Free VoIP Calls

Free VoIP service - Is this possible?

There is really no such thing as a free VoIP service, however if you make calls to other VoIP users within the same VoIP provider network - the VoIP calls are for free. This applies to almost all VoIP services worldwide, with one or two exceptions. Please do not forget - you are still paying for your internet connection - be it cable, dial up or broadband.
The worldwide Voice over IP industry is extremely competitive with new Broadband Phone and PC to Phone VoIP services launching weekly -all hoping to catch a piece of the exponentially growing VoIP cake. Unfortunately many VoIP services disappear (see our VoIP Graveyard) as quick as they are launched and only those with unique offerings and heavy marketing resources will survive.
One unique way of luring consumers to sign up for VoIP services is by offering free VoIP calls to certain destinations. Over the past few months one particular German company initiated and has mastered the art of offering "free VoIP calls" with tremendous success. Other "Free VoIP providers" will follow soon, be it for promotional purposes or as a permanent feature.

We have identified 13 VoIP providers offering free VoIP services to a few selected countries and have displayed them in a matrix for an easy overview below.
www.voipbuster.com now based in Germany (previously Switzerland) and and their partners/affiliates www.voipcheap.co.uk based in the UK, www.netappel.fr based in France, www.voipstunt.com , www.sparvoip.de , Internetcalls.com , www.sipdiscount.com and voipdiscount.com based in Germany.

All require registration and VoIPBuster, NetAppel, Sparvoip and VoIPStunt, Internetcalls, VoipDiscount require a minimum deposit of 10 Euro and VoIPCheap a minimum deposit of 5 Euro. This will allow you to make free VoIP calls to landlines in the following countries listed below:

www.voipagain.com offer free calls to 30 destinations with 150 minutes free per week. Similar to VoipBuster and peer companies.

www.free.fr, a French ISP and VoIP provider offers free VoIP landline calls to 14 international destinations (Only for broadband subsribers)

Summary of VoIP Providers offering free VoIP calls

The Betamax group (Voipbuster, Voipcheap.co.uk, Sparvoip, Voipstunt, Netappel and Sipdiscount, Internetcalls, VoipDiscount, poivY and now Voipcheap.com have a habit of chopping and changing their list of free VoIP destinations and one should check almost weekly to see if new destinations have been added or removed from the "free VoIP" list.

Please note: On 10 May 2006 the Betamax group changed their policy yet again and now only allow a maximum of 300 minutes per week of "free calls" measured over the last 7 days.

NEW - Check the following link for a summary and detailed overview of all SIP settings, available codecs, free VoIP-IN numbers, validity of credits etc of all Betamax VoIP Services.

NEW - In the last week of August 2006 the Betamax group changed their credit expiry policy (probably due to legal requirements in Germany). They now offer so called "Freedays". Any credit in your account will now no longer expire. After the 120 (90) "Freeday" period the calls will be charged at the rate published in their rates schedule. Should you however add funds to your account before your credit expires then your total credit will remain valid and your "Freeday" period will be extended by a further 120 (90) days.

NEW - Early November 2006 a new "Free VoIP service" was launched by Betamax (www.lowratevoip.com), with "Free VoIP Calls" to 50 destinations (Note: Only 30 "Freedays" and only 200 free minutes per week now)