Softwr

Telecommunications · head to head

8x8 vs Exotel

8x8 logo

8x8

Telecommunications

Enterprise-grade unified communications

From
$29.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Exotel logo

Exotel

Telecommunications

Indian cloud telephony and contact centre platform sold as prepaid credit bundles

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 8x8 listed on UK G-Cloud 14 at £2.65 to £113.40 per user per month for 8x8 Hosted PBX, submitted directly by 8x8 UK Limited; Exotel bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • They diverge on capability: 8x8 covers Voice calling, Exotel covers Exophones.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 8x8 and Exotel actually diverge.

Attributes where 8x8 and Exotel differ
Attribute8x8Exotel
Starting price$29.99/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPrepaid credit bundle with a fixed validity period
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Macos, Ios, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, API
Founded1987Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Telecommunications).

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

  • Voice calling
  • Video meetings
  • Team messaging
  • Call recording
  • Voicemail
  • Call routing
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce

Only in Exotel

  • Exophones
  • IVR and call flows
  • Number masking
  • Contact centre
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Call recording and quality
  • CRM integrations
  • Communication APIs

What people use each for

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

8x8

  • Business communicationnot Exotel
  • Customer contactnot Exotel
  • Remote worknot Exotel
  • Continuitynot Exotel

Exotel

  • An Indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone numbernot 8x8
  • A lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from Indian numbers with DLT compliance handlednot 8x8
  • A healthcare aggregator routing patient calls to the right clinic by IVR with fallback to a queue outside working hoursnot 8x8
  • A product team that wants to trigger verification calls and SMS from its own application over a REST API rather than buy an agent productnot 8x8

Where each one falls short

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

8x8

  • Listed on UK G-Cloud 14 at £2.65 to £113.40 per user per month for 8x8 Hosted PBX, submitted directly by 8x8 UK Limited

Exotel

  • Bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • Voice, SMS and WhatsApp draw from one shared credit pool, which means a marketing SMS burst can consume the credits your support line needs and force an unplanned top-up.
  • Per-minute billing runs on a pulse of 30 or 60 seconds, so a 61 second call is charged as two full minutes; on high call volumes this materially inflates the effective rate against a per-second competitor.
  • Coverage and pricing are built around India, with a smaller footprint in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, so a business calling mainly North America or Europe gets worse rates and less carrier depth than a global CPaaS provider.
  • The enterprise contact centre tier publishes no pricing at all, so the transparent bundle prices only apply to the small end and larger buyers are back in an opaque sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

8x8

$29.99/month
  • Pro$29.99/month
    • Calling and meetings
    • Video conferencing
    • Team messaging
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Everything in Pro
    • Advanced analytics
    • Dedicated support

Exotel

On request
  • Dabbler$9999/year
    • Validity is five months, not twelve
    • Rental component of 4,999 rupees included in the price
    • 5,000 shared credits across calls, SMS and WhatsApp
  • Believer$19999/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 9,500 shared credits
  • Influencer$49499/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 39,000 shared credits
  • Enterprise Contact Centre$undefined/year
    • Full contact centre with supervisor tooling and AI agents
    • Custom credit and agent volumes
    • Pricing quoted, not published

Which should you pick?

Choose 8x8 if

  • You need voice calling.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android.
  • You also want video meetings.
8x8 review

Choose Exotel if

  • You need exophones.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want ivr and call flows.
Exotel review

Questions people ask

Is 8x8 or Exotel better?
Neither clearly leads. 8x8 starts at $29.99/month and Exotel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 8x8 or Exotel?
8x8 starts at $29.99/month and Exotel at On request.
Does 8x8 or Exotel run on more platforms?
8x8 runs on Web, Windows, Macos, Ios, Android. Exotel runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
What is 8x8 best used for?
8x8 is most often used for business communication, customer contact, remote work, continuity. Of those, business communication and customer contact are not what Exotel is typically brought in for.
What can 8x8 do that Exotel cannot?
8x8 covers Voice calling, Video meetings, Team messaging, Call recording. Exotel covers Exophones, IVR and call flows, Number masking, Contact centre.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Exotel: Does Exotel publish prices?

Yes for its business phone system bundles: 9,999 rupees for Dabbler, 19,999 for Believer and 49,499 for Influencer. The enterprise contact centre is quoted.

Exotel: Do unused credits roll over?

No. Credits are tied to the bundles validity period, five months on Dabbler and eleven months on the higher packs, and expire at the end of it.

Exotel: Can I use Exotel outside India?

Exotel operates in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well, but India is where it holds licences, handles DLT registration and has the best rates and carrier relationships.

Exotel: Is there a free trial?

Yes, a seven-day trial with 500 rupees of credit and no commitment.

Share

Related pages

More on 8x8

More on Exotel

Keep looking

Other head to heads