We compared the 5 most popular business phone services for freelancers, consultants, and solo professionals. Here's what we found.
Pricing, features, and honest assessments — including where our own service, Landline, fits in.
Quick verdict
Landline wins for freelancers, coaches, and consultants.
At $5/mo with custom availability hours and automatic offline messaging, it's the only service built around the one thing freelancers, coaches, and consultants actually need: work-life boundaries. Every other option is either more expensive, missing key features, or built for teams.
Before we dive into the comparison, here's what matters most when you're a freelancer choosing a business phone service. These are the criteria we used to evaluate each option.
Your business line should only ring during your working hours. After hours, callers should get a professional message — not silence.
When you're off the clock, callers should know when you'll be back. An automatic "I'm available Mon-Fri 9-5" beats a generic voicemail.
You're not an IT department. You should have a working business number in minutes, not hours of configuration.
You're one person making one income. A business number shouldn't cost $15-30/mo when you only need basic features.
Side-by-side
Feature-by-feature breakdown of the top 5 services for freelancers. Prices verified March 2026.
| Feature | Landline $5/mo Best value | Google Voice $0–10/mo | Grasshopper $14/mo | OpenPhone $15/user/mo | Line2 $14/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Custom hours | |||||
Auto-offline messages | |||||
2-min setup | |||||
No contract | |||||
Call forwarding | |||||
Voicemail | |||||
SMS support | |||||
Spam filtering | |||||
| Our rating | 4.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
Built for freelancers who want boundaries
Free tier available but limited
Established but built for small teams
Feature-rich but complex for solo use
Simple second number, dated interface
= Full support = Partial/limited = Not available
In-depth reviews
Built for freelancers who want boundaries
The only service designed specifically for freelancers who need work-life boundaries. Custom hours, auto-offline messaging, and the lowest price make it the clear winner for solo professionals.
Free tier available but limited
The free tier is bare-bones with no business hours control. The paid tier ($10/mo) requires a Google Workspace subscription ($7/user extra), bringing the real cost to $17+/mo. No way to set availability hours.
Established but built for small teams
A reliable, well-known option with professional features like custom greetings and extensions. But it's built for small businesses with employees, not solo freelancers. No custom availability hours. Nearly 3x the price of Landline.
Feature-rich but complex for solo use
Powerful with CRM integrations, shared numbers, and team features. But that power comes with complexity you don't need as a freelancer. Business hours exist but are buried in settings. 3x the price for features you won't use.
Simple second number, dated interface
Does the basics — gives you a second number for calls and texts. But the app feels outdated, there are no availability hours, and the annual billing requirement locks you in. Limited development suggests the product may be on maintenance mode.
Landline offers the most affordable dedicated business phone number at $5/month with no contracts. Google Voice has a free tier but it lacks business features like custom availability hours. Most other services start at $14–15/month.
No. Services like Landline, Google Voice, and OpenPhone work through your existing smartphone. Calls to your business number are forwarded to your personal phone during your set business hours.
Landline is the only service in this comparison specifically built around custom availability hours. You set exactly when calls ring through, and outside those hours, callers automatically get a professional voicemail message. Most competitors either don't offer this or bury it deep in complex settings.
Google Voice's free tier is basic with no business hours or auto-offline messaging. The paid tier ($10/mo) requires a Google Workspace subscription ($7+ extra), making it $17+/mo total. Landline is $5/mo with custom availability hours, auto-offline messaging, and a simpler setup designed specifically for freelancers.
Landline gives you a real, dedicated phone number that rings on your existing cell phone during your business hours. It works like a normal phone number — clients can call or text it — but with the added benefit of custom hours and professional offline messaging.
Get your number for $1. Set up in 60 seconds.
Lock in your number before launch. $5/mo when we go live.
Get your number — $1 →Recommended Tools for Freelancers
Need invoicing too? Facturly — free invoicing for freelancers. Send professional invoices in minutes. A natural companion to a dedicated business number.
Keeping up with freelance opportunities too? DailyPost EU — a daily roundup of freelance news, tools, and opportunities worth tracking.