Quackr or Cleat? A temporary number, or a line you keep.

The short answer

Use a temporary number when you only need a number briefly. Use a line you keep for anything you'll log back into: banks, work tools, marketplaces and your team's shared accounts. Those services send codes again later, for a new device or a password reset, so the number has to still be yours. How line-type checks work.

What Quackr offers

Quackr calls itself “The world's most popular temporary number platform” (Quackr). Its free numbers “are a combination of VOIP (free) and non-voip (premium)”, and “Numbers get rotated at least every 30 days” (Quackr). The free ones are shared: “Free temporary numbers are public. Anyone can view messages received on these numbers” (Quackr).

For private numbers, Quackr rents “a dedicated, non-VoIP phone number from 15+ countries”, and says “Each number is real and non-VoIP” with pricing that “starts from as low as $0.10 per day” (Quackr). You can rent for a week, a month, six months or a year.

Where the difference matters

A public number isn't private: anyone who opens it can read the code sent to you, and the number moves on. A rental is private, but it's priced and sold by the period, so plan for what happens when yours ends. On acceptance, Quackr's rental page says its numbers are accepted by all major apps “guaranteed or your money back”, while its refund policy says “we can't guarantee that each one will work across multiple services” and that it doesn't refund “numbers that have already received an OTP” (Quackr; Quackr refund policy).

A Cleat line is a monthly subscription to one US mobile number. It stays yours while you subscribe, and if billing ends we hold the number for 30 days before it's released. Every line belongs to a person who verified their identity, texts are never public, and your team can share the inbox for free.

Side by side

When each one fits

If you need a number for a short while and won't come back to the account, a rental by the week can cost less than a month of Cleat. If the account matters, and you'll need its codes again next month or next year, a line you keep with a verified owner is the safer choice. Cleat is for your own accounts and your team's; it isn't for anonymous use or for number pools.

Most services that turn away VoIP accept a real mobile line. No provider can promise that every service accepts every number, so try yours in your first month. Comparing other options too? See Google Voice next to Cleat and TextNow next to Cleat, or see pricing.