RingCentral vs Grasshopper: Which one is the best for your business?

October 10, 2023

Experience the ultimate match: RingCentral vs. Grasshopper. Uncover the perfect phone system for your business. Let the competition begin!

Discover RingCentral: Your go-to cloud phone system for seamless business communication. Centralize calls, messages, video, faxes. Select from 4 plans, 4 contact center options, and exclusive video communication plans.

Unveiling Grasshopper: Elevate your business credibility on a budget. Tailored for entrepreneurs and small businesses, it brings limitless USA and Canada calls/texts, call queue management, extensions, and more. Plans determined by phone and extension numbers.

Compare RingCentral and Grasshopper plans and features

How many users do you need?

	RingCentral	Grasshopper
Pick up plan
Price for users	/month	/month
Channels
Key features
Support Channel
Pros and Cons
Best For

Budget-friendly and feature rich plans puts RingCentral ahead

Subscribers to the RingCentral Core plan must pay $30 per user per month. This is inclusive of a business phone number or toll-free number and unlimited calls within the USA and Canada. This plan is limited to 20 users.

The RingCentral Advanced plan and Ultra plan have no limitation on the number of users. User license fees costs $35 per month for the Advanced plan based on the number of users. This is inclusive of add-on features such as video meetings with up to 100 participants, quality-of-service reports, etc.

Upgrading to the Ultra plan will cost businesses $45 per user per month. As the number of users increases, the license fee reduces. This plan includes all the features of the Advanced plan as well as automatic call recording, real time analytics and multi-site admin and management.

Grasshopper plans seem more expensive as compared to RingCentral.

Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to take advantage of the Grasshopper True Solo and Solo Plus plans. For just $16 per month, a True Solo subscription provides access to a suite of services via 1 extension (or 3 with Solo Plus).

For businesses needing more extensions, there's the Partner plan, which includes 3 phone numbers and 6 extensions.

Opting for the Small Business plan provides subscribers with 5 phone numbers and unlimited extensions.

A step-by-step comparison between RingCentral and Grasshopper

To help you find what solution fits best your need between Zoom Phone and Ringcentral, we have conducted an unbiased comparison based on 8 criterias:

#1 Manage your office calls : How will you handle calls while at the office? Can you use computer-based calls or do you require an office phone?

#2 Manage your calls on the go: Does it offer a mobile app with VoIP calls? Do you need to set up call forwarding to your mobile device?

#3 Auto-attendant : Can you easily distribute calls to your team?

#4 Greetings Management : Can you set up company greetings on your own? How easy is it to create and manage announcements?

#5 Call Tracking : How easy is it to monitor your business calls?

#6 Call recording : Can you record and listen to calls?

#7 Call billing : How much does it cost to make and receive calls? Is everything included?

#8 Activation : How easy is it to activate a phone number and set up your phone system?

COMPARE

Manage Your Office Calls
Manage Your Calls On The Go
Auto-attendant
Greetings Management
Call Tracking
Call recording
Call billing
Activation

#1 Manage Your Office Calls

Additional deskphone supports puts RingCentral ahead

Office agents can make and receive calls through Ringcentral apps for desktops and mobile devices as well as a web browser and supported desk phones.

With an interface similar to the RingCentral app, the Grasshopper desktop app can be used to handle calls and access other services.

#2 Manage Your Calls On The Go

Mobile applications with similar features from both service providers

The Ringcentral app for iOS and Android devices can be used to make and receive voice and video calls.

Both RingCentral and Grasshopper business subscribers can handle calls through an app for Android and iOS smartphones.

#3 Auto-attendant

Comparable call routing options by RingCentral and Grasshopper

Only the RingCentral Standard and Premium plans include a multi-level auto attendant facility. Callers are greeted with customized messages and calls are routed based on their keystroke responses. This facility is not included in the Essential plan.

RingCentral and Grasshopper take different approaches to call routing. An add-on Ruby receptionist service pack can be used to route incoming calls.

#4 Greetings Management

Comparative welcome greeting customization options by both service providers

RingCentral charges a per minute rate for all international calls to destinations other than the USA and Canada. This is dependent on the type of number being called and the destination. For example, calls to landline numbers in Bombay, India are billed at $0.059 per minute while calls to mobile numbers in Hong kong are billed at $0.039 per minute.

RingCentral and Grasshopper take comparable approaches to call greetings.

Grasshopper subscribers can upload a prerecorded message, record message online or have their script voiced and recorded professionally for an extra $75.

#5 Call Tracking

Better call management options available with RingCentral

Live call monitoring is not available to RingCentral Essentials plan users. Instead, they can assess agent activity through voicemail transcriptions and previews that are delivered to your email inbox. This feature is available in English as well as French, Spanish and German.

The RingCentral Standard plan takes call monitoring a notch up with reports on call analytics. These reports provide a holistic view on call statistics such as call duration, the number of calls made and received and other KPIs.

Standard as well as Premium plan users can also monitor live calls. They can listen in to live calls, speak to agents without the other party hearing, join a call and make it a three-way call and takeover calls.

Grasshopper call monitoring features are comparable to those offered by the RingCentral essential plan. Supervisors cannot listen to live calls, guide agents, join calls or take them over. However, agents have the right and ability to forward calls to supervisors if they require help. Voicemail messages are transcribed and sent to subscribers through email. This helps them respond faster. Supervisors can also assess team productivity by studying reports on call analytics such as average call duration and call type.

#6 Call Recording

Availability of call recording facility in upgraded RingCentral plans puts it at an advantage

Only the RingCentral Premium plan includes automatic call recording. This feature can be manually enabled for calls made and received by Standard call subscribers and is not included in the Essential plan.

Though both starter plans do not include call recording, RingCentral scores over Grasshopper for advanced plans.

Call recording is excluded from all Grasshopper plans.

#7 Call Billing

International calls billed at additional per minute rates by both service providers

Apart from the monthly subscription, all RingCentral plan subscribers are billed for calls made to numbers outside the USA and Canada. Call rates depend on location and the type of number being called. For example, calls to India are billed at $0.059 per minute while calls to Costa Rica are billed $0.068 per minute.

As with RingCentral plans, outgoing calls to most numbers in the USA and Canada are included in the Grasshopper plans. International calls are billed on usage. For example, calls to Barcelona are billed at a 4¢ per minute rate while calls to Rome are billed at 51¢ per minute.

#8 Activation

Create accounts online to access RingCentral and Grasshopper services

The account creation process can be completed online by RingCentral subscribers. You can sign up with your existing email address or Google account. Once the initial sign up processes are done, you can define user extensions, call handling rules and more from the RingCentral dashboard. To make and receive calls, users can download and install the RingCentral app on their smartphones, laptops or desktops. Certain IP desk phones can also be used. Cordless, receptionist, conference desk phones are available with market retailers or from RingCentral.

RingCentral and Grasshopper have similar account creation procedures.

New Grasshopper accounts can be created on the Grasshopper website by porting an existing number or by choosing a new number. Once the account has been created, settings can be customized from the dashboard. Users can download and install the Grasshopper smartphone/ desktop app to make and receive calls. Landline phones can also be used once the calling card feature is registered and activated.