VICIdial vs DialerBee
A VICIdial alternative for teams done with running dialer servers
An honest comparison for teams on VICIdial today: why people leave, why some should stay, what it really costs, and how to move without losing a day of dialing.
Updated October 16, 2026. Facts about VICIdial checked October 2026 from its public site.
Quick answer
VICIdial is free, open-source (AGPLv2) dialer software that runs on Asterisk servers you install and maintain. The usual alternative is a hosted platform: DialerBee runs the servers, agents dial from a browser, and you keep your own SIP trunks through BYOC. It costs $69 per agent per month (Starter) or $129 with predictive dialing and AI answering machine detection (Professional). Stay on VICIdial if you have a skilled admin and need source-level control.
What is VICIdial, in one paragraph?
VICIdial is an open-source contact center suite maintained by the VICIdial Group. It works with the Asterisk PBX to run inbound, outbound and blended calling, with web-based agent and admin screens, predictive dialing, answering machine detection, call recording and dozens of reports. It is licensed under AGPLv2 with no software licensing cost and needs Asterisk, MySQL, Apache, PHP and Perl. The project reports over 24,000 production installations in more than 100 countries. The official install image, ViciBox, is based on openSUSE Leap and supports standalone and cluster installs. The VICIdial Group also sells installation, consulting and hosting (VICIhost).
That is a capable, mature product. The question teams ask is rarely "does VICIdial work?" It is "do we still want to be the people who keep it working?"
Why teams leave
Why do teams look for a VICIdial alternative?
These are the reasons operators give most often. Not every one applies to every floor; check yours against the list.
Server administration never ends
Linux updates, Asterisk versions, MySQL tuning, disk space for recordings, backups and security patches all land on your team. When the one person who understands the cluster is on holiday, so is your fix.
Scaling means more servers
VICIdial scales by adding Asterisk servers and load-balancing calls across them. That works, but every new campaign spike is a capacity-planning exercise, and VICIhost itself prices by the server (one server is rated for at least 25 agents at a 3:1 line ratio).
The interface shows its age
The agent and admin screens are functional and fast for trained users, but new hires take longer to learn them, and supervisors often export data to spreadsheets to get the view they want.
Answering machine detection by timing
A standard install uses Asterisk's AMD(), which classifies on silence and greeting length. Short human greetings and long, beep-less voicemail greetings are where timing rules struggle, and tuning them is manual.
Compliance is your build
VICIdial gives you DNC lists and the settings; configuring consent records, calling windows per jurisdiction and frequency rules, then proving they ran, is work your team owns and maintains.
Remote agents need extra set-up
Browser calling uses ViciPhone, a separate WebRTC project that needs TLS certificates and a secure WebSocket endpoint on your Asterisk servers. Many teams still run desktop softphones for this reason.
One more, for BPOs: if you run several client companies on one VICIdial system, check how strictly their data, recordings and reports are separated. Multi-tenant client isolation is not listed on VICIdial's public features page; on DialerBee it is part of the Enterprise plan.
Be honest first
When should you stay on VICIdial?
Switching costs time and attention. For some teams VICIdial is still the right answer:
- You already have the expertise. A skilled VICIdial and Linux administrator on staff turns most of the "reasons to leave" above into routine work.
- The licence is free and the platform bill is low. At steady volume, servers you own or a per-server host can cost less per agent than any per-seat platform, including ours.
- You need source-level control. VICIdial lets you change the code and run custom database queries in campaign dialing. No hosted platform offers that.
- Everything must stay on your own servers. If policy requires the whole dialer on hardware you control, open source on your own racks is the direct route.
- It works and nobody is complaining. If your contact rates, uptime and agents are fine, a migration is a cost without a clear return.
And a middle path: if your only problem is server administration, managed VICIdial hosting (from the VICIdial Group or a partner) keeps the product your agents know and hands someone else the servers.
Side by side
VICIdial vs DialerBee: how do they compare?
VICIdial column from VICIdial's own public pages, checked October 2026. DialerBee column from our published pricing and product facts.
| Factor | VICIdial | DialerBee |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and cost model | Open source, AGPLv2, no software licensing cost. You pay for servers or hosting, minutes and admin time. | Per agent: Starter $69, Professional $129, Enterprise custom. Annual billing saves 20%. No per-minute platform fee. |
| Who runs the servers | You (ViciBox install image on openSUSE Leap, standalone or cluster), or a host such as VICIhost at $400 per server per month. | DialerBee runs the platform. Agents and admins sign in from a browser. |
| Underlying stack | Asterisk, MySQL, Apache, PHP and Perl. | Not something you install or patch. You can keep your own Asterisk PBX or SBC alongside it if you want. |
| Dialing modes | Predictive with an adaptive dialing algorithm; inbound, outbound and blended agents. | Preview, power, progressive and predictive (progressive and predictive on Professional and up); inbound and outbound on one seat. |
| Answering machine detection | AMD with an optional message for answering machines. In a standard install this uses Asterisk's AMD() application, which decides on silence and greeting-length timings. | Basic beep-detection AMD on Starter. AI AMD on Professional: transcript classification in 11 languages, thresholds per tenant and per campaign. Voicemail drop per campaign. |
| Browser phone | Web-based agent screen. ViciPhone, an open-source WebRTC phone for VICIdial, is a separate project you set up (included on VICIhost). | WebRTC softphone in Chrome, Edge or Firefox on every plan. Nothing to install. |
| Carriers | Standard telco lines and VoIP (SIP or IAX) trunks. | BYOC: connect any SIP trunk, or keep your PBX. DialerBee-supplied numbers through sales. |
| Do-not-call and compliance | System-wide and per-campaign DNC lists. VICIdial describes "full USA, Canada and UK regulatory compliance capability". | Compliance-supporting controls applied at the dial: DNC, consent with revoke, calling hours per jurisdiction, frequency limits, caller-ID ownership. Packs for UAE TDRA, KSA CITC, Jordan TRC and Bahrain TRA. |
| Channels | Voice, plus inbound email. | Voice plus an omnichannel inbox for WhatsApp, SMS and email (Professional and up). |
| AI voice agent | Not listed on VICIdial's public features page. | Layla AI voice agent, usage-billed at $0.60 per minute on managed AI (Professional and Enterprise). |
| Reporting | "Dozens of real-time and summary reports." | 15 report types plus Insights, wallboard, CSV/Excel/PDF export (all 15 on Professional). |
| Clients on one system | Multi-tenant client isolation is not listed on VICIdial's public features page. | Multi-tenant management and white-label on Enterprise, with per-tenant data isolation. |
| Scale | "Scalable to hundreds of seats", load-balanced across multiple Asterisk servers. Over 24,000 installations reported. | Starter up to 20 agents, Professional up to 100, Enterprise unlimited. |
| Customisation | Full source code; custom database queries in campaign dialing. | No source access. REST API, webhooks and CRM connectors. |
| Support | Community forum, paid manuals ($50 and $100), paid installation and planning. VICIhost includes one hour of tech support a month. | Email (Starter), priority support and CSM (Professional), dedicated support with a 99.95% uptime SLA (Enterprise). |
VICIdial sources: vicidial.org features, ViciBox docs, VICIhost fees, VICIdial remote installation, VICIdial store, ViciPhone, Asterisk AMD(). VICIdial is a registered trademark of its owner; DialerBee is not affiliated with the VICIdial Group.
Cost framework
What does VICIdial really cost compared with DialerBee?
"Free" describes the licence, not the bill. Compare the three lines that actually differ: servers or hosting, admin time, and the platform fee. Carrier minutes cancel out if you keep the same SIP trunk on both.
Self-hosted VICIdial
Servers (owned, colocated or cloud) + admin hours per month x loaded hourly cost + paid help when needed (VICIdial Group installation from $800, planning from $200 an hour).
Hosted VICIdial (VICIhost)
$1,000 for the first server (covers month one), $500 per extra server, then $400 per server per month, plus minutes, DIDs at $2.50 a month and your own admin time for campaigns and lists.
DialerBee
Agents x $69 (Starter) or $129 (Professional), 20% less on annual billing. No per-minute platform fee; your carrier bills minutes. Standard self-service onboarding included.
Worked example: a 25-agent predictive floor
The assumptions below are ours, chosen to illustrate the method. They are not market statistics. Replace them with your own numbers.
| Monthly line | Self-hosted VICIdial | VICIhost | DialerBee Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Servers or platform | $300 (assumed: 2 servers at $150) | $400 (1 server, rated for 25 agents at 3:1) | $3,225 (25 x $129) |
| Admin time | $2,000 (assumed: 40 h x $50) | $500 (assumed: 10 h x $50) | $0 server admin (campaign set-up is the same work on any dialer) |
| Carrier minutes | Your carrier | 1.5 cents/min outbound, or bring a trunk | Your carrier (BYOC) |
| Total before minutes | $2,300 ($92 per agent) | $900 ($36 per agent) | $3,225 ($129 per agent); $2,580 on annual billing |
What the example shows. On these assumptions, VICIdial is cheaper on paper, and VICIhost is much cheaper. That is the honest starting point. The gap closes, or reverses, when admin time is higher than assumed: self-hosting matches DialerBee Professional at about 58 admin hours a month in this example (($3,225 - $300) / $50). It also shifts with what you would otherwise build or buy: AI answering machine detection in 11 languages, WhatsApp, SMS and email in one inbox, per-jurisdiction compliance controls and a browser phone that works without certificate set-up are all inside the Professional seat.
What it leaves out. Downtime (one bad upgrade on a 25-agent floor costs agent hours you are paying for anyway), the risk of a single administrator leaving, and hardware refreshes. Put your own figure on each before deciding. If you only need preview and power dialing, Starter at $69 per agent per month changes the maths again; see pricing for what each plan includes.
Try your own numbers
- VICIdial: servers + admin
- $2,300
- DialerBee Professional, monthly
- $3,225
- DialerBee Professional, annual billing
- $2,580
Per month, before carrier minutes and taxes. Professional is limited to 100 agents; above that, Enterprise is priced on request.
Migration guide
How do you migrate from VICIdial without a dialing gap?
Run both systems side by side, move one campaign first, and switch the rest only when the numbers match.
-
1. Inventory what you actually use
List active campaigns, in-groups, lists, statuses (dispositions), callbacks, scripts, carriers, DIDs and any custom code or database queries. Anything custom is rebuilt, not exported, so find it before you plan dates.
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2. Export lists and leads
Export each active list from VICIdial with its status, called count and any custom fields. Leave dead lists behind. Import into DialerBee, map your fields, and let the do-not-call scrub run on import so suppressed numbers never enter the new list.
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3. Map dispositions
Write a two-column table: VICIdial status code to DialerBee disposition. Collapse duplicates, keep the codes your reports and CRM depend on, and decide which ones schedule a callback. Recreate pending callbacks on the new side before cut-over.
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4. Rebuild campaigns
Recreate each campaign with its dialing mode (preview, power, progressive or predictive), calling hours, retry rules and caller ID. Set the compliance controls per jurisdiction instead of copying old workarounds.
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5. Connect your carriers with BYOC
Add the SIP trunk you already use; your carrier keeps billing you directly. Point a test DID at DialerBee first and leave the rest on VICIdial. Teams with their own Asterisk PBX or SBC can keep it and let DialerBee drive campaigns on top.
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6. Put agents in the browser
Agents sign in from Chrome, Edge or Firefox; the WebRTC softphone is built in, so there is no ViciPhone or desktop softphone to configure. Run a short session on the new screens before agents take live calls.
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7. Parallel run, then cut over
Move one campaign and a small agent group for one to two weeks. Compare contact rate, abandon rate, average handle time and dispositions against the same campaign on VICIdial. When they match or improve, move the next campaigns and DIDs in planned windows, keeping VICIdial available for rollback until the last one is stable.
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8. Archive VICIdial data
Before switching servers off, export the recordings and call history you must keep, and record where they are stored and for how long.
More detail: how to migrate to a new outbound dialer and SIP trunk set-up for a BYOC dialer. Self-serve sign-up needs your own SIP trunk or PBX, which every VICIdial team already has.
After the move
What changes for agents, supervisors and admins?
Agents work in a browser workspace with the softphone built in and inbound and outbound on one seat. On Professional, WhatsApp, SMS and email arrive in the same omnichannel inbox.
Supervisors get a real-time wallboard with silent listen, whisper and barge-in, and 15 report types with CSV, Excel and PDF export. Predictive dialing runs with pacing on Professional and up.
Admins stop patching servers. AI answering machine detection reads what the greeting says, in 11 languages, rather than timing silence, and sensitivity is set per tenant and per campaign. BYOC keeps your carrier relationships exactly as they are.
New options you would otherwise build yourself: an AI voice agent for outbound campaigns or as an AI receptionist on inbound DIDs, billed at $0.60 per minute on managed AI. If you are still choosing a dialing mode for each campaign, read power vs predictive vs progressive dialers.
VICIdial alternative: frequently asked questions
Is VICIdial really free?
What is the best VICIdial alternative?
Can I keep my SIP trunks and phone numbers if I leave VICIdial?
How long does a VICIdial migration take?
Can I export my leads and call history from VICIdial?
Does DialerBee have predictive dialing like VICIdial?
Is DialerBee cheaper than VICIdial?
Should I stay on VICIdial?
Bring one VICIdial campaign and your SIP trunk
We will map your lists, dispositions and campaign settings with you and plan a parallel run.
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