Use cases
What people actually use a real US number for
Almost nobody wants a second phone number. They want a code to arrive. These are the situations where the number you already have doesn't do that — and the ones where a Cleat line is the wrong answer, which is the more useful half of the page. Our company has spent years watching how US numbers get used for verification, so this is a list of what we have seen rather than a list we imagined.
When the code simply doesn't arrive
The most common reason someone needs another number is that a service checks what kind of line it is before it sends anything. An internet number — Google Voice, a calling app, a web inbox — is often refused outright, and the failure is silent: no error, no code, no explanation. Why that happens, and how services check covers the mechanism.
Banks and payment apps
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Marketplaces and seller accounts
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Government and official portals
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Social and workplace logins
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When the number has to outlive the phone
A phone number is a key to every account attached to it, and it is usually the least durable thing you own. People come looking for a line that doesn't move when they do: leaving the US and keeping accounts that still text a US number, switching carriers without losing access, or retiring a number that a dozen services still treat as proof of identity. Getting a US number from outside the US sets out every route, including the free ones.
- Living outside the US with US bank, brokerage or payroll accounts that still send codes to a US number.
- Long trips and relocations, where a local SIM abroad means the US codes stop arriving.
- Changing carrier or plan without letting a recovery number lapse.
- Retiring a personal number that too many accounts still point at.
When more than one person needs the code
The pattern that has no good answer without a shared line: a company account whose verification code goes to one person's phone. That person becomes a bottleneck, and the workaround — screenshotting codes into a group chat — puts them somewhere they should never be. Shared 2FA for teams is the long version; the short version is that the line belongs to one verified owner and the inbox is shared.
When something automated needs to read it
Sign-up flows that end in a texted code are the usual wall for anything running unattended: a QA suite exercising registration, a scheduled job re-authenticating, an agent acting for its owner. The code has to land somewhere a program can read. For developers covers the API and webhooks; for AI agents covers the MCP server.
What a Cleat line is not for
This is the honest half, and it rules out a large share of what people come to this market wanting.
- A second account somewhere you already have one. One verified person holds each line, and using it to get around a service's one-account rule breaks that service's terms and ours.
- Getting back into something you were banned from. A new number is not a new person.
- Staying anonymous. Every line is tied to a government ID. That is the product, not a side effect.
- Calls. The line receives. It can't dial out or send texts, and it can't reach 911 — keep an ordinary phone for that. An incoming call arrives transcribed, not ringing.
- A pool of disposable numbers. One number, one subscription, kept as long as you keep it.
Questions
Is this a second phone number for calls and texts?
No. A Cleat line receives: texts, and calls as transcripts. It can't place calls or send texts, and it can't reach 911. Calls and outbound texts come with Cleat Full, which has a waitlist.
Will it work with my bank?
Usually, because it's a real US mobile line rather than an internet number — but no provider can promise that a particular company will text a particular number. Services set their own rules and change them. Try yours; if a code never arrives, cancel.
Can my whole team use one line?
Yes. One person verifies and owns the line; teammates join the workspace free and see the same inbox. Nobody has to forward a code to anyone.
Can I get a number in a particular area code?
No. You get a real US mobile number from available inventory, and there's no area-code choice.
What happens to my number if I stop paying?
It's held for 30 days, and texts that arrive meanwhile are kept but locked. Resubscribe in that window and you keep the number; after it, the number is released and may go to someone else.