Guide · Free calls
Free calls like Skype: what still costs nothing in 2026
Free calls still exist after Skype, but only between people on the same app: WhatsApp, FaceTime, Signal, Viber, Telegram, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams (free) calls cost nothing to any country over Wi-Fi or mobile data.[1] Calls to ordinary landlines and mobiles abroad are almost never free. The exceptions are narrow: Google Voice gives US personal accounts free calls to the US and Canada,[2] and BOSS Revolution gives new customers $2 of calling credit if they download its app before January 31, 2027.[3] Skype itself was retired on May 5, 2025.[4] Calling phone numbers on Skype always took Skype Credit or a subscription, which Microsoft lists among Skype's paid features.[5] I checked each app's own pricing and help pages on October 25, 2026.
After Skype is published with support from TwinPhone; rankings reflect my criteria. Methodology and disclosure.
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Free calls in one minute
- Free: voice and video calls between users of the same app (WhatsApp, Signal, Viber, Telegram, FaceTime, Google Meet, Teams free), in any country; both people need the app and an internet connection.[1]
- Not free: calls to landlines and mobiles abroad. WhatsApp cannot make them at all; Viber charges for them through Viber Out.[6]
- Free to phones, with limits: Google Voice to US and Canadian numbers (US personal accounts only), one 1-minute Talk360 trial call, and $2 BOSS Revolution credit for new customers.[2][7][3]
- Hidden cost: app calls use mobile data, and roaming data abroad can cost money; Wi-Fi avoids it.[1]
- Calling a landline? That needs a paid pay-as-you-go service; see when free isn't enough.
Which calls are still free after Skype?
A free call in 2026 is an app-to-app call: both people install the same app, and the call travels over the internet instead of the phone network. Distance does not matter. A WhatsApp call from Texas to Manila costs the same as one across the street, which is nothing beyond the data it uses.[1]
The moment one side is an ordinary phone number, a landline or a mobile without the app, the call stops being free. Apps that reach phone numbers, such as Viber Out, Rebtel, Yolla, Talk360 and Google Voice, charge per minute or sell plans.[6][9]
Was Skype free?
Partly. Microsoft's retirement notice splits Skype users into free users, who were moved to Microsoft Teams (free), and paid users of Skype Credit, Skype Numbers and subscriptions.[4] Calling landlines and mobiles was one of the paid features: Microsoft describes Skype Credit and subscriptions as the products "that allow you to make and receive international and domestic calls".[5]
Skype was retired on May 5, 2025, so neither its free nor its paid calls exist any more; does Skype still work covers what is left.[4] Microsoft's free successor, Teams (free), makes free app-to-app calls but no calls to phone numbers: Microsoft says the free version of Teams does not support paid calling plans.[4]
The apps below are the ones former Skype users usually move to for free calls. The site's full list of free Skype alternatives also covers chat, privacy and devices.
Free vs paid: where 'free' stops
| Type of call | Free options | Paid options | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| App-to-app voice | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Viber, FaceTime, Teams (free).[1] | Not needed. | Both people need the same app and an internet connection. |
| App-to-app video | The same apps, plus Google Meet in a browser.[10] | Paid plans only for bigger or longer group meetings. | Group size and time limits differ by app. |
| Calls to US and Canadian phones | Google Voice, for personal accounts in the US.[2] | Pay-per-minute services and carrier plans. | Personal Google Voice is available in the US only.[2] |
| Calls to landlines abroad | None, apart from one-off trial credit (Talk360, BOSS Revolution).[7][3] | Viber Out, Rebtel, Yolla, BOSS Revolution, Google Voice credit.[6] | Rates are per minute and vary by country. |
| Calls to mobiles abroad | None, apart from the same trial credit.[7] | The same pay-as-you-go services. | WhatsApp cannot dial phone numbers at all.[1] |
| Receiving calls on a phone number | A free Google Voice US number.[2] | Paid virtual numbers. | Skype Numbers ended in May 2026 and could not be ported out.[4] |
Free international calls, app by app
Each entry below says what is free, what is paid and what the other person needs. It sticks to cost. Group sizes, time limits and video features are covered in free video calling apps compared.
WhatsApp voice and video calls are free between WhatsApp users in any country, and WhatsApp says every call is end-to-end encrypted.[1] Calls run over Wi-Fi or mobile data, so the only possible cost is the data itself.[1] WhatsApp cannot call a landline or a mobile number that isn't on WhatsApp.[1]
FaceTime
FaceTime is Apple's built-in calling app on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Apple's iPhone User Guide describes Group FaceTime calls with up to 32 people.[11] It is free only when everyone is on an Apple device, which makes it a good choice for families who all use iPhones and a poor one for mixed iPhone and Android groups.
Viber (free vs Viber Out)
Viber-to-Viber voice and video calls are free.[6] Viber Out is the paid part: pay-as-you-go credit, single-country plans and a World Unlimited plan for calls to landlines and mobiles.[6] I couldn't read Viber Out's per-minute rates, because they load in a calculator, so this page quotes none.
Signal and Telegram
Signal is free for everything, voice and video included; it is run by a nonprofit and funded by donations, and its group calls take up to 75 people.[12] Telegram voice and video calls are free too; its group calls take up to 200 people and have been end-to-end encrypted since April 30, 2025.[13] Neither app calls phone numbers.[14]
Rebtel, Talk360 and BOSS: free between users, paid to phones
These apps exist to call phone numbers, which they charge for, but each has a free corner. Rebtel calls between Rebtel users are free, and some Rebtel subscriptions start with a one-week free trial.[9] Yolla calls between Yolla users are free as well.[15]
Talk360 gives one free 1-minute trial call per newly registered phone number, and the person called needs neither the app nor internet access.[7] BOSS Revolution makes free app-to-app calls over Wi-Fi and gives new customers $2 of calling credit for app downloads before January 31, 2027.[3]
Free calling apps former Skype users choose
-
Best overall
Free calls to other WhatsApp users anywhere; cannot call phone numbers.[1]
Free
-
Privacy-focused calls
Free, donation-funded calls between Signal users.[12]
Free
-
Free calls plus paid Viber Out
Free Viber-to-Viber calls; Viber Out is paid.[6]
Free; Viber Out paid
-
Browser video calls
Free browser video calls with a Google account.[10]
Free; paid plans
-
Free US number
Free US number and free calls to the US and Canada for US personal accounts.[2]
Free in the US
How to make free international calls from an iPhone or Android phone
The method is the same on both systems: the call has to go through an app over data, not through the phone's own dialer. The phone's built-in dialer places a normal carrier call, which your carrier bills at its international rate.
- Agree on one app with the person abroad. WhatsApp, Signal, Viber and Telegram run on both iPhone and Android; FaceTime only works if both of you use Apple devices.[16][17][18]
- Install the app from the App Store or Google Play and finish the sign-up on both phones.
- Connect to Wi-Fi before you call, especially when you are travelling, so the call does not use roaming data.[1]
- Open the contact inside the app and tap the phone icon for a voice call or the camera icon for a video call.
- If the person you want to reach has no smartphone or no internet, stop here: no free app can reach their number, and you need a paid service instead.
Data or minutes?
App calls use data, not the minutes in your phone plan. At home on Wi-Fi they cost nothing extra. Abroad on mobile data they are charged as data, which is cheap on a plan with included roaming and expensive without one.[1] For calls that must reach a real phone number, the step-by-step guide to calling abroad explains dialing formats and options.
Free calls to phone numbers: the few that exist
A handful of services let you call ordinary phone numbers for free, but each one has a limit on who, where or how long.
| Service | What is free | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Google Voice | A US number and calls to US and Canadian numbers.[2] | Personal accounts in the US only; international calls are prepaid per minute.[2] |
| BOSS Revolution | $2 of calling credit for new customers.[3] | App download before January 31, 2027; one-time. |
| Talk360 | One 1-minute trial call to a phone number.[7] | Once per newly registered phone number. |
| Rebtel | A one-week free trial on some subscriptions.[9] | Only some plans; it becomes a paid subscription. |
| Microsoft 365 Skype minutes | Used to include Skype minutes in Personal and Family plans.[4] | Removed from March 2026; nothing left to claim. |
I couldn't read Google Voice's international per-minute rates, because they load in a calculator; the free part, calls to the US and Canada, is stated on the same page.[2]
Hidden costs of 'free' calls
- Roaming data. An app call on mobile data abroad is billed by your carrier as roaming data. Turning off mobile data and calling over Wi-Fi removes the cost.[1]
- Data per call. WhatsApp does not publish how much data a minute of calling uses, so any per-minute figure you see quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not an official number.
- The other person needs the app. A free call only works when the person you call has the same app, a smartphone and a connection. Talk360 is an example of the paid alternative: its calls reach a phone with no app and no internet.[7]
- An account. Google Meet and Google Voice need a Google account; the free Google Voice number is limited to the US.[10][2]
When free isn't enough
If the person you call has only a landline, an old phone or no data, no free app reaches them. Pay-as-you-go services charge per minute, and prices differ a lot by country and between landlines and mobiles. I compare the cheapest paid calls to landlines abroad, with dated per-minute rates, on a separate page.
Free calls FAQ
Is Skype free, and was it ever free to call phones?
How can I call internationally for free?
Is WhatsApp free for international calls?
Yes. WhatsApp voice and video calls to other WhatsApp users are free in every country; the only cost is the mobile data they use when you are not on Wi-Fi.[1]
Does WhatsApp calling use minutes or data abroad?
Data. A WhatsApp call uses your internet connection, not the minutes in your phone plan, so abroad it is charged as mobile or roaming data unless you are on Wi-Fi.[1] WhatsApp does not publish an official figure for data used per minute.
Can WhatsApp call landlines?
No. WhatsApp only calls other WhatsApp users; it has no paid or free option for calling landlines or mobile numbers outside the app.[1]
Is Viber free?
Viber-to-Viber calls and video calls are free; calls to landlines and mobiles go through Viber Out, which is paid with credit or a calling plan.[6]
Is Rebtel free?
Only between Rebtel users: Rebtel-to-Rebtel calls and messages are free, and some subscriptions start with a one-week free trial.[9] Calls to phone numbers are paid per minute or with a plan.
Is Talk360 free?
Talk360 gives one free 1-minute trial call per newly registered phone number; after that, calls are paid per minute from prepaid credit, priced by destination.[7]
How do I make free international calls from an iPhone or Android phone?
Related guides
Sources
- WhatsApp: Calling. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Google Voice: Calling rates. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- BOSS Revolution: International calling. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Microsoft Support: Skype is retiring in May 2025: What you need to know (no visible update date). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Microsoft 365 Blog: The next chapter: Moving from Skype to Microsoft Teams (Jeff Teper) (February 28, 2025). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Viber: Viber and Viber Out. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Talk360 Help: How does Talk360 work? (June 2, 2026). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- TechCrunch: WhatsApp now has more than 3 billion users a month (May 1, 2025). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Rebtel: Calling rates (country pages for India, Mexico, Philippines, UK, Germany). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Google Workspace: Google Meet. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Apple Support: iPhone User Guide: Make a Group FaceTime call. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Signal: Signal blog (group call limit update). Accessed October 17, 2026.
- Telegram: Group calls made easy (E2EE group calls) (April 30, 2025). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Telegram: Telegram FAQ. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Yolla: Call rates (country pages for India, Mexico, Philippines, UK, Germany). Accessed October 25, 2026.
- WhatsApp: Download. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Signal: Download Signal. Accessed October 25, 2026.
- Telegram: Telegram apps. Accessed October 25, 2026.
Gladstone Walters
Editor, After Skype
I'm Gladstone Walters, and I live in the United Kingdom. I write and maintain the After Skype guides. Every price, limit and date here comes from the vendor's own pricing, help or rate pages; I note the day I read each one and put a dash wherever I can't verify a number. TwinPhone supports this site, so I hold it to the same criteria as every other app and list its weak points next to its strengths.
Gladstone on Trustpilot (opens in a new tab)Reviewed and updated · Next review January 2027 · Author page · Methodology