Grasshopper Phone Review: Can It Help Your Business?

When I first started my business, I used my cell phone number as the primary phone number for my business.

The problem was that I was having people call my cell phone and I did not know how to answer it.

If it were a potential client, I would want to greet them professionally. If it were a personal call, I would want to be more casual.

The challenge was, I had no way of knowing which it was, especially since I own more than one business.

This is where Grasshopper comes in.

What is Grasshopper?

Grasshopper is a company that was founded in 2003 as GotVMail (rebranded as Grasshopper in 2009) and offers virtual phone systems and toll-free numbers for business owners. Grasshopper is owned by GoTo (acquired in 2018; GoTo is the former LogMeIn) and is part of GoTo’s unified-communications portfolio alongside GoTo Connect. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA.

The company has served over 400,000 customers and continues to grow and expand.

It’s designed to work with your current phone system and is not a standalone phone system.

With Grasshopper, you can connect to your business phone numbers via your home phone line, business line, mobile phone or VoIP phone line.

Since it works with an app, you don’t have to worry about having multiple phones or phone lines installed.

Instead, each business owner or employee accesses their own number from the app. You can receive calls with your Grasshopper number and make calls from the number.

That means you can use your personal cell phone to make business calls, however, clients and potential clients will see your business number on their screen.

How Does Grasshopper Work?

Grasshopper connects you with clients via a Virtual Private Branch Exchange (PBX).

When a client or potential client calls your Grasshopper-issued phone number, you’ll see that number on your phone.

That way you know how to answer your phone because you know if you’re receiving a business call or a personal call.

And if you can’t answer your phone, Grasshopper will direct your clients to the right avenue, whether that’s another employee/owner or to your voicemail system.

Grasshopper has a host of features that can help your business appear professional, no matter how small or large that business is.

You can customize those features any way you choose to help streamline your business and your service.

The Grasshopper Mobile App

Grasshopper has a very intuitive app that is available for Android and iPhones.

It stores all of your calls so that you can go back and see the history of people who just called your business line. It can also store and retrieve your voicemails.

All plans now include unlimited business texting in the US and Canada once your number completes carrier (10DLC) registration. Registration costs a $19.50 one-time fee plus a $1.50/month messaging fee.

This includes an SMS function to group text clients, employees, and team members.

Here’s an example of how Grasshopper helped me manage my business.

How a Phone Number from Grasshopper Helped my Business

At first, I decided to get a toll free 800 number from Grasshopper as I wanted to have a national appeal.

After a while, I was getting calls from people that I could not serve and realized that I would be better off with a local number.

So I made the switch, and now my personal line and business line are separate.

Why does this matter?

Whether we like to admit it or not, first impressions do count for something.

When people call me, I can now differentiate whether it is a business or a personal call.

This is huge because when it is a business prospect, I can answer in a professional way and feel like I have a better chance of closing that business.

Grasshopper lets me choose a custom greeting for my business as well.

Using Grasshopper also means that my personal cell phone number is not plastered all over the internet.

This is great because I enjoy my privacy and don’t want that published so that anyone can reach me.

Especially those robo calls. Those can be especially annoying…

In addition to having a separate line, there are several other features that are helpful as well. We’ll talk about those shortly.

But first, check out this video explanation of how Grasshopper works.

Video Review of Grasshopper

How Much Does Grasshopper Cost?

Another great thing about Grasshopper is that they have multiple plans for you to choose from. And the plans include options that are affordable for smaller businesses.

So whether you are just starting out or running multiple businesses, Grasshopper has a plan to suit your needs.

Even if you are on a strict budget, plans start at $14 per month billed annually ($18 month-to-month). Annual billing saves over 20%.

Grasshopper pricing breakdown:

• True Solo: $14 per month billed annually ($18 billed monthly) — 1 user, 1 phone number, 1 extension
• Solo Plus: $25 per month billed annually ($32 billed monthly) — 1 phone number, 3 extensions, unlimited users
• Small Business: $55 per month billed annually ($70 billed monthly) — 4 phone numbers, unlimited extensions, unlimited users

Once you activate your plan, you can purchase additional numbers for $9 per month each with annual billing ($10 month-to-month). Oh yeah, and there is FREE activation no matter what plan you choose. Note – Grasshopper offers specials all the time, so make sure to check frequently for changes.

And there is no contract required with Grasshopper. You can choose an annual payment plan or simply buy month-to-month. You can also try Grasshopper free for 7 days, with no credit card required.

Click here to sign up for Grasshopper — annual billing saves over 20% compared to month-to-month.

Key Features Of Grasshopper

Grasshopper has a number of features that might benefit your business.

Call Forwarding

If you go out of town and want your virtual assistant or someone else to answer the business line, this is a great feature.

Extensions

Do you have multiple people that work for you? If so, you can give them an extension so that you don’t have to buy multiple phone numbers.

The cool thing is that you can have an unlimited number of extensions so that you can add more as you grow.

Portability

I have a landline for another business I own, but the challenge with that is that I can’t carry that in my pocket anywhere I go.

With a local number from grasshopper, I can have access to my business phone 24/7 on my smartphone.

Not that I want to get calls at all hours of the night, but I do like to check voicemails after hours in case there is anything urgent.

Hold Music

If you want to come across as an INC 500 company and be even more professional, this is a nice touch.

Grasshopper gives you multiple choices for hold music which can set you apart from the competition.

You can upload your own hold music as well.

Vanity Numbers

Have you ever wanted a number that is easy to remember and that tells people what you do?

For instance, 1-800-SEO-GURU. This is called a vanity number and is a feature that Grasshopper offers if you want it.

Voicemails Transcribed

If you are on the go and don’t have time to answer a call, you can let it go to voicemail and Grasshopper will email you the voicemail in a text format.

This way you can read your voicemails and determine whether or not you have the time to call that person back.

Virtual Fax

Grasshopper includes virtual fax, so you can send and receive faxes through your Grasshopper account — no separate fax machine or fax line needed.

Faxes arrive in your account alongside your calls, voicemails and texts, so you can review and manage them from the same place.

Other Grasshopper features including add-ons are shown below. More recent additions include call recording, AI call summaries, transcripts and sentiment insights, a virtual receptionist (AI, live human, or hybrid), desktop apps, a shared inbox with a unified conversation view, and instant text responses for missed calls.

Grasshopper Reviews

Grasshopper has a 3.1 rating on Trustpilot from 371 reviews. Negative reviews consisted mostly of billing and customer service issues.

For instance, reviewers mentioned being billed incorrectly or billed after they sent in a cancellation notice.

Here are a couple of older reviews from customers:

The service itself isn’t bad. Trying to cancel the account was a nightmare. I couldn’t do it online and was on the phone for more than 30 minutes getting shuffled from one person to another.

– Joanne O’Conner

Grasshopper was amazing to me, great customer service and was able to deliver as promised.

Alan S.

Grasshopper has no standalone BBB profile, but its parent, GoTo Technologies USA, LLC, is BBB Accredited with an A+ rating.

Alternatives To Grasshopper

Here are some Grasshopper alternatives to consider if you’re searching for other options for business phone numbers.

Phone.com

Phone.com is a modern communication solution for small businesses, allowing you to connect a business phone number to any device. It offers the voice, video, text, call management, and collaboration features of an enterprise phone system—without the high cost.

With Phone.com, you can have a dedicated business phone number that’s separate from your personal line, along with the flexibility to work from any device, anywhere.

Google Voice

Google Voice has three plans for 800 phone numbers, starting at $10 per month, per user.

All plans include free calling to the U.S. from any country. If you choose the Premier plan, you can have access to international outgoing calls.

Google Voice has many of the same features as Grasshopper, including voicemail transcription, call forwarding, and unlimited SMS.

Google Voice can be integrated with other Google features such as Meet and Calendar. Note that Google Voice for business requires an active Google Workspace subscription — Grasshopper is standalone and works without one.

Ring Central

Ring Central works similarly to Grasshopper. You get business phone numbers, unlimited calling and forwarding, text messaging, and more.

You can choose a local number for your business or an 800 number.

RingCentral publishes its RingEX pricing: Core is $20 per user per month billed annually ($30 month-to-month), Advanced is $25 ($35 monthly), and Ultra is $35 ($45 monthly). That per-user pricing is the key contrast with Grasshopper, which charges per plan rather than per user.

FAQs

Summary

If you need a business line, whether it be an 800 number or a local number, I personally have found Grasshopper to be one of the best solutions out there.

In my experience, they have great customer service, and the prices are very affordable.

Have you ever used Grasshopper or another business phone service provider?

If so, what was your experience? Do you prefer having a separate business phone number for your small business?