Second phone number apps, compared.
Most of these apps do the same core thing: give you an extra number to hand out so you don't have to give out your own. They differ on price, on how disposable the number is, and on how well the number survives contact with banks and login codes. Here's an honest read on each, including the cases where you don't need one at all. Prices from each company's pricing page, September and October 2026; check the provider for current plans.
| App | Roughly | Best for | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Voice | Free (US personal) | Anyone who just wants a free spare number and already lives in Google | New Google-issued number, tied to your Google account, limited support |
| TextNow | Free, ad-supported | Cheapest possible spare line | Ads, and many services block codes to VoIP numbers |
| Hushed | From about $7/mo | Short-term and international numbers | Built to be temporary, not a line you keep for years |
| Burner | About $4 to $13/mo | Genuinely disposable numbers you burn and replace | Disposability is the product, so it is tied to that one device |
| Sideline | About $10/mo | A dedicated work line, popular with realtors and agents | The line lives on that phone, so it goes down with the phone |
| Line2 | About $8 to $26/mo, the higher tiers being business plans | Small businesses wanting a phone system, not just a number | Priced and built for business, heavier than most people need |
| MobileyMe | Free tier, US pricing $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr | Keeping the number you already have working when your phone isn't | Has to be set up before the bad day, not after |
The split almost nobody names
Every app above except the last one solves the same problem: you need an extra number to give out. Privacy when selling something, dating, a work line you can put down at 6pm. That is a real problem and those apps solve it well.
There is a second, completely different problem that looks similar and isn't: the number you already have stops working. Your phone is stolen at a festival. The screen dies on the way to a meeting. You are three days into a carrier port. Nobody can reach you at the number they already have for you, and a brand new app-issued number does nothing about that, because not one of the people trying to reach you knows it.
That is the gap MobileyMe was built for, and it is why it sits oddly in a list like this. It does not hand you another number to distribute. It keeps your contacts and messages in the cloud, and calls you place from the app show your number, on whatever phone you can sign into.
What to check before you pick any of them
Will it receive bank and login codes?
Many banks and services refuse to send verification codes to numbers they flag as VoIP, and free tiers have been quietly moving code delivery behind paywalls. Never let an app-issued number become the only way you can receive a login code, no matter which one you choose.
What happens to the number if you stop paying?
On most of these, the number is released quickly once the subscription lapses, sometimes within days. If you have given that number to clients, that is a real cost. Check the reclaim window before you hand it out to anyone who matters.
Does it survive the phone?
This is the one people never think to ask until it is too late. If the app and its number live on a single device, then losing that device loses the line too. Ask what happens when the phone is gone, and whether you can sign in somewhere else and carry on.
Keep the number you already have.
MobileyMe keeps your contacts and message history in a private, encrypted cloud account. Calls you place from the app show your number on any phone you sign into, and from any other phone you can sign MobileyMe out of a lost one; it signs out the next time that phone is online. No new number to hand out, nothing for anyone to re-learn.
Straight about the limits: texting runs through the app on a MobileyMe line, and codes a bank sends to your carrier number still land on your SIM. And like any safety net, it only helps if it is set up before you need it.
Set it up now →Questions people ask
What is the best free second phone number app?
For most people in the US, Google Voice is the honest answer. It is genuinely free for personal use and it works. The trade-offs are that the number is a new Google number rather than your own, it is tied to your Google account, and support is limited to what you can find in a help centre.
What is the difference between a second number and keeping my own number?
Almost every app in this category issues you an additional number to hand out, which is useful for privacy, selling things, or separating work from personal. None of that helps if the problem is that your existing number stopped working because your phone was lost, broken or stolen. Those are two different problems and they need different tools.
Do second phone number apps receive bank and login codes?
Often unreliably. Many banks and services block verification codes to numbers they identify as VoIP. Never make an app-issued number the only way you can receive a login code.
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