Loonext vs Quo: flat beats per-user.
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) is a full business phone system: calling included, priced per user at $19 a month on monthly billing, with texting metered at 1¢ a segment and extra numbers at $5 each. Loonext is one line for texts and calls, $29 a month flat for the whole crew, both included. Here is the arithmetic, dated and sourced, August 2026.
A 3-person crew, side by side.
Same crew, same workload of 500 texts a month, at published prices. Quo's texting cell states its real metered terms, we won't print a bundled allowance it doesn't sell, and the row where Quo flatly beats us is in the table too. On Loonext, texting is included under an automated fair-use policy that covers this workload comfortably; the concrete numbers live in our fair use policy.
| Line item | Loonext Starter | Quo Starteras of August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Seats (3 people) | $29 flat, covers 3One price for the whole crew, not per seat. | $19/user × 3 = $57Their Starter is $19/user on monthly billing, $15/user if you commit to annual. |
| 500 texts a month, the workload | IncludedStarter's fair-use texting covers this workload comfortably, with room to spare; receiving texts is free and unlimited. | ~$5, meteredNo bundled allowance: automated SMS is billed at 1¢ per segment; 500 single-segment texts assumed. |
| A second number | Included on Pro ($79)Pro carries two numbers: two locations, or office and field. | $5/mo eachTheir pricing page lists additional phone numbers at $5 a month. |
| Monthly carrier maintenance | $0Loonext has no recurring carrier line item; registration is $29 once, ever. | $1.50 to $3/moTheir published monthly SMS maintenance fee, disclosed plainly on their pricing page. |
| Phone calls | Included on every planIncoming calls ring the crew inside the app and whoever is free answers, missed ones leave a voicemail and get a text-back, and you call customers back from the business number. Generous minutes under fair use; still not a call center. | Included, US and CanadaQuo is a full phone system; unlimited US/Canada calling ships on every tier. A real advantage if voice is your front door. |
| Starting up in Canada | Day one, no registrationA Canadian business texting Canadian customers files no US registration and pays no registration fee, so the number is live and sending the same day. Turning on US texting later is where the $29 and the carrier wait apply. | $19.50 review, either wayTheir pricing publishes one registration path, the US Campaign Registry review, and states no separate route for a Canadian business texting Canadian customers. |
| Voicemail you can read | Every one, written downA missed call takes a voicemail and we write it out into the thread, so you read it in the inbox instead of dialling in to listen. Included under fair use, not an add-on. | Not a priced lineTheir published pricing covers seats, automated SMS, extra numbers and Sona automation credits. Voicemail transcription is not one of the things it prices. |
| AI in the plan, not on the meter | Included, never per useLou drafts a reply for you to send or change, and writes your voicemails down, inside the plan price. We cap what our own AI costs us rather than billing you for each message it touches. | 1,000 credits, then per callSona ships on every plan with 1,000 automation credits included. A call costs 100 credits, so past about ten calls it bills from $1.00 down to $0.45 each depending on the credit tier you buy. |
| Monthly total | $29 | ~$64$57 seats + ~$5 texting + their $1.50 to $3 maintenance; extra numbers $5 each on top. |
Loonext's numbers come straight from our published plans. Quo figures are from quo.com/pricing, re-verified 2026-08-02: Starter $15/user/mo on annual billing or $19/user/mo monthly, automated SMS at $0.01/segment, extra numbers $5/mo each, and a $1.50 to $3 monthly carrier maintenance fee. Neither total includes AI usage beyond Quo's 1,000 included automation credits, which is about ten calls at 100 credits each. One-time registration fees are excluded from both totals: ours is $29, and Quo discloses a $19.50 one-time Campaign Registry review right on its pricing page, disclosure done right. If any figure changes, tell us and we'll fix it.
This chart's $19 line is Quo's own seat price.
The per-user line in this chart is Quo Starter's published $19/user monthly price, and it doesn't include their metered texting. Slide your crew size and watch the gap.
At 6 people, that's $35 less a month with Loonext, $79 flat instead of 6 × $19.
Start for $79 flat →The $19/user figure is the published monthly Starter seat price of a leading per-user business-texting tool as of August 2026 (that tool bills texting separately, so real totals run higher). See the named, sourced math on our comparison pages.
When Quo fits better.
Quo is a mature product with a real edge over us, and the biggest one is the obvious one: it's a phone system.
Reach for Loonext if
Texting is the job: customers text photos of the problem, the crew answers from the truck, and you want all of it in one shared inbox at one flat price with the texts included.
You'd rather one flat bill than per-user math: $29 covers the whole crew and the texts, with no per-seat fee and no per-segment meter on top.
Reach for Quo if
Your business lives on phone calls. Quo makes and receives them, with unlimited US and Canada calling on every tier, voicemail, and an AI agent. Loonext answers calls too, on every plan: they ring your whole crew in the app, unanswered ones take a voicemail we write down, you call customers back on your business number, and the ones you miss get a text back. What it is not is a call center: no phone menus, no queues, no desk phones.
You want desktop and mobile apps for a distributed team that treats the phone line, not the text thread, as home base.
Calling is the honest headline.
Unlimited US/Canada calling ships on every Quo tier. If your customers expect to reach you by voice all day, Quo is genuinely the better tool and a shared line does not replace a phone system.
Their fee disclosure sets a high bar.
Quo prints its $19.50 one-time registration and its $1.50 to $3 monthly carrier maintenance right on the pricing page, and even reminds you before a trial ends. Credit where due; we aim to beat it, not match it, with one $29 fee, once, and no recurring carrier line at all.
A bigger app surface.
Quo ships iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and web apps plus integrations and an API. Loonext is a fast web app you add to your home screen, deliberately smaller.
Plainly: if the phone ringing is your front door, buy Quo. If the text thread is your front door and you're tired of it living on one person's cell, Loonext gives the whole crew one inbox for $29 flat, and the texts are already in the price.
Switching from a per-user bill is quick math.
Count your seats, add the metered texting, and put the total next to $29 or $79 flat. If the flat line wins, moving is painless.
- Keep your number: transfers from Quo or any carrier are free, self-serve at signup or later, and typically take 1 to 7 business days.
- Your number keeps working on your current provider until the scheduled switch, so you can run both while you move.
- Month to month, with a 30-day full money-back guarantee, registration fee included.
- If your team makes calls from the app all day, read the calling section above before you switch; Loonext won't do that job.
Flat for the crew, texts included.
$29 a month covers up to three people with texting included; $79 covers up to fifteen, with a second number in the price. No seat math, no per-segment meter, and a full refund in your first 30 days if it's not for you.
$29/MO FLAT · MONTH TO MONTH · 30-DAY MONEY-BACK