Business phone plans compared: Quo (formerly OpenPhone), Google Voice, RingCentral, Grasshopper and Dialpad

What should a contractor compare in a phone plan?

The per-user price is the figure every vendor puts in big type, and it is not the line that decides anything. For a service company the lines that decide whether the plan works are these: whether the plan includes texting and how much, what the vendor charges for the carrier registration (10DLC) that business texting now requires, what an extra number costs when you want a second line for a crew lead or a tracking number for the trucks, how the plan routes a call when the first person doesn't answer, and what the vendor says about taking your number with you when you leave. The last one is the one nobody checks until it matters.

We read everything below on the vendors' pricing pages in October 2026, and re-read Grasshopper's pricing page and Quo's cancellation pages on November 3, 2026. Prices are US list prices before taxes and carrier fees. Where a page did not show a figure, we say so rather than guess.

Quo (formerly OpenPhone)

OpenPhone now trades as Quo, and its pricing page uses the Quo name in its headings while the body text still says OpenPhone in places. Per user, as seen October 2026: Starter is $19 a month billed monthly or $15 billed annually ($180 a year), Business is $33 or $23 ($276), and Scale is $47 or $35 ($420). Each user gets one local or toll-free number, and calling and messaging in the US and Canada are listed as unlimited under a fair-use policy. Business adds automatic call recording, call transfers, phone menus and HubSpot and Salesforce connections.

The fees beyond the plan are on the same page: additional numbers are $5 a month each, texting registration carries a one-time $19.50 carrier review and setup fee and a $1.50 to $3 monthly messaging fee after that, automated texts sent through its API or Zapier cost $0.01 per segment, and taxes and fees are added at checkout.

Leaving is documented. Quo's porting-out article says you need an active paid account to port a number out, you submit a port-out request form, and Quo returns the account number and PIN your new carrier needs within 24 to 48 business hours. Its subscription article says the account stays active until the billing period ends and that phone numbers are held for 30 days at most after a cancellation, or 14 days when it follows failed payments. Its pricing FAQ says numbers are saved for 60 days after the billing cycle ends, with no calls or texts in that time, and its terms say a number is kept no more than 45 days after termination. All three figures are about holding a cancelled number; the trial is 7 days. Plan on the shortest (all three re-read November 3, 2026). We set those pages side by side in what happens to your number when you cancel. For Quo against one rival at a time, see Quo vs Grasshopper and Google Voice vs Quo. Quo's porting page says the porting process itself is free when you bring a number in, and there is a 7-day trial.

Google Voice

Google Voice for business is sold as an add-on to Google Workspace. The product page, as seen October 2026, lists three per-user prices: Starter at $10 a month for up to 10 users, without ring groups or an auto attendant; Standard at $20 with auto attendants and ring groups; and Premier at $30 with automatic call recording and advanced reporting. The page says each requires a Google Workspace plan billed separately, so the real per-user cost is the Voice price plus your Workspace seat. A personal plan is shown at $0.

Texting limits, extra numbers and 10DLC fees are not shown on the product page we read. Voicemail arrives as a transcript you can read in your inbox and search like email, per Google's help page.

On leaving, Google's number help page draws a line between account types. For personal accounts, unlocking a number to move it costs $3, waived if the number was ported in. The page says that applies only to personal accounts; business users are told to contact their administrator to port a number. So the $3 figure you may have seen is the personal rule, and a Workspace admin, which may be you, handles the port through the admin console. The head-to-head with Quo is in Google Voice vs Quo.

RingCentral RingEX

RingCentral's plans page, read in October 2026, lists Core at $20 per user a month on annual billing or $30 monthly, and Advanced at $25 or $35, with the same figures shown for the 1 to 5 and 6 to 100 user bands. Two bundles above Advanced are priced on request, so a larger company should ask. Core includes unlimited domestic calling, 100 toll-free minutes, 25 SMS per user per month and on-demand recording. Advanced adds CRM integrations, 1,000 toll-free minutes and 100 SMS per user per month.

Those texting allowances are the detail to notice. Twenty-five texts per user a month is a few days of appointment confirmations for a busy crew. The page lists a Business SMS Booster at $25 and high-volume SMS starting at $0.0119 per message for more. Additional local or toll-free numbers are $4.99 a month. The page says TCR registration is required for SMS and MMS and that additional fees may apply for it; the article with the amount sits behind a customer login, so we cannot quote it. It also lists taxes and fees that apply on top, including a Federal Universal Service Recovery Fee, an E911 service fee and a compliance and administrative cost recovery fee, and says phone rental is available only with a multi-year contract. The 14-day trial is for new subscribers, capped at five users, and does not include SMS. What happens to your number when you cancel is not stated on the plans page.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper prices the account rather than the seat. Its pricing page, read November 3, 2026, lists True Solo at $14 a month billed annually ($168) for one user, one number and one extension; Solo Plus at $25 ($300) with unlimited users; and Small Business at $55 ($660) with unlimited users, four numbers and unlimited extensions. Month to month, the three cost $18, $32 and $70. Prices are subject to sales tax. There is a 7-day free trial with no card required and a 7-day money-back guarantee. The feature table on the same page lists additional phone numbers at $9 a month each ($10 on monthly billing), unlimited calling minutes, and unlimited business texting with registration required, priced at a $19.50 one-time registration fee and a $1.50 monthly messaging fee.

Grasshopper is unusually clear about 10DLC. A company blog post dated May 30, 2024 says businesses must register their numbers with The Campaign Registry before texting, and lists the fees paid to the registry: a $4 brand registration application fee, a $15 campaign registration fee for each campaign, and a monthly charge of $2 to $10 per campaign. It also says unregistered traffic carries fees of $0.012 per SMS and $0.021 per MMS from June 1, 2024. A note on the pricing page says the $19.50 covers $4.50 for registering your company with The Campaign Registry and $15 for the carriers' review of your use case, and calls the $1.50 a month the registry's charge. Ask what your use case costs before you sign. What happens to your number on cancellation is not stated on the pages we read. For a closer look against Quo, read head-to-head: Quo vs Grasshopper.

Dialpad Connect

Dialpad's pricing page, as seen October 2026, lists Standard at $15 per user a month and Pro at $25, on annual billing per the sign-up links, with an Enterprise tier on request. Pro adds CRM integrations and 24/7 support. There is a 14-day free trial. Monthly-billing prices, texting limits, 10DLC fees and port-out rules are not in the page text we read, so ask before you sign.

What do all five have in common?

• The headline price is the annual price. Quo, RingCentral, Grasshopper and Dialpad all show the billed-annually figure first. Paying month to month costs more where it is offered at all.
• Texting registration is a separate step with its own fees. Any company that texts from software over a local number has to register with The Campaign Registry. Quo and Grasshopper show what that costs; RingCentral says fees may apply; Google Voice and Dialpad do not show them. Our 10DLC fees by vendor guide lays the figures side by side, and 10DLC registration explained covers what the registration is.
• Taxes and carrier fees come after the list price. Quo says taxes and fees are added at checkout, RingCentral itemizes several, and Grasshopper notes sales tax. Budget above the list price and read the first bill line by line.
• Only one of the five spells out the exit. Quo publishes a port-out process. Google explains personal accounts and defers business accounts to the admin. RingCentral, Grasshopper and Dialpad did not state port-out rules on the pages we read. Keeping your number is a federal right: the FCC's guide on porting says that a customer who changes providers within the same geographic area can keep the existing number. Our guide on porting a business phone number explains how.

What does an owned phone setup look like?

Any of these five can sit underneath a phone setup you own. Owning the setup means three things, none of which depends on the vendor. The number is registered to your company, with the account, the port-out PIN and the login stored in the business's records rather than on one person's phone. The routing is written down: who rings during office hours, who rings after, what happens when nobody answers, and which calls get an automatic text back. And the call and text history is saved against the customer in your CRM, which means switching phone vendors later means moving a number, not losing conversations.

That is what our business phone systems service sets up: number porting or setup, business-hours rules, ring groups to cell phones, missed-call text back, two-way texting tied to the CRM, and the carrier registration for texting. The plan you pay the carrier each month is its own line, and you can change it. Before you pick a vendor, run through the business phone setup checklist, and if you are choosing a number for the first time, start with business phone numbers for small business.

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