Bria Solo vs Halcyon

Bria Solo is a softphone for individual users who want voice and video calling through a service provider, call server or IP PBX they choose. It does not include voice or messaging service, so it must be paired with one of those systems. Calling accounts are configured in a web portal that stores settings for use across devices. Example integrations include Asterisk, FreePBX, sipgate and onsip; contacts can come from Google, Microsoft Outlook, iOS and Android. The paid plan includes HD voice and video, call transfer and forwarding, auto answer, recording and call history. Bria Solo Free costs nothing and supports one device and one SIP/VoIP account, with weekly call limits and personal, non-commercial use. Bria Solo costs $2.95 a year, billed $35.40 per year on an annual plan, with taxes not included. A 21-day trial is advertised without a credit card; the pricing note lists a 14-day trial. Apps are available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.

Halcyon is a free, pre-1.0 Android softphone built on PJSIP and integrated with Android Telecom. It registers with a PBX over UDP, TCP, or TLS, advertises RFC 8599 push parameters, and supports several SIP identities with an account selected for each call. When server-side push is configured, the registrar sends a data-only FCM message before an incoming INVITE to wake the device. Without push, Halcyon uses a foreground SIP service with permanent TLS registration and the associated battery cost. Its Android ConnectionService handles tel: and sip: calls, including from the lock screen, while Telecom-native routing supports Bluetooth headsets and Android Auto. Listed audio codecs are Opus, G.722, AMR-WB, and G.729; video codecs include VP8, VP9, and arm64 MediaCodec H.264. Media uses SRTP encryption, with ZRTP on the roadmap. Android 8.0 or newer is required; signed APKs are available from GitHub Releases.