Compare · 2026
Aircall vs PhoneBurner: a phone system with a dialer against a dialer with a phone line
Last updated September 4, 2026 · Aircall prices verified August 31, PhoneBurner prices September 4
These two get compared because both are per-seat and both say “power dialer” on the box. They are different products. Aircall is a phone system that added a dialer; PhoneBurner is a dialer that comes with a line. The choice is mostly about what else the team does all day, and the price comparison is only honest once the three-licence floor on one side and the plan gating on both are applied.
The short answer
Pure outbound floor: PhoneBurner. Inbound plus outbound, IVR, queues, CRM-native: Aircall. Aircall's dialer is Professional-only at ~$50 a licence with a 3-licence minimum ($150 a month at the smallest). PhoneBurner is $140–183 a user with unlimited calling and the browser softphone from $165. Three reps: $150 vs $495. A team that only wants to dial a list from a browser can do it for about $59–$152 on a free dialer with its own Twilio.
Side by side
| Aircall | PhoneBurner | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Cloud phone system for teams (inbound + outbound) | Outbound power dialer with its own contact management |
| Dialer | Single-line Power Dialer via browser extension, Professional only, 1,000 contacts/session | Single-line dial sessions with dispositions, voicemail drop, call notes; no multi-line by design |
| Entry price | ~$30/licence annual, 3-licence minimum (no dialer) | $140/user annual (no softphone; dial in by phone) |
| Price with the dialer | ~$50/licence annual, min 3 = $150/mo | $140/user annual; softphone from $165 |
| Minutes | US/CA calling bundled | Unlimited US calling bundled |
| Inbound, IVR, queues | Yes, core product | Basic; not the point |
| Recording and AI | Recording included; AI features on Professional | Transcription and AI note-taker on Premium ($183) |
| SMS | Yes | Premium only, 1,000/month |
| CRM integrations | Deep (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zendesk) | Sales CRMs plus open API on Professional+ |
| Spam protection | Self-service remediation | ARMOR add-on |
The whole bill at 3, 5 and 10 reps
Both bundle US calling, so the third column has to include telephony to be fair. DialSheet is $29 per 3-seat pack; Twilio bills ~$0.014/min on the carrier leg, $0.004/min on the browser leg including ringing, and ~$1.15/month per number. Light is 34 dials a rep a day; heavy is 150.
| Reps | Aircall Professional | PhoneBurner Standard | PhoneBurner Professional | DialSheet + Twilio, light | DialSheet + Twilio, heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | $150 | $420 | $495 | ~$59 | ~$152 |
| 5 | $250 | $700 | $825 | ~$108 | ~$263 |
| 10 | $500 | $1,400 | $1,650 | ~$216 | ~$526 |
Annual billing for both vendors. DialSheet columns assume 25% of dials reach voicemail (one billed minute each) and 10% reach a person for three minutes over 21 working days; a solo caller under 500 calls a month pays $0 for the software.
Pick Aircall when
- The same seats take inbound calls and need routing, IVR, queues and a shared company number.
- Reps work inside HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive and the call has to be logged both ways without thinking about it.
- You have at least three people, because the published plans will not sell you fewer.
Pick PhoneBurner when
- The team's day is dial sessions: sequential calling, dispositions, voicemail drops, callbacks, and the manager wants live listening.
- Talk time is high enough that bundled-unlimited calling matters; a long-conversation desk gets more from the seat than a cold-calling floor does.
- You want spam remediation as a product (ARMOR) rather than a to-do.
Pick neither when
You have one to ten people, a list, and no need for a phone system, and you are willing to own a Twilio account. Then the dialer is free or $29 per 3 seats, telephony is metered at wholesale, the numbers and recordings are yours, and a parallel dialer, recordings and AI coaching come with Pro rather than with a $183 tier. The trade is that you run the carrier account yourself, which is a ten-minute setup and a console you will rarely open; if you would rather not, a managed line with a number and 1,500 minutes is $49/month.
The third option both comparisons leave out.
Free for one person, $29 per 3 seats, power and parallel dialing, recordings and AI coaching on Pro, on your own Twilio at ~$0.014/min.
Start freeQuestions people actually ask
Which is better for cold calling, Aircall or PhoneBurner?
PhoneBurner, if cold calling is the job. It is built around dial sessions, disposition buttons, voicemail drop and unlimited US calling, at $140–183 per user on annual billing. Aircall is a phone system; its Power Dialer is a browser-extension feature on the $50-per-licence Professional plan with a three-licence minimum, single line, capped at 1,000 contacts a session. Aircall wins when the same team also handles inbound, needs IVR and queues, or lives in a CRM integration Aircall does better.
How do Aircall and PhoneBurner prices compare?
Aircall Essentials is about $30 and Professional about $50 per licence per month on annual billing, three-licence minimum on both; only Professional has the Power Dialer, so the smallest dialing account is $150 a month. PhoneBurner is $140 (Standard), $165 (Professional) or $183 (Premium) per user per month annual, $165–215 monthly, with no stated seat minimum; the browser softphone starts on Professional. Three reps: $150 at Aircall Professional versus $495 at PhoneBurner Professional.
Does Aircall or PhoneBurner include unlimited calling?
Both bundle US calling into the seat, which is why comparing either to a software-only seat is misleading. The honest comparison for a metered alternative is software plus telephony: on your own Twilio a rep at 150 dials a day bills about 1,700 minutes, roughly $41 including the browser leg and a number, and the bundle only beats that above several thousand minutes a seat.
Can one person use Aircall or PhoneBurner?
PhoneBurner, yes: no seat minimum is stated, so a solo caller pays one seat. Aircall's published plans carry a 3-licence minimum, so a solo caller pays for three; Aircall lists a single-user Starter AI plan without a price and without the Power Dialer. A solo cold caller who wants neither bill can run a free dialer on their own Twilio for about $10–41 a month of telephony.
Which has the better CRM integrations?
Aircall, broadly: it is a phone system designed to sit inside HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zendesk and Intercom, logging every call both ways. PhoneBurner integrates with the sales CRMs and has its own contact management and an open API on Professional and above, but its centre of gravity is the dial session, not the CRM record. If reps live in the CRM all day, Aircall; if they live in a call list, PhoneBurner.
Is there a cheaper option than both for a small outbound team?
Yes, if the team will run its own telephony. DialSheet is free for one person and $29 per 3 seats on Pro, with a power and parallel dialer, recordings and AI coaching, on your own Twilio at about ~$0.014/min. Three reps run about $59–152 a month all-in against $150 at Aircall Professional and $495 at PhoneBurner Professional. It is not a phone system and does not bundle minutes, which is the trade.