Microsoft To Retire Skype After Year-Long Wind-Down and Subscription Model Failure

Key Takeaways

• Microsoft will be closing down Skype for users in May 2025.
• Skype moved to a monthly subscription model from its credit-based system two months ago.
• Microsoft’s wind-down of Skype appears to have been slowly taking place over the past year.

Skype, Microsoft’s original online calling platform, is closing just months after launching a subscription-based model for users.

Despite the platform removing some of its services over the past year, including advertisements, Microsoft has continued to add features despite dwindling user numbers.

However, computing publication XDA reported that Skype will finally close in May and is pointing users to Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Retires Skype

Discovered by a user and verified by XDA, the latest Skype for Windows preview states: “Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams.”

Launched in 2003, Skype was popular for its free video calls long before Zoom or Microsoft Teams entered the scene.

However, with fierce competition from rivals and a rapidly changing digital landscape, Skype failed to keep up its momentum.

In 2005, eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, aiming to integrate it into its online marketplace. However, the platform struggled to innovate, and its user experience suffered from bloated updates and persistent bugs.

Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion but did little to reverse its decline. Following the popularity of collaborative platforms like Slack, the tech giant’s focus moved to Teams.

Year-Long Wind Down

Microsoft’s wind-down of Skype appears to have been taking place over the past year. In July 2024, the company announced it was removing advertisements from the platform to ensure a “smoother, decluttered” experience.

However, the July update also came with new updates for the platform, including new AI image creation tools and bug fixes.

Skype Subscription

Skype announced a monthly subscription model away from its credit-based system two months ago.

In December 2024, a volunteer moderator on a Microsoft forum revealed to a user that the company had paused all credit sales.

“The sales of new Skype numbers and Skype credit have been permanently halted,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.

“For some customers, the interface for purchasing new Skype credit may still be visible in certain entry points, although payment attempts will not go through. [We] continuously evaluate product strategy based on customer usage and needs,” the spokesperson added.

In March 2020, Microsoft reported that Skype had 40 million daily active users. However, a company spokesperson later confirmed that this figure has declined to 36 million.