Skype will be retired on May 5th, 2025.

yucchun · February 28

Microsoft will be retiring Skype this year, they sent over e-mails to customers announcing it just a few hours ago.

Dear Skype user,

In order to streamline our consumer communications offerings, we will be retiring Skype in May 2025. As part of this change, we want to keep you informed about important updates to your Skype paid services and how these changes may affect you.
Please read on for detailed information about the updates and what they mean for your services.
Subscriptions & Automatic Top-Ups: Existing subscriptions will continue to automatically renew until April 3, 2025. After this, all subscriptions will be retired and no longer be available for purchase, renewal, or reactivation. Automatic top-ups will end on April 3, 2025.

Skype Number: Your Skype Number subscription will continue to automatically renew until April 3, 2025 and will remain active until the end of your next renewal period. To port your Skype Number, please contact your new provider directly. Learn more

Skype Manager: Skype Manager users can purchase and renew paid products, including automatic credit top-ups, until April 3, 2025. After this date, only existing credit balances can be allocated to group members for calling.

For SMS services: SMS services will be discontinued on May 5, 2025.

Skype Dial Pad: After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits.

Terms of Use: Skype paid products are subject to the Microsoft Services Agreement.

Thank you for being part of Skype

We want to express our deepest gratitude for your support over the years. Skype has been an integral part of countless meaningful moments, and we are honored to have been part of your journey. Learn more about Skype retirement here.

With gratitude,
The Skype Team

The next chapter: Moving from Skype to Microsoft Teams 
Opinions? Also — does anybody know any alternatives to Skype's pay-for-what-you-use SMS feature?

webcraft · February 28

Anybody sees the dial pad show up in their teams or is this what they mean by rolling out in coming days?

hornet · March 1

@yucchun said: alternatives to Skype's pay-for-what-you-use SMS feature?

curious about these services as well...

AuroraZero · March 1

"You will assimiliated, resistance is futile!"

edit: my spelling leaves something to be desired today evidently

SpeedBus · March 1

Will miss their calling feature for sure, was so simple to load in a few credits and dial out, many numbers were free to call too in the US.

EDIT: "Skype Dial Pad: After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits."

Interesting, glad they're keeping that alive at least!

host_c · March 1

@yucchun

THX for the info

cservers · March 1

It's the end of an era that Microsoft dominated for more than 20 years. I believe not many users will migrate to Teams, which is more corporate and, honestly, sometimes the app works so badly that you wished you had it like the MSN Messenger.

The transition from Messenger to Skype was not that great nor necessary, but this one is basically Microsoft saying goodbye. And truth is, over time easier/better solutions have come up.

AuroraZero · March 1

@cservers said:
It's the end of an era that Microsoft dominated for more than 20 years. I believe not many users will migrate to Teams, which is more corporate and, honestly, sometimes the app works so badly that you wished you had it like the MSN Messenger.

The transition from Messenger to Skype was not that great nor necessary, but this one is basically Microsoft saying goodbye. And truth is, over time easier/better solutions have come up.

Yeah no moving for me since Teams has always been crud for me.

SpeedBus · March 1

On the flip side, what other chat apps exist that can be logged in by multiple people at the same time? does telegram support this? something like for a business chat account.

yucchun · March 2

@SpeedBus said:
Will miss their calling feature for sure, was so simple to load in a few credits and dial out, many numbers were free to call too in the US.

EDIT: "Skype Dial Pad: After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits."

Interesting, glad they're keeping that alive at least!

Guess it's time to start buying some subscriptions and prepaid credits for the future

I've used this feature for so long now, from calling friends to distant old family that doesn't know how modern social media work, hopefully stuff doesn't change too much — I personally don't want to start paying international call rates to check up on my great-grandmother 😖

I knew something was up when they stopped selling Skype Numbers and credit recharges on the website

Yorkie · March 2

It's a bit of a shame that things like SkypeOut are not being migrated in to Teams. Teams has telephony support on the enterprise side and honestly I don't hate it that much anymore.

vish · March 3

never used it myself, can't belive they blew 8 billion on it back in the day.

brithoster · March 8

I can't say I was ever a heavy user of Skype, I remember it being briefly popular when you could have a landline number direct to it but once VOiP became more mainstream it really just became another messaging app. With VoIP and WhatsApp there isn't really a need for it anymore - many use Teams these days and I can't say that bothers me, it isn't a bad app to use.

yucchun · March 8

@brithoster said:
I can't say I was ever a heavy user of Skype, I remember it being briefly popular when you could have a landline number direct to it but once VOiP became more mainstream it really just became another messaging app. With VoIP and WhatsApp there isn't really a need for it anymore - many use Teams these days and I can't say that bothers me, it isn't a bad app to use.

@vish said:
never used it myself, can't belive they blew 8 billion on it back in the day.

I've always used Skype, this goes from my childhood all the way until now.
I remember back when they removed the feature where you could set your skype ID and instead had to settle with an ugly live:uuid name instead, some people were pissed LOL

It hurts to see things go but I guess that's just part of life

brithoster · March 8

I had completely forgotten about that change! The live:uuid was just disgusting, I seem to remember that I could never properly find anyone for a period of time after that too.

yucchun · March 8

@brithoster said:
I had completely forgotten about that change! The live:uuid was just disgusting, I seem to remember that I could never properly find anyone for a period of time after that too.

Yeah.. I think that was the major turn off for the userbase that could migrate to Skype to go somewhere else instead.
Well, all is but a memory now, written in the pages of time.

brithoster · March 8

True, to join those on the shelf such as MSN Nudges, xFire gaming, Killer Creation and 24-play. Gone but never forgotten.

ksoutar · March 8

I Feel like skype really dropped the ball during the pandemic, but maybe the skype people can fix teams?

Skype will be retired on May 5th, 2025.

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