CloudTalk vs 3CX
CloudTalk and 3CX both sell business telephony, but they count different things. CloudTalk charges for every person who takes calls, in euros, across four published tiers from Lite to Expert. 3CX sells one annual licence for the whole system, sized by how many calls can run at once, so headcount barely enters the bill. The first is simpler to budget for a call team, while the second rewards a large office that talks little. 3CX also lets you choose where the system runs, and CloudTalk shows no such option in what we read. Both publish prices.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose CloudTalk ifyou want a per-seat price in euros with a 14-day trial, and you run outbound calling where a dialer and CRM integrations matter. You also prefer a vendor incorporated in Slovakia with no servers of your own to maintain.
Choose 3CX ifyou have many extensions but few simultaneous calls, and you want to run the system on your own server or cloud account. You also accept buying numbers and SIP trunks separately and dealing with a partner network.
CloudTalk and 3CX side by side
| CloudTalk | 3CX | |
|---|---|---|
| Our business phone system rank | #2 of 19 | #5 of 19 |
| Established in | Slovakia | Cyprus |
| List price, 8 November 2026 | Four euro tiers per user per month on annual billing (Lite 19, Starter 25, Essential 29, Expert 49), 14-day trial, Power Dialer add-on 15 euros | Annual licence per system by simultaneous calls, from 8SC Basic at 300 USD to 24SC AI at 1,350 USD, tax excluded; 3CX hosting from 450 USD a year at the larger sizes |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | Yes |
Both are reviewed in full in our business phone system ranking: CloudTalk and 3CX.
Where they differ
CloudTalk 2 · 3CX 2 · open 2- 01
What one extra person does to the bill
CloudTalk lists Lite at 19 euros, Starter at 25, Essential at 29 and Expert at 49 per user per month on annual billing, with monthly billing at 27, 34, 39 and 69. Expert needs at least three users. Each hire adds a seat. 3CX has no per-user monthly fee at all, so adding an extension costs nothing until you outgrow the simultaneous call size of your licence. For a large, quiet office that gap is big, and for a small call team it narrows.
Edge: 3CX
- 02
Hard ceilings on calls and extensions
3CX sizes each licence by simultaneous calls, for example 8SC Basic at 300 USD, 16SC PRO at 795 USD and 24SC AI at 1,350 USD per year, excluding tax. Each size also carries a hard maximum of users or extensions, so a busy day can force an upgrade. CloudTalk shows no call-count cap in its pricing, only per-seat tiers. That makes growth easier to predict for a call team, even if the yearly total ends up higher than a small 3CX licence.
Edge: CloudTalk
- 03
Where the system can live
3CX offers hosting by 3CX, self-hosting on Amazon, Digital Ocean, Azure or Google, installs on Windows or Linux, and on-premise setups. Hosting by 3CX is free during the trial and then costs a separate yearly amount, for example 450 USD at 16SC to 24SC. On the CloudTalk site we saw a per-user service and no self-hosting option. Teams with data-location rules or an existing cloud account get far more room to decide with 3CX than with a per-user service.
Edge: 3CX
- 04
Dialer, integrations and recordings by tier
CloudTalk's Lite has no standard integrations, while 95 or more standard integrations arrive from Starter. Recordings are kept for one month on Lite and Starter and without limit on Essential and Expert. The Power Dialer is 15 euros per user per month on annual billing as an add-on, and it is included in Expert. 3CX Basic has no contact centre, CRM or AI features, so outbound teams must move to PRO or AI, whereas CloudTalk's Expert tier bundles the dialer in already.
Edge: CloudTalk
- 05
Trial, setup and extras beyond the licence
CloudTalk offers two weeks of free trial, no card needed, and charges no setup or onboarding fees. US and Canada customers pay an 11 percent compliance and administrative fee on top. 3CX gives a product trial with free hosting, but SIP trunks and numbers are selected separately, and the vendor says it sells exclusively through a network of 10,000 partners. Neither headline price is the whole cost, so list numbers, trunks, hosting and compliance extras before you compare the two quotes.
Depends on the buyer
- 06
Company base and who sells it
CloudTalk s.r.o. is incorporated in Slovakia, with its address in Bratislava, and its terms also name a Delaware subsidiary, CloudTalk.io, Inc. 3CX lists a United States headquarters in Tampa, Florida, and a European office in Nicosia, Cyprus, and our category data gives Cyprus as its country. Both therefore have a European and an American side to their business. Check which contracting entity signs your agreement before you decide on jurisdiction grounds, because the brand name alone will not say.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
If you want a German-speaking provider with a cloud service, neither is the obvious fit. sipgate and NFON Cloudya are worth reading in the same category before you choose.
CloudTalk or 3CX: questions
3 answersDoes 3CX charge per user like CloudTalk?
No, 3CX sells one flat annual licence per system sized by simultaneous calls. Editions are Basic, PRO and AI, and prices exclude tax. Hosting by 3CX is charged separately per year after the trial.
Why would CloudTalk's Lite plan be a poor starting point?
Lite has no standard integrations and keeps recordings for only one month. Standard integrations begin at Starter, and unlimited retention at Essential. A team that wants either should price from Starter or Essential.
Can I put either system on my own servers?
3CX, which lists self-hosting on Amazon, Digital Ocean, Azure or Google, plus Windows, Linux and on-premise installs. CloudTalk shows no self-hosted option in what we read. Numbers and SIP trunks with 3CX are bought separately.
Sources
Checked 8 November 2026- CloudTalk pricing page: euro tier prices, Expert minimum of three users, Power Dialer add-on, retention and integration limits, 11 percent North America fee.
- CloudTalk terms and conditions: the Slovak company and its Delaware subsidiary named as contracting parties.
- 3CX pricing page: example licence sizes in USD per year and the separate hosting charge.
- 3CX licensing page: deployment choices, free hosting during the trial, separate SIP trunks, hard maximum per size, Basic edition gaps.
- 3CX company page: the 10,000 partner network through which 3CX sells.
- 3CX contact page: Tampa headquarters and the Nicosia European office.