3CX vs. Zoom

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
Zoom
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Zoom is a unified communications platform primarily known for its use as a web conferencing tool. It features HD video and audio, collaboration tools, chat functionality, and an enterprise cloud phone system.
$5
per month per license
Pricing
3CXZoom
Editions & Modules
Pro
$1.08
per user/per month
Enterprise
$1.31
per user/per month
Standard
Free
Add-On Zoom Translated Captions
$5
per month per license
Add-On - Zoom Whiteboard
$24.90
per year
Pro
$149.90
per year per user
Business
$199.90
per year per user
Business Plus
$250.00
per year per user
Add-On - Conference Room Connector
$499
per year
Basic
Free
Enterprise
Custom
Add-On - Large Meetings
starting at $600
per year
Add-On - Cloud Storage
starting at $120
per year
Add-On Audio Conferencing
starting at $1200
per year
Add-On Zoom Phone Power Pack
Starting at $300
per year per user
Add-On - Zoom IQ for Sales
Contact Sales
Add-On - Quality of Service Subscription
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
3CXZoom
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
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
3CXZoom
Considered Both Products
3CX
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 …
Zoom
Chose Zoom
No competition, Zoom is well below standards in functionality and much more expensive. Also, it requires a contract where the others is pay as you go on a monthly basis. The phone conversation is clear. No problem with connectivity. The international feature is still about …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
3CXZoom
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.8
708 Ratings
4% below category average
High quality audio00 Ratings8.2702 Ratings
High quality video00 Ratings8.2704 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
8.0
697 Ratings
1% below category average
Desktop sharing00 Ratings8.7696 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.9
702 Ratings
2% below category average
Calendar integration00 Ratings7.9625 Ratings
Meeting initiation00 Ratings8.1684 Ratings
Record meetings / events00 Ratings8.1658 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.9
614 Ratings
0% above category average
Live chat00 Ratings8.2596 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.8
590 Ratings
5% above category average
User authentication00 Ratings7.6510 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings7.8564 Ratings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
6.3
11 Ratings
26% below category average
Hosted PBX00 Ratings5.34 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings6.37 Ratings
Directory of employee names00 Ratings7.49 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
6.9
14 Ratings
18% below category average
Answering rules00 Ratings7.78 Ratings
Call recording00 Ratings7.813 Ratings
Call park00 Ratings5.79 Ratings
Call screening00 Ratings7.410 Ratings
Message alerts00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Business SMS/External Messaging00 Ratings5.75 Ratings
Voicemail Transcription00 Ratings7.08 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
7.5
13 Ratings
14% below category average
Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings7.113 Ratings
Mobile app for Android00 Ratings7.99 Ratings
Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration
Comparison of Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
3CX
-
Ratings
Zoom
6.1
7 Ratings
24% below category average
Centralized communications management00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Team messaging00 Ratings5.97 Ratings
Team document sharing00 Ratings6.77 Ratings
Call and meeting analytics00 Ratings5.97 Ratings
Best Alternatives
3CXZoom
Small Businesses
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.0 out of 10
Broadvoice
Broadvoice
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.0 out of 10
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Sangoma Asterisk
Sangoma Asterisk
Score 8.0 out of 10
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
3CXZoom
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(13 ratings)
7.7
(724 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
5.4
(17 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(38 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
5.4
(4 ratings)
8.9
(50 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(15 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(13 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
3CXZoom
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
Zoom
In the new area of pandemic-era meetings online, I really like the opportunity that Zoom provides to have a meeting space. The audio and video quality is typically good, with problems usually being blamed on the bandwidth of the service provider. The recordings are great to be able to use once they have been processed. In fact, if there was one thing I would improve about recordings, it would be the amount of time it takes to render the video ready for output and sharing.
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
Zoom
  • It's a great way to connect around the world with minimal bandwidth consumption.
  • Meeting our peers and exchanging ideas is made possible through the use of high-quality video and audio calls.
  • Exceptional audio and video quality; we are recording meetings and transferring them to other storage.
  • Compared to other apps, it has more features and allows for efficient file sharing within the chatbox.
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
Zoom
  • You need an app to make the calls and meetings, but it would be perfect if it had a web-based option.
  • Sometimes when internet speed drops, the audio quality also drops; I would understand the video quality dropping, but the audio doesn't consume much bandwidth, so it would be nice to have a consistent audio even on low internet speeds.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Zoom's existing functionalities are already addressing most of my needs that why i might not renew it. In future i might suggest my company for a paid plan of Zoom to avoid the trial bracket for 1 hour. All other features are up to the mark and fulfill my requirements for the meetings
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Usability
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Zoom has been very good in terms of usability as I have rarely had issues joining the meetings on desktop and it has always provided me with a stable audio and video and it makes it very easy for me to get through any meetings without much problem. I have found that it helps create a very friendly environment with my team through the creation of conferences and moderated chat rooms.
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Reliability and Availability
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
There have been less than a handful of outages during our two years with Zoom, and whenever there was one, an email informing us of the outage went out immediately, and they had the issue resolved shortly thereafter.
Read full review
Performance
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Zoom has among the best performance of any video conference platform, as I've mentioned several times. Besides that, their Chat platform works great, and their back end always runs smooth. It's unfortunate that reporting can now only be done by one month at a time, but nonetheless, it only takes a second to run any kind of Zoom report, whether it's an attendee report, Poll results, a user report, a list of meetings from the past month, etc.
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
Zoom
As I've written before, Zoom makes us feel like we matter and that we're a client rather than a customer. They want us to succeed and they put in the time to make sure that we do. I feel like they're more of a business partner rather than simply a vendor or supplier. They spent a lot of time onboarding with us, giving us demos, helping us get set up, and then giving us follow-up to be sure it's going well.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
If you receive any pushback from higher ups, point to any of the various positive reviews like this one. Or show Zoom's excellent Gartner report, or articles describing Zoom's partnership with Sequoia capital. It's not difficult to show how Zoom is a trustworthy industry leader with best-in-class technology.
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
Read full review
Zoom
Zoom cannot be beaten for ubiquity - 100% of my clients and prospective clients are already familiar with Zoom. This is the #1 reason why I use Zoom. Additionally, Zoom integrates with AcuityScheduling, saving me a lot of time in creating meetings and adding them to the calendar. Zoom is disappointing in terms of video quality, interactivity features, and privacy. In cases where I need to use the recording of webinars for digital products, I will always use Crowdcast, and in cases where privacy is essential, I will use JitsiMeet.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Overall I feel it is a fair price for what you pay for and the time constraints are not an issue at all. Zoom allows users to be on there for hours and hours and also you can launch as many meetings as you want. Overall I am very happy with using Zoom for our business.
Read full review
Scalability
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
Because the Basic licenses are completely free, and because it's very easy to configure and install Zoom, and because anyone can join Zoom from a link without needing an account, scaling is a Breeze. There are absolutely no roadblocks. My company keeps adding more Zoom Pro license every week since it's so in demand. We were able to convert users from several different platforms onto Zoom with no trouble at all.
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Professional Services
3CX
No answers on this topic
Zoom
The professional service that Zoom offers us in a particular way has been really successful for us to diversify functions and highlight others that allow us to link our remote work in a much more effective way.
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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
Zoom
  • It enables me to send and receive messages from my team members during video calls, handling online presentations.
  • With the ability to quickly stop, mute, and even receive notifications when someone enters or exits the meeting room, I'm never obligated to show up while making a call.
  • It is possible to record online meetings for future reference and more effective customer service. As we dealt with a lockdown, Zoom helped our business run smoothly.
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