Editions
Compare the 3CX editions
Three editions, and the one you need is usually decided by a single question: do you run queues? Everything else tends to follow from the answer.
The three
What each one is for
What each edition is built for first, then the full list of what it includes. The boundaries move when 3CX restructures its licensing, so we check yours against the licence you are buying.
Basic
For an office that wants the phones to work properly.
The auto attendant and ring groups, the apps, desk phones, the built-in SBC for remote handsets, website live chat, SMS, basic call reports and the hotel module. Core telephony done well, and for a great many Kenyan businesses the whole requirement.
No video meetings and no queues. You move off it when callers start waiting in a line that does not exist yet, or when somebody wants to run a meeting from the system rather than a separate tool.
Pro
For teams that answer calls as a job.
Queues and the contact centre, video meetings, queue and agent reporting, call recording, the CRM and Microsoft 365 integrations, and WhatsApp. This is the edition most reception desks, support teams and contact centres land on.
It is where the system starts paying for itself, because it is the first tier that can tell you how long people waited and who answered them.
AI
Pro, plus the AI suite.
Everything in Pro, and then an AI receptionist, AI agents, a personal assistant, call transcription with summaries and sentiment, skill-based routing and scheduled restore.
Worth it when call volume is high enough that reading is faster than listening, or when the first thirty seconds of every call is the same question.
What changes as you move up
By area, because that is how the editions are actually divided.
What each edition includes
| Capability | Basic | Pro | AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto attendant, IVR and ring groups | Included | Included | Included |
| The apps, on every device | Included | Included | Included |
| Website live chat and SMS | Included | Included | Included |
| Basic call reports | Included | Included | Included |
| Desk phones | Included | Included | Included |
| The hotel module Self-managed systems only | Included | Included | Included |
| Video meetings Up to 100 people on Pro, 250 on AI | Not included | Included | Included |
| Call queues and the contact centre | Not included | Included | Included |
| Call recording | Not included | Included | Included |
| Queue and agent reports | Not included | Included | Included |
| WhatsApp and Facebook | Not included | Included | Included |
| CRM and full Microsoft 365 integration | Not included | Included | Included |
| A domain name of your own | Not included | Included | Included |
| AI receptionist, agents and transcription | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Skill-based routing | Not included | Not included | Included |
Where a row depends on the size of the system as well as the edition, the note under it says so.
The part that surprises people
You pay for calls at once, not for seats. 3CX is sized by how many conversations can be in progress at the same time. Everyone in the building still gets an extension, an app and a voicemail box; what you buy is how many of them can be talking at once, and in most offices that is a small fraction of the staff list.
That is usually the point at which the quote stops looking like the one from the last supplier, and it is why we size against your own busiest hour rather than your headcount.
The tier does have a ceiling, though. Each simultaneous-call tier covers a maximum number of users as well: a licence sized for eight calls at once covers up to forty of them, sixteen covers eighty. So growth is cheaper than you expect right up until it crosses a boundary, and then the tier moves whether or not your call volume did. We will tell you where your boundary is on the demo, because finding it on a renewal invoice is a bad way to learn it.
Which one, in practice
Nobody waits, and nobody needs meetings
Calls reach a person or a small group directly, and your meetings happen somewhere else. Basic does this well and there is no reason to pay for more.
Callers wait, and somebody has to answer for it
A reception desk, a support line, a hotel, a clinic. You need queues and you need the reports, which means Pro.
The same thirty seconds, on every call
High volume, repetitive openings, or recordings nobody has time to listen to. That is what the AI edition is for.
Prices exclude VAT at 16%, quoted in KES. Moving between editions later is a licence change, not a new system.
When a licence, upgrade or renewal is ready
Ready within 2 working hours, Monday to Saturday 9:00–17:00 EAT. Paid after hours, on a Sunday or on a public holiday? Ready by 11:00 the next working day.
We will tell you which edition you need
Including when the answer is the cheaper one. Bring your busiest hour to the demo and we will size it with you.
We confirm your slot within 24 hours. Prefer to write? Email or message us.