Vonage

One of the main benefits of Vonage is that it works similar to a typical landline phone. For calling overseas, Vonage offers a plan called “Vonage World” that provides unlimited landline calls to 60 countries including India. The monthly rate for the plan is $24.99 plus taxes and fees with a one-year agreement. If you cancel before the end of the 12 months, you will be billed a $39.99 disconnection fee.

Lingo

Currently, their rate to India is 2.9 US cents per minute, which is highly competitive when compared to the rates of most of the other leading providers. Lingo also heavily promotes its World Max subscription plan that advertises a price of $4.95 for unlimited calls to India and 80 other countries. The plan also includes voicemail, caller ID with name, call forwarding, caller ID block and 3-way calling. However, this low advertised rate is only for the first month. After that, the rate climbs to $23.95 per month. There is also an activation fee and a $99.95 disconnection fee for canceling the subscription before the two-year contract has been completed.

MediaRing Talk

With a rate of 1.7 US cents per minute and no connection fees or hidden charges, MediaRing Talk is a good, straightforward choice for callers who don’t want to make a commitment to a monthly subscription for long distance phone service. Calls can be made to either mobile phones or landlines for this rate. PC to PC calls are free. The company also offers free instant messaging with presence and multi-user voice conferencing, which can be particularly useful around holiday time for enjoying family phone get-togethers.

Skype

For calling landlines or mobile phones in India, Skype offers two choices. Their “Pay as You Go” plan enables users to purchase Skype Credit and rates to India start at 9.2 US cents per minute plus a connection fee of 3.9 cents for each call. Their subscription plans are another option and can save callers quite a bit of money if they are calling India on a regular basis. Subscriptions start at $14.95 for 300 minutes of calls per month.