The short answer
Google Voice for business starts at $10 per user a month, and teams also need Google Workspace, from $7 per user with a one-year commitment. A single owner can buy a standalone plan at $10 or $20 a month without Workspace. Google labels the free Basic plan for personal, consumer use. Unanswered calls go to voicemail, so someone still has to call back.
Lots of owners start with Google Voice because it’s cheap and familiar. Here’s what Google’s own pages say about each plan, and the point where most businesses outgrow it.
Updated November 5, 2026. CoveDesk is one of the services on this page; other companies’ prices and features are from their own websites, linked below.
| Plan | Price | Who it’s for | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $0 | One person with a personal Gmail account | Google says it’s “for personal, consumer use”. It needs another number to forward calls to. |
| Starter (standalone) | $10 a month | One US user, no Workspace | Call recording, desk phone support, voicemail transcripts. No ring groups. |
| Standard (standalone) | $20 a month | One US user, no Workspace | Adds auto attendants. No ring groups or call queues. |
| Starter (team) | $10 per user a month | Up to 10 users | Google Workspace is required and billed separately, from $7 per user with a one-year commitment. |
| Standard (team) | $20 per user a month | Unlimited users | Auto attendants, ring groups and call queues. Workspace is required. |
| Premier (team) | $30 per user a month | Unlimited users | Adds automatic call recording and reporting. Workspace is required. |
So a three-person team on Standard pays $60 a month for Voice, plus Workspace at $7 or more per person: at least $81 a month. The same team on Starter pays at least $51, but it doesn’t get ring groups or auto attendants.
Google’s subscription page (opens in a new tab) says the no-charge plan “is for personal, consumer use”, and its setup page is written for individuals. Plenty of solo owners try it anyway, so read the terms and decide for yourself. If the number is going on your truck and your website, the $10 standalone plan is a small price to stay inside what Google offers businesses.
Moving your own mobile number in costs $20 on a personal account, and moving a number out costs $3 unless it was ported in. Business numbers follow a separate process, and Google doesn’t offer 1-800 numbers.
It’s a phone number and routing, and it’s good at that. What it doesn’t do is talk to your caller. Google’s help page (opens in a new tab) puts it simply: when you don’t answer, the calls go to voicemail, up to 3 minutes each, and Voice can transcribe them.
If you’re under a sink when it rings, that caller hears a greeting and often calls the next name on the list. The missed call calculator shows what that may be worth to you.
CoveDesk is a phone answering service: a trained voice assistant, set up and run by our team, picks up in your business’s name, puts urgent calls through and texts you the details. It isn’t a phone system, and it doesn’t replace one.
For owners who answer most calls themselves and want the missed ones covered.
$99 a month
Or $990 for the year: 2 months free
What you get:
Recommended
For owners who are busy with customers all day and lose business to voicemail.
$249 a month
Or $2,490 for the year: 2 months free
Everything in Text-Back, plus:
For owners who want the phones and the online side handled together.
$449 a month
Everything in Front Desk, plus:
Paying for the year? Tell us within 30 days of paying and you get the whole year back. After that, the plan runs to the end of the year with no refund for the months left, then moves to month-to-month.
What this page says about other companies comes from their own websites, read on November 5, 2026:
Prices and terms change, so check each company’s website before you buy. Company names are the trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify their services; none of them is affiliated with or endorses CoveDesk. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
Free and paid ways to get a number, what each costs and how to set one up.
RingCentral, Quo, Ooma, Nextiva and Google Voice: prices, texting limits and contracts.
$14 to $55 a month billed annually, what it costs with a receptionist, and what leaving involves.
Tell us how your calls come in today and we’ll suggest the simplest setup, even if it isn’t CoveDesk.
