Google Voice pricing, plans, & hidden fees

Thinking about purchasing a Google Voice plan? It’s less straightforward than you might’ve imagined.

As a legacy Voice over Internet Protocol platform established in 2009, Google Voice serves business owners and personal users. This is where the confusion comes in — there are four separate pricing plans, not to mention hidden costs.

This guide provides everything you need to know about Google Voice pricing, including its plans, fees, and required subscriptions for those seeking a Google phone number for business. It also provides a better alternative for small business owners who need an affordable VoIP service.

Google Voice for Business pricing and plans

How much does it cost to buy Google Voice for Business?

Let’s break it down in the chart below:

	Starter with Voice only	Starter	Standard	Premier
Pricing	$10 per month	$10 per user per month	$20 per user per month	$30 per user per month
Maximum number of users	1	10	Unlimited, but extra for more than 50	Unlimited, but extra for more than 50
Unlimited text messaging in US	✔	✔	✔	✔
Calls to the US from any Google Voice number included	✔	✔	✔	✔
Plan availability	US only	14 countries	14+ countries	14+ countries
Supported organizational calling locations	Domestic only	Domestic only	Domestic and regional	Domestic, regional, and international
Integrations with Gmail, Calendar, and Meet	Limited capabilites	✔	✔	✔
Ring groups	X	X	✔	✔
Multi-level auto attendant	X	X	✔	✔
On-demand call recording	✔	✔	✔	On-demand and automatic
BigQuery exports	X	X	X	✔
SIP Link	X	X	✔	✔
eDiscovery	X	X	✔	✔

Unlike other VoIP solutions, there’s no annual plan to save on costs. You can only pay month-to-month. For a team of five, you’ll pay $50 per month for each user on Voice, plus $35 in Workspace subscriptions, bringing your total cost for Google Voice to $85 per month.

Keep reading to get a closer look at each plan, including some Google Voice pros and cons.

Starter with Voice only plan

Pricing: $10 per user per month

Best for: Individuals who need a second number for a side hustle or privacy reasons 

Google Voice recently introduced a Starter plan that doesn’t require a Workspace subscription. Similar to Google Voice’s free plan, you can sign up with a personal Gmail address rather than a business one. This plan can only support one user and is only available in the US. 

There are other limitations. For example, you can’t set up do not disturb based on Google Calendar working hours or be able to identify incoming Google Meet calls. 

If you want to add another team member to your account, you’ll need to upgrade to the Starter plan with Workspace. This will bring your total cost to $17 per month for the ability to add team members.

Starter plan

Pricing: $10 per user per month

Best for: Solopreneurs who need a basic business number for calling and texting in the US 

Google Voice’s Starter plan gets you a Google Voice number and lets you make unlimited calls to the US — as long as you’re also located in the US or Canada.

You’ll also get the following features:

• Call forwarding
• Activity reporting
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Unlimited text messaging in the US only
• Web and mobile apps
• Integrations with Google Calendar and Google Meet

Notice the Starter plan doesn’t offer auto-attendants and ring groups for Google Voice, which makes it harder to route customers to the right department or team member. And speaking of team members, you can only have up to 10 on this plan. You’ll have to upgrade if you manage a bigger team.

Want to record calls for quality assurance or agent training? You’ll have to remember to turn it on manually for each call. If you want automatic recording, you’ll have to upgrade to the Premier plan.

Standard plan

Pricing: $20 per user per month

Best for: Small businesses that need ring groups and auto attendants

The Standard plan allows you to have up to 50 users, which is great for scaling a business. But it lacks many additional features that could help you scale effectively.

The ones you do get include:

• Ring groups
• Multi-level auto attendants
• Desk phone support
• eDiscovery
• Manual call recording
• SIP link for making international calls through Google Voice and connecting desk phones

As a reminder, you won’t have automatic call recording on this plan. But you will get desk phone and SIP link support.

Keep in mind that location restrictions apply — Google Voice doesn’t support international calling locations unless you upgrade to the Premier plan.

Premier plan

Pricing: $30 per user per month

Best for: Large, international businesses needing advanced reporting features

The Premier plan gets you a few additional features for your extra $10 per user per month:

• Advanced reporting via BigQuery
• Automatic call recording
• Unlimited international locations

Feeling underwhelmed? You’re in good company. Google Voice offers bare-bones features at the cost of a more advanced plan.

And no matter how much you upgrade Google Voice, there will always be issues with Google Voice not working. You also won’t have access to key features like shared numbers, a desktop app, or toll-free numbers.

Google Voice for personal use pricing

By now, you’re familiar with Google Voice for Business’s pricing — but how does it compare to the cost of Google Voice for personal use?

For starters, this is a free plan designed for personal users. This means it isn’t designed for businesses or available outside the US.

With Google Voice for personal use, the most useful features you get are caller ID, call forwarding, and unlimited domestic voice calls within the US.

You don’t need a Google Voice for Google Workspace subscription with Google Voice for personal use, but be prepared to pay number-unlocking or porting fees.

Key differences between Google Voice personal vs business

Check out this brief chart comparing Google Voice’s business vs personal plans:

	Google Voice for Business without Workspace	Google Voice for Business with Workspace	Google Voice for Personal
Available outside the US	X	✓	X
Multiple phone numbers	Not documented	✓	X
SMS and MMS	US only	US only	Personal use only
Unlimited calls in the US and Canada	US and Canadian numbers only	US and Canadian numbers only	X
Maximum number of users	1	10 to unlimited	1
Starting price	$10 per month	$17 per user per month, including Google Workspace	Free
Porting fees	Not documented	Free	$20 to port in and $3 to port out
Ring groups	Requires upgrade	Requires upgrade	X
Integrations	Limited capabilites	Google apps only	X
Separate business and personal contacts	Not documented	✓	X
Voicemail transcripts	✓	✓	✓

Google Voice’s hidden fees you need to know

If you’re still keen on buying a Google Voice plan, you should know there are other costs to consider.

Be prepared to pay for:

• Google Workspace: Every Google Voice plan, besides the solo plan, requires a Google Workspace subscription. Prices start at $7 per user per month, but if you want better features — like 5 TB of pooled storage per user — be prepared to pay $22 per user per month.
• Porting fees: It’s not free to port a number to Google Voice. If you’re porting to the free plan with a Verizon, Google Fi, or AT&T number, you’ll pay $20. If you migrate your free number to a Google Voice for Business plan, you have to pay a $3 unlocking fee and purchase a temporary carrier plan.
• International calls: Calling numbers outside the US and Canada can range from 1 cent to over a dollar per minute. Google Voice’s international calling rates can change at any time. 

Not a fan of unnecessary fees? This is a common gripe with Google Voice. It’s also why business owners migrate to Google Voice alternatives that offer better features at more affordable prices.

Limitations of Google Voice

While Google Voice offers a straightforward VoIP solution, its limitations can make it inconvenient for growing businesses: 

• User caps make scaling difficult: You can only have one user on the Starter without Workspace plan, and there’s a 10 user limit on the Starter with Workspace plan. If your team grows beyond 10 users, your only option is to upgrade to the Standard plan, which doubles your costs at $20 per user per month. 
• No toll-free numbers affect your professional image: If you want customers to reach you on a 1-800 number, you’ll have to look for a Google Voice alternative. This is a deal-breaker for businesses that rely on toll-free numbers for credibility or customer service operations. 
• Limited integrations lock you into Google’s tools: Google integrates with Gmail, Calendar, and Meet — but that’s where it stops. Without connections to CRMs or automation tools, your team will have to rely on manual data entry and slower workflows. 
• No shared numbers for team collaboration: If you need a main number that multiple team members can answer — like a general support number or sales hotline — you’ll have to rely on ring groups. This isn’t the same as a true shared number where everyone can see call history and messages in one shared inbox.

Google Voice pricing vs competitors 

Google Voice seems affordable on the surface, but its features are limited. Here’s a quick look at how it compares to other VoIP solutions: 

	Google Voice with Workspace	Quo	RingCentral
Starting price for five team members	$85 per month, including Workspace	$75 per month	$100 per month
Free texting to US and Canadian numbers	Available only to US customers	✓ Unlimtied	✓ Only 25 SMS per user per month on base plan
Toll-free numbers	X	$5 per number per month with unlimited toll-free minutes	$4.99 per number per month with 100 toll-free minutes on base plan
Auto-replies, templates, and scheduled messages	X	✓	✓
On-demand call recording	✓	✓	✓
Third-party integrations	Google apps only	✓	✓
G2 rating	4.1 out of 5 with 150+ reviews	4.7 out of 5 with 3,200+ reviews	4.1 out of 5 with 1,200+ reviews

Quo: The better alternative to Google Voice plans

Google Voice isn’t a bad option for personal users or solopreneurs. But if you’re looking to streamline business communications, it simply won’t be enough.

That’s just one of many reasons why former Google Voice users migrate to Quo, formerly OpenPhone. Here are five ways Quo measures up against Google Voice:

1. Better value and no hidden fees

Quo’s pricing starts at $15 per user per month, and every plan comes with one free local US, Canadian number, or North American toll-free number per user.

Here’s an overview of what else you get on Quo that Google Voice doesn’t provide:

• Shared phone numbers: Your whole team can handle calls and texts together
• CRM integrations: Automatically log every call and text
• AI call summaries: Know what happened without listening to recordings
• Free number porting: It’s 100% free to port your number so you can switch without surprises

2. Share incoming calls and texts with your team

Google Voice doesn’t make it easy to collaborate in context. But with Quo as your VoIP service provider, you can keep everyone on your team working on the same page.

With shared numbers, for example, you don’t have to worry about missing calls. Everyone on your team will receive incoming calls with simultaneous ring, and you can customize your ring order to specify which team members tackle calls based on their availability.

Incoming texts come into a shared inbox all your team members can access. Shared inboxes reduce your response times and help you answer customer questions faster. 

Finally, Quo’s automatic call recording and call summaries and transcripts help your team gather context on customer conversations faster. There’s no need to manually review your calls anymore, which means your team will always be on the same page.

3. Get the numbers your business needs

Google Voice for personal use offers one phone number per account. Google Voice for Business offers plans with multiple user and number support — but there are no toll-free numbers.

Quo lets you have as many phone numbers as your team needs. Each user in your Quo workspace is assigned a unique number. Choose from local US or Canadian numbers, North American toll-free numbers, or your own vanity number. Unlike other VoIP providers, we don’t charge you extra for toll-free number minutes you use for calls to your US and Canadian numbers. 

Need even more numbers? Additional numbers cost $5 per number per month. 

4. Save time communicating with your contacts

Customers aren’t just calling your business — they’re also sending texts and leaving voice messages. But Google Voice doesn’t make this easy to manage since all calls, texts, and voice messages live in separate folders.

Quo’s shared inboxes let you view all your interactions with your contacts in one place. You don’t have to jump to different views to find out what customers have told you.

Your team can save even more time using Quo’s advanced messaging features. Respond to customers after business hours with auto-replies, answer common questions with text templates, and schedule messages to customers based on their time zones.

Google Voice doesn’t offer any advanced messaging features, which forces your team to manually respond to customers whenever they receive a message.

5. Put repetitive work on autopilot

Want to put more time back into your day? This won’t be easy with Google Voice. Even on the Premier plan, which costs $30 per user per month, Google Voice doesn’t offer integrations with non-Google tools.

Quo’s Starter plan, which costs $15 per user per month, offers essential integrations you can use to connect Quo with your tech stack, like your Slack workspace. And with our Zapier integration, you can share your call data with 8,000+ apps. Plus, if your team has a developer, you can plug into webhooks to send alerts with an HTTP request.

When you’re ready to upgrade to Quo’s Business plan, you can access CRM integrations like HubSpot and Salesforce. Log calls, texts, voicemails, and recordings automatically so you can spend more time building relationships with customers instead of having to piece together a conversation’s history in Google Voice.

Switch from Google Voice to Quo

Google Voice works for basic personal use, but growing businesses usually outgrow it fast.

So, should you buy Google Voice?

Choose Google Voice if you:

• Just need basic calling for a solo operation
• Already use Google Workspace heavily and don’t want any other ways to save time on repetitive tasks
• Don’t mind managing separate subscriptions

Choose Quo if you:

• Want your team to collaborate on calls and texts
• Need to ensure you never miss calls again
• Need professional features without hidden fees
• Plan to grow beyond 10 people

If you’re looking for a reliable, collaborative, and easy-to-manage VoIP platform, you might want to try Quo. All you need is a smartphone or a computer and an internet connection. Get started today with our seven-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions about Google Voice pricing