OpenPhone vs Google Voice Pricing - $15 vs $17

OpenPhone vs Google Voice pricing comes down to $15 against $17. OpenPhone, which rebranded to Quo in September 2025, starts at $15 per user per month billed yearly and needs nothing underneath it. Google Voice advertises $10, but its team tiers require a Google Workspace seat for every user, and the cheapest one is $7, so the real floor is $17. For one person on their own, Google now sells standalone plans that skip Workspace entirely, which flips the answer.

Both are legitimate choices and thousands of US businesses run happily on each. But they are built for different situations, and the comparison usually gets made on a headline number that does not survive contact with a real invoice. Every figure below was read from each vendor's own pricing page, and the Workspace line that most comparisons leave out is priced in.

OpenPhone vs Google Voice pricing, side by side

The Real cost column uses the cheapest Workspace tier, Business Starter at $7 per user per month. Google's Workspace pricing page lists Business Standard at $14 and Business Plus at $22, and it frequently runs introductory discounts on all three, so check what your own first-year price is. If your company already pays for Workspace, that cost is sunk and the Google Voice license is the only new line on the invoice. If you do not, every Google Voice seat costs at least $7 more than the headline.

Google Voice for one person, without Workspace

Google now sells a second set of Voice plans, labeled "Just for me" on its pricing page, for a single user in the US. These do not need Workspace at all. Basic is $0 and requires an existing mobile number. Starter is $10 a month and adds 24/7 support, a number that is never reclaimed for inactivity, call recording, transfers and desk phone support. Standard is $20 a month, currently half price for the first six months, and adds auto attendants and Gemini call notes.

For a true solo operator this makes Google Voice the cheaper buy, and the standalone Standard plan is the cheapest way we know of to put a menu on one person's number. It stops working the moment a second person needs to answer the same line, because these plans cover one user. From two people up you are back on the Workspace tiers and the $17 floor.

The three things that decide this comparison

Google Voice for business is an add-on, not a standalone product

This is the line that changes the arithmetic and it is missing from most comparisons. The Google Voice business tiers are sold as part of Google Workspace, and each user needs their own Workspace subscription for the phone line to exist. If your company already runs on Workspace, that cost is sunk and Google Voice genuinely is the cheap option. If you do not, you are not comparing $10 against $15, you are comparing $10 plus a productivity suite against $15 for a phone system on its own.

Google does also sell separate individual plans for one person, including a free tier. Those are a different product with a different feature set, and they are not what a business with staff should be pricing. Conflating the two is the single most common error in this comparison.

The $10 plan has a ceiling of 10 users

Most pricing pages in this category have floors, where you must buy a minimum number of seats. Google Voice runs the other way and puts a ceiling on its cheapest tier: Starter covers up to 10 users, full stop. Grow past ten people and you are on Standard at $20, $27 with Workspace, whether you wanted the extra features or not. Quo lets you buy a single seat with no minimum and no cap. Phoner starts at three users and has no cap, so above that floor headcount never forces a tier change on its own.

Neither team plan puts the phone menu on its entry tier

An auto attendant, the recorded menu that answers and routes callers without a person picking up, is the feature most small businesses are actually shopping for. Neither product includes it on its entry team plan, and the tiers diverge sharply once you require it.

Read that middle column rather than the entry column, because it is the one you will be paying. Google Voice Standard at $20 also adds ring groups, call queuing and eDiscovery. Quo Business at $23 adds phone menus, group calling, custom ring orders, call transfers, automatic recording and the HubSpot and Salesforce integrations. On the license alone Google Voice Standard wins that row by $3. Add the $7 Workspace seat that has to sit under it and Quo Business is $4 cheaper per user, and Phoner Team is $10 cheaper once you have three people.

Where each one is genuinely the better buy

Google Voice is the right answer when your company already pays for Google Workspace, your team is under ten people, and the phone is a convenience rather than the front door to the business. The integration is clean, the spam filtering is strong, and there is no argument to be had with the price when the suite is already on the invoice.

Quo is the right answer when customers text you as much as they call. Its shared inbox is the best in this category: calls and texts land in one thread, teammates can leave internal comments on a conversation, and the whole interface assumes messaging is the main event rather than a bolt-on. Every plan now bundles its Sona AI agent with 1,000 automation credits, which its pricing page equates to roughly 10 AI-handled calls a month, with paid credit tiers past that. If you want AI answering the phone, Quo has it and Phoner does not.

Phoner is worth pricing when the phone is the front door: a published number several people answer, a menu callers navigate, ring groups, business hours, and recording with per-line consent announcements. It is month to month at every tier, which neither of the others matches at their advertised rate, and it needs no suite underneath it. The visual IVR builder is visible on the pricing page before you pay rather than a settings screen you meet after signup.

If you are a solo operator rather than a team, the calculation is different again, and the number you publish matters more than the features behind it. A freelancer putting a phone number on the public profile clients find them through mostly needs that number to not be their personal cell. Quo and Google Voice both do that job at one seat, and Google's standalone Starter at $10 is the cheaper of the two. Phoner starts at three users ($27 a month billed yearly), so it fits once two or three people share the line.

Questions people ask about OpenPhone and Google Voice

What is the difference between Google Voice and OpenPhone?

Google Voice is a phone feature inside Google Workspace, so every user needs a Workspace subscription underneath it, and it is strongest as a cheap second line for people already in Google's ecosystem. OpenPhone, now Quo, is a standalone product built around a shared inbox where calls and texts from a customer land in one thread that a whole team can see and answer.

Is OpenPhone better than Google Voice?

For a team sharing one number, usually yes. Quo handles shared ownership of a conversation properly, with internal comments and threaded history, while Google Voice treats a line as belonging to a person. For a single user already paying for Google Workspace who just needs a second number, Google Voice is cheaper and perfectly adequate.

Do you need Google Workspace to use Google Voice for business?

For a team, yes. The Starter, Standard and Premier team tiers require a Google Workspace subscription for each user, from $7 per user per month, billed separately from the Voice license. For one person, no: Google sells standalone plans at $0, $10 and $20 a month for a single US user, and those work without Workspace.

How many users can Google Voice have?

Google Voice Starter covers up to 10 users. Standard and Premier have no published user cap. This is a ceiling rather than a minimum, which is unusual in this category, and it means growing past ten people moves you to the $20 Standard tier regardless of which features you actually need.

Does Google Voice have an auto attendant?

Yes, on Standard. The team Standard tier is $20 per user plus Workspace and adds auto attendants, ring groups, call queuing and eDiscovery. The one-person standalone Standard plan is $20 a month, half price for the first six months, and also includes auto attendants. Neither Starter plan has one.

Which is cheaper, OpenPhone or Google Voice?

For a team, OpenPhone is cheaper once Workspace is counted: $15 against $17 at entry and $23 against $27 for the plan with a phone menu, both using Workspace Business Starter at $7. For one person, Google Voice is cheaper, because its standalone Starter plan is $10 a month with no Workspace. If your company already pays for Workspace, Google Voice wins at every tier.

Is Quo better than Google Voice?

Quo vs Google Voice is the same comparison under OpenPhone's new name, and the answer has not changed. Quo is better for a team that shares a number, at $15 a user against $17 for Google Voice once the $7 Workspace seat is counted. Google Voice is better for one person, because its standalone Starter plan is $10 a month, and for a company that already pays for Workspace.

Can I port my number away from either of them?

Yes. Under FCC local number portability rules you keep your numbers when you change providers in the same area, and a carrier cannot refuse to release a number over an unpaid balance. Plan on one to two weeks for a standard business port. Porting into Phoner is free and your old line keeps ringing until the cutover completes.

Does OpenPhone still exist?

Yes, under a new name. OpenPhone rebranded to Quo in September 2025. The product and existing accounts carried over; the brand and the pricing page changed. Most buyers still search for it as OpenPhone, which is why comparison articles, this one included, use both names.

Before you commit either way

Whichever you pick, do three things first. Document every number you own from a current bill rather than from an admin console, because partial ports, where the main line moves and a few direct dials quietly do not, are the most common unpleasant surprise in this process. Rebuild your menu and call flows in the new system and test them with a real call before you port, not after. And confirm in writing how emergency calling is handled at each of your locations: Google's Voice plan cards do not describe emergency calling, and it is not a feature to assume.

If neither shape fits, the full field is priced both ways in our business phone system alternatives comparison, the current plan tables sit on the OpenPhone pricing and Google Voice pricing pages, and the matchup people run next is OpenPhone vs RingCentral. Our own plans are on the pricing page: $9 to $34 per user billed yearly with a 3-user minimum, unlimited US calling, no suite required and no annual contract at any tier.