- Capabilities Comparison: MightyCall vs. SmartLine
- Why is MightyCall the best alternative to SmartLine?
- Discover how we create exceptional value for our customers
- Conclusion
SmartLine Review
GoDaddy, an Internet domain registrar, and web hosting company, most notably famous for its laughably oversexualized commercials featuring Danica Patrick (among others), has branched out into the VOIP market.
In August 2017 they launched GoDaddy SmartLine, with the slogan: “Your business deserves its own number.” More recently, they reconfigured their Smartline offerings to more accurately reflect the business phone number market. However, even with updates, Smartline isn’t offering much. Barry Saik, GoDaddy’s SVP & GM of telephony, said SmartLine was designed for new business owners who are “not ready to use all the minutes,” when the service was unveiled.
Capabilities Comparison: SmartLine vs MightyCall
MightyCall
SmartLine
Why is MightyCall the best alternative to SmartLine?
On the plus side, SmartLine has always been cheap. It ditched the initial $3.99/100 talk minute a month plan in favor of two “unlimited” plans: a local number for $9.99 a month and a toll-free number for $19.99 a month. Those prices are per user, but the system mostly seems designed for a single user, so prices are low.
However, the word unlimited has a massive asterisk next to it, as you actually only have about 2,000 minutes per month, in line with GoDaddy’s “Fair Use” policy. While most of the industry uses some sort of fair use policy, 2000 minutes per month is the lowest figure of any of the major providers. Likewise, Smartline only has a few features in the system, which makes doubling the price for just a toll-free number outlandish.
Compared against MightyCall’s $15 and $20 per user prices for its plans, Smartline’s prices don’t look amazing anymore. This is especially true considering you get only 1 local number for $9, whereas MightyCall gives you 3 numbers, local or toll-free.
Few Features for a Phone System
What features does SmartLine have to make any amount worth it? Not many. The reason for that is because Smartline is not VoIP, which the site takes care to explicitly mention. That means that the dozens of features embedded into the DNA of the industry cannot ever be added to Smartline.
High-level features like Call Recording, IVR & Multi-Level IVR, and Custom Greetings are not in the system’s baseline, that means you’ll be paying extra per month for them or worse, you won’t have access to them at all.
That leaves the service just with basic telephone features that have been around for decades such as business hours, customizable greetings, Caller ID & CNAM, and voice-to-text transcription. That’s it. Four features and a single number for your hard-earned money. That’s only enough if you are a solo entrepreneur, and not doing much business either. Any small business would blow through Smartline’s offerings like tissue paper.
Not VoIP—What’s the Problem?
We all know major cell phone networks can be unreliable (hello, Verizon and AT&T!). That makes because Smartline is using the same telephony hardware that the traditional providers use.
As mentioned above, the service is not VoIP, which means it isn’t using the internet to transmit these calls. VoIP is able to offer great prices on call minutes because they do not solely rely on telecom providers. If you make a VoIP call from your office with WI-FI, you won’t be using the telecom service to place the call, saving you money.
Without being able to use Wi-Fi to make calls, your business will be at the mercy of a telecom giant, all the while another Smartline leech off them to charge you more per month. VoIP can use your cell service and Wi-Fi, giving you more flexibility.
Discover how we create exceptional value for our customers
Christine D.
Alberto O.
charge per user. You can also send text messages easily. The software is relatively easy to use. You can
use the mobile app or browser app simultaneously. Call routing works well. Support is quick to respond.
Paul A.
immediately! When the phone rings it can go to multiple employees at the same time as well. Love it!
John Y.
feature bloated, difficult to use and clunky to configure. We have been impressed with how much easier
MightyCall was to use across all these areas. It’s a good fit for us, and we saved a bundle. Review
collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Adrian D.
Service is always great and the telephony itself is amazing. compared with bigger more ‘sophisticated’ systems such as Fonality, I would choose Mightycall tenfold.
Luis S.
favorite feature is the Call Flow design tool. Very intuitive and easy to organize.
Conclusion
Smartline doesn’t pass the smell test. Even with low prices, the things included in the plans just aren’t substantial enough to ever get anyone to choose this over another VoIP provider. For entrepreneurs and businesses that are more serious and looking for a true VoIP system, Smartline isn’t it. GoDaddy lauds SmartLine as a way to “separate your business and personal information” and “build your professional image,” but the company clearly assumes customers know nothing about the market because those are the bare basics for any business phone number.
