Skype Out vs Yahoo Voice - Service Review and Comparison
I have been using Skype for a long time and recently started using Yahoo Voice as well.
Considering that both Skype Out and Yahoo Voice are paid services, thought I would blog my experience. Maybe it will help someone decide which service to buy.
1) Software: Yahoo Voice comes integrated into Yahoo Messenger that we have all been using for years. So there’s no new software to install or new tool to familiarize yourself with.
2) Ease of Use: Yahoo is trying to do too much in one Messenger tool. Messenger is now too powerful, heavy and overloaded. As I rarely use instant messaging, I just want a tool to make phone calls and maybe chat occasionally, Skype is the superior software if you are just making phone calls.
3) Linux: Skype has a Linux version. To the best of my knowledge Yahoo Voice has no Linux option.
4) Cost: This is where Yahoo is at times twice as good as Skype. Yahoo Voice Rates in some cases are half that of Skype rates. When you compare rates, note that Skype shows rates in Euros by default.
5) Call and Sound Quality: Skype is easily superior to Yahoo. Especially if you are not on a lightning fast connection, the difference in quality can be startling. This is the case in Sep 2006, I guess Yahoo will improve as the voice service matures.
6) Community: In terms of community of users, Skype is obviously way behind Yahoo.
7) Features: Yahoo and Skype are almost the same as regards features. Yahoo has an extra feature to set your home country so that for calls to that country, you need not enter the international calling code. This feature however is buggy as of now. I wasted some money because of it and yahoo support wasn’t much help.
Verdict: If Skype can match Yahoo rates I would definitely go with Skype. If Yahoo is going to save me 10’s of dollars I would use it for family calls and use Skype for business.
Posted By - Harshad Oak
David said,
October 15, 2006 @ 11:41 am
Yes I call Zimbabwe often and noticed the Yahoo rate is about half the Skype rate, but haven’t tested the quality yet. I’ll give it a try.
suneel said,
April 30, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
Yahoo voice is much better than Skype in terms of price. Its just 1cent to call US in Yahoo where as skype charges 5 cents (including the VAT and connection charge). Skype sucks.
Sumit said,
June 2, 2007 @ 10:54 am
Well skype rates are aroung 3 times higher then yahoo, and skype has additional vat tax also
Dennis Hammack said,
August 4, 2007 @ 6:19 am
Tonight was the first time I had ever used yahoo voice. The quality was great. I didn’t know the costs, but if it is just 1 or 2 cents per minute, it is by far one of the best rates anywhere. Recommended for anyone who either doesn’t have a phone, or has to use dial-up.
shc said,
August 20, 2007 @ 1:15 am
hi Oak,
I am curious about the rates. Is the rate shown at
http://sg.voice.yahoo.com/phone_rates.php
is correct as it is ?
will there be any hidden fee? e.g. tax, VTN like skype
Thanks
ammu said,
September 3, 2007 @ 6:15 am
check out pfingoTALK at http://www.pfingo.com , the quality is much better than skype & you get a tel phone as well…it’s rates are pretty good & all calls to singapore nos are free!
Amjith said,
September 20, 2007 @ 9:15 am
hi
is any one know that the skype credit available in india. is so pls send me the information.
amjith
Call US and Canada from the Philippines Free! Philippines | Philippine Business said,
December 9, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
[...] Skype which has similar features with Yahoo Messenger Voice such as Skype Out and Skype In. Here is a comparative review between Yahoo Voice Phone Out and Skype Out. And here are lists of other VOIP [...]
Rawle W said,
May 14, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
yahoo is definitely cheaper. from my experience up to may 2008 call quality is roughly the same. However the new updated Skype has more telephony features and best of all it allows voice conferencing of 24 callers including adding people from various countries as the call progresses. I recently made a call on mothers day from the US to my mother and then effortlessly added a sibling in Barbados and another from the Bahamas! Could not figure out how to do this in Yahoo.
In essence: I use yahoo for most simple calls but skype for conferencing
Kuipers Eddy said,
June 16, 2008 @ 11:42 am
there are many more Yahoo and Hotmail users…than Skype users
Yahoo is better when one uses Messenger services..it outnimbers Skype 10 to 1
Yahoo is interconnected to Windows Live messenger ….
Make your own mind up….
Dennis said,
July 9, 2008 @ 7:40 am
I have used skype and yahoo voice for over six months.
skype is definitely more expensive, given that it also has Connection Charges - yahoo doens’t.
Quality and reliability wise, skype is definitely much much better than yahoo.
Yahoo has service reliability issues - on many occasions it simply cannot call out or send SMS - sucks big time.
Yahoo is definitely not ready for prime time.
Agustin said,
July 10, 2008 @ 5:05 am
I used yahoo voice for about a year and a half .. its very cheap .. but the quality sucks big time, there are times when you can get good quality with the phone calls, but this is only about 30% of the time.
Yahoo was cheaper, and that was the only good thing about it.. but since skype came out with the unlimited plans for us for about 2 dlls, i don’t think this will be the case, even if yahoo gets cheaper than this, 2 dlls a month doesn’t affect my budget, besides i rather have good quality but pay a little more than low quality just to save a couple of bucks a month (which is no longer the case).
Another pluss for skype its that it offers more voice services, works with many operating systems (fully funcitonal) and haves more phones than yahoo.
Jim said,
September 29, 2008 @ 3:21 am
I was a Skype enthusiast for a couple of years, but between the introduction of their connection fee and deteriorating call quality, I opted to try Yahoo Voice. Now I can’t imagine going back to Skype — it truly SUCKS.
Calling from S.E. Asia to N.A., Yahoo has proven to be far superior to Skype, both with regard to price and call quality. When using Skype, I often had to hang up and try a few times before getting acceptable line quality. Of course, this would make calls very expensive (when one considers that I was being hit with a connection fee every time). Having to hang up and recall in an effort to get a decent line is rare for me with Yahoo - it’s almost always good the first time, so I’m quite confused by comments here that favor Skype.
Daniel said,
November 7, 2008 @ 10:05 am
My problem with Skype was it kept on screwing up my audio or when a new program is installed ethe audio on Skype gets messed up. Other than that the program is good.