Skype Adds Unlimited Calling Plans

Users can make unlimited outgoing calls in the U.S. and Canada for as little as $3 a month with one of the company's new monthly subscriptions, which also include international plans.

If you’re tired of watching the credits in your Skype account dwindle down to zero over and over again as you use it to make outgoing calls, the company’s latest pricing plans may just save you a lot of money and hassle in the long run. Creating an alternative to its pay-per-minute price structure, Skype added monthly subscriptions on Monday, which allow users to make unlimited calls for a flat fee.

The most basic subscription offers unlimited calls to landlines and cell phones in the United States and Canada for $2.95 per month. Users can add landlines in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey to that list of free calls by purchasing the $5.95 Unlimited Mexico plan. (Calls to other destinations in Mexico will still cost money, but having the plan gives an 80 percent discount on landline calls and 40 percent discount on cell phone calls.) Finally, the Unlimited World plan gives access to landlines and cell phones in a total of 34 countries, but with restrictions on Mexico still in effect.

The only red tape: Skype’s fair usage policy limits usage to 10,000 minutes per month, so if you need to talk to Grandma for over five and a half hours a day for 30 days straight, you may need to look elsewhere (and get some help).

Unlimited calling plans are available now, and Skype will offer a 33 percent discount on 3- and 12-month subscriptions through June 1.