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AirCall pricing is affordable, right?
After all, the Essentials plan starts at $30 per license per month. Meanwhile, the Professional plan starts at $50 per license per month.
But here’s the catch: those prices are based on annual billing. In addition, Aircall requires a minimum of 3 licenses.
So, the lowest real starting point is $90 per month on the Essentials plan and $150 per month on Aircall's Professional plan, before taxes, surcharges, add-ons, SMS/MMS, or international calls.
And if you choose monthly billing, the price goes up.
Furthermore, Aircall targets companies managing sales calls, inbound calls, call routing, call recording, mobile apps, CRM integrations, and larger customer interactions. For small teams, the pricing structure can get expensive quickly.
In this article, we’ll break down Aircall's pricing plans, potential hidden fees, additional monthly fees, and the total cost before you sign up.
We’ll also tell you about iPlum, a powerful, HIPAA-compliant Aircall alternative, and how it compares.
Table of Contents
1. What are Aircall's pricing and plans?
2. What does Aircall offer as add-ons?
4. 7 things you need to know before signing up for Aircall
5. iPlum: the best Aircall alternative
7. Why choose iPlum over Aircall
What are Aircall's pricing and plans?
Aircall has three pricing plans: Essentials, Professional, and Custom.
The Essentials plan starts at $30 per license per month with annual billing.
However, Aircall requires three licenses, so the lowest real starting point is $90 per month.
The plan targets users who need a business phone system with inbound calls, call routing, interactive voice response, call recording, click-to-dial, SMS and MMS, mobile and desktop apps, CRM integrations, API access, and unlimited simultaneous outbound calls.
The Professional plan starts at $50 per license per month with annual billing.
Again, Aircall requires three licenses, so the base cost starts at $150 per month.
Aircall’s Professional plan adds Salesforce CTI integration, mandatory call tagging, advanced analytics, call monitoring, smart routing, queue callback, Power Dialer, Voicemail Drop, and AI Assist features.
The Custom plan uses custom pricing and requires at least 25 licenses.
It adds custom onboarding, API developer support, a service-level agreement, and single sign-on. So, the Custom plan is mainly for larger sales and support teams, customer support teams, or call-heavy operations with higher call volume.
As you can see, Aircall pricing plans use tiered pricing. The lower price depends on an annual plan, not monthly billing. If you choose a monthly billing plan, Aircall costs more.
And before you compare phone systems, remember one thing: Aircall’s pricing stacks from three licenses upward, not one.
What does Aircall offer as add-ons?
Aircall doesn’t stop at its base plans. It also sells several add-ons that can raise your total cost.
For instance, Aircall offers AI Assist, AI Assist Pro, AI Voice Agent, Analytics+, WhatsApp in Aircall, and Aircall for Salesforce Voice.
AI Assist provides users with AI-generated call summaries, talk-to-listen ratios, and sentiment analysis for customer conversations. AI Assist Pro goes further with scorecards, coaching insights, and deeper review tools.
Then there’s AI Voice Agent, which answers routine inquiries, collects customer data, and sends complex issues to human agents. It can be useful for companies with high call volume, but it comes at an extra cost.
Analytics+ adds deeper reporting for managers who want to review team performance, missed-call patterns, unanswered calls, and call activity over a longer period.
Aircall for Salesforce Voice connects Aircall with Salesforce for companies that depend heavily on custom integrations, CRM workflows, and sales records.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp in Aircall adds another channel for customer interactions.
The problem is that these tools are billed separately. So, the price on the plan card doesn’t always show what you’ll pay after adding AI, analytics, WhatsApp, or Salesforce Voice.
For sales teams and customer support teams, these extras can make Aircall more useful. However, they can also turn an already pricey business phone setup into a much larger monthly bill.
Aircall's hidden fees
Aircall says its plans are billed per license, but the plan price isn’t the same as the final total cost.
For starters, Aircall pricing excludes taxes and surcharges. So, your bill can increase based on your billing address, usage, and telecom rules in your area.
Then, you have SMS and MMS. Aircall lists business texting on its pricing page, but the rates need closer review before signup. If your sales team or customer support teams send frequent updates, reminders, or follow-ups, texting can create additional monthly fees.
The same applies to international calls. Aircall mentions additional international calling bundles, which means global calling can raise Aircall costs beyond the base plan.
Add-ons can also increase the invoice. Tools like AI Voice Agent, Analytics+, WhatsApp in Aircall, and Salesforce Voice are billed separately. So, a company that wants AI, deeper reporting, or custom integrations should price those tools before choosing a plan.
Extra numbers can also affect the bill. If you need local or toll-free numbers, or toll-free numbers for different departments, the monthly spend can rise.
So, the issue isn’t that Aircall hides every charge. The issue is that the advertised Aircall pricing plans don’t always provide a complete picture of the full cost.
The real hidden costs come from licenses, add-ons, SMS/MMS, taxes, surcharges, international calls, extra numbers, and monthly billing.
7 things you need to know before signing up for Aircall
Below is a rundown of seven things that might not be apparent the first time you sign up for Aircall.
You’ll need a minimum of three licenses
Aircall pricing starts at $30 per license per month on the Essentials plan and $50 per license per month on the Professional plan with annual billing.
But Aircall requires three licenses on both plans. So, the Essentials plan starts at $90 per month, not $30. The professional plan starts at $150 per month, not $50. Aircall’s custom plan starts at 25 licenses.
That’s a lot for small teams that only need one or two seats.
Monthly plans cost significantly more
Aircall shows a 25% discount for annual billing. The lower price depends on an annual plan, not monthly billing.
So, if you choose to be billed monthly, your total cost rises.
That can affect small teams and professional services firms that don’t want to commit for a full year. It also changes how Aircall costs appear when you compare the advertised plan price to the actual monthly payment.
Aircall add-ons can be really expensive
Aircall sells extra tools on top of its base plans.
These include AI Voice Agent, AI Assist, AI Assist Pro, Analytics+, WhatsApp in Aircall, and Aircall for Salesforce Voice. Aircall also lists advanced analytics, sentiment analysis, AI generated call summaries call summaries, CRM logging, voice agent minutes, WhatsApp messaging, and Salesforce Voice tools among its paid extras.
That’s where additional monthly fees can pile up.
A sales team may want voicemail drop, power dialer, and call summaries. Customer support teams may want advanced analytics, call monitoring, and tools for unanswered calls. Those tools can push the bill over the plan card limit.
It’s hard to compare Aircall’s premium plan
Aircall’s custom plan doesn’t show a public price.
It starts at 25 licenses and adds custom onboarding, api developer support, a service-level agreement, and single sign-on.
That makes the pricing structure harder to compare.
A buyer can’t review the cost of the premium business phone system on the website alone. They have to contact sales, explain usage, discuss call volume, and wait for a quote.
For companies comparing cloud-based phone systems, that creates a blind spot.
Aircall doesn’t publicly state its SMS and MMS rates
Aircall lists domestic SMS and MMS business text messaging for the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, and Germany.
However, the pricing table says buyers must contact Aircall for rates.
That makes it harder for companies with frequent customer conversations to estimate hidden costs.
If your sales and support teams send reminders, follow-ups, confirmations, or updates via SMS or MMS, these messages can incur additional monthly fees. A buyer should ask about text rates before signing up.
Aircall recording is significantly limited
Aircall lists call recording on its plans. But recording access isn’t as open as it sounds.
The Essentials plan provides access to recordings for up to 1 year upon request, with only 6 months available in the dashboard. The Professional plan and custom plan list unlimited call recording by request, but still show only six months in the dashboard.
That can be inconvenient if you need older recordings quickly.
Businesses with compliance, dispute, training, or audit needs should ask how retrieval works before signing up.
Aircall passes taxes and surcharges to you
Aircall’s advertised prices don’t include taxes and surcharges.
So, a $50 professional plan license doesn’t end at $50. Because Aircall requires three licenses, the base starts at $150 per month before taxes, surcharges, add-ons, SMS/MMS, international calls, or additional international calling bundles.
In California, for instance, the $150 base can include federal, state, local, emergency, and telecom-related fees. A rough estimate can land around $18.83 to $24.83 per month in extra taxes and fees, depending on address and service activity.
So, the real Aircall pricing picture isn’t only the plan price. Its licenses, billing terms, taxes, surcharges, billed tools separately, texting, calling, and add-ons.
iPlum: the best Aircall alternative
iPlum gives small teams, solo professionals, clinics, law firms, financial advisors, and insurance brokers a lower-cost business phone system.
Unlike Aircall's pricing, iPlum doesn’t require a minimum of 3 licenses. You can start with one user.
iPlum Standard costs $8.99 per user per month. It gives you a US or Canada number, calling, texting, voicemail, Phone Tree, business hours, Auto-Text Reply, spam blocking, and mobile apps.
iPlum Professional costs $14.99 per user per month. It adds web calling, web texting, voicemail transcription, secure, encrypted texting, group texting, broadcast texting, text archiving, HIPAA compliance, and BAA.
iPlum Enterprise costs $25.99 per user per month. It adds call recording, a recording consent announcement, and 10-year recording and texting archiving.
iPlum is a better fit if your business phone setup needs secure calling, texting, compliance, recording, and archiving at a lower monthly total cost.
While Aircall is built for larger sales and support operations, iPlum is great for businesses that want a secure phone line on their existing mobile device.
Aircall pricing vs iPlum
Aircall pricing starts at $30 per license per month on the Essentials plan. However, the three-license minimum makes the real starting cost $90 per month with annual billing.
Aircall’s Professional plan starts at $50 per license per month. Again, the three-license minimum pushes the base cost to $150 per month before taxes, add-ons, SMS/MMS, or international calls.
iPlum starts at $8.99 per user per month.
Here’s how the numbers compare:
Sure, Aircall can make sense for larger call operations. For small teams, iPlum gives a lower total cost and fewer pricing hurdles.
Why choose iPlum over Aircall
Choose iPlum over Aircall if you don’t need a large call center setup.
Aircall is built for sales and support teams that need call monitoring, advanced analytics, power dialer, voicemail drop, CRM integrations, and high call volume workflows.
iPlum is built for small businesses and regulated professionals who need a secure business phone line on an existing mobile device.
That makes iPlum a better fit for healthcare providers, attorneys, financial advisors, insurance brokers, consultants, and small offices.
You still get calling, texting, voicemail, business hours, routing, mobile access, HIPAA compliance, BAA, call recording, and archiving.
The difference is cost.
Aircall starts at $90 per month because of its three-license minimum. iPlum starts at $8.99 per user per month.
So, if your goal is a secure phone line for client communication, iPlum gives you the core features at a much lower price.
Switch to iPlum
Aircall can work for larger sales and support operations that need call monitoring, advanced analytics, CRM integrations, Power Dialer, Voicemail Drop, and call center workflows.
However, iPlum is the better choice if you need a lower-cost business phone system with calling, texting, HIPAA compliance, BAA, call recording, consent announcement, and 10-year archiving.
You don’t need a minimum of 3 licenses. You don’t need to start at $90 per month. And you don’t need to pay for a large call center platform if all you need is secure client communication.
Sign up for iPlum below to get a secure, HIPAA-compliant business phone line on your existing mobile device.
