8x8 Express (discontinued) vs. Skype (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
8x8 Express (discontinued)
Score 3.1 out of 10
N/A
8x8 Express was a cloud-based phone system that included unlimited calling within the U.S and Canada, HD video conferencing, business SMS and team chat, pre-configured. As of March 2023 8x8 Express is end of sale and no longer available.N/A
Skype (discontinued)
Score 7.0 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Skype (the personal edition or Skype free) was a web meeting, video conferencing, and VoIP software, now superseded by Microsoft Teams' free edition and unsupported from May 2025.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
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
United States Subscription
$2.99
per month
North America Subscription
$6.99
per month
India Subscription
$7.99
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Features
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.0
6 Ratings
3% below category average
Skype (discontinued)
7.1
138 Ratings
11% below category average
High quality audio8.06 Ratings7.7135 Ratings
High quality video8.03 Ratings7.8133 Ratings
Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings6.5130 Ratings
Mobile support00 Ratings6.5118 Ratings
Screen Sharing
Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.5
2 Ratings
3% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
6.6
119 Ratings
18% below category average
Desktop sharing8.52 Ratings6.7118 Ratings
Whiteboards00 Ratings6.460 Ratings
Online Meetings / Events
Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.7
2 Ratings
4% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
6.5
118 Ratings
22% below category average
Calendar integration9.02 Ratings6.485 Ratings
Meeting initiation8.02 Ratings7.1106 Ratings
Record meetings / events9.02 Ratings7.077 Ratings
Integrates with social media00 Ratings5.365 Ratings
Slideshows00 Ratings6.868 Ratings
Online Events Collaboration
Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.5
2 Ratings
5% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
6.3
111 Ratings
25% below category average
Live chat8.52 Ratings6.6110 Ratings
Audience polling00 Ratings6.264 Ratings
Q&A00 Ratings6.162 Ratings
Online Events Security
Comparison of Online Events Security features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
9.3
5 Ratings
18% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
7.6
101 Ratings
5% below category average
User authentication9.05 Ratings8.788 Ratings
Participant roles & permissions9.54 Ratings7.283 Ratings
Confidential attendee list00 Ratings6.960 Ratings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.0
6 Ratings
4% below category average
Skype (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Hosted PBX7.54 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Directory of employee names8.66 Ratings00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
8.9
6 Ratings
5% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Answering rules9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Call recording9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Call park9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Call screening9.34 Ratings00 Ratings
Message alerts9.25 Ratings00 Ratings
Business SMS/External Messaging8.54 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Fax8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Voicemail Transcription9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
9.6
3 Ratings
12% above category average
Skype (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Mobile app for iOS9.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android9.62 Ratings00 Ratings
Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration
Comparison of Unified Communications Platform and Collaboration features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
7.1
5 Ratings
14% below category average
Skype (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Centralized communications management8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Team messaging8.34 Ratings00 Ratings
Team document sharing6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Call and meeting analytics6.03 Ratings00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
8x8 Express (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Skype (discontinued)
7.2
4 Ratings
5% below category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings7.14 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings6.44 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings7.64 Ratings
Best Alternatives
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Broadvoice | GoContact
Broadvoice | GoContact
Score 9.4 out of 10
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Intermedia AnyMeeting Pro
Score 7.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.9 out of 10
JioMeet
JioMeet
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Webex Meetings
Webex Meetings
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
7.6
(8 ratings)
7.7
(140 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(4 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(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
8x8 Express (discontinued)Skype (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Discontinued Products
The 8x8 app is great and very user friendly and straightforward. Team Members can adjust their own setting as needed.
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.
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Pros
Discontinued Products
  • So easy to use!
  • Voicemail - can be accessed anywhere, includes transcription of the voicemail and an email message with the recording
  • Telephone services without all the fees of a landline service
  • Auto attendant, offering recordings of our messages
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.
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Cons
Discontinued Products
  • We are just starting to use the platform and using limited features at the moment and 8x8 is doing everything we need it to do.
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.
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Likelihood to Renew
Discontinued Products
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.
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Usability
Discontinued Products
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.
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Support Rating
Discontinued Products
If you get less than 4 phones you fall into the online only customer service. There were a couple of times that I could have used more assistance but figuring it out online was a bit of a hassle.
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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.
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Implementation Rating
Discontinued Products
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Discontinued Products
8x8 has a much lower cost that avaya for the same features. 8x8 is a bit more user friendly than some other larger well established brands. It still uses industry standards in terminology and call flows to for anyone with voip experience its a pain free switch to make over.
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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
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Professional Services
Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
Discontinued Products
The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.
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Return on Investment
Discontinued Products
  • Being able to listen to phone calls when there is a discrepancy
  • Keeping the honest honest by knowing we can listen to calls
  • Easy to communicate internally, been very helpful and time saving
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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.
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ScreenShots

8x8 Express (discontinued) Screenshots

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