Best Second Phone Number Apps in 2026: A Free Number Is Often a Lease, Not a Purchase

Every app here hands you a real, working phone number. What separates them is what it costs you and how you lose it.

For three of the six a free number is a lease. Our database’s cons record TextNow numbers reclaimed without periodic use and Text Free numbers reclaimed after 30 days unused; our database’s FAQ for Text Me records the number staying active only while you use it or subscribe. We start there and end with the one you pay to keep.

Best for Replacing a Phone Plan Entirely: TextNow

At 4.6 across 1,463,824 ratings and 100M+ downloads, the most-rated pick here and the only one with a wireless network of its own on record. Our database’s pros record nationwide wireless coverage for a one-time SIM purchase with no monthly contract, plus “Free Essentials” covering maps, email and ride-sharing data without a paid data plan; our database’s FAQ records porting in a number from another carrier.

It is our top pick, with conditions. Our database’s cons record persistent, occasionally intrusive ads inside the messaging interface and no high-speed data on the free tier. The number is still a lease: those cons record reclamation without periodic use, our database’s FAQ naming a paid “Lock-In Number” fee as the alternative. Reviewers call the ads heavy but accept the trade.

Best for Knowing Exactly How Long You Can Ignore It: Text Free

At 4.4 across 536,544 ratings, the only pick whose records put a figure on the deadline. Our database’s cons record the number reclaimed and reassigned if you fail to use it at least once every 30 days. Our database’s FAQ records a warning email first, then the number returning to the available pool.

Our database’s pros add a custom US area code, voicemail-to-text, full MMS, and a privacy lock behind a passcode or biometric ID. The cost is screen space: our database’s cons record large ads that can occupy up to 50% of the screen and appear after every call or text.

Best for Calling Another Country: Text Me

At 4.2 across 506,453 ratings, the pick when the number’s job is crossing a border. Our database’s pros record affordable international calling and texting to more than 200 countries, the largest country count our records give any pick here. Our database’s FAQ records how you fund it: credits earned by watching video ads or completing partner offers rather than paying.

The advertising is also the cost: our database’s cons record high-density advertising occupying significant screen space, interface stutter under high network activity, and reports of persistent billing after cancellation. A reviewer says the frequency of full-screen video ads makes the app difficult to use in urgent situations.

Best for Changing Your Number Once, Free: Talkatone

At 3.7 across 164,976 ratings, the lowest-rated pick here. The award is narrow but real: our database’s pros and FAQ record permanently deleting (“burning”) your active number once for free from the settings menu and choosing a new one — a single free swap, not a workflow for disposable lines.

Our records name three costs. Our database’s cons record saturated display and video ads causing lag that can delay the incoming-call interface, and reviewers report freezing that makes calls hard to answer. Those cons also record anti-abuse algorithms locking legitimate users out after a reinstall or device reset. Our database’s FAQ calls that lockout temporary; reviewers call the system overly aggressive. Both our database’s cons and FAQ record no support for 911 or emergency calls.

Best for Running Several Numbers at Once: Burner

At 4.4 across 79,192 ratings, the pick built around managing lines, not just holding one. Our database’s pros record several virtual numbers run from one interface, color-coded inboxes keeping each line segregated, and per-line tracking of remaining contract days, talk minutes and SMS quotas. Those pros also record instant line disposal, and our database’s FAQ records the messages, call records and contacts deleted with the line.

One counterweight is a hard requirement: our database’s FAQ records that Burner cannot be set up on a Wi-Fi-only device, since initialization needs a cellular connection for an authentication SMS. That FAQ also records outbound calls that can use your carrier’s own voice minutes. Our database’s cons add verification failures on financial and high-security portals, and text delays with a high MMS failure rate. A reviewer reports free-trial charges before the trial ends and difficulty canceling in-app.

Best for a Number You Pay to Keep: Hushed

At 4.1 across 52,662 ratings, the smallest rating count here, and the pick that charges a monthly price for the line. Our database’s pros record monthly plans starting at $4.99, registration requiring only an email address, and hundreds of area codes across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the only non-North-American numbers in this set’s records.

Our database’s FAQ adds VoIP routing that does not consume your carrier’s voice minutes, permanent deletion of logs when a number is deleted, and shortcodes supported, possibly on a premium plan. Paying does not buy perfection: our database’s cons record call quality dependent on a stable connection, and credit rates outside the North American pools that lack transparency.

How we chose

Every pick is live on Google Play with at least 3.5 stars, 20,000 ratings and three screenshots; specifics come from Play signals and our app database’s pros, cons and FAQ notes.

Two apps came close. 2ndLine (4.1, 134,546 ratings) shares our top pick’s developer and repeats the same ad-supported, reclaim-on-inactivity model at under a tenth of the ratings, without an angle of its own; our database’s FAQ records that the free tier may block some verification shortcodes, which premium generally unlocks. Nextplus (4.2, 137,971) had no award of its own: custom area-code selection and free unlimited inbound calls are already recorded for picks here.

Our records state no 911 support for Talkatone and for Nextplus, and for no other app here. That is not evidence the other five do or do not — where our records are silent, we cannot tell you. Check before treating any of these as your only line.

The bottom line

Start with what you would lose if the number disappeared. If that means contacts or a listing, you want a line you use every month or one you pay for. If not, a free tier is fine and the ads are the price.

Then match the need. Replacing a plan points to TextNow, if you accept the ads and either use the line or pay the lock-in fee. Occasional use points to Text Free, whose records give you a figure (30 days) to plan against. Another country points to Text Me. One new number, once, points to Talkatone, at the ad, lockout and no-911 costs above. Several lines point to Burner, if you have cellular service. Paying for the line points to Hushed at $4.99 a month.

For verification codes our records differ: our database’s FAQs for TextNow and Text Free record most services working, banks the exception; our database’s cons for Burner record failures on financial portals; our database’s FAQ for Hushed records shortcodes possibly needing premium.