After 23 years of connecting individuals world wide, Skype, the favored video-calling service, is shutting down on Monday. Microsoft, the father or mother firm, confirmed that the official sundown date for the service is in the present day, Could 5, 2025.
Skype customers can both migrate all their contacts and chat information to Microsoft Groups, or they’ll 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 easy methods to migrate to Groups or obtain Skype information. Moreover, we’ve curated an inventory of other video-calling apps that may substitute Skype.
How you can transfer from Skype to Microsoft Groups
Skype customers can sign up to Groups totally free utilizing their Skype credentials. As soon as logged in, all their chats and contacts will mechanically switch to the app.
Groups provides 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 varied integrations, comparable to Evernote, OneDrive, Workplace 365, Salesforce, SharePoint, Trello, and extra.
Groups is accessible on Android, iOS, Mac, PC, and the net.
How you can export Skype information
For customers who aren’t eager about making the transition to Microsoft Groups, we nonetheless advocate exporting account information. This ensures that precious data — comparable to messages, recordsdata, and get in touch with 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 title within the high left nook.
- Go to Settings > Account & Profile > Your Account.
- After being redirected to Skype’s internet portal, select from both Export contacts (.csv), Export Caller ID numbers (.csv), or Export recordsdata and chat historical past.
- The “Export files and chat history” possibility lets customers obtain Conversations and Information.
- Click on Submit Request and Proceed.
- When the export course of is full, click on Obtain.
Listed below are the very best Skype options
Google Meet
An apparent advantage of utilizing Google Meet is that it’s obtainable totally free with a Google account. Since lots of people are already utilizing Google and have present accounts, transitioning to this platform could be pretty straightforward.
Google Meet permits customers to carry conferences with as much as 100 contributors, file conferences, share screens, and extra. A downside with the free plan is that if a gathering has greater than three contributors, there’s a 60-minute time restrict.
Giant corporations might wish 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, establishing a Q&A session, livestreaming to YouTube, and extra. Workspace — which has plans for $7/month, $14/month, $22/month, and up — additionally provides AI-powered instruments via its Gemini assistant, which helps Meet customers take notes and create customized background photographs.
Zoom
Zoom is one other fashionable web-conferencing software. It provides a number of useful options, together with the power to host as much as 100 contributors and chat in each personal and public teams, and has instruments comparable to notes, a whiteboard, and screen-sharing capabilities. Customers may also file conferences and entry transcripts.
Nonetheless, one draw back is the 40-minute time restrict per assembly for customers on the free plan. To keep away from having conferences reduce 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 power to summarize conferences and ask questions on transcribed conferences.
Webex
Webex, the Cisco-owned video conferencing software, provides the same plan to its rivals. As an illustration, it has options comparable to display sharing, the power to file periods, 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 provides plans from $12/month, $22/month, and up, relying on crew measurement. The paid tiers include an AI assistant, dwell polling, Q&A, and the power so as to add as much as 1,000 attendees.
Discord
Discord was initially designed as a chat platform for avid gamers, however it may additionally function an alternative choice to Skype for private use or for smaller groups. Nonetheless, it’s not beneficial for bigger companies, because it limits calls to 25 contributors.
On the optimistic aspect, Discord provides limitless assembly lengths and options comparable to display sharing, the power to file 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 selections obtainable, relying on customers’ wants.
Slack
Whereas Slack will not be ultimate for formally scheduled conferences with massive teams, it may be efficient for spontaneous conferences inside crew chats. The Huddle characteristic in Slack permits 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 may 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 quite than creating a bunch, very similar to Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Groups do. Notably, Sign is free to make use of.
Different comparable apps for cellular customers trying to video name with smaller teams embody WhatsApp, Fb Messenger, and Apple FaceTime.
