The difference in one sentence
Dialpad's headline price is lower than ours. Dialpad Connect Standard is $15 per user per month on annual billing, against our $14.99, and $27 per user if you pay monthly, against our $19.99. The difference is not the number on the pricing page. It is what the number includes, and how much of a founder's actual week sits in the add-on column.
How they compare
Compared against Dialpad's published pricing and its own feature comparison documentation, 22 October 2026.
| SoundLine | Dialpad Connect | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price, annual | $14.99 per user | $15 per user on Standard |
| Entry price, monthly | $19.99 per user | $27 per user on Standard |
| Mid tier, annual | $24.99 per user on Growth | $25 per user on Pro |
| Mid tier, monthly | $33.33 per user on Growth | $35 per user on Pro |
| Free trial | 7 days, every Growth feature on | 14 days |
| Included outbound texting | 1,000 outbound per user per month, pooled | 250 per Connect license per month, pooled at office level |
| Toll-free number | Available on a paid plan, not during a trial | Paid add-on |
| Unlimited domestic minutes | Included | Paid add-on; Connect includes unlimited US and Canada calling excluding toll-free and dialer calls |
| Automatic call recording | Included on Growth | Not on Standard. Pro and Enterprise only. Standard users record manually |
| Running several businesses from one account | Designed for it, separate identity for each | Not positioned for it |
| Phone support with a person | Included on Growth, US-based | 24/7 support from Pro |
| Operating the network since | 2008 | Founded 2011 |
Where Dialpad wins, stated plainly. Their trial is twice as long as ours, fourteen days against seven. Their AI transcription and real-time call summaries are mature and well regarded, and on the Standard plan they are included rather than extra. If live transcription is the feature you are buying, price Dialpad properly.
The three differences that decide it
The texting allowance, which is where most founders are surprised. Dialpad's own documentation states that the first 250 outbound messages are pooled at the office level based on the number of Connect licenses, so the allowance rises with headcount: ten licenses contribute 2,500. Shared lines and other license types carry no allowance. SoundLine's fair use allowance is 1,000 outbound texts per user per month, also pooled, so on a two-person account it is 2,000 against Dialpad's 500. Both structures scale; the per-seat figure is what differs. If you text customers at all, that is the line in the table that will matter in month two, and it is not on the pricing page of either company.
The add-on column. Dialpad publishes toll-free numbers, local number packages, internet faxing, unlimited domestic minutes, meeting dial-in, large meetings, coaching teams and workforce management as paid add-ons on Connect. Those are legitimate ways to package software. They also mean the configuration a small business actually runs is not the fifteen-dollar one. Price what you would switch on, not what the headline says, and do the same exercise with us.
One company against several. Most platforms treat a second business as a second account, a second bill and a second app to check. SoundLine treats it as the normal case: a separate account for each business, with its own number, greeting, routing and voicemail, and one login that reaches all of them from the app on the phone already in your pocket. Each business is billed separately at the same per-user rates — the convenience is the login, not a discount. If you run one business and always will, this difference costs you nothing.
Dialpad is three products, and the one you are quoted matters
Worth knowing before you compare prices, because it is a common source of confusion. Dialpad Connect is the business phone system, at $15 and $25 per user on annual billing. Dialpad Support, for contact centers, runs $80 to $150 per user on annual billing. Dialpad Sell, for sales teams, runs $39 to $150. If a quote arrives at a number far above what you expected, check which product it is for.
SoundLine is one product with three tiers. That is a smaller business than Dialpad's, and it is also a shorter conversation.
When Dialpad is the better choice
If you are running a contact center or a sales floor, if you need skills-based routing, queue priority, hold queues, callback requests or a power dialer, if live AI coaching during calls is something you want on the agent's screen, or if real-time transcription is the main reason you are buying a phone system at all, Dialpad is built for that and goes further than we do. Their contact center and sales products exist because that work is genuinely different.
Choose SoundLine if you are the founder, if you run more than one thing, if texting customers is part of the job, and if you would rather have one bill than a base plan and six add-ons.
What you get in the first five minutes
Under five minutes from signing up to placing a call, measured on video on 19 October. Email verification, a password, cell phone verification, and government ID verification through Stripe, then pick your number and dial.
Texting is not instant. Carrier activation on a new number usually takes about fifteen minutes, sometimes thirty. The platform emails you when it clears and shows a check-now button until then. Calls in under five minutes, texting usually within about fifteen.
Questions founders ask
How many texts does Dialpad include?
Dialpad's own help documentation states that the first 250 outbound SMS/MMS of every Dialpad Connect user each month are pooled at the office level based on the number of Connect licenses, and that shared lines and other license types carry no allowance. Verified against Dialpad's documentation 27 October 2026.
Is Dialpad cheaper than SoundLine?
On the headline annual rate the two are within a cent of each other, $15 against $14.99. On monthly billing Dialpad Standard is $27 against our $19.99. The real comparison is the included allowances and the add-on list, which is set out in the table above.
Does Dialpad charge extra for a toll-free number?
Yes. Dialpad lists local and toll-free numbers as paid add-ons on Connect. Verified 22 October 2026.
Does Dialpad record calls automatically?
Not on the Standard plan. Dialpad's documentation states automatic call recording is available on Pro and Enterprise, and that Standard users can start and stop recordings manually.
Can I run two businesses from one SoundLine account?
Yes. That is what the platform is built around: a separate number, greeting, routing and voicemail for each business, inside one account and one app.
How long is the SoundLine free trial?
Seven days, up to two users, one local number, 200 minutes of calling and up to 50 outbound texts once carrier activation clears, with every Growth feature switched on. Dialpad's trial is fourteen days. Ours is shorter and fully featured, and you can switch down to Starter before it ends at no charge.
Try both, if you like
Start a SoundLine trial while you run the Dialpad one. Seven days, one local number, 200 minutes of calling, 50 texts once your number clears carrier activation, every Growth feature switched on. Card required, not charged until the trial ends.