3CX vs Dialpad — AI-first vs PBX-first UK comparison

Dialpad tier breakdown.

Standard — from $15/user/mo (~£12). Includes calling, video, messaging, basic AI transcription. Cheapest entry tier; AI features lighter.
Pro — from $25/user/mo (~£20). Adds 24/7 support, CRM integrations, advanced AI features, business SMS. The most-common UK Dialpad tier.
Enterprise — contact sales. Custom pricing; full AI suite, contact-centre features, enterprise SSO/SCIM, dedicated support.

Dialpad bills in USD by default; UK customers pay in USD or GBP depending on contract setup. GBP pricing follows USD-to-GBP conversion plus margin — typically £12–13 for Standard, £19–22 for Pro at current rates.

Pricing comparison at 25 users on Pro tier.

Tier	Dialpad Pro	3CX (Port Phones managed)
Per-user / mo	Dialpad~£20	Port Phones~£8
Monthly (25 users)	Dialpad£500 / mo	Port Phones~£200 / mo
24-month difference	~£7,200

The "do you actually use the AI" question.

This is the audit question that decides the Dialpad vs 3CX comparison honestly. Before paying the AI premium, check whether your team uses:

Live call transcription during calls. Useful for hard-of-hearing accommodation, for remembering action items mid-call, for compliance review. Some SMEs use it; many don't read the transcripts.
Automated call summaries. Dialpad generates a written summary after every call. Useful for sales-ops or customer success follow-up. Unused if your team writes their own notes anyway.
Sentiment analysis. Marks calls as positive/negative/neutral. Useful at scale for QA. Below 200 calls/day per team, most managers don't look at the dashboard.
Sales coaching with AI feedback. Reviews calls and flags rep performance patterns. Useful for sales-ops teams managing 10+ reps with active coaching programmes. Unused if your sales coaching is informal.

If two of four are actively used, Dialpad's premium is earning value. If one or zero, you're paying for capability you don't consume — 3CX at half the cost is the right answer.

Where Dialpad wins.

Active sales coaching programmes. If you have a sales manager who reviews recorded calls and uses Dialpad's AI feedback as part of structured coaching, the AI suite is genuinely valuable.
Compliance and QA at scale. Firms handling 500+ calls/day with audit requirements use AI transcription and sentiment as part of QA sampling. Saves real time vs manual review.
Polished mobile and desktop apps. Dialpad's product design is well-regarded; the calling experience is consumer-tier polished.
Built-in messaging and video. Single app for calls, video, messaging. Reduces tool surface for firms that haven't standardised on Teams or Slack.

Where 3CX wins.

Half the per-user cost for firms not using AI. The £12/user/mo differential at Pro tier compounds — £3,600/year at 25 users, £14,400/year at 100 users.
UK partner and UK SIP. Dialpad is US-headquartered. UK-side support and SIP relationships sit further along the chain.
GBP billing without currency exposure. Dialpad's USD-default invoicing leaves you exposed to exchange-rate moves on every renewal.
Heavier PBX feature set. 3CX PRO has more advanced traditional PBX features (queues, IVR, hot desking, switchboard) than Dialpad Standard. Dialpad is excellent at AI calling; 3CX is excellent at the traditional PBX layer.

Who should pick which.

Pick Dialpad if: you actively use AI call coaching, you run scaled sales/support operations needing AI-driven QA, or you're a US-headquartered SME with UK presence and consolidating on a US calling vendor makes sense.
Pick managed 3CX if: AI features aren't part of your daily workflow, you want UK-native everything, or per-user economics at growth concern you.
Run a split stack if: sales team uses Dialpad AI features heavily; rest of the firm runs 3CX. Common pattern; saves real money.

What we'll tell you at audit.

The Dialpad audit conversation centres on the AI question. We'll ask: which AI features do your team use weekly, what would be lost if you stopped paying for them, what's your read on whether they're earning the £12/user/mo premium. If the answer is "we mostly use it as a phone, the AI is nice to have", 3CX-managed at half the cost is almost certainly the right call.

Book a free audit Already on Dialpad?

3CX vs Dialpad — do you actually use the AI?