GoTo Connect pricing: Hidden fees + 4 other things to note

When LogMeIn rebranded to GoTo in 2022, its primary goal was to create a suite of tools for remote and hybrid work environments. It tried a variety of products — from cloud-based security solutions like LastPass to customer engagement tools — before settling on business communications.

Today, GoTo Connect offers a remote phone system to customer support and sales teams. However, you’ll have to upgrade for better collaboration tools, and the platform might feel limited as you scale. 

Curious about GoTo Connect pricing? We’ve rounded up all the costs, add-ons, and hidden fees below.

What is GoTo Connect?

GoTo Connect, formerly known as Jive, is a business phone system offering unified communication features. Each plan offers call, text, and video conferencing tools — although advanced  collaboration options may cost extra each month.

GoTo Connect pricing and plans at a glance

GoTo Connect didn’t always list prices online, but as of October 2024, it updated its website with actual numbers. 

They have three plans to choose from:

Phone System – $26 per user per month (billed annually)

GoTo Connect’s basic plan is ideal for small business owners looking for basic VoIP features like unlimited calls, SMS and MMS, and video meetings with up to 250 participants.

But the Phone System plan was built for solopreneurs, not growing teams — and the lack of collaboration features could negatively impact your business. There are no shared inboxes or AI call transcripts and summaries, for example. You can’t plug into advanced integrations either unless you upgrade to the Connect CX plan ($8 extra per user per month).

Connect CX – $34 per user per month (billed annually)

The Connect CX plan unlocks collaboration features such as shared inboxes, AI call summaries and transcripts, and an AI-powered messaging assistant.

Most VoIP platforms offer these features on their base plans and for a much lower price (typically $15 per user per month less). If you upgrade, you’ll lose access to specific features. The Attendant Console, for example, isn’t part of the Contact Center plan.

Contact Center – $80 per user per month (billed annually)

GoTo Connect’s Contact Center plan is best for sales teams and call centers that want skill assignments, call wrap-ups, and screen-sharing tools for their reps.

Keep in mind this tier doesn’t come with all of GoTo Connect’s features — you’ll need to purchase separate add-ons and speak with sales for a quote. GoTo Connect also makes you manually configure basic features like call forwarding, caller ID, and voicemail to text.

Hidden fees to know

The cost you’ll pay for a GoTo Connect plan may be more than what’s on the pricing page.

Here are four hidden fees to keep in mind:

• SMS credits: Every GoTo Connect plan comes with a certain number of credits per seat per month, but it’s not clear how many ‘credits’ are included on each tier. The overage charge is $0.0055 per SMS credit, and every MMS message requires three credits to send. This could add up fast, depending on how many messages you send per month, — especially if you share pictures and videos with your customers.
• Toll-free numbers: Toll-free numbers cost extra with GoTo Connect, although its prices aren’t displayed online. Plus, you only get 1,000 allotted toll-free minutes to share with your team on every plan. Anything beyond that costs extra per month — although you’ll have to contact the sales team for an accurate quote.
• Number porting rejection fee: GoTo Connect has strict porting requirements around bringing in existing numbers. If you fail to meet these requirements, you’ll have to pay an extra $15 per failed attempt.
• International calling: Calling to countries outside of GoTo’s 50+ included areas will cost extra per month. Plus, GoTo Connect states that international calling rates and availability ‘may differ by region,’ which means if you’re not located in the US, you may have to pay more per minute.

4 things to keep in mind before committing to GoTo Connect

Here are a few more reasons to consider GoTo Connect alternatives: 

1. Several key features sit behind expensive paywalls

GoTo Connect stores most of its best features in add-ons, upgrades, and other GoTo products. For example, you can’t unlock shared inboxes without upgrading from the base plan, and there’s no way to add custom contact fields without paying for the Connect CX plan ($34 per user per month). In comparison, OpenPhone offers both of these features on its Starter plan for $15 per user per month.

You also have to upgrade to Connect CX for call reports, which doesn’t include reports on messaging. Aside from Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Google Workspace, all other integrations require an upgrade.

Speaking of arbitrary limitations. . .

2. Caveats may limit your ability to scale

GoTo Connect’s many limited features could hold your business back. For example:

• On every plan, toll-free minutes are limited to 1,000 free minutes per month (which may vary by region) and shared across the entire account.
• SMS and MMS are only available in the US and Canada. You also can’t send international texts, which could be frustrating if you do lots of business overseas.
• Since each plan comes with a certain number of SMS/MMS credits per seat per month, there’s no way to send ‘unlimited’ texts per month, and you may end up paying extra per message.

The cherry on top? No clear costs for additional numbers and extensions. GoTo Connect doesn’t list prices upfront, only that costs vary by region.

3. Customers experience issues with call reliability 

Even if you are comfortable with GoTo Connect’s limited features and paywalls, you’ll still have to contend with its unreliable call quality.

Many reviewers report jittery calls and buggy features. Plus, support can be slow and difficult to understand.

See for yourself:

• “GoTo Connect has a terrible mobile app. Messages often fail to send, notifications of new messages don’t always show up, and the calling is much more spotty than when connected to a computer, regardless of how strong your connection is. Be prepared to stick to a computer when using GoTo Connect or be aware that your ability to communicate professionally will suffer.” — Gartner
• “Our GoTo Connect phone system will go down from time to time, and reaching someone in their support center has its challenges. While on hold, my calls often get dropped, leaving me to call back again. Certain phones in my clinic disconnect from our other phones from time to time. When you connect with someone from support, you are often speaking with someone from another country with a language barrier.” — G2

4. Call recording storage is limited

Every small business needs call recording for something, whether that’s ensuring quality assurance, improving training, or defending against legal disputes. GoTo Connect, however, doesn’t make this easy — call recordings only get stored for 13 months at a time.

If you want more space, you can opt for AWS-hosted storage, which costs an undisclosed fee per month. But considering that most VoIP providers store unlimited call recordings for free, this is an added headache for most businesses.

OpenPhone: A more effective alternative to GoTo Connect

GoTo Connect’s product offerings don’t make sense for small business owners. Between its limited collaboration tools and costly communication features, it’s not worth the price for most SMBs.

What business owners really need is a scalable business phone system — one designed to ramp up as your team grows. For most GoTo Connect users, that means OpenPhone, which our customers have rated the #1 business phone system on G2.

See for yourself:

1. All the features you need to scale included in plans

All OpenPhone plans were designed to be scalable, which means they’re designed to grow alongside your team.

Our Starter plan comes with everything you need to grow your business, from shared numbers to call views and beyond. You can also tap into workflow automations like text message templates, auto-replies, and scheduled texts to save time without losing the human touch.

When you’re ready for more, you can upgrade to our Business tier at $23 per user per month. This unlocks automatic call recording, CRM integrations, and reporting and analytics — which costs less than GoTo Connect’s base plan.

2. Unlimited texts and calls in the US and Canada

With OpenPhone, you can make unlimited phone calls in the US and Canada (including toll-free minutes) on every plan. Each new team member on your account comes with a local US or Canadian number or a North American toll-free number so everyone can keep their personal and business lives separate.

You also don’t have to worry about call recordings being deleted after 13 months — there’s no cap on the amount of recordings you can store. We also offer desktop, web, and mobile apps (iOS and Android) so you can stay connected from anywhere with a WiFi connection.

Speaking of staying connected:

3. Split responsibility for calls and messages with shared numbers

GoTo Connect offers shared inboxes to users, but it doesn’t offer shared phone numbers. With OpenPhone’s shared numbers, each member assigned to the number can send and receive incoming calls and texts, which means you don’t have to worry about missing conversations.

OpenPhone can help you do more than just share your workload. You can also tap into internal threads and mentions to delegate tasks, ask questions, and get clarity about specific conversations.

Need to step out of the office? Just adjust your personal business hours. You won’t get notified of incoming conversations, but you can rest easy knowing there’s always someone around to pick up the phone.

4. Ensure no communications are missed with single view inbox

Shared phone numbers can help you get more work done as a team, and they’re also a great way to keep everyone in the loop. All your call recordings, texts, and voice messages show up in a single view so your team can easily follow up on conversations.

You can also tap into time-saving features like call views, which let you see the entire call history of a number. This makes it easy to review calls in the context of a conversation so you never have to guess about how to respond.

Pros and cons of GoTo Connect pricing plans

Micro-businesses and large call centers may find value in GoTo Connect. But small and medium-sized businesses with fast-growing teams might feel restricted by its unnecessary limitations.

Pros: 

• International calls: You can make free international calls in 50+ countries.
• Video conferencing: No need to purchase GoTo Meeting for basic video service.
• Dial plan editor: Create drag-and-drop call flows and call queues for incoming calls.

Cons: 

• Confusing integrations: GoTo Connect lists all its integrations online, although many of them require updates, add-ons, or the purchase of other GoTo tools (such as Rooms, Webinar, or Meeting).
• No unlimited SMS or toll-free minutes: Once you exceed your allotted amount, you’ll have to pay extra per message or minute per month. Plus, SMS and MMS are only available in the US and Canada.
• No unlimited call recording storage: Call recordings are deleted after 13 months unless you’re willing to pay an undisclosed price per month for AWS-hosted storage.

See why OpenPhone is the best virtual phone service provider

GoTo Connect may be an all-in-one phone system, but it’s not the most scalable option for growing teams or limited budgets. If you’re looking for a VoIP offering affordable monthly prices, fewer limits, and team collaboration features, you’ll need a modern VoIP system like OpenPhone.

OpenPhone provides similar capabilities to GoTo Connect — without arbitrary limits or expensive hidden fees. We also offer more features for workflow automations, including 7,000+ integrations and AI tools on every plan.

See how GoTo Connect compares to OpenPhone with your team by signing up for a seven-day free trial.

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