⚠️

3CX is actively developed — but it’s deprioritizing small businesses and significantly raised prices

3CX is not discontinued. It’s a functioning VoIP software platform with an active user base. However, in February 2025, 3CX’s CEO publicly stated the company is shifting focus to midsize and larger installations and moving away from small partners and small customers. License prices were raised over 50% in 2025. Additionally, 3CX’s 2023 supply chain attack — attributed to North Korean state hackers — compromised desktop applications on 600,000+ customer systems and resulted in a formal CISA security alert. For small businesses evaluating whether to stay on 3CX, these three factors — the pricing trajectory, the SMB deprioritization, and the security incident history — are worth understanding clearly.

Currently Running 3CX?

Moving Away from 3CX? Here’s What Phonewire Recommends for Small Business.

3CX built a large following by offering a powerful, flexible VoIP PBX at a price point that was genuinely competitive with legacy systems. Many small businesses chose it specifically because of that value. But the platform has changed — and for small businesses without an in-house IT team to manage it, the combination of rising prices, the 2023 security breach, and 3CX’s explicit strategic shift away from small customers has prompted a real migration wave.

Phonewire offers the opposite model: a fully managed business phone system where Phonewire installs, configures, and supports everything — no IT team required, one company accountable for the whole system, and support answered in under a minute by a real person in the United States.

💻

Still Running 3CX?

If your 3CX system is working and you have the IT resources to manage it, there may be no immediate reason to migrate. But if the rising costs, self-management complexity, or the 2023 breach have you evaluating alternatives, Phonewire offers a free assessment with no obligation.

Get a free assessment →

🚀

Ready for a Fully Managed System?

If you’re tired of managing a phone system yourself, dealing with 3CX licensing complexity, or you don’t have IT staff to handle configuration and updates — Phonewire handles all of that for you, professionally, with a single support number that picks up fast.

Call (800) 857-1517 — answered in under 1 minute →

Why Small Businesses Are Moving Off 3CX

3CX has explicitly said small businesses are no longer their focus. In February 2025, 3CX CEO Nick Galea published a strategy update stating: “It has become increasingly difficult to manage the sheer volume of small partners and their small customers… We have to transition.” The company stated its core strength lies in medium and large-scale installations — 25 to 1,000+ users — and that it is deprioritizing small business partners and their customers. This followed a 50%+ license price increase in 2025 with no corresponding improvement in service, and further pricing changes announced in January 2026.

The 2023 supply chain attack was a serious security event. In March 2023, North Korean state hackers (the Lazarus Group) compromised 3CX’s desktop application build process, embedding malware in the Windows and macOS desktop apps distributed to customers. The compromise went undetected for months. CISA issued a formal security alert. Mandiant, hired to investigate, called it the first confirmed “double supply chain attack” — the breach originated through a compromised third-party software package that a 3CX employee had installed. Over 600,000 3CX customers were potentially exposed. 3CX responded responsibly and has since improved its security processes, but the incident raised legitimate questions about the security posture of self-hosted telephony software.

3CX is self-managed software — not a managed service. 3CX is a software PBX that you or your IT team installs, configures, maintains, updates, and troubleshoots. The software itself can be powerful, but the professional installation, QoS configuration, security hardening, staff training, ongoing support, and day-to-day management are entirely your responsibility — or your reseller’s, if you have one. For small businesses without dedicated IT staff, this is a significant ongoing burden. When something breaks at 9am on a Monday, the path to resolution is not always fast or clear.

The concurrent-call licensing model is confusing to size correctly. Unlike per-user pricing, 3CX licenses by the number of simultaneous calls. A 20-person office doesn’t need 20 simultaneous call licenses — but figuring out exactly how many you need requires analyzing your call patterns, and getting it wrong means either overpaying or hitting capacity limits at peak times. Version upgrades (the V18 to V20 transition in particular) have broken features for a significant number of customers, requiring rollbacks and creating business disruption during the transition.

What 3CX Users Valued — And What Phonewire Preserves

✓

Open SIP standards — works with any compatible phone. 3CX’s open SIP architecture let customers choose their own desk phones and SIP trunk providers. Phonewire’s hybrid system is built on the same open SIP standards — compatible with Snom, Yealink, Poly, and Panasonic phones, and not locked to any single carrier for SIP trunking.

✓

Mobile and desktop softphone app. The 3CX app — available for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows — is one of its strongest features, letting employees use their business extension from anywhere. Phonewire includes the Linkus UC client on every deployment — same cross-platform softphone capability, on the same extension as your desk phone, with presence, call history, and directory access.

✓

On-premises deployment option. Many 3CX customers chose it because they could host it on their own hardware — on-premises, in a VM, or on a mini PC. Phonewire’s hybrid installs a compact on-premises appliance at your location, giving you the same hardware-at-your-site ownership model with professional installation, management, and optional built-in cellular failover that 3CX’s self-hosted model can’t match.

✓

Advanced call routing and auto-attendant. 3CX has strong IVR and call routing capabilities. Phonewire’s system replicates all standard routing features — time-based routing, ring groups, call queues, multi-level auto-attendant — configured by Phonewire before installation day so it works exactly how your business needs from the moment you go live.

💡

The fundamental difference: 3CX is software you manage. Phonewire is a service you use.

3CX gives you the tools to build and run a phone system. Phonewire builds and runs it for you. If you have an IT team that enjoys managing telephony infrastructure, 3CX can be a good fit. If you want to pick up the phone and call someone when something isn’t working — and have that person actually fix it — Phonewire is a better match for how most small businesses want to operate.

What Phonewire Recommends for 3CX Migrations

Best for Most 3CX Migrations

Phonewire On-Premises

For 3CX customers who liked having an on-premises PBX but are tired of managing it themselves — the hybrid solution delivers the same on-premises ownership model with full professional installation, configuration, and long-term managed support.

Modern on-premises appliance — open SIP, browser-managed
$3,499 hardware + $699/year flat license up to 20 users
~$200/month SIP trunks for a 20-user business
Optional built-in cellular failover — calls work if internet fails
Professional on-site installation + staff training
U.S.-based support answered in under 1 minute
Day-to-day changes at no additional charge

Learn about the Phonewire hybrid model →

Best for Remote or Multi-Location Teams

Phonewire Cloud-Hosted

For 3CX customers using the cloud-hosted or hosted option and wanting a fully managed alternative — no infrastructure to maintain, same UC features, professional support included.

$25/user/month — no hardware purchase
Instant scalability across locations
Same Linkus UC app as on-premises
Auto-attendant, voicemail to email, call recording
Microsoft 365 integration
No self-management — Phonewire handles everything

Learn about cloud-hosted →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 3CX actually going away?

No — 3CX is not discontinued. V20 is the current release and the product is actively developed. The concern for small businesses isn’t discontinuation — it’s the pricing trajectory (50%+ increases in 2025, more in 2026), the explicit CEO statement deprioritizing small customers, and the self-management overhead. These are business reasons to evaluate alternatives, not an imminent EOL situation.

How serious was the 2023 3CX security breach?

It was significant. North Korea’s Lazarus Group compromised 3CX’s software build process, embedding malware in the official desktop app distributed to all Windows and macOS users. CISA issued a formal alert. Mandiant called it the first confirmed “double supply chain attack.” 3CX responded by hiring Mandiant, improving security processes, and being transparent. The incident itself is resolved — but it’s a legitimate data point when evaluating whether to run self-hosted telephony software that requires customers to keep their own update processes current.

Can I keep my existing 3CX phone numbers when I migrate to Phonewire?

Yes. Your business phone numbers port to the Phonewire system regardless of whether they’re currently on 3CX or your SIP trunk provider. Porting typically takes 2–4 weeks. During the transition, your 3CX system remains live and call forwarding routes calls seamlessly — no gap in service.

Can I reuse my existing SIP phones with Phonewire?

Possibly. If your current phones are SIP-compatible (most modern desk phones are), Phonewire’s engineer evaluates them during the pre-installation network assessment. Compatible phones can often be adopted onto the Phonewire system without replacement. Phonewire will recommend the most cost-effective path during the free consultation.

What’s the Phonewire equivalent of 3CX’s simultaneous-call pricing model?

Phonewire doesn’t use a simultaneous-call licensing model. The hybrid on-premises system uses a flat $699/year license for up to 20 users — all features, all extensions, no per-call-channel math. SIP trunk capacity (the actual phone lines) is sized separately based on expected call volume, typically around $200/month for a 20-user business. The pricing is simpler and more predictable than 3CX’s concurrent-call model.

How does Phonewire handle updates and security patches?

Phonewire manages all system updates as part of the service. You don’t need to monitor 3CX’s release notes, test version upgrades, or schedule maintenance windows for your phone system. When updates are available, Phonewire handles them. This is the core difference between a managed service and self-managed software.

What Our Clients Say

Phonewire is a big asset for any company looking for professional advice and magnificent hands-on experts. Matt is efficient, reliable, and very detail-oriented. I am extremely satisfied with his cooperation and dedication.

Eduardo J. Vera Executive Director · Catholic Charities Foundation of St. Louis ★★★★★

Matt and his staff did a wonderful job on the install. They were very prompt, courteous, and very knowledgeable. We wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Vickie Courtney Courtney Clark Law, P.C. ★★★★★

Get a Free Migration Assessment

Tell us about your current 3CX setup — version, how many users, whether it’s self-hosted or cloud, and what’s driving the change. We’ll give you a straight recommendation on what a Phonewire system would look like and what it costs — no obligation.

📞 Questions about migrating from 3CX? We answer in under 1 minute.

(800) 857-1517