I am not actively following this field, but I had somehow gotten the impression XMPP is a dying protocol. Any opinions on that?
I have also looked for VoIP providers offering competitive per minute rates to European phone numbers with no monthly fee. I did not find much. VoIP seems to be somewhat popular in Germany and there is no lack of providers. But their contracts include a German phone number which I don't need and cannot even legally get because I don't live there. I don't think SIP vs XMPP would matter for me.
I have also looked for VoIP providers offering competitive per minute rates to European phone numbers with no monthly fee. I did not find much. VoIP seems to be somewhat popular in Germany and there is no lack of providers. But their contracts include a German phone number which I don't need and cannot even legally get because I don't live there. I don't think SIP vs XMPP would matter for me.