# After Skype

> After Skype is an independent English guide to replacing Skype after Microsoft retired it on May 5, 2025: free video and chat apps, calls to landlines and mobiles abroad, and replacements for Skype Numbers and Skype Credit, with prices and limits taken from official pages.

What it covers: ten ranked Skype alternatives (WhatsApp first, TwinPhone second) and four more considered, compared on free calls, group limits, calls to phone numbers, published per-minute rates, numbers, encryption, platforms and sign-up needs; per-minute rates from the US to India, Mexico, the Philippines, the UK, Canada and Germany; and Microsoft's Skype shutdown timeline.

Last verified: October 25, 2026. Every price, limit and date was read on the vendor's own pricing, help or rate page (Microsoft for Skype facts), and values we could not verify are shown as a dash. Next full review: January 2027.

Methodology: each app is scored out of 10 on fit for Skype's jobs (35%), cost and free tier (25%), reach (25%) and privacy and account (15%); the jobs Teams Free dropped, calls to phone numbers and a number people can call, count for more. Ratings are editorial, not user reviews. Details: https://bestskypealternative.com/about/

Disclosure: the site is published with support from TwinPhone, which ranks second. Links to TwinPhone carry tracking parameters; links to other apps go to their official sites without tracking.

## Guides

- [The best Skype alternatives in 2026, by what you used Skype for](https://bestskypealternative.com/): the best Skype alternatives by job (free video calls, group meetings, calling landlines and mobiles abroad), with a ranked showcase, comparison table, free-plan limits, the key Skype shutdown dates and links to the guides on rates, numbers, credit and the shutdown
- [Best Skype alternatives for international calls and landlines](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-alternative-international-calls/): which paid service to use for calls to landlines and mobiles abroad now that Skype Credit is gone: per-minute rates from the US to India, Mexico, the Philippines, the UK, Canada and Germany, plans, credit expiry and fees for Rebtel, Yolla, BOSS Revolution, TwinPhone, Google Voice, Viber Out and Talk360
- [Is Skype still available? What happened to Skype](https://bestskypealternative.com/is-skype-still-available/): the status of Skype in October 2026: retired on May 5, 2025, the full official shutdown timeline, what still works and what doesn't, what happened to Skype accounts, chats, contacts and data, and why Microsoft shut Skype down
- [Skype Number alternatives: how to get a second phone number now](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-number-alternative/): what happened to Skype Numbers, why they can't be kept or ported, and which replacement numbers exist (Google Voice, TwinPhone, Hushed, Zoom Phone) with dated prices, SMS and verification limits, plus a switch-over checklist
- [Can you still make international calls with Skype?](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-international-calls/): whether Skype can still make international calls (no), how Skype international calling and SkypeOut worked, a step-by-step guide to calling abroad today, US dialing formats for India, Mexico, the Philippines, the UK, Canada and Germany, and Wi-Fi calling abroad
- [What happened to Skype Credit and the Skype Dial Pad](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-credit/): what happened to Skype Credit and the Skype Dial Pad: how to open the Dial Pad in Teams (free) or at calling.web.skype.com, why it goes missing, the 180-day inactivity rule, refunds for converted subscriptions, and what to use when the credit runs out
- [Skype vs Microsoft Teams: is Teams Free a real Skype replacement?](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-vs-teams/): Skype (as it was until May 2025) compared with Microsoft Teams (free) and Teams with Microsoft 365 Personal/Family: meeting and 1:1 call limits, phone calling, numbers, SMS and voicemail, browser use, account needs, what didn't carry over, and whether Teams Free is enough for former Skype users
- [Skype vs Zoom: which to use now that Skype is gone](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-vs-zoom/): Skype vs Zoom compared: what each was built for, Zoom's free 40-minute limit, Zoom Pro and Zoom Phone prices, Zoom vs Skype for Business, and Zoom vs Microsoft Teams (free)
- [Free calls like Skype: what still costs nothing in 2026](https://bestskypealternative.com/free-calls-like-skype/): which calls are still free after Skype (app-to-app calls on WhatsApp, FaceTime, Signal, Viber, Telegram), the few free calls to phone numbers, how to call abroad free from an iPhone or Android phone, and where free stops
- [Video calling apps like Skype, compared](https://bestskypealternative.com/video-calling-apps-like-skype/): video calling apps that replace Skype video calls, compared by free group size, time limits, platforms, joining from a browser without an account, screen sharing and end-to-end encryption
- [Skype for Business alternatives for small teams](https://bestskypealternative.com/skype-for-business-alternative/): what happened to Skype for Business Online and Server, and the replacements for small teams: Microsoft Teams Essentials, Zoom Workplace, Google Workspace, RingCentral, Webex and self-hosted Jitsi, Element and Nextcloud Talk, with an IT migration checklist

## Key facts

- Microsoft announced on February 28, 2025 that it would retire Skype, and retired it on May 5, 2025; Skype accounts now sign in to Microsoft Teams Free. Sources: Microsoft 365 Blog, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/blog/2025/02/28/the-next-chapter-moving-from-skype-to-microsoft-teams/; Microsoft Support, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472
- Microsoft Teams Free has no paid calling plans to phone numbers; group meetings hold up to 100 people for 60 minutes and 1:1 calls up to 30 hours. Sources: Microsoft Support, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472; Microsoft, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/free
- Microsoft started deleting Skype data on April 1, 2026; Skype subscriptions ended May 1, 2026; all Skype Number subscriptions ended in May 2026 and can no longer be ported out; the last day to request a Skype data export was June 15, 2026. Sources: Microsoft Support, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/skype-is-retiring-in-may-2025-what-you-need-to-know-2a7d2501-427f-485e-8be0-2068a9f90472
- Best overall Skype alternative (October 2026): WhatsApp, with free voice and video calls, groups of up to 32 and end-to-end encryption always on; it cannot call phone numbers. Sources: WhatsApp, https://www.whatsapp.com/calling
- Free group video: Google Meet and Teams Free host 100 people for 60 minutes; Zoom Basic ends every meeting, including 1:1 calls, at 40 minutes; Signal allows 75 people per call. Sources: Google Workspace, https://workspace.google.com/products/meet/; Microsoft, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/free; Zoom, https://zoom.us/pricing; Signal, https://signal.org/blog/
- Calling landlines and mobiles abroad needs a paid service: from the US, Mexico cost from 1.1¢/min (Yolla) and 1.21¢/min to landlines (Rebtel); India from 2.39¢/min (Yolla); the Philippines from 13¢/min (BOSS Revolution) in October 2026. Sources: Yolla, https://yollacalls.com/en/rates/calls-to-india/; Rebtel, https://www.rebtel.com/en/rates/; BOSS Revolution, https://www.bossrevolution.com/en-us/rates
- TwinPhone (ranked second) calls 145+ countries from a browser or its iOS and Android apps: US and Canada 2¢/min, $10 minimum top-up, credit does not expire, no free minutes; US, Canadian and Puerto Rico numbers from $3.19/month receive calls and texts but cannot send texts. Sources: TwinPhone, https://www.twin-phone.com/en/rates; TwinPhone Help, https://www.twin-phone.com/en/help/billing-and-top-ups; TwinPhone Help, https://www.twin-phone.com/en/help/which-countries-numbers
- Google Voice gives personal accounts in the US a free US number and free calls to the US and Canada. Sources: Google Voice Help, https://support.google.com/voice/

## Optional

- [Methodology and disclosure](https://bestskypealternative.com/about/): how apps are rated and compared, how prices are sourced and dated, update cadence, sponsorship and affiliate disclosure, corrections
- [Gladstone Walters](https://bestskypealternative.com/author/gladstone-walters/): the editor who maintains the guides
- [Full text of all guides](https://bestskypealternative.com/llms-full.txt): every live page as Markdown

## Languages

The guide is published in these languages; each version has its own llms.txt.

- [English](https://bestskypealternative.com/): English (en), https://bestskypealternative.com/llms.txt
- [Español](https://bestskypealternative.com/es/): Spanish (es), https://bestskypealternative.com/es/llms.txt
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- [اردو](https://bestskypealternative.com/ur/): Urdu (ur), https://bestskypealternative.com/ur/llms.txt
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- [ไทย](https://bestskypealternative.com/th/): Thai (th), https://bestskypealternative.com/th/llms.txt
- [Filipino](https://bestskypealternative.com/tl/): Filipino (tl), https://bestskypealternative.com/tl/llms.txt
- [日本語](https://bestskypealternative.com/ja/): Japanese (ja), https://bestskypealternative.com/ja/llms.txt
- [한국어](https://bestskypealternative.com/ko/): Korean (ko), https://bestskypealternative.com/ko/llms.txt
- [简体中文](https://bestskypealternative.com/zh-hans/): Chinese (Simplified) (zh-Hans), https://bestskypealternative.com/zh-hans/llms.txt
- [Română](https://bestskypealternative.com/ro/): Romanian (ro), https://bestskypealternative.com/ro/llms.txt
- [Svenska](https://bestskypealternative.com/sv/): Swedish (sv), https://bestskypealternative.com/sv/llms.txt
- [Čeština](https://bestskypealternative.com/cs/): Czech (cs), https://bestskypealternative.com/cs/llms.txt