Skype Shutting Down on May 2025: What It Means & What's Next for You?

Published 03 March 2025

Skype Shutting Down on May 2025: What It Means & What's Next?

Table of contents

Many people have been asking, "Is Skype still a thing?" Well, not anymore. Microsoft announced that it is ending the telecommunications application on May 5, 2025. Skype's shutdown comes after a steady decline in user engagement over the years.

During its peak, the audio/video-sharing platform had over 300 million monthly users. While it had gotten a little push during the pandemic, having 40 million daily active users, that changed quickly with the rise of other services, including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp, and more.

So much so that the once dominant force in the telecommunications industry, Skype, had a little over 36 million daily active users by 2023. Though the numbers still look promising, Microsoft decided to focus entirely on Teams, which offers the same features as its predecessor and has garnered more than 320 million monthly users as of April 2024.

What Is Next for Skype Users?

As the saying goes, "There are plenty of fish in the sea," and there is not not much to worry about with multiple Skype alternatives.

First, Microsoft itself has offered Teams, which, as stated earlier, provides similar services to Skype. The tech giant has even made preparations for an easy transition. Existing Skype members can log into Microsoft Teams with their current credentials without creating a new account. Furthermore, their contacts, message history, and group chats will already be presented on the platform.

Additionally, they have an interoperability feature. This means that if you text a Skype contact on Teams, that person will get the message on Skype itself as long as the service is available. Moreover, you can export and migrate your data, mostly photos, and conversation history, to Teams.

What's more, Microsoft is providing a tool that allows people to view their existing Skype history if they do not wish to move to Teams.

Finally, many platforms, including WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Snapchat, offer similar functionalities as Skype.

A Huge Missing Part

While Teams offers many features like Skype, one major part is missing: Skype's telephony service.

As per Amit Fulay, Microsoft's vice president of products, the telephony feature made sense in the past because there were not many VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services available, and mobile data plans were also costly. So, with the rise in VoIP platforms, removing the feature seemed much more logical.

Skype's shutting down was hinted back in December 2024, when Microsoft eliminated Skype credits and phone numbers in favor of subscriptions. Nonetheless, the software powerhouse will let the subscribers use their credit inside Microsoft Teams until they reach their renewal period.

Conclusion

Despite Skype being one of the most widely used VoIP services in its prime, it is now counting its final days. Though Microsoft has offered Teams as its replacement, the latter lacks Skype’s consumer-focused telephony service, making VoIP alternatives essential for some users.

If you are also looking for a perfect substitute for Skype, Calilio, an AI-Powered business phone system, is an excellent choice. Alongside offering telephony features like Skype, it has more advanced services, including AI-powered Sentiment Analysis, Call Reports, and call management functions, like call forwarding, routing, transferring, recording, and more.

In addition, you can port your Skype number and continue from where you had stopped.