Aircall pricing: Hidden fees + 7 other things to know

If you’re old enough to remember when ‘on fleek’ was a thing, you’re old enough to remember when Aircall launched. This VoIP system was designed for enterprise brands and today serves call centers and help desks with a cloud-based business phone system.

But while Aircall makes sense for enterprise brands, it’s not always the right choice for growing small businesses. The price you pay isn’t necessarily reflected by the features you get, and if you read the fine print, it might be more expensive than you think.

Getting the whole picture of Aircall’s pricing can be stressful, but the good news is we’ll help you see the full picture. You can use this guide to get the full breakdown of Aircall’s pricing, including key features, major limitations, and better alternatives.

Aircall pricing and plans at a glance

	Essentials	Professional	Custom
Pricing	$30 per user per month	$50 per user per month	Must contact their sales team
Amount of phone numbers	1	1	1
User minimum	3	3	25

Aircall offers three VoIP plans: Essentials, Professional, and Custom. The biggest difference between them is the number of enterprise features you get, which range from 100+ integrations and click-to-dial to single sign-on and access to API developer support.

Let’s take a closer look:

Essentials plan

The Essentials plan starts at $30 per user per month paid annually (or $40 per user per month paid monthly). Keep in mind each plan comes with a three-user minimum, so the least you can pay is $90 per month.

You should know these prices don’t include add-on costs for Aircall’s ‘specialty’ features, including Aircall AI ($9 per user per month) and Analytics+  ($15 per user per month). Plus, most of Aircall’s best features sit behind more expensive plans, especially if you’re looking for call center features like call monitoring, whispering, and barging.

Essentials plan features include:

• Unlimited inbound calls
• Email and phone support
• Three business teams
• Basic integrations (HubSpot, Slack, etc.)
• Call and voicemail transcriptions
• Click-to-dial
• Warm transfers
• Business numbers
• Call recording
• Call forwarding
• IVR

Features requiring upgrade:

• Unlimited access to call recordings
• Smart routing
• Queue callback
• Call monitoring
• Call whispering
• Mandatory tagging
• Live feed
• Advanced analytics
• Power Dialer
• Voicemail drop (leave pre-recorded voicemail messages)
• Salesforce integrations
• API developer support

Professional plan

The Professional plan costs $20 more than the Essentials plan, for a total of $50 per user per month paid annually (or $70 per user per month paid monthly). It also requires a three-user minimum, which means you can’t spend less than $150 per month.

This plan unlocks several sales and support features, such as mandatory call tagging and advanced analytics. That said, you should know you’ll be limited to just six months of analytics data — you’ll have to upgrade again to the next tier and purchase the Analytics+ add-on for unlimited data.

Professional plan features include:

• Unlimited business teams
• Advanced analytics
• Smart routing
• Queue callback
• Call monitoring and whispering
• Mandatory tagging
• Live feed
• Power Dialer
• Voicemail Drop
• Salesforce integrations
• Dedicated account managers (15-user minimum)
• Personalized onboarding (15-user minimum)

Features requiring upgrade:

• Prioritized customer support
• Single sign-on (SAML)
• API developer support
• Analytics+ add-on
• Unlimited analytics data
• Unlimited international outbound calls

Custom plan

Aircall’s Custom plan doesn’t have a publicly listed price, but it requires a minimum purchase of 25 licenses. Assuming the monthly cost is more than the Professional plan, you’ll likely pay in excess of $1,250 per month.

Although the Custom plan unlocks all of Aircall’s basic features, you still have to pay extra for Aircall AI and Analytics+. And no matter how much you pay, you won’t have access to modern business features such as AI contact suggestions, AI message responses, and more.

Custom plan features include:

• Prioritized customer support
• Single sign-on (SAML)
• API developer support
• Analytics+ add-on
• Unlimited analytics data
• Unlimited international outbound calls

Aircall pricing for add-on options

As mentioned, you can purchase two add-ons to enhance your Aircall plan:

Aircall AI add-on

• Pricing: $9 per license per month

This add-on unlocks basic features like AI-generated call summaries and CRM logging. Since Aircall comes with a three-user minimum, unlocking AI may cost $27 extra per month.

However, most VoIP providers include AI features in their base plans — they don’t require you to purchase add-ons. This only adds more expense to an already expensive plan — especially when you’re already paying a premium per user.

Analytics+ add-on

• Pricing: $15 per user per month

Analytics+ comes with advanced analytics dashboards, unlimited data histories, unanswered call statistics, and caller heatmaps.

While this doesn’t sound bad on paper, analytics dashboards like these are table stakes for other VoIP providers. Plus, this add-on isn’t available for purchase unless you upgrade to the highest tier Custom plan.

Aircall’s hidden fees

Aircall’s user minimums and add-on costs aren’t the only surprises you might find on your bill.

You should also be aware of these hidden fees:

• SMS limits: Once you pass Aircall’s limit of 4,000 outbound messages per user per month, you’ll have to pay per message for SMS.
• Registration fees: Be prepared for steep fees when registering for A2P 10DLC. It costs between $4 and $44 to register your brand and between $69 and $232 to register a campaign. Keep in mind that doesn’t include monthly costs, which range between $2 and $10 per account per month. 
• Limited storage: Aircall’s Essentials plan only offers one year of call recording storage. If you want unlimited storage, you need to upgrade to the Professional plan ($50 per user per month). Considering Aircall’s three-user minimum, upgrading could cost you $60 more per month.
• Additional numbers: Even though there’s a 3-user minimum on the Essentials and Professional plans, you only get 1 phone number (local or toll-free) included in the plan. Even for the Custom plan, which has a 25-user minimum, you only get 1 number included. Additional numbers will cost you $6 per number per month.

7 things to keep in mind before committing to Aircall

While Aircall’s user minimums and add-on costs are frustrating, they barely scratch the surface of why companies switch away from Aircall.

Here are a few more reasons to consider Aircall alternatives: 

1. Limited options for team collaboration

If you need a phone system that enables team collaboration, you might want to explore an Aircall alternative. Several of its team-based features (including smart call routing) require an expensive upgrade away from the base plan.

You also have to accept several limited features, including:

• No options to collaborate with teammates on text responses. If your team wants to work together on a reply or loop in colleagues for more context, you won’t be able to do that inside Aircall.
• No unified conversation threads. There’s no way to track all conversations in one place.
• Limited shared numbers. You can share inboxes and call recordings with your team, but you can only share phone numbers for calling through extensions, and you won’t be able to text on a shared number.
• Limited logging in native CRM integrations. You need to purchase the Aircall AI add-on ($9 per user per month) to automate logging in your CRM.
• No native way to send group messages. Your only alternative is to purchase third-party software and hope it integrates with Aircall’s tools.

Even if you do pay extra for CRM integration logging, you may face reliability issues, as you can see in the video below:

2. Costly to get started and scale

The cheapest Aircall plan starts at $30 per user per month, which is nearly twice the cost of other VoIP providers. You also have to contend with user minimums, which range anywhere from three to 25 licenses, depending on the plan.

These costs only get higher as your team grows. For example, while Aircall offers shared phone numbers, they don’t provide new numbers for every member of your team. Instead, you’ll have to purchase additional numbers — $6 per number per month — for everyone to have their own line.

3. Trial accounts are limited

Want to try before you buy? Aircall won’t make this easy. The seven-day free trial comes with heaps of limitations, including:

• The inability to make more than one call at a time
• No calls longer than seven minutes
• Just 100 outbound SMS segments (which equals roughly 50 texts)
• No access to monitoring dashboards

Perhaps the most frustrating limit is reduced total call time, although the actual number isn’t disclosed online. Even if you can test a few of Aircall’s core features, it will be hard to know if it’s a fit before signing on the dotted line.

4. Toll-free minutes cost extra

Most VoIP providers offer unlimited toll-free minutes in the US and Canada. But with Aircall, you have to pay extra.

There’s no official pricing posted online, but the company mentions you’ll pay different prices depending on the outbound number you call (Landline, Mobile, or Premium area codes). You also have to pay extra for inbound calls, although again, you’ll need to contact their team for specific pricing.

Want to send inbound calls to another device? No dice: even call forwarding counts as an outbound call.

You’ll pay a steep price to use toll-free numbers with Aircall — and it will only get more expensive as your business grows.

5. International calling and texting add up quickly

If you’re using your number to make international calls, Aircall’s prices may be prohibitively expensive. You’ll also have to choose a method to buy international credits, although both are frustratingly slow and unnecessarily complex.

One method is to purchase bundles for the country (or countries) you want to reach. However, these price rates aren’t listed publicly — you have to send Aircall a list of the countries and then wait for them to respond.

The other method is upgrading to the Custom plan for unlimited international minutes — but remember, this requires the purchase of at least 25 user licenses.

If you’re a small business just trying to reach customers overseas, Aircall may not be the right fit for you.

6. Advanced texting features locked behind add-on

Aircall might help you send basic text messages, but its best SMS features are hidden behind a paywall.

If you want advanced messaging features such as:

• Shared messaging inboxes
• A2P 10DLC compliance
• SMS templates
• Scheduled messages

You’ll have to pay $20 extra per user per month, plus $0.03 per SMS and $0.06 per MMS.

Keep in mind this package is only available in the US and Canada, so if you’re located overseas, you have to settle for just the basic features.

And even if you’re satisfied with these bare-bones options, you’re restricted to 4,000 messages per user per month, and MMS messages are only available for US and Canada numbers.

The good news is that Aircall is the exception rather than the rule. Business phone systems like OpenPhone offer these same features at a fraction of the cost.

7. Getting your team set up can be complicated

Aircall has a steep learning curve, even if you’re familiar with other VoIP systems. Many past users say they were frustrated setting up their accounts, especially when it came to traditionally easy tasks like building an inbound call flow.

But call flows aren’t the only thing Aircall users find confusing.

Take a look at these reviews:

• “The porting process was a bit confusing and arduous, and there were a couple of processes that were miscommunicated (namely SMS registration).” — G2
• “The number configuration is sometimes confusing, especially IVR.” — G2
• “I’ve found the iPhone app UI a bit confusing sometimes. It’s easy to call, but I haven’t worked out how the address book syncs with my contacts.” — G2

OpenPhone: A more effective alternative to Aircall

Aircall works well as call center software and could be a fit for enterprise brands. But for growing small businesses, it can be prohibitively expensive and unnecessarily limited.

That’s why thousands of small business owners turn to OpenPhone instead — the #1 business phone solution as voted by G2. We make it easy to grow and scale your brand while building better relationships with customers around the world.

See for yourself how we compare to Aircall:

Features	OpenPhone	Aircall
Price per month	$15 per user per month	$30 per user per month (3-user minimum)
Unlimited calling	✓	✓
Unlimited SMS, MMS to US & Canada	✓	X
Voicemail to text	✓	✓
Toll-free numbers	✓	✓
Additional phone numbers	$5 per number	$6 per number
Number porting	✓	✓
Call recording	✓	✓
Shared phone numbers	✓	Only via extensions
Group text messaging	✓	X
Shared contacts	✓	✓
Block numbers	✓	✓
Auto-replies	✓	X
Snippets	✓	X
Slack integration	✓	✓
AI features	✓	Requires upgrade
Gmail integration	✓	✓
Zapier integration	✓	✓
iOS and Android apps	✓	✓
Web-based apps	✓	✓
User minimums	X	✓
Storage limits	X	✓

1. Pay less without sacrificing features

OpenPhone pricing is half the cost of Aircall — with no hidden fees and no user minimums. We’ve posted all plans directly on our website, so it’s easy to upgrade whenever you’re ready.

Plus, OpenPhone scales alongside your business so you don’t have to spend more until you need more. Each member of your plan comes with one free US, Canadian, or toll-free number, which means everyone on your team can get a personalized business phone number.

2. Get AI and analytics on every plan

With Aircall, you have to purchase costly add-ons if you want AI or advanced analytics. With OpenPhone, analytics dashboards and AI tools are available on every plan.

It’s never been easier to save time and money with:

• Manual and automatic call recordings: Your team can record specific phone calls on demand or auto-record all calls that go to a certain number. Plus, OpenPhone offers unlimited storage for all call recordings, so you’ll always have them for context, training, and quality assurance.
• AI transcripts and action items: Don’t have time to listen to past calls? Use OpenPhone AI to generate a transcript. You can also get a list of action items so critical tasks don’t fall through the cracks.
• Analytics: OpenPhone analytics can help you track unanswered calls, identify unique conversations, and access heatmaps of busy times. You also have access to unlimited data histories — something Aircall locks behind an expensive add-on.
• AI-generated message responses: If you’re not sure how to respond to customer texts, you can use AI-generated message responses to brainstorm ideas. This can help you spend less time in analysis paralysis and more time crossing critical tasks off your list.

3. Set up your phone system in 15 minutes or less

Getting started with Aircall requires live group onboarding sessions, plus connecting with customer support to set up international calling.

The good news is you don’t need either to get started with OpenPhone — it only takes minutes to get up and running.

We make it easy to customize your settings at a glance, including call flows, business hours, and phone menus for customers. Plus, our intuitive user interface was modeled after your cell phone, so everyone on your team can start making calls immediately.

4. Collaborate with your team directly on-platform

No need to bounce from app to app to keep teammates in the know. With OpenPhone, you can stay in touch with everyone on your team by creating a shared phone number.

With shared numbers, everyone who’s a member of the number can see the same contacts, phone calls, and text messages. They also receive incoming calls and texts so the next available person can simply pick up the phone.

You can also create personalized contact properties for details like addresses, tags, and URLs. That way, everyone on your team can stay organized with priority customers, and necessary details don’t fall by the wayside.

Need to ask for more context or provide clarification? This is easy to do with OpenPhone’s internal threads and mentions. Just leave a comment on voicemails, missed calls, and texts, then tag team members in the comment to get (or share) clarification.

5. Automate dozens of repetitive tasks

Aircall might offer enterprise calling features, but it doesn’t offer many ways to automate daily tasks. This is especially true of business texts — unless you pay for the expensive Advanced Messaging add-on.

In contrast, OpenPhone offers automations on every plan. They include:

• Snippets that let you create and send text message templates for frequently asked questions.
• Scheduled text messages that help you queue up text messages in the recipient’s time zone (and automatically cancel that message if they respond before it is sent).
• Auto-replies that instantly respond to customers’ missed calls, texts, and voicemails so you can set expectations even away from your phone.
• Webhooks and Zapier can create automations and sync customer interactions between OpenPhone and your CRM.

Speaking of CRMs, we offer direct integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot so you can connect your relationship management software in minutes.

Pros and cons of Aircall pricing plans

Aircall may be an attractive platform for sales teams, call centers, and customer support teams. However, it might not be a fit for small business owners who manage fewer team members and have 1:1 conversations.

Pros: 

• Unlimited outbound and inbound calls: If you’re calling contacts in the US and Canada with a local phone number, you don’t need to pay extra minutes per month.
• Included third-party integrations: You don’t need to pay more for popular customer support tools like Zendesk, Pipedrive, and Intercom.
• Competitive additional numbers: Every additional number on your plan costs $6 per month, which is only somewhat more expensive than other VoIP providers.

Cons: 

• Hidden fees: Aircall hides several of its costs — including SMS limits and brand registration fees — in the fine print or its help desk library.
• User minimums: The two base plans require a minimum of three users, and the Custom plan requires 25 users or more.
• Costly add-ons: You’ll have to pay extra for advanced analytics and AI features, although most VoIPs offer both of these on their base plans.
• Expensive support: You can’t access dedicated account managers or get personalized onboarding unless you have 15 users or more — a cost of $450 on an annual Essentials plan.

See why OpenPhone is the #1 business phone provider

In the Aircall vs. OpenPhone debate, there is no contest. OpenPhone is six times less expensive and offers far more features with every plan. You don’t need three licenses to get up and running — just a computer, a laptop, and a good WiFi connection.

No need to take us at face value. Test our platform yourself with our seven-day free trial.