3CX: reviews, pricing and full price list (2026)
3CX does not bill users but simultaneous calls. That model is very favourable for a switchboard, and a trap the moment you dial in parallel. Full annual price list and reviews.
The short version
- 3CX is a Cypriot vendor founded in 2005, claiming more than 350,000 customers in 190 countries and selling exclusively through a network of 10,000 partners.
- Billing is not based on named licences but on the number of simultaneous calls: a fixed price per system per year, from €285 for the Basic edition at the 8 simultaneous call tier, which covers up to 40 extensions.
- CRM integration and call recording are not in the Basic edition: they start with the Pro edition, at €380 a year at the same tier. Transcription belongs to the AI edition, at €715 a year.
- The software installs on your servers or in your own cloud account: cost shifts from licence to operations, and support is billed per ticket at €100 each.
- The feature list published by 3CX contains no prospecting dialer.
Our bias, stated up front
We make Skipcall, and we sell to the same teams as 3CX. We therefore have a direct financial interest in you not choosing them.
You should read this page knowing that. It is also why it is built the way it is: every claim points to a dated public document you can open yourself. The sources are listed at the foot of the page. Nothing here rests on our word alone.
An entire section below is devoted to what 3CX does better than us, and we had no interest in writing it. If anything here looks wrong to you, write to us: we will correct it and date the correction.
You do not pay for users, you pay for capacity
It is the most original pricing model on this market, and the most misunderstood. €285 a year for forty extensions looks unbeatable. The figure that matters is not forty, it is eight.
Extensions covered
40
at the entry tier, Basic edition
Simultaneous calls
8
the real limit of the system
Eight simultaneous calls means eight conversations at once across the whole company. For a classic switchboard, where most extensions are idle at any moment, that is comfortable: forty people equipped, eight on the phone at once, the maths works.
For prospecting, the calculation inverts. A rep dialing in parallel occupies several simultaneous calls on their own. Four lines per rep, and two reps are enough to saturate the entry tier. The ninth call does not go through.
Which is why 3CX's model and outbound prospecting do not meet, and the vendor does not claim otherwise: its published feature list contains no prospecting dialer. The question is not whether it is expensive, but whether it answers your need.
| Edition | Annual price at tier 8 | Recording and CRM | Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | €285 | no | no |
| Pro | €380 | yes | no |
| AI | €715 | yes | yes |
Annual prices excluding tax per system, at the 8 simultaneous call tier, as published by the vendor on 7 September 2026. The price rises with the simultaneous call tier, not with the number of extensions.
What to do about it
Do not compare this price to a dialer's: they are two product categories. Instead estimate your peak simultaneous calls at busy hours, add margin, and look at the matching tier. Then add the operating cost to the bill, since you host it yourself: server, updates, availability, and support at €100 a ticket.
The full price list
Every published figure, with its exact source. Recorded on 7 September 2026.
Price list of 3cx.com
Tier of 8 simultaneous calls, up to 40 extensions. Without CRM integration or call recording.
Price list of 3cx.com
Same 8 simultaneous call tier. Adds CRM integration and call recording.
Price list of 3cx.com
Same tier. Adds transcription and call summaries.
Support pricing of 3cx.com
Support is not included in the licence: it is billed per unit. To be added to the real cost, since you operate the installation yourself.
What the reviews of 3CX are worth
The gap between the two platforms is the widest in this section after Aircall, and it tells the same story.
G2
over 500 reviews
A solid rating, stable over time. Positive reviews almost always cover the same points: the ratio between licence price and switchboard feature range, and the freedom to choose your own SIP carrier.
Trustpilot
175 reviews
53% five-star and 36% one-star. Negative reviews rarely concern functional scope and more often perceived stability, paid support and licence changes.
Rating distribution
The paid support theme recurs across a large share of negative reviews, and it is structurally tied to the model: when the product installs on your side and assistance costs €100 a ticket, every difficulty carries a visible price. It is a deliberate vendor choice, selling through a partner network expected to handle first-line support.
One element of the file must be mentioned because it is public and documented: in March 2023, the 3CX desktop application was used as a vector in a software supply chain attack, attributed by Mandiant to a group with a link to North Korea. The vendor published a seven-point security action plan on 20 April 2023.
Read it for what it is: a serious incident, handled publicly, with a documented response. Many vendors on this market have never been audited to that level. But if your security team asks for an incident history, this one will appear, and it is better to arrive with the remediation plan than to be caught out.
What 3CX does well
Four points we would rather not write, and which are true.
The price-to-feature ratio is unbeatable for a switchboard
€285 a year for forty extensions is an order of magnitude no per-user subscription vendor can approach. If your need is a business phone system, 3CX is objectively the cheapest option on the market, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Freedom to choose your carrier
3CX does not sell you the minutes: you connect the SIP carrier of your choice and negotiate call rates separately. For a company with volume, that freedom is worth money, and it exists at almost no competitor.
Twenty years of presence and 350,000 customers
Founded in 2005, present in 190 countries, with a network of 10,000 partners. Continuity of service is not in question, and the integrator ecosystem means you can find a competent provider nearby.
The 2023 incident was handled publicly
Alert published on 30 March, Mandiant investigation results on 11 April, seven-point action plan on 20 April. That is transparent crisis management, and many vendors would have said less. It does not make the incident trivial, but it says something about the vendor.
The five questions to put to them in writing
Copy these straight into an email. In writing, not on a call: a written answer is binding, a spoken one leaves no trace.
The tier you need
“We would be [N] users, with an estimated peak of [X] simultaneous calls at busy hours. Which tier do you recommend, and what is its annual price in the [Basic / Pro / AI] edition?”
Full cost including operations
“Beyond the licence, what annual cost should we plan for hosting, updates and support? How many support tickets does a customer of our size consume on average in the first year?”
List dialing
“Your feature list mentions no prospecting dialer. Is there a module, a partner extension or an integration allowing automatic dialing of a call list, and at what price?”
Exceeding the tier
“What happens when the simultaneous call tier is reached: is the next call rejected, queued, or does the system move automatically to the next tier with billing?”
Security since 2023
“Can you send me the status of the seven-point security plan published on 20 April 2023, along with your current certifications?”
Who it is the right choice for, and who it is not
3CX is a good choice if
- your need is a business phone system, not a prospecting tool
- you have a technical team able to operate a server
- you want to choose your SIP carrier and negotiate minutes separately
- your peak simultaneous calls stay moderate
Look elsewhere if
- you want to dial several numbers in parallel: the tier would saturate
- you have nobody to operate and update a server
- support billed at €100 a ticket does not suit your organisation
- you are looking for a prospecting dialer: 3CX offers none
Frequently asked questions
How much does 3CX cost in 2026? +
3CX bills a fixed price per system per year, indexed on the number of simultaneous calls rather than the number of users. At the 8 simultaneous call tier, which covers up to 40 extensions, the Basic edition is €285 a year, Pro €380 and AI €715. Support is not included: it costs €100 a ticket. Since the software installs on your servers, operating cost must be added.
How does billing by simultaneous calls work? +
You do not buy named licences but capacity: the number of conversations that can happen at the same time across the whole system. A tier of 8 simultaneous calls covers up to 40 extensions, because in a classic switchboard most extensions are idle at any moment. That model becomes unfavourable the moment you dial in parallel: a rep on four lines occupies four simultaneous calls alone.
Does 3CX offer a prospecting dialer? +
No. The feature list published by the vendor contains no prospecting dialer. 3CX is a software phone system, with IVR, queues, recording and CRM integrations from the Pro edition. If you want to chain calls from a list automatically, it is not the right product.
What are the reviews of 3CX worth? +
The rating is 4.4 out of 5 on G2 across more than 500 reviews, and 2.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 175 reviews, 36% of them one-star. Positive reviews cite the ratio between licence price and functional range, and the freedom to choose a SIP carrier. Negative ones concern perceived stability, paid support at €100 a ticket and licence changes.
What happened in the 2023 security incident? +
In March 2023, the 3CX desktop application was used as a vector in a software supply chain attack, attributed by Mandiant to a group with a link to North Korea. The vendor published an alert on 30 March, initial Mandiant investigation results on 11 April, and a seven-point security action plan on 20 April 2023. If your security team asks for an incident history, present that plan and ask for its current status.
Who publishes 3CX? +
3CX is a Cypriot vendor founded in 2005. It claims more than 350,000 customers in 190 countries and sells exclusively through a network of around 10,000 integrator partners.
Can this review be trusted, published by a competitor? +
We make Skipcall. We do not sell the same product as 3CX, which is a phone system, but we meet its partners in tenders. You should read this page knowing that. Which is why we write that its price-to-feature ratio is unbeatable for a switchboard, and that its public handling of the 2023 incident was more transparent than many vendors would have managed.
And where do we fit in
This page judges 3CX; it does not sell Skipcall. If you are at the comparison stage rather than the evaluation stage, the comparative analysis lives elsewhere and is written for that.
3CX alternatives: 8 solutions compared →Sources
Public data consulted on 7 September 2026.
- 3CX, full price list · annual prices in euros by tier and edition
- 3CX, pricing page · licensing model by simultaneous calls
- 3CX, feature list · distribution of features across editions
- 3CX, company page · founding, customers, users, partners
- 3CX, alert of 30 March 2023 · affected versions and first measures
- 3CX, Mandiant findings of 11 April 2023 · attribution of the activity
Prices, contractual documents and ratings change. The figures above reflect the state of public sources on the date shown. 3CX is a trademark of its publisher, cited here for information. This page is published by a direct competitor, as stated at the top of the article.
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