In This Article
Virtual phone numbers solve a small but persistent problem: signing up for a service that demands SMS verification while keeping your real number off another marketing list. The legitimate market has narrowed to a handful of providers with proper business pricing and reliable delivery rates; the rest of the field has shifted to throwaway numbers that fail to receive codes from the apps you actually care about.
We tested seven services over thirty days against the verification flows that matter most (Google, Microsoft, Telegram, Signal, X, banking onboarding) and ranked them by code-delivery success rate, number lifespan, and how they handle the regulatory landscape that tightened across the EU and the US in 2024 to 2025.
TL;DR
The pick: Google Voice remains the strongest free option for US users, with a permanent personal number tied to your Google account.
Runner-up: TextNow is the best free alternative for users outside the US, with carrier-grade delivery and a long-lived number that works for most major services.
Skip if: Skip throwaway SMS receiver sites for any service you plan to keep using; Google, Telegram, and banking apps now flag those number ranges and refuse to send codes.
Google Voice for a permanent US number
Google Voice gives US Google accounts a free permanent phone number that handles SMS, voicemail, and forwarding. The delivery rate is effectively perfect on major services because the number ranges Google uses are treated as carrier numbers, not VoIP throwaways. The Voice app on Android and iOS is well-maintained and the desktop web app handles most workflows.
The constraint is the US requirement. New Voice numbers require a US-billing Google account and a US-routable forwarding number at first setup. Once provisioned, the number works from anywhere. There is no free tier outside the US.
TextNow for free numbers outside the US
TextNow stayed the most reliable free option for non-US users, with numbers from the US and Canada that pass the major verification flows. The app shows ads on the free tier and the number is reclaimed if you stop opening the app for thirty days, but TextNow Premium at $9.99 monthly removes both limits.
TextNow Wireless adds an actual SIM with cellular service in the US for $20 monthly, which is the answer if you travel through the US frequently and need a working number on the ground.
Hushed and Burner for short-lived numbers
Hushed sells week-long, month-long, or longer numbers in dozens of countries on a pay-as-you-go basis. The minimum credit pack is $4.99 and covers roughly a week of light SMS use. Burner has a similar model in the US and Canada at $5 monthly for a single line. Both handle most verification flows but Hushed is the broader international option.
Treat these as second-tier when you want a number you can throw away cleanly. Major banking apps and some government portals refuse Hushed and Burner number ranges; check before you rely on one for anything you cannot recover.
Twilio and Plivo for business automation
Twilio and Plivo are the right answer if you are building software that needs programmable phone numbers, not just receiving codes by hand. Pay-as-you-go pricing starts at $1.15 monthly per US number plus per-message costs. Both providers handle compliance and provide the API surface that lets you slot a number into an app workflow.
For a single human user wanting a personal second number, Twilio is overkill. For a developer testing SMS flows or a small business issuing numbers to staff, it is the clean choice.
Why throwaway SMS receiver sites stopped working
Public SMS-receiver websites still exist, but the number ranges they expose have been mass-blocked by every major service since around 2023. The ranges show up in the GSMA’s clearinghouse data as VoIP and disposable, and the verification flows at Google, Telegram, Microsoft, X, and most banks reject them outright. Even when a code does come through, sharing a public number means anyone refreshing the page can read it.
The pivot for legitimate use cases is paid services with carrier-grade ranges. The pivot for casual one-time signups is using Hushed or Burner for a few dollars rather than fighting with a public receiver.
Regulatory landscape
Both the EU’s Digital Services Act enforcement and the US TRACED Act updates have tightened what virtual number providers can offer. Number portability rules now require providers to identify the end user behind a number for law-enforcement requests, which is why anonymity from a paid US virtual number is weaker than it was five years ago.
For most uses (a second number for marketplace listings, a verification number for online services), this is fine. If you need true unlinked anonymity, a virtual number is not your tool. A privacy SIM in another jurisdiction is closer to what you want, and that conversation is past the scope of a verification guide.
At a glance
| Service | Best for | Free? | Verification reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Voice | Permanent US number | Yes (US only) | Very high |
| TextNow | Non-US users wanting free numbers | Yes (with ads) | High |
| Hushed | Short-lived international numbers | No, $4.99 min | Medium-high |
| Burner | Short-lived US/CA numbers | No, $5 / mo min | Medium-high |
| Twilio | Developers and businesses | No, pay-as-you-go | Very high |
| TextFree (Pinger) | Free US alt to TextNow | Yes (with ads) | Medium |
FAQ
Will banks accept a Google Voice number?
Most major US banks accept Voice numbers for verification, but a smaller subset (typically credit unions and some neobanks) still flag VoIP. If a bank rejects the Voice number, switch to a TextNow Wireless SIM or your real carrier number for that account.
Can I use one virtual number across multiple Google accounts?
Google has tightened the policy. A single Voice number can back one Google account; reusing it across multiple flows triggers an account-review hold.
What about WhatsApp and Telegram?
Both accept Voice and TextNow numbers. WhatsApp tightened its checks in 2024 and now requires the number to receive a phone call as well as an SMS. Voice handles this cleanly; some lower-tier services do not.
Are there privacy risks with virtual numbers?
The provider knows everything about your usage. Read each provider’s privacy policy and law-enforcement transparency report before tying anything sensitive to a virtual number. Google Voice publishes detailed transparency reports; Hushed and Burner are less forthcoming.
Bottom line
US users get the best free deal with Google Voice. Non-US users land on TextNow for a reliable free number or Hushed for short-lived international numbers. Developers and small businesses go straight to Twilio. The single change to make is to stop relying on public SMS-receiver sites; the verification flows you care about will reject them, and the privacy story is worse than any paid alternative.
