Skype shut down a year ago. What do you actually use to call a real phone number now?

Microsoft retired Skype in May 2025. For twenty years it was the obvious answer when you needed to call an actual phone number in another country, whether a hotel, a bank, or your family on a normal landline.

I have spent most of my career in telephony (SMS, SIP, WebRTC), and even I struggled to find a clean replacement. Every option I tried wanted me to install an app, make an account, and accept a tracking pixel, just to place one call. WhatsApp, Signal and LINE only reach other people on the same app, which for obvious reasons don't want to work with one another and there is no help when the number you need to dial belongs to a bank, hotel, lawyer's or a government office.

So I am genuinely curious what everyone here landed on:

- When you need to call a real phone number abroad, what do you use now?

- Did you find anything that does not make you install or sign up for something first?

I got annoyed enough that I ended up building my own answer to this, but I want to hear what is actually working for other people.