CallHippo vs Sonetel (2026): which should you pick?

Pick CallHippo if

• Fits if each person wants their business number on desktop, phone and browser
• Works for teams that mostly call one region, since plans are priced by calling region

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you dial with a tool, as the US and Canada minutes cover manual dialing only
• Not for you if you want call recording on the lowest paid plan, as it starts on Professional
• Pricey if you want call summaries and single sign-on, which need Ultimate at $42
• Watch out: US texting needs A2P registration, a one-time $20 setup fee plus monthly charges
• Pricey if you want the AI Voice Agent, at $45 a user a month plus $0.25 a minute, or the dialers, sold separately

Pick Sonetel if

• Fits if you want local numbers in a few countries forwarded to your phone
• Works for small teams that want pay-as-you-go calling with no contract

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay on Basic, because every number and call is charged and the bill follows the countries you pick
• Skip it if you want your business number shown on app calls without paying, as that needs a paid plan and verified identity
• Watch out: SMS is only available on some types of numbers
• Watch out: prices exclude VAT, and the default yearly rates are per user per month

CallHippo

• Prices change with the calling region picked on the pricing page; the US and Canada minutes are a team pool for manual dialing to standard numbers only.
• US texting needs A2P registration, with a one-time $20 setup fee and monthly charges on top.
• Call recording, IVR and the main CRM integrations start on Professional; single sign-on needs Ultimate.
• The AI Voice Agent costs $45 per user a month plus $0.25 a minute, and the high-volume Pro Suite with dialers is priced separately.

Sonetel

• Basic charges separately for each number and for calls, so cost depends on the numbers and countries chosen.
• Showing your business number on outbound app calls needs a paid plan and verified identity.
• SMS is available only on some types of numbers.
• The page lists prices excluding VAT, and the yearly rates shown by default are per user per month.

CallHippo

Business numbers on every device

One free standard number per user (toll-free not included), ringing on the web app, Windows and macOS apps, iOS, Android and a Chrome extension.

Regional calling plans

Plans are priced by region, such as US/CA, UK, Australia or a global bundle; US and Canada plans include unlimited minutes to standard numbers.

IVR and call routing

A multilingual IVR and cascading call distribution from Professional; multilevel IVR, smart DID and CRM-based VIP routing on Ultimate.

Texting and WhatsApp

SMS and MMS on every plan, with 100 to 1,000 included texts on paid plans; a WhatsApp Business API channel costs $20 a month.

Transcription and AI

Call transcription and AI voicemail transcription from Professional, call summaries on Ultimate, and AI Copilot and AI Voice Agent add-ons.

CRM and helpdesk integrations

50+ integrations including HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho and Zendesk, plus Zapier, Slack and webhooks.

Sonetel

Numbers in many countries

Local, national and toll-free numbers can be rented in many countries, with existing numbers ported in. Prices start at $1.79 a month.

Calls in the app or forwarded

Calls ring in the iPhone and Android app or the web app, or forward to any phone. SMS works only on some number types.

Recording and AI call notes

Premium and Business record calls and add transcripts, written summaries, a 1 to 5 score for customer calls and suggested follow-up emails.

Voice menu and voicemail

Voice response menus route callers to people or teams. Voicemail arrives by email on every plan, transcribed and summarised on paid plans.

SIP trunking and API

A Communications API and SIP trunking are offered, with the per-minute trunk rate lower on higher plans.

CallHippo

• Basic$0

  per user / month, plus numbers and call charges

  No user fee: you pay only for numbers and usage. Voicemail, click to dial, business hours, SMS and MMS, and the desktop and mobile apps.

• Starter$19

  per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)

  Unlimited minutes to standard US and Canada numbers as a team pool, 100 SMS, forwarding, ring all devices, SMS templates and Zapier, Slack and webhooks.

• Professional$30

  per user / month, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)

  Adds call recording, a multilingual IVR, call transcription, AI voicemail transcription, reports, 500 SMS and HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Zoho.

• Ultimate$42

  per user / month, billed yearly ($55 billed monthly)

  Adds a multilevel IVR, smart and CRM-based routing, holiday routing, call summaries, single sign-on, 1,000 SMS and a dedicated account manager.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Minimum 20 users. Unlimited calling to 48 countries, power and parallel dialers, speech analytics or CallHippo AI, and priority support.

Sonetel

• Basic$0

  No plan fee. Number subscriptions and call charges apply, 1,000 AI credits shared across the account, SMS-to-email, 2 GB of storage.

• Premium$9.95

  per user / month, billed annually ($13.95 billed monthly)

  1 free number per user, free calls to 40+ countries, 40% off other calls, recording, transcripts, summaries, voice menu, 1,000 AI credits.

• Business$29.95

  per user / month, billed annually ($39.95 billed monthly)

  5 free numbers per user, 50% off other calls, extended support, 5,000 AI credits a month and 1 TB of storage per user.

CallHippo

• Annual discount

  Save 3 months' cost with yearly billing

  CallHippo's pricing page says yearly billing saves 3 months' cost: Starter is $19 a month billed yearly against $25 billed monthly.

Sonetel

• Annual discount

  Yearly billing lowers the monthly rate

  Premium is $9.95 a month billed yearly against $13.95 billed monthly, and Business is $29.95 against $39.95, according to the plan data on the pricing page.