# Quo Review (2026): OpenPhone's New Name, Pricing, Sona AI and the Weak Spots

> An independent review of Quo (formerly OpenPhone): 2026 pricing, Sona AI credit tiers, texting registration fees, user ratings with counts, status-page outages, the real weaknesses, and how it compares with Dialpad, Aircall, Google Voice and Grasshopper. Checked November 11, 2026.

- Source: https://www.stork.ai/blog/quo-review-2026
- Publisher: Stork.AI editorial team
- Published: 2026-11-12
- Updated: 2026-11-12
- Language: en
- Reading time: 11 min

_Affiliate disclosure: Stork uses Quo for its own business line and earns a commission when you sign up through some links on this page (including Quo and Aircall), at no cost to you. We rank on fit for the use case, not commission._

## Key takeaways

- Quo (formerly OpenPhone) costs $15, $23 or $35 a user a month billed yearly ($19, $33, $47 monthly).
- Sona answers about 10 calls a month free on every plan; paid tiers run $25 to $199 a month.
- US texting needs registration: $19.50 once plus $1.50 to $3 a month, and texting is blocked until approved.
- Users rate it 4.7 on G2 (3,434 reviews) and 4.2 on Trustpilot (1,136); complaints center on support access and account restrictions.
- No desk phones, no numbers outside the US and Canada, and the HIPAA BAA excludes text messages.

**Verdict:** [Quo](https://get.quo.com/apv4z5o0x57b) (called OpenPhone until September 2025) is a strong, low-cost phone system for small teams in the US and Canada that live on their mobile and laptop: one number per user from $15 a month billed yearly, unlimited US and Canada calls and texts, shared numbers, and an AI agent (Sona) that answers 10 calls a month free. Independent reviewers and most users rate it highly for ease of use. It is the wrong pick if you need desk phones, numbers outside North America, phone support on a cheap plan, or a HIPAA agreement that covers text messages. Prices checked November 11, 2026.

**Disclosure:** Stork uses Quo for its own business line, and we earn a commission if you sign up through our Quo link. That is exactly why this review leans on sources we do not control: Quo's own pricing and help pages, its public status page, independent reviews, and user-review platforms with scores, counts and dates. We did not run a fresh hands-on test for this review, so nothing below is a call-quality measurement of ours.

## Who Quo is for, and who should skip it

- **Good fit:** solo founders, agencies, trades and small sales or support teams (roughly 1 to 20 people) that want a business number on their own phone, shared inboxes for calls and texts, and CRM sync without a phone-system project.
- **Good fit:** teams that want an AI receptionist without buying a separate product: Sona is on every plan and is billed per call, not per minute.
- **Skip it if you need desk phones.** Quo is app-only; its help center says it will not ring a physical desk phone, and there is no SIP device support.
- **Skip it if you need numbers outside the US and Canada.** Quo issues US, Canadian and North American toll-free numbers only ([help center](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/calling/international-calling)).
- **Skip it if you text patients under HIPAA.** Quo signs a BAA on Business and Scale, but its [HIPAA page](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/administration/hipaa-compliance) excludes SMS and MMS and all third-party integrations from it.
- **Think twice if you need a human on the phone fast.** Phone support exists only on Scale, weekdays 8am to 5pm Pacific; Starter is email only.

## Quo pricing in 2026

| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | What it adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Starter | $19 per user | $15 per user ($180 a year) | 1 number per user, unlimited US and Canada calls and texts, voicemail transcripts, API, Sona (10 calls), email support |
| Business | $33 per user | $23 per user ($276 a year) | AI call summaries and transcripts, call forwarding, transfers, phone menus, ring orders, HubSpot and Salesforce, auto recording, analytics, live chat support, BAA available |
| Scale | $47 per user | $35 per user ($420 a year) | AI call tags, dedicated onboarding, priority support, inbound phone support |

*From quo.com/pricing and Quo's help center, read November 11, 2026. USD, before taxes and fees. 7-day free trial, no free plan.*

Two things trip people up. First, Starter has no call forwarding and no AI summaries of ordinary calls (it only summarizes calls Sona handles), so many teams end up on Business. Second, calling and texting are "unlimited" under a fair-use policy, and international calls run on prepaid credits per country. Sources: [Quo pricing page](https://www.quo.com/pricing), [Quo plans and pricing help article](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/administration/billing/pricing).

### Sona AI agent: credit tiers

| Tier | Price a month | Calls included | Overage per extra call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Tier 1 | $0 (every plan) | about 10 (1,000 credits) | $1.00 |
| Tier 2 | $25 | about 40 (4,000 credits) | $0.75 |
| Tier 3 | $49 | about 100 (10,000 credits) | $0.65 |
| Tier 4 | $99 | about 250 (25,000 credits) | $0.55 |
| Tier 5 | $199 | about 600 (60,000 credits) | $0.45 |

*Sona uses 100 credits per call; calls under 15 seconds are free. Overages are off by default. Source: Quo Sona pricing help article, read November 11, 2026.*

Because Sona bills per call rather than per minute, a long call costs the same as a short one. With overages off (the default), Sona stops answering when credits run out and calls fall back to your normal call flow, so you cannot get a surprise bill, but you can miss calls. Unused credits expire each month, and Sona tiers cannot be bought during the free trial or through an Apple subscription. Source: [Sona pricing](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/sona-pricing).

### Fees most reviews leave out

| Fee | Amount | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Extra phone number | $5 a month each | Same price for toll-free |
| US texting registration (A2P 10DLC), one-time | $19.50 | Paid to The Campaign Registry; required for all US texting, including personal use |
| US texting campaign fee | $1.50 a month (most businesses), $3 (non-profits), $2 (sole proprietors) | Monthly, on top of the plan |
| Registration resubmission | $15 | If the registration is rejected |
| International calls and texts | Per-country rates, prepaid credits | Not available during the trial |
| Telecom taxes and fees | Varies | Charged for billing addresses in 16 US states |
| Number porting | Free | Third-party fees may apply |

*From Quo's help center, read November 11, 2026.*

> [!FACT] You cannot text US numbers until carrier registration is approved. Quo says most approvals take 24 to 48 hours, some stay pending for up to 20 days, and rare cases take longer than 30 days; Quo does not control the outcome. A Capterra reviewer in April 2026 described exactly this: no texting at all until registration cleared. Source: [Quo carrier registration guide](https://support.quo.com/getting-started/carrier-registration/carrier-registration).

## What is new in Quo in late 2026

- **Quo Agent (beta, September 24, 2026):** an assistant inside Quo you can ask about your calls, texts and team ("which inbound messages never got a reply?"). It drafts replies, tasks and contact updates and waits for your approval. Free on every plan during the beta, web and desktop only. Source: [Quo Agent help article](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/quo-agent).
- **AI agents can now place calls (November 10, 2026):** connect Quo to Claude, ChatGPT or Grok through its MCP server and Sona can make outbound calls and run text conversations toward a goal you set. Quo's changelog does not say how those calls are billed or which plans get them. Source: [Quo changelog](https://support.quo.com/changelog).
- **Also in the changelog:** spam-call labels on all plans (US beta, October 6), monday CRM sync on Business and Scale (November 5).

## What independent reviewers say

| Publication | Date | Score or placement | Main criticism |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [TechRadar Pro review](https://www.techradar.com/pro/phone-communications/quo-review) | March 10, 2026 | 4.5 / 5 | Calls drop on shaky internet; AI sometimes falters; per-user pricing and AI credits add up; no video meetings or team chat |
| [Zapier, best virtual phone systems](https://zapier.com/blog/best-virtual-phone-voip/) | August 11, 2026 | Best for small businesses | No landline support; slow porting |
| [Business.com, business phone systems](https://www.business.com/categories/business-phone-systems/) | October 19, 2026 | 8.7, best for small teams | Some users report call-quality problems on cellular connections |
| [FitSmallBusiness review](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/openphone-review/) | updated December 18, 2025 | 4.4 / 5 | Features gated by plan; no video. Its claim that Quo is not HIPAA compliant is out of date: Quo now signs a BAA on Business and Scale |

*All four publications earn affiliate commissions from software they review; none sells a rival phone system.*

## What users say: ratings, with counts

| Platform | Score | Reviews | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [G2](https://www.g2.com/products/openphone-openphone/reviews) | 4.7 / 5 | 3,434 | Nov 11, 2026 |
| [Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/quo.com) | 4.2 / 5 | 1,136 (about 450 in the last 12 months) | Nov 11, 2026 |
| [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/199031/OpenPhone/) | 4.2 / 5 | 64 | page updated Oct 19, 2026 |
| [Apple App Store (US)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1241817309) | 4.4 / 5 | 10,824 ratings | Nov 11, 2026 |
| [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.openphone) | 4.7 / 5 | about 10,100 ratings | Nov 11, 2026 |

*Scores as shown on each platform. G2 reviews are largely solicited; Quo's Trustpilot profile does not invite reviews.*

The gap between G2 (4.7) and Trustpilot (4.2) is the useful signal. On G2, 3,006 of 3,434 reviews are five stars. Trustpilot is unsolicited and split: about 72% five-star and 19% one-star. Both are true at once: most users are happy, and a meaningful minority had a bad experience, usually about support or account access rather than the core app.

### Recurring praise (most to least common)

- **Ease of use and fast setup:** the most common positive theme on G2 (roughly 700 mentions) and in recent Trustpilot five-star reviews.
- **Shared numbers and team inboxes:** notes, mentions and several people answering one line.
- **Helpful support for routine questions:** about 366 G2 mentions; porting help is often praised.
- **Price against older VoIP providers.**
- **AI transcripts, summaries and Sona call screening:** mentioned less often, mostly positive.

### Recurring complaints (most to least common)

- **Connection problems and dropped calls:** about 184 G2 mentions of connection issues and 80 of disconnections, a minority against 3,434 reviews. Reviewers often tie it to weak Wi-Fi or cellular data, which affects every app-based phone.
- **Hard to reach a human in an emergency:** 5 of the 20 most recent one-star Trustpilot reviews (July to October 2026) were mainly about unreachable or AI-first support.
- **Account restrictions:** another 5 of those 20 described accounts limited or blocked after identity or fraud checks. Small, self-selected sample, but consistent.
- **Features gated by plan:** forwarding, phone menus, transcripts and CRM sync need Business or Scale.
- **Billing and refund friction:** 3 of the 20.
- **Texting blocked until 10DLC registration clears.**

## Reliability: Quo's own status page

Quo publishes its incidents. The 25 listed between May 21 and November 6, 2026 include 3 rated critical, 10 major and 10 minor. The ones that matter most for a phone system:

| Date (2026) | Incident | Impact | Duration |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| July 27 | Calling outage (inbound and outbound), upstream provider | Critical | about 3.6 hours |
| October 1 | Calling outage | Critical | about 53 minutes |
| August 18 | Public API and MCP issues | Critical | about 46 minutes |
| June 18 to 22 | Outgoing MMS unavailable; inbound SMS issues; porting and carrier registration interrupted | Major | MMS about 42 hours; SMS about 3.5 hours |
| July 8 and October 17 | Calling errors (October: APAC region) | Minor | 45 and 37 minutes |
| September 1 | Intermittent problems sending messages | Major | about 100 minutes |

*From status.quo.com incident history, read November 11, 2026. Durations from Quo's own start and resolve times.*

Two calling outages in about five and a half months is not unusual for a small-business VoIP provider, but it is not flawless either, and we could not find a published uptime SLA. Source: [Quo status history](https://status.quo.com/).

## Common claims about Quo, checked

Rival phone companies publish most of the "Quo alternatives" articles you will find. Here is how their five usual claims hold up against Quo's own documents and independent sources.

| Claim | Verdict | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No desk phones | True | App-only; no SIP or hardware support. TechRadar, Zapier and Business.com say the same. Workaround: forward calls to another number (US and Canada only). |
| Not HIPAA compliant | Partly true | Quo signs a BAA on Business and Scale (not Starter). Texts and all third-party integrations are excluded from it, so texting patients is not covered. |
| Limited support | True on channels | Starter: email. Business: live chat. Scale: phone, weekdays 8am to 5pm Pacific. No 24/7 human support on any plan. Users rate routine support well. |
| Call quality problems | Overstated | A real minority theme (about 264 of 3,434 G2 reviews mention connections or drops), mostly on weak networks; plus two calling outages in H2 2026. |
| Per-seat pricing | True, but normal | Quo charges per user, like Dialpad, Aircall and RingCentral. Shared numbers let several people answer one line. Per-business pricing exists at Grasshopper and Beside. |

*Sources: Quo help center (HIPAA, pricing), G2, TechRadar, Zapier, Business.com, read November 11, 2026.*

## Quo vs Dialpad, Aircall, Google Voice and Grasshopper

|  | Quo | Dialpad | Aircall | Google Voice | Grasshopper |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Entry price | $15 yearly / $19 monthly per user | $15 per user (billing period not labelled) | $30 per user, yearly, 3-seat minimum | $10 per user plus Workspace for teams | $14 per account (1 user); $25 for unlimited users |
| AI that answers calls | Sona, 10 calls free, $0.45 to $1.00 per extra call | Separate AI agents product, custom pricing | AI Voice Agents, 50 minutes a month included | None (auto attendant only) | AI receptionist announced May 2026, price not published |
| AI call summaries | Business and Scale | All plans | Professional plan ($50) | Standard ($20) and Premier | Transcripts yes; AI summaries announced |
| Desk phones | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Numbers outside US/Canada | No | 50+ countries | Many countries | 14 countries for team plans | No |
| Best for | Small US/CA teams on mobile | Teams wanting AI notes on every plan and desk phones | Sales and support teams of 3+ | Teams already on Google Workspace | Several people sharing one line cheaply |

*From each vendor's pricing page, read November 11, 2026.*

- **[Dialpad](https://www.stork.ai/en/dialpad)** matches Quo's entry price and puts AI recaps on every plan, with desk-phone support and numbers in 50+ countries. It is merging with Ada (announced November 4, 2026), so plans may change in 2027. [Dialpad pricing](https://www.dialpad.com/pricing/).
- **[Aircall](https://get.aircall.io/8r2cu9ld1fa4-tckq86)** costs about twice as much and needs three seats, but bundles AI Voice Agent minutes and suits call-heavy sales and support teams. Its Trustpilot score is 3.0 from 1,103 reviews. [Aircall pricing](https://aircall.io/pricing/).
- **Google Voice** is the cheapest for Workspace shops and added Gemini call notes in July 2026, but has no AI receptionist. [Google Voice plans](https://workspace.google.com/products/voice/).
- **[Grasshopper](https://www.stork.ai/en/grasshopper)** prices per account (Solo Plus $25 a month for unlimited users), which beats Quo for a shared line, but its AI features are newer and its user scores are lower (G2 3.9, Trustpilot 3.1). [Grasshopper plans](https://grasshopper.com/about-us).
- **One to watch: Beside**, launched November 2025, prices per business: $29 a month for up to 20 seats with 30 AI receptionist calls, or $99 with unlimited AI calls. It has little review history yet and no public API. [Beside pricing](https://www.beside.com/phone/pricing).

For the full field with prices and ratings for 15 providers, see our [business phone systems comparison](https://www.stork.ai/blog/best-business-phone-systems-2026). Quo's directory page is [here](https://www.stork.ai/en/quo), and our [Quo alternatives page](https://www.stork.ai/alternatives/quo) lists the closest replacements.

## Bottom line

Quo earns its ratings on the things a small team touches every day: setup, the shared inbox, and a price that starts at $15. Budget for Business ($23 yearly) if you need forwarding or AI summaries of every call, add about $19.50 plus $1.50 a month for texting registration, and keep Sona's overages off until you know your call volume. Look elsewhere if you need desk phones, international numbers, phone support on a small plan, or HIPAA coverage for texts. [Try Quo free for 7 days](https://get.quo.com/apv4z5o0x57b).

## Frequently asked questions

### Is OpenPhone the same as Quo?

Yes. OpenPhone renamed itself Quo on September 23, 2025, when it announced a new funding round. The product, apps and accounts carried over, and openphone.com redirects to quo.com.

### How much does Quo cost?

Starter is $15 a user a month billed yearly or $19 monthly; Business is $23 or $33; Scale is $35 or $47 (checked November 11, 2026). Extra numbers are $5 a month, and US texting registration costs $19.50 once plus $1.50 to $3 a month.

### What is Sona AI and how much does it cost?

Sona is Quo's AI agent that answers calls (and can capture leads by text). Every plan includes about 10 Sona calls a month free; paid tiers are $25 (about 40 calls), $49 (100), $99 (250) and $199 (600), with optional overages of $0.45 to $1.00 per call.

### Is Quo HIPAA compliant?

Quo signs a Business Associate Agreement on the Business and Scale plans, not Starter. Its BAA excludes SMS and MMS and all third-party integrations, so calls can be covered but texting patients is not.

### Does Quo work with desk phones?

No. Quo runs on its mobile, desktop and web apps only and does not support desk phones or SIP devices. You can forward calls to another US or Canadian number.

### Does Quo have a free plan?

No. Quo offers a 7-day free trial; international calling and paid Sona tiers are not available during the trial.

### Can I get a Quo number outside the US or Canada?

No. Quo issues US and Canadian local numbers and North American toll-free numbers only, though you can use them from anywhere with an internet connection.