Legacy 4SC Standard (Free) - Read this before upgrading to November 2026 V20 update 10

[michaelaemartin]

Short version: if you have Legacy 4SC Standard (Free) and use IP phones consider your options before applying this upgrade.

We just upgraded our Legacy 4SC Standard (Free) to V20, update 10 and it has effectively downgraded the licence, to 10 extensions and no ip phones.

I am a little frustrated as there was no warning of this.

I did find a thread where it is mentioned that update 10 would not support ip phones:

Thread 'Renewal Question - Legacy 4SC Standard (Free) version'

Oct 21, 2026

We signed up in 2020 and got the 4SC standard annual license free. It has kept renewing since then and we've stayed up to date with updates to v20, etc. We are self-hosted in AWS. Right now I show a 4SC Basic edition license as expiring on 12/30/2026 in my admin console. I have 7 supported Yealink phones that are working perfectly right now. The version we acquired in 2020 supported IP phones; my understanding is that the Basic Edition 4SC does not, yet my IP phones are working fine (again, the system has been in place 6 years, we have upgraded IP phones once during that time). Will...

• fbcz
• Replies: 3
• Forum: 4SC

From that thread it appears we need to buy a commercial licence. No issues with that but a bit or warning would have been appreciated.

We receive the emails from 3cx and there does not appear to be any mention of this in them, but I may have missed it.

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Hello,

This change was first announced in January 8th, 2026: https://www.3cx.com/blog/news/free-edition/

and more announcements and details followed, including: https://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/downgrade-to-4sc-basic/ and https://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/native-model-context-protocol/

 

[jkerekes]

I just got caught by this, upgraded and now my SIP phones no longer work.
What do I do now?

I run IT for a very small non-profit and we don't have budget to pay for a phone system.
We only have 10 handsets and 1 SIP extension.

 

[bitn2]

I just got caught by this, upgraded and now my SIP phones no longer work.
What do I do now?

I run IT for a very small non-profit and we don't have budget to pay for a phone system.
We only have 10 handsets and 1 SIP extension.

In that case, a telephone system (PBX) is not strictly necessary. You could simply store the phone number in the DECT base station and operate entirely without a PBX.

 

[menasheh]

I am a bit frustrated because just 2 weeks ago I started with 3cx and a week ago I bought a snom pa 1 because I saw 4sc could still support ip phones and I found this to be a cheap and inexpensive hobby and then I thought there would be no harm in updating but then I saw ip phones no longer work and don't want use smb because there is no paging feature could anyone help me?

 

[jkerekes]

You could simply store the phone number in the DECT base station and operate entirely without a PBX.

Huh?
I said we have 10 handsets, these are corded second hand yealink desk handsets, we don't have any dect cordless handsets.

We still use basic PBX fuctions, calling local extensions, parking calls, forwarding calls, voicemail, MOH etc.
Eg. what a small non-profit needs.

We have been using free version for years without a single support request on our own infrastructure (mini PC), now I don't know what to do. We can't afford $300 USD per year.

 

[menasheh]

Huh?
I said we have 10 handsets, these are corded second hand yealink desk handsets, we don't have any dect cordless handsets.

We still use basic PBX fuctions, calling local extensions, parking calls, forwarding calls, voicemail, MOH etc.
Eg. what a small non-profit needs.

We have been using free version for years without a single support request on our own infrastructure (mini PC), now I don't know what to do. We can't afford $300 USD per year.

same I think 3cx just cares about profit

 

[bitn2]

Huh?
I said we have 10 handsets, these are corded second hand yealink desk handsets, we don't have any dect cordless handsets.

We still use basic PBX fuctions, calling local extensions, parking calls, forwarding calls, voicemail, MOH etc.
Eg. what a small non-profit needs.

We have been using free version for years without a single support request on our own infrastructure (mini PC), now I don't know what to do. We can't afford $300 USD per year.

Sorry, handsets are in germany dect phones. If you cant afford 300$ then you should check whether your router might be able to handle it, for instance, we use a Fritzbox for simple tasks like this.

 

[jkerekes]

If you cant afford 300$ then you should check whether your router might be able to handle it, for instance, we use a Fritzbox for simple tasks like this.

I am really confused by your statement.
A router is not a PBX, while some can terminate a sip trunk and connect analog handsets, I have never seen one that can do all the PBX functions I listed in my last post and connect 10 physical desk handsets to it.

 

[bitn2]

I am really confused by your statement.
A router is not a PBX, while some can terminate a sip trunk and connect analog handsets, I have never seen one that can do all the PBX functions I listed in my last post and connect 10 physical desk handsets to it.

In Germany the Fritzbox can do this... I don’t know if you have something similar. Otherwise, the only options are to pay the $300 per year (just 82 cents a day) or to look for an alternative.