After 23 years of connecting individuals all over the world, Skype, the favored video-calling service, is shutting down. Microsoft, the mother or father firm, confirmed that the official sundown date for the service is Monday, Might 5, 2025.
Skype customers can both migrate all their contacts and chat information to Microsoft Groups, or they will select to obtain their Skype information and transition to a different video-calling service.
To help customers within the swap, we’ve created a information on migrate to Groups or obtain Skype information. Moreover, we’ve curated a listing of different video-calling apps that may change Skype.
Learn how to transfer from Skype to Microsoft Groups
Skype customers can check in to Groups totally free utilizing their Skype credentials. As soon as logged in, all their chats and contacts will routinely switch to the app.
Groups presents options just like Skype, together with one-on-one and group calls, messaging, and file sharing. Whereas Skype was primarily designed for smaller teams (as much as 20 contributors) and informal use, Groups is extra business-focused, accommodating as much as 10,000 contributors in a single video name. It additionally comes with superior safety features and numerous integrations, similar to Evernote, OneDrive, Workplace 365, Salesforce, SharePoint, Trello, and extra.
Groups is on the market on Android, iOS, Mac, PC, and the net.
Learn how to export Skype information
For customers who aren’t concerned about making the transition to Microsoft Groups, we nonetheless suggest exporting account information. This ensures that beneficial info — similar to messages, information, and phone particulars — is backed up and will be accessed sooner or later.
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- Open Skype and log in.
- Click on on the three horizontal dots beneath the account identify within the prime left nook.
- Go to Settings > Account & Profile > Your Account.
- After being redirected to Skype’s net portal, select from both Export contacts (.csv), Export Caller ID numbers (.csv), or Export information and chat historical past.
- The “Export files and chat history” choice lets customers obtain Conversations and Recordsdata.
- Click on Submit Request and Proceed.
- When the export course of is full, click on Obtain.
Listed below are the most effective Skype options
Google Meet
An apparent advantage of utilizing Google Meet is that it’s accessible totally free with a Google account. Since lots of people are already utilizing Google and have present accounts, transitioning to this platform can be pretty straightforward.
Google Meet permits customers to carry conferences with as much as 100 contributors, report conferences, share screens, and extra. A disadvantage with the free plan is that if a gathering has greater than three contributors, there’s a 60-minute time restrict.
Massive firms could need to buy a Google Workspace plan for options like having as much as 25 co-hosts, dividing contributors into smaller breakout rooms throughout conferences, creating polls, organising a Q&A session, livestreaming to YouTube, and extra. Workspace — which has plans for $7/month, $14/month, $22/month, and up — additionally presents AI-powered instruments via its Gemini assistant, which helps Meet customers take notes and create customized background photos.
Zoom
Zoom is one other in style web-conferencing software. It presents a number of useful options, together with the flexibility to host as much as 100 contributors and chat in each personal and public teams, and has instruments similar to notes, a whiteboard, and screen-sharing capabilities. Customers also can report conferences and entry transcripts.
Nevertheless, one draw back is the 40-minute time restrict per assembly for customers on the free plan. To keep away from having conferences minimize off, customers might want to buy a subscription, which ranges from $13/month to $18/month. Paid subscribers have entry to Zoom’s AI Companion, which incorporates the flexibility to summarize conferences and ask questions on transcribed conferences.
Webex
Webex, the Cisco-owned video conferencing software, presents an identical plan to its opponents. As an example, it has options similar to display sharing, the flexibility to report classes, a whiteboard functionality, and extra.
The free plan consists of as much as 100 attendees per assembly, in addition to an unlucky 40-minute time restrict. Webex additionally presents plans from $12/month, $22/month, and up, relying on group measurement. The paid tiers include an AI assistant, stay polling, Q&A, and the flexibility so as to add as much as 1,000 attendees.
Discord
Discord was initially designed as a chat platform for avid gamers, however it could actually additionally function an alternative choice to Skype for private use or for smaller groups. Nevertheless, it’s not advisable for bigger companies, because it limits calls to 25 contributors.
On the constructive aspect, Discord presents limitless assembly lengths and options similar to display sharing, the flexibility to report conferences, and breakout rooms. The platform has a free plan along with two paid choices priced at $5/month and $10/month, making it one of many extra inexpensive decisions accessible, relying on customers’ wants.
Slack
Whereas Slack might not be preferrred for formally scheduled conferences with massive teams, it may be efficient for spontaneous conferences inside group chats. The Huddle characteristic in Slack allows customers to simply transition from a chat thread to a casual audio or video name with colleagues. On the free plan, Huddles can accommodate solely two individuals, whereas paid plans (priced at $7/month or $12/month) permit for as much as 50.
Sign
Sign, the encrypted messaging app, has supplied group video-calling options since 2020 and might accommodate as much as 50 contributors in a single name.
Though it’s not a direct competitor to Skype, it permits customers to share hyperlinks for calls, enabling them to easily ship the hyperlink to others fairly than creating a bunch, very similar to Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Groups do. Notably, Sign is free to make use of.
Different related apps for cellular customers trying to video name with smaller teams embrace WhatsApp, Fb Messenger, and Apple FaceTime.
