Thinking about purchasing a Google Voice plan? It’s less straightforward than you might’ve imagined.
As a legacy VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) platform established in 2009, Google Voice serves business owners and personal users. This is where the confusion comes in — there are three separate pricing plans, not to mention hidden costs.
This guide provides everything you need to know about Google Voice pricing, including its plans, fees, and required subscriptions for those seeking a Google phone number for business. It also provides a better alternative for small business owners who need an affordable VoIP service.
Google Voice for Business pricing and plans
How much does it cost to buy Google Voice for Business?
Let’s break it down in the chart below:
| Starter | Standard | Premier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $10 per user per month | $20 per user per month | $30 per user per month |
| Maximum number of users | 10 | Unlimited (but extra for more than 50) | Unlimited (but extra for more than 50) |
| Unlimited text messaging in US | |||
| Calls to the US from any Google Voice number included | |||
| Ring groups | |||
| Multi-level auto attendant | |||
| Ad-hoc user call recording | Automatic | ||
| BigQuery exports | |||
| SIP Link | |||
| eDiscovery |
Keep reading to get a closer look at each plan, including some Google Voice pros and cons.
Starter plan
Pricing: $10 per user per month
Best for: Solopreneurs who need a basic business number for calling and texting in the US
Google Voice’s Starter plan gets you a Google Voice number and lets you make unlimited calls to the US (as long as you’re also located in the US or Canada).
You’ll also get the following features:
- Call forwarding
- Activity reporting
- Voicemail transcriptions
- Unlimited text messaging (US only)
- Web and mobile apps
- Integrations with Google Calendar and Google Meet
Notice the Starter plan doesn’t offer auto-attendants and ring groups for Google Voice, which makes it harder to route customers to the right department or team member. And speaking of team members, you can only have up to 10 on this plan. You’ll have to upgrade if you manage a bigger team.
Want to record calls for quality assurance or agent training? You can’t do that without upgrading to the Standard plan. And if you want automatic recording for any of your calls, you’ll have to upgrade again to the Premier plan.
Standard plan
Pricing: $20 per user per month
Best for: Small businesses that need ring groups and auto attendants
The Standard plan allows you to have up to 50 users, which is great for scaling a business. But it lacks many additional features that could help you scale effectively.
The ones you do get include:
- Ring groups
- Multi-level auto attendants
- Desk phone support
- eDiscovery
- Manual call recording
- SIP link for making international calls through Google Voice and connecting desk phones
As a reminder, you won’t have automatic call recording on this plan. But you will get desk phone and SIP link support.
Keep in mind that location restrictions apply — Google Voice doesn’t support international locations unless you upgrade to the Premier plan.
Premier plan
Pricing: $30 per user per month
Best for: Large, international businesses needing advanced reporting features
The Premier plan gets you a few additional features for your extra $10 per user per month:
- Advanced reporting (BigQuery)
- Automatic call recording
- Unlimited international locations
Feeling underwhelmed? You’re in good company. Google Voice offers bare-bones features at the cost of a more advanced plan.
And no matter how much you upgrade Google Voice, there will always be issues with Google Voice not working. You also won’t have access to key features like shared numbers, a desktop app, and toll-free numbers.
Google Voice for personal use pricing
By now, you’re familiar with Google Voice for Business’s pricing — but how does it compare to the cost of Google Voice for personal use?
For starters, this is a free plan designed for personal users. This means it isn’t designed for businesses or available outside the US.
With Google Voice for personal use, the most useful features you get are caller ID, call forwarding, and unlimited domestic voice calls (in the US only).
You don’t need a Google Voice for Google Workspace subscription with Google Voice for personal use, but be prepared to pay number-unlocking or porting fees.
Key differences between Google Voice personal vs business
Check out this brief chart comparing Google Voice’s business vs personal plans:
| Google Voice for Business | Google Voice for Personal | |
|---|---|---|
| Available outside the US | ||
| Multiple phone numbers | ||
| SMS and MMS | US only | Personal use only |
| Unlimited calls in the US and Canada | US and Canadian numbers only | |
| Maximum number of users | 10 to unlimited | 1 |
| Starting price | $17 per user per month (including Google Workspace) | Free |
| Porting fees | Free | $20 to port in and $3 to port out |
| Ring groups | Requires upgrade | |
| Integrations | Google apps only | |
| Separate business and personal contacts | ||
| Voicemail transcripts |
If you’re still keen on buying a Google Voice plan, you should know there are other costs to consider.
Be prepared to pay for:
- Google Workspace: Every Google Voice plan requires a Google Workspace subscription. Prices start at $7 per user per month, but if you want better features (like 5 TB of pooled storage per user), be prepared to pay $22 per user per month.
- Porting fees: It’s not free to port a number to Google Voice. If you’re porting to the free plan with a Verizon, Google Fi, or AT&T number, you’ll pay $20. If you migrate your free number to a Google Voice for Business plan, you have to pay a $3 unlocking fee and purchase a temporary carrier plan.
- International calls: Calling numbers outside the US and Canada can range from 1 cent to over a dollar per minute. Google Voice’s international calling rates can change at any time.
Not a fan of unnecessary fees? This is a common gripe with Google Voice. It’s also why business owners migrate to Google Voice alternatives that offer better features at more affordable prices.
OpenPhone: The better alternative to Google Voice plans
Google Voice isn’t a bad option for personal users or solopreneurs. But if you’re looking to streamline business communications, it simply won’t be enough.
That’s just one of many reasons why former Google Voice users migrate to OpenPhone — the #1 business phone system as rated by G2.
Here are five ways OpenPhone measures up against Google Voice:
1. Better value and no hidden fees
OpenPhone starts at $15 per user per month, and every plan comes with one free local US or Canadian number (or North American toll-free number) per user.
As your company grows, you can tap into our Business plan to access group calling, call transfers, CRM integrations, phone menus, and more. When you’re ready for more, our Scale plan can help you keep growing with AI call tags, dedicated onboarding, and priority chat and email support.
Google Voice’s pricing doesn’t give you many business features and comes with lots of hidden fees. It costs extra to port, international rates can change at any moment, and you’ll have to pay extra every month for Google Workspace.
With OpenPhone, you’ll know ahead of time how much you’re paying since we share all costs on our pricing page. It’s also 100% free to port your number.
2. Share incoming calls and texts with your team
Google Voice doesn’t make it easy to collaborate in context. But with OpenPhone as your VoIP service provider, you can keep everyone on your team working on the same page.
With shared numbers, for example, you don’t have to worry about missing calls. Everyone on your team will receive incoming calls with simultaneous ring, and you can customize your ring order to specify which team members tackle calls based on their availability.
Incoming texts come into a shared inbox all your team members can access. Shared inboxes reduce your response times and help you answer customer questions faster.
Finally, OpenPhone’s automatic call recording and call summaries and transcripts help your team gather context on customer conversations faster. There’s no need to manually review your calls anymore, which means your team will always be on the same page.
3. Get the numbers your business needs
Google Voice for personal use offers one phone number per account. Google Voice for Business offers plans with multiple user and number support (but there are no toll-free numbers).
OpenPhone lets you have as many phone numbers as your team needs. Each user in your OpenPhone workspace is assigned a unique number. Choose from local US or Canadian numbers, North American toll-free numbers, or your own vanity number. Unlike other VoIP providers, we don’t charge you extra for toll-free number minutes you use for calls to your US and Canadian numbers.
Need even more numbers? Additional numbers cost $5 per number per month.
4. Save time communicating with your contacts
Customers aren’t just calling your business — they’re also sending texts and leaving voice messages. But Google Voice doesn’t make this easy to manage since all calls, texts, and voice messages live in separate folders.
OpenPhone’s shared inboxes let you view all your interactions with your contacts in one place. You don’t have to jump to different views to find out what customers have told you.
Your team can save even more time using OpenPhone’s advanced messaging features. Respond to customers after business hours with auto-replies, answer common questions with snippets (text templates), and schedule messages to customers based on their timezones.
Google Voice doesn’t offer any advanced messaging features, which forces your team to manually respond to customers whenever they receive a message.
5. Put repetitive work on autopilot
Want to put more time back into your day? This won’t be easy with Google Voice. Even on the Premier plan ($30 per user per month), Google Voice doesn’t offer integrations with non-Google tools.
OpenPhone’s Starter plan ($15 per user per month) offers essential integrations you can use to connect OpenPhone with your tech stack, like your Slack workspace. And with our Zapier integration, you can share your call data with 7,000+ apps. Plus, if your team has a developer, you can plug into webhooks to send alerts with an HTTP request.
When you’re ready to upgrade to OpenPhone’s Business plan, you can access CRM integrations like HubSpot and Salesforce. Log calls, texts, voicemails, and recordings automatically so you can spend more time building relationships with customers instead of having to piece together a conversation’s history in Google Voice.
Switch from Google Voice to OpenPhone
Should you buy Google Voice?
That’s something only you can answer.
But if you’re not a fan of limited features, hidden fees, and expensive subscriptions, the answer may be ‘no’ for your growing small business.
If you’re looking for a reliable, collaborative, and easy-to-manage VoIP platform, you might want to try OpenPhone. All you need is a smartphone or a computer and an internet connection.
Get started today with our seven-day free trial.
FAQs
Although it’s been the subject of much speculation, Google Voice doesn’t have plans to phase out its free personal plan. Just keep in mind you can lose your free Google Voice number if it’s inactive for more than 30 days.
The Google Voice Starter plan costs $10 per user per month. You can only have up to 10 users per account and can’t purchase a plan in international locations.
In contrast, the Google Voice Premier plan costs $30 per user per month. You get unlimited users on your account, access to international locations, and advanced business features such as ring groups, BigQuery, and automatic call recording.
Yes, you can use Google Voice for Business with a landline if you upgrade to the Standard plan, which costs $20 per user per month plus $7 per user per month for Google Workspace. However, you may lose access to some of Google Voice’s most useful features, such as SMS, automatic call recording, and the ability to take calls on your smartphone.
You can only use your existing phone number with Google Voice if you port your number from your current carrier. Keep in mind this isn’t free — and if something goes wrong, you could permanently lose your number.
Starting at $10 per user per month, Google Voice is cheaper than most business-grade VoIP options. But it’s more barebones and works best for solopreneurs or personal users with simple needs. If you need advanced features like CRM integration, call routing, or team collaboration tools, you’ll probably outgrow Google Voice quickly.
