When Skype debuted in 2003, it was the first time I remember feeling that an individual app—and not just the broader internet—was radically disrupting communications.
Thanks to its implementation of the voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and its simple interface, the app allowed users worldwide to call virtually any phone number directly from their PC with ease, in addition to calling other Skype users via its peer-to-peer (P2P) network.
If you are too young to remember a time before smartphones, FaceTime, and WhatsApp, take it from me that Skype’s launch was truly revolutionary. It suddenly became simple to call home if you were traveling internationally. And if you frequently needed to contact overseas companies or individuals for work, Skype significantly reduced the associated costs. Bye-bye, outrageous international phone call charges.
But come Monday, May 5, 2025—nearly 22 years after it changed communications—Skype will shut down for good. Since P2P voice calling is now integrated into nearly every popular messenger app, many will not miss it. But for the subset of us who continue to use Skype to call bona fide phone numbers via VOIP, we’ll need to find new solutions.
Here’s why Skype is shutting down and how you can find suitable VOIP alternatives.
The downfall of Skype
Over the course of its 22 years, Skype has changed ownership many times. In 2005, just two years after the Luxembourg-headquartered Skype Technologies debuted its revolutionary app, eBay acquired it for $2.5 billion. In 2009, eBay sold its majority ownership in the app to private investors. Finally, in 2011, the service was sold in its entirety to Microsoft for $8.5 billion.
At the time, $8.5 billion was the most Microsoft had ever paid for a company—and there was a good reason why it made the splurge. By 2008, Skype had swelled to a base of 400 million registered users, making it one of the most-used apps in the world. Microsoft saw Skype as the future of communication, and when the 2011 acquisition was announced, Skype CEO Tony Bates said that with Microsoft’s ownership, “we will be able to accelerate Skype’s goal to reach 1 billion users daily.”
But over the next several years, as Microsoft integrated Skype into everything from Windows to smartphones to Xbox consoles, the app increasingly became bloated, going through numerous UI refreshes. What was once an easy P2P and VOIP service that allowed you to quickly call other users and nearly any phone number in the world was now cumbersome to use.
But Skype’s problems weren’t all self-inflicted. The service was also faced with an explosion of competition. As smartphones proliferated, nearly every major communications app added P2P calling, including giants like Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Apple’s FaceTime, and even more niche messengers like Signal. The mid-2010s also saw the rise of business communications apps like Slack and Microsoft’s own Teams—each of which allowed workers to communicate with their peers efficiently over text, voice, or video.
And then came the pandemic in 2020. The world was under lockdown. This should have been the time for Skype to shine, but instead, Zoom took over, becoming the go-to communications app. It was simple to use, whereas Skype was cumbersome. Skype never recovered from that missed opportunity.
With other apps having gobbled up Skype’s user base, and Microsoft’s increasing focus on Teams as its communications platform of choice, it’s no wonder that earlier this year, the company announced Skype will shut down for good on May 5.
Skype VOIP alternatives for calling landline and mobile phone numbers
The two main features that helped Skype take the world by storm in the early 2000s were P2P and VOIP calling. P2P let one Skype user call another using their username as the call identifier. VOIP let a Skype user call an actual phone number from the Skype app.
Today, P2P calling apps are ubiquitous. The technology is integrated into nearly every smartphone messaging and communications app out there, including FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Signal. Heck, even photo-sharing apps like Instagram have P2P calling functionality.
But if you want to call an actual phone number from a smartphone app or your computer, your options are much more limited—especially after Skype shuts down on Monday. That’s because none of the popular apps above support VOIP calling.
However, there are still a few good VOIP alternatives out there. Some of the best include:
Google Voice: Google Voice gives you a phone number anyone can call to reach you, and from your Google Voice account, you can also make VOIP calls to most phone numbers in the world. However, VOIP calling is limited to users in the United States and Canada.
Viber Out: Viber Out is an add-on service from the makers of the free Viber app, a P2P communications app. Viber Out adds VOIP functionality to Viber. This is the solution that most resembles what Skype was like in its prime: a simple, easy-to-use VOIP solution that allows you to purchase a variety of calling plans. Worldwide monthly subscription plans that let you call mobile and landlines start at just $5.99/month at the time of this writing.
Zoom Phone: This is an add-on plan to Zoom that allows you to make VOIP calls to cell phones and landlines right from the Zoom app. This makes Zoom Phone similar to both Skype and Viber Out. There are various pricing options depending on whether you plan to make calls to U.S. and Canadian numbers or to phone numbers in other countries.
It’s worth noting that Microsoft will also continue to offer ways for people to call landline phone numbers via a Microsoft Teams add-on feature called Teams Phone. However, Teams Phone is heavily designed around business use, so its features may be overkill and its cost a bit impractical for individuals simply looking for a quick, easy, and cheap way to make VOIP calls.
Microsoft has also confirmed that any Skype users who still have active Skype Credits and subscriptions (which were required to make VOIP calls via Skype) after May 5 can still make VOIP calls by using a new Skype Dial Pad tool, which will remain available on the Skype web portal and within the free version of Microsoft Teams, known as Teams Free. However, these solutions are only available as long as your existing Skype credits or subscriptions remain.
