Editor's Choice: Pingo.com

Pingo.com is our 'Editor's Choice' for best all around international calling card. They've earned the top award because of their low rates, clean pricing, simple rate plan, and strong customer support, among other factors.

Our Rating:    ✩ EDITOR'S CHOICE ✩ Visit Pingo.com homepage

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Pingo sells an all-inclusive calling card that you can use in many different ways from most any country in the world.

The Pingo card has a comprehensive rate plan with consistently low rates to destinations worldwide. Their rates are low not just from their home country, but from virtually any country anywhere.

Pingo cards also have extremely 'clean' pricing - meaning they have far fewer extra fees and surcharges compared to other cards. In fact, Pingo won our recent 'clean' card analysis that compared fees from 9 companies and 30 different calling cards.

Another special feature of Pingo cards is the wide range of dialing and usage options they offer. The options include toll-free and local access numbers in 35+ countries, a mobile dialing app called EZ Dial that works from most smartphones, a PC dialing app called Softphone that works for almost any country in the world, and a family plan option that lets you share the card with family or friends anywhere.

Another major reason we chose Pingo is because they are an 'integrated provider' - meaning that they not only sell cards, but they also deliver the voice minutes themselves. For us, this is a major advantage. In Pingo's case, not only are they 'integrated', but they are one of a very few calling card companies that are part of a Tier 1 global telecom carrier.

Pingo's parent company is iBasis, a company that operates one of the largest global VoIP networks in the world. Their network carries billions of voice minutes a month on a wholesale basis for many large clients, including other voice carriers. This high-performance network is the same one that carries all Pingo calling card minutes. That's a big plus!

We could go on, but hopefully you get the idea: Pingo is an excellent company.

Why Buy Pingo?

Here are the main reasons you should buy a Pingo calling card:

• Our top pick for best all around calling card
• Delivers calls on its own network (an 'integrated provider')
• Consistently low per minute rates to destinations worldwide
• Single rate plan covers all locations
• Simple, clean pricing (no hidden fees)
• Local and toll-free access numbers in 35+ countries
• Flexible dialing options: EZ Dial mobile app, Softphone
• Family plan offers multiple accounts on same card
• Strong customer service

Who Should Buy Pingo?

Pingo works well for most every calling card need. They are especially good if:

• You call people in more than 1 country
• You need a card while traveling overseas
• You want to let other people use your card (e.g., family)
• You make calls on your smartphone (EZ Dial)
• You make calls from your computer (Pingo SoftPhone)
• You make international calls on an recurring basis*

Pingo Pricing

Pingo calling card have relatively 'clean' pricing. That means that their cards have few or low extra fees and surcharges as compared to other cards in the industry.

Pingo pricing consists of these elements:

• Per minute rates: Rates vary by point of origin and destination (aka by 'calling route').
• Toll-free access surcharge: A surcharge of 1.00¢ USD per minute is applied to calls made via US toll-free access numbers. Other surcharges may apply when using toll-free numbers in other countries. Please check the Pingo website for details.
• Maintenance fee: 98¢ USD per month applied at the end of the first month and monthly thereafter.
• Payphone fee: Calling card companies are required to levy a payphone surcharge, but some companies charge more than others. Pingo currently charges 65¢ USD per call in the United States and up to 99¢ USD per call in other countries. These are the lowest fees we know of in the industry.

Pingo does not charge any carrier service fees, connection fees, termination fees, transaction fees, or other charges.

All calls are charged in 1-minute billing increments. Fractions thereof are rounded up. Please check the Pingo website for further details.

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Pingo.com Background Information

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Disclosure: AboutCallingCards.com recommends a small number of vendors based on in-depth company reviews and analysis. We recommend only firms that we believe deliver the best value to consumers. Read complete disclosure statement.