Skype Alternatives for Video Calls, Chat and Phone Calls

Skype no longer works. Microsoft retired it on May 5, 2025 for free and paid consumer users, and its official replacement is Microsoft Teams Free. Skype for Business was not part of the shutdown. The same support page says the export portal stayed open until June 15, 2026, and that Skype data for people who never moved to Teams is deleted after that date. Microsoft began deleting data on April 1, 2026, so an export made after that day may be incomplete.

The paid features wound down in steps. New Skype Credit purchases stopped, Skype Number lost SMS, forwarding and voicemail on May 5, 2025, and the subscription service closed on May 1, 2026, with leftover time converted to credit. The picks below cover the three jobs Skype did: video calls with friends and family, group meetings, and cheap calls to ordinary phone numbers.

Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Microsoft Teams Free

Microsoft built this as the landing spot for Skype accounts. You sign in with the same Skype credentials, and the support page says contacts and chats move over automatically. Old chat and call history stays visible only for people who were active on Skype between December 2024 and February 2025 and used Teams Free before December 1, 2025.

The free plan gives 1:1 calls of up to 30 hours, group meetings of up to 60 minutes, 100 people per meeting and 5 GB of storage per user. People without a Teams account can join a meeting from a link. If you still have Skype Credit, the Dial Pad inside Teams Free spends it on calls to phones.

Best for: Former Skype users who want their contact list back without asking everyone to install something new.

Pricing:

• Teams Free: free, 60-minute group meetings, 100 participants, 5 GB
• Microsoft 365 Personal: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, 30-hour meetings, 300 participants, 1 TB
• Microsoft 365 Family: $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year, 2 TB

Watch out for:

• Teams Free cannot call ordinary phone numbers or receive calls on a Skype Number, a gap Android Police flagged on shutdown day. Only leftover Skype Credit works through the Dial Pad, and no new credit is sold.
• Linux gets a progressive web app, not a native installer.

Official site: Microsoft Teams Free.

WhatsApp

For most families the Skype group chat already has a WhatsApp twin. The calling page lists free voice and video calls for up to 32 people with no time limit, end-to-end encrypted, from phones, the Mac and Windows apps, the iPad or a web browser. The Android app has passed 10 billion downloads on Google Play.

Where Skype let you add anyone by username, WhatsApp still starts from a phone number. Username reservations opened on June 29, 2026 and are rolling out by country, but the usernames FAQ says a number is still needed to register.

Best for: Weekly video calls with relatives who already use it on their phones.

Pricing:

• Free; mobile data charges may apply

Watch out for:

• Meta has shown ads in the Status row of the Updates tab since June 16, 2025. Private chats and calls stay ad-free.
• There is no way to dial a landline from WhatsApp.

Official site: WhatsApp. Our listing: WhatsApp.

Zoom

Zoom fits the Skype users who mostly sent a call link to a client, a tutor or a job interviewer. The other side clicks the link and joins, with no contact request first. The free Basic plan allows 100 participants per meeting, and the desktop apps run on Windows, Mac and Linux.

The paid tiers lift the time cap and add cloud features. Pro is the usual step up for one person who runs long meetings, and Business adds more admin control for a team. Zoom Phone, its calling service for real phone numbers, is sold separately, and Zoom does not publish a rate for it.

Best for: Freelancers and small teams who schedule calls with people outside their contact list.

Pricing:

• Basic: free, 40 minutes per meeting, 100 participants
• Pro: $16.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $14.16 per user per month billed yearly
• Business: $21.99 per user per month billed monthly, or $18.33 billed yearly

Watch out for:

• The 40-minute cap covers two-person calls as well. TechRepublic reports Zoom applied it to free 1:1 meetings from July 15, 2022, which hurts anyone used to long Skype chats.

Official site: Zoom.

Google Meet

Anyone with a Gmail address already has Meet, so there is no new account to make. It runs in a browser on a computer and in the Meet app on phones. The product page says calls on mobile and 1:1 calls have no time limit, and that video quality follows the connection.

Group calls from a computer follow the personal account rules: up to 100 people, 24 hours for two people, and 60 minutes once a third person joins. Meet also absorbed Google Duo in 2022, so former Duo contacts are reachable here.

Best for: Long one-to-one video calls with someone on a laptop who will not install an app.

Pricing:

• Free with a Google account
• Group calls up to 24 hours need Google One Premium 2 TB, Google AI Pro or AI Ultra; AI Pro lists at $19.99 per month in the US

Watch out for:

• Free group meetings on a computer chime at 50 minutes and end at 60.
• There is no Windows or Mac desktop app; on a computer it is the browser only.

Official site: Google Meet.

Viber

Skype Credit's closest living cousin is Viber Out. It calls landlines and mobile numbers abroad, and the plan guide lists four kinds of plan: World Unlimited for 60 countries, unlimited calls to one country, minute bundles, and pay-as-you-go World Credit. Calls are billed per whole minute.

Viber-to-Viber calls are free, and a group call holds 60 people. Desktop apps cover Windows, Mac and Linux, though each needs an active account on a phone first.

Best for: People who used Skype Credit to ring landlines and basic phones in other countries.

Pricing:

• Free app-to-app chats and calls
• US App Store: Viber Out monthly subscription to the USA $1.99, worldwide $5.99, credit packs $0.99, $4.99 and $9.99; Viber Plus $3.79

Watch out for:

• The free app contains ads, and ad-free Viber Plus is offered only in some countries.
• Russia's regulator blocked Viber on December 13, 2024, so it is a poor choice for calling family there.

Official site: Viber. Our listing: Viber.

Signal

A nonprofit runs Signal, and the app carries no ads or trackers. Group calls now reach 75 people, according to a 2026 update on the call links post. Call links work much like Skype's old meeting links, with join approval on by default.

Apps run on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Mac and Linux, but the desktop versions need Signal installed on a phone first. Usernames arrived in February 2024, which lets you share a handle instead of your number.

Best for: Encrypted group calls for big families or clubs that want no ads.

Pricing:

• Free, funded by donations
• Secure Backups: text plus the last 45 days of media free; $1.99 per month for full media up to 100 GB

Watch out for:

• Sign-up still needs a phone number, even with usernames.
• A February 2026 Foliovision post says Signal video quality has been poor for years.

Official site: Signal.

Telegram

Skype users who also ran large group chats get more room on Telegram. Groups hold 200,000 members and channels have no subscriber cap. Since April 30, 2025, up to 200 people can be added to an active call, which is end-to-end encrypted.

Official apps exist for Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Mac and Linux, plus two web versions, and you can sign in on as many devices as you like. Calls are free for everyone; Premium adds larger uploads and other extras.

Best for: Communities that mix calls with big groups, channels and bots.

Pricing:

• Free, calls included
• Telegram Premium on the US App Store: $4.99 per month or $35.99 per year; prices vary by region

Watch out for:

• Regular chats are not end-to-end encrypted. Only Secret Chats are, and those stay on one device.

Official site: Telegram. Our listing: Telegram.

Rebtel

Rebtel does one job: cheap international calls to real phone numbers. The person you ring needs no app, no data and no smartphone, which matters for a grandparent on a landline. The homepage lists a Global Unlimited plan covering mobiles and landlines in 50 countries.

New users get a first call free and starter offers by country, such as 60 minutes to Nigeria for $1. The service runs from iPhone and Android apps. Rebtel also sells mobile top-ups to any phone, handy when the relative abroad runs out of prepaid minutes.

Best for: Calling people abroad who have no internet or only a basic phone.

Pricing:

• Global Unlimited: $12 per month, unlimited calls to 50 countries
• New-user offers include 20 minutes to Cuba for $5 and 60 minutes to Nigeria for $1

Watch out for:

• Reviews are mixed. Trustpilot shows 3.2 out of 5 from about 10,600 reviews, with 2026 complaints about cancelling plans and dropped calls.

Official site: Rebtel.

How to choose

If you still have Skype Credit

Staying on Skype is no longer possible. Leftover Skype Credit still works through the Dial Pad on the Skype web portal and inside Teams Free, so spend it before you pay for Viber Out or Rebtel. A Skype Number cannot be saved any more, because Microsoft no longer accepts port-out requests and all Skype Number subscriptions ended in May 2026. Subscriptions that ran past May 1, 2026 were converted to credit, and refunds are available on request.

Frequently asked questions