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Microsoft has removed two of Skype’s core premium features: credit and custom phone numbers. Instead of credits, the company is now pushing subscriptions, with regional and global pricing, depending on your needs. As for using a phone number other than your cell phone, there is no longer an alternative on the platform.
The first winds of change came from a volunteer moderator responding on Microsoft’s Skype forums to a user who wanted to know why he couldn’t purchase new credits. “We just received new information from Microsoft,” said Skype moderator Ruwim. B, who sported a sweet profile photo of Yoda. “Skype has stopped purchasing Skype credit for all users. The only option available now is monthly calling subscriptions.”
When another user chimed in to ask for confirmation that this meant there was no platform-wide way to send SMS messages once you ran out of credits, the moderator wrote: “Unless they decide to add a rolling SMS texting subscription , I will no longer be able to send outgoing SMS text messages from Skype.”
microsoft confirmed changes to a declaration TechCrunchsaying that the company “continually evaluates product strategy based on customer usage and needs.” The spokesperson clarified that existing Skype numbers will still work and existing credit can still be used, but once you run out of credits, that’s it. Now you can only purchase a subscription instead of credits, and you will have to look for other platforms that offer a virtual phone number that you can answer via VoIP.
Skype to Skype calls have always been free on the platform, and still are. If that’s all you use the service for, nothing should change. When calling landlines or compatible mobile numbers (with remaining credits or a subscription), you can still use the service’s caller ID feature, which displays your real mobile number to the receiving party. Therefore, deleting your Skype number only affects you if you want to call or message non-Skype lines or if you want to display a custom number (such as one with a local area code for the country you’re calling) when you do so. .
The product sits alongside Google Voice as a service that once seemed poised to take on the new mobile world but has instead settled into a niche market. As alternatives like Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp emerged to capture most of the demand for internet calling and messaging during the pandemic era, Microsoft-owned Skype took a backseat even within the company. Microsoft invested much more in promoting its preferred calling platform, Teams.
You may have noticed that Microsoft doesn’t advertise Skype like it did in the early years after buying the company for $8.5 billion in 2011. It’s no longer in the habit of touting Skype’s user base on earnings calls (or in anywhere else). As TechCrunch notes, the last mention was in a blog post from last year that said: “More than 36 million people use Skype daily to connect through phone calls and chats across borders and around the world.”
It’s unclear if those numbers are still up to date, and we also don’t know how many were relying on premium features that disappeared. Regardless, we can assume that there are still a large number of people around the world who rely on the platform’s paid features, at least to some extent. Those using anything other than free Skype-to-Skype calls must now weigh a subscription cost or shop around.
