8x8 vs Aircall
Side-by-side comparison — pricing, features, ratings, use cases. Find which Voip fits you best.
💰 Pricing
🔧 Features
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- Unlimited calling to 47 countries on Express is a standout value. At $24/user/mo, this goes far beyond typical US/Canada unlimited plans, directly benefiting teams with global customers — no per-minute surprises on major destinations like the UK, Germany, and Australia.
- The all-in-one integration is seamless. Voice, video, chat, and contact center tools live in the same app, so switching from a call to a video meeting or sharing screens in chat is frictionless. Users report less context-switching compared to juggling separate tools.
- The X2 plan's CRM integrations are deep and practical. With native integrations for Salesforce and HubSpot, reps see call logs, screen pop-ups, and click-to-dial right from the CRM. Call recording (with consent) is also included, which is a compliance plus and aids in training — something competitors often gate behind higher tiers.
- Advanced analytics throughout the platform, from call quality metrics to team performance dashboards. Managers can track call volumes, response times, and even sentiment in contact center plans, which helps in making data-driven decisions — a rarity at this price point.
- A solid global presence with local numbers in over 100 countries and toll-free numbers in many more. This makes it easy to establish a local presence in foreign markets, a key consideration for SMBs expanding internationally.
⚠ Watch out for
- No free trial forces a leap of faith. Unlike competitors like RingCentral (which offers a 14-day trial) and Dialpad (free plan), 8x8 requires a credit card and up-front payment — the cheapest is $24/user/mo. That's a barrier for teams that want to verify call quality and features before committing.
- Per-user pricing on higher tiers is steep. Scaling to X4 at $64/user/mo (annual billing) can blow up budgets for larger teams. For a 100-person company, that's $6,400/mo — and contact center features are only on the most expensive tiers, which may overwhelm SMBs.
- International coverage is limited to 47 countries on the base plan. Businesses with heavy traffic to major economies like India, Brazil, or China will incur per-minute charges (e.g., $0.11/min to India). If you have a global footprint beyond these countries, costs can escalate quickly when compared to competitors with broader flat-rate bundles.
- The mobile app feels behind its rivals. Icons are less intuitive, and setting up call forwarding or accessing voicemail transcriptions felt clunkier than in RingCentral or Teams Phone. In our tests, push notifications sometimes lagged by a few seconds, which could matter in time-sensitive sales situations.
- Knowledge base could be deeper. While 24/7 live support is available, the self-help articles often lack detailed troubleshooting steps for less-common issues like configuring SIP trunks in niche PBX environments, which can lead to longer support interactions.
🎯 Best for
Small to mid-sized businesses that need a unified cloud communication system with strong international calling and a scalable path to contact center capabilities.
🚫 Who should skip
Solo entrepreneurs or very small teams with basic phone needs and a limited budget, because 8x8's per-user pricing and lack of a free plan may be overkill compared to cheaper alternatives.
📚 Learning curve
Moderate — setting up users, configuring call flows, and navigating the admin console takes a learning curve, but day-to-day usage for end users is straightforward.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
8x8 is a compelling choice for small-to-mid-sized businesses that need a single platform for calls, video, and contact center with excellent international calling value. If you're a remote-first team on a budget, the Express plan is hard to beat. However, if you require a free trial, heavy mobile us
💰 Pricing
🔧 Features
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- Native CRM integrations: Aircall connects directly with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Zendesk, enabling automatic call logging, screen pops with caller context, and click-to-dial. This eliminates manual data entry and ensures your team has the customer history at their fingertips, which can significantly improve efficiency and customer experience.
- Quick deployment: There's no hardware to install or configure. You sign up, and within minutes you can start making and receiving calls from your computer or mobile app. This is ideal for remote teams, as it allows agents to work from anywhere with an internet connection, and you can easily scale up or down as your team grows.
- Intuitive interface and smart routing: The dashboard is clean and easy to navigate, with drag-and-drop call routing, IVR menus, and skills-based routing that direct callers to the right person. The interface reduces training time—new agents can get up to speed quickly, and supervisors can listen in on live calls (whisper mode, call barging) to provide real-time coaching.
- Real-time analytics and AI-powered insights: Aircall provides detailed call metrics like volume, duration, and response times, helping managers monitor team performance. With the Pro plan, AI features like call summaries and sentiment analysis give you a quick understanding of each conversation, without having to listen to the entire recording, which is a huge time-saver for quality assurance.
- Mobile and softphone flexibility: The mobile app and desktop softphone allow agents to use Aircall on their own devices, keeping their personal numbers private. This flexibility is great for sales and support teams that need to be reachable on the go, and it simplifies remote work setups.
⚠ Watch out for
- Per-user pricing can balloon: Aircall charges per user, and if you have a large team that includes part-time or occasional agents, the costs add up quickly. For example, at $30 per user per month (billed annually), a 100-person team is spending $36,000 per year just on phone software—and that's before add-ons like AI features or additional numbers. This makes it less cost-effective for large organizations where not everyone needs a full phone license.
- AI features are gated behind higher tiers: While Aircall markets itself as an 'intelligent platform', the advanced AI capabilities—call summaries, sentiment analysis, and AI-based workflows—are only available on the Pro or Enterprise plans, or as paid add-ons. If you're on the Essentials plan, you're paying a premium for what is essentially a basic VoIP system, and the AI benefits that are a key differentiator are not accessible.
- Phone-centric, not an omnichannel solution: Aircall is explicitly focused on voice calls. It does not include email, chat, or social media messaging channels. Companies that want a unified omnichannel customer experience will need to subscribe to a separate helpdesk or communication tool (e.g., Intercom, Zendesk Support) and then integrate it with Aircall. This creates a fragmented setup and can increase overall costs.
- Limited customization without developer help: While the core features are easy to set up, advanced customization—like complex call flows, custom analytics dashboards, or deep API integrations—often requires developer assistance. Small businesses with limited IT resources may find this challenging, as some features might feel 'locked' without technical expertise.
- Mobile app limitations: While the mobile app is convenient, some users report that it lacks certain features available on the desktop version, such as full call monitoring for supervisors or more granular call routing options. This could be a drawback for teams that rely heavily on mobile operations.
🎯 Best for
Small-to-mid-sized B2B sales and support teams that want an easy-to-deploy cloud phone system with solid CRM integrations and call analytics without buying a full contact center suite.
🚫 Who should skip
Large enterprises or omnichannel support teams that require deeply customizable IVR, advanced workforce management, or native email/chat/social channels in the same platform.
📚 Learning curve
Minimal — setting up Aircall is as simple as logging in and importing numbers, with a clean UI that most agents get comfortable with within a week.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Aircall is a solid choice for sales and support teams that rely heavily on phone communication and are already invested in major CRM platforms. Its ease of deployment and strong integrations make it a practical upgrade from legacy phone systems, but the per-user pricing and limited omnichannel capab
📊 Use Case Suitability
Higher score = better fit. Scores from editorial review.
🧭 Which One Should You Pick?
Choose 8x8 if...
- You are: Small to mid-sized businesses that need a unified cloud communication system with strong international calling and a sca
- 👍 Unlimited calling to 47 countries on the entry-level Express plan, which is rare at that price point
- 👍 All-in-one communications platform: voice, video, chat, and contact center tools are tightly integra
- 👍 X2 plan offers robust CRM integrations and call recording at $44/user/mo, which is competitive with
- 💰 From $24/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: No free tier, so you must commit to a paid plan to test the service.
Choose Aircall if...
- You are: Small-to-mid-sized B2B sales and support teams that want an easy-to-deploy cloud phone system with solid CRM integration
- 👍 Quick deployment without hardware — just sign up and start calling from your computer or mobile phon
- 👍 Purpose-built for sales and support teams with native integrations to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive
- 👍 User-friendly interface with smart routing, click-to-dial, and live call monitoring that lowers trai
- 💰 From $30/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: Pricing is per user and can become expensive for larger teams, especially if mos
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main differences between the Express, X2, and X4 plans?
Express ($24/user/mo) covers unlimited calls to 47 countries, video meetings, team chat, and a mobile app. X2 ($44/user/mo) adds CRM integrations, call recording, analytics, and supervisor tools. X4 ($85/user/mo) includes contact center features like workforce management, speech analytics, and quality management.
Can I keep my existing business phone numbers when switching to 8x8?
Yes, 8x8 offers number porting from most carriers. The process typically takes 2-3 weeks, and 8x8 provides a porting guide and support team to help. You'll need to keep your old service active until the port completes.
Does 8x8 offer a free trial?
8x8 occasionally offers a free trial, but it's not a guaranteed standard option. The pricing plans are stated as per-user monthly rates with annual commitments, so you'll likely need to request a quote or trial directly from sales.
Are there any setup fees, hardware costs, or hidden charges?
8x8 does not require you to buy IP phones, but you can rent or purchase them separately. You may also encounter one-time setup fees for paid migrations, costs for toll-free numbers, and local taxes/fees that apply to regular phone service.
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