GoDaddy SmartLine vs Google Voice: Which Is Better for You in 2021

GoDaddy SmartLine and Google Voice lead the market for budget-friendly business phone services, although GoDaddy SmartLine is the more affordable option for small teams. It also gives you the ability to set business hours. Google Voice, on the other hand, supports more integrations and carrier connections. When comparing GoDaddy SmartLine vs Google Voice, it’s clear that each phone service is built for different business use cases:

• GoDaddy SmartLine: Best for those who want to silence business calls outside of regular business hours
• Google Voice: Best for solopreneurs and small teams that want an affordable voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) solution with an auto-attendant and a greater range of connection options

GoDaddy SmartLine vs Google Voice at a Glance

Price	$9.99 to $19.99 per user, per month	Free plan for personal use; paid plans cost $10 to $30 per user, per month
Ease of Use	Very user-friendly	Fairly user-friendly
Communication Channels	Phone calls, texting	Phone calls, texting, video conferencing
Standout Features	Custom voicemail greeting, custom business hours, caller ID, toll-free numbers	Auto-attendant, ring groups, video conferencing, voicemail transcriptions
Mobile App	✔	✔
Web App	N/A	N/A
Customer Support	24/7/365 support	24/7
	Visit GoDaddy SmartLine	Visit Google Voice

How We Evaluated GoDaddy SmartLine vs Google Voice

GoDaddy SmartLine and Google Voice both offer communication solutions for businesses, though each serves a unique purpose. However, to determine which was best, we compared the services based on common factors such as price, functionality, and ease of use. We also considered reliability and the availability of customer service.

Click the tabs below for more information on our evaluation criteria:

Best for Pricing: Google Voice

Free Plan	Offers a 1-month free trial	Limited to a single user on the Personal Use plan
Tier 1	Local Number: $9.99 per user, per month; includes all features GoDaddy SmartLine offers	Starter: $10 per user, per month; includes unlimited domestic calling and texting, as well as Google app integrations
Tier 2	Toll-free Number: $19.99 per user, per month to add a 1-800 number	Standard: $20 per user, per month to add multilevel auto-attendants, ring groups, desk phone support, and eDiscovery
Tier 3	N/A	Premier: $30 per user, per month to add advanced reporting, data regions, and unlimited international destinations

Google Voice and GoDaddy SmartLine price their phone plans almost identically, but Google Voice provides more value for your money. For the same price, you get video conferencing functionality, Google integrations, multilevel auto-attendants, activity reporting, a web application, and more.

However, GoDaddy SmartLine does offer users a few helpful features that Google Voice doesn’t, such as the ability to set custom business hours and a more modern mobile app. It’s not enough to make up for the ways Google Voice wins out, but it’s an important distinction to note if those items are top priority to your business.

Winner: Google Voice wins for providing extra features at the same cost.

Best for Call Quality: Tie

HD Voice Calling	Supported	Supported
Sound Quality	Great	Great
Uptime SLA	N/A	N/A

GoDaddy SmartLine and Google Voice both use your phone carrier’s network to make calls, so call quality and reliability are mostly dependent on your personal mobile number, device, and network bandwidth. From our experience and the reviews of others, there’s virtually no difference in call quality or dropped calls between the two business phone services.

However, on paper, Google Voice has a stronger advantage when it comes to call quality over a data connection. Google has established relationships and numerous connections with carrier networks through a process known as peering. Theoretically, this leads to shorter, more reliable call paths.

With GoDaddy SmartLine, you don’t have the option of making calls over Wi-Fi—the service uses your cellular phone network for incoming and outgoing calls. Google Voice, however, lets you use either depending on your available network connection.

Winner: It’s a tie. While Google Voice may have more connections with carrier networks, businesses and end-users don’t see a difference between the call quality of GoDaddy SmartLine and Google Voice.

Best for Call Management Features: Google Voice

Caller ID	✔	✔
Voicemail Transcriptions	✔	✔
Custom Voicemail Greeting	✔	✔
Custom Business Hours	✔	N/A
Auto-attendant	N/A	✔
Call Forwarding	N/A	✔
Ring Groups	N/A	✔

When it comes to better managing your calls, Google Voice gives you more call management controls and options. You won’t be able to set custom business hours as you can with GoDaddy SmartLine, but you will get everything else they offer plus auto-attendants, call forwarding, and ring groups.

These call management features are essential if your team has multiple agents handling phone calls. Auto-attendants help route inbound callers to the right extension, and call forwarding lets you manually shift callers to another line. Ring groups cause multiple devices to ring until someone picks up the phone, ensuring your customers’ calls never go unanswered.

Winner: Google Voice wins for providing more call management features than GoDaddy SmartLine. However, most of these features revolve around teamwork and additional extensions, so if you’re a solopreneur, they might not matter to you.

Best for Ease of Use: GoDaddy SmartLine

Ease of Setup	No technical skill required	No technical skill required
Ease of Integrations	No available integrations	Quick and simple Google integrations
User Interface Navigation	Very easy	Easy
Number Porting	Customer support help	Do-it-yourself solution

Google is well-known for building easy-to-use applications, and the reputation holds true with Google Voice. The app is simple to use, with a short navigation bar that lets you easily jump between calling, messaging, contacts, and voicemail. Google Voice also integrates seamlessly with other Google Workspace apps, like Calendar, Meet, Gmail, and Drive.

GoDaddy SmartLine features a sleek user interface that’s modern and easy to navigate. Since SmartLine doesn’t pack as many features into its mobile app, it has a slight edge on Google Voice when it comes to learning curve and day-to-day use. You’ll master the SmartLine app in minutes and feel comfortable finding whatever you need.

Winner: It doesn’t get much simpler than GoDaddy SmartLine’s mobile app. The app features a modern user interface, straightforward navigation, and simplified functionality to make the learning curve short and smooth.

Best for Customer Support & Resources: GoDaddy SmartLine

Resources	Blog posts and guides	YouTube videos
Documentation	SmartLine Help	Help center
Customer Support	24/7/365	Community forums and 24/7 support team

GoDaddy SmartLine is one of the most simple business phone services on the market, but you still may run into an issue from time to time. When that happens, you can turn to GoDaddy’s SmartLine Help page to find answers to your questions. Their documentation covers getting started, using features, billing, and troubleshooting. If you need hands-on help, you can contact GoDaddy’s customer support team via web chat, email, or phone call.

Google Voice claims to have a 24/7 customer support team, but many reviews we found suggest otherwise. Whenever there’s an issue, it can be hard to find help from Google—don’t expect a resolution immediately. Your best bet is to self-serve using Google’s help center or YouTube video resources. You can also post in the community forums to see if any other users can provide assistance.

Winner: While Google Voice provides more documentation and ways to self-serve your issues, it’s hard to beat GoDaddy’s 24/7/365 customer support team, who are available over phone, chat, and email.

Best Alternatives to GoDaddy SmartLine & Google Voice

Whether you’re looking for a basic phone service like GoDaddy SmartLine or a more sophisticated VoIP solution like Google Voice, there are plenty of options to choose from. Here are some of the best alternatives to Google Voice and GoDaddy SmartLine:

• Grasshopper: Grasshopper is a virtual phone service that gives you VoIP calling functionality and virtual fax. You’ll also be able to add multiple users to your account and use extensions and forwarding to handle simultaneous business calls more efficiently.
• magicJack for Business: magicJack for Business is an affordable business phone system similar to GoDaddy SmartLine, but it provides an auto-attendant, a desktop app, and VoIP-compatible desk phones.
• Ooma: Ooma is a great business phone system for small and medium-sized businesses that want simple pricing and advanced features like transfer music, call flip, and call park.

Bottom Line

GoDaddy SmartLine and Google Voice both serve small businesses, but each caters to a specific niche. Small business owners looking for a budget-friendly VoIP phone solution will find that Google Voice satisfies their business needs and wallet. The platform allows you to add users and scale your team, all while enjoying real-time analytics, video conferencing, multilevel auto-attendants, and more.

If you just want a second number to add to your single mobile device, then GoDaddy SmartLine will give you what you’re looking for—and a bit extra in the form of custom business hours, caller ID, and voicemail transcriptions.