Grasshopper Review: Is It the Right Virtual Phone System?

The verdict

Grasshopper is a good buy for a solo owner or a small team that wants a professional business number on the phones they already carry, without paying per person. It is a virtual phone system, not an office phone system: it is built around its apps and sells no desk phones, international calls cost extra, and the AI it lists summarizes and scores calls rather than answering them. If that fits how you work, the flat account price is hard to beat once three or more people share the line.

Grasshopper at a glance

Full price tables and every fee: Grasshopper pricing.

How Grasshopper works

Grasshopper says most numbers are "activated immediately upon checkout," while toll-free vanity numbers can take up to 24 hours (Grasshopper). Calls reach staff through the apps, and Grasshopper lists call quality "across WiFi, VoIP, or cellular services" (Grasshopper). Because the business number lives in the app, owners keep business and personal calls separate on one handset.

What Grasshopper includes

From the comparison table on Grasshopper's pricing page. Call recording, the phone menu, simultaneous call handling, call summaries and AI call sentiment show a dash in the True Solo column, so they come with Solo Plus and Small Business (Grasshopper). The features page lists phone menus and shared extensions for small teams (Grasshopper) and multi-user call routing, call recording and call tracking for Small Business (Grasshopper).

Texting and voicemail

Business texting is unlimited on every plan once you register, which US carriers require: $19.50 once and $1.50 a month (Grasshopper). Grasshopper also lists instant responses, group messaging, conversation search and filters, and voicemail transcription with voicemail sent to email. For a business that misses calls while on a job, voicemail-to-text plus an instant text reply covers much of what a receptionist would do.

Grasshopper's AI features

The plan comparison lists call summaries, AI call sentiment and AI voicemail sentiment (Grasshopper). These help you review calls after they end. They do not answer the phone: there is no AI receptionist in the plan tables, and the virtual receptionist appears under add-ons. Owners who want AI to pick up missed calls should look at systems that include one, compared on AI phone systems.

A two-person business, priced out

Two partners who share one business number and want texting pay $337.50 in year one on Solo Plus billed annually, including registration and the messaging fee. On a per-user system such as Quo Starter, two people with the same $19.50 registration and Quo's lowest $1.50 monthly fee cost $397.50, and each gets a separate number (Quo). Grasshopper is cheaper here and gets cheaper relative to per-user plans with every person added, because its price does not change.

Grasshopper features by plan

From the plan table on Grasshopper's pricing page: the True Solo column shows a dash for call recording, IVR, simultaneous call handling, call summaries and AI call sentiment. AI voicemail sentiment is in the feature table, but the plan data does not make clear whether True Solo includes it, so it is left out of this table. Numbers, extensions and users from the plan cards.

That makes True Solo a plain business line: one number that rings your apps, with voicemail transcription and texting. The phone menu and recording, which most small offices want, start on Solo Plus.

What a team pays: Grasshopper vs per-user plans

Monthly list price on annual billing. Grasshopper: the cheapest plan that gives each person an extension on one shared number (True Solo for one; Solo Plus plus $3 extensions; Small Business above that). Per-user plans: price times people. Before taxes and texting fees.

Grasshopper is the cheapest option at every size in the table because the price is per account. The per-user systems give each person more, though: their own number on Quo, and a full set of office features on Nextiva and RingCentral.

Where Grasshopper is strong

• Flat pricing for teams. Solo Plus covers unlimited users for $25 a month billed annually. Three people on a per-user plan such as Quo Starter would pay $45 a month.
• Number choice. Local, toll-free and vanity numbers are all available, and most are live at checkout.
• Simple to run. Extensions, greetings, forwarding and business hours cover what a small business usually needs.
• Fax included. Virtual fax appears in the feature table and on the small-team feature list.
• Round-the-clock support. The pricing page says plans come with 24/7 support (Grasshopper).
• Room to switch plans. Upgrades apply immediately; downgrades apply from the next billing cycle (Grasshopper).

Where Grasshopper falls short

• No desk phones sold. Grasshopper is built around its desktop and mobile apps. Its FAQ says a VoIP desk phone with an internet connection "should be no issue" (Grasshopper), but offices that want handsets supplied and managed need another system.
• International calls are extra. "International calls are not included at this time" and are billed per minute (Grasshopper).
• Limited numbers and extensions. Solo Plus has one number and three extensions; more cost $9 and $3 a month each.
• AI does not answer calls. Its AI features summarize calls and score sentiment; the virtual receptionist is an add-on.
• Texting costs extra to switch on. Business texting needs a one-time $19.50 registration and a $1.50 monthly messaging fee before the first message goes out (Grasshopper).
• Short trial. The trial ends after 7 days or 50 talk minutes (Grasshopper support).

Which Grasshopper plan to choose

Small Business costs $30 a month more than Solo Plus. The pricing page works out where that extra pays off by number of extensions and numbers.

Grasshopper vs the main alternatives

Quo from its pricing page; Google Voice and Ooma from our Google Voice for business review and Ooma review. Head to head: Google Voice vs Grasshopper.

Better alternatives by need

The gap widens with every person added: at ten people sharing one number, Grasshopper costs $46 a month against $150 on Quo Starter.

Who should not pick Grasshopper

• Offices that want handsets supplied and managed by the provider: Grasshopper sells no desk phones.
• Teams where every person needs their own number: each extra number is $9 a month, while Quo includes one per user.
• Businesses that want AI to answer missed calls: Grasshopper's AI reviews calls rather than answering them.
• Companies that call abroad every day: international minutes are billed per minute on top of the plan.
• Anyone who wants a phone menu on the cheapest plan: True Solo has none; it starts on Solo Plus.

Numbers: local, toll-free and vanity

Grasshopper offers local, toll-free and vanity numbers (Grasshopper). You choose the main number at sign-up and manage extra numbers from your account after checkout. Most numbers work as soon as you check out, though toll-free vanity numbers can take up to 24 hours (Grasshopper). True Solo and Solo Plus include one number and Small Business four; more are $9 a month each.

Year one for a three-person team

Three people sharing one number on Solo Plus, each with an extension, pay $300 for the year on annual billing, plus $37.50 in texting registration and messaging fees: $337.50 before sales tax and before any first-purchase discount. The same three on Quo Starter would pay $540 for the plan alone.

Support

Grasshopper's pricing page promises 24/7 support on its plans (Grasshopper). Some changes go through support rather than the app: adding extensions and switching on international calling are both done by contacting the support team (Grasshopper, Grasshopper).

Setup, trial and support

You pick your main number at sign-up and add more numbers later from your account. The 7-day trial needs no credit card and includes one number, three extensions and 50 business talk minutes; premium area codes and 800 numbers are excluded (Grasshopper support). If you convert to paid, "your number will stay the same" (Grasshopper support). For greetings, Grasshopper sells a professional recording of up to 250 words for $75 (Grasshopper).

Canceling and leaving

Cancellation goes through Grasshopper's support team. If you are porting your numbers to another provider, start the port before you cancel and keep the account open until the move is confirmed, because a number has to be active on the old account to transfer. The pricing page advertises a 7-day money-back guarantee (Grasshopper) but says nothing about leaving partway through an annual term, so test on the trial, start monthly if you are unsure, and ask support how the rest of an annual term is handled before you commit.

Is Grasshopper legit?

Yes. Grasshopper is an established virtual phone service; its pricing page claims "Over 400,000 happy customers served" (Grasshopper). The practical question is fit, not legitimacy: it does a small set of things well for owners who work from a cell phone.

Is Grasshopper worth it?

For a solo owner or a small team that shares one number and works from cell phones, yes. A shared line with a menu, recording and extensions costs $25 a month on annual billing however many people answer it, which no per-user system in our comparison matches. It is the wrong buy for an office that wants provider-supplied desk phones, an AI receptionist or a separate number for every person.

Questions to ask before you sign up

1. Will staff need desk phones? Grasshopper sells none, so confirm your VoIP phones work first.
2. How many numbers and extensions do you need in year one?
3. Do you call clients outside the US and Canada? Check the per-minute rates first.
4. Do you want callers answered by AI? Grasshopper's AI summarizes calls; it does not answer them.
5. Monthly or annual: are you sure enough to commit to a year?