Skype

Free Skype-to-Skype
Reviewed
October 2010
Email
Skype

Pros
  • Calls to other Skype users are free
  • Video conferencing
  • Cheap rates to call landlines
  • Cheap international calling
Cons
  • Variable voice quality
  • No 911 service
  • Computer must be on to make calls
  • Scant technical support

Professional reviewers and users alike love Skype because it allows you to have free PC-to-PC VoIP calls or video calls. One drawback is sound quality that is decent at best, and poor in some reviews. Some experts say Skype isn't VoIP per se, but something different -- peer-to-peer technology that requires a special headset and microphone or a dedicated Skype phone. If you want to call landline phones, you'll need to subscribe to Skype's pay service (about 2 cents per minute or $3 per month for unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada). Reviews recommend Skype for free international calls to other Skype users, as well as for very inexpensive international calls to landline and cell phones. Skype isn't designed, however, to be the sole telephone for the household, mainly because it can't make 911 calls. Hardware-based VoIP services such as Vonage (*Est. $10 to $35 per month) offer 911 service, and your computer doesn't need to be on to make calls -- but you'll need a backup battery or cell phone in case the electricity goes out. For domestic calls, Google Voice Calls from Gmail (free) service gets good reviews.

ConsumerReports.org ranks 13 VoIP providers, including Skype, in its report on bundled services, and also provides a single-product review of Skype. A more recent but smaller comparison review at SpotCoolStuff.com compares Skype with Vonage, MagicJack and Ooma, as does a review in The New York Times. We found user reviews at DSLReports.com. The comparison review at TopTenReviews.com doesn't document its testing procedures, but provides ample details about Skype features.

Where To Buy
 
 
 
 
 

Our Sources

1. ConsumerReports.org

Skype is among those listed in the separate chart on phone services in this report about bundled services. Thirteen VoIP and VoIP-type services are ranked alongside landline phone services. However, the ratings chart is available only to subscribers.

Review: Save a Bundle, Editors of ConsumerReports.org, Feb. 2010

2. SpotCoolStuff.com

This review compares Skype with two other popular VoIP services, Vonage and MagicJack --based on tests of call quality as well as other factors. (Comparisons with Ooma follow in a March 2009 article.) Skype is recommended for its inexpensive international calls, but Vonage provides more consistently good call quality.

Review: MagicJack vs. Vonage vs. Skype, Editors of SpotCoolStuff.com, Feb. 6, 2009

3. The New York Times

This overview of long-distance calling options tests Skype and MagicJack, also comparing both with Vonage and Ooma. Call quality on Skype is judged "spotty."

Review: Talk Is Cheap, if You Ask, Eric A. Taub, April 29, 2009

4. ConsumerReports.org

This brief report gives a good rundown of Skype, but warns there is no 911 service and that you should also have a landline to be safe.

Review: Skype: A Totally Free Phone Service but with Drawbacks, Editors of ConsumerReports.org, Oct. 2007

5. DSLReports.com

Over 30 users review and rate Skype here -- not enough for editors to give it an overall rating. Skype's technical support gets some low ratings here.

Review: Skype, Editors of and Contributors to DSLReports.com

6. TopTenReviews.com

Skype ranks tenth among 21 VoIP providers that are rated here. Testing is not documented.

Review: Skype, Editors of TopTenReviews.com

VoIP Runners Up:

Skype Free Skype-to-Skype

3 picks including: The New York Times…

Phone Power! *Est. $15 per month and up

3 picks including: Calling-Plans.com, My Rate Plan…

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