FollowUp vs OpenPhone: SMS Follow-Up vs Business Phone
OpenPhone is a cloud business phone system: shared business numbers, voice, SMS, voicemail transcription. FollowUp is an SMS follow-up tool: texts from your own iPhone on every plan; on Plus, drip sequences and AI reply classification; voicemail drops on Pro. They overlap on SMS but solve different jobs. OpenPhone replaces your business landline. FollowUp replaces the manual work of texting every lead a follow-up sequence and reading every reply (drip sequences and AI reply sorting on Plus and up). Many sales teams use both: OpenPhone for the team's shared business line, FollowUp for the rep's personal SMS follow-up motion.
Quick verdict: who should pick which
- You want SMS follow-up sequences with AI reply filtering (Plus and up)
- You want to text from your own iPhone number, not a business line
- You need ringless voicemail drops (Pro and Autopilot)
- Your job is sales follow-up, not business phone management
- You need a shared business phone number for the team to call/text from
- You want voicemail transcription, IVR, and call routing
- You're replacing a desk phone or a Google Voice setup
- You need a business line, not a follow-up automation tool
Feature comparison
| Feature | FollowUp | OpenPhone |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | SMS follow-up automation | Business phone system |
| SMS drip sequences | Yes on Plus and up (Free: your first 7 days) | Auto-replies and snippets, not full drip sequences |
| AI reply classification | Yes (Plus and up) | No (basic AI summaries in beta) |
| Ringless voicemail | Yes (Pro and Autopilot) | No |
| SMS from rep's own phone | Yes: iMessage from your iPhone on every plan, including Free | No: OpenPhone provisioned number |
| Voice calls | Business calling and forwarding (Plus and up); AI answers missed calls on Autopilot | Full inbound + outbound voice |
| Voicemail transcription | Yes on Plus and up, for the business number | Yes: primary feature |
| Shared team numbers | Per-rep business numbers (Plus and up) | Yes: shared inboxes are core |
| Free tier | Yes, no credit card: no cap on contacts; iMessage blasts free your first 7 days, then 2 a month, for good; the first 7 days add guided iMessage drip sequences and 10 voicemail drops | No (7-day trial) |
| Built for | Sales follow-up reps | Small business teams needing a business line |
When to use each
FollowUp
FollowUp wins when the job is sales follow-up automation, not phone system management. The rep wants a drip sequence that runs in the background on the business number (Plus and up) and only shows leads who reply with intent, plus personal texts and blasts from their own iPhone (every plan, including Free). OpenPhone's shared inbox model isn't what a 1:1 follow-up rep needs.
OpenPhone
OpenPhone wins when the job is replacing a business landline or shared phone setup. A small team that needs one business number where calls and texts route to whoever's available, plus voicemail transcription and call recording. That's exactly what OpenPhone is built for. SMS in OpenPhone is conversational, not campaign-driven.
Pricing
OpenPhone has per-user pricing (Starter, Business, Scale) with annual discounts. SMS is included in all tiers as part of the phone-line bundle. FollowUp has a free tier plus per-rep Plus, Pro and Autopilot tiers. The two are often complementary rather than competitive: OpenPhone for the team's shared business line, FollowUp for each rep's outbound SMS follow-up motion. Verify current rates: openphone.com/pricing and myfollowup.io.
Frequently asked questions
Is FollowUp an OpenPhone alternative?
Can I use both FollowUp and OpenPhone?
Does OpenPhone do SMS automation?
Does FollowUp give me a business phone number?
Which is cheaper?
Try FollowUp free
Free has no cap on contacts and sends from your own number. No credit card required.