The impact of laser phase noise on optical heterodyne communications receivers is analyzed in terms of the system signal-to-noise ratios and error rates. An ASK receiver, three FSK receivers and a DPSK receiver are investigated. The maximum permissible laser linewidth Δν is evaluated for each of these receivers and compared with previously published theoretical and experimental results. It is shown that Δν depends on the system data rate R and on the modulation/demodulation technique chosen. For example, DPSK receivers require at least Δν ^ 0.7% of R while FSK receivers with postdetection frequency discrimination require at least Δν ^ 1.9% of R if the mark-space separation 2 f d is equal to R. At the same time, ASK receivers with envelope postdetection processing, and FSK receivers with large frequency deviation are much more tolerant to phase noise: they only require Av<9%ofR.