Google Voice has been kicking around for the better part of two decades now, and if you've used it as long as I have, you know the drill: a free number, calls and texts, voicemail, and not a whole lot else. It's dependable in a boring way. That's finally starting to shift — sort of. Google has quietly rolled out two new paid tiers aimed at regular people, not just businesses. And here's the part worth paying attention to: you no longer need a Google Workspace subscription to get them. Now you can upgrade with nothing more than a personal Gmail account. The plans reportedly slipped out back in early June before Google made them official in July.
What do the new Google Voice plans cost?
There are two of them: Voice Starter at $10 a month and Voice Standard at $20 a month. Standard is running a launch promo that knocks the price in half — $10 a month for your first six months, then it bumps back up to full price.
A couple of catches to know upfront. Both plans are US-only right now, and they're built for a single user tied to a personal Gmail account. The old free tier you already know isn't going anywhere either; it's just been renamed Voice Basic, and it stays free. So if you never touch these paid features, nothing changes for you.
What you get with Voice Starter
The $10 Starter plan is the “I want it to feel a little more professional” option. On top of the free basics, you get:
- 24/7 access to Google Voice support
- A guarantee that your number won't get reclaimed for going inactive
- Three-way calling and clean call transfers
- Call recording
- Desk phone and ATA (analog adapter) support
None of this reinvents the wheel, but the number-protection promise alone might be worth $10 to anyone who's spent years terrified of losing a Voice number they've handed out to half the planet.
What Voice Standard adds
Standard is where it starts to feel like a real business line. You get everything in Starter, plus two standouts. First, auto attendants — the “press 1 for sales” style call routing that makes a one-person operation sound like it has a front desk. Second, and more interesting, is the Gemini “Take notes for me” feature. It transcribes your call, boils the conversation down to key points and action items, and then drops an auto-generated Google Doc into your inbox afterward. If you're running a side hustle off your Voice number, that's a genuinely useful bit of AI help rather than a gimmick.
Need more than that? The business tiers still exist
If you outgrow Standard, the older Workspace-attached plans are still there for actual businesses. Those unlock heavier features like call queuing, eDiscovery, porting existing numbers into Voice, and multi-user management. There's also a Premier tier at $30 a month that adds international support. Those are overkill for most individuals, but they're the ceiling if you need it.
Jean Gilles has researched personal finance, consumer technology, and wireless pricing for over a decade. He founded ShopCellPlans in 2019 and writes every review on the site.
One email when a carrier raises rates, drops a plan, or launches a deal worth switching for. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.