Cloud lines or the mobiles in your team's pockets
mCallz: Exotel Alternatives When Your Team Calls From Its Own SIM
Teams comparing Exotel alternatives first need to decide what they are replacing: a cloud phone line with virtual numbers and menus, or simply a way to track and organise sales calls. mCallz handles only the second job, on the SIM each employee already uses, with a lead CRM built in.
- Why a SIM-based app and cloud telephony are not like for like
- Exotel plan prices and mCallz prices, read on 20 October 2026
- A clear list of what mCallz does not do yet
Calls go out on each phone's own SIM. Dialer, CRM and WhatsApp for ₹4,000 per user a year (₹333/month), down to ₹208/month for bigger teams. GST extra.
- Works on the SIM in each phone
- Android, iPhone and web
- Free trial at app.mcallz.com
The short answer
What is the best Exotel alternative for a sales team?
Sales teams calling out from mobiles usually fit a SIM-based calling CRM better, while a shared inbound line fits another cloud telephony provider.
mCallz is a calling CRM that works through the SIM card already inside each salesperson's phone, so nobody rents a number or tops up per-minute credits. On Android it becomes the dialer: a ringing call puts the lead's stage and latest note on screen, and two taps after hanging up save what happened and when to call again. Lists are worked by an auto dialer with up to three redials, and missed calls can trigger a WhatsApp reply. Exotel sells something different: its Business Phone System plans bundle virtual numbers it calls Exophones, multi-level IVR, agents and prepaid credits, starting at ₹9,999 for five months on the plan page read on 20 October 2026. Spoken menus, shared lines and caller queues are planned for mCallz rather than shipped. Product details for mCallz match the list of live features it published on 14 October 2026.
- Exotel gives a business shared virtual lines with menus and routing.
- mCallz organises the calls each person makes on their own mobile number.
- Some businesses need one of each, used for different calls.
Benefits
Exotel alternatives benefits for outbound phone teams
No number rental or credits
Talk time is billed by each handset's own carrier, so the mCallz invoice stays flat however long people talk.
A number the lead already knows
Customers see the salesperson's own mobile number, the one they may have saved after the first meeting.
CRM inside the calling app
Statuses, remarks, products and follow-up alarms live on the handset that places the call, with no separate integration.
Works away from a desk
Agents in the field call from the phone in their pocket; no laptop, headset or office internet is needed for the call.
WhatsApp on the same lead
Automatic messages after missed, incoming or outgoing calls, plus a live WhatsApp inbox beside each lead's call history.
Two kinds of product
mCallz vs Exotel: a SIM app against cloud telephony
Exotel, by its own pricing pages, is cloud telephony. A business buys a plan that includes virtual numbers (Exotel calls them Exophones), a number of agents, a multi-level IVR and a pot of prepaid credits that pay for calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages. Calls to and from those numbers pass through Exotel's platform, which records them, reports on them and can pass them to a CRM.
mCallz never touches the phone line itself. The call still travels over the mobile network from the employee's SIM; mCallz sits on top as the dialer and CRM, logging the call against a lead, asking for the outcome and setting the next step. There is nothing to rent and no credit balance to watch.
That makes the two products overlap only in part. Both can dial lists, record calls in some form and show managers a dashboard. Only Exotel gives a business shared numbers with menus and routing, and only mCallz turns each salesperson's own mobile into a tracked CRM handset.
Fair comparison
mCallz vs Exotel: where Exotel is the better choice
These strengths come from Exotel's plan pages, read on 20 October 2026. If your business needs any of them, mCallz does not replace Exotel today:
Virtual numbers
Every Business Phone System plan includes at least one Exophone, up to 10 on the Influencer plan, so the business owns a published line no matter who answers.
Multi-level IVR
All three plans list a multi-level IVR, and the FAQ describes a drag-and-drop builder for call flows that needs no developer.
Routing and transfer
Call transfer, dynamic call flows and missed-call services come with every plan; the contact centre plans add call routing and number masking.
APIs and campaigns
Voice, SMS and WhatsApp APIs, plus call and SMS campaigns, let developers build calling into their own product.
Who mCallz suits
Exotel alternative for salespeople who phone from personal handsets
The fit for mCallz is a team whose calls mostly go out, from people who move around: field sales, counsellors, agents and installers. Each one owns a list of leads and phones them on their own number. They do not need a menu greeting callers; they need to know who is ringing, what was promised last time and when to call next.
mCallz gives each person a caller card on every ring, a two-tap sheet after every call, an auto dialer for the day's list and reminders that ring until they are dealt with. A dual-SIM phone can keep work calls on a business SIM. The owner sees every employee's calls and results in one account, and the app works in more than 40 languages.
When customers call a person rather than a company line, this is often all a small business needs, and the only running cost on top of the mobile plan is a fixed price per user.
Pricing
Exotel pricing beside mCallz pricing
The two price models are built differently, so compare a full year for your own team. Figures read on 20 October 2026.
- Exotel Dabbler: ₹9,999 with 5 months validity, covering ₹4,999 rental and 5,000 credits, 1 virtual number and 3 agents.
- Exotel Believer: ₹19,999 with 11 months validity, ₹10,499 rental and 9,500 credits, 2 virtual numbers and 6 agents.
- Exotel Influencer: ₹49,499 with 11 months validity, ₹10,499 rental and 39,000 credits, 10 virtual numbers and unlimited agents. One credit equals ₹1 and pays for calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages. Source: Exotel Business Phone System pricing.
- Exotel contact centre: XPrime US$70 and XPro US$100, with the billing unit not stated on the page; XTRM is priced on request.
- mCallz: yearly seats only. A small crew of 1 to 4 pays ₹4,000 a seat (US$44.08); once a fifth person joins, each seat is ₹3,500; ten or more drop to ₹3,000; at 20 seats the price is ₹2,500; teams past 20 get a quote. Tax is extra, and calls are paid on each phone's own mobile plan.
Moving calls across
Exotel alternative setup for an outbound team in five steps
Many businesses keep their inbound line where it is and move only the outbound sales calls onto mCallz. The steps below assume that split.
Decide which calls move
Keep any shared helpline with menus on cloud telephony; move the calls salespeople place to their own leads.
Bring in the leads
Import an Excel, CSV or JSON file, or connect a Google Sheet or REST API source that mCallz checks on a schedule.
Set up each handset
Install mCallz, make it the Android dialer and choose the business SIM as the default on dual-SIM phones.
Write the WhatsApp replies
Draft one reply for missed calls, one for incoming and one for outgoing, then add quiet hours and a per-number cooldown.
Assign and dial
Hand each seller a personal list and launch a hands-free dialling run, letting unanswered numbers come round again.
At a glance
mCallz vs Exotel comparison table
| Feature | mCallz | Exotel |
|---|---|---|
| Kind of product | Calling CRM app on the employee's phone | Cloud telephony: business phone system, contact centre and APIs |
| Caller ID shown to the customer | The salesperson's personal mobile number | An Exophone virtual number from the plan |
| IVR menu | Not offered today (planned) | Multi-level IVR in every Business Phone System plan |
| Routing and transfer | Not offered; calls reach the person dialled | Call transfer and dynamic call flows; call routing in contact centre plans |
| Auto dialer | Yes: sequential list calling, up to three retries per number | Listed in every Business Phone System plan |
| Call recording | Imports the phone's own recordings | Call recordings listed in every plan |
| Lead CRM | Built in: statuses, remarks, follow-up alarms | Integrates with CRMs and helpdesks |
| Auto messages after calls, live inbox, bulk sends | WhatsApp API, charged per conversation (marketing INR 0.86) | |
| How calls are paid | The phone's existing mobile plan | Prepaid credits, 1 credit = ₹1, within a validity period |
| Lowest plan | ₹4,000 a seat yearly on teams of up to 4 (₹12,000 for 3) | ₹9,999 for 5 months (Dabbler, 3 agents) |
| Free trial | Yes, at app.mcallz.com | 7 days with ₹500 of free usage |
| Best for | Outbound and field sales on mobiles | Inbound lines and call centres with shared numbers |
Honest limits
Exotel alternatives limits: when Exotel is the right tool
Choosing mCallz in place of Exotel is a mistake in these cases. Today mCallz has no IVR, no virtual numbers and no call queues; all three are planned, not live.
- You publish one number for the whole company. A shared line that rings whoever is free needs virtual numbers and routing, which only the cloud side offers now.
- Callers must hear a menu. "Press 1 for sales" and out-of-hours greetings need an IVR; mCallz cannot play one.
- Agents work from laptops with headsets. mCallz places calls through the phone; its web dashboard reports and can make the phone dial, but it is not a softphone.
- You need predictive or voice-blast campaigns. mCallz dials a single lead per caller, needs a live person on each call and cannot broadcast recorded audio.
- Customer numbers must stay hidden from agents. Number masking is a cloud feature; on a SIM the agent dials and sees the real number.
Worked example
Exotel alternative example: a solar-kit distributor in Kampala
A distributor of home solar kits in Kampala, Uganda. The business is an illustration, not a named customer.
The distributor's owner first priced a cloud phone plan for the whole business, then noticed that almost none of the sales calls needed one. Agents visit villages and markets around Kampala, collect numbers at demonstrations and call those people back from their own mobiles over the following week. Buyers already know their agent's number.
Each agent now runs mCallz on an Android phone. New contacts from demonstrations go in with just the number and a "Demo" tag, the auto dialer works through the week's list each morning, and a missed call sends a WhatsApp with the kit prices. Repayment check-ins are set as repeating reminders that ring like an alarm.
The customer-care line is a different job: buyers with a faulty battery ring one number and should reach whoever is on duty. That line stays on a cloud provider, because mCallz has no shared numbers or menus. The owner checked separately that the provider could supply a local number, since the plan page we read is priced in rupees and does not list countries. Everything about this distributor is made up to show the idea.
Price
Exotel alternative price per user
Billed yearly, per user, GST extra. Every user on a team pays that team's band price, so 12 users pay ₹3,000 each. See full plan details, or ask us on WhatsApp.
Questions
Exotel alternatives FAQ
What is Exotel used for?
Exotel sells cloud communication: business phone plans with virtual numbers and IVR, contact centre software, and voice, SMS and WhatsApp APIs. Businesses use it to run shared phone lines and customer service desks.
What is Exotel pricing?
On 20 October 2026 its Business Phone System plans were Dabbler at ₹9,999 for 5 months, Believer at ₹19,999 and Influencer at ₹49,499 for 11 months each, combining rental with prepaid credits.
Is Exotel free?
No, but it offers a 7-day free trial with ₹500 of free usage for calls and SMS, per its pricing page. After that a paid plan is needed.
What are Exotel credits?
Credits are prepaid usage inside an Exotel plan: one credit equals ₹1 and is spent on calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages. Each plan includes a set number of credits and a validity period.
Which Exotel alternative needs no virtual number?
mCallz needs none. Every call uses the SIM card already sitting in each employee's handset, and mCallz adds the dialer, lead CRM and follow-up reminders around those calls.
Is mCallz an Exotel alternative?
mCallz is an Exotel alternative that suits outbound sales teams on their own mobiles, logging SIM calls against leads with a built-in CRM. It is not a cloud phone system and has no IVR or virtual numbers today.
How much does an Exotel alternative cost with mCallz?
Expect ₹4,000 for each user per year (US$44.08) while the team is 4 people or fewer; a bigger team pays a lower rate on every seat, down to ₹2,500 at 20, with tax on top. There are no credits or number rentals; calls use each phone's own mobile plan.
Does mCallz have IVR like Exotel?
Not yet. An IVR, virtual lines and call queues have not shipped in mCallz, which means a business needing them now should pick a cloud telephony provider.
Does Exotel have an auto dialer?
Yes. Its pricing page lists an auto dialer in every Business Phone System plan. mCallz also has one, which dials a list one number at a time from the phone's SIM.
Who are the main Exotel competitors?
Its closest competitors are other cloud telephony and contact centre providers. SIM-based calling CRMs such as mCallz are a different kind of tool that replaces Exotel only for outbound calls from mobiles.
Which Exotel alternatives work outside India?
mCallz works wherever the phone has a mobile network, since calls use the local SIM, and the app supports more than 40 languages. For cloud providers, check which countries they supply numbers in before buying.
Can I use Exotel and mCallz together?
Yes, as separate tools: a cloud line for shared inbound calls and mCallz for sales staff on their own phones. mCallz does not connect to Exotel, though it can send call and lead records to a different CRM over an API connection.
Try an Exotel alternative on the phones you already carry
Install mCallz on two sales phones and keep your current line as it is. After a week of real calls you will know which calls belong where.