Beside offers two subscription plans: 👤 Starter and 👥 Business.
Both plans give you a 24/7 AI receptionist that answers calls and texts instantly - no hold music, no phone trees - and has real conversations with your customers.
The difference is not just about “how many lines” you have. It’s about whether you’re running Beside for yourself, or for a team.
Below is a breakdown of what’s included in the Starter plan versus the Business plan, to help you choose what’s right for your needs.
Starter plan (1 user, 1 phone line)
👤 The Starter plan is designed for individuals who want to make sure they never miss a call.
It gives you a personal AI Receptionist trained on your business. You configure what questions to ask callers, how to qualify leads, when to book, etc.
Setup takes about 10 minutes. From there, your AI answers every call, qualifies every lead, and sends you summaries and transcripts.
✨ What's included in Starter
✨ What's included in Starter
On the Starter plan, you get:
1 user
1 phone number
24/7 AI call & text answering
Call transcripts & summaries
Basic automation & routing
🚫 Limitations on the Starter plan
🚫 Limitations on the Starter plan
On the Starter plan, you cannot:
Add additional phone lines
Create multiple inboxes
Share inboxes with teammates
Access certain advanced features that are now Business-only (see below)
👉 If you need your team involved, shared visibility, or multiple numbers: that’s where Business plan comes in (see how to upgrade below)
Business plan (Team collaboration & advanced automation)
👥 The Business plan lets you scale beyond a single line, unlock team collaboration and access advanced call handling and automation features.
The Business plan includes everything in Starter, plus:
📞 Add multiple phone lines
📞 Add multiple phone lines
Add up to 3 phone lines under one account
Get a Beside number for each line
Optionally forward a different primary number to each line
Configure Caller ID independently per line
Set up an independent AI Receptionist for each line, with its own settings, including:
Channels (calls, texts, emails)
Call handling scope (all missed calls vs known/unknown contacts)
Preferences (contact exclusions, greetings, voice)
Knowledge (FAQs, products, services)
👥 Share inboxes with your team
👥 Share inboxes with your team
Each phone line comes with its own dedicated inbox
You can share each inbox with up to 3 team members
Teammates access shared inboxes from their own Beside accounts
⚙️ Access Business-only features
⚙️ Access Business-only features
CRM & app integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier etc.)
Call transfer & advanced call routing
Email call summaries
These features features are exclusive to the Business plan, and are not available on the Starter plan.
Which plan should I choose?
Choose Starter if:
You’re a solo operator
You need 1 phone line
You want to validate the product first
Choose Business if:
You have a team
You need shared visibility
You want multiple numbers
You want CRM automation
You don’t want to be the communication bottleneck
💳 Pricing & billing
To see the current pricing, billing options (monthly or yearly), and platform-specific details (iOS, Android, or web), check out our pricing page: See Beside pricing. 📚
💻 Beside Desktop (macOS)
If you’re on a Starter or Business plan on mobile, you get complimentary access to the Starter plan on Beside Desktop (macOS).
Beside Desktop focuses on meeting intelligence (meeting recordings, summaries, and memory).
Phone lines, call handling, and inbox management (adding lines, forwarding numbers, sharing inboxes) are managed from the mobile app.
📚 Learn more: What’s Beside Desktop for macOS?
How do I upgrade?
➡️ Steps to switch from Starter to Business (iPhone + Android)
Open Beside → go to Settings
Tap Manage Plan → select Business plan
ℹ️ Important:
You can only upgrade or modify your plan from the platform where you originally subscribed. This prevents you from being charged twice.
Starter plan purchased on Apple Store → upgrade must be done on Apple Store
Starter plan purchased on Google Play Store → upgrade must be done on Google Play Store
❗️ Google cannot modify an Apple subscription, Apple cannot modify a Google subscription.
• Starter plan purchased on Web → Open your Beside mobile app → Settings → Your Account/Manage Plan → Current plan → You'll receive an email → open it and click Manage subscription.
How do I add phones lines and invite my team?
📚 For step-by-step instructions, see: Can I share my Beside inbox with my team?