As of May 5, 2025, the once-dominant video and voice app is no longer available, leaving millions of users scrambling for a new solution. But this isn’t just the end of an era; it’s a wake-up call. Remote work, virtual meetings, and hybrid collaboration have all evolved. Relying on outdated tools just doesn’t cut it anymore.
The good news? There are better options. Whether you’re managing a remote team, hosting client calls, or juggling international communication, the right Skype alternative can help you do more, faster. In this guide, I break down seven powerful platforms that can help your business transition smoothly and upgrade your communications for good:
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What is Skype?
Skype is a cloud communication platform offering voice, video, and messaging capabilities. Launched in 2003, it was among the pioneering voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) services that quickly gained popularity for its free video calls and instant messaging features.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 and integrated it into various services, including Xbox, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams, one of the top free VoIP services for video meetings. By 2020, Skype’s user base began to decline as more advanced video conferencing solutions emerged in the market, boasting more interactive features and sleek interfaces.
Why did Skype shut down?
Skype officially shut down on May 5, 2025, marking the end of an era in digital communication. Its relevance steadily declined as newer platforms emerged with more modern features and better integration.
Microsoft, which acquired Skype in 2011, gradually shifted its focus toward Microsoft Teams, a more comprehensive solution for workplace communication. Unlike Skype, Teams offered persistent chat, file collaboration, VoIP, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365, making it better suited for hybrid and remote work environments.
Over time, Skype updates slowed, user support decreased, and Microsoft actively encouraged users to migrate to Teams. The final shutdown reflected a broader shift in business communication needs — from standalone tools to unified platforms.
While Skype’s closure may have disrupted some workflows, it also allowed businesses and professionals to adopt more scalable, secure, and feature-rich alternatives tailored to today’s demands.
Top Skype alternatives at a glance
Platform
Best For
Key Features
Zoom Phone
Video-first communications
Video-first communications
RingCentral
Complex, large-scale communications
Unified communications, extensive integrations
GoTo Connect
Expanding global reach
International calling, scalable VoIP solutions
Nextiva
Digital engagement platform
Omnichannel communication, CRM integration
Ooma
Standalone phone system
VoIP services, small business solutions
Phone.com
Light phone usage
Affordable plans, customizable features
Vonage
API-driven communication solutions
Programmable voice and messaging APIs
Zoom Phone: Best Overall Video-first Communications
Overall Score
4.93/5
Pricing
3.25/5
General features
4.75/5
Advanced features
5/5
Support
4.38/5
Ease of use
5/5
Expert score
5/5
Pros
- Flexible calling plan options
- Elevate calls to Zoom meetings
- Charges the cheapest monthly per-user fees
- Allows mixing of metered and unlimited calling plans
Cons
- Has limited third-party integrations as a standalone VoIP service
- Charges $25 monthly for call queue analytics
Why I chose Zoom Phone
If you’re a former Skype user who mainly uses the platform for video meetings, Zoom Phone is the closest alternative. Zoom emerged as the preferred platform for remote communication due to its ease of use and feature-rich nature.
Zoom offers a cloud-based business phone system integrating VoIP with its industry-leading video conferencing features. It uses a video-centric approach that lets users instantly elevate an active call into a full-featured Zoom meeting with a single click. A call-to-meeting transition enhances collaboration flexibility when there’s a need for an interactive discussion between parties (e.g., product demo or troubleshooting).
Bundled plans are available for teams wishing to integrate VoIP capabilities into their Zoom Workplace subscription. For as low as $21.99 per user monthly, you get unlimited local calls in the US and Canada, standard phone features, and AI-powered video meetings.
Unlimited international calling via Zoom Phone is limited to 15 countries, with a monthly starting fee of $10. If you need more coverage for making calls abroad without extra fees, check out GoTo Connect, which offers unlimited calls to over 50 countries at a fixed monthly cost.
- Voicemail task extraction: Identifies task-related information from your voicemail transcription to generate a summarized task list.
- Call flip: Switch between devices amid an ongoing call by placing it on hold and picking it up on another device.
- Call delegation: Assign calling privileges to another user and let them make and receive calls on your behalf.
- Push-to-talk: Imitates the traditional walkie-talkie by allowing the user to quickly relay a group message, facilitating real-time one-to-many or one-to-one voice communication.
- Quality of service dashboard: Provides a data overview of call quality across call queues, auto receptionists, and common area phones.
- US and Canada Metered: $10/user/month for metered calls to US/CA and one local number
- US and Canada Unlimited: $15/user/month for unlimited calls to US/CA and one local number
- Global Select: $20/user/month for unlimited calls in one of the 48 countries supported and one phone number in the selected country
All plans include SMS/MMS, voicemail transcription, multiple device use, unlimited auto-attendants and interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call distribution, business hours routing, call recording, team messaging, hot desking, and Zoom AI Companion.
RingCentral: Best for Complex, Large-scale Communications
Overall Score
4.87/5
Pricing
4.25/5
General features
4.75/5
Advanced features
4.5/5
Support
5/5
Ease of use
3.75/5
Expert score
4.38/5
Pros
- Has complete features for voice, video, and chat
- Offers AI capabilities free of charge
- Generates in-depth call analytics data
- Integrates with over 400 third-party apps
Cons
- Restricts SMS credits across plans
- Can be complex to set up and administrate
Why I chose RingCentral
RingCentral offers an enterprise-grade communication platform for companies. With its multi-site support and global deployments, RingCentral delivers a comprehensive suite of unified communication solutions built for organizations with distributed offices.
Beyond a cloud phone system, RingCentral provides complete AI-powered capabilities for its video meetings, messaging, and contact center platform. It enables users to handle tasks such as managing high call volumes, automating SMS campaigns, and creating functions within chat conversations.
One major drawback of RingCentral is that its extensive offerings can overwhelm small teams with basic call needs. Try Ooma if you’re looking for a no-frills VoIP solution without the fancy features. This VoIP provider offers up to 50 standard features and is fairly straightforward to use.
- Collaborative notes: Displays a notepad on the right panel of your video meeting gallery so you can take notes and share them with your team directly in the video interface.
- Shared lines: Set up multiple devices to share a single phone number so that all incoming calls coming into that shared line can be answered on any device.
- Team huddle: Works as a persistent audio or video call where teammates can hop in and out of the room at any time.
- Task assignment: Create tasks for yourself or assign projects to teammates right within a team conversation, group chat, or direct message.
- RingOut: If you’re unsure whether to place a call through VoIP or landline, this feature lets you make a call through the RingCentral app and transfer it seamlessly to your landline.
- Core: $30/user/month for one phone number, 100 toll-free minutes, unlimited local calls, 25 SMS, visual voicemail, call management, multi-level IVR, basic call queues, on-demand call recording, team chat, and 100 video attendees
- Advanced: $35/user/month for 1,000 toll-free minutes, 100 SMS, advanced call routing and monitoring, automatic call recording, hot desking, unlimited e-fax, advanced integrations, and business analytics
- Ultra: $45/user/month for 10,000 toll-free minutes, 200 SMS, unlimited storage, and device analytics
- Free trial: 14 days
Enjoy up to 33% savings by opting for a one-year prepayment.
GoTo Connect: Best for Expanding Global Reach
Overall Score
4.74/5
Pricing
4/5
General features
4.75/5
Advanced features
4/5
Support
3.75/5
Ease of use
4.38/5
Expert score
5/5
Pros
- Allows unlimited calls to up to 50 countries
- Includes 1,000 toll-free minutes shared accounts
- Works with over 180 desk phone models
- Has a user-friendly call flow designer
Cons
- Requires a Connect CX subscription for AI capabilities
- Lacks CRM integrations on the base plan
Why I chose GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect is our best alternative to Skype for companies that make frequent overseas calls to clients, partners, and remote employees. This ensures significant cost savings as most competitors charge per-minute international rates, which can incur costly, unexpected fees.
All GoTo Connect plans include unmetered calls to 52 countries and over 100 professional phone features, like a visual plan editor, call queues, ring groups, and smart call routing. Its pricing structure is divided into three product tiers — phone system, customer experience, and contact center — but differs in the type of customer engagement tools supported.
As a vanity number provider, GoTo Connect lets you create a custom company number to increase brand recognition. Otherwise, if you need an international number to establish a local presence in other regions, RingCentral is a better option, offering local dialing in over 99 countries.
- Dial Plan Editor: Customize your call flows visually in a drag-and-drop interface with color-coded nodes and connectors.
- Hot desking: Switch on any device or desk phone and instantly access your personally programmed speed dials.
- Unlimited extensions: Set up multiple extensions to ring the same device and customize it with distinct call forwarding rules and voicemail greetings.
- Call queuing: Distribute incoming calls to available staff and keep callers on hold with updates on wait times.
- Virtual voicemail: Access your voicemails by text or web app and receive the transcripts in your email inbox.
- Phone System: $29/user/month for one virtual number, 1,000 toll-free minutes, call routing, custom dial plans, ring groups, call queues, hot desking, virtual fax, call recording, call handling, team chat, SMS/MMS, 250 video attendees, and call volume analytics
- Connect CX: $37/user/month for SMS campaigns, call reports, shared inbox, attendant console, AI call features, and advanced integrations
- Contact Center: $86/user/month for autodialer, call monitoring, custom surveys, queue callback, and call campaign
Toll-free minutes, international calling, and SMS credits may differ by region. Enjoy up to 10% savings by opting for a one-year pre-payment.
Nextiva: Best Digital Engagement Platform
Overall Score
4.36/5
Pricing
3.5/5
General features
4.75/5
Advanced features
2.5/5
Support
5/5
Ease of use
5/5
Expert score
4.06/5
Pros
- Supports multiple digital channels
- Has tight integrations with popular CRMs
- Offers features tailored for sales and support teams
- Merges team and client interactions in one platform
Cons
- Charges than the average monthly fee for its phone system
- Lacks vanity phone numbers
Why I chose Nextiva
Nextiva is one of our top alternatives to Skype for managing customer communications across digital platforms, including messaging apps, live chat, social media, and review sites. It goes beyond basic hosted private branch exchange (PBX) capabilities by unifying multichannel interactions in a single app, allowing you to monitor the entire customer journey.
Its flagship feature, NextivaONE, combines voice, text, chat, and video in a single work hub, along with team collaboration and client engagement tools. The app also seamlessly integrates with popular CRM systems, providing easy access to client and lead information, and reducing the need for app switching.
Nextiva’s phone system is priced higher than other competitors, while discounts are reserved for long-term contracts. If you’re looking for a cheap Skype alternative but need the same robust features as Nextiva, consider Zoom Phone. This provider offers affordable monthly plans at only $10 per user, including access to all essential business phone features.
- Custom ringback: Select the suitable music or recording to play for callers while they wait for their call to be answered.
- Call screening: Evaluates an incoming call’s characteristics against predefined criteria to determine whether it is accepted.
- Call notify: Define the conditions that must be met for an email to be sent after receiving a specific call, including the caller’s name and number.
- Extension dialing number change: Configure the extension numbering scheme for each of your office locations to ensure direct contact with employees.
- Priority alerts: Set a unique phone ring sound or custom ring pattern for specific callers.
- Digital: $25/user/month for website chat, messaging apps, email, two social media management accounts, helpdesk, unified inbox, and review management
- Core: $35/user/month for inbound/outbound voice, 100 SMS credits, customer video and screen sharing, call routing, voicemail transcription, and team chat
- Engage: $50/user/month for chatbot, 250 SMS, 10 social media management accounts, e-fax, 2,000 toll-free minutes, call center capabilities, call recording, and voice analytics
- Power Suite: $75/user/month for 10,000 toll-free minutes, unlimited SMS credits, and unlimited social media management accounts
Enjoy up to 20% savings by opting for a one-year prepayment.
Ooma: Best Standalone Phone System
Overall Score
4.36/5
Pricing
2.5/5
General features
3.5/5
Advanced features
2.5/5
Support
4.38/5
Ease of use
5/5
Expert score
5/5
Pros
- Includes over 50 phone features on the base tier
- Allows unlimited calls to the US, CA, PR, and MEX
- Supports analog fax machines
- Has rich call mobility features
Cons
- Lacks SMS credits on the entry-level plan
- Restricts desktop calling on Pro and Pro Plus plans
Why I chose Ooma
Ooma is the best Skype substitute for small businesses seeking a VoIP solution without additional collaborative features. While competitors like Nextiva and Zoom Phone highlight their AI capabilities for meetings and messaging, Ooma emphasizes its high-quality business phone system.
Among the top-ranking alternatives to Skype, Ooma has built a strong reputation in the telecommunications industry since 2004. It combines the reliability of traditional phone service with feature-rich telephony features, allowing businesses to operate efficiently from home or the office.
With Ooma’s straightforward approach, distributed teams may find it restrictive due to the lack of collaborative features for video meetings and team chat. Instead, check out RingCentral, which combines all the features you need, whether for hosting video meetings, managing large call volumes, or sending bulk SMS campaigns.
- Enhanced call blocking: Screens all incoming calls against a database of over two million known spam numbers.
- Find Me, Follow Me: Create rules that enable phone calls to be routed at your preferred location without ringing all connected devices at the same time.
- Online bookings: Enable users to book a meeting with you by sharing your available calendar time slots.
- Shift-to-text: Provide callers the option to switch from a voice call to a text message with a single key press.
- Distinctive ringtones: Assign a unique ringtone to a call queue or ring group to give users an audible cue about the purpose of an incoming call.
- Essentials: $19.95/user/month for one toll-free number, unlimited calls (US, CA, MX, and PR), 500 toll-free minutes, virtual fax, 50+ phone features, and ring groups
- Pro: $24.95/user/month for SMS/MMS, hybrid ring groups, call recording, call analytics, voicemail transcription, dynamic caller ID, scheduled SMS, caller info match, and 25-attendee video meetings for four hours
- Pro Plus: $29.95/user/month for call queues, call screening, 100-attendee video meetings for 12 hours, auto dialer, team chat, hot desking, and CRM integrations
Phone.com: Best for Light Phone Usage
Overall Score
3.85/5
Pricing
3.5/5
General features
3.5/5
Advanced features
1.5/5
Support
5/5
Ease of use
5/5
Expert score
4.38/5
Pros
- Offers a pay-per-minute option
- Provides live receptionists as an add-on service
- Includes up to 50 phone features on the base plan
- Supports all phone number types
Cons
- Charges extra fees for call recording on non-Pro accounts
- Relies on Zapier for third-party integrations
Why I chose Phone.com
While most Skype alternatives confine users to fixed monthly rate subscriptions, Phone.com offers metered plans where you only pay for the minutes you use. You can also mix and match pay-as-you-go calling and unlimited local calls in a single company account, allowing you to create a custom subscription based on each team member’s unique call volumes.
Like Ooma, Phone.com foregoes advanced collaboration features to accommodate small businesses needing a professional phone presence. A single subscription comprises up to 50 essential VoIP features, providing ample functionality for managing occasional business calls.
Integrating Phone.com with other apps can be a hassle since it requires a Zapier subscription to link its phone system to various apps. This may lead to additional costs, and the connections may not be as seamless as built-in integrations. RingCentral offers direct compatibility with up to 400 third-party apps for a more fully integrated VoIP solution.
- Fax from phone: Send and receive documents from your computer and send them to any fax number without relying on an analog fax machine.
- Greetings: Phone.com provides three options for setting up your phone greetings: type and convert it using text-to-speech, upload a custom audio file, or record it directly within the app.
- Call handling rules: Modify your preferences for handling incoming calls based on your business hours and route calls to a specific destination based on time of day or caller ID.
- AI-Connect: Powered by artificial intelligence, this virtual reception service can handle all incoming calls in your company name guided by a scripted response.
- Forward Connect: Select a business phone number and forward any incoming call to another number you prefer.
- Basic: $18/user/month for one phone number, 500 pooled minutes, auto-attendant, call transfer, caller ID, call waiting, hold music, greetings, 10 video attendees, and audio conferencing
- Plus: $27/user/month for unlimited domestic calls, voicemail transcription, 25 video attendees, and desk phone compatibility
- Pro: $40/user/month for call analytics, call recording, 100 video attendees, and Zapier integration
Enjoy up to 17% savings by opting for a one-year prepayment.
Vonage: Best API-driven Communication Solution
Overall Score
3.82/5
Pricing
3.5/5
General features
4.5/5
Advanced features
2.5/5
Support
3.75/5
Ease of use
4.38/5
Expert score
3.13/5
Pros
- Allows you to pay for only the features you need
- Enables the integration of features into external apps and websites
- Offers generous discounts for multiple user accounts
- Guarantees high uptime availability
Cons
- Requires purchase of up to 99 lines to avail of the 14-day trial
- Integrates with a limited number of apps
Why I chose Vonage
Vonage is our best Skype alternative for tech-driven businesses seeking to integrate voice, video, chat, and authentication features into their applications.
Unlike VoIP providers with pre-built communication tools, Vonage’s API-driven approach allows users to customize their communication workflows based on their exact needs. Extensive documentation and code samples are offered for automating SMS alerts, enabling chatbots, and verifying user identity.
As a top-ranking small business PBX system, Vonage also offers à la carte pricing for those who want to customize their unified communication subscription. However, this can be expensive as additional features add to your monthly fees. Zoom Phone provides the same features across plans for an all-inclusive VoIP package, avoiding unnecessary upgrade costs.
- On-demand call recording: Each of your phone extensions has 15 hours of recording time, which you manage by downloading and deleting recordings.
- Call flip: Move an ongoing call to another device assigned to the same extension on your Vonage account without interruption.
- Busy lamp field (BLF): Supports up to 50 phone lines and displays the status of other extensions, whether it’s in use or idle.
- Call announce: Plays an audio message stating the incoming caller’s name and the purpose of the call before it is connected.
- Virtual mailbox: Works as a standalone voicemail box that can be used to gather general information and shared with multiple users.
- Mobile: $19.99/user/month for unlimited calls and SMS in the US/CA and team chat
- Premium: $29.99/user/month for video conferencing, multi-level auto-attendant, and CRM integrations*
- Advanced: $39.99/user/month for 15 hours of on-demand call recording, visual voicemail, and call group
*Supported apps include Salesforce, Google Suite, Office 365, Clio, Bullhorn, ConnectWise, JobDiva, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SugarCRM, and Zoho.
Choosing the right alternative to Skype
Skype has long been a valuable tool for video calls, messaging, and voice communication. It’s free to use and provides cost-effective rates for international calls. However, its popularity has waned over time as it struggles to meet modern communication demands, such as advanced collaboration features, seamless integrations, and high-quality video.
Given these limitations, considering alternative solutions that fit your business needs is worthwhile.
- Zoom Phone is ideal for businesses that frequently hold video meetings, allowing seamless transitions between voice and visual communication.
- Enterprise-level organizations will benefit from RingCentral’s robust infrastructure, which offers advanced telephony, AI-powered meetings, and rich messaging features.
- If your business makes frequent international calls and wants to save on per-minute costs, choose GoTo Connect. Enjoy unlimited calls to 50 countries worldwide.
- Nextiva is best for sales and support teams engaging with customers across various digital channels.
- For solopreneurs and startups, a standalone VoIP provider like Ooma is an excellent option due to its simple setup and feature-rich business phone system.
- Phone.com shines with its flexible calling plans, allowing users to mix pay-as-you-go and unlimited call options—perfect for those with light phone usage.
- I recommend Vonage for companies that want to incorporate communication tools directly into their applications and workflows.
Skype’s shutdown ended one of the original internet communication tools. But it also opened the door to more powerful, flexible alternatives.
Whether your team needs seamless video meetings, integrated messaging, or full-scale unified communications, today’s top platforms offer solutions far beyond what Skype could provide. Don’t wait until communication breaks down—now is the time to choose a modern replacement that fits your workflow.
