A Salesforce dialer is a calling tool that logs every call in Salesforce, on the right lead, contact or opportunity. It integrates in one of two ways: a softphone embedded in the Salesforce console (CTI), or a separate dialer that syncs each call back to the CRM through the API.
That architecture choice matters more than any feature checklist. It decides where your reps spend their day, how fast they can dial, and what your Salesforce admin will have to maintain. This guide covers Salesforce’s own dialer and seven third-party tools, with the integration type, the dialing mode (one number at a time or several simultaneously), the published pricing and the team each one fits. Every price and spec below was checked on the vendors’ websites on November 5, 2026.
CTI or API sync: what are the two ways to connect a dialer to Salesforce?
Before comparing tools, it helps to be clear about what “integration” means, because two architectures coexist and they solve different problems.
CTI dialers. CTI stands for computer telephony integration. The vendor ships a managed package on the AppExchange, the admin sets up a call center and a softphone layout, and a small phone appears in the Salesforce console. The rep clicks a number on the record, the call starts, and the activity lands on that record. Historically, this coupling runs on Open CTI, the framework Salesforce provides to telephony vendors.
API-synced dialers. The tool lives in its own web or desktop app. It reads leads and contacts from Salesforce, the rep calls from the dialer, and the tool then writes the call back to Salesforce: task, outcome, duration, sometimes recording and transcript. Reps do not spend their day inside Salesforce, but Salesforce stays current.
| CTI dialer | API-synced dialer | |
|---|---|---|
| Where reps call from | The Salesforce console | The dialer’s own app |
| Setup | AppExchange package, call center, softphone layout | Connect the org, choose what syncs |
| Main strength | Reps never leave Salesforce | Fast dialing, often several lines at once |
| Main limit | Slower dialing, depends on Open CTI | Two screens, the call doesn’t start from the record |
| Typical user | AEs, account managers, inbound teams | SDRs and high-volume outbound teams |
The broader topic of connecting a phone system to a CRM is covered in our guide to phone system CRM integration. This article stays focused on Salesforce.
Is Salesforce’s native dialer good enough?
Salesforce sells two separate products that are often confused.
Sales Dialer (formerly Lightning Dialer) is the calling add-on: click-to-dial from records and automatic call logging. The add-ons page lists it “starting at $5/user/month”, billed annually, on Pro Suite, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited and Agentforce 1 Sales editions, but not Starter Suite. The “starting at” hides a multi-license structure (inbound, outbound, minutes) whose prices are not all published.
Sales Engagement is the prospecting console: cadences, activity capture and a follow-up assistant. It costs $50 per user per month, billed annually, on top of your Sales Cloud license.
The main limit is the dialing mode. Salesforce’s Trailhead module on the dialer describes reps adding records to a call list and calling them one after another, each record leaving the list once called. There is no simultaneous dialing. It is a comfortable tool for a rep making a few dozen calls a day, but it does nothing about the time spent waiting on rings and voicemail greetings.
Best for: teams already on Sales Cloud with moderate call volume that want everything inside Salesforce and no extra vendor.
Limit: one record at a time, and a multi-license price structure that is hard to estimate without a quote.
The best Salesforce dialers, compared
The table summarizes all eight options; details follow tool by tool. “Not published” means the figure does not appear on the vendor’s site as of November 5, 2026. We did not guess it.
| Tool | Salesforce integration | Dialing mode | Published price (checked Nov 5, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skipcall | Native, API sync; calls placed from Skipcall | Power dialer, or up to 4 simultaneous lines | From $70 per seat per month, billed annually |
| Salesforce Sales Dialer | Native, in the console | One record at a time | From $5 per user per month |
| Kixie | Browser extension on the Salesforce API | Up to 4 lines (Multi-Line PowerDialer plan) | Not published on the pricing page |
| Orum | CRM sync | Parallel dialing, line count not published | Quote only, 9-seat minimum |
| Nooks | Bi-directional sync | Multi-line and power dialing, line count not published | Quote only |
| PhoneBurner | AppExchange package, panel inside Salesforce | Power dialer, one conversation at a time | From $140 per user per month, billed annually |
| Aircall | App inside Salesforce, via AppExchange | Sequential power dialer | $50 per seat per month billed annually, 3-seat minimum |
| CloudTalk | Salesforce integration on the Expert plan | Parallel dialer add-on, up to 10 lines | USD amounts not readable on our check |
1. Skipcall
Skipcall is a B2B outbound dialer: power dialer, simultaneous dialing on up to 4 lines, AI voicemail detection, prerecorded voicemail drop, and AI transcripts and summaries for every call. The Salesforce integration is native: no Apex code, no package to deploy, no custom objects. Calls become dated, qualified tasks on standard objects (lead, contact, account, opportunity), and the admin decides what syncs to Salesforce and what stays in Skipcall.
The point to understand before choosing: you call from Skipcall, and Salesforce is updated afterwards. There is no softphone in the Salesforce console and no click-to-call from the record. A click-to-call browser extension has been announced, but it is not available as of this article.
Why that design? Because simultaneous dialing is hard to drive from a record page. When four numbers ring at once, the rep needs a screen that surfaces whoever picks up, not whichever record happened to be open. When someone answers, the other lines are cancelled while they are still ringing, and those prospects see a missed call. Keeping that number low is why Skipcall stops at 4 lines, a cap we explain with the full math in how many lines a parallel dialer should use.
The parallel dialer and power dialer are included from the Starter plan, from $70 per seat per month billed annually, with no seat minimum. The Salesforce integration is included in the license at no extra cost (see pricing).
Best for: SDRs and outbound teams that spend their day in the dialer, want several simultaneous lines, and need Salesforce kept current without manual logging.
Not for: teams that require calls to start from the Salesforce console, inbound call centers (Skipcall has no IVR or call queues), and teams that want more than 4 lines per rep.
2. Salesforce Sales Dialer
Covered above: it is the most integrated option, since Salesforce builds it. Reps never switch screens, calls log without extra setup, and the admin has no third-party vendor to approve. In return, dialing is one record at a time, and pairing Sales Dialer with Sales Engagement stacks two add-ons on top of the Sales Cloud license.
Best for: organizations that value a single vendor over call throughput.
3. Kixie
Kixie connects through a browser extension, PowerCall, that talks to the Salesforce API: no call center definition and no softphone layout, according to its Salesforce page. Reps dial from leads, contacts, list views and task queues, and every call logs as a completed task of type Call. The Multi-Line PowerDialer plan dials up to 4 lines simultaneously from Salesforce list views. Kixie requires Salesforce Professional or higher with API access.
The pricing page shows no dollar amounts, and the unlimited minutes it advertises cover calls to the US and Canada. See Skipcall vs Kixie for the detailed comparison.
Best for: North American teams that want simultaneous dialing launched straight from Salesforce list views.
4. Orum
Orum is a US parallel dialer that lists Salesforce among its integrations. Its pricing page gives neither a price nor a line count: pricing depends on package and number of users, with a 9-seat minimum on the Ascend plan. It is built for structured SDR teams already running outbound at volume. See Skipcall vs Orum.
Best for: SDR teams of ten or more that are comfortable buying through a quote.
5. Nooks
Nooks combines an AI dialer, sequencing, signals and coaching. Its pricing page mentions bi-directional CRM sync with Salesforce and HubSpot, and “multi-line and power dialing” without stating the number of lines. Pricing is by quote. It is a broad platform: if you only want a dialer, you will be evaluating more than you set out to buy. See Skipcall vs Nooks.
Best for: teams that want a full prospecting platform around Salesforce, with the budget to match.
6. PhoneBurner
PhoneBurner is the textbook dialer that lives inside Salesforce. Installed from the AppExchange, it adds a dialer panel to the Salesforce UI in both Classic and Lightning. Its most admin-friendly feature: any Salesforce report becomes a dial session, keeping its filters and sort order, up to 500 records. Calls, notes and dispositions log automatically.
Dialing stays sequential: one live conversation per rep, no simultaneous lines. Plans start at $140 per user per month billed annually ($165 monthly). See Skipcall vs PhoneBurner.
Best for: teams that run everything through Salesforce reports and do not want to leave the interface.
7. Aircall
Aircall is a full business phone system, inbound and outbound, with an app that runs inside Salesforce Lightning and Classic. The Sales Cloud and Service Cloud integration is limited to the Professional plan, at $50 per seat per month billed annually with a 3-seat minimum, and it requires a Salesforce Enterprise or Unlimited org. Aircall also sells an “Aircall for Salesforce Voice” add-on at $30 per seat per month. Its power dialer works through an imported list of up to 1,000 numbers in sequence, with no simultaneous calls.
Best for: teams that also handle inbound calls and want a real phone system wired into Salesforce.
Limit: no simultaneous dialing, and a high Salesforce edition required. See Skipcall vs Aircall.
8. CloudTalk
CloudTalk is a cloud phone system covering every dialing mode. Its pricing page ties the Salesforce ecosystem integration to the Expert plan, which has a 3-seat minimum and includes the power dialer; the parallel dialer is a paid add-on on every plan and dials up to 10 lines. On November 5, 2026 we could only read the page’s euro prices, so check the USD figures on CloudTalk’s pricing page. See Skipcall vs CloudTalk.
Best for: SMBs that want inbound, outbound and simultaneous dialing from one vendor, alongside Salesforce.
Skipcall and Salesforce: who it fits, and who it doesn’t
Being straight about this saves a bad purchase and a trial that goes nowhere.
Skipcall fits if:
- your reps do outbound prospecting and spend most of their day dialing;
- you want simultaneous lines, capped at a sensible 4;
- you expect Salesforce to be current (tasks, outcomes, transcripts, summaries) without anyone re-entering data;
- your admin rejects packages that create their own objects: the integration writes to standard objects;
- you want a published price with no seat minimum.
Skipcall does not fit if:
- leadership requires calls to start from the Salesforce record, with a softphone in the console;
- you run an inbound call center with IVR and queues: Skipcall has neither;
- you want 6 or 10 lines per rep;
- your reps make a handful of calls a day between meetings: the native Sales Dialer or a phone system like Aircall will do.
How do you choose a Salesforce dialer?
Five questions, in this order, settle most cases.
1. Where must reps call from? If the answer is “inside Salesforce, no exceptions”, your shortlist shrinks to CTI dialers and the native add-on. If what matters is that Salesforce stays current, API-synced dialers come back into play, and they are the ones that dial fastest.
2. What volume? Below a few dozen calls per rep per day, a power dialer is enough. Above that, waiting on rings and voicemail greetings becomes the biggest time sink, and that is where a parallel dialer changes the output. The cost per meeting calculator puts numbers on the gap with your own data.
3. Which Salesforce edition? Check it before any demo. Aircall requires Enterprise or Unlimited, Kixie requires Professional with API access, and Sales Dialer is not available on Starter Suite. Skipcall connects to standard objects with no package to install.
4. What must show up in Salesforce? A call task is not always enough. List what managers actually read: call outcome, duration, recording, transcript, summary, next step. Then check, tool by tool, what syncs and onto which object (lead or contact, account, opportunity).
5. What does it really cost? Add up the dialer license, minutes, add-ons (parallel dialing, numbers), seat minimums and, where needed, the Salesforce add-on. A quote-only tool with a 9-seat minimum does not have the same entry cost as a published per-seat price with no minimum.
Not on Salesforce?
The same question applies to every CRM, with different answers. HubSpot has its own built-in calling, whose limits are covered in the best HubSpot dialers; Pipedrive relies on its marketplace, see the best Pipedrive phone integrations; Attio has its own guide on Attio phone integration. If you are still choosing the CRM itself, our roundup of the best CRMs for SDRs lays out the criteria. Whatever the CRM, its built-in enrichment rarely supplies mobiles: our review of CRM native enrichment and phone numbers checks six of them.
What to remember
- A Salesforce dialer integrates either through a softphone in the console (CTI) or through API sync from its own app. The first optimizes for comfort, the second for speed.
- Salesforce’s native Sales Dialer, from $5 per user per month, dials one record at a time. Sales Engagement costs $50 per user per month on top of the license.
- Open CTI retires on February 28, 2028: ask your vendor if your embedded softphone depends on it.
- To dial several numbers at once you need a third-party tool: Skipcall and Kixie up to 4 lines, CloudTalk up to 10 as an add-on, Orum and Nooks with no published line count.
- Skipcall syncs natively with Salesforce but is used from Skipcall, from $70 per seat per month billed annually. It suits teams that live in the dialer, not teams that want to call from the Salesforce record.
- Check your Salesforce edition before signing: it is the most common trap.
Prices and specs checked on vendor websites on November 5, 2026. Sources: Salesforce add-ons page, Salesforce Partner Contact Center pricing, Salesforce Trailhead Lightning Dialer module, Salesforce Ben’s February 24, 2026 report on the Open CTI retirement, and the pricing and Salesforce pages of Kixie, Orum, Nooks, PhoneBurner, Aircall and CloudTalk.
