On-site PBX vs cloud phone system
Cloud phone systems excel at browser calling and hosted numbers. On-site PBX keeps desk phones and softphones local on your LAN. QuikPBX is hybrid: one control plane for Cloud and On-site, including a Free plan that starts with on-site home use.
Cloud phone system
Cloud calling puts media and numbers in a hosted fabric. You get browser web phones, meetings, and easy remote work — with dependency on internet and a cloud carrier (SignalWire in QuikPBX).
On-site PBX
On-site PBX keeps SIP registration and site calling on your LAN. Desk phones and the desktop softphone keep working for local extension dialing even when you care about site-local reliability. Configuration still comes from the QuikPBX portal.
Why hybrid matters
Most “free VoIP” products are cloud-only. QuikPBX Free can start on-site for home desk phones, then add Cloud when you connect SignalWire — without migrating to a second vendor portal.
Try QuikPBX Free
Up to 5 extensions, 1 On-site PBX site, and optional BYO SignalWire — no QuikPBX subscription on Free.
Related guides
Free home PBX with desk phones
QuikPBX Free gives you a real LAN phone system for home and hobby: up to 5 extensions, one On-site PBX site, web phone, basic routing, and voicemail. Desk phones and the desktop softphone register on your network; bring your own SignalWire only if you want hosted numbers and PSTN.
Yealink and multi-vendor desk phone provisioning
QuikPBX On-site PBX auto-provisions common SIP desk phones over HTTPS. Point DHCP option 66 or 160 at your site, adopt the PBX from the portal, and phones pull config without per-device portal logins.
BYO SignalWire phone system
QuikPBX is the management plane; SignalWire Call Fabric can carry cloud media. On Free, connect your SignalWire project when you want DIDs and PSTN. On-site PBX calling on the LAN does not require SignalWire.