Cloud PBX

Hosted PBX vs cloud PBX

Two names, one idea: a business phone system your provider runs off-site instead of a box in your office. Here is the real difference, and how to choose.

Get a free quoteSee the platform

Quick answer: hosted PBX and cloud PBX both describe a business phone system that runs off-site in a provider's data center and reaches your team over the internet, not hardware in your office. "Hosted" historically meant a dedicated single-tenant instance; "cloud" means multi-tenant, elastic software that scales per seat. For a small business they are effectively the same thing, and Dialerportal Cloud PBX delivers both, from $19/seat.

The difference

Hosted vs cloud, plainly

The technical distinction, and why it rarely matters for a small team.

Hosted PBX

Historically a single-tenant PBX that a provider runs for you on a dedicated server off-site. You get a private instance, managed and maintained by the provider, reached over the internet.

Cloud PBX

A multi-tenant, elastic phone system delivered as software from the provider's cloud. It scales seat by seat on shared infrastructure, so you add or drop lines instantly without provisioning a server.

For an SMB, functionally the same

Both put your phone system off-site, run and updated by the provider, reached from apps and SIP handsets. The words are used interchangeably. What matters is pricing, features and support, not the label.
How to choose

What actually decides it

Ignore the label. These four things decide which provider is right.

Pricing model

Prefer transparent per-seat pricing you can predict. Dialerportal is from $19/seat/mo, month to month, no hardware and no setup fees.

How fast you scale

If you add and drop staff often, a cloud PBX that scales per seat beats a fixed hosted instance you have to resize.

Who runs it

Both are managed off-site, but check who configures changes. We handle setup, routing and moves for you, no IT team required.

Support that answers

Uptime is table stakes. What separates providers is support: US-based, answering in about 30 seconds, chat or call from the browser.
Ready to compare on what matters? See the full Cloud PBX platform, the cloud PBX for small business plan, or cloud PBX pricing.
FAQ

Hosted vs cloud PBX FAQ

In practice, yes. Both describe a business PBX phone system that a provider runs off-site and you reach over the internet, instead of a box in your office. Hosted PBX historically meant a single-tenant instance, while cloud PBX means multi-tenant, elastic software, but for a small business the two terms are used interchangeably and Dialerportal delivers both as one managed cloud phone system.

An on-premise PBX is hardware you buy, install and maintain in your building, with an installer, licensing and annual maintenance. A cloud PBX runs as software in the provider's cloud, with no hardware to buy, updates handled for you and per-seat pricing. Most small businesses move to cloud to drop the upfront cost and the maintenance.

Pricing depends on the provider, not the label. A multi-tenant cloud PBX usually costs less to start because you share infrastructure and pay per seat rather than for a dedicated server. Dialerportal Cloud PBX is from $19/seat/mo with no setup fees or hardware.

Yes. We port your existing business numbers from any US, EU or UK carrier in 24 to 48 hours with no downtime, and manage the LOA and carrier paperwork for you.

Not sure which fits?

Tell us your team size and we will map the right setup, hosted or cloud, in one call. Or reach a human at 1-888-488-8138.