2Dig Plain comparisons of crane signalling and jobsite communication tools

ESChat alternatives for crane crews in 2026

Compare ESChat alternatives for crane crews, from phone apps to browser signal tools to radios. OperatorLink, Zello, VoicePing, GroupTalk, Peak PTT and TASSTA.

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2Dig is published by the makers of OperatorLink, which is compared here alongside other tools.

Crane crews looking past ESChat can compare Zello and VoicePing on phones, GroupTalk for teams, Peak PTT as a dedicated radio, TASSTA on mixed devices, and OperatorLink, which shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW in a phone browser. [1]

OptionOwn feeCard payment
ZelloZello Work $8.00 per user per month, or $6.80 with annual subscription [2]Credit card, plus wire transfer, ACH, or check [2]
VoicePingStandard $2 per user per month and Plus $4 per user per month, both billed annually; Enterprise by sales quote [3] [3] [3]Not published
GroupTalkFree 14-day trial [4]Not published
OperatorLinkCurrently free, no paid plan built yet [1]Not published
Peak PTTPTT-84G radio 229, 19.95 activation, 24.95 per month unlimited push-to-talk [5]Not published
TASSTAPrice not publishedNot published

Why crane crews look past ESChat

ESChat runs as a subscription based push-to-talk service for smartphone and IoT devices. [6] Its cloud hosted service costs $5.99 per user per month for commercial customers. [7] A free 30-day trial is offered. [6] Those are the only facts about ESChat on this page, so the reasons here stay neutral. A crew matches a tool to the phones already on site, the size of the crew, and what the whole crew pays over a season. A crew should also check what the 30-day trial covers and what happens when it ends. The alternatives below each handle pricing, phones and signals in their own way, and this page gives the facts a reader can use to weigh them.

Zello: push-to-talk with per-user pricing

Zello Work costs $8.00 per user per month, or $6.80 with an annual subscription. [2] Zello supports payment by wire transfer, ACH, or check besides credit card. [2] For crews that need to run the service on their own hardware, Zello Enterprise Server deploys on-premise. [8] A crew should check which phones each person carries and how many users it needs before choosing a plan, since a per-user price grows with the size of the crew.

VoicePing: low per-user plans with an enterprise quote

The VoicePing Standard plan costs $2 per user per month, billed annually. [3] The Plus plan costs $4 per user per month, also billed annually. [3] The Enterprise plan's price is available by contacting sales for a price estimate. [3] A crew should check what each plan includes before picking one, because this page states the prices and not the feature lists behind them.

GroupTalk: push-to-talk for teams with a free trial

GroupTalk offers a free 14-day trial. [4] GroupTalk states that supervisors and managers can reach any team or individual instantly. [9] Its page names NCC, Entry, Veidekke, and YIT as construction companies that have chosen GroupTalk. [9] A crew should check how the trial ends and what a paid period costs, since this page does not state those figures.

OperatorLink: phone browser signals of STOP, HOLD and SLOW

OperatorLink is made by the team that publishes this site. It shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew, and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser. [1] For the crew, STOP means stop everything, HOLD means pause and wait, and SLOW means proceed at a reduced pace, so a signal person can tell the operator to halt, hold in place, or ease off with three plain commands. STOP releases every held direction on every phone and shows a full-screen alert to everyone else. [1] HOLD and SLOW stay on for everyone in the jobsite and are cleared when the last person leaves. [1] Holding a move button keeps sending that move to the other phones; if it stops arriving for 2 seconds, they drop it. [1] One-tap radio-style calls such as Go Ahead, Copy That and All Clear are sent as chat messages. [1] Anyone who joins can take part in a voice call run from the phone browser. [1] The person who starts a jobsite shares a link or QR code, and the crew joins from it. [1] A jobsite link stops working 12 hours after the first person joins it. [1] A jobsite with nobody in it is wiped after 3 idle hours. [1] On Android browsers signals such as STOP make the phone buzz; iPhone Safari ignores the buzz. [1] The app can be added to a phone's home screen as a standalone app. [1] OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1] It runs in a phone browser with no app install. [1] Button presses, chat and voice pass between phones in a browser. [1]

Peak PTT: a dedicated push-to-talk radio on the cellular network

The PTT-84G radio costs $229, with a $19.95 activation fee and $24.95 per month for unlimited push-to-talk, with no contracts. [5] Most orders ship the same business day. [5] The company lists a toll-free number, 855-600-6161, for questions. [5] A crew should check which carrier network covers its site before relying on a cellular radio, since a radio that talks over the cellular network needs coverage where the crane works.

TASSTA: push-to-talk across a mix of devices a crew already carries

TASSTA states that real-time communication works over any network and location. [10] Its BYOD model supports smartphones, radios, tablets, and PCs. [10] The company says it has over 10 years of experience in mission-critical communication solutions. [10] A crew should ask TASSTA for its prices, because this page does not state any figure for it.

How to pick the right ESChat alternative

A crew starts with the phones and gear already on site. If the crew wants per-user pricing on phones with a yearly discount, Zello Work costs $8.00 per user per month, or $6.80 with an annual subscription. [2] If the crew wants the lowest stated per-user price, VoicePing's Standard plan costs $2 per user per month, billed annually. [3] If signals like STOP, HOLD and SLOW matter most and a browser app is acceptable, OperatorLink shows STOP, HOLD and SLOW to the jobsite crew, and passes button presses, chat and voice between phones in a phone browser. [1] It is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet; that free status may change. [1] If the priority is reaching teams and individuals fast, GroupTalk states that supervisors and managers can reach any team or individual instantly, and it offers a free 14-day trial. [9] [4] If the crew wants a dedicated radio rather than a phone app, Peak PTT states its hardware and monthly prices for the PTT-84G. [5] If the crew carries a mix of phones and radios, TASSTA states that its BYOD model supports smartphones, radios, tablets, and PCs, and that real-time communication works over any network and location. [10] [10] For any option, the crew should check what its own phones and network support before choosing.

Things to check before you choose

Match the option to the phones and coverage on site. A browser-based tool depends on the phone browser and the signal each person carries, so a crew checks that before a shift. Confirm the price each option states covers the whole crew, and for any option that lists a trial, check what happens when it ends. If the crew needs a signal that must always be visible, ask how that tool keeps it on the phone. If the crew works in areas with weak coverage, ask how the tool behaves there. These checks belong to the crew, because the facts on this page do not cover them.

Frequently asked questions

What does ESChat cost?

ESChat's cloud hosted service costs $5.99 per user per month for commercial customers. [7] ESChat is a subscription based push-to-talk service for smartphone and IoT devices. [6] A free 30-day trial is offered. [6] A crew should add up the monthly cost for everyone on the jobsite and check what the trial includes before it ends, since this page does not state what happens when a trial closes.

What does Zello Work cost?

Zello Work costs $8.00 per user per month, or $6.80 with an annual subscription. [2] Zello supports payment by wire transfer, ACH, or check besides credit card. [2] For crews that must keep the service on their own hardware, Zello Enterprise Server deploys on-premise. [8] A crew should count how many people need the service and multiply the per-user price across a full season before choosing a plan.

Is there a free trial for an ESChat alternative?

ESChat itself offers a free 30-day trial. [6] GroupTalk offers a free 14-day trial. [4] OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1] A crew should check what each trial covers and what happens when it ends, because a trial period is not the same as a full season of work on site.

What does OperatorLink cost?

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1] It runs in a phone browser with no app install. [1] A crew should check on its own what the browser and each person's phone support before a shift, since the price does not cover signal strength or device limits.

How much does VoicePing cost per user?

The VoicePing Standard plan costs $2 per user per month, billed annually. [3] The Plus plan costs $4 per user per month, also billed annually. [3] The Enterprise plan's price is available by contacting sales for a price estimate. [3] A crew should check what each plan includes and how the annual billing lands on the crew's budget before picking one.

Do the radio options need contracts?

Peak PTT states its PTT-84G service at $24.95 per month for unlimited push-to-talk, with no contracts. [5] A crew should confirm on its own whether its site's coverage matches the carrier network the radio uses, and ask the company about the radio price and activation fee before committing.

OperatorLink is currently free to use, and no paid plan is built yet. [1]

Try OperatorLink

Sources

  1. OperatorLink's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)
  2. Zello, zello.com/pricing, read 2026-10-08
  3. VoicePing, voicepingapp.com/pricing, read 2026-10-09
  4. GroupTalk, grouptalk.com, read 2026-10-08
  5. Peak PTT, peakptt.com/pages/construction-companies, read 2026-10-08
  6. ESChat, eschat.com, read 2026-10-10
  7. ESChat, eschat.com/pricing, read 2026-10-10
  8. Zello, zello.com, read 2026-10-08
  9. GroupTalk, grouptalk.com/why-grouptalk/we-across-industries/construction, read 2026-10-08
  10. TASSTA, tassta.com, read 2026-10-10

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