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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Skype (discontinued)

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ASkype (the personal edition or Skype free) was a web meeting, video conferencing, and VoIP software, now superseded by Microsoft Teams' free edition and unsupported from May 2025.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

    VanillaSoft

    Score3.7 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    VanillaSoft is a lead optimization platform designed to assist fast-response sales teams in maximizing their conversion rates. By providing a structured and efficient approach to lead management, VanillaSoft aims to ensure that every potential customer receives the attention they deserve. This platform is beneficial for sales teams that operate in high-pressure environments where timely follow-ups can significantly impact sales outcomes. The primary audience for VanillaSoft…N/A
    Pricing
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Editions & Modules
    United States Subscription
    $2.99
    per month
    North America Subscription
    $6.99
    per month
    India Subscription
    $7.99
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—VanillaSoft offers several add-ons to use in conjunction with our base platforms including: Auto Dialing Call Recording VoIP SmartCaller ID SMS
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    85 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    82 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    80 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    65 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    81 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    84%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    53 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    70 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    55 Answers
    Features
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    138 Ratings
    24% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    High quality audio6.5135 Ratings00 Ratings
    High quality video7.2133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements5.5130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile support5.5118 Ratings00 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    119 Ratings
    25% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    Desktop sharing5.5118 Ratings00 Ratings
    Whiteboards6.860 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.0
    118 Ratings
    31% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    Calendar integration6.185 Ratings00 Ratings
    Meeting initiation6.3106 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with social media4.465 Ratings00 Ratings
    Record meetings / events7.077 Ratings00 Ratings
    Slideshows6.268 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    5.3
    111 Ratings
    41% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    Live chat5.5110 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience polling5.364 Ratings00 Ratings
    Q&A5.362 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    7.4
    101 Ratings
    9% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    User authentication8.988 Ratings00 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions7.183 Ratings00 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list6.260 Ratings00 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Skype (discontinued) and VanillaSoft
    Feature
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.5
    4 Ratings
    12% below category average
    VanillaSoft
    -
    Ratings
    Video conferencing5.74 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio conferencing6.54 Ratings00 Ratings
    Video screen sharing6.14 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instant messaging7.94 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Small Businesses
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    HubSpot Sales Hub
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Mixmax
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Groove (legacy product)
    Score7.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (140 ratings)
    8.3
    (88 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    6.0
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (42 ratings)
    8.9
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Professional Services
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Skype (discontinued)VanillaSoft
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft is well suited for any marketing operations or sales operations team looking for a tool to help them efficiently reach prospects and engage with them through a streamlined method. This can be a great way to manage that engagement, measure it, and keep track of various aspects of prospects.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    • Our employees love it - very user friendly, easy to grasp, very little down time to learn it. They feel very confident immediately.
    • Great technical support - I can get solutions to customer problems that make our company look more responsive to our clients. Our clients appreciate our solving their problems immediately.
    • Because of the real time analytics - we can address immediate issues with marketing campaigns to make our client's personnel look great to their superiors.
    • Because of all the functionality - we can provide a turnkey approach from a small company with big company capabilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    • It really needs an "undo" button. I can't tell you how many times I was typing notes etc and hit a wrong button and all was gone so I had to start over.
    • This may be the way we have it set up....we have term codes which are how the callers terminate a call they were on. They finish the call, then type notes in the notepad section of what happened, then they terminate the call. But there are times that I need to go onto a record and just leave a note but don't need to terminate it as anything. If there is a way to do that, it would make my life a lot easier.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    VanillaSoft
    We have no reason not to renew. VanillaSoft has been the best CRM (for us) that we have ever used. The value is great, we love the system, and it's easy to get assistance from VanillaSoft team when needed. Our team is so used to the calling and admin functions there is no desire to change.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    The entire system is set up so perfectly. It makes training callers much quicker, and admin tools are so easy to navigate when you get used to using it. Also, if there is ever something I cannot figure out, I can get support from VanillaSoft very quickly to resolve and get my task accomplished.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    It is very rare that we have system issues. Maybe a handful of times over the years, we had to contact support about being unable to access. It was always a quick response from the VanillaSoft team, and they would clearly explain the issue and usually give time frame on fixing, or have it fixed immediately.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    I work on all aspects for VanillaSoft for our company. The pages overall do load very quickly. Reports are amazing, I can get quick report, customized reports, and anything I may need to present to client in very little time. It has made my job so much simpler. As far as I know, integration goes smoothly as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    Response time was acceptable for the relatively few problems any of our users may have encountered. Fortunately, such occasions were rare.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    It was very helpful and informative. The learning of the tool is something anyone can do, as the setup is so well thought out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    It was very thorough. VanillaSoft team did not rush us. They explained the various functions clearly and were open to any and all questions we had as we began to learn the system. Also, once training completed, if we encountered anything we could not figure out, the support team was fantastic in helping us out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    Our implementation was very easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft stacks up against Microsoft Power BI very well by allowing the data visualization in a more effective way, Power BI has positioned itself as one of the more robust and intuitive tools for business intelligence and data presentation. VanillaSoft and Microsoft Power BI are a great bundle for the report and analytics team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    VanillaSoft
    VanillaSoft has been great. The flexibility of the system is wonderful. The scalable software options are impressive as well. I would strongly support VanillaSoft's capabilities in this area. You really can do just about anything to get the setup and or integrations you may desire for your company needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Discontinued Products
    The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VanillaSoft
    • Ability to contact more clients each day.
    • The ability to save my correspondence and notes on each interaction allowing for the appearance to the customer that I am very engaged when we are speaking.
    • Increased sales from the calendar setting and saving my notes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    VanillaSoft Screenshots

    Screenshot of the VanillaSoft Call Activity Dashboard, used to to monitor sales campaigns.Screenshot of where to build reports using the VanillaSoft Web Reports Wizard.Screenshot of where VanillaSoft offers the ability to arrange modules into four panels for access to almost everything in one screen.Screenshot of VanillaSoft's caller screens, which can be displayed in three panels.