What does a business number really cost for a team?
- A per-seat app bills every person: at 10, that's $190 to $400/month for software alone.
- Per-team pricing doesn't move when you hire — the base already includes several seats.
- With your own telecom account, calls and texts are at cost, with no hidden markup.
A team business number costs two things: software and telecom. Most apps bundle them into a per-seat price (≈$19-40/person) with a hidden markup on minutes and texts. Split apart, both become readable: a per-team software fee, plus telecom at cost.
The trap is you never see where your money goes. Telecom is buried in the subscription, and the price climbs with every hire. For a small team or agency, it's the bill that swells without warning.
Why does per-seat pricing explode for a team?
Because each person adds a full subscription. At ~$25/seat, a team of 5 pays $125, a team of 10 pays $250, a team of 20 pays $500 — for the same shared number. Cost tracks team size, not real usage.
With per-seat pricing at about $25/person, a team of 10 pays ~$250/month of software, versus ~$57 for a per-team plan including 8 seats. The gap comes from the billing model, not the features: the same shared number is billed head by head.
The per-team model flips the logic: a monthly base already includes several seats, and an extra seat costs less and less as you grow. You can compare your exact case on our pricing page.
What is the hidden telecom margin?
It's the difference between what the app pays the carrier and what it bills you. Calls and texts are bought wholesale, then resold with an invisible markup buried in the subscription. You never see the real cost of a minute or a text.
The fix: bring your own telecom account. You pay the carrier directly, at its rate, and the software takes no margin on it. That's the principle behind the multi-provider model — Twilio, SignalWire or Telnyx, your choice.
Honest take: this model isn't always cheapest. Solo with very few calls, an all-in-one app can cost the same. The gap widens once you have a team or volume.
How do you estimate your total cost?
Add two lines: the software plan ($17 to $97 CAD/month depending on plan and seat count) and your telecom bill at your provider's rate. For a 10-person team at average usage, software is ~$57 on the Business plan, plus a few dozen dollars of telecom.
The simplest way is to price your real case: number of people, minutes and texts per month. The savings calculator computes software + telecom and compares it to per-seat apps.
The total cost of a team business number reads in two lines: a per-team software plan (a base including seats, from $17 CAD/month) and a telecom bill paid to the provider at cost. No hidden markup on calls and texts, unlike per-seat apps.