3CX vs Skype | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 7.6 out of 10

Based on 47 reviews and ratings

Score 7.8 out of 10

Based on 2177 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

3CX

Skype

High quality audio

High quality video

Low bandwidth requirements

Mobile support

3CX

Skype

Desktop sharing

Whiteboards

3CX

Skype

Calendar integration

Meeting initiation

Integrates with social media

Record meetings / events

Slideshows

3CX

Skype

Live chat

Audience polling

Q&A

3CX

Skype

User authentication

Participant roles & permissions

Confidential attendee list

Pros

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

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Restaurants Company, 501-1000 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

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

Verified User

Professional in Human Resources

Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees

View all 137 answers on this topic

Cons

The set up can seem a little daunting, especially if you plan to take it on internally.
The apps are great, having your extension on your device is great but the desktop/windows app is a little dated, could do with an update.

Read full review

Information Technology Officer

National Farmers And General Workers Co-operative Credit Union Society LimitedFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

This is really small, but I'd love to see the emoticons updated to emojis.
Make calling free like some other communications app providers.
Grant the ability to not show that you're online even when you are. Sometimes you want to make a call, but you don't want other people to see you're online and start messaging you.

Read full review

Verified User

Account Manager in Sales

Computer Software Company, 11-50 employees

View all 137 answers on this topic

Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype 9.8

Based on 5 answers

I think so far there is no reason not to renew the license. We have been using Skype for a long time and are very satisfied with it.

Read full review

Managing work and sharing screen

HMSIFinancial Services, 10,001+ employees

View all 5 answers on this topic

Usability

3CX 8.0

Based on 1 answer

It's been doing really good job for us. Are there better PBX systems out there? For sure there are, with more features and better support. But those are way more expensive and harder to implement and maintain. This system is almost no brainier, next -> next -> next -> finish and you have installed it. With a few more configs to hook it up to your SIP or PRI lines, you are up and running! Everything is GUI based so it's easy to navigate. It have everything you need to run serious call centre so I would recommend it for anyone unless you are Fortune 500 company with billions of budget for IT, then spend the big money and go with Cisco PBX.

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Automotive Company, 201-500 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Skype 7.0

Based on 3 answers

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

Producer/Videographer/Editor

Firefilm ProductionsMedia Production, 1-10 employees

View all 3 answers on this topic

Support Rating

3CX 4.9

Based on 5 answers

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

Laura Steinbrink

HS Teacher/District Tech Integration Specialist

Plato R-V School DistrictEducation Management, 51-200 employees

View all 5 answers on this topic

Skype 7.6

Based on 50 answers

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

Ricardo G Lopes

English Interpreter & Translator

Self EmployedInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

View all 50 answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Skype 10.0

Based on 2 answers

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

Verified User

Employee in Marketing

Education Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

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

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Arts and Crafts Company, 11-50 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

Microsoft Teams provides basically the same services. Local number calling is not available (that I know of) but that only matters if you have any need to use it. Teams is a little more stable, especially with a lot of people on a call. Skype is easier to set up and to operate. Skype also has a larger install base.

Read full review

Director, Advanced Analytics

SmartSimple Software IncComputer Software, 51-200 employees

View all 137 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

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

Artur Bittencourt

Information Technology Manager

Corporation of the Township of EsquimaltGovernment Administration, 51-200 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

Overall Skype is a good investment. We use regular Skype so its a product that comes with Windows PC's as a standard app. We dont use Skype for Business so this cuts cost overall.
Using the basic functions of Skype and not Skype for business does have some downsides but you do save money. There are many other apps we use as well as Skype in order to accomplish all of our goals.
The downside of course is that the more you want Skype to do, the more money it will cost the organization as a whole. It does have many more functions which you have to upgrade to Skype for business for. That is my only criticism.

Read full review

Workforce Manager

CoverhoundInsurance, 51-200 employees

View all 137 answers on this topic

Screenshots

See All (6) 3CX Screenshots

—

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

Yes

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

3CX Editions & Modules

Edition

Standard	Free
Pro	1.08²
Enterprise	1.31²

per user/per month

Additional Pricing Details

Price 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.

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Skype Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

Rating Summary

3CX

Skype

3CX

Skype

3CX

Skype

3CX

Skype

3CX

Skype

Add comparison