Google Voice alternatives for small businesses

The short answer

If Google Voice has stopped fitting your business, the main alternatives are phone services built for small teams: Onyx Phone, Quo, RingCentral, Dialpad, Nextiva, Ooma Office, Vonage, Grasshopper, and Aircall. All of them give you a business number, calling, and texting without requiring a Google Workspace subscription, and most include some way for one number to ring several people. Entry prices run from about $17 to $40 per user a month, with Grasshopper priced per account instead of per user.

Which one is right depends on why Google Voice stopped working for you. The three reasons we hear most are the Workspace requirement, the lack of team call handling on the Starter tier, and the way texting is tied to one person. The rest of this post goes through each, explains where Google Voice is still a reasonable choice, and lists what to check before you move.

Where Google Voice is still a good fit

We want to be fair here, because Google Voice is cheap and for some businesses it is enough. Google Voice Starter is $10 billed monthly, per user a month (checked October 2026), on top of the Workspace subscription you may already pay for. If you are a one-person business that already uses Gmail for work, calls from a cell phone, and mainly wants a separate business number with voicemail transcripts, Google Voice does that job.

It also fits businesses that live inside Google products. The number appears in Gmail and the Google Voice app, voicemail transcripts land in your inbox, and an admin can manage it from the same console as email. If that describes you and nothing in the next section applies, there is no reason to switch for its own sake.

The trouble usually starts when a second or third person needs to answer the same number, when someone who is not on Workspace needs a line, or when customers start texting the business number and more than one person needs to see those texts.

Why teams outgrow Google Voice

Google changes its plans from time to time, so check its current pricing and support pages before you decide. As of our last look, these are the points where small teams run into limits. Some apply only to the Starter tier; others apply to Google Voice as a whole.

The first is the Workspace requirement. Business Google Voice is an add-on to Google Workspace, so every person who needs a phone line also needs a Workspace seat. That is fine when everyone already uses Gmail for work. It is not fine when your office runs on Microsoft 365, or when you want to give a number to a part-time dispatcher or a field tech who does not need company email. The real cost per user is the Voice license plus the Workspace seat.

The second is team call handling. On the Starter tier, one number rings one person. Ring groups, where a call to the main number rings several people at once, and the auto attendant, where callers press 1 for service and 2 for billing, are on the higher tiers. Starter also does not support desk phones. For a two-person office that is manageable. For a shop with a front desk, two techs, and an owner who wants to be the backup, it means the main number depends on one person being free.

The third is texting. On Google Voice, texts belong to an individual user's number. If customers text your main business number and you want the office manager, the owner, and whoever is on call to all see and reply from one shared thread, Google Voice is not built for that. There is also no automatic text back when you miss a call, which matters for a trade business where a missed call often means the customer calls the next company on the list.

• Workspace requirement: every phone user needs a Workspace seat, even if they never use email.
• Starter tier: no ring groups, no auto attendant, no desk phones; one number rings one person.
• Texting: tied to an individual user, no shared team inbox, no missed-call text-back.
• Call recording and reporting: limited, and what exists is on the higher tiers.
• Phone menus and shared numbers: available, but only once you move up a tier and pay more per user.

Check your own numbers before you switch

Before comparing providers, spend two weeks measuring what your phone actually does. This takes a few minutes a day and tells you which features you need and which you would be paying for without using. It also stops you from switching on a hunch.

Keep a simple tally, on paper or in a spreadsheet, with a row for each day. At the end of two weeks you will know how many calls come to the main number, how many are missed, how many are texts, and how often a call needs to go from one person to another. That is the list of requirements for your replacement.

• Calls to the main business number per day, and how many were missed or went to voicemail.
• Who answered each call, and how often the person who answered had to hand it to someone else.
• Texts received at the business number, and how many were answered more than an hour later.
• Calls that came in after hours, and what happened to them.
• People who need a line but do not have, or do not need, a Workspace seat.

What to look for in a replacement

With your two weeks of data in hand, go down this list against each provider you are considering. Most of it you can check on a pricing page; the rest you can test during a free trial. Pay particular attention to which tier each feature sits on, because entry plans across the industry often leave out ring groups and phone menus, the same way Google Voice Starter does.

A note on texting: any business texting from a local number in the US now has to register with the carriers under a program called A2P 10DLC. The rules come from the carriers, they change, and this is not legal advice, but in practice the provider should file the registration with you and tell you what documents it needs. If a business has no EIN, it can usually register as a sole proprietor and text from one number. Ask how the provider handles this before you sign up, not after.

• No email suite required: you should be able to add a phone user without buying an office software seat.
• Shared number: a call to the main number rings several people, in the browser, on a mobile app, and on a desk phone, and the first to answer takes it.
• Phone menu: callers can press a number to reach the right person or group, without a receptionist.
• Texting that works for a team: a shared number, visible to everyone who needs it, with the carrier registration handled for you.
• Missed-call text-back: an automatic text to anyone who hangs up before you answer.
• Business hours: calls go to voicemail or a different greeting after hours, and each person can set their own alert hours.
• Desk phones: if you want one at the front desk, check which models are supported and whether setup is automatic.
• Number porting: free, with a clear estimate of how long it takes.
• Trial and cancellation: a free trial long enough to test with real calls, and plain terms for cancelling.
• Integrations: if you run on Jobber, Housecall Pro, or a CRM, find out whether the connection is built in or runs through Zapier.

Google Voice alternatives and what they cost

Here are the entry prices we checked in October 2026, all billed monthly. Each provider has higher tiers that add features, and what sits on the entry tier varies a lot, so treat the price as a starting point and check the feature list against your own requirements. Grasshopper is the exception on pricing: it charges per account rather than per user, which can be cheaper for one person and more expensive once several people need lines.

For our own service, Onyx Phone Starter is $17 per user a month, Business is $29, and Scale is $42, with yearly billing saving up to 27%. Every user gets a local business number with unlimited calling and texting in the US and Canada under a fair use policy. The Starter tier includes a shared number that rings the browser, the Android app, and SIP desk phones at once, business hours, voicemail transcripts, and missed-call text-back; ring groups, transfers, and phone menus are on Business and up. We have written up a side-by-side on the Onyx Phone vs Google Voice page, and the phone menu page explains what a menu can and cannot do for a small office.

Two things we do not do, so you can rule us out early if they matter: there is no AI agent or live person answering calls for you, and the iPhone app does not yet ring when the phone is locked, though Android does.

• Google Voice Starter: $10 per user a month, plus a Workspace seat.
• Onyx Phone Starter: $17 per user a month, no email suite required.
• Grasshopper True Solo: $18 per account a month.
• Quo Starter: $19 per user a month.
• Ooma Office Essentials: $19.95 per user a month.
• Vonage Mobile: $19.99 per user a month.
• Nextiva NEXT Core: $23 per user a month.
• Dialpad Standard: $27 per user a month.
• RingCentral RingEX Core: $30 per user a month.
• Aircall Essentials: $40 per user a month.

How to move your number out of Google Voice

You can take your number with you, and you should, because customers have it saved and it is printed on your trucks and invoices. The process is called porting. The new provider sends a request to Google, Google releases the number, and it starts ringing on the new service. At Onyx Phone porting is free and usually takes 3 to 7 business days; other providers have their own timelines, so ask before you start.

The most common mistake is cancelling Google Voice before the port finishes. The number has to be active on Google's side for the transfer to go through. Keep the Voice license until the new provider confirms the number has moved, then remove the license from Workspace. Personal Google Voice accounts are a little different, since the number has to be unlocked in your account first and Google may charge a small fee; our Google Voice for Workspace porting guide walks through the business version step by step.

• Confirm whether your number is on a personal Google Voice account or a Workspace account; the steps differ.
• Export voicemails, call history, and texts you need to keep, using Google's export tools, before you start.
• Sign up with the new provider and set up users, business hours, and greetings on a temporary number so everything is ready.
• Submit the port request with the account details the new provider asks for, exactly as Google has them.
• Keep the Google Voice license active until the port is confirmed complete.
• Remove the Voice license from Workspace, and keep Workspace itself if you still use it for email.

Questions