Grasshopper positions itself as an accessible virtual phone solution for small businesses, but the reality often falls far short of expectations. Based on extensive user feedback, the service is riddled with issues that make it difficult to recommend.
Complaints range from deceptive billing practices—like surprise charges and refusal to issue refunds for unused service—to technical flaws that disrupt business operations. Some users report missed calls and spam-laden lines, while others have faced hurdles with cancellations, labelling the company’s processes as frustrating and predatory.
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system which has been designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in Boston and is owned by GoTo, formerly LogMeIn.
Being a virtual phone system, Grasshopper relies on your phone/computer/internet plans to connect you with your clients. It is a cloud-based service that offers one or more phone numbers along with several extensions to accommodate the employees.
It does not integrate with other CRM software. It used to integrate with Zapier but this service is no longer anymore. It does, however, have its own mobile app (iOS and Android) to manage calls.
The company offers conference calls, text messaging and online faxing, but does not have unified messaging. The company also allows you to keep your own phone number or choose a toll-free, local or a vanity number. At the moment, Grasshopper supports the English language.
Grasshopper offers three pricing plans—True Solo, Solo Plus, and Small Business—structured around phone numbers and extensions rather than per-user pricing, making it unique compared to typical VoIP providers.
| Plan | Cost (annual / monthly) | Numbers | Extensions | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| True Solo | $14 / $18 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Solo Plus | $25 / $32 | 1 | 3 | Unlimited |
| Small Business | $55 / $70 | 4 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Many users report surprise charges, such as a 35% tax on plans or additional fees to register numbers for texting. Others mention difficulties in managing billing, including auto-renewal policies that are not clearly communicated and non-refundable subscriptions, even if services are terminated early. These hidden costs and rigid policies have left numerous customers frustrated, emphasizing the need for transparency and careful review before committing to Grasshopper.
Grasshopper allows entrepreneurs to have a dedicated business number, as well as several added features, while using their own preferred provider. Therefore, Grasshopper is handy for small businesses or individuals. However, it is lacking in some areas, such as customer support, voice mail recordings, or retrieving records from a CRM for incoming calls. If you are interested in these features, you would likely benefit from an alternative.
Pros: Grasshopper is a viable solution for small businesses or solo entrepreneurs that have a good budget
Cons: Grasshopper lacks many essential features and may not be able to manage all your calling needs
Grasshopper's packages are priced based on the quantity of phone numbers, extensions, and caller support. The starting price of $29 per month for one phone number is rather expensive given the limited features offered. Moreover, this price is added to what you are already paying for your phone service. Many businesses may be deterred by Grasshopper's fees and seek a more comprehensive solution at a similar or lower rate.
Grasshopper offers one number with three extensions for $24 per month. You need to pay $49 per month for three numbers and $89 per month for five numbers. The set up fee is $25.
Pros: Grasshopper's price packages look appealing
Cons: Features are limited. For a similar price, you could find a more comprehensive solution
Getting a phone number to run your business is a good start. But in order to put in place proper customer service, you will need some additional features that are not included in Grasshopper basic plan including. Here is a list of features you need that Grasshopper is lacking:
Online voice studio:
If you want to offer your customer professional greetings when they call your company, with Grasshopper, you will have to pay for a professional voice studio service ($75 per order). Quicktalk offers an online studio to create nice and polished greetings on your own. You just need to type your text, choose the voice you like and the hold-on music to personalize your greetings with no limit.
International calling:
International calling is not included in Grasshopper's plans. If you make calls outside the US, you will be charged additional fees according to the destinations you call.
Call recording:
This feature helps you record your customer and sales calls as well as interview calls with just one click. Small businesses as well as startups can use call recording to:
Call recording is an invaluable feature that helps understand what works and what doesn't.
This might be one of the most disappointing lack of features for Grasshopper, it doesn't integrate well with other software. It also doesn't provide any CRM or ecommerce software or messenger app integration.
Regarding CRM integration, Grasshopper website shows that you can track calls made to a certain number if you install a custom tracking code on your website to track events.
What should you expect from a proper CRM integration?
When a customer calls you, you can read the CRM information about that particular customer which is very useful to improve the quality of your customer support.
Call center software also provides even more advanced integrations to automatically log your calls into your CRM.
Slack integration can make a big difference too for your team's productivity.
VoIP integration is beneficial not only for customer management but also internal team management. Slack is one of the most popular team communication solutions for instant messaging. When the system is integrated with VoIP, you can manage all your communications without constantly switching between platforms. It becomes easier to track requests and approvals. Thus, Slack VoIP integration can improve workplace productivity.
Businesses that set up their phone system need a service that is 99% reliable with a high-end customer support to fix issues quickly when they occur. Being stuck with quality issues, portability problems or feature bugs can cause loss of earnings at scale, especially for small businesses.
You need a modern solution that is easy to set up as well as easy to use. Ideally, a cloud phone system should be set up and ready to use within 5 minutes. For a more advanced contact center solution, installation takes a long time... If the Grasshopper system takes longer than this to be set up, you may want to look for another service provider.
Are you looking for a better option than Grasshopper? Compare the other solutions on the market to select the best tool for your small or medium-sized business. Below, you will find a review of the competitors in terms of price, features, and ease of use:
Quicktalk is one of the best alternatives to Grasshopper. It offers a wide range of features that are tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses including advanced call center solutions with easy setup.
Competitive Pricing
Choose an all-in-one pricing at $19/month per company (up to 3 users and then +$10 per additional users) and enjoy features like unlimited calling to and from international destinations, auto-attendant features and more.
Top Advantages Of Quicktalk
Unlimited calling: Enjoy unlimited inbound and outbound calls to and from 36 countries.
Custom Greetings: Easily setup custom greetings in 15 languages with on hold music that make your customers feel welcomed.
Easy CRM integration: Connect to your e-commerce and Slack CRM with a click of your mouse.
Spoke Phone is an alternative VoIP platform for small and medium sized businesses. It can be installed and accessed on Android, Windows and iOS devices as well as by Cloud and SaaS-based software systems. Spoke Phone offers a range of important features including call recording, call routing, conference calls and voicemails.
In terms of costs, there is no free plan available though businesses can take advantage of a free trial period. Plans start at $99 per month for up to 4 users. Each additional number costs $2 per month while adding users increases the monthly cost by $25.
Google Voice is a popular call management software by Google. It is available as a desktop or tablet interface as well as a mobile application. With Google Voice, you can create call logs, block callers and perform many other regular telephone functions. Certain features like texting, voicemail, call transcriptions, etc. are also available on activation by users.
Google Voice has three paid plans. The base package is priced at $10 per user per month. Businesses can have up to 10 users in 10 locations on this plan. The next plan is priced at $20 per user per month and offers unlimited users at unlimited domestic locations. The top tier plan is priced at $30 per user per month and includes unlimited domestic and international calling from anywhere in the world.
Skype is one of the oldest names in VoIP telecommunications. Business users can use Skype to make voice calls as well as video calls and send text or multimedia messages from their smartphones or computers. Skype-to-Skype calls are free for all users but they must pay for VoIP calls to mobile and landline phones.
Unlike other VoIP service providers that have monthly plans, Skype pricing starts from $3.59 per month per user and increases with the number of destinations calls are being made to and the number of minutes used. For the latter, you need to buy Skype credits.
MagicJack is a VoIP platform available for businesses based in the USA and Canada. Users can make calls to domestic as well as international numbers over the internet. In addition to regular calls, you can also make conference calls with 3 or more people, transfer calls from one user to another and enable DND and eFax facilities.
Business users can maintain their current number or port their number or acquire a new number. MagicJack to magicJack calls are free. Business users who need a single number can take up a $39 annual plan and buy additional calling credits for international calls.
Grasshopper offers 3 annual plans – the $26 Solo plan with 1 phone number and 3 extensions, the $44 Partner plan with 3 phone numbers with 6 extensions and the $80 Small Business plan with 5 phone numbers with unlimited extensions. Additional numbers are available for an extra $10 per month. Grasshopper plan features include call forwarding, voicemail and call reporting.
Grasshopper has many other U.S. based competitors that offer cloud communication solutions like business phone systems, call center solutions, video calling, etc. Grasshopper is generally compared to Spoke Phone, Skype or magicJack that provide similar features.
1: Quicktalk
2: Spoke Phone
3: Google Voice
4: Skype
5: magicJack
Grasshopper may not be the best for your small business. That's why it's a good idea to look at alternatives like Quicktalk's easy-to-use solution. With helpful features, simple setup, and 5-star customer support, Quicktalk is the best phone system for small businesses.
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