6 Best Line2 alternatives for 2023

When making business calls is part of your weekly routine, setting up a VoIP phone system simply makes sense. Like most VoIP providers, Line2 makes separating work calls with clients and team members from your personal calls easier than using one number for both. But unlike many Line2 alternatives, Line2 struggles to offer calling features beyond what landlines and cell phones provide.

If you’re on the hunt for better options, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you need to know about Line2 and six alternatives that may better meet your needs.

What you need to know about Line2

Founded in the late 2000s, Line2 is a no-frills VoIP service that offers business phone basics — no more, sometimes less. The cloud-based system is easy to use, though more due to familiarity than stand-out design. 

Line2 largely replicates the features that your standard cellphone already offers — with the added option of answering calls on your desktop — instead of taking advantage of all the unique features that VoIP enables. 

The features offered with Line2’s basic plan aren’t going to blow you away:

• Voicemail
• Caller ID
• Phone number porting (takes up to five weeks)
• Merged calling (up to 99 callers)
• Call forwarding

You can make unlimited calls in the US and Canada, but like a typical cell phone carrier, Line2 charges extra for any texts outside the US And while call recording and voicemail transcriptions are available, you’ll need to pay an extra $10 per month for each feature unless you upgrade to the top-tier plan. 

Setup only takes minutes — make an account and download the app — but if you’re looking to connect your business phone with other apps you use via software integrations, you won’t find the option on any of Line2’s plans.

Another caveat to consider when choosing Line2: Even its key features aren’t all that reliable. According to many Line2 user reviews, performance issues and bugs are common. Take these reviews, for example:

• “I continually have issues with dropped calls, call quality, my phone not ringing when someone is calling me.” (G2)
• “On Windows 10, it will not save my microphone and headset settings. This means that I frequently (for every call) have to hang up on people, go into settings, set the microphone and speakers back to my headset, and call them back. This is inconvenient for people I know and can call back, but devastating if I’m trying to conduct business.” (Capterra)
• “Poor call quality on ALL calls. Impossible to get my business number back from them.” (Capterra)

Line2 Pricing

Line2 offers three pricing options, requiring upgrades to access many common VoIP features.

Starter

• $15.99 per user per month
• Includes weekday customer support (5 AM-5 PM PT)

Growth

• $19.99 per user per month
• Unlocks auto-attendant (IVR) and business hour settings

Business

• $24.99 per user per month
• Unlocks no-fee call recording and voicemail transcriptions

Why businesses turn to Line2 alternatives

Line2 is a pretty bare-bones business phone system that doesn’t offer many perks outside of what outdated landlines can provide.

Accessing the features you need often requires add-on costs or upgrades. If you’re looking for integrations, Line2 won’t be able to help you at all.

How we determined the best alternatives to Line2

We put Line2 alternatives to test and evaluated them based on six factors:

• Reliability – Call drops and system downtime can endanger your reputation and directly impact your top-line.
• Value for money – What monetary or non-monetary value does the VoIP system generate for the business? Will the system have a positive ROI?
• Budget – It’s never a good idea to choose the cheapest alternative, but budget is still important for all businesses, small or large.
• Third-party integrations – Manual transfer or recreating business data can come with a significant cost. Does the VoIP system offer integrations that will allow quickly pulling data from your existing tool stack? 
• Ease of use – Steep learning curves can discourage employees from accepting the VoIP system. Is your VoIP phone system easy to use?
• Customer support – You’ll run into problems once in a while. How quickly does help come when you need it the most?

6 best Line2 alternatives

When you make the switch to VoIP, you want a modern phone system that supports your business communication needs — not just the digital version of a landline. 

Luckily, Line2 isn’t the only VoIP service in the world. Here are six Line2 alternatives you can consider:

1. OpenPhone

OpenPhone is a VoIP phone service that offers all the features modern businesses need. From business app integrations to automation, OpenPhone is built to make your business life easier — even before you upgrade. With a Standard plan, you can access features like:

• Unlimited calling, SMS, and MMS in the US and Canada
• Auto-attendant (IVR)
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Call recording
• Integrations with email, Slack, and Zapier
• Auto-replies
• Snippets (canned responses)

OpenPhone is a dream for team communication, too. You can share phone numbers with other members of your team so you can collaborate on conversations and leave internal notes to keep everyone on the same page. Your contacts list has basic CRM features built in, allowing you to store details about past conversations. That way, anyone on your team can easily pick up from where you left off. 📱

We have a stellar uptime history, so you don’t have to worry about dropped calls or persistent bugs. But if you do run into an issue or have any questions, our top-notch customer service has your back. Don’t take our word for it — here are some recent reviews:

• “The OpenPhone customer service is incredible and they’ve always helped me quickly and with sincerity whenever I had any questions.” (G2)
• “Honestly, I haven’t ran into any issues. The process to get my number ported was simple. Customer service was very responsive every step of the way!” (G2)

In addition to iOS, Android, and desktop apps, OpenPhone works on almost all browsers, so you can take your phone with you on just about any internet-enabled device.

OpenPhone Pricing

OpenPhone offers three pricing plans, so you can get the phone features your business needs (and more) in every stage of growth. Your business phone can truly grow with your business.

Standard

• Starting at $10 per user per month
• Includes email and SMS customer support

Premium

• Starting at $20 per user per month
• Unlocks HubSpot CRM integration, round-robin call distribution, call transfer, logs and analytics, and more

Enterprise

• Custom pricing for a custom plan
• Unlocks a dedicated account manager to help tailor a plan to your team’s needs  

How to switch and port your number from Line2

Want to port your number from Line2 to OpenPhone so you can keep an existing number? The process is easy, free, and usually takes just 1-2 weeks!

1. Create an OpenPhone account.
2. Submit a request to port your number in the OpenPhone app.
3. That’s it! We’ll take care of the rest.

How OpenPhone stacks up to the competition

If you want to take full advantage of what VoIP has to offer, OpenPhone is the service you can rely on. Thousands of businesses use OpenPhone to streamline their sales, customer support, team collaboration, and much more. Start your free trial to join them and see why.

2. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a legacy business phone system with thousands of small business customers. Like most VoIP providers they offer WiFi calling, business hours, call transferring, and unlimited calling and texting within the US However, you’re missing out on simple ways to QA the level of service your team provides. Grasshopper does not offer call recordings or any built-in collaboration features.

To even split responsibility for incoming calls, you’re stuck paying an extra $10 per month. Their integration offers are solely the ability to forward calls to Skype or Google Voice.

Grasshopper Pricing

Grasshopper’s plans may seem like fitting a square peg into a round hole. They have three plans:
Solo

• $29 per month
• Includes one phone number and three extensions

Partner

• $49 per month
• Includes three phone numbers and six extensions

Small business

• $89 per month
• Includes five phone numbers and unlimited extensions

Any additional phone numbers beyond the plan you select are $10 per month.

The bottom line for Grasshopper

If you’re looking to save time and stay on the same page, Grasshopper isn’t up to par. Plus, unless you read the fine print you may discover your Canadian or toll-free number has some major restrictions. For example, neither have MMS support with Grasshopper. Check out our guide to Line2 vs Grasshopper to learn more about how these two providers compare.

3. Google Voice for Google Workspace

Google Voice for Google Workspace is a well-known Line2 alternative that offers free calling to the US from any country, using a mobile app or web app. If you’re in the US, you can make unlimited calls to Canada, too. 

But unlike Line2 and OpenPhone, Google Voice isn’t compatible with toll-free numbers. 

In terms of features, Google Voice isn’t as bare-bones as Line2. It offers quite a few business phone features that are only possible with VoIP — but most of those internet-dependent features are pretty Google-centric. With a Starter plan, you can access:

• Voicemail transcriptions
• Call forwarding
• ​Google Fi compatibility
• Integrations with Google Meet and Google Calendar

While Google Voice (the standard consumer app) is capable of call recording, Google Workspace users actually aren’t allowed to use this helpful feature, which can help teams with training, interviews, and much more.

Just like Line2, users report plenty of Google Voice issues, too — poor call quality and issues with ringing are just two common problems you might face. And when your team members try to get help, they’ll find that 24/7 customer support can only be accessed by admins. 🔒

Google Voice for Google Workspace Pricing

Google Voice offers three pricing plans that include minimal upgrades. Upgrading from Standard to Premier only gets you two extra features. And keep in mind you must also have a Google Workspace account — which costs at least an additional $6 per user per month — to subscribe to Google Voice for Google Workspace.

Starter

• $10 per user per month
• Maximum 10 users

Standard

• $20 per user per month
• Unlocks auto-attendant, desk phone compatibility, and Ring Groups (for multiple numbers to answer the same calls)

Premier

• $30 per user per month
• Unlocks advanced call reporting and support for users from international locations

The bottom line for Google Voice

When you read the fine print, you may find that Google Voice’s business plans restrict users where other virtual phone systems don’t. And with no integrations with third-party software, this VoIP phone service will trap you in the Google universe, so you can’t fully streamline your work.
Find out more about how these two phone solutions compare in our Line2 vs Google Voice guide.

4. RingCentral

RingCentral is another Line2 alternative that offers more modern features — notably, video conferencing and CRM integrations — but like Line2, RingCentral requires you to upgrade your way to what your team needs. The starter plan is pretty minimal, offering:

• Unlimited calling and text messaging in the US and Canada (SMS only) 
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Document sharing

You won’t be able to send MMS messages depending on what type of phone number (their toll-free numbers do not support MMS) or account you have. And if you run into any issues on the basic plan, you won’t have access to customer support. But even when you upgrade, RingCentral users are far from in love with RingCentral’s customer care. As one G2 reviewer puts it, “When any issues arise, the customer service is terrible. Tickets are closed without actually being resolved and the company’s agents don’t seem to actually read tickets before reaching out.”

RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral has expensive and confusing pricing that changes depending on the size of your team. If you’re first starting out as a solopreneur, you’ll pay $39.99 per month for their lowest tier plan. And as you grow, you might lose access to the most affordable plan — even if you’re still a fairly small business. Listed below are the pricing plans when you have 2-20 users.

Essentials

• $29.99 per user per month
• Maximum 20 users

Standard

• $37.99 per user per month
• Unlocks auto-attendants, 24/7 support, video conferencing, virtual fax, and integrations with Office 365, Google Workspace, and Slack

Premium

• $44.99 per user per month
• Unlocks call recording, CRM integrations, analytics, and open API

Ultimate

• $59.99 per user per month
• Unlocks device status reports and unlimited storage

The bottom line for RingCentral

With RingCentral, you’ll need to pay a lot just to get started, only to pay a lot more to access more enticing features like video calling or call recording. And if you don’t know how to code, don’t even think about sending GIFs, pics, or any multimedia. 😓

5. Nextiva

Nextiva is another Line2 alternative with complicated pricing plans that leave out key features most businesses need. Nextiva mainly offers unlimited, one-on-one voice and video calling with its basic plan, but you really need to upgrade to cover crucial needs. With the starter plan, you’ll get:

• Auto-attendant
• Unlimited virtual fax
• Integrations with Outlook and Google Contacts

But that’s really it, as far as non-basic VoIP features are concerned. Even the very basic feature of texting isn’t available on their base plan. If you upgrade, texting is only possible from their mobile app, so you won’t be able to send business texts from your computer. 

Nextiva also doesn’t offer integrations with some of the apps widely used by modern teams and small businesses, like Gmail or Slack. Instead, it pairs with costly software like Microsoft Teams and Oracle Sales Cloud. However, key features like voicemail transcriptions and analytics are only offered on higher-tier plans. Using Nextiva you may have no choice but to pay the price for features you don’t need to get the ones you do.

Nextiva Pricing

Nextiva offers four plans that double the price of Line2 to provide features that many businesses don’t need.

Essential

• $30.95 per user per month
• Includes 24/7 customer support

Professional

• $35.95 per user per month
• Unlocks video conferencing (250 participants), texting, and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zendesk

Enterprise

• $45.95 per user per month
• Unlocks call recording, analytics, voicemail transcriptions, and integrations with Oracle Sales Cloud and Microsoft Teams

Ultimate

• $75.95 per user per month
• Unlocks automated surveys, ticket management, and customer journey analytics

The bottom line for Nextiva

Nextiva doesn’t offer a lot of unique features beyond video until you upgrade — and you may have to upgrade twice just to meet your team’s minimum needs.

6. Sideline

Sideline isn’t like any other Line2 alternative on this list because it’s essentially a secondary phone line. Unlike Line2, It’s a VoIP app that relies on your cell phone service to make calls or send text messages. You’ll need to pay for Sideline, plus your cell phone plan to use that second number. 

You might consider Sideline if you’re only looking for a separate inbox for personal and business communication and features that are absent on Line2 or require an upgrade such as:

• Voicemail transcriptions (available with an upgrade on Line2)
• Shared phone numbers (requires the Team Number plan on Sideline)
• Auto-replies
• Browser app

That said, it’s not an ideal business communication solution. One of the biggest downsides of Sideline is that it won’t let you block spam calls. You’ll also need to choose features most relevant to you because none of the plans offer all of the features; a deal-breaker for most businesses. Unlike Line2, you only get unlimited calling and texting for US numbers with Sideline. No integrations either — that’s right, none.

Sideline Pricing

Sideline’s pricing isn’t just confusing, it’s also hard to find on their website. The website’s pricing page explicitly mentions the Standard and Pro plans, but there are two more account types you can have: Team Number and Enterprise. Each account type comes with a different feature portfolio. 

Standard

• $9.99 per month
• Only one user/second number per account

Team Number

• $9.99 per month
• Can either share a number or have a personal second number, but not both
• No advanced features

Enterprise

• $9.99 per line per month
• Unlocks international calling and auto-attendant (IVR) capabilities. Both of these features require an additional cost. 
• Admin controls to manage phone lines

Pro

• $14.99 per month
• Includes advanced features like business hours, appointment reminders, and separation of contacts. 
• Not compatible with team numbers or enterprise features

OpenPhone: The best Line2 alternative

Finding a Line2 alternative that offers more features and better value can feel like searching for the end of a rainbow. The good news is, it’s not an impossible feat. Take a look at the comparison chart below to see how OpenPhone compares to Line2 and other competitors — we’re pretty proud of what we have to offer.

OpenPhone is more than your average business phone. Start your free trial to experience how OpenPhone goes above and beyond with team collaboration features, integrations, crystal-clear sound quality, and much more.