Grasshopper alternatives and pricing
The short answer
Grasshopper, the business phone service, lists plans from $14 a month billed annually at $168 up to $55 billed at $660. It’s a number you answer yourself; a software receptionist starts at $95 more a month. Move your number before canceling, or it could go to another business. Alternatives: Allo for team phones, Smith.ai, PATLive, Rosie, and CoveDesk for answering.
This is Grasshopper, the business phone service at grasshopper.com, not the mowers or the 3D software that share its name. Owners hire it for a business number kept separate from their personal one. It doesn’t answer for you. Here’s what it costs, what it costs once someone does answer, and what else to look at.
Updated November 3, 2026. CoveDesk is one of the services on this page; other companies’ prices and features are from their own websites, linked below.
Grasshopper alternatives, by what you need
- Allo: The nearest same-kind tool: a business phone system your team answers, with a receptionist add-on that has a public price and books on the call. From $15/seat/month: One person, as published.
- Smith.ai: The partner Grasshopper names for its receptionists, bought directly, billed per call, with software, live or a mix. From $0/month: 25 calls answered by software, as published.
- CoveDesk (that’s us): if you want calls picked up, missed callers texted, and your Google profile and website looked after, all set up and run for you. Not live receptionists. Front Desk is $249/mo with 250 minutes. Free 14-day pilot.
- PATLive: People on every call, and a business phone system comes with it, if you’d drop your Grasshopper number altogether. From $49/month: no minutes included, as published.
- Rosie: Software that answers calls and takes messages, with plans by minutes, if you’d keep Grasshopper and stop missing calls. From $49/month: 250 minutes, as published.
- Upfirst: Answers forwarded calls and texts anyone you miss, billed per call, which suits a solo owner with a low call count. From $24.95/month: 30 calls, as published.
- Podium: If you’ve outgrown a phone line and want texting and review requests with it, for a much bigger commitment. From $399/month: 250 bulk message credits, as published.
Grasshopper pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes | Extra use |
|---|---|---|---|
| True Solo | $14/month, billed annually at $168 | 1 user, 1 number, 1 extension, unlimited calling minutes | Extra numbers $9/month |
| Solo Plus | $25/month, billed annually at $300 | Unlimited users, 1 number, 3 extensions, unlimited calling minutes | Extra numbers $9/month, extensions $3/month |
| Small Business | $55/month, billed annually at $660 | Unlimited users, 4 numbers, unlimited extensions, unlimited calling minutes | Extra numbers $9/month |
| Software receptionist (add-on) | From $95/month | 24/7 call handling through partner Smith.ai | Not listed |
These are the annual-billed prices, the ones its pricing page showed when we read it. The page also has a monthly billing toggle, and we didn’t read those prices, so check them before comparing. Prices are before sales tax. Texting needs a $19.50 one-time registration plus $1.50 a month. International calls are extra. It offers people as receptionists too, with no listed price, and its pages disagree on the first-month discount (50% in one place, 30% in others).
Grasshopper vs CoveDesk
| What to compare | Grasshopper | CoveDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | You or your team. A virtual receptionist, software or live, is an add-on offered with its partner Smith.ai. Source: Grasshopper, who answers (opens in a new tab) | A trained voice assistant, set up and run by our team, in your business’s name, day or night. Not live receptionists. Callers hear a short notice at the start of the call. |
| Published price | $14, $25 or $55 a month billed annually at $168, $300 or $660. Software receptionist add-on from $95 a month. Source: Grasshopper, published price (opens in a new tab) | Front Desk: $249/mo with 250 minutes. Text-Back alone: $99/mo. |
| How use is counted | Unlimited calling minutes on every plan. How the receptionist counts calls isn’t described. Source: Grasshopper, how use is counted (opens in a new tab) | By the minute. Seconds are added up over the month and rounded once, not per call. Extra minutes $0.35 each. Alerts at 80% and 100% of your minutes. |
| Setup fee | Not stated on the pages we read. Texting registration is $19.50 once plus $1.50 a month. Source: Grasshopper, setup fee (opens in a new tab) | None. |
| Contract | Service is monthly or annual. Upgrades start at once and downgrades the next billing cycle. Source: Grasshopper, contract (opens in a new tab) | Front Desk is month to month. See pricing for other plans. |
| Free trial | 7 days, no credit card. Source: Grasshopper, free trial (opens in a new tab) | Free 14-day pilot. We set it up, it’s live within 48 hours, and you can start with just your after-hours calls. |
| Money-back guarantee | Its pages differ: the pricing page offers a 7-day money-back guarantee, and its cancellation article, last updated August 2025, states an official no-refund policy for canceling early. Ask before you pay. Source: Grasshopper, money-back guarantee (opens in a new tab) | 30-day money-back guarantee. If it isn’t working for you, tell us within 30 days of your first plan payment and we’ll end the plan and refund your first month’s plan fee. |
| Who sets it up | You. Choose a number or bring yours, pick software, human or a mix, and upload call instructions. Source: Grasshopper, who sets it up (opens in a new tab) | Our team sets it up, writes your script and runs it. |
| Urgent calls | Forwarding, phone menus and routing for your own team. How the receptionist transfers isn’t described. Source: Grasshopper, urgent calls (opens in a new tab) | Urgent calls are put straight through to you. No on-call rotation yet. |
| Booking | Appointment scheduling is a listed receptionist feature. Which calendars isn’t stated. Source: Grasshopper, booking (opens in a new tab) | Takes the details and sends them to you to call back. No calendar booking yet. |
| Job software and CRMs | Not mentioned on its features or receptionist pages. Source: Grasshopper, job software and crms (opens in a new tab) | None yet. Details arrive by text and in your CoveDesk account. |
| Spanish | The receptionist page lists bilingual English and Spanish, without saying whether that’s the software, the people or both. Source: Grasshopper, spanish (opens in a new tab) | Not yet. |
| Text back after a missed call | Instant Response texts new callers when you can’t pick up. Which plans include it wasn’t shown. Source: Grasshopper, text back after a missed call (opens in a new tab) | Yes, included in Front Desk or on its own with Text-Back. |
| Google profile care | Digital Listings Management is a paid add-on with no base price shown. Source: Grasshopper, google profile care (opens in a new tab) | Done for you, $149/mo, or included in Front Office. |
Stay with Grasshopper if
- You want to answer your own calls from a business number. That’s the whole product, with unlimited calling minutes. CoveDesk isn’t a phone system.
- You want a small fixed bill. $14 a month billed annually buys a number, an app and unlimited calling minutes.
- You want people or Spanish as an option. Its receptionist add-on offers software, human or a mix, and lists English and Spanish. CoveDesk has no live receptionists and no Spanish yet.
- You want to try before paying. Seven days with no card. CoveDesk’s free 14-day pilot starts with a talk with our team, since we set it up for you.
What does Grasshopper cost once someone answers for you?
Each plan’s annual-billed monthly rate plus the $95 starting price of its software receptionist:
- True Solo. $14 + $95 = $109 a month.
- Solo Plus. $25 + $95 = $120 a month.
- Small Business. $55 + $95 = $150 a month.
- Add for texting. $19.50 once and $1.50 a month.
- What we can’t tell you. How many calls the $95 covers, or what’s charged beyond it. Its page gives only the starting price, and the receptionist is run with Smith.ai, so ask how use is counted.
Why owners look past Grasshopper
- You still pick up. The plans buy a number and an app. If you’re looking past Grasshopper because calls get missed on the job, a phone system alone doesn’t change that.
- The receptionist price is a floor. It starts at $95 a month, and the page doesn’t say how many calls or minutes that covers or what a person costs.
- Refund wording. The pricing page promises 7 days’ money back, while the cancellation article states a no-refund policy for canceling early. Get the answer in writing before paying $660 up front.
- Users aren’t what adds cost. Solo Plus and Small Business include unlimited users, so you don’t pay per person there; True Solo is one user. Extra numbers and extensions are what add up.
Where CoveDesk is different
- It answers, so you don’t have to. A trained voice assistant picks up in your business’s name, day or night, and sends you the details.
- Set up for you. Grasshopper has you upload call instructions. Our team sets it up and runs it, with no setup fee.
- Missed-call texts included. They come with Front Desk or on their own, and urgent calls go straight through to you.
- What you give up. You don’t get a phone system, extensions or an app for your team to call from, plus no live receptionists, booking or Spanish yet. Callers hear a short notice at the start of the call.
Switching from Grasshopper
- Only the main contact can start a cancellation, by contacting support with the account number, primary PIN, last four card digits and billing address. Source: Grasshopper’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Canceling turns off renewal and the plan runs to the end of its term. The article states no refund for leaving early. Source: Grasshopper’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- To take your number, ask support for your customer service record (up to 72 hours) and give it to your new phone company. It typically takes 2 to 18 business days, and your account must stay active throughout. Free trial accounts can’t move numbers out. Source: Grasshopper’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Moving a number out doesn’t close the account. You contact support afterward to cancel. Source: Grasshopper’s terms (opens in a new tab)
- Numbers left behind when you cancel can pass to another phone company and may end up with a competitor. Account data goes 120 days after a paid plan’s term ends. Source: Grasshopper’s terms (opens in a new tab)
Before you cancel anything, forward your calls to the new service and make three test calls of your own: a new customer, an urgent problem and a wrong number.
How we checked this
We make CoveDesk, so we’re not neutral, and this page isn’t a review. Everything about Grasshopper comes from its own website, read on November 3, 2026, with the pages linked below. We haven’t bought its service, and we don’t quote ratings or anyone’s opinion as fact. Where we couldn’t find a fact, we say so instead of guessing, and “not mentioned” means not on the pages we read, which isn’t a search of its whole site.
Common questions
How much does Grasshopper cost?
Billed annually, True Solo is $14 a month ($168 a year), Solo Plus is $25 ($300) and Small Business is $55 ($660). That’s what its pricing page showed when we read it on November 3, 2026. It also offers monthly billing, at prices we didn’t read.
How much does the Grasshopper app cost?
There’s no separate charge listed. Mobile and desktop apps appear in the feature table for all three plans, so the cost is the plan itself.
What are some good alternatives to Grasshopper?
If you want a phone system your team answers, Allo is the closest on this page. If you want calls answered for you, look at Smith.ai, PATLive, Rosie, Upfirst or CoveDesk.
Does Grasshopper charge per user?
Not on Solo Plus or Small Business, which its pricing page lists with unlimited users. True Solo is for one user. Numbers and extensions are what add cost: $9 a month per extra number and $3 per extra extension.
Can I keep my number if I leave Grasshopper?
Yes, on a paid account with no balance. Ask support for your customer service record, give it to your new phone company, and keep the account open until the move finishes, typically 2 to 18 business days. Free trial numbers can’t be moved out.
How do I cancel Grasshopper?
The main contact has to contact support; there’s no cancel button described. Move any numbers first, then cancel. Your plan runs to the end of its term, and the article states no refund for canceling early.
Is CoveDesk a live receptionist service?
No. CoveDesk is a phone answering service: a trained voice assistant, set up and run by our team, that picks up in your business’s name at any hour. Callers hear a short notice at the start of the call.
Sources
What this page says about Grasshopper comes from these pages of its website, read on November 3, 2026:
- https://grasshopper.com/pricing (opens in a new tab) (plans and prices, setup fee, contract, free trial)
- https://grasshopper.com/features/virtual-receptionist (opens in a new tab) (who answers, how use is counted, who sets it up, booking, spanish)
- https://support.grasshopper.com/help/cancel-my-account (opens in a new tab) (money-back guarantee, switching)
- https://grasshopper.com/features/ (opens in a new tab) (urgent calls, job software and crms)
- https://grasshopper.com/features/instant-response (opens in a new tab) (text back after a missed call)
- https://grasshopper.com/features/add-ons (opens in a new tab) (google profile care)
- https://support.grasshopper.com/help/port-your-phone-number-out-of-grasshopper (opens in a new tab) (switching)
- CoveDesk: our pricing page
Prices and features change; check Grasshopper’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.
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