Softwr

Customer Support · head to head

8x8 Contact Center vs EspoCRM

8x8 Contact Center logo

8x8 Contact Center

Customer Support

Integrated cloud communications and contact center

From
$85/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
EspoCRM logo

EspoCRM

CRM

AGPL open source CRM in PHP that you can self-host free or buy as cloud with seat minimums

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only EspoCRM has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 8x8 Contact Center listed on G-Cloud 14 directly by 8x8 UK Limited (not a reseller) at £0.68 to £113.40 per user per month for 8x8 Contact Centre; EspoCRM the AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • They diverge on capability: 8x8 Contact Center covers Voice, EspoCRM covers Entity manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 8x8 Contact Center and EspoCRM actually diverge.

Attributes where 8x8 Contact Center and EspoCRM differ
Attribute8x8 Contact CenterEspoCRM
Starting price$85/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Ios, AndroidWeb, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM
Founded1987Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 8x8 Contact Center

  • Voice
  • Digital channels
  • IVR
  • ACD
  • WFM
  • Quality management
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce

Only in EspoCRM

  • Entity manager
  • Dynamic logic
  • Email integration
  • Sales pipeline
  • Case management
  • Reports and dashboards
  • Workflow automation
  • REST API

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

8x8 Contact Center

  • Unified communicationsnot EspoCRM
  • Contact centernot EspoCRM
  • Remote worknot EspoCRM
  • Customer supportnot EspoCRM

EspoCRM

  • A small business that wants a CRM on its own hosting with no per-seat fee and no vendor holding its customer datanot 8x8 Contact Center
  • A public sector or healthcare team with data residency rules that rule out US-hosted commercial CRMnot 8x8 Contact Center
  • A developer or agency needing a CRM whose data model can be extended into a bespoke entity structure through configurationnot 8x8 Contact Center
  • An organisation with many light users, where self-hosting avoids paying seat prices for people who open the CRM twice a monthnot 8x8 Contact Center

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

8x8 Contact Center

  • Listed on G-Cloud 14 directly by 8x8 UK Limited (not a reseller) at £0.68 to £113.40 per user per month for 8x8 Contact Centre

EspoCRM

  • The AGPLv3 licence obliges you to publish source modifications if you make the modified software available over a network, which blocks resellers who want to offer a customised hosted version without opening their code.
  • Cloud plans carry seat minimums of three, five and ten users, so a two-person consultancy pays for three seats and a small team wanting the Ultimate features pays for ten.
  • Record ceilings are real on the cheaper cloud tiers, with Basic capped at 100,000 records, and hitting the cap means a tier upgrade rather than a small overage charge.
  • Marketing automation, sequences and native telephony are thin compared with HubSpot or Zoho, so most deployments end up wiring in a separate mailing tool and a separate dialler.
  • Self-hosting shifts the entire cost to your own team: PHP version upgrades, database backups and security patching are yours, and a neglected instance becomes an internet-facing liability holding your customer list.

Pricing, plan by plan

8x8 Contact Center

$85/month
  • X6$85/month
    • Voice contact center
    • ACD
    • IVR
  • X7$110/month
    • X6 + Digital channels
    • Quality management
  • X8$140/month
    • X7 + WFM
    • Speech analytics
    • Advanced AI

EspoCRM

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPLv3 licence, no fee
    • Runs on PHP with MySQL or MariaDB
    • Advanced Pack, Sales Pack and other extensions sold separately as one-off purchases
  • Cloud Basic$15/month
    • Three-user minimum
    • 3GB storage per user
    • Up to 100,000 records
  • Cloud Enterprise$25/month
    • Five-user minimum
    • 10GB storage per user
    • Up to 10 million records, extendable for a fee
  • Cloud Ultimate$69/month
    • Ten-user minimum
    • 400GB total storage
    • Unlimited records

Which should you pick?

Choose 8x8 Contact Center if

  • You need voice.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android.
  • You also want digital channels.
8x8 Contact Center review

Choose EspoCRM if

  • You need entity manager.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
  • You also want dynamic logic.
EspoCRM review

Questions people ask

Is 8x8 Contact Center or EspoCRM better?
Neither clearly leads. 8x8 Contact Center starts at $85/month and EspoCRM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 8x8 Contact Center or EspoCRM?
EspoCRM has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $85/month for 8x8 Contact Center and Free for EspoCRM.
Does 8x8 Contact Center or EspoCRM run on more platforms?
8x8 Contact Center runs on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android. EspoCRM runs on Web, Linux, Docker, iOS, Android.
Can I use EspoCRM for free?
Yes. EspoCRM has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. 8x8 Contact Center starts at $85/month.
What is 8x8 Contact Center best used for?
8x8 Contact Center is most often used for unified communications, contact center, remote work, customer support. Of those, unified communications and contact center are not what EspoCRM is typically brought in for.
What can 8x8 Contact Center do that EspoCRM cannot?
8x8 Contact Center covers Voice, Digital channels, IVR, ACD. EspoCRM covers Entity manager, Dynamic logic, Email integration, Sales pipeline.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

EspoCRM: Is the self-hosted version really full featured?

The core CRM is, but several paid extension packs including Advanced Pack for reports and BPM are sold separately as one-off purchases and are not in the free download.

EspoCRM: What are the cloud seat minimums?

Three users on Basic, five on Enterprise and ten on Ultimate, so the advertised per-user rate is not the smallest bill you can pay.

EspoCRM: What does it need to run?

PHP, MySQL or MariaDB and a web server. It installs on ordinary shared hosting or a small VPS, which is unusual for a modern CRM.

EspoCRM: Can I move from cloud to self-hosted later?

Yes. EspoCRM states customers own their database and data files, so an export and reinstall is possible, though you take on all maintenance when you do.

Share

Related pages

More on 8x8 Contact Center

More on EspoCRM

Keep looking

Other head to heads