VOIP Tech Chat → [General] What's your favorite softphone/why?

I've been trying various ones and I believe have settled on my favorite, but am curious what others use.

PhonerLite.

»www.phonerlite.de/index_en.htm

Very easy to set up, even has a Wizard. (Just need to remember to hit Save after the config is done).

Tells you what codecs are in use during a call.

Works well without a fuss.

I used to use X-Lite. I liked it because it worked, but I didn't really like the interface and how it tried very hard to physically act like a real phone (e.g. config menus seemed optimized for arrowing through).

Now I use Linphone or Ekiga. Both are simple and open source. I like Ekiga's interface more though.

I don't usually answer calls on the softphone--it's mostly there so I can see easily see callerid come through (and search online for numbers I don't recognize).

I used to use Linphone, mostly because it was simple and easy to work with. These days, I use Twinkle more, even though even that's getting kinda obsolete in my case because I'm using my Nexus One more and more. Still trying to decide between CSipSimple and SipDroid. Linphone for mobile devices isn't bad but the current stable release doesn't have a searchable contact list and I think it doesn't have codec prioritization, in addition to being a bit poor on sound tweaks.

For me, it would be Ekiga mainly because it is an open-source and it supports G722 Codec.

Dare I ask, if they are people using softphone on MacOS? I am using iSoftphone and there aren't many on this platform... xlite is heavily crippled on this platform.

I'm pretty sure Linphone also runs on Mac. Twinkle might.

On the Mac, give Blink a try. Or, for simplicity but fewer features, Telephone.

Linphone, Twinkle, Blink, Telephone … Thank you, I am glad I asked, I am not familiar with any of them. Will give each a try when I get a moment.

Same here and Ekiga hides to system tray. In PhonerLite, if I exit the program, it seems to me that my extension in Asterisk becomes unregistered. Also, for hanging up, I usually hit the escape key in my keyboard, but then I found that I have to click the hang up button using my mouse. For Ekiga, the user interface is very simple and I just click in the dial pad tab just for easy access, even though I use my keyboard to dial a telephone number. I think software-based dial pads are nice if you have a touch screen.

On PC I'm using PhonerLite, mentioned above. It can tell you which codec it uses, along with other data. It's good for diagnostics...

On Android I've tried CSipSimple, but it consumes a lot of battery. SipDroid is better with this respect, but has less options to configure and adjust to my needs. OBiON is, IMHO, in its earlier stage of its development (it may crash your whole phone) and it can't be used with anything, except your OBi device... In terms of battery consumption so far it's the best.

I like Eyebeam, I bought it when it was on sale for $15 and its served me well. I've encountered sound artifacts with other softphones, probably related to the bitrate/frequency/sampling rate/whatever of the soundcard (not the codec).

OS X:

Telephone: Free, Simple, just works

iSoftphone: Support Multiple Accounts, stable, simple, polished, $35 USD (Doesn't have g729). Great experience so far, I replaced Bria with this on my Mac Air.

Zoiper Lite/Biz: Currently there's a small issue with Zoiper on OS X that I reported to them, it uses too much CPU while on idle (around 7% CPU), Zoiper team acknowledged the issue and gonna be fixed in the next release. The issue is not noticeable by the way, but I'm a perfectionist and it was bothering me to see an idle process use 7-8% cpu. Zoiper Biz is great for testing and quick switching between providers with a simple drop down list. You can purchase with or without G729 Codec, prices are on their website. Zoiper Lite is available for free but only support one provider at a time. Also support IAX.

Bria: From the same folks that bring you X-Lite. I purchased this on OS X because I had a good experience with Eyebeam and X-Lite on Windows. This might be isolated to me, I didn't investigate, but my Bria crashes when I resume from sleep, and most OS X laptop owners never shut down their computers, they just close the lid for sleep, so the issue became annoying. It was great apart from my crashes. Will test out next version release to see if I still experience the issue.

Windows 7:

Zoiper Biz and Lite: Same review than on OS X without the CPU bug.

X-Lite: Free, this phone rarely has issues with nats, it just works. G729 Not included.

Eyebeam/Bria: I purchased this on my Windows computer as well, Great phone again, More options than X-Lite like Transfers and conference, support multiple SIP Accounts. Optional G729, check website for pricing.

iPhone:
Bria and Acrobits are my favorite softphones.

Edit: I would like to give a thumb up to 3CX but they do not recognize the underscore as a valid character for a SIP Username, so if they are not compatible with VoIP.ms sub-accounts, can't recommend

Martin,

You may want to give 3CX another look as it seems to work fine for me with Voip.MS on sub accounts.

How about softphone for Android? I succesfully used Sipdroid with Voip.ms on my Virgin Mobile (Sprint) Optimus V over 3g. Think it sounded better than cellular call.

Oups! I will do that asap, thanks for letting me know.

Mikefxu:

I recently start also using the Optimus V on Virgin Mobile and my calls on 3g are unusable. I'm using 711u codec and CSipSimple. The calls are crystal clear over WiFi, when registered to my PIAF Server (using GV). In your area, what are your Download/Upload speeds and Ping on 3g? I typically get around: 0.45Mbps/0.49Mbps/267ms!

On Linux: Twinkle or Ekiga. Twinkle was the first softphone I ever got to work, and likes it ease of 2 line support. However, as I've had to make more use of h.323 lately, I have Ekiga open a little more often.

Mac: Only used Blink. The features in the free version (not available from the app store) are good enough if you can live with a single line phone.

Android: I've had best luck so far with CSipSimple (I think thats it) and the bullt-in internet calling found in gingerbread which is running on my Nexus One and Nexus S. CSipSimple is a little better as it stays out of the way better - I don't want my softphone fully integrated, but thats just me.

To answer my own:

PhonerLite due to its easy info on #s of voicemails and codecs used.

X-lite 3.0 for it's 1-click speakerphone setting (to easily re-engage echo cancellation) and general voicemail indicator that works, though doesn't show how many voicemails like Phonerlite)

Ninjalite - also shows codecs used, and also shows the # of voicemails. Though seeing the # requires several clicks. It's also real purdy. Downside is it takes forever to reconnect if internet is lost/re-established, so either requires remembering to restart it, or just losing the functionality until it re-registers.

Overall, I like Phonerlite the most in except how its interface looks. Functionally it's efficient, but I wish looked less win98. As with 2,000MB of RAM, I don't place much value on a phone that uses 15MB vs. 50MB, and for some arbitrary reason I actually care how a softphone looks, unlike with most other apps.