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Sideline vs Line2: Which is best for business?

Sideline vs Line2

If you’re serious about managing business calls in a low-cost, sustainable way, you should know that chatbots and burner phones aren’t enough to hold you over long. The solution? Access to a desktop or mobile app that works by routing calls through your WiFi (AKA VoIP solutions). And in the 21st century, you’ve got nothing but options, including Sideline vs Line2. 

Picking the right VoIP provider is a lot like picking a long-term business partner. Before you sign any contracts, you’ll want to make sure your partner has everything you need to make it work. 

In this article, we’re going to compare Sideline vs Line2 side by side, exploring their pricing options, phone features, and integration solutions. If you decide that neither provider has what you’re looking for, we’ll offer a third business phone system that might just be your perfect fit.

Switch to OpenPhone: The best Sideline and Line2 alternative

get a business phone number with OpenPhone

Sideline vs Line2: Which option makes the best second phone number?

Before we head off to the races, let’s meet our two contenders! 

Sideline is a second phone number app that provides plans for personal and business use. The program works by running a second number off your existing cell phone plan, which means it doesn’t entirely qualify as a VoIP. Does it have what you need to run a successful business?

In contrast, Line2 is a business-oriented provider with numbers that match your local area code (think Google Voice). Based in the cloud, Line2 has been around since 2006, making it one of the longest-lasting VoIPs on the market. But does the company provide services that business owners now actually need? 

Sideline is a pretty niche provider with several staunch supporters. On the other hand, Line2 is a specialized provider of phone solutions for business pros. Who to choose? Let the Sideline vs Line2 faceoff begin!

1. Pricing: Which phone number provider is nicer to your wallet?

Winner: Sideline

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Sideline offers $10 per user pricing — for some plans, at least. Once you actually compare their tier structure (hidden deep inside a help center article), you’ll be able to read through all three options: Standard ($9.99), Team Member ($9.99), and Enterprise ($9.99 per line per month). In this case, you really do get what you pay for. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Sideline vs Line2: Line2 pricing

At Line2, bare-bones pricing is based on a ‘per user per month’ sliding scale. Although the base plan rings up at $16 per person, don’t start celebrating just yet. Unless all you need is call forwarding and the ability to call others, Line2’s cheapest plan is missing a lot of features that business owners usually need (more on that later). At least they get full marks for transparency between Sideline vs Line2!

2. Features: Which business phone system has the most functionality?

Winner: Sideline

If you only need calling and texting to other US numbers (sorry Canada), Sideline might meet your basic needs. Frustratingly, most of the features businesses need to grow, including shared numbers, are attached to the Team Plan only. But if you choose the Team option, be prepared to miss out on other services.

Only the Enterprise plan offers international calling and auto-attendants, locking out other features in the lineup. With their Enterprise option, you won’t be able to get a shared number. No Sideline plans offer access to toll-free numbers or call recordings.

With features like voicemail transcriptions, call recording, phone menu, and business hours, Line2 has some pretty basic options for users to choose from (minus inbound auto-replies). Unfortunately, all of these require you to subscribe to them as add-ons or pay for a premium tier plan.

Not willing to pay up? You’ll be stuck with calls and texts only.

If this makes you frustrated (as it should), you’re not alone. According to Line2’s reviews, a large number of customers are frustrated with the company’s poor call quality, less responsive support team, and downright aggravating porting services. These blurbs say it all:

Sideline vs Line2: negative Line2 customer reviews

3. Integrations: Which VoIP phone service is the most plugged in?

Winner: Draw

When you think of a ‘VoIP,’ you probably think of some type of cross-functionality. Right? Well. . .

We hate to be that guy, but we’ve got some bad news.

Line2 and Sideline don’t offer integrations. At all.

If you’re looking to integrate your VoIP into other elements of your business workflow, neither Sideline nor Line2 offers anything you can use.

Meet the VIP of VoIP: OpenPhone

From a pricing, features, and integrations standpoint, it’s clear the Sideline vs Line2 debate is pretty lackluster. Each offers confusing, bloated tier plans that make it difficult to get what you need.

Features-wise, Line2 offers only the bare necessities, while Sideline somehow forgets to provide scalable options that include all of their features on a single plan. Worst of all, neither provider opens the door for integrations.  

No matter how you look at it, these phone providers actually make your business communications harder to manage — not easier.

And it’s not just Sideline vs Line2 that’s the problem. Lots of other small business phone solutions struggle to make the cut. Grasshopper, Ooma, and RingCentral all give it their best shot, but realistically lack the pricing structures, features, and integrations needed to make a measurable difference for your company. 

But don’t worry: we promised you a third option, remember? If you’re still interested in scaling your business with VoIP, you might want to try OpenPhone on for size.

Meet OpenPhone. Let’s get you introduced.

Without a doubt, OpenPhone’s features, integrations, and collaboration features blow the Sideline vs Line2 conversation out of the water. 🌊

1. 100% business-friendly phone features

Call recording in OpenPhone

OpenPhone offers the most business-friendly features out of the box, including call recordings, voicemail to text transcriptions, and auto-replies. Unlike Line2, you won’t need to upgrade in order to access what you need. Feels good, doesn’t it? 

2. Integrations make for better phone calls

Bringing other apps into your communications workflow is the best thing ever (trust us). Unlike Sideline vs Line2, you can enjoy integrations with some of the biggest names out there with OpenPhone, from Slack and HubSpot to Gmail and Zapier. And since Zapier works with thousands of other apps (like 5,000+), your business scaling options are virtually limitless.

3. Get phone line features that matter 

With OpenPhone, Christmas always comes a little early. Enjoy free calling and texting to anyone in the US or Canada, with no fine print, restrictions, or monthly limits.

Plus, users have the opportunity to sign up for a toll-free number, giving their caller ID a little more clout. Toll-free also allows folks across North America to directly call your number without incurring long-distance charges.

4. Collaborate without the headache

OpenPhone makes collaborating and staying on the same page just plain easy. We specialize in offering shared numbers, conversation histories, call recordings, and threads and mentions that bring your entire team together. Keep everyone in the loop all the time, without burning dollars trying to find the right plan.

Like what you see so far? Check out the full comparison of Sideline vs Line2 vs OpenPhone here:

FEATUREOpenPhoneSidelineLine2
Price per monthStarts at $15 per month per userStarts at $9.99 per user per month$14.99 per user
Unlimited Calling to US & Canada✔️Unlimited in the US only✔️
SMS/MMS to US & Canada✔️✖️✔️
Voicemail to text✔️✔️Requires upgrade
Set business hours✔️✖️Requires upgrade
Additional phone numbers$5 per number✔️$14.99 per month per number
Call recording✔️✖️Requires Upgrade
Shared phone numbers✔️Requires Team Number plan✖️
Auto-attendant (virtual receptionist)✔️Requires Enterprise planRequires Upgrade
Auto-replies✔️✔️✖️
Slack integration✔️✖️✖️
Gmail integration✔️✖️✖️
Zapier integration✔️✖️✖️
CRM integration✔️✖️✖️
iOS and Android apps✔️✔️✔️
Browser app✔️✔️✖️
​​Desktop app✔️✖️✔️

Revolutionize your business communications with OpenPhone

OpenPhone mobile and desktop apps

Even if Sideline vs Line2 shows Sideline edges out in terms of pricing and features, its limited scaling capabilities might prevent it from making a difference in your communications pipeline. What’s more, it barely qualifies as a VoIP, requiring a separate carrier plan to use. If you’re looking to grow your business where it counts, OpenPhone could have everything you need and more.

At OpenPhone, we provide transparent pricing listed right on our website. Our features are 100% scalable, which means you can enjoy all the features you want without getting softlocked by siloed plans. Enjoy access to integrations that save your team time.  

Take OpenPhone for a spin whenever you want by signing up for our free seven-day trial.

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