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Vonage World versus Skype Unlimited World
Below is a run down of what’s different between the Skype “Unlimited World” plan compared to the new “Vonage World” plan.
| Country | Skype Unlimitied World |
|---|---|
| Andorra | N/A |
| Bahamas* | N/A |
| Bahrain | N/A |
| Brazil | N/A |
| Brunei* | N/A |
| Cyprus | N/A |
| Dominican Republic | N/A |
| Georgia | N/A |
| Guadeloupe | N/A |
| Guam* | landlines |
| Iceland | N/A |
| India* | N/A |
| Iraq | N/A |
| Jordan | N/A |
| Kenya | N/A |
| Latvia | N/A |
| Macau* | N/A |
| Macedonia, Republic of | N/A |
| Malaysia* | landlines |
| Malta | N/A |
| Mexico | landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey |
| Monaco | N/A |
| Peru | N/A |
| Puerto Rico* | landlines |
| Romania | N/A |
| Russia | landlines in Moscow and St.Petersburg only |
| Saipan* | N/A |
| San Marino* | N/A |
| Slovenia | N/A |
| South Africa | N/A |
| Turkey | N/A |
| U.S. Virgin Islands* | N/A |
| Venezuela | N/A |
| Zambia | N/A |
This table only lists the countries where there are differences between the plans (specifically, where the Skype plan lacks coverage, since there are no countries included in the Skype plan that are not also included in the Vonage plan). For instance, the “Vonage World” plan includes landlines and mobiles in Puerto Rico whereas the Skype “Unlimited World” plan only includes landlines in Puerto Rico. Likewise, the Vonage plan supposedly includes all landlines in Mexico, while the Skype plan includes only landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Both plans include the following countries with (apparently) equal coverage: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada*, Chile, China*, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong*, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore*, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand*, United Kingdom, United States*
Both plans have hidden limits. For the Vonage plan, the limit is 5,000 minutes per month (section 5.4 of the TOS http://www.vonage.com/tos/index.php). For Skype, the limits on this so-called “unlimited” plan are “10,000 minutes per user per month, with a maximum of 6 hours per day. Also, no more than 50 different numbers in total can be called per day” (see http://www.skype.com/legal/terms/fair_usage/).
The Vonage World plan is $24.95/mo while the Skype plan is $12.95/mo. They are apples and oranges to a degree, as the Vonage service includes a phone number and hardware box and is used with a regular phone (no need to leave your computer on all the time to receive calls and no need to use your computer to place calls). The Skype service requires that you place calls using your computer and it does not include a number for receiving calls. Vonage is meant to replace a standard landline and work with a regular telephone while Skype is just for use on your computer. But that’s not the topic of this post, which simply compares the countries included in the two plans for outbound calling.
If you’re calling the countries listed above, you probably know how much those countries cost to know whether this plan would benefit you. I would guess that India and Mexico would be the big draws, as there are few flat-rate plans offered to these countries and per-minute rates are significant.
- Data taken from websites as of Sept. 12, 2009. http://www.vonage.com/residential_calling_plans/vonage_world/ and http://skype.com/allfeatures/subscriptions/uscanadaworld/
- * indicates calls to mobile phones included, otherwise only calls to landlines are included and calls to mobiles are outside plan (cost extra)
5 People have left comments on this post
exceptional Oct 6, 2009 - 11:10:41FYI,
This morning I asked Vonage about using Vonage Mobile (US based) and calling the US from abroad. These calls are all free. If roaming in another country, roaming fees would apply. If on WiFi, TOTALLY free.
Great when travelling abroad and calling home.
Vonage Mobile is Free.
Hmmmm….
Is there a Voip service that is really unlimited? …Skype works fine, but this 50 call per day limitation is a huge inconvenient, for people like me who needs to make around 200 calls per day…
Any suggestions?
ITelFone.com is offering same unlimited worldwide calling (60 countries) for only $9.99/mo for the first 6 months and $19.99 after.
Sounds like similar plan as vonage but for cheap price.
Vonage is no longer offering unlimited calling plan for $14.99/mo. Now you need to pay $25.99/mo for the plan.
Lingo is offering same plan for $9.95/mo for the first 3 months and $21.95/mo thereafter.
One of my friend refer itelfone.com to me and I signed up for unlimited calling plan for only $9.99/mo for 6 months and $19.99/mo after. I can make unlimited calls to India, USA and more 60 countries. Also my friend got free 3 months of service for referring.
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