Guide · checked September 2026
What each service actually publishes about VoIP numbers and verification codes
Search for whether a service accepts a VoIP number and almost every answer comes from somewhere selling numbers. Some of those answers quote companies that never said it. This page collects the primary sources: the company's own words, with the URL and the date they were read.
By the Cleat team · Updated October 1, 2026
The rules that actually exist
Seven companies state a number-type rule in their own documentation. They are quoted in full. The detail matters more than the headline, and the details do not agree.
| Service | What it publishes |
|---|---|
| Microsoft | “VOIP numbers cannot be added as a way to sign in or get verification codes. Please add a mobile phone number.” |
| “Cell and landline phones are supported. VoIP numbers aren't.” Note that LinkedIn accepts landlines. This is not a mobile-only rule. | |
| Discord | “Also, make sure the phone number is not associated with a landline or VOIP device, and that the number you are trying to use is associated with a mobile device.” |
| Steam | “We are unable to accept new VoIP phone numbers on Steam due to them not meeting our security requirements.” Steam adds that prepaid numbers are fine, and that “Select carriers use VoIP technology in their cellular plans and we are unable to support these”. Its own detection catches some real mobile lines. |
| “Unsupported phone numbers, such as VoIP, landlines, toll-free, paid premium numbers, universal access numbers (UAN), shared cost, and personal numbers can't be registered on WhatsApp.” The next sentence permits landlines on WhatsApp Business. | |
| Login.gov | Does not accept “Google Voice or similar VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) numbers”. It accepts landlines, and refuses “Most prepaid phone numbers” — the opposite of Steam on prepaid. |
| OpenAI | “We do not support use of landlines, VoIP, Google Voice, or premium numbers at this time.” Landlines are refused too, so this one is mobile-only in practice. |
Read the seven together and there is no single rule. Steam tells you to find “a mobile or prepaid phone number”; Login.gov refuses “Most prepaid phone numbers”. LinkedIn and Login.gov accept landlines; Discord and Telegram refuse them. Published rules that contradict each other are the best evidence available that the unpublished ones are no more consistent. Undocumented and unpredictable is not a complaint about this category. It is its actual state.
Quoted as rules, but not rules
These four are regularly cited as bans. None of them is. The difference between “we recommend” and “you can't” is the whole question when you are deciding what to buy.
| Service | What it actually says | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Uber | “When adding a phone number to your rider account, we recommend using a number associated with a wireless mobile phone provider.” | A recommendation, not a rule. |
| Wise | “Sometimes, we can't send out an SMS to phone numbers for security reasons… because of our internal verification checks for your number.” | Admits a number-level check exists, without saying what it tests. |
| Venmo | “…use a cellular/wireless telephone number that you own.” | A term of the user agreement about eligibility, not a verification rule. The ownership half matters as much as the cellular half. |
| Telegram | “Telegram accounts can only be connected to a mobile number. We currently don't support landline numbers.” | A landline exclusion. Telegram never uses the word VoIP here. |
The ones that publish the opposite
Three services do publish something about number type, and it runs the other way. They explicitly accommodate non-mobile lines.
- PayPal sends a one-time passcode “by SMS, WhatsApp to your mobile phone number, or via phone call to your landline, or by email”. A landline is explicitly supported.
- Amazon says nothing about number type in its retail two-step verification help. Its KDP documentation does, and only to note that “OTP through calls are not supported on Landlines”.
- eBay publishes a landline exclusion in its account-security help. We read it on a Spanish-locale page our request was redirected to. We are not quoting an English sentence we did not see.
The ones that publish nothing
Two of the institutions people most often ask about publish no statement about number type, on the pages we checked. That silence is the finding. It is why “does my bank accept this number?” is so often an argument between strangers on a forum.
- Chase describes “additional validation checks like mobile app notifications or a one-time code to authenticate you” and says nothing about what kind of phone the code goes to.
- Bank of America publishes no number-type statement on its current security pages. Its older security FAQ now redirects elsewhere.
The Apple quote everyone repeats
Pages selling numbers frequently cite Apple as banning VoIP for verification. Apple did publish that sentence: “You can't use landline or web-based (VOIP) phone services for two-step verification.” What never travels with the quote is where it lives. An archived page, marked by Apple as no longer updated, describing two-step verification, the system Apple replaced with two-factor authentication.
On Apple's current two-factor pages there is no number-type rule. What Apple publishes today is a delivery method: you “can choose to receive the codes by text message or automated phone call”. Quoting the archived sentence as Apple's present policy is out of date by a system generation.
Two claims we went back for
Two claims in wide circulation could not be read when this page was first written: both help centers refuse scripted requests. Both were read in a browser on 15 September 2026. Neither says what it is usually quoted as saying.
- Cash App is widely quoted on Google Voice and Skype numbers. The sentence is real, but it belongs to Cash App Taxes' help center, in an article dated 2021, and it allows a home phone. The payments app's own help says nothing about VoIP on the pages we read. What each one says.
- Coinbase is cited for a page about landlines and two-step verification. That page says Coinbase does not deliver codes by voice call. It publishes no VoIP rule on any page we read. What Coinbase does publish.
Service by service
Venmo · PayPal · Cash App · Chime · Coinbase · Microsoft account · Steam · eBay · Login.gov · Bank of America · WhatsApp · Telegram · Google · Apple · Amazon · ChatGPT · Facebook · Instagram · Every service, one page each
What this means if a code isn't arriving
Most services never publish their rule, so the test is empirical. A real mobile line is accepted in more places than an internet number. Nobody can promise a particular company will accept a particular number. Why line type decides this explains the mechanism, and why a lookup sometimes gets a real carrier line wrong. If the number in question is a Google Voice one, Google Voice for verification codes and when Google takes the number back are the two that apply. What people use a real US number for covers the situations it solves. A Cleat line is a real US mobile number that receives texts and transcribed calls, for $24.99 a month.
Questions
Which services definitely refuse VoIP numbers?
The seven that publish it: Microsoft, LinkedIn, Discord, Steam, WhatsApp, Login.gov and OpenAI. LinkedIn and Login.gov still accept landlines, and Login.gov refuses most prepaid numbers while Steam suggests one, so even the published rules are not simply “mobile only”.
Does my bank accept a number like this?
Most banks never say. Chase and Bank of America publish nothing about number type, so anyone stating their policy is guessing. A real mobile line is accepted more often than an internet number, but nobody can promise a specific bank.
Why do so many pages quote rules that don't exist?
Most pages answering these questions are written by companies selling numbers, and quotes get copied between them without anyone opening the source. The widely circulated Apple sentence is real, but comes from an archived page about a system Apple has since replaced.
Is a Cleat line VoIP?
No. It's a real US mobile line. It receives texts, and calls arrive transcribed. It can't send texts or reach 911. Cleat Line can't place calls; Cleat Full adds them in the web app.
How often is this page checked?
Every quote carries the date it was read, and the set is re-checked quarterly. One source in this set already redirected between research and publication, which is why the dates are on every row.
Sources
Facts about other companies come from their own pages, checked in September 2026.
- Microsoft, troubleshoot verification code issues https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/manage/troubleshoot-microsoft-verification-code-issues
- LinkedIn Help, phone numbers and verification https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1335415
- Discord, how to fix phone errors https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/26680694104215-How-to-Fix-Phone-Errors-on-Discord
- Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator FAQ https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/7EFD-3CAE-64D3-1C31
- WhatsApp, can't complete registration https://faq.whatsapp.com/1120385166078156
- Login.gov Help, verify my phone number https://login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/phone-number/
- OpenAI Help Center, can I use a landline, Google Voice or other VoIP number? https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8983024-can-i-use-a-premium-number-landline-google-voice-or-other-voip-phone-number
- Cash App Taxes Help, Google Voice or Skype for phone verification https://taxeshelp.cash.app/s/article/Can-I-use-Google-Voice-or-Skype-for-phone-verification
- Coinbase Help (Coinbase Pro), landlines and 2-step verification https://help.coinbase.com/en/pro/managing-my-account/identity-verification/landlines-and-2-step-verification
- Uber Help, no SMS verification when signing up https://help.uber.com/h/588008d4-2b46-4952-b42c-f12ffcb04278
- Wise, unable to send an SMS to your number https://wise.com/help/articles/53d8GTW7FUCJOCIth2iwwL/im-seeing-the-error-message-we-are-unable-to-send-an-sms-to-your-number
- Venmo, US user agreement https://venmo.com/legal/us-user-agreement/
- Telegram FAQ https://telegram.org/faq
- PayPal, multi-factor authentication https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-and-a-remembered-device-help1156
- Amazon, two-step verification https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3PWZPU52FKN7PW4
- Amazon KDP, two-step verification https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G6HTFZJLJ7AJQ56R
- eBay, tips for keeping your account secure https://www.ebay.com/help/account/protecting-account/tips-keeping-ebay-account-secure?id=4872
- Chase, Security Center https://www.chase.com/digital/resources/privacy-security
- Bank of America, security tools and resources https://web.bankofamerica.com/en/security/tools-resources
- Apple, two-step verification (archived) https://support.apple.com/en-us/102458
- Apple, use two-factor authentication (Personal Safety User Guide) https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/use-two-factor-authentication-ips4c2e19775/web