Grasshopper vs RingCentral: Which VoIP Service Fits Your Business Best?
The way businesses communicate has changed dramatically in the last decade. Remote work, hybrid teams, and customer expectations for instant service have pushed companies toward VoIP and cloud-based communication.
But here’s the problem: not every business needs the same type of system. Some need a professional number that separates personal and work calls, while others need a fully integrated voice, video, and collaboration platform.
That’s why this article compares Grasshopper vs RingCentral—two popular, but very different, VoIP solutions. Having helped small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) choose telecom systems for years, I’ll break down what each platform offers, who it’s best for, and how pricing stacks up so you can make the right call.
Key Takeaways
- Grasshopper is best for solopreneurs and very small businesses who need a virtual phone system layered on top of their existing carrier plan. It makes small companies look professional with features like call forwarding, business texting, and live receptionist add-ons.
- RingCentral is a full UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) platform, offering phone, video meetings, messaging, and advanced integrations—suited for growing SMBs and mid-market companies.
- Grasshopper pricing starts at $26 per month (annual billing) for one phone number and three extensions, but lacks collaboration tools.
- RingCentral pricing starts at $19.99 per user per month (annual billing) with built-in calling, messaging, and video. Costs rise as you add users and features.
- Choose Grasshopper if you only need a professional business number. Choose RingCentral if you need scalability, team collaboration, and advanced features.
True Solo
Pros
- Very quick and easy to set up
- Excellent feature set and pricing for small businesses
- No hardware needed
Cons
- Not built to be scalable (beyond 15 or 20 users)
- Can’t integrate with any existing enterprise PBXs
Core
Pros
- Rich selection of features
- Thorough integrations with other apps
- Easily manage international remote teams
Cons
- For larger implementations it can get expensive
- The number of features can be overwhelming
Grasshopper Overview
Grasshopper was founded in 2003 with a simple mission: give small businesses a professional phone presence without complex infrastructure. Today, it serves more than 350,000 customers, mostly solopreneurs, startups, and small teams.
What Grasshopper Offers
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system, not a full VoIP replacement. You still need a mobile or landline provider. Grasshopper layers professional features on top:
- Business phone number (local, toll-free, or vanity)
- Call forwarding & routing to multiple devices
- Custom greetings & auto-attendants
- Business texting from your company number
- Voicemail transcription delivered to email
- Desktop & mobile apps for unified calling
- Add-ons like Ruby Receptionists (live agents) and professionally recorded greetings
💡 Best for: Entrepreneurs and small businesses who want to “look big” and handle calls professionally, without investing in a complex system.
RingCentral Overview
Founded in 1999, RingCentral has grown into one of the world’s largest UCaaS providers, serving businesses of all sizes—from startups to global enterprises. Unlike Grasshopper, RingCentral is a complete VoIP and collaboration suite.
What RingCentral Offers
RingCentral’s flagship MVP platform (Message, Video, Phone) includes:
- VoIP calling with PSTN connectivity
- HD video meetings (100+ participants)
- Team messaging & file sharing
- CRM & helpdesk integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, etc.)
- Contact center solutions (IVR, AI analytics, call recording, omnichannel support)
- APIs & developer platform for custom integrations
- Mobile & desktop apps with unified calling, chat, and video
💡 Best for: SMBs with 10+ employees, distributed teams, or fast-growing companies that need voice, video, and messaging in one platform.
Best VoIP Services
Zoom – Intelligent call routing & management
Vonage – Flexible communications options
RingCentral – Cloud system with simple set-up
GoToConnect – Rated #1 in customer satisfaction
GoTo Meeting – Professional online meetings software
Grasshopper vs RingCentral: Feature Comparison
Here’s how the two stack up side by side:
| Feature | Grasshopper | RingCentral |
| Target Audience | Solopreneurs, very small businesses | SMBs to large enterprises |
| Phone Service | Virtual number (no PSTN) | Full VoIP with PSTN connectivity |
| Video Meetings | ❌ Not available | ✅ Included (up to 200 participants with paid plan) |
| Messaging & Team Chat | ❌ Not available | ✅ Built-in |
| Business Texting | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Live Receptionists | ✅ Add-on (Ruby Receptionists) | ❌ Not available |
| Custom Greetings | ✅ Voice Studio option | ✅ But limited compared to Grasshopper |
| CRM/Software Integrations | ❌ Limited | ✅ Extensive (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft 365, Slack) |
| Scalability | Up to ~12 users | Unlimited |
Feature set comparison
At first glance, it may seem that both companies deliver a similar service, however, what each offers is based on very different philosophies.
Grasshopper delivers a set of features that sit between the caller and your normal cell phone number. These features are used to enhance the caller’s experience with professionally created greetings and simple incoming call control before your phone rings for you to answer. Alternatively, calls can be routed to voicemail, another number you specify, or to a live receptionist provided by Grasshopper that you can train to deal with calls in specific ways. In addition, the texting service can instantly respond with a text in the event a call cannot be answered.
RingCentral on the other hand delivers a full-fledged telephony service including connectivity to the PSTN. The provider’s telephony feature set is much richer and includes extensive and advanced telephony features, as well as videoconferencing and instant messaging services that are vital for the remote collaboration of your workforce. In addition, RingCentral supports the integration of various business productivity applications such as helpdesk ticketing platforms and CRM systems. In addition, it provides a comprehensive developer platform that allows you to develop your own custom integrations with whatever software applications you want.
AI Features: Grasshopper vs RingCentral
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a big differentiator in business communications. While both Grasshopper and RingCentral offer reliable VoIP services, they approach AI very differently.
Grasshopper AI Features
Grasshopper is designed as a lightweight virtual phone system for entrepreneurs, so its AI presence is minimal. Still, there are a few features that benefit from automation and AI-powered tools:
- Voicemail Transcription – Converts voicemails into text and sends them via email. While relatively basic, it helps users stay responsive without needing to listen to audio.
- Auto-Text Responses – Grasshopper lets you set automated SMS replies for missed calls, which functions as a simple AI-driven response mechanism.
- Call Routing Rules – Though not “AI” in the advanced sense, Grasshopper’s call forwarding logic allows small teams to handle calls more efficiently.
💡 Bottom Line: Grasshopper uses AI-lite automation but does not provide advanced conversational AI or analytics. This fits its target market of solopreneurs and very small businesses.
RingCentral AI Features
RingCentral, as a full UCaaS and contact center provider, has heavily invested in AI. Many of these capabilities are enterprise-grade but still valuable to SMBs:
- AI-Powered Transcription – Real-time meeting transcription and searchable call transcripts.
- Noise Suppression & Audio Enhancements – Filters out background noise during calls and meetings using AI-driven voice recognition.
- Meeting Summaries & Action Items – Automatically generates highlights, summaries, and follow-up tasks after video meetings.
- Virtual Background & Presentation Modes – AI-enhanced video features for professional meetings.
- AI in Contact Center – Features like intelligent IVR, chatbots, call sentiment analysis, and workforce management forecasting help improve customer experience.
- RingSense for Phone (2024 Launch) – AI that analyzes calls for key insights, such as customer sentiment and sales coaching opportunities.
💡 Bottom Line: RingCentral offers a much deeper AI stack, useful not only for communications but also for customer service, productivity, and sales enablement.
AI Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | Grasshopper | RingCentral |
| Voicemail Transcription | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (with advanced search) |
| Auto-Replies (Text/Calls) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (with AI-driven customization) |
| Noise Suppression | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Meeting Summaries | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Sentiment Analysis | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (in Contact Center) |
| AI Chatbots/IVR | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Customer Support Comparison
- Grasshopper: Online knowledge base, step-by-step onboarding videos, and live support available once you submit account details. Limited compared to larger providers but straightforward for its target audience.
- RingCentral: 24/7 support (phone, chat) on most plans, a huge knowledge base, active community forums, and dedicated onboarding. Some users note delays with phone agents, but resources are extensive.
Pricing and plans comparison
Grasshopper
Grasshopper offers three tiers of service for its service. Each tier differs only in the number of phone numbers and the number of internal extensions you can have. The Solo tier gives you one phone number and three extensions, the Partner tier, which is the most popular one, gives you three phone numbers and 6 extensions, while the small business tier gives you five phone numbers and an unlimited number of extensions. The monthly cost of the three tiers is $26, $44, and $80 respectively when billed annually. All other features on all tiers remain the same. The following shows the three tiers as they appear on the site:
When viewing these costs remember that it’s difficult to compare them directly with those of other vendors because of the fact that the plans include multiple phone numbers and internal extensions, so each plan doesn’t correspond directly to individual users.
RingCentral
RingCentral’s pricing for its MVP offering comes in four tiers. Cost savings can be achieved by choosing annual billing as well as by increasing the number of subscriptions you wish to purchase. For a single line, the annually billed monthly cost for each of the three tiers is as seen below:
With annual billing enabled, for 100 or more users, these prices go as low as $22.99 per month for the Standard plan, $32.99 per month for the Premium plan, and $43.99 per month for the Ultimate plan.
The following table compares the prices of the various plans from each company. All prices shown are for annual billing.
| RingCentral | Grasshopper | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 plan cost | $19.99/ user/ month | $26.00/ user/ month |
| Tier 2 plan cost | $27.99/ user/ month | $44.00/ user/ month |
| Tier 3 plan cost | $34.99/ user/ month | $80.00/ user/ month |
| Tier 4 plan cost | $49.99/ user/ month | – |
| Annual or monthly billing | Yes | Yes |
| Annual billing discount? | Yes | No |
| Discount for bulk subscriptions | Yes | No |
Taking into account that Grasshopper’s costs are for one, three, and five phone numbers for each tier respectively, the per-user cost of Grasshopper is much cheaper. But we must remember that the services provided are so different that we are beginning to compare apples with oranges, so such tables should always be examined carefully.
User Experience
- Grasshopper: Quick setup, very intuitive, “just works” for small teams. Limited features mean fewer things to go wrong.
- RingCentral: Smooth onboarding wizard, easy app experience across desktop and mobile, scalable provisioning for teams. Slightly more complex than Grasshopper, but powerful once set up.
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Pros and cons
Here is a list of pros and cons for each provider:
Grasshopper Pros
- Affordable for very small businesses
- Makes small businesses look professional
- Includes texting, voicemail transcription, and custom greetings
- Live receptionist add-on for a personal touch
Grasshopper Cons
- No video meetings or team chat
- Requires existing phone provider (no PSTN)
- Not built for scaling beyond ~12 users
RingCentral Pros
- Full UCaaS platform with phone, video, and messaging
- Enterprise-grade features like call analytics and CRM integrations
- Scalable from SMBs to large companies
- 24/7 support and strong onboarding
RingCentral Cons
- More expensive on a per-user basis
- Overkill for solo entrepreneurs or micro-businesses
The final verdict
Grasshopper and RingCentral solve different problems.
- Choose Grasshopper if you’re a solo entrepreneur, freelancer, or small business with fewer than 10 employees who just needs a professional phone system without extra collaboration features.
- Choose RingCentral if you have a growing team that needs scalability, video meetings, and integrations to streamline collaboration.
👉 My recommendation: Grasshopper works best for “starter-stage” businesses, while RingCentral is the right fit once you’re ready to scale your communications and collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Is Grasshopper better than Google Voice?
Grasshopper is more professional than Google Voice for small businesses because it offers business texting, multiple extensions, and custom greetings. Google Voice is free or low-cost, but it’s more suited for personal use or very simple business setups. If you want your small company to look polished, Grasshopper is the better choice.
2. Does RingCentral replace Zoom?
Yes, RingCentral includes HD video meetings (up to 200 participants) and team messaging, so it can fully replace Zoom for most businesses. However, Zoom still has a stronger brand and larger participant limits for enterprise webinars. For SMBs, RingCentral’s built-in video is usually enough.
3. Can I use Grasshopper without an internet connection?
Yes. Grasshopper primarily routes calls through your existing mobile carrier, so you can still make and receive calls without Wi-Fi. It also supports Wi-Fi calling as a backup when your cellular reception is weak.
4. Is RingCentral too expensive for small businesses?
RingCentral starts at $19.99 per user per month, which can feel pricey for a small team. But it includes phone, video, and team messaging, which means you don’t need to buy multiple separate tools. If you only need a phone number, Grasshopper is more cost-effective. If you need full collaboration features, RingCentral offers better long-term value.
5. Does Grasshopper work internationally?
Grasshopper is mainly built for U.S. and Canadian businesses. You can forward calls internationally, but there may be extra charges. If your business has global teams or customers, RingCentral is a better fit since it offers international numbers and global PSTN coverage.
6. Which is easier to set up: Grasshopper or RingCentral?
Grasshopper is faster to set up—you can have a business number running in minutes. RingCentral setup is also straightforward, but it’s more comprehensive since it includes voice, video, and integrations. Grasshopper wins for simplicity, RingCentral wins for scalability.
7. Does RingCentral integrate with CRM systems?
Yes. RingCentral integrates with popular CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho CRM, as well as productivity apps like Microsoft 365 and Slack. Grasshopper has no native CRM integrations.
