There have never been as many options as there are today to be able to make international calls. In fact there are so many options to contact people across the globe that actually picking up the phone and dialing a number seems like the last thing that you want to do. In reality even if you were to buy, for example, an international calls add-on to your regular plan it wouldn’t make a ton of sense financially. It really depends on the type of calls that you’re going to need to make on a daily basis. For the most part, though, that added costs would represent more money than you would spend making calls through an app for international calls.
To be able to really pick the best app for international calls we need to look into a bunch of different things. As we just mentioned, the type of calls that you need to make could completely alter the type of app that’s going to suit you well. What we mean by the type of calls, is literally do you need to call a landline? That’s a different type of call entirely than calling to a mobile device. Therefore, apps like WhatsApp or Telegram that you probably assumed were going to be at the top of the list here may not be. What we are going to do in this article is take a look at different apps and let you know why they would or wouldn’t be the best app for international calls. Let’s get going then!
WhatsApp or Telegram May Not Be The Best App For International Calls
Since we already referenced these two apps we thought it would be a good idea to start here. So, there’s definitely a great case for these apps as ways to call internationally. The thing is, more often than not you need to know who you’re calling and obviously be certain that they are users of any of these two apps. You need to have an account on the app yourself, and you need to have a stable Wi-Fi connection. Particularly if you’re calling while you’re abroad. If your intention is to call family that is abroad or while you’re abroad these two can work perfectly.
There’s one thing that we felt is missing from these apps to be able to crown them as the best app for international calls, and that is the fact that you can’t call landlines with either of these two. Therefore, if you need to call your hotel or something when you are on a trip you’re going to have to find another option to call. More often than not that option is going to involve things like roaming fees, and other instances that you probably don’t want to deal with. Also, you need to have a stable connection to make the call.
If you plan to make calls through social media apps, be advised that you’re going to be dealing with the same type of limitations. You need to make sure that the person that you want to call is on the app. Also, these calls can take up a lot of data. Ideally if you’re the one abroad you’re going to want to call when you’re connected to a good Wi-Fi network. When you are not the one abroad and you want to call someone who is, that’s a bit tougher, because if they don’t have a mobile connection they won’t be able to answer.
Pros of International Calls Through WhatsApp or Telegram
- When you’re on a free Wi-Fi network the call is essentially free
- There’s no limit to the amount of time that you’re going to be able to call
- WhatsApp especially is very popular throughout the world. The chances that the person you’re trying to call has an account are high
Cons of International Calls Through WhatsApp or Telegram
- The call takes up too much data, therefore it’s only viable on Wi-Fi networks abroad.
- You can only call people who are on the app
- No calls to landlines
Google Hangouts/ Google Voice – A Viable Option
It’s incredibly head scratching why this Google feature seems like it’s criminally underused. Maybe it’s because a lot of people are ashamed to say that they are Android users, and that Google apps fit better for them. Essentially Google Hangouts is going to work the same way that WhatsApp and Telegram work except for the fact that the contacts that you can call directly are your email contacts. If you have the app you can make calls through your computer or your mobile phone. So far, WhatsApp and Telegram don’t allow you to make calls through your computer. You have to be on the mobile app.
What you can also do with Google Hangouts is call landlines. Interestingly enough you can call landlines in the US for free with Google Hangouts. Again though that seems to be a feature that a lot of people overlook. When you’re making an international call you are going to get with per minute rates. However, in going through those rates they are usually lower than what you could expect to see from your regular phone company. Also, you’re going to be able to use the app when you’re on a Wi-Fi connection. You won’t have to worry about data roaming or things like that.
If there’s one thing that you don’t want to do with this app is make an international call with your mobile data that you’re getting abroad. Unless you have a day pass or something like this where you’d have a ton of data that you already paid for. Even in those cases though one call could see you lose a considerable amount of speed on the data that you already paid for. Based on the amount of data that one of these calls could take.
Google Hangouts Pros
- You can call landlines
- Call any email contact with a Gmail account
- Decent per minute rates
Google Hangouts Cons
- Calling landlines isn’t free
- Not a lot of people know how to use it
- They’re switching everything to Google Voice, and a lot is set to change
- Many features are only available to US users
Skype : Don’t Forget About This Option
We’ve done an article on Skype already, and still we get the sense that it’s popularity just keeps slipping. Ever since it was taken over by Microsoft there have been people that were not all the way on board with them. In reality, it’s still one of the best apps for international calls. Especially with the update to their mobile app. You can take calls through the internet from your email contacts that you already have synced in your Google account. If you still use Hotmail or Outlook it’s the same deal you’re going to be able to sync your contacts and call them directly. There’s an argument to be made that the full version of Google Hangouts was modeled after something that Skype has been offering for years. Old school remote workers probably remember the tool being an industry standard way before Zoom and everything else popped up.
One of the biggest difference makers that we’ve been pointing out is the ability to call landlines or not. With Skype, you can call landlines directly from your computer or the Skype app. They’ve been selling their prepaid cards along with Amazon gift cards in stores for years. The only reason why we are saying this is because it’s so surprising that other apps were able to flourish during the COVID-19 lockdown. When they offered much fewer features than Skype did. The quality of the calls was subpar in the early that probably turned a lot of people off. They were one of the first kids on the block. What would you’ve expected with early 2000s technology?
Skype Pros
- Integrate your email contacts quickly
- Call landlines
- Very decent mobile app
Skype Cons
- The platform’s gone out of style
- Their rates have never been the best
- Microsoft hosts all of the interactions (people don’t feel anonymous)
Zoom : Is It Really That Good?
There’s probably not a person alive that hasn’t been on a Zoom call. We’re actually including newborns in this statement because if they were born in and around that’s how the family probably met them. A more accurate statement might be everyone’s been on a Zoom call even against their will! Is Zoom the best app for international calls? If we’re talking about features, and for example things like calling landlines, it’s not the best app by any stretch of the imagination. That’s not to say it’s horrible. It does a nice job of holding up more or less quality audio and video for a ton of participants. Would you hold a Zoom call for a one on one personal call? The answer for most people is no.
If we’re honest about it there are two things that Zoom does really well. It was able to capture the user base that other apps like Skype just let slip away. It’s at a point where it’s like WhatsApp when people say Telegram has better features. Sure, that could be the case, but Whatsapp has more users. The other thing that it really does well is make things extremely easy. Click on the link and you’re in! That helped get the elderly and the non-tech folks online and on a call. All of the other apps are modeling themselves around what Zoom was able to create. It’s the go to way to jump on a group call, and if they are able to keep the call quality decent they’ll probably stay at the top.
Zoom Pros
- Easy to use
- Large user base
- Mostly available worldwide
Zoom Cons
- The free version offers limited features
- No landline calls (You can call into a meeting from a landline, but you can’t call a landline from Zoom)
- Not a lot of features in general
FaceTime Is Still An Option As An App For International Calls?
There are people that are still doing this. At least at the time of writing for this article. Like with a lot of the apps trying to figure out which one works best for you will come down to which one the people that you want to call are actually familiar with. We just got done talking about that with Zoom, and other apps. You can try real hard as a developer to create an app that offers a better user experience overall. If you can’t get people to switch from what they’re used to over to your platform it really is all for naught.
As far as FaceTime goes it’s really an app that most people are going to use for one on one personal conversations. One of the positives that this app had over things like WhatsApp or Telegram is that you really didn’t need a phone per se to be able to contact other people. It was one of the first ways that you could use a tablet or another device that was just connected to the internet and contact your friends. These days there are a lot of apps that are going to allow you to do the exact same thing. As we mentioned it comes down to what app the people that you want to call are familiar with.
FaceTime Pros
- Easy to use
- Can be setup in multiple devices
- Video and audio quality is usually ok
FaceTime Cons
- Not perceived as a tool for formal calls
- Limited features
- User base is not on the raise
Should You Just Do A Regular Call?
This is the other option that you’re going to have. The thing with calling through most apps is that you don’t have to worry about a per minute rate. What you do have to worry about is where you’re getting data from when you’re abroad. Really there are actually a couple of reasons why regular international calls are going out of style. Number one is the cost of these calls. We have a lot of articles on roaming rates that we’re going to link to. Even if you have a local SIM card calling back home, that can eat your minutes up rather quickly. Actually mobile coverage is totally data centric these days. You’ll probably have just a few minutes on a low-cost SIM card that you bought locally.
The second reason why just picking up the phone and dialing has essentially gone out of style is the fact that the quality isn’t guaranteed. If people would be assured that by picking up the phone and calling they would have quality audio throughout their whole call many would even consider the per minute rates. The sad part about it though is that mobile services providers for the most part don’t offer a huge advantage in audio quality on your calls. So if you can’t get that and the call itself is more expensive it makes little sense to go this route.
App For International Calls Conclusion
We went into this thinking that we were going to crown an app as the best app for international calls. As you can see, that really wasn’t the case. There are a couple of good reasons for that. We think it’s more important to detail what type of person could benefit from each app. It makes no sense to say WhatsApp is best, but it won’t work for you because the people you want to call aren’t on it! Just to set an example. Google Hangouts and Skype could very well be the most complete apps. As they are the ones that are going to allow you to call landlines. Google Hangouts outside of the US can be a mess though. In fact outside the US it’s been turned into a bland app that they are going to discontinue.
The situation with Skype is one of the greatest mysteries in the world. Potentially what happened is that it’s user base moved to the G-Suite lineup of apps. Then again, it’s weird that Google was also not able to really capitalize on what they had with Hangouts. It turns out that making something easy to use could very well be the main thing that people are looking for these days. Zoom seems to be the app that has been able to capitalize in that department. Ultimately, any of the apps that are in this article could work. Make sure though that you know where you’re getting data. If you’re paying roaming fees for the data as you call, it can be more expensive than the per minute rate!