The 15 best Google Voice alternatives for 2023

Looking for an alternative to Google Voice? Maybe you’re sick of text messages living in separate inboxes and not having a toll-free business number, and you need an affordable option for both. The pthroblem is: Google Voice doesn’t always deliver everything a modern business needs. These days, more customers are switching to affordable paid options to manage their business phone systems. 

If you find yourself in need of a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service and that Google Voice isn’t ideal for your situation, we’ve outlined 15 quality alternatives to consider in 2023.

1. OpenPhone
2. RingCentral
3. Nextiva
4. Telzio
5. Ooma
6. Ringblaze
7. Sideline
8. Freshdesk
9. JustCall
10. Grasshopper
11. Dialpad
12. Skype
13. Phone.com
14. Aircall
15. Vonage

Plus, we’ll dive into some of the key reasons businesses move onto Google Voice alternatives.

Comparing top Google Voice alternatives

Provider	Price	Unlimited calling to US & Canada	SMS/MMS to US & Canada	Shared phone numbers	Additional phone numbers
Google Voice	Starts at $16 per user per month(must have Google Workspace)	Unlimited calls to Canada from the US only	US customers only	Requires upgrade (ring groups only)	X
OpenPhone	Starts at $15 per user per month	✓	✓	✓	$5 per number per month
RingCentral	Starts at $20 per user per month	✓	✓	✓	$4.99 per number per month
Nextiva	Starts at $23.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	✓	Requires the purchase of an additional user seat
Telzio	Starts at $50 per month in the US	X	Starts at $13 for local numbers; starts at $24 for toll-free numbers	X	+$1 per additional local number; +$5 per additional toll-free number
Ooma	Starts at $19.95 per user per month	✓	Requires upgrade	✓	$9.95 per number per month
Ringblaze	Starts at $15 per user per month	✓	✓	X	$4-5 per month
Sideline	Starts at $14.49 per user per month	✓	No MMS to Canada	Requires upgrade	$9.99 per month
Freshdesk	Starts at $15 per user per month	X	X	✓	Contact for quote
JustCall	Starts at $24 per user per month	Unlimited inbound only	Costs 0.008625 per message	✓	$6 per number per month
Grasshopper	Starts at $28 per month	✓	Local numbers only	X	$10 per number per month
Dialpad	Starts at $15 per user per month	✓	US & Canadian customers only	✓	Requires upgrade
Skype	Credit-based pricing	X	X	X	Varies
Phone.com	Starts at $11.99 per user per month	Requires upgrade	✓	$5 per month	$15.99 per number per month
Aircall	Starts at $30 per user per month	✓	SMS only	✓	$6 per number per month
Vonage	Starts at $19.99 per user per month (1-year contract)	✓	Local US and Canadian numbers only	Requires upgrade or $4.99 add-on for each call group	$14.99 per number per month

An in-depth look into the best Google Voice alternatives

While there are some advantages to using Google Voice for your business, there are better business phone solutions that:

• can save your team time
• integrate with the tools you already use
• give you more bang for your buck

Google Voice isn’t a sustainable phone option — especially if your business is growing — due to its lack of features around call handling, call forwarding and routing, virtual number sharing, and more. These 15 VoIP providers can serve as a replacement for Google Voice and provide the business phone features your team needs.

1. OpenPhone: The best Google Voice alternative

For small businesses and startups, a service like OpenPhone is a highly-rated alternative with thousands of happy users. 📱 And it’s even one of the most cost-effective options on this list!

OpenPhone is a phone solution that your sales, operations, and customer support teams — among others — can easily use to manage inbound calls and SMS messages together. 

Shared phone numbers in OpenPhone showing internal comments where teammates are replying to each other.

Using the platform, multiple team members can access a shared business phone number and collaborate on conversations through comments. And when teammates use different numbers, calls can be routed or forwarded to the right person with just a few taps.

If you want to create a call center for your business or a dedicated customer service line, OpenPhone gives you the capability that Google Voice lacks. And when a customer calls, the platform even functions as a lightweight CRM, providing information about the client — though you also can connect with HubSpot or Salesforce for even better context.

OpenPhone also supports Canadian calling and offers local Canadian phone numbers (in addition to US local numbers and toll-free numbers), allowing you to easily operate in or expand your business to Canada.🍁

The following features are included as well:

• US and international calling — with free calling and text messaging to any US or Canadian numbers
• Voicemail transcription
• Crystal-clear audio quality
• Can set business hours
• Multiple phone numbers tied to one account
• Works on iPhones, Android phones, desktops, and web browsers
• Dedicated customer support

Learn more about how OpenPhone vs Google Voice compare.

OpenPhone pricing plans

OpenPhone offers transparent pricing and some of the best rates in the game for must-have business phone features.

• Starter: $15 per user per month for shared phone numbers, voicemail transcriptions, free calls and texts in the US and Canada, and dozens of ways to streamline your business’ phone communication
• Business: $23 per user per month for auto-attendant (IVR), call transferring, CRM integrations, analytics, and more advanced features
• Enterprise: Custom-fit solutions with custom-fit pricing

Try out OpenPhone for yourself by signing up for a free, seven-day trial.

What customers are saying about OpenPhone

“I have been a user of OpenPhone for the past three years, and I have always been impressed with its affordability and functionality. Their pricing plans are incredibly reasonable and provide excellent value for their services. What sets OpenPhone apart is its modern app user interface – it is intuitive, user-friendly, and seamlessly integrates with my daily operations. The unlimited calls and SMS within the US and Canada make it an unbeatable choice for businesses like mine operating within these regions.” — Review from G2

“The technicians only text and call on the Open Phone line. This is huge, why … I will tell you. Both myself and my co-worker work this department. We are able to copy and paste from our SRM straight from the computer, and the tecs recive it on their tablets as a text message. We don’t need to explain who we are or seeing two different text line messages come through their phone, it is just one. No confusion, super clean and the history stays and is great to look back on. Its easy, one line for service calls with two people using it. We love it and are so excited we implemented this. thank you for a great product. Ohh and the picture’s feature.” — Review from G2

Been using OpenPhone for my business communication for about a year now and couldn’t be happier with the amazing features and customer support! @OpenPhoneApp https://t.co/hslv5n2VQK

— Peter Giesbrecht (@peterGeZz) June 26, 2020

How to port your number from Google Voice

Want to make the switch already? You don’t have to give up a business number already working for you. If you are currently on the free version of Google Voice, you can port your number from Google Voice with the following steps:

1. Go to www.Google.com/voice/unlock
2. Find the Google Voice number you want to port
3. Under this number, click “Unlock my number.” Note: if you want to select multiple numbers to port, select these in the dropdown menu
4. A pop-up will prompt you to pay a $3.00 porting fee to move your number to a new provider
5. Pay this fee via Google Pay 
6. The status on your number should now read “unlocked”

If you’re working from a Google Workspace, we’ve provided an additional guide for porting numbers to help.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is one of the older business phone solutions available, offering services that are accessible both online and with compatible desk phones. The platform has dozens of options, from basic call management and SMS options to a contact center add-on for your customer support teams. However, getting what you need without paying for many other bells and whistles can be difficult with RingCentral.  

All RingCentral plans include essential features like toll-free numbers, unlimited calls within the US and Canada, SMS, voicemail-to-text, team messaging, and document sharing. But you must read the fine print carefully to avoid hidden fees. For example, their base plan only lets you send 25 text messages per user per month to anyone in the US or Canada. Anything beyond that, you’re paying extra. 

RingCentral also has limitations as far as storing your conversations (unless you pay for their most expensive plan). Here are a few examples:

• Call recordings are deleted after 90 days
• Up to 200 on-demand call recordings can be stored per user
• Users are limited to storing up to 5,000 messages total

If you’re a small business or a startup, prepare yourself for sticker shock. 

RingCentral pricing plans

RingCentral has updated its pricing for 2023.  Their previous four tiers have been simplified to three — each with cutbacks from their earlier counterparts — and with reduced prices:

• Core: $20 per user per month; unlocks unlimited domestic calling and 25 texts per user per month
• Advanced: $25 per user per month; includes auto call recording, app integrations like Salesforce and Zendesk, and 100 texts per user per month
• Ultra: $35 per user per month; includes unlimited file sharing for recordings, plus HD video whiteboards and messaging, and 200 texts per user per month

What customers are saying about RingCentral

“Clunky and outdated user interface. Lack of support both while as a customer and when trying to transition to a better provider. They refuse to help port our numbers.” – Review from G2

“The support is little to none when something goes wrong. Salespeople give you much attention but account managers pay you no attention once signed up.” – Review from Capterra 

“I wouldn’t say I like the Ring Central’s price. The price is enormous when used in a smaller company, and it is not much change in a large company. There should be some discounts for more licenses.” – Review from G2

3. Nextiva

Nextiva is a VoIP phone service that supports calls in the United States and Canada. Though it does offer business communication features that Google Voice does not, such as auto-attendant and customer support, its lack of features would be problematic for small businesses and startups. Nextiva works OK for standard office landlines, but limitations with call recordings and voicemail transcriptions severely limit its ability as a tool for coaching your team to improve customer service.

Nextiva pricing plans

The amount you pay per user subscribing to Nextiva varies with smaller teams paying more for each of their teammates. Here’s how their plans break down for teams of 1-4 users: 

• Essential: $23.95 per user per month for auto-attendant and unlimited voice and video calls
• Professional: $27.95 per user per month for CRM integrations and SMS/MMS texting
• Enterprise: $37.95 per user per month for call recording and call analytics

What customers are saying about Nextiva

“Their pricing and contracts all but force you to stick with them long term or pay an arm and a leg to leave.” – Review from Capterra

“Unreliable phone service (calls not going through), and poor customer service when reporting issues.” – Review from G2

“Auto attendant was not set up as planned. Text messages were not working. CRM not working. I spent days asking to fix things but each time more problems and more things did not work. We were running in circles with the problems. The waiting time for support was up to 50 minutes. They usually were not able to fix the issue but forwarded the case to the next level. I talked to the manager and he forwarded me to the technician. The technician forwarded my case again. I wrote an email to the manager but I did get a reply.” – Review from G2

4. Telzio

Telzio’s cloud-based phone solution offers local phone numbers in about 50 countries and allows you to bring unlimited users on board. This Google Voice alternative offers features like call recording, call analytics, toll-free numbers, and Zapier and Stripe integrations.

But while it is built for business use, it’s not built for companies that take a high volume of calls. Plus, it requires you to pay for 100% of the platform’s features — even the ones you don’t need.

Telzio pricing plans

Telzio sets their monthly pricing based on the amount of call minutes and text messages you want per month, so there are no traditional pricing tiers. Its lowest price is $50 per month, which includes 1,000 minutes per month (no rollover). To send text messages, you’ll need to purchase one of their monthly bundle packages with the option to send 250 messages starting at $13 per month.

What customers are saying about Telzio

“Interface hard to use, voicemails are easy to miss, customer support is suboptimal. … It appeared as an up and coming good product. A year later, it’s still in beta testing while VERY expensive.” – Review from Capterra

“Customer service is terrible! They accidentally blocked my account so when I called them about the problem they said I should just open a new account.” – Review from Capterra

5. Ooma

Though it’s a Google Voice alternative supporting calls in the US, Canada, and Mexico, Ooma only offers phone numbers that are local to the US. All plans offer Ooma as a mobile app or desk phone service, but it lacks truly advanced features without upgrading. Features like texting, voicemail transcriptions, and access to the Ooma desktop app — features most businesses need — require an upgrade with Ooma. 

Ooma pricing plans

Ooma offers three fairly affordable pricing plans.

• Essentials: $19.95 per user per month for auto-attendants, call forwarding, and SMS messages
• Pro: $24.95 per user per month for call recording, voicemail transcriptions, video conferencing, analytics, and access to Ooma’s desktop app
• Pro Plus: $29.95 per user per month, call queuing, CRM integrations, hot desking, and advanced call flows

What customers are saying about Ooma

“When it works, it does the job. But when it doesn’t, there is a major disruption to business and the perception of our clients is hurt. Wouldn’t really recommend this product unless you have a full-time IT person to manage it.” – Review from Capterra

“The calls would always drop or the person on the other end wouldn’t be able to hear us. … The connectivity was a big issue.” – Review from Capterra

6. Ringblaze

What if you need an affordable Google Voice alternative for sales and support teams? Ringblaze is all about call collaboration. A shared dashboard, call recording, call assignments, and a click-to-call website widget for customers add to the smoothness it offers. But if you want to save time on repetitive tasks or log your phone communication elsewhere, you won’t be able to as RingBlaze suffers from a lack of integrations.

Ringblaze pricing plans

Ringblaze only offers one plan, which costs $15 per user per month. You’ll be able to share phone numbers, record calls, and get unlimited minutes to the US and Canada. However, keep in mind Ringblaze only stores your call history for up to 90 days. You may also run into inconsistent monthly fees; calls on toll-free numbers and internal calls (between team members) require per-minute payments.

What customers are saying about Ringblaze

“I was thinking of switching away from a VoIP provider I have now but will not be doing so due to the dropped calls.” – Review from Capterra

7. Sideline

Mainly want to focus on SMS after switching from Google Voice? Sideline is a business text messaging service that lets you create a separate work number or share a number with your team. However, you may find that features are pretty limited unless you make a big upgrade — and Sideline does not have a desktop app (only works in browsers or through their mobile app).

You can make calls through your Sideline phone number too, but when Wi-Fi isn’t available or is spotty, you’ll have to use your own carrier minutes.

Sideline pricing plans

There’s a 2023 update to the Sideline pricing plans, and it’s moving in the wrong direction for customers. What used to be $9.99 for the Standard features is now $14.49 per month; Enterprise, which used to be $9.99 per number per month, has also moved to $14.49 per month. There haven’t been many moves in the basic features of these plans, either, which means you’re getting less bang for the buck.

• Standard: $14.49 per month for a business number, SMS/MMS support, voicemail to text, auto-replies, and voicemail transcriptions, but not a shared number
• Enterprise: $14.49 per month to add international calling and an auto-attendant to the features listed above

What customers are saying about Sideline

“Must use regularly to maintain number. Terrible customer service. Had a few calls that were dropped or not properly connected. Numbers are HIGHLY prone to spam calls.” – Review from Capterra

“There is no one to talk to personally, ever. If something goes wrong, it will stay wrong, for hours or days while they take their time to respond to your email for help. If you need to make a change in the app, it will not auto install. You will have to delete the app and log back in.” – Review from GetApp

8. Freshdesk Contact Center

Freshdesk Contact Center (formerly Freshcaller) is a Google Voice alternative offering toll-free numbers and local phone numbers from over 90 countries. It also includes a wide range of call forwarding and routing features to support customer service teams.

However, Freshdesk has a number of hidden fees and doesn’t support text messaging or unlimited calling. Plus, customer service seems to be a huge issue. Keep in mind also hidden fees like $0.004 per minute on call transcriptions and $0.003 per minute on call recordings. In a big organization, those numbers add up.

Freshdesk pricing plans

Like Google Voice, Freshdesk does offer a free plan. This sounds great — except you can’t actually use any plan for free. With every plan, you need to purchase your phone number(s). And while you have “free” incoming minutes on the paid plans, you’ll pay by the minute once they are exhausted. The plans don’t include any outbound minutes — you pay extra for those (yes, really).  And that’s not the end of Freshdesk’s extra fees.

• Call recording adds .0032 cents per minute
• Call monitoring adds .005 cents per minute
• Adding other team members to conference calls adds .005 cents per minute
• Transcribing voicemails adds .004 cents per minute

Remember to consider these fees as you evaluate their pricing plans. Like other providers, you’ll get a discount if you pay upfront for an annual commitment. 

• Growth: $18 per user per month for 2,000 free incoming minutes, call recording, voicemail transcription, pre-built reports 
• Pro: $47 per user per month for 3,000 free incoming minutes, holiday routing, call barging, IVR, call conferencing, and call monitoring 
• Enterprise: $83 per user per month for 5,000 free incoming minutes, omnichannel routing, and a speech-enabled auto-attendant

What customers are saying about Freshdesk

“They do not provide any customer support. I had tickets open for weeks without anyone ever attending to them. It is also not possible to get anybody on the phone.” – Review from G2

“When you do have a technical issue or complete service outage it takes DAYS to get a response or any real action toward fixing your problem.” – Review from Capterra

“It frequently drops calls, crashes, and loses data. It’s extremely frustrating when on important support calls. Every now and then it will be unable to find a phone number and not allow you to make a call until after you reboot the browser.” – Review from Capterra

9. JustCall

JustCall is a Google Voice alternative that lets you claim and share local numbers from 70 countries. Outbound sales teams opt for the platform due to their power dialer feature that lets them call multiple parties quickly. Unfortunately, JustCall can be a pretty pricey solution for your business since no plan includes any call minutes and their entry-level plan is more expensive than other providers. Lack of reliability is also a major issue users face.

JustCall pricing plans

JustCall offers pretty decent features with its plans, but it’s still more expensive than other service providers on this list, such as OpenPhone and Ringblaze. And its per-month pricing doesn’t even include the 1.38 cents per minute you’ll pay for most local calls — or the very expensive 11.06 cents per minute you’ll pay for Alaska calls.

• Standard: $24 per user per month for one free number, auto-attendant, and call routing and recording
• Premium: $48 per user per month for SMS bots and campaigns, post-call surveys, and help desk and CRM integrations
• Enterprise: Must contact for price and have 100 users or more for priority customer support as well as bundled calling and SMS rates

What customers are saying about JustCall

“The calls drop, the notifications are extremely inconsistent, the reports are awful to manage and the texting application is pitiful. I have lost leads due to JustCall not working.” – Review from G2

“The apps were not reliable on my hardware and offered poor reliability. I got many dropped calls and missed calls.” – Review from G2

“Call quality is poor. Calls drop regularly, especially when transferring. Caller information does not populate quickly, sometimes never.” – Review from Capterra

10. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a popular VoIP service offering a fairly easy-to-use interface and both local and toll-free numbers. But while Grasshopper may be well-known and have enough business features to replace Google Voice, it’s not built for collaboration. There are no integrations, shared phone numbers, or call recording capabilities. Plus, pricing can be confusing too.

Grasshopper pricing plans

Like Telzio, Grasshopper requires business owners to invest in 100% of its features — voicemail transcriptions, call reports, and more — no matter what plan you choose. Their three tiers simply include a different amount of phone numbers and extensions. Adding any more numbers will cost you extra ($10 per number per month).

• Solo: $28 per month for one phone number and three extensions
• Partner: $46 per month for three phone numbers and six extensions
• Small Business: $80 per month for five phone numbers and unlimited extensions

What customers are saying about Grasshopper

“Over the few years I used it, they never made any upgrades. The iOS app functioned well enough for basic things, but seemed to be forever just a beta product. The website’s settings were hard to navigate, and setting up the incoming call workflow was too cumbersome.” – Review from Capterra

“The problem with this software is that it is full of glitches. There were several times when Grasshopper sent the voice messages to the wrong phone numbers, the extensions got changed or were wrong, or the app just stopped working all together. It seemed like every week or two, we had to waste time calling in to customer service to get them to fix the problems. Also, you could not send mass texts or multiple texts to more than one person without them seeing each other’s phone numbers and all responses going to all people in the group text.” – Review from Capterra

“The connection is really weak. Whenever I follow instructions to access a feature, it still doesn’t work. Calling in for help takes hours to resolve or isn’t resolved at all.” – Review from Capterra

11. Dialpad

Dialpad is a cloud communications platform mostly geared toward call centers. They tout their use of technology to provide live speech coaching and AI-powered call and voicemail transcriptions. Like other alternatives, their standard plan lacks some essential business phone features. For example, to access additional phone numbers to separate your teams (e.g., customer support and sales) or to text internationally, you’ll have to upgrade to a Pro plan. The same is true if you require integrations beyond Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.  

Dialpad pricing plans

There are three pricing tiers, each providing one local number with unlimited US and Canada calling, SMS and MMS, and video meetings. Here are the options based on monthly billing. 

• Standard: $15 per user per month, AI-powered call and voicemail transcriptions, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations (maximum of three users) 
• Pro: $25 per user per month, option to have additional numbers, international texting, auto-replies, and CRM integrations
• Enterprise: call for a quote, 100% uptime, unlimited locations and ring groups, SSO integrations, and live agent support 

What customers are saying about Dialpad

“The fact that when you get phone calls through Dialpad to your cell phone you can’t tell if it is a personal call or a call to your work number. If Dialpad was able to give a notification that it is a “Dialpad” call it would make answering the calls easier. I have answered personal calls with my work phone intro. So that is my biggest and honestly only real complaint with Dialpad.” – Review from G2

“The support ended after the contract was signed. Company needs to bridge sales and support to continue to grow with mid-enterprise clients. Hard time reaching my guy after we signed, prior to that we talked a few times a day. That said, I reached customer service for a request and they solved my issue immediately.” – Review from Capterra

12. Skype

Founded in 2003, Skype was one of the pioneers in VoIP, becoming the go-to app for video calls in the 2000s. 

While a Skype video call is free, you’ll need a Skype number to get essential business features like the ability to send texts, make and receive calls from someone not using Skype, and collaborate more seamlessly. 

The cost of a Skype number varies depending on location (US vs international number), payment schedule, and any discounts (e.g. if you purchase a calling subscription). For instance, a local US Skype number billed monthly is $2.99. 

Skype pricing plans

Once you have a Skype number, you can purchase credits or buy a monthly subscription. 

Monthly subscription examples:

• United States: $2.99 per month unlimited minutes within the US, Guam, and Puerto Rico
• North America: $6.99 per month unlimited minutes; adds Canada and Mexico

You can call anywhere by purchasing Skype credits. However, pay close attention to the fine print detailing extra charges like 11.2 cents per SMS message within the US or the 4.9 cent connection fee per call. 

What customers are saying about Skype

“…some of the features mentioned above are only available in the paid version of the program. If you are considering purchasing Skype for your business, it is essential to evaluate your individual needs carefully before making a decision.” – Review from G2

“The customer support of Skype is not that great. Even if you try using the contact us button, they won’t let you contact them instantly. Various FAQs and other sections will help you solve the issue but getting in touch with the support team is indeed a task!” – Review from G2

“I like Skype, but too many of our people no longer use or trust the software…It became almost obsolete as people moved on to other services during Covid.” – Review from Capterra

13. Phone.com

Phone.com positions itself as a budget-friendly VoIP business phone system for small businesses and entrepreneurs. However, its base plan has dozens of limitations including:

• the option to only have one number on your account
• 500 calling minutes
• 1,000 text segments (any 160-character message is considered a segment)

Its key features include live receptionist services, toll-free and vanity numbers, and the ability to mix and match plans among your users. 

Phone.com pricing plans

There’s a 2023 update to Phone.com’s pricing plans, which drop a notch if you want to be billed annually. Last year, Basic Users could expect to pay $14.99 for one phone number per account — that number’s been cut down to $12.74/month/user when billed annually. To unlock unlimited minutes, you’ll have to upgrade to “Plus,” which has moved from $19.00/user/month flat to $18.69/user/month. You can still pay those prices if you want to be billed month-to-month.

Phone.com’s monthly pricing plans still reflect three user types — Basic, Plus, and Pro. And each includes video, voice, SMS, and 50 other standard features like call routing and conference calls.

• Basic Users: $12.74 billed monthly for one phone number per account, 500 pooled minutes, and 1,000 pooled text segments per user
• Plus Users: $18.69 billed monthly for one phone number per user, unlimited minutes and text messaging, IP desk phone compatibility
• Pro Users: $27.19 billed monthly adds call recording and analytics, voicemail transcription, and CRM integration

One more thing to watch out for: there may be extra charges for shared phone lines and call recordings with the Basic and Plus Plans. Factor that into your buying decision if you’re going for one of the more affordable options.

What customers are saying about Phone.com

“Their support is lackluster, dismissive, and unresponsive. I have been transferred to tech support chat only to sit on the chat for 45 minutes as the next in queue for the feature to then close and say “agents not available.” – Review from G2

“When you contact customer support, there is no urgency for them to assist you and never return your phone calls or emails. This is highly unprofessional as a business.” – Review from Capterra 

14. Aircall

Aircall is a solution geared towards call centers, so while it’s full of features and integrations that large companies would need, it’s missing some key features for small businesses and entrepreneurs like auto-replies and voicemail transcription. In addition, its pricing structure can be cost-prohibitive for startups.  

Aircall pricing plans

If you’re on a limited budget, note that Aircall has a 3-user minimum for each plan. So you’re on the hook for at least $120 per month (if billed monthly). Like other providers, they offer a discount if you pay annually. 

• Essentials: $30 per user per month for free domestic calls, SMS, and IVR support
• Professional: $50 per user per month for call analytics, live call monitoring, and a Salesforce integration
• Custom: Undisclosed price unlocks unlimited worldwide calls, custom analytics, and access to API developer support

What customers are saying about Aircall

“The quality of calls were inconsistent and unreliable most of the time. Aircall’s support team kept putting it down to unstable internet connection when Skype, Teams, Whatsapp and Zoom calls were never an issue for us.” – Review from G2 

“The pricing is on the higher side compared to the rest of the tools that offer similar features. The mobile app is not as user-friendly as the web app, there is a lot of scope for improvement.” – Review from Capterra

“They seem like a very sales and marketing-driven company (very proud of the fact they reached 100M in ARR) but don’t seem to have a product focus. In the last year haven’t seen much innovation.” – Review from G2

15. Vonage

Vonage was one of the early pioneers of residential telecommunications over VoIP, adding business-friendly features over the last two decades. Of course, longevity alone doesn’t mean they’ve perfected business communication. But with over 50 features across all plans (including toll-free numbers and more integrations), it’s a viable alternative to Google Voice. However, if you want to access the features modern businesses expect, it’s gonna cost you.

Vonage pricing plans

Vonage has three pricing plans to choose from. Unfortunately, small businesses (1-4 users) will pay a premium. Discounts are offered, starting with the 5th user.  

• Basic: $19.99 per line, per month; free calls and texts in the US, 20+ integrations
• Premium: $29.99 per line, per month; unlimited meetings, multi-level auto attendant, CRM integration
• Advanced: $39.99 per line, per month; on-demand call recording (15 hours), call group, visual voicemail

But here’s where Vonage gets you. They consider many features add-ons, so be sure to factor that into your monthly per-line plan fee. Here are some examples: 

• Voicemail transcription: $4.99 per month
• Toll-free numbers: $39.99 per number per month
• Vonage for Salesforce: $4.99 per month
• Call queue: $14.99 per month
• Call recording: $4.99 per month

What customers are saying about Vonage

“Porting my old number from Verizon was horrible, Verizon was good on their end, Vonage dropped the ball multiple times, took many calls and chat to resolve. Billing errors took 4 months to resolve. Totally unable to speak to anyone by phone with a company that “specializes” in phone communications.” – Review from G2

“The biggest con was the price — it kept growing and growing to a point where we had to switch over to a new provider. They were also missing a lot of integration with third-party applications.” – Review from Capterra

What you should know about Google Voice

When you’re just launching a small business or a startup, it might make sense to use Google Voice because it’s free and your expenses are likely tight. As your business grows, you might notice some limitations to the free and even some paid tiers of Voice, including:

• All voicemails, calls, and text messages live in separate inboxes, making it difficult to catch up on conversations
• No integrations with any apps except tools in Google Workspace
• Texting is only available to US customers
• You can only forward texts to the email address associated with your Google Voice account
• No customer support from Google
• No toll-free numbers or vanity numbers
• No signups outside of the US (on the free version of Google Voice)
• No auto-reply texting, making it more difficult to set expectations outside of your business hours
• No auto-attendant or IVR features
• No ability to share a business phone number with your team
• Call recording for Google Workspace accounts is only available on their higher tier plans ($20 per user per month for ad-hoc recording and $30 per user per month for auto-recording of all your calls)
• Poor call quality

Ideally, you want a phone system that can grow as your business grows. For business owners, you want a business phone service that allows you to stop using your personal phone number for work-related phone calls or text messages. 

If you search for a Google Voice alternative, you’ll see that other VoIP services offer far more advanced functionality. Even searches on Reddit and Quora show results for many different Google Voice alternatives.

So, if you’re looking for a Google Voice alternative, you’re not the only one.

Google Voice for Google Workspace pricing

Let’s say you’ve determined that the free version of Google Voice won’t meet your needs. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to enjoy essential business features (call recording, phone menus, ring groups, etc.) without setting up a Google Workspace account first. 

You’ll be paying a minimum $6 per user per month for Google Workspace. 

After purchasing a Google Workspace account, you can add one of the following Google Voice plans. 

Here’s more on how each of these Google Voice plans compare:

	Starter	Standard	Premier
Pricing	$10 per user per month	$20 per user per month	$30 per user per month
Number of users	Up to 10	Unlimited (but extra for more than 50)	Unlimited (but extra for more than 50)
Domestic locations	Up to 10	Unlimited	Unlimited
International locations	X	X	Unlimited
Auto attendants	X	✓	✓
Call recordings	X	On-demand	Automatic
Desk-phone compatibility	X	✓	✓
eDiscovery	X	✓	✓
Ring groups	X	✓	✓
BigQuery exports	X	X	✓

Each plan includes free calls to the US from anywhere, VoIP call forwarding, voicemail transcription, and other basic calling features. 

However, key features are missing and lead businesses to Google Voice alternatives. As mentioned, most notably, texting is only available to US customers with Google Voice.

Consider also whether you need a toll-free or vanity number, shared numbers, or integration with non-Google apps before you choose Google Voice.

OpenPhone: The best Google Voice alternative

If you’re looking for a Google Voice alternative, look no further than OpenPhone. ✨

OpenPhone is a business phone built specifically for startups and scaling businesses. Unlike Google Voice and most of its competitors, OpenPhone offers all of the key features a business phone needs — with no hidden fees and starting at just $15 per user per month. OpenPhone also has a sleek user interface and dedicated customer support to make your experience 10 times better.

Ready to make the switch? You can start calling and texting with OpenPhone today.

Sign up for a free trial in under a minute.

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