The cost of Google Voice boils down to one simple question: are you using it for personal calls or for your business? For most personal use in the United States, it’s completely free. This includes unlimited calls to any number in the U.S. and Canada, SMS/MMS texting, and a powerful voicemail system.
Where you start to see charges is with international calls, which are billed per minute. And if you're a business, you'll need to subscribe to a paid Google Voice for Workspace plan, which comes with a monthly per-user fee and unlocks professional features.
Is Google Voice Actually Free?
So, is it really free? Yes and no. For personal use within the US and Canada, the core features are genuinely free of charge.
The free personal version handles everyday communication fine. But if you're running a business and need professional tools, support, and guaranteed uptime, you'll need to pay. That's the core difference between the personal and business plans.
The free version gives anyone with a U.S. phone number a solid set of tools. It runs on VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), meaning your calls travel over the internet instead of traditional phone lines. For more on how that works, see our guide on what VoIP technology is.
Personal vs. Business Costs
The cost split comes down to usage. The personal plan is for individuals, while the business tiers are designed for teams that need user management, call routing, and integrations.
Google Voice at a glance: personal vs. business costs
Here's what each plan type includes:
| Feature | Personal Google Voice (Free) | Google Voice for Workspace (Paid) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Fee | $0 | Starts at $10 per user/month |
| Domestic Calls (US & CA) | Free | Free (included in the subscription) |
| International Calls | Billed per minute (rates vary by country) | Billed per minute (rates vary by country) |
| Core Features | Voicemail, call forwarding, spam filtering, SMS/MMS texting | All personal features, plus multi-level auto-attendant, ring groups, call recording, and desk phone support |
| Primary Use Case | Individuals, freelancers, or a secondary personal number | Small businesses, startups, and enterprise teams needing a professional phone system |
As you can see, the free plan is more than enough for many individuals. But as soon as your needs grow beyond a single phone line for one person, the paid Workspace plans become essential.
What you get with the free personal plan
The free version of Google Voice gives you a secondary phone number at no cost. The main draw is unlimited calls to any number in the U.S. and Canada, which covers most domestic needs.
You also get free SMS and MMS messaging, so you can text and send photos from the app or a web browser, separate from your cell plan.
The voicemail is worth mentioning too. Google automatically transcribes messages into text and can email them to you, so you can read a voicemail instead of listening to it.
Core features at no cost
Here's what's included in the free plan:
- A Dedicated Phone Number: You get to pick a new number from almost any U.S. area code you want.
- Free Calling to the U.S. & Canada: Make and receive calls from your computer or the smartphone app without touching your mobile minutes.
- Free Texting (SMS/MMS): Send and receive texts, photos, and group messages from your Google Voice number.
- Voicemail with Transcription: Voicemails show up as readable text, delivered right to your inbox.
- Flexible Call Forwarding: Have your Google Voice number ring multiple phones at once (cell and landline) so you don't miss calls.
- Spam Call Filtering: Google’s AI is excellent at catching and blocking most of those annoying spam and robocalls before they even reach you.
Limitations worth knowing
You need an existing U.S. phone number to sign up, which rules out most international users. Call quality also depends entirely on your internet connection, so a weak signal means poor audio.
The free Google Voice plan is strictly for individual, non-commercial use. It’s missing all the business essentials: no auto-attendant to greet callers, no ring groups for a team, and absolutely no dedicated customer support or uptime guarantee (SLA).
This is the main reason businesses end up on the paid Google Workspace plans. The free version is solid for personal use, but it's not a business phone system.
How business pricing works for Google Voice
Once you need more than a personal phone line, the Google Voice cost shifts to a per-user monthly model. Google Voice for Workspace is a full phone system integrated with the Google tools your team already uses.
This decision tree shows when a personal plan is enough versus when you need a business tier:
Comparing the Workspace tiers
Google offers three business tiers that scale with your company's size. Which one fits depends on whether you're a solo operator who needs a professional number or a team that needs call management features.
The pricing is straightforward: $10 per user per month for the Starter plan, $20 per user per month for the Standard plan, and $30 per user per month for the Premier plan. The Starter plan is capped at 10 users, but both the Standard and Premier plans support unlimited users, so they can easily grow with you. For a more detailed breakdown, see emitrr's guide to Google Voice pricing.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what you get with each plan:
Starter Plan ($10/user/month): Built for small teams and solo business owners. You get a dedicated business number, unlimited domestic calls and texts, and the core essentials like voicemail transcription and call forwarding. It's built for up to 10 users Good for businesses that just need a professional line.
Standard Plan ($20/user/month): The most popular option. It includes everything from Starter but adds important business features. You get ring groups, which let multiple people answer the same number, and multi-level auto-attendants (the "Press 1 for sales, Press 2 for support" system). It also adds desk phone support and ad-hoc call recording.
Premier Plan ($30/user/month): Geared toward larger companies and those with a global footprint, this plan adds advanced reporting and international capabilities. It has everything in the Standard tier plus powerful call analytics through BigQuery integration and, crucially, allows you to get phone numbers for employees based in other countries.
Limitations and considerations
Google Voice for Workspace requires an active Google Workspace subscription. You can't buy it standalone. Call quality also depends on your internet connection, so an unreliable network means unreliable calls.
If you mainly need international calls and don't need a full business phone system, CallSky is worth looking at. It's pay-as-you-go with no monthly subscription, focused specifically on global calling.
The cost of calling internationally
Calls within the U.S. and to Canada are free, but the Google Voice cost kicks in when you dial internationally. This applies to both free personal accounts and paid business plans. The system works like a prepaid balance built into your Google account.
Google keeps domestic calls free by charging per-minute rates on international connections. This model traces back to their 2009 acquisition of Gizmo5 for $30 million, which shaped how they handle VoIP pricing today. More on that in the Google Voice Wikipedia entry.
The pay-as-you-go model means you're only ever charged for the exact minutes you spend talking to someone abroad. No surprises.
How the credit system works
You add funds to your Google Voice account before making international calls. Google deducts the per-minute rate from your balance as you talk. If your balance hits zero, the call won't connect, so there are no surprise charges.
Two ways to manage your credit:
- Add Funds Manually: You can top up your account with set amounts like $10, $25, or $50 whenever you're running low.
- Set Up Auto-Recharge: When your balance drops below a threshold (like $2), Google automatically tops up a preset amount. Useful if you call internationally often.
This credit system works the same for both personal accounts and Google Voice for Workspace plans, which makes international billing consistent and easy to manage.
Sample international calling rates
Rates vary by country and whether you're calling a landline or mobile. Landlines are almost always cheaper. Here are rates for some popular destinations:
Rate Comparison Table: Google Voice International Calling (Per Minute)
| Country | Rate to Landline (USD) | Rate to Mobile (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $0.01 | $0.03 |
| Mexico | $0.01 | $0.03 |
| India | $0.02 | $0.02 |
| China | $0.02 | $0.02 |
| Germany | $0.01 | $0.06 |
| Philippines | $0.12 | $0.15 |
| Brazil | $0.01 | $0.03 |
These rates are competitive, but they do fluctuate.
Heads Up: These rates can and do change. Before you make an important call, it's always a good idea to check Google's official calling rates page for the most up-to-date pricing.
Limitations and alternatives
Two things to keep in mind: you need a U.S. number to sign up, and call quality depends on your internet connection.
If you mainly want affordable international calls without a subscription, CallSky offers a pay-as-you-go model focused on global calling. No U.S. number required, no monthly fee. For more on this approach, see our guide on using VoIP for international calls.
When you might need a Google Voice alternative
The google voice cost is hard to beat for domestic use, but it doesn't work for everyone. A few common situations push people toward alternatives.
The biggest issue is the signup requirement: you need a U.S. phone number. If you're an expat, run a global business, or live outside the States, you can't even create an account. This alone is the most common reason people look elsewhere.
Call quality can also be a problem. Since everything runs over the internet, a weak connection means dropped calls and garbled audio. Fine for casual chats, but risky for business calls.
Simpler international calling options
Many people don't need a full phone system. They just want an affordable way to call internationally. For that use case, Google Voice's Workspace plans are overkill.
A pay-as-you-go service makes more sense. CallSky, for example, focuses on three things:
- Reliable international call quality that doesn't require a perfect internet connection.
- A simple credit system so you only pay for the minutes you actually use, with zero monthly fees.
- No U.S. number requirement, which opens it up to users all over the world.
If Google's U.S. requirement or subscription model doesn't work for you, see our full guide to finding a Google Voice alternative.
When your needs are more specific
Sometimes the issue isn't international calling but something else entirely. If you need accurate speech-to-text beyond basic voicemail transcription, Google Voice probably won't cut it.
If you need advanced transcription rather than basic voicemail-to-text, Google Voice won't be enough.
For that, dedicated dictation software is a better fit. Those tools handle high-accuracy voice-to-text for notes, documents, and professional workflows.
The bottom line: Google Voice is a strong free option for a U.S. number with domestic calls and texts. For international calling with simple pay-per-use pricing, a dedicated service will likely work better.
Google Voice cost: common questions
Here are the questions that come up most often about Google Voice cost and how it works in practice.
Are incoming calls to my Google Voice number free?
Yes. Receiving calls on your Google Voice number is free regardless of where the caller is located.
The only thing to keep in mind is call forwarding. If you have Google Voice forward calls to your personal cell, your mobile carrier (like Verizon or AT&T) will see it as a normal incoming call and may use your plan's minutes. So, Google's part is free, but your own phone plan's rules still apply.
Does it cost money to port my number to Google Voice?
For personal accounts, there's a one-time $20 fee to port your number in. Porting out later costs $3, though Google waives this if the number was originally ported in.
For businesses, it's a different story. Porting your existing numbers is included at no extra cost when you sign up for any of the paid Google Voice for Workspace plans.
Do I need Google Workspace for the business plan?
Yes. All business tiers (Starter, Standard, Premier) require an active Google Workspace subscription. You can't purchase Google Voice for business separately.
The upside is tight integration: your phone system connects with Google Calendar for availability and Google Meet for video escalation.
What happens if I run out of international calling credit?
The call won't connect. Google won't let you go into debt, so there are no surprise charges. Two ways to stay topped up:
- Manual Top-Up: You can log in and add funds in set amounts like $10, $25, or $50 whenever you need to.
- Auto-Recharge: Google automatically adds a set amount when your balance drops below a threshold like $2.
If you mainly make international calls and don't want to deal with a Google account or U.S. number requirement, other pay-as-you-go services may be a more direct option.
Need international calls without subscriptions or regional restrictions? CallSky offers pay-as-you-go rates with no monthly fees and no U.S. number required. Try it out.