Grasshopper alternative
The Grasshopper alternative for outbound calling teams
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system for small businesses, owned by GoTo: a toll-free or local number, extensions, voicemail, and the calls forwarded to the phones people already carry. The reason it does not suit a team that works a list is written in its own service terms. GoTo's service description for Grasshopper says its plans "are provided only for live dialog between two individuals", and lists auto-dialing and predictive dialing - "using a software program or other means to continuously dial or place out-bound calls" - among the prohibited uses. It reserves the right to suspend service without prior notice when that happens.
No card required. No seat minimum.
The short version
- GoTo's service description for Grasshopper states that its plans "may only be used for normal business use" and "are provided only for live dialog between two individuals".
- The same document lists "Auto-dialing or 'predictive' dialing (i.e., non-manual dialing or using a software program or other means to continuously dial or place out-bound calls)" as a prohibited use.
- Text message blasting and sales call centers are on the same prohibited list, and GoTo's own acceptable use policy separately prohibits "autodialing, predictive dialing, or other automated use inconsistent with typical human operation".
- Grasshopper reserves the right, without prior notice, to disconnect or suspend service for a violation, or where an account consistently exceeds 50,000 minutes a month or 50 concurrent calls.
- Plans carry an allowance of included minutes with an overage rate above it, for the continental US and Canada. Grasshopper is sold only in the US and Canada.
smrtPhone vs Grasshopper
The Grasshopper alternative, feature by feature
Every Grasshopper figure below was taken from Grasshopper’s own public pricing pages . Prices change; check theirs before you decide.
| What matters when you dial |
|
smrtPhone |
|---|---|---|
| What it is built for | A business number and extensions for a small team | Teams making outbound calls and texts from a CRM |
| The phone system underneath | Yes. A virtual PBX, with toll-free or local numbers and extensions | Yes. Call flows, inbound teams and departments, voicemail, business hours, warm transfer, conference calling and call monitoring |
| Auto-dialing and predictive dialing | No. Prohibited in their service terms and in GoTo's acceptable use policy | Yes. smrtDialer, 1 to 4 lines, with AI voice detection |
| What calls are provided for | No. Only live dialog between two individuals, per their reasonable use policy | Yes. Outbound lists, inbound calls and everything between |
| Texting a list | No. Text message blasting is a prohibited use | Yes. SMS and MMS in every seat, 1,000 segments, then $0.02, with templates and opt-out handling |
| Price | From $14 a month, per their own site | $29 a seat, plus smrtDialer at $50 or $90 |
| How minutes are billed | Partly. An allowance of included minutes, then an overage rate | 500 a seat, then $0.03. Unlimited at $99 a seat |
| A heavy month | No. Service can be suspended without prior notice past 50,000 minutes or 50 concurrent calls | Yes. Metered plainly, with no suspension threshold for dialing |
| Voicemail drop | No. Bulk voicemail blasting is a prohibited use | Yes. Included in smrtDialer, logged to the CRM |
| Where the record lives | The Grasshopper app | Yes. Your CRM. Calls and texts write to it natively |
| Outbound list compliance | No. Do-not-call obligations sit with you under GoTo's acceptable use policy | Yes. DNC and DNT lists, DNC applet, DNC API, A2P 10DLC and automatic opt-out, in the base seat |
| AI agents that take calls | Ruby live receptionists, sold as a separate service | smrtAgents answer, qualify and hand off with context |
| Free trial | Yes. Offered | 14 days |
The other side
When Grasshopper is the better choice
For a solo operator or a small office that mostly answers the phone, Grasshopper does things smrtPhone does not. It is a virtual PBX built around forwarding a business number to the mobiles people already carry, with toll-free and vanity numbers, and it pairs with Ruby, GoTo's live receptionist service, for calls answered by a person. Its Capterra profile is 4.3 from 360 reviews. If nobody on your team works a list, none of the reasonable use limits on this page will ever reach you.
- You want a professional number that forwards to the phones you already carry.
- Your calls are inbound and conversational rather than outbound list work.
- You want live human receptionists answering, through Ruby.
- A toll-free or vanity number is the point of the purchase.
- You are a solo operator or a very small office.
If you need a business line for a small team
That is what Grasshopper is for: a toll-free or local number with extensions, voicemail and call forwarding to the phones people already carry, run from an app, with Ruby live receptionists available as a separate service. smrtPhone runs a phone system too - call flows, inbound teams and departments, voicemail, business hours, warm transfer, conference calling and call monitoring - but it is built around a dialer and a CRM record rather than a forwarded line. If the job is a professional number that rings the right person, Grasshopper, Google Voice and OpenPhone are the shape to compare.
This page is for the other case: a team whose day is outbound calls and follow-up texts to a list, with the record in an investor CRM, needing a dialer and terms that permit working a list at all.
Why teams that work a list move off it
-
The terms describe a different kind of calling
GoTo's service description for Grasshopper says its plans are provided only for live dialog between two individuals, and lists auto-dialing and predictive dialing - non-manual dialing, or any software or other means that continuously places outbound calls - as prohibited. GoTo's acceptable use policy says the same about autodialing across all its services. smrtPhone is built for exactly that work, with DNC and DNT lists, a DNC applet, DNC API, A2P 10DLC and automatic opt-out in the base seat.
Outbound is the product -
Following up by text had a ceiling
Text message blasting is on the same prohibited list, defined as any volume of texts that interferes with Grasshopper's network or another provider's, as Grasshopper determines. For a team whose follow-up after every call is a text, that is a line drawn somewhere nobody can see in advance. Every smrtPhone seat includes 1,000 SMS and MMS segments, then $0.02, with templates, A2P 10DLC registration and opt-out handling.
1,000 segments in every seat -
The calls never reached the CRM
A forwarded business line puts the conversation on a phone. smrtPhone puts it on the record: native to Podio, GoHighLevel, Left Main REI, InvestorFuse, DataSift, Realeflow, Invelo, Carrot, Tape and Salesforce, with every call, recording, disposition and text written to the lead it belongs to, so nobody has to copy it across afterwards.
Ten native CRM integrations
Built into the CRM you already run
Calls, texts, recordings and dispositions land on the record they belong to, with no connector in between.
Verified reviews
What smrtPhone users say
Everything above is our claim. This is not: these are reviews left on Capterra, where most reviewers are real estate investors.
- 4.7/5
-
5 out of 5. Under 6 months in
Its ability to dial on 4 different lines simultaneously that no other dialer in the market has.
Chad F. Founder, real estate -
5 out of 5. 2+ years in
Integration with Podio and the ability to customize every aspect.
Ryan J. Founder, real estate -
5 out of 5. 6-12 months in
Great customer service with very fast reaction. Also the dialer and the extensions work magnificent.
Javier B. Acquisition manager, real estate
What switching actually involves
Numbers port, including toll-free and vanity numbers. If what you like about Grasshopper is a number that rings everyone's mobile, smrtPhone does that too, from the mobile app; the difference is that it also dials the list and writes the conversation to the CRM.
- Port your numbers. They move with you. Nobody has to learn a new number.
- Connect the CRM. Calls, texts, recordings and dispositions start writing to the record.
- Rebuild your call flows. Routing, ring groups, business hours and the DNC applet.
- Run both for a few days. Then move the dialing over once the logging looks right.
How long the port really takes
- Porting takes one to three weeks once the paperwork is in and confirmed. It is faster when your current provider sits on the same underlying carrier we do, and slower if the paperwork comes back rejected over a detail that does not match your carrier record.
- Support does the work. You start it from live chat and the team handles the submission.
- Do not cancel your old provider until the port completes. Your number keeps working throughout.
- Occasionally voice ports a few hours before texting does. It settles by itself.
Questions people ask before switching
Can you use a dialer with Grasshopper?
Not within its terms. GoTo's service description for Grasshopper lists "Auto-dialing or 'predictive' dialing (i.e., non-manual dialing or using a software program or other means to continuously dial or place out-bound calls)" as a prohibited use, and says plans are provided only for live dialog between two individuals. GoTo's acceptable use policy also prohibits autodialing and predictive dialing. smrtDialer runs one to four lines with AI voice detection at $50 or $90 on top of a $29 seat.
Is Grasshopper unlimited?
Its service terms describe plans offered on an unlimited basis for normal business use and live dialog between two individuals, and the same document describes plans as including a set number of minutes with an additional minute rate above that allowance. Grasshopper reserves the right to suspend service without prior notice if an account consistently exceeds 50,000 minutes a month or 50 concurrent calls. smrtPhone includes 500 minutes a seat and meters the rest at $0.03, or $99 a seat for unlimited.
Can I send bulk texts with Grasshopper?
Text message blasting is listed as a prohibited use in their service terms - any volume of texts that interferes with Grasshopper's network or another provider's, as Grasshopper determines. A smrtPhone seat includes 1,000 SMS and MMS segments a month, then $0.02, with templates, A2P 10DLC registration and automatic opt-out handling.
How much does Grasshopper cost?
Their own site gives pricing starting at $14 a month, and their service terms describe plans as a flat monthly fee with included minutes and an overage rate above them, for the continental US and Canada. Grasshopper is sold only in the US and Canada. smrtPhone is $24 a seat a month billed yearly, or $29 month to month, with smrtDialer at $50 or $90 for the people who dial.
Who owns Grasshopper?
GoTo, the company behind GoTo Connect and LogMeIn. Grasshopper services are provided by Grasshopper Group LLC, and GoTo's terms of service, acceptable use policy and service descriptions govern them - which is where the reasonable use rules quoted on this page come from.
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