Google Voice vs Vonage: Price and Features Comparison

In the discussion of Google Voice vs Vonage, we found that Vonage is better than Google Voice, offering far more outbound communication functionality for international calling, more third-party integrations, and better customer support. Plus, multiple training features make Vonage a top VoIP provider for retail, healthcare, and professional services teams.

Google Voice is no slouch, though. The VoIP provider rated highly for VoIP security, and its low entry cost of only $10 per user, per month is an attractive option for those trying to keep costs low.

In this guide, we’ll compare Google Voice and Vonage on everything from feature and pricing to customer support and security, to help you make a decision for your business.

In this guide:

• Google Voice vs Vonage: Key Differences
• Google Voice Pricing vs Vonage Pricing
• Google Voice vs Vonage: What Are They Best For?
• How Did De Compare Vonage to Google Voice?
• Verdict: Which VoIP Provider Is Better?

Google Voice vs Vonage: Key Differences

Before we really start to compare the specific differences between Google Voice and Vonage, it’s important to get some base-level information about what these top VoIP providers are all about. Here are some key differences between the two:

• Pricing: Google Voice is more affordable than Vonage, with a starting price of only $10 per user, per month compared to $13.99 per user, per month.
• Features: Vonage has more inbound, outbound, conversation, and management features built into the platform than Google Voice.
• Security: Google Voice offers more security features than Vonage, including multi-factor authentication and password rules.
• Third-party integrations: Vonage integrates with more third-party solutions, whereas Google Voice is mostly just compatible with other Google Workspace services.
• Customer support: Vonage offers better customer support, with live chat and email options, unlike Google Voice.

As we mentioned above, we give the Vonage the overall edge, largely due to its features score being so much higher than Google Voice, making it perfect for businesses of all sizes, rather than just small businesses that need a more affordable VoIP system.

Who is Google Voice best for?

Healthcare providers are likely to be speaking and communicating with colleagues and patients a lot, meaning Google’s Workspace applications like Gmail and file-sharing capabilities will come in handy. Google Voice is a good choice for healthcare teams, simply because it’s one of the best for security, and healthcare teams have to handle sensitive data and comply with high standards for data collection.

For the same reasons, small professional Services teams handling sensitive data will find Google Voice a good option, because the safety of client data will be of utmost importance to businesses. Google Voice is also well-suited to small teams that make a lot of international calls, as it’s easy to use, with good rates.

Check out our Google Voice for International Calls review for more information

Who is Vonage Best for?

Retail and customer service teams deal with a higher-than-average number of inbound calls when compared to other industries, so Vonage’s wealth of features for dealing with incoming customer calls will be incredibly useful.

Upskilling employees is also very important for retail and customer service businesses, which often have lower-skilled workforces, some of which will be young or working part-time. This means things like call transcripts and recordings and other features that can be utilized for training purposes are important, and this is one of the key areas where Google Voice falls down, yet Vonage does well.

Check out our Vonage review for more information

Google Voice Pricing vs Vonage Pricing

Google Voice and Vonage both have three pricing plans, although the cost is obviously a bit different. Overall, Google Voice’s plans are cheaper than Vonage plans, with Google Voice starting at only $10 per user, per month and Vonage coming in at $13.99 per user, per month.

Below, we’ll outline the pricing options available from both VoIP providers, as well as giving you some insight into which one offers better value and which one comes with potential hidden costs.

Google Voice pricing

On all of Google’s Voice plans, calls to the US from other countries are free, and there’s free calling to Canada from the US, as well as unlimited domestic minutes. However, international call rates apply when you’re phoning out from the US.

• Starter ($10 per user, per month): Google’s first plan is only for very small businesses, with a maximum of 10 users and 10 domestic locations, but you’ll still get 24/7 support and a phone line to contact. You’ll also be able to set up voicemails, and there’s a spam prevention service, as well as some reporting tools.
• Standard ($20 per user, per month): The Standard plan offers everything on the starter plan but the limits on users and locations are removed. There are customizable greetings, multi-level auto attendant/virtual receptionist, and desk phone support capabilities too.
• Premier ($30 per user, per month): This plan isn’t all that different from Google’s second plan, but it’s what you’ll need if you want advanced reporting tools and localized, toll-free numbers (providing you have a presence in a location).

Google Voice hidden costs

Before you buy Google Voice, it’s important to note that Google Voice is exclusively available to existing Google Workspace customers.

Google Workspace packages start from $6 per user, per month for a business starter plan, which includes video meetings with Google Meet, cloud storage, and management controls for your organization. Therefore, the minimum cost would be $16 per user, per month for both Google Workspace and Google Voice.

On top of this, there’s a Business Standard plan ($12 per user, per month) with 2TB of storage, a Business Plus plan ($18 per user, per month) with high-level security features, and an Enterprise Plan (Bespoke) for larger businesses. All that to say, the low costs can really add up.

Vonage pricing

On all of Vonage’s plans, you’ll have unlimited domestic minutes (both inbound and outbound), and there’s no limit to how many users you can have using the software either.

A wealth of integrations is available on all plans too, with everything from CRM systems to Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho projects, HubSpot, and Zendesk (Vonage’s Contact Center for Zendesk is pictured below). The uptime guarantee of 99.999% on all plans is actually slightly higher than Google’s (99.90%) but in reality, this is negligible.

• Mobile (US) ($13.99 per user, per month): Vonage’s first plan includes a large collection of inbound communication features like spam prevention, customizable hold music, company hours, localized + toll-free numbers, as well as external video and conference calling. You’ll be able to record calls, create transcripts and use analytics and reporting tools. There are CRM and Helpdesk integrations too.
• Premium (US) ($20.99 per user, per month): Vonage’s second paid plan has a virtual receptionist option and a customizable greeting feature, as well as custom call routing.
• Advanced (US): $27.99 per user, per month): This is the first US plan that ring groups are available on, although they’re available in Australia and the UK on the previous plan. Aside from that, there’s not all that much difference between this plan and the prior one.

Vonage hidden costs

The prices listed above are a part of the current deal offered by Vonage, which provides users with 30% off for the first year of the subscription. While this is a nice discount, it can be a bit surprising when costs go up at the end of the year.

This means that, after your first year, you’ll be paying $19.99 per user, per month for the Mobile plan, $29.99 per user, per month for the Premium plan, and $39.99 per user, per month for the Advanced plan. So, you can see why we still give Google Voice the edge on price, even when it looks comparable at first glance.

Best for Business Features: Vonage

The Vonage vs Google Voice comparison is stark when it comes to features, as Vonage offers a lot and Google Voice, well, doesn’t. In fact, across virtually every research category, including inbound, outbound, conversation, and team management, Vonage offers more tools to help your team.

For example, Google Voice offers no customizable hold music, e-fax, call barge, call whisper, call queue, or call monitoring functionality on any of its paid plans. Conversely, Vonage provides those on all paid plans, although some of those features may cost extra.

That’s not to say Google Voice doesn’t offer any business features. You’ll find lots of options like call recording and voicemail to text, as well as integrated functionality with other Google services like Gmail and Google Docs.

Google Voice let me record calls easily, all I had to do was tap 4 to start and stop the recording. Source: Tech.co user testing

Best for Security Features: Google Voice

Google Voice is one of the top providers for VoIP security, offering the most protocols to keep your data secure. More specifically, compared to Vonage, Google Voice offers multi-factor authentication and password rules, which Vonage does not.

It’s worth noting how important these kinds of features can be in the long run for a business, as security lapses in these areas can creates weak points in your network. And given the average cost of a data breach is now in the $10 million range, it’s safe to say that being secure is in your best interest.

Luckily, neither VoIP provider is lacking too much when it comes to security. Both offer TLS/SRTP encryption, user permissions functionality, and compliance certification for a wide range of organizations.

Google Voice includes a settings page for everything from service addresses to payment accounts. Source: Tech.co testing

Best for Customer Support: Vonage

Neither Google Voice nor Vonage scored particularly high or low for customer support in our research. Both providers have a user forum and knowledge base, as well as a phone line (of course). While Google has 24/7 live support, Vonage has live chat and email support, which Google Voice is missing, so Vonage takes the cake here.

Vonage also provides onboarding support (for an additional cost), but Google Voice doesn’t offer this. Both providers offer stronger help and support options than MagicJack, however.

Check out our MagicJack vs Vonage guide to see how the two providers compare in full.

Google Voice highlights some popular help resources in its pop-up Help bar to help you resolve issues. Source: Tech.co user testing

Best for Scalability: Vonage

Google Voice isn’t really built for big teams — they can use it, but the bigger your team, the more features you’re going to need — and Google Voice doesn’t have many when compared to providers like Vonage.

Our Scalability scoring assesses a product’s ability to scale with business growth, in multiple use cases. The scores are arrived at based on the presence and function of features like user limits, call queues, call barges, call whispers, and local numbers, as well as the overall capability of management, collaboration, software integrations, and security.

Google Voice scored quite lowly in this regard because it’s missing many of those features. Vonage, on the other hand, scored an impressively, offering virtually all those features, so if scalability is what you’re looking for, there’s one clear winner here.

The Vonage call interface. Image: Vonage

Best for Customer Satisfaction: Google Voice

Customer opinions regarding the trustworthiness of these two vendors have been compiled by our research team, and Google Voice actually comes out on top in this case.

Overall, the team awarded Google Voice a 4.4/5 based on customer opinions, slightly higher than Vonage’s 4/5.  Interestingly, both of these telephone systems scored higher than our top-rated providers RingCentral and 8×8 (both 3.5/5) – which illustrates that they’re both good scores for customer satisfaction, though perhaps stemming from lower expectations.

Only NUACOM (4.6/5) scored higher than Google Voice on our last round of testing, so although it might not have as many features as Vonage, customers using the platform definitely enjoy it.

VoIP Alternatives to Google Voice and Vonage

If you’re in the market for a VoIP phone system and neither Google Voice nor Vonage are piquing your interest, have no fear. There are plenty of VoIP solutions that make for great Vonage alternatives or Google Voice alternatives.

Below, we’ve created a small table to help you compare VoIP solutions on pricing and features, so you know exactly what your options are in the world of business communication.

How Did We Compare Vonage to Google Voice?