3CX licence in Morocco: which edition to choose and how to size it

The short answer: a commercial 3CX licence is an annual subscription for a whole system, not for each user. Its price depends on two choices, the edition (Basic, PRO or AI) and the capacity in simultaneous calls, starting at 8. For most SMBs with a reception desk, a customer service team or several sites, PRO is the right starting point. The remaining task is sizing: too small and calls are rejected at peak times; too large and you pay for capacity you never use.

We have already explained why 3CX is so popular with SMBs. This article answers the quote-stage question: which edition, which size, which hosting. As an official 3CX partner in Casablanca, we check these points on every project, because 3CX regularly updates its editions and licensing rules. The information below reflects what 3CX publishes on its website at the time of writing.

How a 3CX licence works

Three rules explain the model:

• One licence per system, paid once a year. There are no monthly per-user fees.
• The price depends on the edition and the number of simultaneous calls (SC). A simultaneous call is any call in progress at the same moment, internal or external. An idle extension consumes nothing.
• Each size has a user limit. The number of extensions does not set the price, but it is not unlimited: for each size, 3CX publishes a recommended range and a maximum number of users or extensions.

That last point is recent and often overlooked. 3CX clarified it in late 2025: the maximum for each size is a hard limit, and renewals now show the maximum number of extensions allowed.

3CX editions at a glance

3CX currently offers two free options and three commercial editions.

Edition	For whom	What it brings	What is missing
SMB Free	Very small team, up to 10 users	Hosted by 3CX, apps, call queues, recording, WhatsApp, website live chat	CRM, full Microsoft 365, multi-site, hot desking
4SC Free Basic	Testing, training, micro-teams, up to 10 users	Basic phone system, apps, live chat	Hosting by 3CX, IP desk phones, queues, CRM
Basic (8 SC and up)	Simple telephony: calling, routing, transferring	IVR, ring groups, intercom, fax, basic reports, Microsoft or Google user sync	Queues, recording, CRM, WhatsApp, multi-site, hot desking
PRO (8 SC and up)	SMBs with reception, customer service, sales teams, several sites	Queues, recording, CRM, full Microsoft 365 and Google, WhatsApp and Facebook, multi-site, hot desking, wallboards	Advanced AI features, built-in failover
AI (8 SC and up)	High call volumes, business-critical operations	Everything in PRO, plus AI agents, call transcription and summaries, sentiment analysis, skill-based routing, built-in failover	Nothing, it is the complete edition

Basic: telephony without the contact centre

Basic covers the essentials: auto attendant, IVR menus, ring groups, intercom, fax, apps and basic reports. But it lacks three things many SMBs discover too late: call queues, call recording and links between several sites. 3CX states it clearly: to connect several offices, you need PRO or AI.

PRO: the default choice for SMBs

PRO is the first edition that turns the phone system into a customer relationship tool. It adds queues with automatic callback, supervisor listen-in, whisper and barge-in, queue reports, SLA alerts, call recording, CRM integration (screen pop on incoming calls, call journaling), full Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace integration, WhatsApp and Facebook in the same interface as calls, hot desking, remote office bridges and a graphical call flow designer. We recommend it as soon as there is a reception desk to organise, as explained in our article on call queues and IVR, or a WhatsApp channel, see WhatsApp Business in 3CX.

AI: for high-volume environments

The AI edition includes everything in PRO and adds AI agents (automated receptionist, personal assistant), full call transcription with summaries and sentiment analysis, skill-based routing, fine-grained rights to start or stop recording, built-in failover and a standby licence. It makes sense when a phone system outage is costly. If you are considering transcription, first check the framework of Morocco’s Law 09-08: recording and transcribing conversations is processing of personal data.

Sizing simultaneous calls and extensions

A well-chosen licence meets two constraints at once: the calls in progress at the busiest moment, and the total number of users. Here are the limits published by 3CX for the sizes most common in SMBs.

Simultaneous calls	Recommended users	Maximum users
8 SC	16 to 40	40
16 SC	41 to 80	80
24 SC	81 to 120	120
32 SC	121 to 192	192
48 SC	193 to 288	288
64 SC	289 to 384	384

These limits may change: we check them again at every quote and every renewal.

To estimate the peak, do not guess. At the busiest moment, count incoming calls, outgoing calls, calls between colleagues, conferences and calls waiting in a queue: they all use capacity. 3CX recommends adding headroom: its own example says that with a peak of 16 calls, you should consider a 24 SC licence. A 30-person company that never exceeds 6 calls at once therefore stays on an 8 SC licence, but a 60-person company must move to 16 SC even with few calls, because it exceeds the 40-user limit.

Also watch “technical” extensions: an account created only as a voicemail box or to display a number counts as a user. Regular clean-up avoids paying for a larger size because of unused accounts.

Where to host 3CX

The licence does not determine where the system runs. Commercial editions offer three options.

Option	How it works	Points to watch
Hosted by 3CX	3CX manages infrastructure, updates, backups and monitoring; you keep administration	Annual hosting fee on top of the licence; for Basic, from 16 SC
Your own cloud	Linux or Windows machine with a cloud provider (Amazon, Google, Azure, DigitalOcean) or your hosting company	Backups, updates and security are your responsibility or your provider’s
On premises	Server or virtual machine (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM) at your site	Continuity depends on your power, internet link and server room

For most SMBs, cloud hosting is the simplest, especially for mobile teams. On premises still makes sense when local infrastructure is already redundant or internal constraints require it. Our business IP phone system guide covers this trade-off.

In every case, the licence includes neither numbers nor call minutes: they come from your carrier through a SIP trunk. See keeping your numbers with a SIP trunk.

Renewal and upgrades

The licence renews every year. That is an advantage: you can move to a larger size or a more complete edition as the company grows, without reinstalling. 3CX advises reviewing the size before each renewal. Downsizing is controlled: you must first meet the user limit of the target size.

Updates, security fixes and new features are included in the annual subscription: do not let the renewal date pass without a decision. Write it down where someone will see it, or have your provider track it.

The mistakes we see most

1. Choosing Basic to save money, then finding queues, recording or CRM are missing.
2. Sizing on headcount instead of simultaneous calls, or the reverse while forgetting the user limit.
3. Forgetting internal calls and conferences when calculating the peak.
4. Piling up unused accounts (former staff, dummy mailboxes) that push you over the limit.
5. Using the free edition for a growing SMB, then having to migrate in a hurry.
6. Leaving hosting out of the budget when 3CX hosts the system.
7. Letting the licence lapse because nobody tracks the renewal date.

Checklist before ordering

• Peak simultaneous calls measured, including internal calls, conferences and queues.
• Current and planned number of users, compared with the maximum for the chosen size.
• Need for queues, recording, CRM or WhatsApp: if so, PRO at minimum.
• Several sites to connect: PRO or AI.
• Need for transcription, AI agents or automatic failover: AI.
• Hosting option chosen and its annual cost included in the budget.
• SIP trunk and number porting confirmed with the carrier.
• Renewal date and the person responsible for tracking it identified.

How we do it

As an official 3CX partner, we start from your actual usage, not from a catalogue. We begin with a free audit of your call flows and network: volumes, peaks, queues, sites, tools to integrate. We then recommend the right edition and size with the right hosting, and compare with Yeastar or Teams Phone where relevant, as in our 3CX, Yeastar and Teams Phone comparison. We deploy the system, configure call handling scenarios and integrations, train your teams, then monitor the system 24/7, with critical incidents handled in under 15 minutes. Every year, before renewal, we review the licence size and the number of active extensions with you.

All of this is part of our IP telephony offer. See our case studies, then request your free initial audit: we reply within 24 business hours with an edition and size recommendation suited to your business.