demo rather than self-service trial signup.

Is Dialpad HIPAA compliant for healthcare organizations?

Dialpad offers HIPAA-ready products with Business Associate Agreement (BAA) support, which can be signed directly within the Dialpad app. The platform is certified SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001/27017/27018. All GenAI features including DialpadGPT are covered under these compliance certifications, making them available to healthcare customers.

What is DialpadGPT and how does Dialpad handle AI training data?

DialpadGPT is Dialpad's custom large language model built from anonymized business conversation data. It powers transcription, AI Recaps, sentiment analysis, and AI CSAT scoring. Customers can opt out of AI training at any time through their account settings. Opting out does not disable AI features, and any data previously shared is deleted from training datasets upon opt-out.

Does Dialpad support international calling?

Unlimited calling is limited to the US and Canada on all Connect plans. International calling requires a separate add-on with per-minute charges. Dialpad supports local numbers in over 50 countries, but outbound SMS to international numbers requires the Pro plan or higher.

How does Dialpad's AI Agent feature work for automating customer service?

Dialpad AI Agents handle voice and digital customer interactions autonomously using no-code Agent Studio. They can perform tasks like order tracking, appointment scheduling, and identity verification via 2FA. When a query exceeds the agent's scope, it transfers the conversation to a human with the full transcript and context. AI Agents use conversation-based credit pricing separate from seat licenses.