After 23 years of connecting folks all over the world, Skype, the favored video-calling service, is shutting down. Microsoft, the father or mother firm, confirmed that the official sundown date for the service is Might 5, 2025.
Skype customers can both migrate all their contacts and chat knowledge to Microsoft Groups, or they will select to obtain their Skype knowledge and transition to a different video-calling service.
To help customers within the change, we’ve created a information on easy methods to migrate to Groups or obtain Skype knowledge. Moreover, we’ve curated a listing of other video-calling apps that may exchange Skype.
Find out how to transfer from Skype to Microsoft Groups
Earlier than Might 5, Skype customers can check in to Teams at no cost utilizing their Skype credentials. As soon as logged in, all their chats and contacts will routinely switch to the app.
Groups provides options much like Skype, together with one-on-one and group calls, messaging, and file sharing. Whereas Skype was primarily designed for smaller teams (as much as 20 members) and informal use, Groups is extra business-focused, accommodating as much as 10,000 members in a single video name. It additionally comes with superior security measures and varied integrations, resembling Evernote, OneDrive, Workplace 365, Salesforce, SharePoint, Trello, and extra.
Groups is offered on Android, iOS, Mac, PC, and the net.
Find out how to export Skype knowledge
For customers who aren’t considering making the transition to Microsoft Groups, we nonetheless suggest exporting account knowledge. This ensures that precious data — resembling messages, information, and call particulars — is backed up and might be accessed sooner or later.
- Open Skype and log in.
- Click on on the three horizontal dots underneath the account title within the prime left nook.
- Go to Settings > Account & Profile > Your Account.
- After being redirected to Skype’s internet portal, select from both Export contacts (.csv), Export Caller ID numbers (.csv), or Export information and chat historical past.
- The “Export information and chat historical past” possibility lets customers obtain Conversations and Information.
- Click on Submit Request and Proceed.
- When the export course of is full, click on Obtain.
Listed here are the perfect Skype alternate options
Google Meet
An apparent advantage of utilizing Google Meet is that it’s accessible at no cost with a Google account. Since lots of people are already utilizing Google and have current accounts, transitioning to this platform can be pretty simple.
Google Meet permits customers to carry conferences with as much as 100 members, document conferences, share screens, and extra. A disadvantage with the free plan is that if a gathering has greater than three members, there’s a 60-minute time restrict.
Massive corporations could wish to buy a Google Workspace plan for options like having as much as 25 co-hosts, dividing members into smaller breakout rooms throughout conferences, creating polls, establishing a Q&A session, livestreaming to YouTube, and extra. Workspace — which has plans for $7/month, $14/month, $22/month, and up — additionally provides AI-powered instruments by its Gemini assistant, which helps Meet customers take notes and create customized background pictures.
Zoom
Zoom is one other in style web-conferencing device. It provides a number of useful options, together with the flexibility to host as much as 100 members and chat in each non-public and public teams, and has instruments resembling notes, a whiteboard, and screen-sharing capabilities. Customers may document conferences and entry transcripts.
Nevertheless, one draw back is the 40-minute time restrict per assembly for customers on the free plan. To keep away from having conferences lower off, customers might want to buy a subscription, which ranges from $13/month to $18/month. Paid subscribers have entry to Zoom’s AI Companion, which incorporates the flexibility to summarize conferences and ask questions on transcribed conferences.
Webex
Webex, the Cisco-owned video conferencing device, provides an identical plan to its opponents. As an illustration, it has options resembling display screen sharing, the flexibility to document classes, a whiteboard functionality, and extra.
The free plan contains as much as 100 attendees per assembly, in addition to an unlucky 40-minute time restrict. Webex additionally provides plans from $12/month, $22/month, and up, relying on staff dimension. The paid tiers include an AI assistant, reside polling, Q&A, and the flexibility so as to add as much as 1,000 attendees.
Discord
Discord was initially designed as a chat platform for avid gamers, however it may well additionally function an alternative choice to Skype for private use or for smaller groups. Nevertheless, it’s not beneficial for bigger companies, because it limits calls to 25 members.
On the optimistic facet, Discord provides limitless assembly lengths and options resembling display screen sharing, the flexibility to document conferences, and breakout rooms. The platform has a free plan along with two paid choices priced at $5/month and $10/month, making it one of many extra inexpensive decisions accessible, relying on customers’ wants.
Slack
Whereas Slack is probably not ultimate for formally scheduled conferences with massive teams, it may be efficient for spontaneous conferences inside staff chats. The Huddle characteristic in Slack permits customers to simply transition from a chat thread to a casual audio or video name with colleagues. On the free plan, Huddles can accommodate solely two folks, whereas paid plans (priced at $7/month or $12/month) enable for as much as 50.
Sign
Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has supplied group video-calling features since 2020 and may accommodate as much as 50 members in a single name.
Though it’s not a direct competitor to Skype, it permits customers to share hyperlinks for calls, enabling them to easily ship the hyperlink to others slightly than creating a gaggle, very similar to Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Groups do. Notably, Sign is free to make use of.
Different related apps for cellular customers seeking to video name with smaller teams embody WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple FaceTime.
About The Author
