Grasshopper Review

Grasshopper Pros

• Low cost per minute
• 24/7 customer service

Grasshopper Cons

• Can't set answering rules
• No free trial available

Grasshopper has an additional fee that is not part of our Market Standard:  a $5.63 "taxes and surcharges" fee charged upon account creation. Also, their basic plan includes 500 minutes. Minus this extra charge, the monthly pricing is standard.  They do not offer a free trial, but they offer a 30-day money back guarantee.  If you can get past the startup fees and no free trial, then Grasshopper is a good service for the average PBX user.  If you are looking for more advanced PBX features, such as a full Internet fax feature, the ability to set answering rules, call blocking, call recording and call tagging, then you should select another service.  Grasshopper's customer service is average quality and available 24/7. They offer phone, email and live chat support.

Pricing

The basic plan for Grasshopper includes 500 minutes for $24 which is equivalent to the Market Standard. Their mid-level pricing plan provides an excellent value and their corporate plan meets our Market Standard criteria. Grasshopper charges a $5.63 "taxes and surcharges" fee upon account creation, which does not meet our Market Standard.  A local or 866, 877, 888 toll-free number is included with your monthly fee, but 800 toll-free numbers cost $30 to activate. Vanity numbers and existing numbers ported into the system both cost $30 to activate. Though they do not offer a free trial, Grasshopper offers a 30-day money back guarantee on all of their pricing plans.

Online Interface

Grasshopper offers an above average online interface, which lets you quickly and easily create an account, but they do not offer a setup wizard. You can upload and store contacts to Grasshopper's online interface through either cut & paste or importing from Microsoft Outlook. Grasshopper allows you to access call logs, set up voicemail alerts, upload greetings, or customize your hold music through the online interface. Grasshopper does not currently offer a mobile app.

Call Management Features

Grasshopper does not allow you to set up specific call handling rules through the online interface. However, you may forward, transfer, and hold calls with Grasshopper. While on a call, you can transfer the caller to voicemail or another extension or place a caller on hold by using your phone's keypad. However, you cannot block a caller using your phone's keypad.

Grasshopper offers Follow Me call handling, which lets you set up an ordered list of extensions that will ring sequentially when you get incoming calls. They do not let you  record phone calls. They do not offer call tagging functions, but they do offer call screening.  Each extension may function as a virtual calling card for placing outgoing calls anywhere in America.

PBX Features

Grasshopper stores your voicemails online and lets you receive an email alert when you receive a voicemail or receive the actual voicemail via email. Grasshopper offers voicemail-to-text transcription services for an additional $10 per month. You can store an unlimited number of voicemails online for up to 30 days. 

Grasshopper offers an unlimited number of extensions with your monthly plan, which greatly exceeds our Market Standard of 10 extensions. Grasshopper offers conference calling, but they do not automatically assign you a bridge number. Conference calls are charged by minutes used multiplied by the number of people on the call.  You can have a maximum of 10 people on a call at once. Grasshopper does not allow you to have external call-ins or multiple conferences at once. Grasshopper includes receive-only Internet fax service with their PBX plan, which fails to meet our Market Standard. Grasshopper also offers both custom auto attendant menus and dial-by-name directories.

Customer Support