Sideline Pricing: Plans, Costs and Hidden Fees

Sideline is a second phone number for calls, text messaging, and voicemail on the phone you already own. For freelancers or small businesses that need to keep a personal number private, that's adequate.

But healthcare professionals, a second number isn't enough.

And that's because patient communication requires encryption, HIPAA compliance, and a Business Associate Agreement. Sideline offers none of those.

And then there's the pricing.

Sideline looks affordable at first glance. The base prices are clean, and the Sideline app is easy to download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

However, depending on where your account is registered, location-based taxes can increase costs higher than what's listed.

This article breaks down Sideline pricing and shows where the extra fees land. It also talks about iPlum as a purpose-built, HIPAA-compliant Sideline alternative for healthcare professionals who need more than a basic calling app.

What does Sideline offer?

Sideline is a second phone number app built for individual users who want to separate business calls from their personal line.

The sideline app runs on iOS and Android, and setup takes minutes.

For what it is, Sideline covers the basics.

More specifically, Sideline users get a dedicated local number for calling and texting, an auto-reply for missed calls, business-hours settings, and group messages.

The app also lets you port an existing phone number if you'd rather keep a familiar sideline number.

Also, Sideline offers unlimited calls, unlimited SMS, and voicemail on a single number. For a freelancer or sole trader who just needs a clean separation between personal and business calls, that's a workable setup.

But the key features that make a phone number usable in a regulated industry are absent.

Sideline lacks HIPAA compliance, encrypted text messaging, a Business Associate Agreement, call recording, call transcription, an auto attendant, or toll-free numbers.

And so you may know, Sideline also has no free version, and every account runs on a paid subscription. In addition, customer support is available only via chat.

For small businesses outside healthcare, Sideline works as a no-frills second number. However, for anyone managing patient communication, it falls well short.

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How Sideline pricing works

Sideline keeps its pricing options straightforward.

There's one subscription tier with three billing cycles. The platform doesn't have an enterprise plan, multiple lines or shared team numbers.

You only get a single number per account, billed monthly, semi-annually, or annually as follows:

Monthly — $14.49

The monthly subscription costs $14.49 per user.

For individual users who want to test the sideline app before committing, this is the lowest barrier to entry.

At $14.49 per month, you get unlimited calls, unlimited SMS, voicemail, auto reply, business hours, and group messages. There are no management features for multiple numbers, shared numbers, or team member access on a single account.

Semi-annual — $69.99

The six-month subscription costs $69.99 and is billed upfront. That works out to $11.67 per month, a modest saving over the monthly rate.

The catch is the upfront commitment. Sideline charges the full $69.99 at sign-up, not at the end of each month. For small teams or individual users who are still evaluating the app, that's worth noting.

Annual — $129.99

The 12-month subscription costs $129.99 and is billed in full upfront. That works out to $10.83 per month, Sideline's lowest monthly rate.

The annual pricing locks you in for a full year. For sideline users who need only basic calling and text messaging, the savings are substantial.

On the flip side, for healthcare professionals who discover mid-year that Sideline can't meet their communication requirements, that upfront payment doesn't come back.

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The taxes Sideline passes to you

Sideline's pricing page has a note that most users are likely to scroll past.

It reads: "Depending on the state your iTunes or Google Play Store account is registered in, a sales tax may be applied to your total subscription price."

That's a critical distinction from traditional VoIP services.

Because Sideline bills through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, your subscription is treated as a digital in-app purchase rather than a telecom service. That means telecom-specific surcharges, such as the Federal Universal Service Fund, don't apply.

However, State sales tax does.

The good news is that not every state taxes digital products. If your app store account is registered in such a state, you pay zero sales tax on your Sideline subscription. The base prices listed are final.

For users in states that tax digital goods, the numbers shift. Here's how location-based taxes affect each pricing option:

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The increases look modest on a monthly subscription.

However, on an annual pricing plan, a 7% state tax adds $9.10 to a $129.99 upfront payment before you make a single business call.

Sideline is upfront about the fact that it can't prevent these charges. The tax is charged by the app store, not by Sideline directly.

iPlum, by comparison, absorbs taxes internally. The pricing on the app page is the final number on your invoice, regardless of which state your account is registered in.

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What Sideline doesn't tell you

Sideline's pricing page is transparent about costs. However, the app is less transparent about what it can't do.

For small businesses outside regulated industries, the key features Sideline offers — unlimited calls, unlimited SMS, auto reply, and business hours — cover most daily communication needs. But the moment patient data comes into play, those key features aren't enough.

Sideline doesn't offer HIPAA compliance. In addition, it doesn't support encrypted text messaging to protect patient data in transit.

Therefore, healthcare professionals who use Sideline for patient communication are doing so without the legal and technical protections required by law.

It is also worth noting that the app does not support call recording or transcription.

For healthcare professionals who need documented records of patient interactions, that's a significant gap.

Moreover, there's no auto attendant feature on the base subscription — it's listed as an auto attendant add-on, meaning an extra fee on top of your existing cost.

Sideline doesn't offer toll-free numbers either.

For small businesses or practices that want a professional, recognizable business line, that's another limitation.

Furthermore, VoIP calling quality has also drawn criticism from Sideline users.

Reviews on Capterra and the App Store mention inconsistent call quality, missed calls, and limited customer support via chat only.

For a healthcare professional managing time-sensitive patient communication, unreliable VoIP numbers and slow support aren't acceptable tradeoffs.

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iPlum: the best Sideline alternative

iPlum is a cloud-based VoIP phone number app built specifically for healthcare professionals and small businesses that handle sensitive patient communication.

Unlike Sideline, iPlum was designed for compliance from the ground up.

It operates on iOS and Android, giving users a dedicated second phone number for business calls, text messaging, and voicemail, separate from their personal number.

That said, security is where iPlum and Sideline part ways.

iPlum uses encrypted text messaging to protect patient data in transit. Professional and Enterprise plans come with a Business Associate Agreement, a legal requirement for HIPAA-compliant patient communication that Sideline simply doesn't offer.

iPlum also includes auto attendant, call recording, call transcription, toll-free numbers, and number porting across its plans.

International calling is available with global credits, making iPlum a solid option for users who need to reach patients or business contacts abroad.

As one of the best Sideline alternatives, iPlum doesn't pass location-based taxes to the user, charge surprise fees at checkout, or bury hidden fees in the app store fine print.

In fact, iPlum absorbs taxes internally, so the cost on the pricing page is the final number on your invoice.

For healthcare professionals who've outgrown what Sideline can offer, iPlum is the ideal purpose-built replacement.

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How much does iPlum cost?

iPlum offers three pricing tiers.

Each plan carries a flat monthly rate with no app store markups, location based taxes, or hidden fees.

Standard — $8.99 per user per month

The standard plan is iPlum's base option for individual users and small businesses that need a reliable second phone number for calling and texting.

For $8.99 per user, you get a US or Canada phone number, unlimited calls, text messaging, voicemail, auto-reply, business hours, and a phone tree. The app runs on iOS and Android.

For solo practitioners who need a dedicated business line at a price Sideline can't match, the standard plan covers the essentials before location-based taxes.

Professional — $14.99 per user per month

The Professional plan is where iPlum earns its reputation as a HIPAA-compliant communication tool for healthcare professionals.

For $14.99 per user, you get everything in Standard, plus encrypted text messaging, voicemail transcription, group messages, broadcast text, scheduled texting, text templates, business contacts, and text archiving for one year.

The plan also adds web calling and texting, shared numbers, and a free iPlum account for your patients.

Most importantly, the Professional plan includes full HIPAA compliance and a Business Associate Agreement.

At $14.49, Sideline's monthly subscription buys you a single number with no compliance protections. Meanwhile, iPlum's Professional plan offers encrypted communication, a BAA, and a fully HIPAA-compliant setup for 50 cents per user per month.

Enterprise — $25.99 per user per month

The Enterprise plan adds call recording, recording consent announcements, and 10-year archiving for both calls and texts.

These are essential for regulated healthcare environments that must meet strict quality and security standards.

For healthcare professionals in highly regulated sectors, long-term archiving isn't a bonus feature. The Enterprise plan includes it as standard at $25.99 per user, with no separate call recording add-on fee.

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Sideline pricing vs. iPlum: a direct cost comparison

At $14.49 per month, Sideline's monthly subscription and iPlum's Professional plan at $14.99 are separated by fifty cents.

However, the gap in what each app delivers is significant.

Sideline gives you unlimited calls, SMS, voicemail, auto-reply, and business hours. On the flip side, you don’t get HIPAA compliance, a BAA, encrypted text messaging, call recording, call transcription, or an auto attendant on the base subscription.

iPlum's Professional plan gives you all of that, plus encrypted text messaging, voicemail transcription, group messages, broadcast text, scheduled texting, a BAA, and full HIPAA compliance, for fifty cents more per user per month.

On annual pricing, Sideline costs $129.99 upfront.

iPlum's Professional plan costs $179.88 per year, roughly $50 more annually. However, for that difference, you get a fully HIPAA-compliant communication setup with encrypted text messaging and a BAA included.

For healthcare professionals, that fifty-cent monthly difference is negligible compared to what you get.

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Where iPlum pulls ahead

Sideline works as a second phone number for personal use or basic calling. But it wasn't built for healthcare professionals managing patient communication.

iPlum covers everything Sideline offers, including unlimited calls, text messaging, voicemail, auto-reply, business hours and adds the compliance layer healthcare professionals need.

HIPAA compliance, encrypted text messaging, a BAA, call recording, call transcription, toll-free numbers, and international calling are all part of the package.

The pricing is transparent. The app is available on iOS and Android. And taxes don't appear as a separate line item on your invoice.

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Get started with iPlum

iPlum offers a fully fledged phone system for healthcare professionals ready to make the switch from Sideline.

To sign up, pick a plan, and get a dedicated business phone number running on the device you already use.

Click the link below to get your HIPAA-compliant iPlum number, built for secure, high-quality patient communication.

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Sign up for iPlum