Rainbow

Rainbow suits organizations that want persistent team messaging alongside telephony, especially those connecting an existing PBX or building communications into their own software. Its breadth is a strength, but the low-tier sharing caps and two-person meeting limit make it a weak choice for larger video calls.

Overview

Rainbow brings chat, presence, task management, file sharing, voice and video calling, and screen or app sharing into one cloud-based service. That combination can serve as a shared communications layer rather than just a messaging app. The trade-off is that collaboration capacity depends sharply on plan: Essential and Business restrict audio, video and screen sharing to one-to-one, while Enterprise raises that limit only to 10 users.

Organizations can use cloud, on-premises or hybrid deployments. Rainbow operates in more than 75 countries and 22 languages, with web, Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone, iPad and Android TV apps.

Key features

Telephony and integrations

Eligible plans add PBX control, phone presence, call logging, VoIP, caller identification, call forwarding and voicemail. Call recording and auto attendant are also supported. This makes Rainbow more relevant to businesses managing calls as well as internal collaboration; it is less suitable if larger group meetings are central, since the stated meeting-participant limit is two.

Hybrid telephony connects with OmniPCX Enterprise and OXO Connect, plus third-party CTI and Media Bridge integrations for Cisco, NEC, Mitel and Asterisk. Office integrations include Chrome Click2Call, Rainbow Telephony for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online or Google Calendar, and an Outlook plug-in. These connections are useful for teams extending an existing phone environment or linking calendars and office tools.

Security and developer platform

Rainbow states AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit, region-based data residency, and SAML or OIDC single sign-on across its listed plans. Its compliance capabilities include ISO/IEC 27001, French HDS, GDPR, ANSSI CSPN, Spain ENS, Italy AgID, HIPAA, FERPA and UK NHS support. That range gives regulated organizations relevant credentials and controls to assess against their requirements.

The CPaaS platform exposes APIs for contact management, chat, voice, video, screen sharing, file storage, group collaboration and automation bots. Monthly production allowances are 2,000 administration API calls, 5,000 Bots and Resource API calls, 500 WebRTC minutes and 5 GB of storage before invoicing. Developers with heavier usage need to account for those quotas.

Pricing

Rainbow is freemium. Essential costs nothing and includes one administrator, one-to-one audio, video and screen sharing, 1 GB of storage, and bubbles of up to 20 users. It is a practical starting point for an individual or a small team with modest sharing needs, but it does not expand meetings beyond one-to-one.

Business costs €2 a month, billed per user. It retains one-to-one audio, video and screen sharing, 1 GB of storage and 20-user bubbles, while adding an SLA. It suits teams that want the service-level commitment but do not need larger sharing groups; the extra cost does not increase the listed storage or collaboration limits.

Enterprise costs €4 a month, billed per user. It raises audio, video and screen sharing to up to 10 users, provides 20 GB of storage, supports 100-user bubbles and includes an SLA. This is the clearest fit for teams needing more room for files and group collaboration, though its sharing cap is still short of a broad meeting service.

Business and Enterprise include 24/7 support with a 20-minute first response time and a 99.9% guaranteed uptime SLA. Essential includes a digital Help Center. Some offers provide free trials or demonstrations, specifically Rainbow Hub and the Rainbow Telephony for Microsoft Teams connector.

Platforms

Rainbow runs on Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows, and offers an API. Its broader app availability also includes iPhone, iPad and Android TV. This range serves teams mixing desktop and mobile users, while the API opens a route for custom integrations.

Who it's for

Rainbow is aimed at businesses from small companies to multinational organizations, particularly those that need messaging and collaboration alongside cloud, on-premises or hybrid telephony. PBX connections and CPaaS APIs are compelling reasons to consider it. Teams choosing primarily for large video meetings should look elsewhere: the listed meeting limit is two participants, and even Enterprise sharing tops out at 10 users.

Pros and cons

Broad communications scope: persistent chat, task management, sharing and telephony can sit in one service.

Useful PBX reach: named connectors cover several existing phone systems and third-party vendors.

Strong enterprise controls: encryption, SSO, data residency and a wide compliance range suit organizations with formal requirements.

Tier limits are material: Essential and Business keep sharing one-to-one, and Enterprise allows only up to 10 users.

Free and Business storage is modest: both provide 1 GB, compared with Enterprise's 20 GB.

Alternatives

Choose Microsoft Teams if larger free group meetings matter more: its free plan allows 100 participants and 60-minute group meetings, with 5 GB of cloud storage. Hubgets is another freemium option for teams that want a cloud plan for up to 20 users, 100 contacts per user and 1 GB per user.

Webex App suits readers seeking free meetings for up to 100 attendees, with a 40-minute meeting limit. 3CX is worth comparing when a free phone-system license for 10 users and four simultaneous calls is the priority; its license must be manually renewed each year.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow is another freemium Rainbow offering. Dialpad Support is a paid alternative with a free trial. Zoom Workplace is a freemium alternative with a free plan. For scheduling rather than a full collaboration suite, Zoom Scheduler offers a basic tier with one personal booking page and one calendar connection.

Browse Unified Communications Software for more options in this category.

Verdict

Rainbow is a strong fit for businesses that want one service to bridge team collaboration, telephony and existing PBX infrastructure, with APIs for custom communications work. Choose Enterprise when larger sharing groups and more storage justify its per-user price; choose elsewhere if free or low-cost access to sizeable video meetings is the deciding factor.