How to get a US phone number when you're not in the US

Start with what you need it for

• Making calls? You need a SIM, an eSIM, an internet calling app, or Cleat Full, which calls from a web app.
• Sending texts? A SIM, an eSIM or an internet app.
• Receiving codes and notifications? You need a number services will text. For many of them, that means a mobile line.

Most people reading this only need the last one. That changes which options make sense.

The five routes

1. A prepaid US SIM or eSIM

A real mobile line. You need a compatible phone or eSIM slot. Some carriers only activate inside the US. Tello's help centre says its eSIM must be activated while “physically located within the United States” (Tello). Check the carrier's site for current prices and roaming rules.

2. Keeping your existing US plan

Also a real mobile line. It's the simplest route if you already have one. You pay for a full plan you mostly don't use. Carriers set their own rules for long stays abroad. Read your plan's terms.

3. Internet second-number apps

Google Voice, TextNow, Hushed, Burner, MySudo and others. They're free or cheap, and most make calls and send texts. But they're internet numbers. Many services refuse them for codes (what makes a number non-VoIP). They say so themselves:

• Google Voice (personal)

  “Available in the US”

  https://workspace.google.com/products/voice/

• Hushed

  “NOT guaranteed to work with third-party verification due to blocks implemented by certain services”

  https://support.hushed.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015707631

• MySudo

  “some services do not support VoIP numbers by design”

  https://support.mysudo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019981814

More on the most common one: does Google Voice work for verification codes?

4. Free “receive SMS online” sites

Public inboxes. Anyone can read a code sent to the number. The numbers get reused. Never use one for a bank.

5. A real mobile line delivered online

A US mobile number that receives texts into a web inbox, email, Telegram or your own tools. No SIM. You set it up from anywhere with a government ID. Cleat Line is receive-only: no outgoing calls or texts; Cleat Full adds calls in the web app. Incoming calls arrive as transcripts, in the same inbox. This is Cleat: $24.99 a month, a verified owner behind every line, and a free team inbox.

Side by side

Common mistakes

• Using a free public number for a bank, or anything with money in it.
• Letting a Google Voice number go quiet: Google can reclaim inactive numbers (Google).
• Buying an eSIM you can't activate from where you are.
• Expecting to answer or place a call on a receive-only line. Nothing rings. The call reaches you afterwards, as a transcript.

If you're outside the US

Documents. Some national IDs use a non-Latin script: Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Korean, Tamil, Thai. For those, a passport is the most reliable document.

Paying. Cleat's price is set in US dollars. Your bank converts it and may add its own fees.

Taxes and immigration. A phone number doesn't change either, and nothing here is advice about them. Check official sources for your country.

Where Cleat fits

Cleat Line is a real US mobile line, receive-only, with ID-verified owners. Texts reach you in the inbox, by email, on Telegram or through the API. $24.99 a month, cancel anytime. A code read out over an automated call arrives the same way, transcribed, with the number that called. You can't choose the area code. Most services that refuse VoIP accept a mobile line. No provider can promise all of them do. Cleat for expats and non-residents has the details. The fine print is on pricing.

Keep reading

Keep your US number abroad · When Google Voice takes your number back · Cleat or Tello · What each service publishes about VoIP numbers