3CX Licensing & Pricing Guide: BASIC vs PRO vs AI

This guide reflects 3CX licensing, editions, and features as of October 2026.

If you're comparing business phone systems, 3CX works a little differently from many cloud phone services. Instead of charging a separate software license for every user each month, 3CX commercial licensing is priced per system based mainly on the edition you choose and the number of simultaneous calls, or SC, your system needs to handle.

There are currently three commercial 3CX editions: BASIC, PRO, and AI. BASIC covers core business telephony, PRO adds more advanced call handling, reporting, integrations, and contact center features, and AI adds higher-end AI, analytics, automation, and enterprise capabilities.

This guide covers how 3CX pricing and licensing work, what separates the three editions, deployment options, compatible phones and hardware, and what to do if you already have a 3CX system that needs a renewal or upgrade.

Is 3CX a Good Fit for Your Business Phone System?

3CX is an IP PBX and business communications platform that can be used as a hosted PBX, self-hosted phone system, or on-premise PBX. It can be a good option for businesses that want more control over their phones, SIP trunks, deployment, and licensing than they may get from a typical per-user cloud phone service.

It also covers a pretty wide range of use cases. A company that mainly needs reliable office calling may be fine with BASIC, while a customer-facing team that needs queues, CRM integrations, reporting, and supervisor tools may be a better fit for PRO. Higher-call environments that want AI transcription, automation, advanced analytics, or enterprise features can look at AI.

That flexibility is useful, but it also means there is more to choose than simply counting employees and picking a plan.

How 3CX Pricing and Licensing Work

Current 3CX commercial licenses are sold as annual system licenses. Pricing is based mainly on two decisions:

• Which edition you need: BASIC, PRO, or AI
• How much simultaneous-call capacity your system needs

A simultaneous call is simply a call taking place at the same time as other calls on the system. Both internal and external active calls can count toward the licensed SC capacity. An extension that is sitting idle does not.

This is why a company with 50 employees does not automatically need 50 simultaneous calls. What matters is how many calls are actually taking place during the busiest parts of the day, along with the user or extension limits for the SC size you choose.

There is no universal formula that works for every business. A sales team, medical office, call center, or customer service department may use much more call capacity than another company with the same number of employees.

3CX pricing changes periodically, so we don't recommend relying on an old dollar amount from a blog post. You can view current 3CX pricing or browse our current 3CX license options .

3CX BASIC vs PRO vs AI

The easiest way to choose an edition is to start with what your business actually needs rather than automatically choosing the highest tier.

Swipe left to view the full comparison.

3CX regularly changes and expands its feature set. For the latest detailed comparison, see the official 3CX feature list .

When 3CX BASIC Makes Sense

3CX BASIC is for organizations that primarily need a dependable business phone system without advanced contact center tools, CRM integration, or AI features.

BASIC includes core calling, apps, intercom and paging, BLFs, fax, basic reports, Microsoft and Google user synchronization, and SSO. It can be a good fit for offices, schools, clinics, warehouses, hotels, and other organizations where reliable calling matters more than advanced customer service workflows.

BASIC does not include call queues, CRM integrations, call recording, hot desking, multi-site bridges, Call Flow Designer, or the broader AI feature set.

If those needs come up later, you can move to a higher edition rather than replacing the entire phone system.

When 3CX PRO Makes Sense

For many typical business deployments, 3CX PRO is the practical middle ground.

PRO adds the features that become useful when a phone system is doing more than basic office calling, including advanced queues, supervisor tools, scheduled and advanced reporting, CRM integrations for platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace integration, hot desking, multi-office connectivity, and Call Flow Designer.

It is a particularly natural fit for sales teams, customer service departments, growing multi-location businesses, and organizations that want more visibility into how calls are being handled.

PRO also supports voicemail transcription with supported transcription services. Full call transcription, summaries, sentiment analysis, and AI Agents move you into the AI edition.

When 3CX AI Makes Sense

3CX AI is the current top commercial edition. This is the edition previously known as 3CX Enterprise.

AI builds on PRO with features such as full-call transcription, automatic call summaries, sentiment analysis, AI Agents, skill-based routing, additional analytics, enterprise-level controls, and failover capabilities for supported deployments.

This tends to make the most sense for higher-call environments, larger customer-facing teams, contact centers, and organizations that can actually use the extra automation and call data.

Microsoft Teams Direct Routing is also available on 3CX AI systems at 16SC and above.

Microsoft licensing note: Microsoft licensing is separate from the 3CX license. Participating users need the appropriate Microsoft Teams and Teams Phone licensing. Microsoft requirements can change, so check the current Microsoft and 3CX requirements when planning a Teams Direct Routing deployment.

Hosted, Self-Hosted, or On-Premise?

3CX can be deployed in several ways, which is one reason businesses comparing hosted PBX and self-hosted phone systems often consider it.

3CX supports these general deployment models, although availability and individual feature requirements can vary by edition, license size, and deployment type.

Can You Use Existing Phones and SIP Trunks with 3CX?

One reason companies look at 3CX when replacing an older PBX is that the system is based on SIP and works with hardware and SIP trunk providers from multiple manufacturers.

That does not mean every SIP phone has the same level of compatibility. 3CX currently separates devices into support categories such as Preferred, Supported with limitations, and Legacy. Provisioning, firmware management, and other integration features can vary by model.

3CX currently lists Preferred phone families from Fanvil , Snom , and Yealink . These manufacturers work closely with 3CX on provisioning, firmware, and current software releases, although exact capabilities still depend on the individual model.

Grandstream is also widely used with 3CX, but its current support status is different. 3CX currently places Grandstream GRP26 and GXP desk phone families under Supported with limitations rather than Preferred. Existing phones may still provision and work with 3CX, but they do not have the same support status as current Preferred phone families and are not the first choice for a new 3CX phone deployment.

Grandstream also appears elsewhere on the current 3CX compatibility list. Certain GDS37 door phones, GSC35 paging products, and HT and GXW gateways and analog telephone adapters are listed in their own supported device categories. We carry a range of paging and intercom equipment and VoIP gateways and analog adapters , including Grandstream options.

Other brands and models may also be listed as Preferred, Supported with limitations, specialty devices, or Legacy equipment. Those classifications can change as products age and new firmware or phone models are released, so it is always worth checking the current support status of the exact model you plan to use.

We maintain a Phones & Devices for 3CX collection with many of the desk phones, cordless systems, conference phones, door phones, paging products, gateways, and VoIP adapters we carry for 3CX environments.

Our collection is not meant to replace 3CX's live compatibility guide. Before choosing hardware for a new deployment, especially if you're considering a model that isn't clearly identified as Preferred, check the current 3CX supported phones and devices list for the latest status.

SIP trunks and phone numbers are also separate from the 3CX software license. Businesses can choose from supported SIP trunk providers rather than being locked into a single carrier.

Already Using 3CX? Renewals and Upgrades

If you already have 3CX, you may not need a new system or even a new license key. What you need depends on what is changing.

• Renewal: Keep your existing annual license active. View 3CX License Renewals .
• Capacity upgrade: Increase the simultaneous-call size of your existing license. Request a 3CX Capacity Upgrade .
• Edition upgrade: Move from BASIC to PRO or AI, or from PRO to AI. Request a 3CX Edition Upgrade .

It is a good idea to renew before your annual subscription expires. An expired 3CX subscription can significantly reduce system functionality, and Hosted by 3CX systems can also be affected if an expired subscription is left unresolved.

If your license has already expired, send us the existing key and system information before purchasing so we can help determine whether you need a renewal, upgrade, or another path.

Still running a much older perpetual installation? Perpetual keys are no longer supported in current 3CX releases, so it is worth checking your existing system before ordering anything new.

3CX Licensing FAQ