3CX vs. Skype (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
3CX
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Cyprus based company 3CX offers an IP PBX phone system.
$1.08
per user/per month
Skype (discontinued)
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Skype (the personal edition or Skype free) was a web meeting, video conferencing, and VoIP software, now superseded by Microsoft Teams' free edition and unsupported from May 2025.
$2.99
per month
Pricing
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
Pro
$1.08
per user/per month
Enterprise
$1.31
per user/per month
Standard
Free
United States Subscription
$2.99
per month
North America Subscription
$6.99
per month
India Subscription
$7.99
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPrice displayed is based on 25 users. 3CX pricing is based on the number of simultaneous calls your business requires or in other words, how many calls your system needs to support at once. Unlike other PBX vendors there is no per extension cost.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
3CX
Chose 3CX
These are not dedicated IP phone systems but they are the close I've used. Our old legacy phone system wasn't cutting it anymore. I would say our biggest hurdle for out-groups has been able to get the old legacy fax services working for 3CX and I'm not sure if it even does. …
Chose 3CX
We didn't want Cisco Call Manager anymore. We used a very old version previously, but nonetheless it didn't have a very good name in the company. PureCloud was too call center focused so in the end, we like 3CX best. A small pilot was configured very fast, and after we went …
Skype (discontinued)

No answer on this topic

Features
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
7.5
138 Ratings
5% below category average
High quality audio00 Ratings8.2135 Ratings
High quality video00 Ratings8.0133 Ratings
Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings6.7130 Ratings
Mobile support00 Ratings6.9118 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
6.6
119 Ratings
18% below category average
Desktop sharing00 Ratings7.1118 Ratings
Whiteboards00 Ratings6.160 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
6.8
118 Ratings
19% below category average
Calendar integration00 Ratings6.585 Ratings
Meeting initiation00 Ratings7.5106 Ratings
Integrates with social media00 Ratings5.865 Ratings
Record meetings / events00 Ratings7.077 Ratings
Slideshows00 Ratings7.168 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
6.8
111 Ratings
17% below category average
Live chat00 Ratings7.2110 Ratings
Audience polling00 Ratings6.664 Ratings
Q&A00 Ratings6.562 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
7.6
101 Ratings
5% below category average
User authentication00 Ratings8.588 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings7.383 Ratings
Confidential attendee list00 Ratings7.260 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
7.5
4 Ratings
2% below category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings8.24 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings6.54 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Best Alternatives
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.6 out of 10
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Score 6.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.6 out of 10
JioMeet
JioMeet
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.6 out of 10
Webex Meetings
Webex Meetings
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(14 ratings)
7.0
(140 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.1
(4 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
5.4
(2 ratings)
10.0
(42 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
3CXSkype (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
3CX
In many scenarios decision is driven by budget and compared to other solutions at the time of purchase [3CX] was simply the cheapest solution for what it has to offer. If you are looking for integrations, extensibility, and advanced functionalities, this might not be a solution for you. At the time of use (and this may have changed by now), there was a lack of APIs, CLI commands, and similar so nothing could be automated with the system. There are ways of importing data through CSV but automation would solve us so much time and support calls if we were able to connect with other systems.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
Having interacted with a new replacement tool, Microsoft Teams, it is challenging to recommend Skype, as it lacks some essential features, such as being less equipped with the latest updates, and it is not platform-independent, causing issues on PCs and phones, as well as during calls that might hinder work.
Read full review
Pros
3CX
  • Simplicity: Using a single 3CX interface we can manage every phone and extension used throughout our company.
  • Flexibility: There are a wide variety of options to configure each extension and phone. Changing anything after the hardware is deployed is very easy.
  • Portability: Phones with 3CX can be easily moved or repurposed within an office or at remote locations, including users' homes. The mobile app allows users to use their office extension anywhere without exposing their cell number.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • The instant chat function is great. Very straightforward, easy to use, easy to learn, no technical issues.
  • Video calls are pretty easy also, user friendly and a mostly stable connection with no issues.
  • Voice calls are easy also, eliminates the need for an external landline or the need to use your cell phone. Clear connections, not really any dropped calls.
Read full review
Cons
3CX
  • I would like to be able to see direct-dial numbers on the handsets. Currently that is not possible but that would be a nice feature.
  • You need an SBC per location, which can be a point of failure.
  • You also need a server that might get disconnected, which is another point of failure.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • Skype is a RESOURCE hog. People who have limited bandwidth will have poor call quality.
  • It is hard to figure out how to use emojis and upload images in the chat.
  • The background images do not fool anybody....it is clearly not your real background.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
3CX
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
I have given this rating as this need to give more than that as it's very helpful for us and makes our work more efficient and fast.
Read full review
Usability
3CX
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
Skype is not as good as Facetime in terms of ease to glance at it and figure out how it works. I think that's a result of Skype trying to be too many things at once. A lot of the menu and UI could be streamlined, and I would jettison some of the additional functions that have been tacked on over the years to simplify. That being said, while some options are slightly hard to find, they all work flawlessly once found.
Read full review
Support Rating
3CX
The 3CX Phone System is only a five because while they provide set-up/how-to/Q and A documents to help your district or company get started, they do not offer support for free. The documents provided, though, are good enough for you to get you up and running. We also found a good source of help through a sip trunk provider, which was a 3CX reseller provider.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
I am not aware of the current support level for Skype for business, as I have never used even though I have the product. However, the support for Skype's personal paid users is not where it could be. Users who pay for Skype features do not have a clear path to reach out to support. So, rating 6, can be better as soon as I need to use Skype for business support and get a good experience. I will say that I will renew Skype for Business subscription, which is a significant inconsistency on my end. The explanation is that Skype for Business comes bundled with Office for Business, with no additional cost, so why not.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
3CX
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
It can be used on the phone via mobile application as well as on the desktop by logging in to the website. Easily installed and ready to use.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
3CX
The main differences between 8x8, Inc. and 3CX is pricing and ease of use in my opinion. The 3CX system uses annual based pricing plans based on of simultaneous calls your company needs, not the number of extensions/users and offers a free plan. 8x8, Inc. charges per extension with different plans. We currently have 19 extensions so the 3CX system makes more sense for us, however, if your company only has a few extensions you may want to throughly consider both options. In my experience, it was difficult to add new extensions and phones with 8x8 because at least at that time we had 8x8 I could not add anything on the web admin. I had to call a sales rep which took a lot more time. Also, if you didn't purchase a phone and/or headset directly from 8x8 at a usually higher price than Amazon for example then you would have to spend anywhere from 30 minutes to hours on the phone with 8x8 tech support to program the phone to work with the 8x8 system so adding a new extension could turn into a long ordeal. I can easily add new extensions on 3CX directly in the web cpanel. Granted, if you are actually adding a new phone number you would need to purchase that number from a company like ATT first before adding it to 3CX. The difference between a phone number and an extension would be a phone number allows a customer to call in directly using that number. The extension would require the customer to call the main business number then be transferred to the extension. 3CX provides a list of supported phone models on their website
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Discontinued Products
We use Skype in combination with Grasshopper. While Grasshopper acts as a routing toll free number with extensions, if we are making calls directly, we do it through Skype. Skype's desktop and mobile apps are easier to use, and provide unlimited local calls at a flat, affordable rate. Allowing our team to use their existing mobile or desktop devices without additional hardware for business office phone calls is important, and Skype makes that possible
Read full review
Professional Services
3CX
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.
Read full review
Return on Investment
3CX
  • 3CX has a lot to offer for a very low cost as its business model is based on simultaneous calls and not per device. It's very cost effective and very affordable.
  • As the 3CX server does not require a high-performance server to run, with the Public Cloud option, it might allow even further savings.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • Skype made keeping in touch with an advisor in Mexico very easy. The initiative there resulted in 5 new partnerships.
  • Skype has helped me with account management for at least 3 customers in LATAM--usually it's a fast way to answer a question about a support renewal.
  • For about 9 months Skype helped me stay in touch with a colleague in Prague. We would meet once a week to go over sales activities.
Read full review
ScreenShots

3CX Screenshots

Screenshot of Video ConferencingScreenshot of Advanced Contact Center ReportingScreenshot of Management DashboardScreenshot of Live ChatScreenshot of 3CX AppScreenshot of See the Status of Your Colleagues