In brief: 3CX’s 2025/2026 licensing changes include: the maximum extension policy (5–8 extensions per SC, enforced April 1, 2026), trial licences upgraded to 8SC PRO but reduced from 2 months to 1 month, legacy 4SC Free keys reduced to 2SC for 2026, and new pricing effective January 2026. SA resellers must audit all customer deployments for extension ratio compliance before the April deadline.
3CX has implemented a series of structured licensing changes through 2025 and into 2026 that directly affect how South African resellers price, deploy, and manage 3CX systems. This article consolidates all the key updates into a single reference — what changed, when, and what you need to do about it.
Change 1: Trial Key Upgrade (8SC PRO, 1-Month Validity)
3CX upgraded trial licences from 4SC to 8SC PRO, giving prospects a more realistic trial experience with a larger call capacity and the full Professional feature set including AI call summaries and CRM integration. However, the validity period was simultaneously reduced from 2 months to 1 month.
For SA resellers, this means a tighter trial window. Pre-qualify prospects more thoroughly before starting a trial, and have the migration path to a paid licence prepared before day 15. A 30-day trial that hits day 28 with no purchase decision tends not to close — the urgency needs to be built earlier in the sales cycle.
Change 2: 4SC Free Licence Reduction
Legacy 4SC Free licences (the original free tier for small deployments) were reduced to 2SC for 2026. 4SC instances can no longer be newly hosted by 3CX; existing keys can be renewed at the 2SC level.
Any customer running a production deployment on a 4SC Free licence — even a micro-business with 4–5 users — needs to migrate to a paid 8SC Professional as a minimum. A 2SC licence is insufficient for any business with more than 2 staff making calls.
Change 3: New 3CX Basic Edition (2025)
3CX introduced a Basic Edition in late 2025 — a stripped-down tier that provides core telephony (calls, voicemail, ring groups, basic call queues) without AI features, CRM integrations, or advanced reporting. This is positioned for price-sensitive SME customers who do not need the full Professional feature set.
For SA resellers: Basic gives you a lower entry-point response to price objections without sacrificing margin as much as discounting Professional. The upsell path from Basic to Professional (when the customer wants AI call summaries or Zoho CRM integration) is a natural conversation 6–12 months into deployment.
Change 4: Maximum Extension Policy (Enforced April 1, 2026)
The most impactful change for SA resellers managing existing deployments. From April 1, 2026, 3CX enforces maximum extension-to-SC ratios:
- 8SC–128SC licences: maximum 5 extensions per SC
- 256SC+ licences: maximum 8 extensions per SC
Systems exceeding these ratios will be flagged by 3CX. The notification period (informational only) runs until March 31, 2026. From April 1, enforcement begins.
Action required: Run a licence audit across all your managed 3CX deployments immediately. For each system: current SC count × 5 = maximum allowed extensions (for smaller licences). Any system over this needs an SC upgrade — and the upgrade needs to be processed and renewed before April 1, 2026.
Change 5: Pricing Revision (January 2026)
3CX updated its pricing in January 2026 with modest adjustments to smaller licence fees and a reduction in the pricing gap between licence tiers. Key directional changes:
- Entry-level Professional pricing (8SC) had a modest increase
- Larger licence tiers (256SC+) saw pricing become more competitive relative to the smaller tiers
- No changes to the StartUP (free) tier for deployments up to 10 users
Current USD pricing: Professional from ~$350/year (8SC) to ~$34,995/year (1024SC). Enterprise Plus from ~$775/year (8SC) to ~$43,750/year (1024SC). Convert at prevailing ZAR/USD rates and add reseller margin when quoting SA customers.
Change 6: Hosted SC Restrictions
4SC instances can no longer be newly hosted by 3CX. Existing 4SC keys can be renewed, but no new 4SC-hosted deployments will be provisioned. This effectively retires 4SC as a viable new deployment option — steer new customers to 8SC Professional minimum.
Additionally, 3CX has tightened enforcement of its Fair Usage Policy for hosted deployments. Circumventing capacity limits via multiple accounts, automated scripts, or proxy configurations can result in warnings, throttling, or account suspension. This is primarily relevant for resellers managing complex multi-tenant architectures.
What SA Resellers Should Do Before April 2026
- Audit all deployments: Pull SC count and extension count for every managed system
- Calculate compliance: extensions ÷ SC. Must be ≤5 (for 8SC–128SC) or ≤8 (for 256SC+)
- Identify non-compliant systems: Flag every system exceeding the ratio
- Contact affected customers: Explain the change and recommend the upgrade — this is a genuine compliance event, not a sales pitch
- Process upgrades: Upgrade licences through the 3CX Customer Portal before March 31, 2026
- Migrate 4SC Free customers: Any 2SC/4SC Free customer on a production deployment should move to paid minimum 8SC Professional
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 3CX licensing changes in 2025/2026?
Key changes: trial licences upgraded to 8SC PRO but reduced to 1-month validity; 4SC Free reduced to 2SC for 2026; new Basic Edition added; maximum extension policy (5 extensions per SC for smaller licences) enforced from April 1, 2026; pricing revised in January 2026.
What is the 3CX Free licence in 2026?
3CX StartUP remains free for up to 10 users including hosting. Legacy 4SC Free licences were reduced to 2SC for 2026. No new 4SC-hosted deployments are available. The free tier is only suitable for micro-businesses with fewer than 10 users and very low call volume.
How do I check if my 3CX deployment is compliant with the new extension policy?
In the 3CX Management Console, check the SC count on the licence and the total extension count. For licences up to 128SC: multiply SC count by 5 — total extensions must not exceed this. For 256SC and above, multiply by 8. System mailboxes do not count. If extensions exceed the limit, upgrade the SC count before April 1, 2026.
About the Author
Mechelle Gindra
Mechelle Gindra is the managing editor and lead content strategist at Telecoms-Channel, South Africa's dedicated intelligence platform for telecoms resellers, ICT distributors, and channel partners. She oversees the editorial team's AI-assisted content production pipeline, ensuring vendor news, market analysis, and regulatory updates are accurate, timely, and actionable for the SA telecoms channel community. With deep expertise in the South African telecoms reseller ecosystem, Mechelle directs coverage of vendor partner programmes, ICASA regulatory developments, wholesale market dynamics, and channel business strategy. She is responsible for maintaining Telecoms-Channel's editorial standards, fact-checking processes, and corrections policy.
