How WhichVoIP works now
In 2026 WhichVoIP moved to a purely editorial model. We made the change because a comparison site is only worth something to buyers – and therefore to providers – if what it publishes cannot be bought.
Every directory listing is free and uniform. Every review is researched from primary sources and scored on the same five-dimension rubric, sponsor or not. There are no display ads on the site, no press section, no paid placements inside articles, and no backlink arrangements. Buyers arrive through search and AI citation, build a shortlist through our reviews and comparisons, and request quotes when they are ready to talk to providers.
The commercial model lives in two places. Quote requests are matched to providers whose offering fits the buyer’s stated needs, and sponsored partners see them first. And on the comparison pages where buyers shortlist, sponsored partners hold a small number of clearly labelled placements – above the table, never inside its order.
The two sponsorship options
One retainer option for providers who want sustained presence, one pay-as-you-go option for providers who only want leads.
| What you get | Sponsored Partner – from R6,500/month | Pay-per-lead – from R650/accepted lead |
|---|---|---|
| Matched quote requests | Yes – every matching lead is offered to sponsored partners alone for two hours before it opens to other providers | Yes – once the lead opens to all matching providers |
| Per-lead cost | From R650 per accepted lead, by buyer size | From R650 per accepted lead, by buyer size |
| Row in the comparison table | Yes – on the compare page for every category you sell (phone systems, VoIP, fibre, wireless, call centre), placed by your independent score and marked “Sponsored partner” | Editorial inclusion only |
| Top 3 picks above the comparison table | Yes – a labelled pick card on each applicable compare page. Limited to three partners per page | No |
| Row on the category pillar pages | Yes – in the “Providers we review” shortlist on every pillar page matching your categories, placed by score | Editorial inclusion only |
| Cited as a preferred alternative | Yes – a labelled card on every directory listing and every provider review in your categories, linking to your listing and review | No |
| Clickable links to your website | Yes – in your review and every labelled placement, tagged rel=”sponsored” (traffic and visibility; no SEO authority passed) | No |
| Sponsored partner disclosure on your review | Yes – a clearly labelled “Sponsored partner · scoring is independent” strip and a link to your site | Not applicable |
| Corrections to your listing and review | Free, with priority turnaround | Free, standard editorial cycle |
| Mentions in articles and buyer guides | Not for sale. Articles cover a category completely and order providers by score; a price table lists you only when you publish the price it compares | Same |
| Influence on review score, verdict or table position | Never | Never |
| Monthly commitment | Month to month | None |
| Buyer size | Price per accepted lead |
|---|---|
| Under 5 users | R650 |
| 5 to 20 users | R950 |
| Over 20 users | R1,250 |
Lead pricing is identical whether you are a Sponsored Partner or pay-per-lead, and you are billed only for the leads you accept. The tier is set by the headcount the buyer states on the quote form. All prices exclude VAT.
How a lead reaches you
When a buyer requests quotes, we match their requirement against every provider whose stated categories, territories and customer sizes fit. Nobody receives leads outside what they have told us they want.
Sponsored partners see a matching lead first. For two hours it is offered to them alone. If they take it, it is theirs.
After that window the lead opens to every other matching provider at once. There is no queue and no ranking — it is first come, first served.
A lead closes once three providers have accepted it. We tell buyers they can expect up to three quotes, and we hold to that: a fourth provider trying to accept is told the lead is no longer available. Nobody is billed for a lead they could not take.
You are only ever billed for leads you accept. A lead you leave alone costs you nothing, and there is no penalty for passing on one that is not right for you.
Where a sponsored partner appears – and where nobody can
Paid placement on WhichVoIP lives in exactly three places, and each one is labelled where it appears. Everything else on the site is editorial.
The Top 3 picks above the comparison table on each compare page. Sponsored partners fill these cards, labelled “Sponsored partner”, with the same independent score they carry in the table below. Three cards per page, so the block is capped at three partners per category.
The “preferred alternatives” card on every directory listing. Buyers reading a competitor’s listing in your category see you, labelled, with a one-line summary and links to your listing and review.
The alternatives block on every provider review in your category. Where a review sends the reader to compare other providers, the providers it names are the sponsored partners – labelled, scored, linked.
Alongside those three, a sponsored partner is complete on every editorial surface its categories touch: a row in each comparison table and pillar shortlist, placed by score and never pinned. Inclusion is still an editorial call – we will not put a wireless specialist in a Cloud PBX comparison – but where your offering belongs in the conversation, sponsorship guarantees you are in it and accurately represented. It does not buy favourable framing, a higher table position, or softened criticism.
What we no longer sell
If you bought these from WhichVoIP in the past, they have been retired – not repriced.
| Retired | Why |
|---|---|
| Display and banner advertising | Ads erode the buyer trust that makes our leads convert. There is no ad inventory on the site. |
| Press releases and advertorials | We publish our own editorial coverage. Vendor announcements are covered on merit, not payment. |
| SEO backlinks | We do not sell search authority. Sponsored partner links carry rel=”sponsored” and pass no ranking value; editorial citations cannot be bought at any price. |
| Directory prominence | All listings are uniform. No badges, no boosted positions, no featured slots. The labelled “preferred alternatives” card is a sponsor placement on the page, not an upgrade to any listing. |
| Paid mentions in articles | Articles and buyer guides are written for the buyer, in score order, and are never sponsored. |
| Review scores, verdicts and table positions | These were never for sale, and remain not for sale. |
The editorial boundary
Sponsored and non-sponsored providers are scored on the same rubric, from the same evidence bar, by the same editorial process.
Every paid placement is labelled where it appears: the Top 3 picks, the preferred-alternatives card on listings, the alternatives block on reviews, and the disclosure strip on a partner’s own review. Everything that carries no label – the order of a comparison table, a pillar shortlist, an article, a buyer guide – is editorial and unsponsored, because no sponsorship applies to it. Our quote-matching priority is disclosed on this page and on our advertising disclosure, which also names every current sponsored partner. If we ever bend this rule, the whole platform stops being worth sponsoring – which is exactly why we will not.
For the full picture of how we research, score and fund the site, see our Advertising Disclosure & Editorial Independence page and our FAQ.
Looking for more commercial firepower? That’s Pulse.
The promotional layer did not disappear – it moved to a product built for it.
Pulse is our market-intelligence platform for South African telecoms vendors and resellers: competitor tracking, market signals, and the commercial insight layer that a comparison site for buyers was never the right home for. If what you actually want is to grow share in the SA telecoms market – not just receive leads – Pulse is where that investment belongs.
Pulse is available in three tiers: Pulse at R9,999/month, Pulse Channel at R19,999/month, and Pulse Accelerator at R39,999/month. Ask us for a walkthrough.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an “accepted lead”?
A quote request from a buyer whose stated needs match your services, which you choose to accept. You see the lead’s requirements — service, size, location and what they asked for — before deciding, and their contact details only once you accept. You are billed only for leads you take. Leads you pass on cost you nothing.
How many providers get each lead?
Up to three. Every provider whose profile matches the buyer’s requirement is offered the lead — sponsored partners first, then everyone else — and the first three to accept it are the three the buyer hears from. Once three have accepted, the lead is closed and nobody else can take it.
Not every lead reaches three. If a buyer’s requirement matches fewer providers than that, they hear from fewer.
Can we pay for a better review score or a higher position in the comparison table?
No. Scores, verdicts and comparison-table positions are editorial outputs and are not for sale at any price. A sponsored partner is scored on exactly the same five-dimension rubric as any other provider, and sits in the table wherever that score puts it. The only ranked position sponsorship buys is a labelled card in the Top 3 picks above the table – and that card shows the same score.
Will we be mentioned in your articles and buyer guides?
Only on the same terms as everyone else. Articles cover a category completely and list providers in score order without labels, so a sponsored partner that belongs in the category is there. Price tables are the exception: they list only providers that publish the price being compared. If you quote rather than publish, the article sends readers to the comparison page instead, where your quote-based entry sits with everyone else’s. Publishing an entry price is the fastest way into more of our content.
Do sponsored partners get backlinks?
Sponsored partners get clickable links to their website in their review and in every labelled placement – but every sponsor link carries a rel=”sponsored” tag, so it drives traffic without passing SEO authority. We retired authority-passing backlink arrangements as part of the move to a fully editorial model, and editorial citations cannot be bought.
What happened to banner ads and the press office?
Both were retired in 2026. WhichVoIP is now a purely editorial platform, and the commercial offering has been rebuilt around the two options above: quote-match priority and labelled placement on the comparison pages. Vendors looking for market-intelligence and growth tooling should look at Pulse instead.
Our listing or review is out of date. Do we have to sponsor to fix it?
No. Factual accuracy is free for every provider. Send us what has changed, we verify it against your own published pages, and we correct it. Sponsorship buys a faster turnaround on those updates, not the right to them.
How do we start?
Email us at [email protected] with your company name and which option you are interested in. We will confirm your category fit, current review status, and whether the Top 3 picks in your categories have a slot open, and go from there. Month-to-month, no long contracts.
Ready to talk?
Tell us who you are and which option fits. We will come back with your category fit and next steps.