Looking to understand the differences between Line2 vs Grasshopper? And most importantly, which might be a better fit for your business? In this guide, we’ll break down the features and benefits of both Line2 and Grasshopper. Plus, we’ll show you another VoIP solution that could be a good fit for your business.
Switch to OpenPhone: The best Line2 and Grasshopper alternative
Line2 vs Grasshopper: How do these VoIP providers compare?
It’s tough to compare Line2 and Grasshopper. In a way, they fit in completely different eras.
Grasshopper belongs to an older generation of VoIP providers: while there are lots of useful features, its line-based pricing and tools like “virtual fax” make it feel a bit outdated. Line2 is a newer VoIP provider with a focus on providing a second business number with any of your devices.
Let’s take a closer look and compare Line2 vs Grasshopper on their price points, features, and integrations.
1. Pricing: Which VoIP solution has the best value?
Winner: Line2
It’s tempting to compare Line2 and Grasshopper on their subscription costs alone. But these two VoIP providers have very different pricing structures, and it’s important to understand the value of the plans rather than the cost alone.
Line2, like many VoIP providers, has a user-based pricing model. Each user gets their own phone number, and upgrading to a higher plan unlocks additional features.
Grasshopper, on the other hand, bills based on the number of phone lines and extensions you need. That’s the only difference between each plan — you’ll get all their business features even on the solo plan.
Ultimately, Line2 will end up being a better value for most small businesses. Even its most advanced plan runs cheaper than a single line with Grasshopper, and you’re not missing out on any stellar business phone features.
As we’ll see in the next section, both Line2 and Grasshopper fall a little short in terms of the essential business phone features you need.
2. Features: Which option gives you the capabilities you need?
Winner: Grasshopper
Regardless of whether you choose Grasshopper or Line2, you’ll mostly be paying for your extra phone lines.
Both VoIP providers include unlimited calls and SMS messages within the US, but on Line2, you won’t be able to send texts to Canadian numbers. (And on Grasshopper, you won’t be able to send MMS messages to Canadian or toll-free numbers.)
You won’t find a ton of advanced features to expand your business phone abilities with either solution, though.
Both offer voicemail transcriptions, business hours, and an auto-attendant, but Line2 requires a plan upgrade to access these features. Where Grasshopper offers auto-replies, it doesn’t include call recordings, so you can’t easily monitor the level of service your team provides. Line2 has call recording.
But Line2 doesn’t let you set up auto-replies so you can automatically respond to incoming texts and set expectations on when customers can hear back from you.
Unfortunately, neither VoIP system offers much in the way of collaborative features. Grasshopper and Line2 also don’t have a browser app, so you can only access your business phone easily on computers where you’ve installed their desktop software.
Despite so many similarities, Grasshopper has one feature that gives it the advantage over Line2: the ability to set up a shared phone number for your team. You’ll have to pay an extra $10 per month on top of your existing plan, but that’s not even an option on Line2.
It’s also worth noting both Line2 reviews and Grasshopper reviews suggest poor-quality calls and less-than-helpful customer service.
Interesting in learning more about the limitations to Grasshopper? Check out our guide to Grasshopper phone systems.
3. Integrations: What tools work well with these VoIP options?
Winner: Grasshopper
When it comes to integrations, there’s not much competition between Grasshopper and Line2.
Not because one of them blows the other out of the water, but rather because there’s barely anything to compare.
That’s right — Line2 offers exactly zero ways to connect your other business tools and software with your phone system.
Grasshopper is only barely better: you can forward calls from your Grasshopper number to Skype or Google Voice, but that’s pretty much it.
How OpenPhone beats the competition
Feeling like Line2 and Grasshopper aren’t great choices for your small business team?
We’ve got you covered. Let’s take a look at how OpenPhone goes above and beyond what other VoIP providers offer — and at a much better price, too.
1. Save time with more context
OpenPhone gives you a single interface where you and your team can access your text and voicemail inboxes, call recordings, and much more. That all comes with OpenPhone’s Starter plan.
With all of this data in one place, you’ll get a fuller picture of your relationships with contacts. You can review your entire communication history, see what team members have interacted with a contact, and so much more.
Your team can also record personal notes about each contact and create custom properties to best organize your contact list. Include as much information as you need to work quickly whether you have on file their email address or a tag showing they are an enterprise customer .
2. Easily share numbers and collaborate with your team
Shared phone numbers are automatically included on OpenPhone — no upgrade or extra fees required, like you’ll find on Grasshopper.
With a shared phone number, your team can more easily divide up the responsibility of handling calls and messages. Plus, the line is never busy, so team members can talk to multiple contacts at the same time, on the same phone number.
OpenPhone’s shared number feature can accommodate up to 100 people on a single line, as long as you’re on the Business plan. At that level, you’ll also access the round-robin call distribution feature, which rings teammates in batches of up to 10.
Since the shared numbers offer a shared inbox, your entire team can keep an eye on communication with contacts. Use threads and mentions to get specific feedback on external communication or assign a team member to follow up by tagging them.
3. Bring in your tech stack for more productivity
Want to save even more time communicating with your business phone system? With OpenPhone, you can connect your most important tools, like Slack, Gmail, and even Hubspot (with an upgrade).
If you have other business tools you’re interested in combining with OpenPhone, you can build your own integrations and automations with Zapier. Bring in tools like Pipedrive, Clickup, Zoom, and a lot more.
4. Know your costs upfront
OpenPhone keeps its pricing simple and transparent so you never run into unexpected charges. You’ll be charged by the user, each of whom comes with one free phone number.
Upgrading from the Starter plan to the Business plan unlocks these features and benefits:
- Advanced auto-attendant
- Call transfer
- Hubspot CRM integration
- Analytics and reporting
You can also choose to pay for additional phone numbers (any numbers that exceed your total user count) for $5 per number per month. You’ll also pay the standard rates for international calls and automated SMS messages through OpenPhone’s Zapier integration.
Best of all, OpenPhone’s VoIP service is highly reliable with a strong uptime history.
5. Communicate in a way that works for you
Where Line2 and Grasshopper come with limitations on your texting capabilities, OpenPhone lets you do it all.
If you’re looking to text outside of the US and Canada, you can do that too. You’ll just need to pay the current international rate for texting people in that location.
Check out this chart comparing OpenPhone vs Line2 vs Grasshopper for a more detailed view of their features:
| OpenPhone | Line2 | Grasshopper | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Starts at $15 per month per user | Starts at $15.99 per month per user | Starts at $28 per month |
| Unlimited calling to US & Canada | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS/MMS to US & Canada | ✓ | ✓ | Local numbers only |
| Voicemail transcriptions | ✓ | Requires upgrade | ✓ |
| Set business hours | ✓ | Requires upgrade | ✓ |
| Additional phone numbers | $5 per month per number | $14.99 per month per number | $10 per month per number |
| Call recording | ✓ | Requires upgrade | x |
| Shared phone numbers | ✓ | x | x |
| Auto-attendant (virtual receptionist) | ✓ | Requires upgrade | ✓ |
| Auto-replies | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| Snippets | ✓ | x | x |
| Slack integration | ✓ | x | x |
| Zapier integration | ✓ | x | x |
| CRM integration | Requires upgrade | x | x |
| iOS and Android apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser app | ✓ | x | x |
| Desktop apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The bottom line in Line2 vs Grasshopper vs OpenPhone
Line2 and Grasshopper might offer you similar business phone features, but let’s be honest: you can do better.
OpenPhone is a VoIP solution that provides all of the phone and texting features you need to build relationships with your contacts and collaborate with your team. With straightforward pricing, advanced features, and plenty of integration options, OpenPhone helps your team work better. See for yourself. Sign up for a free seven day trial of OpenPhone.
