Skype is now only doing monthly subscriptions

[stubuzz]

As the title says, not possible to buy Skype credits, only a subscription.  Any alternatives for calling landlines?

[scubascuba3]

That's bad news

[spidermike007]

I do have an annual subscription and it allows me to call the US unlimited for $30 a year, that's a pretty good deal. I believe that I also have to pay for the number on an annual basis too, but I use it a lot, so it's worth it. I haven't found any viable alternatives to it that make more sense financially. The only downside to a Skype in number is the lack of a voicemail, that was a boneheaded decision. I have no idea why they did that. 

 

Fanytel is also a decent way to make and receive calls. But I only use that for business related stuff as nearly all my personal calls are done on WhatsApp, Line, or Facebook Messenger

[KannikaP]

I, and my 5 Family Members, each get 100 minutes per month to almost anywhere with my 365 Subscription.

Hope that continues.

[Gottfrid]

38 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That's bad news

Yeah, it must be terrible. They have monthly subscriptions for only a couple of dollars. Please, go ahead. What is soo bad?

[scubascuba3]

19 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Yeah, it must be terrible. They have monthly subscriptions for only a couple of dollars. Please, go ahead. What is soo bad?

Can't you work it out? Pointless having a subscription when you call a few times a year

[AlwaysThere]

1 hour ago, stubuzz said:

As the title says, not possible to buy Skype credits, only a subscription.  Any alternatives for calling landlines?

 

Calling landlines from where? Take a look at https://www.localphone.com

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, stubuzz said:

As the title says, not possible to buy Skype credits, only a subscription.  Any alternatives for calling landlines?

Yolla app looks ok, can buy credit

[AlwaysThere]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yolla app looks ok, can buy credit

Yolla is up to ten times more expensive than Localphone, to the U.K.

 

Yolla: 

Mobile

from $0.10/min

Landline

from $0.06/min

 

Localphone:

Landlines	All Landlines	0.6¢
Mobiles	All Networks	2.3¢

[Celsius]

32 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Can't you work it out? Pointless having a subscription when you call a few times a year

 

Just checked as I used it a few times.

 

30 minutes per month 1.69USD. So subscribe for 1 month then cancel. Inconvenient, but dirt cheap.

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, Celsius said:

 

Just checked as I used it a few times.

 

30 minutes per month 1.69USD. So subscribe for 1 month then cancel. Inconvenient, but dirt cheap.

For UK it's £7.99 a month

[scubascuba3]

10 minutes ago, AlwaysThere said:

Yolla is up to ten times more expensive than Localphone, to the U.K.

 

Yolla: 

Mobile

from $0.10/min

Landline

from $0.06/min

 

Localphone:

Landlines	All Landlines	0.6¢
Mobiles	All Networks	2.3¢

This app? Gets bad reviews

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I do have an annual subscription and it allows me to call the US unlimited for $30 a year, that's a pretty good deal. I believe that I also have to pay for the number on an annual basis too, but I use it a lot, so it's worth it. I haven't found any viable alternatives to it that make more sense financially. The only downside to a Skype in number is the lack of a voicemail, that was a boneheaded decision. I have no idea why they did that. 

 

Fanytel is also a decent way to make and receive calls. But I only use that for business related stuff as nearly all my personal calls are done on WhatsApp, Line, or Facebook Messenger

Just had a look. It says; 'Skype number no longer available'. Presumably existing customers such as yourself will continue to be able to use and renew your annual subscriptions to rent your geographical landline number?

[AlwaysThere]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

This app? Gets bad reviews

 

I actually use it.  Why not test it yourself. for free. instead of wasting time searching the Internet?

[AlwaysThere]

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

For UK it's £7.99 a month

 

No, it isn't. It's £1.20 for 30 minutes.

[scubascuba3]

28 minutes ago, AlwaysThere said:

 

No, it isn't. It's £1.20 for 30 minutes.

The price i quoted was for Skype

[hotandsticky]

MY TELLO

 

 

 

Google it.

 

 

Good service and cheap as chips

[AlwaysThere]

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The price i quoted was for Skype

 

Yes, I know and you were wrong. From £1 + VAT.

 

[scubascuba3]

7 minutes ago, AlwaysThere said:

 

Yes, I know and you were wrong. From £1 + VAT.

 

It's what the Skype app is showing me, no alternative, maybe website is different . What does the app show you?

[AlwaysThere]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's what the Skype app is showing me, no alternative, maybe website is different . What does the app show you?

 

I haven't installed the application. Why would I?

 

Exactly the same via my Smartphone's Browser.

 

[AlwaysThere]

13 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's what the Skype app is showing me, no alternative, maybe website is different . What does the app show you?

 

Apart from that, I am offered 400 minutes for £5 + VAT. 

[gearbox]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Can't you work it out? Pointless having a subscription when you call a few times a year

Indeed, I use Skype only to call banks or the government, it would be once per couple of months.

 

 

[CallumWK]

34 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's what the Skype app is showing me, no alternative, maybe website is different . What does the app show you?

 

You can search for any specific country.

 

 

[ballpoint]

Looks like they're letting me use up my remaining credit, but aren't giving the option of buying more - only the subscription.  Bit of a bummer that, with credit, I could call multiple countries, but now it appears I have to get a subscription for each specific one.  Microsoft seem determined to push everyone into a 365 subscription.

[Srikcir]

Some issues now with Skype might be due to Skype is now owned by Microsoft. As the story goes, MS introduced Team as a competitor to Skype but Skype remained much more popular.  So it might be a business strategy by MS purchase of Skype to establish practices that would drive Skype users to use Team.

[Wuvu2]

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yolla app looks ok, can buy credit

It has a glitch in headphone/speaker/bluetooth  function that's been annoying lately. Otherwise it's good and lets you set an ID number from anywhere in the world, so I dial my home town it looks like a local call to the receiver. 

 

I used skype for years, then Microsoft bought it and it went downhill. The phone app is a pig with sluggish response on my phone. Maybe not the same for other brands of phone. 

[worrab]

Renewed my subscription in Nov, automatically, costing £9.67 a year for unlimited UK landline calls.

[Mutt Daeng]

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's what the Skype app is showing me, no alternative, maybe website is different . What does the app show you?

UK Prices from my skype app (version 8.133.0.202)

 

[Watawattana]

Thanks everyone, some great tips in this thread.

[khunjeff]

Talkatone lets you call US landlines and cell numbers for free, and will give you a virtual number that you can maintain as long as you use it once in a while.