Whether you run an international organization or are a small business owner, you must have excellent customer support in place.
Why?
Because it’s one of the best ways to ensure customer satisfaction, which boosts their loyalty and lifetime value.
In a recent survey, 94% of customers said that a positive customer service experience made them more likely to do business with that company again.
If you’ve been googling different business phone systems, a question has probably come up: Nextiva vs Grasshopper – which one to choose?
In this article, we’ll compare them and help you understand which may be better for big and small companies and whether there are any other good options. Keep reading to learn more.
What is Nextiva?
Source: Capterra.com
Nextiva is a cloud-based business communication platform that combines a VoIP call center, video conferencing and team collaboration tools. It’s designed for businesses that want to modernize their communication infrastructure (both internal and with customers) and offer consistent communication through different channels.
Here are its main features:
- VoIP phone system
- Business phone numbers
- VoIP texting
- Call center solutions
- Video conferencing
- Team messaging and collaboration
What is Grasshopper?
Source: G2.com
Grasshopper is a virtual phone service and communication platform designed primarily for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for a simple and affordable tool.
Here are its main features:
- Virtual phone numbers
- Call forwarding
- Voicemail transcription
- VoIP messaging
- Call screening and prioritization
Due to its simplicity, people often compare it with Google Voice, so you may want to check out our Grasshopper vs Google Voice article to see how they compare.
Nextiva vs Grasshopper: How they compare
The main difference between these tools is who can benefit the most from them. While Nextiva could be a good choice for large teams that want to manage all business-related communication in a single platform, Grasshopper could be a good option for solopreneurs and small businesses looking for a simple but reliable business phone system.
But let’s see how they compare in terms of features and value for money:
Features
- Voice calls: Nextiva offers unlimited domestic calls, while toll-free minutes aren’t included in any Grasshopper plan. Grasshopper has basic voice features, such as toll-free, vanity or local number, custom greetings, voicemail transcription, call forwarding and simultaneous call handling. Nextiva has all those features plus unlimited call recording, conference calls and transcribing voicemail to email or SMS.
- Call forwarding: Both Nextiva and Grasshopper offer forwarding calls without hearing a busy tone. However, Nextiva can handle a larger number of calls, allowing you more detailed options for call forwarding and an easy way to create IVR menus for your customers.
- Business texting: Grasshopper offers only SMS, but it allows you to automate instant responses to missed calls. Apart from SMS, Nextiva lets you send images, video and audio files.
- Collaboration: While Grasshopper is limited to handling incoming and outgoing calls, Nextiva offers valuable tools for team collaboration, such as video calls, instant messaging and file sharing.
Integrations
This is an easy one: Nextiva beats Grasshopper when it comes to integrations. Grasshopper offers very limited integrations – it integrates only with your email (if this bothers you, you may want to check out other Grasshopper alternatives).
On the other hand, Nextiva integrates with many tools like HubSpot, Zendesk, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams and other CRM systems and communication tools.
There’s one catch, though: their basic plan includes only integrations with Outlook and Google Contacts, and you may have to upgrade your pricing plan to unlock other integrations.
Pricing
Nextiva offers three plans with different features, and the price of each varies depending on how many users will use the app. The monthly price ranges from $17.95 per user to $45.95 per user – the bigger your team, the less you’ll pay per user.
There are three pricing plans:
- Essential plan: starting at $17.95 per user per month, up to $30.95 per user per month (unlimited voice and video calling, toll-free numbers, voicemail, Outlook integration)
- Professional plan: starting at $21.95 per user per month, up to $35.95 per user per month (everything in Essential + unlimited video conference calling, multi-level auto attendant, SMS&MMS, Salesforce and HubSpot integrations)
- Enterprise plan: starting at $31.95 per user per month, up to $45.95 per user per month (everything in Professional + unlimited participants on voice and video conferencing, call recording, unlimited video conference recording, voicemail transcription, custom integrations)
If you want something more affordable, you may want to check out Nextiva’s competitors.
Compared to Nextiva, Grasshopper has a much simpler pricing structure that depends on the phase of your business, whether you’re a solopreneur or have a small team. The good thing is that, unlike Nextiva, you don’t have to pay per user, as the tool operates at a flat rate pricing model, and each plan includes unlimited users. This feature makes Grasshopper a more cost-effective option than Nextiva.
There are only three pricing plans:
- Solo plan: $28 per month, one phone number and three extensions
- Partner plan: $46 per month, three phone numbers and six extensions
- Small business plan: $80 per month, five phone numbers and unlimited extensions
Finally, if this is above your budget, you may want to check out free VoIP phone services.
Customer support
Both services offer 24/7 phone support all year round. However, users said that Nextiva customer support is slightly more responsive and efficient.
Nextiva also has a live chat available during business hours and a knowledge base where you can find answers to almost all questions and tutorials, webinars and other helpful resources. It’s also possible to submit a ticket online.
Grasshopper offers support through phone, email or tickets. You can either submit a general ticket and wait in a queue or skip the queue by clicking on the Contact support button under a relevant help article or video to get call routing to the agent specialized in that field.
User rating
| Platform | Score on Capterra | Score on G2 | Score on Trustpilot |
| Nextiva | 4 (229 reviews) | 4.4 (2,478 reviews) | 4.6 (2,050 reviews) |
| Grasshopper | 4.4 (337 reviews) | 4 (142 reviews) | 1.7 (31 reviews) |
See also how Nextiva compares to 8×8 or how Grasshopper compares to Dialpad.
Ringblaze: Nextiva and Grasshopper alternative
That said, Nextiva and Grasshopper aren’t the only available options on the market. There might be alternatives that offer all essential features and more at a much more affordable price.
One such tool is Ringblaze, the latest generation’s cloud-based business phone service. With our tool, you can create multiple phone numbers and track all customer interactions from the central dashboard, thanks to our user-friendly interface.
Knowing that almost 40% of Americans claim that the most crucial aspect of a good customer service experience is getting their problem resolved in a single interaction, you shouldn’t think twice about having separate phone numbers for different departments so that customers don’t have to wait and get to speak to the most knowledgable agent right away.
Apart from must-have features like call recording and forwarding, we also offer unlimited business texting and SMS and productivity tracking and collaboration tools for your team.
Why choose Ringblaze over Nextiva and Grasshopper?
There are many reasons why Ringblaze could be the right option for you:
- Easy setup: You can create and optimize your own virtual phone system in less than 15 minutes, even if you don’t have a solid technical background.
- Website call widget: You can set up a widget on your website that will increase customer satisfaction and help you convert website visitors into paying customers.
- Account manager: You’ll get a dedicated account manager to ensure Ringblaze meets all your business needs and helps you solve problems faster.
- Simple and affordable pricing plan: Our plan is very transparent – you can get a free local number, unlimited calls to the US and Canada and all our advanced features for only $15 per user per month if paid annually (or $4 more if you prefer to pay monthly and don’t want to commit). There are no hidden costs.
- Free trial: You can try our tool for free and explore all the features!
Nextiva vs Grasshopper vs Ringblaze: Comparison table
| Platform | Features | Pricing |
| Nextiva | Unlimited calling Unlimited messaging Toll-free numbers Call recording Auto attendant Team collaboration Video conferencing CRM integration | Essential plan: starting at $17.95 per user per month Professional plan: starting at $21.95 per user per month Enterprise plan: starting at $31.95 per user per month |
| Grasshopper | Unlimited calling Unlimited messaging Toll-free numbers Call forwarding Call screening Voicemail transcription | Solo plan: $28 per month, one phone number and three extensions Partner plan: $46 per month, three phone numbers and six extensions Small business plan: $80, five phone numbers and unlimited extensions |
| Ringblaze | Multiple phone numbers Website widget Centralized dashboard Team collaboration Unlimited business texting International calls Call recording Auto attendant Desktop and mobile apps | $15 per user per month (when billed annually) $19 per user per month (when billed monthly) |
Conclusion
We hope our Grasshopper vs Nextiva comparison helped you determine the difference between these two tools. While Grasshopper customers are usually solopreneurs or small business owners, Nextiva is a more complex solution suitable for large teams and international call centers.
However, everything comes with a price, and if you’re looking for a more affordable business phone service with the same call management features, Ringblaze could be the right solution.
It’s ideal for small and medium businesses, e-commerce, marketing and travel agencies and financial services.
Sign up for a free demo to see whether this is the right fit for your business.
Nextiva vs Grasshopper: FAQs
Yes, Grasshopper is a VoIP system that provides you with a virtual phone number, extensions and custom greetings.
Nextiva offers much more than a simple VoIP system: it provides video conferencing, various team communication and collaboration tools and numerous integrations.
Grasshopper is a pretty limited virtual phone system lacking many advanced features. However, its biggest disadvantage is that it doesn’t have almost any integration.
