Quick Verdict
Unitel Voice wins for most founders and small teams. It starts at $9.99/mo versus Grasshopper's $14-18/mo, includes free professional voice recordings that Grasshopper charges extra for, and backs it up with 24/7 US-based phone support. Grasshopper is the more recognizable brand and has a slightly bigger add-on ecosystem, but you're paying a brand premium for features Unitel Voice includes by default. Unless you specifically need Grasshopper's call blasting feature, Unitel Voice is the better value.
The Two Contenders
Unitel Voice
A budget-focused virtual phone system built for solo founders and small businesses that need a professional number without enterprise pricing. Starting at $9.99/mo, it includes call forwarding, voicemail-to-email, an auto-attendant, unlimited extensions, and free professionally recorded greetings โ a feature most competitors charge extra for. Its standout differentiator is 24/7 US-based phone support, rare at this price point.
Grasshopper
One of the longest-running and most recognized virtual phone brands, known for its taxi-cab and airport ad campaigns. Plans start at $14/mo billed annually ($18/mo monthly) and scale up to $70-92/mo for the Small Business tier with unlimited users and extensions. It includes the same core auto-attendant and call-forwarding basics, plus add-ons like call blasting for teams that want every line to ring at once.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Unitel Voice | Grasshopper |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $9.99/mo (True Solo tier) | $14/mo annually, $18/mo monthly |
| Top Tier Price | $24.99/mo | $70-92/mo (Small Business) |
| US-Based Live Support | Yes, 24/7 phone support | Business hours, chat + email primarily |
| Free Voice Recordings | Yes, included on all plans | No, professional greeting is extra |
| Auto-Attendant | Yes, all plans | Yes, all plans |
| Extensions | Unlimited on all plans | 1 to unlimited, depends on tier |
| Additional Phone Numbers | Included in higher tiers | $9/mo add-on per number |
| Mobile & Desktop App | Yes | Yes |
| Call Blasting (ring multiple lines) | Not offered | $9/mo add-on |
| Best For | Solo founders & small teams on a budget | Teams that want a bigger brand name and don't mind paying more |
Pricing Breakdown
This is where the gap is widest and most consistent across every tier.
Unitel Voice Pricing
- - Starter: $9.99/mo
- - Pro: $19.99/mo
- - Elite: $24.99/mo
- * Free professional voice recordings included on every plan
Grasshopper Pricing
- - True Solo: $14/mo annually ($18/mo monthly)
- - Solo Plus: $25/mo annually ($32/mo monthly)
- - Small Business: $55-80/mo annually ($70-92/mo monthly)
- * Call Blasting and extra numbers cost $9/mo each on top
Verdict: Unitel Voice wins clearly. At every comparable tier, Unitel Voice is cheaper and throws in features โ like free voice recordings โ that Grasshopper charges separately for. Grasshopper's Small Business plan at up to $92/mo monthly is nearly 4x Unitel Voice's top tier for a similar unlimited-extensions setup.
Customer Support
For a phone company, how they handle support calls says a lot.
Unitel Voice offers 24/7 US-based phone support, which is unusual for a budget VoIP provider. Call at 9pm on a Tuesday and you'll reach a real human who can fix your issue in minutes, not a chatbot or an offshore queue with a 30-minute hold.
Grasshopper primarily supports customers through chat and email, with phone support available during business hours. It's functional, but it's not the round-the-clock, pick-up-the-phone experience Unitel Voice offers.
Verdict: Unitel Voice wins decisively. 24/7 live phone support at this price point is genuinely rare, and it matters most exactly when something breaks outside business hours.
Feature Depth & Add-Ons
Both platforms cover the fundamentals โ auto-attendant, call forwarding, voicemail-to-email, and mobile apps โ but they diverge on extras.
Unitel Voice keeps its plans simple: unlimited extensions on every tier and free professional voice recordings baked in from the start. There's no call-blasting feature, so if your workflow depends on ringing multiple lines simultaneously, that's a gap.
Grasshopper offers Call Blasting as a paid add-on ($9/mo), which rings your team's phones simultaneously until someone picks up โ useful for small sales or support teams that don't want a call to go unanswered. It also gates extensions and phone numbers behind higher tiers, so scaling up costs more than it first appears.
Verdict: Tie, with a caveat. Grasshopper has one genuinely useful feature Unitel Voice lacks (Call Blasting), but you pay extra for it, and Unitel Voice's unlimited extensions and free recordings on every plan cover what most small teams actually need.
Where Unitel Voice Wins
Lower price at every tier
$9.99/mo vs $14-18/mo to start, and the gap widens fast as you scale up โ Grasshopper's top tier costs nearly 4x more.
24/7 US-based phone support
Real humans, any time of day. Rare at this price point and a big deal when your business number goes down.
Free professional voice recordings
Included on every plan. Grasshopper and most competitors charge extra for this, or leave you recording your own greeting.
Where Grasshopper Wins
Call Blasting for teams
Rings multiple phones simultaneously until someone answers โ useful for small sales or support teams that don't want calls slipping through.
Bigger, more recognized brand
Decades of marketing means more third-party integrations and a larger support knowledge base to search.
Final Verdict
This one isn't close on value.
Choose Unitel Voice if you're a founder or small team that needs a professional business number without paying a brand premium. At $9.99/mo with free voice recordings and 24/7 US phone support, it delivers more for less at every tier. This is the right default for the vast majority of small businesses and startups.
Choose Grasshopper only if you specifically need Call Blasting to ring multiple team phones at once, or you have a strong preference for a more established brand name and don't mind paying 2-4x more for it.
For most founders and small businesses in 2026, Unitel Voice is the smarter buy โ same core features, lower price, and support that actually answers the phone.
Related Comparisons & Reviews
Read the full Unitel Voice review. Also see KrispCall vs Unitel Voice if you need a global virtual number system for international teams.