Whether you’re a solo business owner or operate a large industry, a good virtual business phone service significantly improves communication and team productivity. 

Dialpad and Grasshopper are two of the prominent virtual phone services that provide reliable communication platforms. While they do offer many similar features, they also have some key differences that set them apart. 

But which one is better? Here, we’ll be doing a Dialpad vs Grasshopper comparison, analyzing their features, pricing, and the pros and cons to help you pick the right platform for your business.

Key takeaway

• Despite both Dialpad and Grasshopper being virtual phone service providers, Dialpad has better features as it’s a much bigger communication platform.
• Video conferencing is a part of Dialpad’s platform, whereas Grasshopper requires third-party integration.
• Dialpad, with its pricing and larger platform, is suited for large enterprises, whereas Grasshopper is suited for small startups and businesses.
• Both platforms offer extensive customer support. Grasshopper offers consistent 24/7 support on all plans, whereas Dialpad limits priority support to high-tier pricing plans.

Dialpad vs Grasshopper: An Overview

Dialpad and Grasshopper are both well-known VoIP providers that provide robust business phone systems. Their features make communication more convenient, and their pricing caters to a wider range of needs and preferences.

Dialpad

Dialpad is a complete communication platform that brings together all the necessary features like messages, voice, and video in a single place. It helps to make communication efficient and also boost team collaboration.

Dialpad is not just another virtual phone service; it is powered by AI to enhance its features and functionalities further. It can improve call quality, generate call transcriptions, call summaries, voicemail transcription, real-time analytics, and more.

With its many advanced features, Dialpad is suitable for all types of businesses, from small startups to large industries. 

Grasshopper

Although both Dialpad and Grasshopper are technically a virtual phone system, they are vastly different in terms of features. Grasshopper virtual phone offers a very limited number of features and solely focuses on providing a reliable virtual business phone service.

With Grasshopper phone service, you get all the essential features of a great virtual phone, including separate local, virtual, toll-free phone numbers, extension numbers, VoIP calling, simultaneous call handling option, anonymous call blocking, call forwarding, voicemail transcription, and more.

The limited yet useful features, combined with affordable pricing, make the Grasshopper phone system a much more suitable option for small startups or solo entrepreneurs. Plus, they charge a flat rate instead of a per-user rate, making it even more cost-effective for small businesses.

	Dialpad	Grasshopper
Pricing and Plans	Starts from $15/user/month	Starts from $29/month
Voice Calling	VoIP Unlimited calling, Call recording, AI-powered features	VoIP Unlimited calling, Call forwarding, Voicemail transcription
Text Messaging Capabilities	Monthly 250 outbound SMS per user, international texting in the Pro plan	Unlimited texting in the USA, lacks international texting
Video Conferencing	Unlimited meetings supporting up to 150 participants, Screen sharing, Real-time messaging	Basic video conferencing
Team Collaboration Tools	Group chat and messaging, Collaboration transcription, File sharing	Lacks collaboration features
Analytics	Real-time analytics and reports	Basic reporting features
Third-Party Integrations	Supports a large number of third-party integrations such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, etc	Limited third-party integration like Google Voice, Skype, etc
Security + Network Reliability	24/7 uptime, Data security and  retention policies	Security features are not mentioned
Customer Support	24/7 live chat agent and email support	24/7 support via calling live agent and email

Dialpad vs Grasshopper: Feature Comparison

Both Dialpad and Grasshopper have multiple features that make a reliable virtual business phone service. Here, we’ll be doing a detailed comparison of Grasshopper vs Dialpad in terms of their voice-calling features, messaging capabilities, video conferencing features, reporting tools, and customer support.

Note: As Dialpad is a much bigger platform than Grasshopper, you will often find more advanced features in Dialpad in comparison. 

1. Voice Calling Features

Dialpad and Grasshopper business phones both offer the essential features of a virtual phone, including VoIP calling, call forwarding, call routing, voicemails, and more. However, Dialpad enhances these functionalities with AI-powered capabilities, whereas Grasshopper focuses on traditional phone features without AI integration.

Shared Features

• Provides local, virtual, toll-free phone numbers.
• Supports voice call forwarding and re-routing.
• Dedicated mobile and desktop apps.
• Custom greetings and an auto-attendant (virtual receptionist/ruby receptionist)
• Supports voice-mail to email feature.
• Call blocking feature to filter out spam calls.

Differences

Dialpad, being a complete communication platform, offers a broader range of advanced features than Grasshopper and its dialpad competitors. So, here’s the list of calling features that you can only find in Dialpad.

• Innate call recording feature.
• AI-powered call quality enhancements.
• Advanced auto-attendant (IVR) capable of performing more actions.
• Better call routing based on locations and availability.
• AI-powered real-time call transcription and voicemail transcription.
• Affordable international calling rate.
• Supports call monitoring, allowing you to barge, whisper, and listen to calls.

2. Messaging and SMS

SMS and texting are essential in virtual business phones to stay connected and updated with the team. Both Grasshopper and Dialpad offer all the essential texting features. Still, when it comes to more advanced functionality, Dialpad is a better pick with its AI-driven templates, text regeneration, auto-reply, etc.

The only downside here is the monthly cap of 250 outbound messages in Dialpad. Grasshopper does offer unlimited texting capability, but it is only applicable inside the US and Canada.

Shared Features

• Virtual business numbers dedicated to SMS and texting.
• Supports SMS forwarding.
• Has pre-built message templates.
• Has auto-reply options for SMS and messages.
• Access to conversion logs and history.
• Blocking messages from a particular contact or number.

Differences

• Dialpad supports SMS and messaging internationally, whereas Grasshopper is limited to the US and Canada.
• Dialpad features an AI-powered tool to generate responses, create templates, gather insights, etc.
• Grasshopper offers unlimited texting in the USA, whereas Dialpad limits outbound SMS to 250 per month.
• Dialpad offers a group messaging feature for better collaboration.
• Dialpad provides a click-to-text feature for added convenience.
• Dialpad supports MMS for sending media files via SMS.
• Dialpad excels in organizing and managing conversation logs for better efficiency.

3. Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is essential in team collaborations and a must-have in virtual business phone service. Although you can use video conferencing in both Dialpad and Grasshopper, there is a slight caveat. Dialpad has the innate feature to video call, whereas Grasshopper telephone does not have this feature built-in. Instead, users have to integrate third-party applications that support the conferencing feature.

Shared Features:

• Offers VoIP video calls.
• Support for HD video conferencing.
• Screen sharing.
• Multi-platform conferencing.
• Google Calendar integration for organizing and scheduling meetings.
• Guest access in conferences.
• Supports live chat during video conferencing.

Differences

• Grasshopper requires third-party integration for video conferencing.
• Dialpad has a built-in Dialpad Meetings feature.
• Dialpad includes an innate screen-sharing function.
• Dialpad allows users to record meetings using built-in tools.
• AI-powered tools in Dialpad generate summaries and insights from meetings.
• Seamless guest access in Dialpad for easy meeting participation.
• Integrated live chat within Dialpad’s video conferencing feature.

4. Reporting and Analytics

Both Dialpad and Grasshopper offer reporting and analytics tools for gaining insights. However, Dialpad has much more refined tools like real-time analysis, performance tracking, report customizations, etc. On the other hand, Grasshopper has only basic reporting tools.

Shared features

• Offers call logs.
• Voicemail logs and tracking.
• Missed call information.
• Call duration reports.
• Exporting reports
• Basic SMS logs and reports.

Differences 

We’ll be focusing on the advanced features that Dialpad offers:

• Real-time analytic dashboard.
• Generate reports based on the call history and logs.
• Offers messages (SMS) analytics.
• Performance tracking metrics.
• Report customization and filtering based on the preferences.
• Supports exporting reports in multiple formats.

5. Customer Support

Both platforms emphasize providing helpful customer support for all plans. Since Dialpad is a significantly larger platform, it requires more assistance with its advanced tools. However, it has limited the advanced assistance to its higher pricing tiers.

In contrast, Grasshopper is a smaller platform that requires less complex support. So, it delivers the same quality of consistent customer support on all its plans.

Shared features

• Offer knowledge base.
• Live agent phone call support.
• Email support.
• 24/7 customer support.

Difference

• Dialpad offers 24/7 support with live chat.
• Grasshopper offers consistent customer support on all plans, whereas Dialpad’s more helpful support features are limited to high-tier plans.
• Dialpad offers its service internationally across multiple countries, whereas Grasshopper is limited to the US and Canada.

Dialpad vs Grasshopper: Pricing and Plans

As for the pricing, Dialpad vs Grasshopper have different tiers of pricing plans with each offering various features. The basic and essential features are available on the starting plan, whereas the more advanced features are locked behind higher-tier price plans.

Dialpad Pricing and Plans

Dialpad offers three tiers of pricing plans where you have the option to pay monthly or annually. It starts with a standard plan costing $27 per user per month. For the Pro plan, it will cost $35 and comes with a few extra features. 

They also offer an Enterprise plan, where you get all the features of the Pro plan plus reliable customer support and more. 

Here are some of the features that you’ll get in the Dialpad pricing plan.

• Standard Plan ($27 per user/month): Unlimited High-definition (HD) voice calling, Unlimited AI meetings with up to 150 participants, Visual voicemail, Toll-free number support, Setup call forwarding, routing, recording, transcription, Google Workspace & Microsoft 365 integrations, Real-time analytics & reporting.
  
• Pro Plan ($35 per user/month): Multiple virtual business phone numbers per account, International SMS support, 24/7 live agent support, Microsoft Teams and other CRM integrations, Open APIs & Webhooks, up to 25 ring groups (departments), 10 office maximum, Quality-of-service reports.
  
• Enterprise Plan (Contact sales): Unlimited office locations, Unlimited ring groups, SSO integrations, 99.9% uptime, Priority routing, Service Level Agreement (SLA), Data retention policies, priority live agent support.

Grasshopper Pricing and Plans

Like Dialpad, Grasshopper pricing plans have three tiers. The True Solo plan costs $18 per month, followed by the Solo Plus plan, which costs $32 per month. Finally, the Small Business plan offers additional features and costs $70 per month.

• True Solo ($18 paid monthly): 1 user, 1 virtual phone number for business, single extension, call forwarding, call transfer, voicemails, customer support.
• Solo Plus ($32 paid monthly): Unlimited users, 1 phone number, 3 extensions, addon extension.
• Small Business ($70 paid monthly): Unlimited users, 4 phone numbers, Unlimited extensions.

Dialpad vs. Grasshopper Pros and Cons

Despite offering similar features, both platforms have some advantages and disadvantages. In the Dialpad vs Grasshopper comparison, Dialpad’s advanced features are more suitable for large businesses, whereas Grasshopper’s affordability makes it perfect for small businesses. Learning more about them will help you decide which platform best fulfills your needs.

Dialpad Pros

• Highly scalable.
• More advanced features among dialpad alternatives.
• AI-powered communication platform.
• Collaboration tools.
• Offers large CRM integrations.

Dialpad Cons

• Costly pricing plan.
• Limited outbound SMS per month.
• The features aren’t very intuitive.
• Many useful features are locked behind higher-tier pricing plans.
• Minimum seat requirements.

Grasshopper Pros

• Easy to use interface.
• Supports unlimited users.
• Affordable pricing plans.
• Virtual reception.
• Mobile and desktop apps.

Grasshopper Cons

• Offers only basic call management features.
• Lacks AI-driven analytics and reporting
• Does not offer third-party integrations.
• Their service is limited to the US and Canada.
• Lacks team collaboration and video conferencing features.
• Other grasshopper competitors offer more features at similar price points.

Which Provider Should You Choose?

Dialpad and Grasshopper both offer a great virtual phone system for your business. However, before deciding which platform is suitable for your business, you should learn about its strengths and weaknesses.

Dialpad is Best For:

Hybrid working environment: Dialpad is a complete communication platform with advanced features, such as video conferencing, virtual meetings, messaging, and more. This makes it suitable for businesses that prioritize team collaboration.

Scalable business: Dialpad caters for all types of businesses. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or manage large-scale industries, it provides the necessary features, such as call handling and analytics, to support business growth.

CRM integrations: If your business relies heavily on CRMs like HubSpot, Google Workspace, Zendesk, Salesforce, etc., Dialpad has you covered. It supports a wide range of CRM integrations to increase work efficiency. 

Dialpad is Not Right For:

Small business: While Dialpad offers more advanced features, it also does come with an increased price tag. Dialpad costs more as it charges per user per month. Small teams or companies that only require a good business phone system without all the bells and whistles may find it uneconomical.

Simple phone system: Dialpad’s advanced features aren’t exactly easy to use or understand right out of the box. It will take some time to get used to. So, if you’re looking for a simple plug-and-play business phone system, Dialpad may not be right for you.

Grasshopper is Best For:

Simplicity: Grasshopper does not offer fancy, advanced AI features and integration like Dialpad. Instead, they just provide a simple yet reliable virtual phone system capable of handling all the basic call-handling tasks.

Affordability: Unlike Dialpad, Grasshopper does not charge you per user. Instead, they have a flat monthly fee. It makes Grasshopper incredibly cost-effective, especially for smaller businesses. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or have a small team, Grasshopper provides the essential features you need to support your business. 

Grasshopper is Not Right For:

Large businesses: While Grasshopper’s no-nonsense approach of providing just the essential business phone system might be suitable for some companies, it certainly isn’t for everybody. The lack of features like team collaboration and CRM integration can be a deal breaker for large-scale industries.

Advanced features: In addition to a lack of team collaboration and proper CRM integration, Grasshopper lacks some essential features. These include call recordings, call transcription, analytic tools, and AI-driven features, which are necessary for modern businesses.

Conclusion

So, back to the question at hand: Dialpad vs Grasshopper, which is actually better? By now, it’s clear from their features and pricing that the choice largely depends on your needs and preferences. If you need a complete AI-powered communication platform with advanced features that scales well with your growing business, then Dialpad is more suitable for you.

That being said, if you just need a simple yet effective virtual phone management system for yourself or your small team, Grasshopper is a much better choice. It offers just the right features and tools to get you started while also being incredibly cost-effective.

FAQs

What is Dialpad Talk?

Dialpad Talk is part of Dialpad’s communication platform, which allows users to make VOIP calls and send and receive text messages on any device.

Is There a Free Version of Dialpad?

No, there isn’t a free version of Dialpad as of right now. However, Dialpad does offer a free 14-day free trial business phone number.

Can You Fax With Grasshopper?

Although Grasshopper supports virtual fax, you can only receive it. Unfortunately, Grasshopper doesn’t support sending faxes.

Does Grasshopper charge per minute?

No, Grasshopper does not charge you by the minute. However, this is only applicable to users within the US and Canada. For international calls, they will charge you per minute, and the cost depends on the location.