# Cleat

> A real US mobile line that receives verification codes, shared with your team.
> Not VoIP and not a virtual number. One verified owner per line, $24.99 a month or
> $249.90 a year: it receives texts, and a call to it goes to voicemail and arrives transcribed,
> like a text. Cleat Full, $49.99 a month or $499.90 a year, also answers and places calls in
> the Cleat web app. No line sends texts or reaches 911.

Operated by Hyppe Tech LLC. Prices in US dollars, plus any taxes that apply.
Read in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), French, Simplified Chinese or Russian.

## Answers

### How do I get a US number for verification from abroad?

Sign up from wherever you are, verify your identity once with a government ID, and subscribe; the number is live straight away. You never need a US SIM, a US phone or to be in the US, and texts and call transcripts reach you over the internet. The line is registered to you. Cleat can't choose an area code for you, and no provider can tell you in advance that a particular service will accept a particular number.

More: https://cleat.so/for/expats

### Is this a non-VoIP number, for a bank or a government code?

It's a real US mobile line, not VoIP and not a virtual number, so a service that checks the line type before sending a code sees a mobile line. Whether it then accepts the number is still its own decision. A handful of companies publish an explicit rule about internet numbers and contradict each other on landlines and prepaid; most publish nothing at all, which makes the outcome undocumented and unpredictable rather than knowable in advance.

More: https://cleat.so/guides/non-voip-number

### Can a team share one 2FA number?

Yes. One line has one owner, who verifies their identity once; everyone they invite reads the same inbox at no extra cost, and loses access the moment they're removed. No line sends texts, so nobody can reply from it, and sharing read access doesn't change whose account it is: check each service's own terms before moving its codes.

More: https://cleat.so/for/teams

### Can an AI agent or a script get the codes?

Yes. Codes arrive on a signed webhook, through a REST API described by OpenAPI 3.1, or over an MCP server. The API reads a line; it can't send anything from one. Cleat pulls out what looks like a one-time code and hands it over alongside the full message, but that field can come back empty, so read the message too.

More: https://cleat.so/for/developers

### What does it cost?

A Cleat Line is $24.99 a month, or $249.90 a year; Cleat Full, which adds calls, is $49.99 a month, or $499.90 a year. Per line, plus any taxes that apply. US dollars, billed through Stripe. Cancel any time from Billing; the line runs to the end of the period you've paid for, and there's no refund for part of a period.

More: https://cleat.so/pricing

### What happens if my ID doesn't pass?

A line shows its texts to nobody until its owner has verified. You can buy before or after the check, whichever suits. If the ID doesn't pass before the line first renews, Cleat cancels the subscription and refunds that first payment in full; a subscription that has already renewed isn't refunded.

More: https://cleat.so/trust

## Limits, in full

- No Cleat line sends texts, on either plan, and none can reach 911 or any other emergency number.
- A Cleat Line receives texts only. A call to it goes to voicemail, and the transcript lands in the inbox like a text; it can't be answered, and the line can't place calls.
- Cleat Full does everything a Cleat Line does, and calls too: a call rings in the Cleat web app, in a computer's or a phone's browser, and is answered there, and calls go out from the app to US numbers showing the line's own number. Calls are recorded after a "this call may be recorded" notice, and transcribed. No premium numbers, and no separate app to install. An existing Cleat Line can't be turned into Cleat Full: Full is a new number.
- One verified owner per line, always. Verifying for somebody else isn't allowed, and Cleat isn't a way to hold a number nobody can trace to a person.
- No area code choice, and no pools of numbers: each line is its own subscription. Cancel or miss a payment and the number is held for 30 days, texts kept, before it's released.
- Cleat won't tell you a given service accepts its numbers, because no provider can know that. Try yours in the first month and cancel if it doesn't suit.

## Who Cleat is not for

- Anyone who needs to send texts: no Cleat plan does, and a normal SIM or a VoIP provider is the right product.
- Anyone who needs many numbers, disposable numbers, or a number that can't be traced to a person. Cleat is one verified owner per line, and refuses accounts that aren't the buyer's or their company's.
- Anyone who needs emergency calling, or to call numbers outside the US: Canada, Mexico and every other country can't be called for now. Incoming calls from any country do ring.
- Anyone who wants a guarantee that a named service will accept the number. Nobody can honestly sell that.

Codes reach you in a web inbox, by email, in a Telegram chat, as a notification on a phone
or desktop that has the dashboard installed, on a signed webhook or through the REST API —
any mix, chosen per person. A webhook is also how a code reaches Slack or Microsoft Teams:
see the guide below. A rule can send one line's or one sender's codes to a single channel.

## Reference

- [Pricing: One Real US Mobile Line, $24.99/month](https://cleat.so/pricing): Two plans, two prices: a real US mobile number that receives texts, with a live inbox, email, Telegram and free team sharing. Cleat Full adds calls.
- [Why Cleat Verifies Every Owner — Trust and Safety](https://cleat.so/trust): Every Cleat line belongs to one ID-verified person. How the check works, what we store and for how long, what we refuse to sell, and who runs Cleat.
- [Guides: US Numbers, VoIP and Verification Codes](https://cleat.so/guides): Sourced answers on why verification codes don't arrive: VoIP versus mobile lines, Google Voice, what banks and apps publish, and US numbers from abroad.
- [Compare Cleat With Google Voice, TextNow, Quo and More](https://cleat.so/compare): Sourced, side-by-side comparisons of Cleat with the internet numbers people try first, including what each of them does better than Cleat.
- [Verification Codes by Service](https://cleat.so/verify): What each service publishes about the phone number it takes for verification codes, what it re-checks later, and what happens when the number changes.
- [Who Cleat Is For: Teams, Expats and Developers](https://cleat.so/for): Cleat for teams sharing 2FA codes, for people who need a US number from abroad, and for developers who receive texts by webhook and API.

## Guides

- [What Is a Non-VoIP Number? Non-Fixed VoIP Explained](https://cleat.so/guides/non-voip-number): A non-VoIP number is a real mobile line. What fixed and non-fixed VoIP mean, why a lookup can misread a carrier line, and what to do when yours is refused.
- [Google Voice for Verification Codes: Does It Work?](https://cleat.so/guides/google-voice-verification-codes): Often not. Google Voice is VoIP, so many banks and apps refuse it. Who publishes a refusal, what to do the day a code stops arriving, and what works.
- [How to Get a US Phone Number From Abroad](https://cleat.so/guides/us-phone-number-from-abroad): Every real way to get a US number from abroad: SIM, eSIM, internet apps and a real mobile line delivered online, and what each one does for codes.
- [VoIP and Verification Codes, Service by Service](https://cleat.so/guides/phone-verification): Does this bank, marketplace or app accept a VoIP number for codes? A dated record of what each publishes, quoted — including the ones that publish nothing.
- [Automated Phone Call Verification: What Works](https://cleat.so/guides/verification-by-phone-call): Some calls read your code aloud, some make you press a key, some ring once and the number is the code. Which of them a receive-only line can finish.
- [Google Voice Reclaimed Your Number: What Happens Now](https://cleat.so/guides/google-voice-number-reclaimed): Google removes unused Voice numbers, and receiving texts doesn't count. The 45-day window, where the 90-day figure comes from, and how to get it back.
- [Forward SMS From a US Number to Telegram](https://cleat.so/guides/sms-to-telegram): Rent a real US mobile line and have every text it receives arrive in Telegram, alongside the shared inbox. How the link works, and what it can't do.
- [Is There a Cleat App? Installing It on Your Phone](https://cleat.so/guides/mobile-app): No App Store or Play Store app. The dashboard installs from your own browser, on iPhone, Android or a computer, and notifies you when a code arrives.
- [Amazon Seller Central Phone Verification](https://cleat.so/guides/amazon-seller-phone-verification): The Seller Central PIN by SMS or call, what Amazon publishes about landlines and one account per seller, and what to do when the PIN never arrives.
- [US Phone Number for a US Company Run From Abroad](https://cleat.so/guides/us-phone-number-for-us-company): Formed a US LLC or corporation from outside the US? What Stripe actually asks for, where a real US mobile number matters for codes, and your options.
- [2FA Codes in a Slack or Microsoft Teams Channel](https://cleat.so/guides/2fa-codes-in-slack-teams): Post SMS verification codes from a real US mobile number into a Slack or Microsoft Teams channel, so the whole team logs in without asking.
- [Keep Your US Phone Number When You Move Abroad](https://cleat.so/guides/keep-us-phone-number-abroad): Moving abroad? The real ways to keep a US number, what each costs in effort, what happens to bank and government codes, and a checklist before you fly.
- [Why Recycled and Rented Numbers Fail for Codes](https://cleat.so/guides/why-verified-numbers): Why services filter VoIP, rented and recycled numbers for codes, why Cleat verifies every line owner, and what we keep and don't keep about you.
- [Does Venmo Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/venmo-voip-number): Venmo's user agreement asks for a cellular number you own. What that means when your code won't arrive, and how to get back into your account.
- [Does PayPal Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/paypal-voip-number): PayPal publishes no VoIP rule. It sends codes by SMS, WhatsApp, landline call or email, and offers passkeys. What to do when your code won't come.
- [Does Cash App Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/cash-app-voip-number): Cash App Taxes says it doesn't support Google Voice or Skype. The main Cash App help doesn't say. What each publishes, and how to get your code.
- [Does Chime Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/chime-voip-number): Chime publishes no rule on VoIP numbers. What its help says about 2FA codes, the 24463 short code, passkeys, and fixing a code that won't arrive.
- [Does Coinbase Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/coinbase-voip-number): Coinbase calls SMS its least secure 2FA option and doesn't send codes by voice call. What it publishes, and what to set up besides a phone number.
- [Does Microsoft Accept VoIP Numbers? What to Use](https://cleat.so/guides/microsoft-account-voip-number): Microsoft refuses VoIP numbers for sign-in codes and is phasing out SMS for personal accounts. What that means when you're trying to get back in.
- [Does Steam Accept VoIP Numbers? Steam Guard Rules](https://cleat.so/guides/steam-voip-number): Steam refuses new VoIP numbers, and some carrier lines too. What Steam's own FAQ says, why the number matters for recovery, and what to do if it's blocked.
- [Does eBay Accept VoIP Numbers for Verification?](https://cleat.so/guides/ebay-voip-number): eBay publishes no VoIP rule, but its text codes don't work on landlines and it pushes authenticator apps. What eBay says, and what to set up.
- [Does Login.gov Accept VoIP Numbers? What Works](https://cleat.so/guides/login-gov-voip-number): Login.gov refuses VoIP numbers both for sign-in and for identity checks. What it accepts, what to use instead, and what it means for my Social Security.
- [Does Bank of America Accept VoIP Numbers?](https://cleat.so/guides/bank-of-america-voip-number): Bank of America publishes no VoIP rule, but it offers USB security keys to people without a US mobile number. What the bank says, and what to do.
- [Receive Stripe Verification Codes by SMS](https://cleat.so/verify/stripe): Stripe texts a code on a new device and periodically after. What it publishes about number type, how to change the number, and what recovery costs.
- [Intuit and QuickBooks Verification Codes by SMS](https://cleat.so/verify/quickbooks): Changing the phone number on an Intuit account switches two-step verification off, and replacing a number you have lost needs a government ID.
- [Shopify Two-Step Codes on a Real US Number](https://cleat.so/verify/shopify): Shopify ties two-step authentication to a person, not a store. What it publishes about numbers, how to change one, and how many you can keep as backups.
- [Etsy Verification Codes and the 30-Day Rule](https://cleat.so/verify/etsy): Etsy asks for a code on every new device and every 30 days, refuses landlines in writing, and ties your 2FA number to your verified mobile number.
- [Walmart Seller Center Codes on Every Login](https://cleat.so/verify/walmart-marketplace): Walmart Seller Center asks for a one-time code every time you log in, with no trusted-device option, and limits text authentication to four countries.
- [AWS Phone Verification and the Root Account Number](https://cleat.so/verify/aws): AWS asks you to use a corporate phone number on the root account, and warns that an individual's number makes recovery hard when that person leaves.
- [GitHub SMS Two-Factor Codes and Where They Work](https://cleat.so/verify/github): GitHub publishes a country list for SMS 2FA, no longer supports a fallback number, and says support cannot restore access if you lose your factors.
- [OpenAI API Phone Verification: Numbers It Refuses](https://cleat.so/verify/openai): For a first API key, OpenAI refuses landlines, VoIP and Google Voice, caps a number at three verifications for life, and never lets you change it.
- [GoDaddy 2-Step Verification and Google Voice](https://cleat.so/verify/godaddy): GoDaddy says a telephone service like Google Voice can't be used for SMS verification, ranks SMS its weakest method, and locks it for 24 hours on retries.
- [Google Workspace 2-Step Verification Codes](https://cleat.so/verify/google-workspace): Google warns against using Google Voice for its own codes, tells admins that texts are discouraged, and makes a changed number wait a week to approve much.
- [Meta Business Suite: Which Number Gets Verified](https://cleat.so/verify/meta-business-suite): Meta runs two phone checks: advertiser verification on the business, and two-factor on each person's own profile. Only one is a job for a company line.
- [TikTok Ads Manager Codes and the Recovery Gap](https://cleat.so/verify/tiktok-ads): TikTok lets you trust a device so codes are rare, but changing the number needs a code on the old one and it documents no self-service recovery at all.
- [LinkedIn Refuses VoIP Numbers for Verification](https://cleat.so/verify/linkedin): LinkedIn publishes a rule most companies don't: cell and landline phones work, VoIP numbers do not. What that means for a Page admin who has moved abroad.
- [WhatsApp Verification and the Number It Wants](https://cleat.so/verify/whatsapp): WhatsApp asks for an active SIM that can receive SMS or a call, and names VoIP among the numbers it won't register. What to do before your US line goes.
- [Instagram Two-Factor Codes and the Confirmed Number](https://cleat.so/verify/instagram): Instagram sends SMS codes to the account's confirmed number, and the number you enter becomes it. What a company should do before its manager leaves.
- [Facebook Login Codes When Your US Number Goes](https://cleat.so/verify/facebook): Facebook offers three security methods and ten recovery codes, and says profiles are for one person. What to change before a US mobile number lapses.
- [Google Account: Changing the Number on It](https://cleat.so/verify/google-account): Google makes a new number wait about a week before it can approve anything sensitive, and says changing it only reaches some Google services.
- [Telegram Verification: The Number Is the Account](https://cleat.so/verify/telegram): Telegram says each phone number is a separate account and whoever has the number has the account. What that means before you put one on a line you rent.
- [Amazon Two-Step Verification and the Number on File](https://cleat.so/verify/amazon): Amazon sends passcodes to the number on file, offers an authenticator app instead, and falls back to an identity check when you can't receive either.
- [Apple Account: Adding a Second Trusted Number](https://cleat.so/verify/apple): Apple asks for a trusted phone number and suggests a second one not tied to your iPhone. Account recovery takes days, and support can't shorten it.
- [ChatGPT Phone Verification: Usually Not Needed](https://cleat.so/verify/chatgpt): OpenAI says phone verification is not generally required to create an account or use ChatGPT; Codex in the desktop app may ask. A number can't be changed.

## Comparisons

- [Google Voice Alternative for Verification Codes](https://cleat.so/compare/google-voice-alternative): Need codes to actually arrive? Compare Google Voice with Cleat: a real US mobile line, not VoIP, with ID-verified owners and a shared inbox. $24.99/mo.
- [Is TextNow VoIP? A TextNow Alternative for Codes](https://cleat.so/compare/textnow-alternative): Yes: TextNow is an internet number, and some banks won't text it a code. Cleat is a real US mobile line, not VoIP, with a verified owner. $24.99/mo.
- [Quackr Alternative: A US Mobile Line You Keep](https://cleat.so/compare/quackr-alternative): Quackr rents temporary numbers and shares free public ones. Cleat is a real US mobile line for your own accounts, with a verified owner. $24.99/month.
- [Tello Alternative for 2FA Codes From Abroad](https://cleat.so/compare/tello-alternative): Living abroad and choosing between a prepaid US SIM like Tello and a Cleat line for your 2FA codes? What each does better, honestly. $24.99/mo.
- [OpenPhone (Quo) Alternative for Verification Codes](https://cleat.so/compare/openphone-alternative): Quo, formerly OpenPhone, runs your team's calls and texts. Cleat is a real US mobile line for the verification codes VoIP numbers miss. $24.99/mo.
- [Shared 2FA Number for Teams: Cleat vs the Alternatives](https://cleat.so/compare/shared-2fa-number-for-teams): Group2FA, Shared 2FA, 2FA.group, Daito, MultiMFA and JoltSMS, priced and quoted from their own pages. What each does better, and what two never state.
- [Skype Number Alternative: A US Line for Your Codes](https://cleat.so/compare/skype-number-alternative): Microsoft retired Skype and ended every Skype Number subscription. A Cleat line is a real US mobile number that receives your codes. $24.99/month.
- [Hushed Alternative: When the Code Has to Arrive](https://cleat.so/compare/hushed-alternative): Hushed says its own numbers are not guaranteed to work for third-party verification. Its words, and where a real US mobile line fits instead. $24.99/month.
- [Burner Alternative for Codes You Can't Lose](https://cleat.so/compare/burner-alternative): Burner is built to be thrown away, and its own help pages say what that costs you. What it does better, and when a US line you keep wins. $24.99/month.

## Who it's for

- [Shared 2FA Phone Number for Teams and Agencies](https://cleat.so/for/teams): One real US mobile line for your company's 2FA. Codes land in a shared inbox, email, Telegram or your tools. Teammates free. ID-verified owner. $24.99/mo.
- [US Phone Number for Expats and Non-Residents](https://cleat.so/for/expats): Keep receiving US bank codes, deliveries and sign-up texts from anywhere. A real US mobile line, not VoIP, with no SIM to activate in the US. $24.99/mo.
- [Second Phone Number for Dating Apps](https://cleat.so/for/dating): Sign up for dating apps with a second US mobile number and keep your own number off your profile. A real mobile line, not VoIP. $24.99/mo.
- [Receive SMS by API and Webhook on a Real US Number](https://cleat.so/for/developers): A real US mobile line, not VoIP, that posts every incoming text to your webhook or the REST API. For your own accounts, staging and QA. $24.99/month.
- [A Phone Number Your AI Agent Can Read: Cleat's MCP Server](https://cleat.so/for/ai-agents): Give an AI agent a real US mobile number and an MCP server to read it. Four tools over JSON-RPC, including one that waits for the next verification code.
- [What a Real US Mobile Number Is Used For](https://cleat.so/for/use-cases): What a real US mobile line solves: bank and marketplace codes that refuse internet numbers, a number that outlives a SIM, and codes a team can share.
- [Cleat Partner Program: 20% Recurring Commission](https://cleat.so/for/partners): Recommend Cleat and earn 20% of every payment your customers make, for as long as they pay. Their first payment is 10% off. Paid by bank transfer.
- [Keep Your US Number: Port It to Cleat](https://cleat.so/for/porting): Bring your existing US mobile number to Cleat and keep every account that texts it working. $25 once to move it, then $24.99/month.

## Interfaces

- REST API and signed webhooks: https://cleat.so/api/v1 — OpenAPI 3.1 at https://cleat.so/openapi.json, written up at https://cleat.so/for/developers
- MCP server: https://cleat.so/api/mcp — listed in the MCP registry as so.cleat/cleat, alongside the same four tools as a local stdio server (`npx -y cleatapi-mcp`). initialize and tools/list need no key; reading a line does.

## Open source clients and examples

MIT licensed, on GitHub under github.com/davidcleat. They read the same REST API; none of them can send anything, because the API cannot.

- cleat-js — TypeScript client, zero dependencies, ESM and CommonJS, webhook verification. `npm install cleatapi`: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-js
- cleat-python — Python client, sync and async, httpx only. `pip install cleatapi`: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-python
- cleat-cli — command line: list lines, stream codes, or block until one arrives. `npx cleatapi-cli`: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-cli
- cleat-mcp — local MCP server over stdio, the same four tools as the hosted one. `npx -y cleatapi-mcp`: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-mcp
- cleat-webhooks — verifying the signed webhook in Express, Next.js, Cloudflare Workers and FastAPI: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-webhooks
- cleat-playwright — waiting for a real code inside a Playwright test without taking a stale one: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-playwright
- cleat-github-action — the same thing in CI, as a masked step output: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-github-action
- cleat-agent-example — an agent finishing a sign-in on an account its owner already holds: https://github.com/davidcleat/cleat-agent-example

## Terms

- [Terms](https://cleat.so/terms)
- [Privacy](https://cleat.so/privacy)