3CX Pricing in Australia: Licences, Costs, and What Changed in V20 (2026)

3CX's pricing model is built around simultaneous calls (SCs) rather than the per-user model used by most cloud phone system companies. A simultaneous call is an active call happening at the same moment: if you have 4 staff on calls at the same time, you need at least 4 SCs. Extensions (users who can make and receive calls) are not capped by the licence in the same way: 3CX allows a generous extension count relative to the SC cap across all tiers.

This is worth understanding before comparing 3CX pricing to cloud phone system services. A cloud phone system charges $30 to $50 per user per month. 3CX charges per simultaneous call capacity per year. For a 20-person business where only 8 people are on calls simultaneously at peak, the comparison looks very different to a 20-user calculation.

This guide covers V20 pricing as of mid-2026. For a broader review of 3CX's features and fit for Australian businesses, see our 3CX review.

3CX V20 Licence Tiers Explained

3CX V20 has four licence tiers. From cheapest to most capable:

3CX pricing changes with each major version update. The licence costs and tier features in this guide are accurate for V20 as of mid-2026, but it is worth checking current prices before you commit. Getting the simultaneous call count wrong means paying for capacity you don't use or having calls dropped when lines are full. Getting it right from the start saves a licence upgrade cost later.

The most common 3CX sizing mistake is buying simultaneous call (SC) licences based on staff count rather than actual call volume. A business with 20 staff may only need 6 to 8 SCs if no more than that many people are ever on calls at the same time. To estimate correctly, think about your busiest 10 minutes of the day and count how many calls are active simultaneously. That number, plus a small buffer, is your SC count.

Understanding Simultaneous Calls: How to Size Your Licence

The SC count you need is not the same as your user count, and overbuying SCs is one of the most common 3CX mistakes Australian businesses make.

To size your SC requirement correctly, answer these questions:

• At your busiest 10 minutes of the day, how many calls are active at the same time? Count both inbound and outbound. If you have 20 staff but only 6 are ever on calls simultaneously, you need 6 SCs, not 20.
• Do you have any always-on connections? If you use SIP trunks with multiple channels, each active channel consumes an SC. An IVR playing hold music to a queued caller also consumes an SC. Factor these in.
• What happens when you hit the SC cap? Additional calls get a busy signal. For inbound businesses, busting the SC cap means lost calls. Size with a buffer: if your observed peak is 6 simultaneous calls, licence 8 SCs to handle spike days.

3CX SMB Tier: What You Get and What You Miss

The SMB tier is the entry point for Australian businesses that need more than the 4-SC free tier. Key features:

• Unlimited extensions (users) relative to your SC count
• Web client and mobile apps (iOS and Android)
• Basic IVR (digital receptionist)
• Ring groups and call queues
• Voicemail and voicemail to email
• WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger integration
• Live chat widget (website)
• Basic call reporting

What SMB does not include:

• Call recording: Available on PRO and Enterprise only. For any business where call recording is a compliance requirement (finance, medical, legal), SMB is not the right tier.
• CRM integration: Native Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, and Microsoft 365 CRM integrations require PRO or Enterprise.
• Hot desking: Staff sharing physical phones across shifts need PRO.
• Advanced queue features: Skills-based routing, SLA alerts, and real-time queue monitoring require Enterprise.

What Changed With V20: The AI Tier and Licence Edition Changes

3CX V20 introduced several licensing changes that affect Australian customers upgrading from V18:

AI tier introduction. 3CX V20 Update 9 (beta as of mid-2026) introduced a new AI licence edition that adds Grok-powered call transcription and AI-assisted call analytics. The AI tier sits above Enterprise in pricing and is not necessary for the vast majority of Australian SMBs. It is worth tracking if you need accurate call transcription for compliance or coaching purposes, as it replaces third-party transcription add-ons that many businesses previously bolted on.

Hosted subscription model. For 3CX Hosted (3CX's own cloud infrastructure), V20 moved to an annual subscription that bundles the licence and hosting. This removes the need to manage a separate VPS. Pricing is higher than self-hosting on a VPS but removes infrastructure overhead.

Free tier limitations. The V20 free tier is capped at 4 SCs, down from a more generous allowance in earlier versions. Businesses that previously ran 3CX free for 5 to 8 simultaneous calls need to move to SMB with V20.

Annual renewals vs perpetual. 3CX moved away from perpetual licensing in V18/V20. All current licences are annual subscriptions. After licence expiry, the system continues to function but loses access to updates, new features, and support. There is no hard expiry that kills the system, but running without updates increases security risk over time.

3CX Total Cost of Ownership for an Australian Business

For a realistic cost comparison, consider a 10-person business with a peak of 5 simultaneous calls, using 3CX PRO self-hosted on a VPS:

• 3CX PRO licence (8 SC): Approximately $650 per year (AUD)
• VPS hosting (BinaryLane AU, 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM): $30 to $50 per month = $360 to $600 per year
• SIP trunk (Telnyx, Maxotel, or Symbio): $15 to $40 per month line rental + per-minute call costs = $300 to $600 per year for typical SMB call volumes
• Desk phones (optional, one-off): $100 to $200 per phone x 10 = $1,000 to $2,000 upfront

Total first-year cost (excluding hardware): approximately $1,310 to $1,850 per year, or $109 to $154 per month. Total ongoing from year 2: approximately $1,310 to $1,850 per year (hardware amortised).

Compare this to a cloud phone system at $35 per user per month for 10 users: $4,200 per year. For a 10-person business, 3CX self-hosted is meaningfully cheaper over a 3 to 5 year horizon. For a 3-person business, the cloud phone system option is cheaper when you factor in the management overhead of a self-hosted system.

For a detailed breakdown of cloud phone system pricing across Australian providers, see our cloud phone system pricing guide.

How 3CX Pricing Is Purchased in Australia

3CX licences are purchased through authorised resellers, not directly from 3CX in most cases. Australian 3CX resellers include VOIP and managed IT providers who can supply, deploy, and support the system. You can also purchase through 3CX's own marketplace for the Hosted (cloud-managed) option.

Key purchasing considerations for Australian buyers:

• Reseller markup: Australian resellers typically add a margin to the 3CX licence cost. The base EUR-denominated 3CX pricing converts to AUD at the current exchange rate, then the reseller adds a margin and installation/setup cost. Get quotes from two or three resellers before committing.
• Annual renewal reminders: The licence renewal is annual and the system does not proactively warn you when it is approaching expiry. Set a calendar reminder 60 days before the renewal date.
• Downgrading tiers: You can move from Enterprise to PRO or SMB at renewal time. You cannot downgrade mid-licence. Plan your tier choice carefully before renewing.

3CX vs cloud phone system: When the Pricing Makes Sense

3CX on a self-hosted or cloud VPS makes financial sense when:

• Your business has 8 or more users. Below this, the management overhead of self-hosting erases the pricing advantage.
• You have, or can access, technical capability to manage a Linux VPS and update the 3CX system periodically.
• You need features that require PRO or higher (call recording, CRM integration) and can leverage them, rather than paying for enterprise features you do not use.
• You want to consolidate VOIP, live chat, and WhatsApp/SMS into one platform.

3CX is likely not the right choice when your business has fewer than 5 staff, you have no IT support, or your team needs a solution that is fully managed with Australian-based support included in the monthly price.

For a side-by-side comparison of 3CX against FreePBX (the main self-hosted alternative), see our 3CX vs FreePBX guide.

3CX Pricing vs Microsoft Teams Phone: The AU Comparison

Many Australian businesses evaluating 3CX are also looking at Microsoft Teams Phone as an alternative. The pricing comparison is instructive:

• Teams Phone with Calling Plans: Microsoft's all-in-one option. Includes PBX, calling, and carrier. Pricing from around $17 to $30 per user per month (AUD) depending on Microsoft 365 plan tier. Simple but expensive at scale and limited to the Teams ecosystem.
• Teams Phone with Direct Routing: Teams as the PBX, with a third-party SIP trunk carrier. Requires a Session Border Controller. Lower per-user cost but adds complexity and infrastructure cost.
• 3CX PRO self-hosted: Lower ongoing per-user cost at scale (roughly $10 to $15 per user equivalent at 10 users), but requires VPS management, SIP trunk configuration, and more technical setup.

For businesses already using Microsoft 365 across the board, Teams Phone Calling Plans can be the simpler path despite the higher per-user cost. For businesses not inside the Microsoft ecosystem, 3CX PRO on a self-hosted VPS with an Australian SIP trunk is typically more cost-effective above 8 users. The choice is as much about which ecosystem you want to maintain as it is about raw pricing.

If you are already comparing these options, our Teams vs 3CX guide walks through the decision in detail.

What Most Businesses Get Wrong When Buying 3CX

Sizing the SC count based on user count rather than observed simultaneous calls. A 20-person business buying a 20-SC licence when their actual peak is 8 simultaneous calls pays for 2.5x more capacity than they need. Monitor your actual peak call concurrency for two weeks before choosing an SC count. Most Australian SMBs that think they need 20 SCs actually need 6 to 10.

Choosing SMB when they need call recording. Call recording is a PRO feature. If your business operates in a sector where recording is a compliance or legal requirement (financial services, mortgage broking, medical administration), SMB is the wrong tier regardless of SC count. Moving from SMB to PRO after the fact requires a licence upgrade mid-cycle, which is not cost-efficient.

Not budgeting for SIP trunk costs separately. The 3CX licence enables the PBX. Making and receiving actual calls requires a SIP trunk from an Australian carrier (Telnyx, Maxotel, Symbio, Telstra, etc.). New buyers sometimes assume the licence includes calling minutes. It does not. Budget SIP trunk costs at $15 to $60 per month depending on your call volume and provider choice.

Your Next Steps

Before purchasing a 3CX licence:

1. Monitor your peak simultaneous call concurrency for 5 business days. This is the number to size your SC licence against, not your user count.
2. Decide between self-hosted (VPS) and 3CX Hosted. Self-hosted is cheaper at scale; Hosted removes infrastructure management.
3. Identify which tier you need based on feature requirements: SMB for basic calling, PRO for call recording and CRM integration, Enterprise for queue management and multi-site.
4. Get quotes from two or three Australian 3CX resellers. Confirm what installation, configuration, and support are included in the quote.
5. Budget SIP trunk costs separately from the 3CX licence: $15 to $60/month for a typical SMB on a quality AU phone line provider.
6. Set a licence renewal reminder in your calendar 60 days before the annual renewal date. Also check with your reseller whether any promotional pricing or bundle discounts apply at renewal, as 3CX periodically runs incentives for existing customers upgrading to a higher tier.

One final note on timing: 3CX typically announces licence pricing changes at major version releases. If you are planning a deployment and a new version is imminent, confirm current pricing with your reseller before finalising the budget. Prices quoted here reflect mid-2026 AUD estimates based on EUR-denominated 3CX pricing at current exchange rates, and will shift as the exchange rate moves.

3CX is one of several platform options worth comparing when a business is deciding between self-cloud phone system, cloud-cloud phone system, and managed cloud phone system. Our guide to the best phone system for small business Australia covers the full landscape , when 3CX makes sense, when a simpler cloud phone system is the better call, and what the per-user cost differential looks like over a 3-year horizon.

3CX pricing only tells part of the story , the right question is whether 3CX (self-hosted or cloud-hosted) delivers better value than a simpler cloud phone system alternative for your call volume and team size. Our guide to VOIP vs traditional phone in Australia covers the TCO comparison across system types, including where 3CX's one-time licence model pays back against per-user subscription pricing.

If you've run the numbers and still aren't sure which tier and how many simultaneous calls your business needs, the safe approach is to ask. Tell us how many staff need phones and how busy your lines get at peak times. We'll give you a specific recommendation. We reply personally, usually within one business day.