Is it legal to have a virtual phone number?

Yes. A virtual number is an ordinary phone number delivered over the internet, and having one — or several — is legal in the US and most countries. Some countries require the provider to check your identity or address before issuing a local number. What's illegal in the US is using any number to deceive: the Truth in Caller ID Act bans displaying false caller ID with intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongly obtain anything of value.

Can a virtual number be traced?

Yes. A virtual number is separate from your personal one, not anonymous. The provider knows the account behind it — the email address, the payment method, the sign-in history — and providers answer valid legal requests like any phone company. Use one to keep your personal number private from the people you give it to, not to hide from anyone with legal standing to ask.

Can I use a virtual number for WhatsApp or verification codes?

Sometimes, and you can't count on it. The number has to support SMS, and many apps and sign-up forms check whether a number is a VoIP line and refuse to send codes to it. If a code matters — your bank, your email recovery — use a number from a mobile carrier. A voice-only virtual number can still take codes that a service reads out in an automated call.

Can I get a virtual phone number without a phone?

Yes, with the right route. Some free apps ask you to link an existing phone number when you sign up, but a number that rings in your browser needs only a computer, an account and credit. Calls ring in the browser tab and you answer with your laptop's microphone and speakers or a headset.

Guide · Updated October 4, 2026

How to Get a Virtual Phone Number (and Pick the Right Kind)

By the ChromePing team

To get a virtual phone number, pick a provider, choose a number from its list, and set where calls ring — an app, a second line on your phone, a desk phone, or a browser tab. For US and Canada numbers it usually takes a few minutes and no paperwork.

The hard part is picking the right kind, and it comes down to one question the provider pages skip: do you need the number to receive texts, or only calls? Verification codes, WhatsApp and bank alerts rule out most of the options. Below are the five real routes, what each one can and can’t do — ours included — and how people lose the number later.

What a virtual phone number is — and what it isn’t

A virtual phone number is a real phone number that lives in an online account rather than on a SIM card. Anyone can call it from any ordinary phone. The call travels over the internet the last part of the way and rings wherever that account tells it to: an app, a computer, a desk phone, or a browser tab.

Two things follow from that, and both matter more than the marketing suggests:

It isn’t tied to a device.You can answer it from another country, from a laptop, or from several devices at once. That’s the whole appeal.
It can be detected as a virtual number. Phone-number lookup services label lines as mobile, landline or VoIP, and many sign-up forms check that label. A virtual number reaches people fine; it doesn’t always pass for a mobile.

First, decide what the number is for

Every provider says its number does everything. In practice each route is built for one job, and choosing by job saves you from buying the wrong thing. The common ones:

Receiving verification codes or WhatsApp. Needs SMS, and needs services to accept the number — the strictest job on this list.
A second number to keep work or selling separate. Calls and texts on the phone you already carry, without a second handset.
A line for a team or a business. Shared numbers, call routing, voicemail and business hours — per-user pricing that pays for those features.
Staying reachable on a US or Canada number from abroad. Family, a landlord, a doctor’s office calls a local number and it rings where you actually are, without roaming.
Giving out a number that isn’t your own. A listing, a dating profile, a one-off project. Mostly calls; easy to drop later.

The 5 ways to get a virtual phone number

1. A free number app

The two best-known free options are Google Voice and TextNow. Both give you a number with calls and texts, and both come with conditions that matter more than the price.

Google Voiceis free for personal use, but only in the US. Calls and texts to US and Canadian numbers are free. At sign-up you link a phone number you already have, and Google’s community guide says it has to come from a US mobile carrier — not a landline or another internet number. So it’s a second number for people who already have a US mobile, not a way to get your first one. It can’t text five- or six-digit short codes, and Google may take the number back after three months without calls or texts.
TextNowis free with ads and gives you a US or Canadian number for calls and texts. You can only sign up and use it from within North America. A brand-new number lapses within a day if you never use it, and after that there’s no fixed rule for how long a quiet number survives. TextNow sells a paid “Lock In Number” add-on to keep it.

Good for: a free second number in the US that you use often. Weak for: verification codes, and anyone living outside North America.

2. A second line on your phone with an eSIM

Strictly speaking this isn’t a virtual number, and that’s why it belongs on the list. iPhone XS and later can run two lines at once with an eSIM (iPhone 13 and later can hold two eSIMs), and many Android phones can too. You add a plan from a carrier and get a second real mobile number on the phone you already carry, with calls and texts on both lines.

Because it’s a genuine mobile line, it passes the checks that trip up virtual numbers, which makes it the dependable choice for verification codes, WhatsApp and banking. The trade-offs: a monthly carrier plan, a phone that supports eSIM, and a number that lives on that one handset rather than on your laptop.

3. A business phone system

Most of the pages that rank for this question are selling one of these: Quo (OpenPhone renamed itself Quo in 2025), Dialpad, RingCentral, Zoom Phone, or Google Voice for Workspace. You pay per user per month, and the number rings in desktop and mobile apps or on desk phones, with texting, voicemail, shared numbers and call routing included.

Entry prices as listed today: Google Voice for Workspace Starter is $10 per user a month. Quo Starter is $15 a month billed annually or $19 monthly, and US texting adds a one-time carrier registration fee plus a small monthly one. Dialpad Standard is $15 billed annually or $27 monthly. If you’re a team, those features are worth it. If you’re one person who just wants a number, you’re paying for an office phone system.

4. A developer phone API

Twilio, Telnyx and similar platforms sell numbers wholesale — a US local number from Twilio is $1.15 a month, plus per-minute and per-message usage. That looks like the cheapest number on this page, but these platforms are built for developers. There’s no consumer app that rings when someone calls. You decide what happens to each call, in code or in a visual flow builder. Ideal if you’re building a product; a project if you just want a phone number.

5. A number that rings in your browser

This is the route we sell, so read it with that in mind. ChromePing rents US and Canada local numbers for $2.99 a month, taken from your pay-as-you-go credit. Calls to the number ring in any open ChromePing tab — on a laptop or in a phone’s browser — and you answer right there. There’s no app to install and no SIM, and you don’t need an existing phone number to rent one. Receiving calls costs nothing beyond the monthly fee, and the number can also show as your caller ID when you call out from your laptop.

The honest limits are just as specific. It’s voice only, so it can’t receive texts or text-message codes. It rings only while a ChromePing tab is open somewhere; there’s no forwarding to your mobile yet, so a call that arrives when nothing is open is logged as missed. And it’s US and Canada only for now. If you need a number that family can ring while you live abroad, and you’re usually at a laptop, it fits. If you need codes, it doesn’t.

How to get a virtual phone number, step by step

Whichever route you pick, the process is the same five steps — and the last one is the one people skip.

Decide whether you need texts, or only calls. If the number has to receive verification codes or messages, you need a route that supports SMS — and one that services will actually accept. If it only has to ring, every route works.
Pick the country and area code people will see. Callers see the number, so choose one that makes sense to them. US and Canada numbers are the easiest to get; many other countries require ID or a local address first.
Choose the provider by where you want it to ring. An app on your phone, a second line on your SIM, a desk phone or softphone for a team, your own software, or a browser tab on a laptop. Where you’ll answer narrows the list fast.
Sign up, pay, and choose the number. Create the account, clear any identity checks, and pick the exact number from the list. Most providers activate US and Canada numbers within minutes.
Test it, then learn how you could lose it. Call the new number from another phone to check it rings where you expect. Then read the provider’s inactivity and non-payment rules — that is how most people lose a virtual number.

On ChromePing specifically, step four looks like this: add credit, open Numbers, search US or Canada by area code, and pick one. The purchase needs two months’ worth of credit on your balance — $5.98 — so a number you’ve just bought isn’t one renewal away from lapsing; only the first month is charged, and the rest stays as credit. You can keep up to five numbers and switch ringing on or off for each.

Can a virtual number receive verification codes?

Sometimes — and that’s the problem. Sending a code costs the service money and is a favourite target for fake sign-ups, so many services look up a number’s line type before they send anything. Lookup databases put numbers obtained online without a physical device in their own category: Twilio’s lookup documentation calls it “non-fixed VoIP” and names Google Voice as an example.

What happens next is up to each service. Discord’s help centre says outright that VoIP, burner and landline numbers can’t verify an account. TextNow’s own help centre admits some services won’t accept its numbers for codes or two-factor sign-in. Google Voice can’t receive texts from the five- and six-digit short codes that many codes are sent from. A code that arrives today can also stop arriving the day a service tightens its rules.

So the honest rule: if losing access to the account would hurt, put a carrier number on it — your main mobile, or a second line on an eSIM. Use virtual numbers for people, not for logins. Ours is voice only, so a code sent by text never arrives. A service that reads the code out in an automated call does get through.

What each route costs — and how you lose the number

Price is the column everyone compares. The last column is the one that actually catches people out.

Ways to get a virtual phone number, by what each can do. Prices are each provider's published US prices. Last verified October 2026.
Option	Texts and codes	Where it rings	Cost	How you lose the number
Google Voice (personal)	Texts to US and Canada; no short codes; often refused for verification	Google Voice app or website	Free; US only, needs an existing US mobile number	Google may reclaim it after 3 months with no calls or texts
TextNow	Yes; some services refuse it for codes	TextNow app	Free with ads; paid add-ons	A new number lapses within a day if unused; after that, no fixed rule unless you buy Lock In Number
Carrier line on an eSIM	Yes — a real mobile number, so codes work	Your phone, like your main number	A monthly carrier plan	Stop paying the plan
Business phone system (Quo, Dialpad, Google Voice for Workspace)	Usually; US texting may need carrier registration first	Desktop and mobile apps, desk phones	About $10–$27 per user a month, depending on plan and billing	Cancel the subscription — move the number to another provider first
Developer API (Twilio)	Yes, through the API	Wherever your code sends the call	$1.15 a month for a US local number, plus usage	Release it, or the account stops being paid
ChromePing browser number	No — voice calls only	Any open ChromePing tab, on a laptop or phone browser	$2.99 a month from credit; incoming calls not metered	A renewal the credit can't cover: 3-day grace, then it's suspended and released

One more cost to know about: calling out. Free apps include US and Canada calls, business plans include domestic calling, and pay-as-you-go services like ours charge per minute by destination — we keep every country’s rate on one page rather than printing numbers here that go stale. ChromePing is our product, so read its row with that in mind.

Getting a virtual number in another country

US and Canada numbers are easy: most providers hand them over in minutes, with no paperwork. Elsewhere, phone regulators often require the provider to check who you are and where you live before issuing a local number. Twilio’s published rules show the pattern. A UK number for an individual needs a UK address, government ID and proof of address. A French one needs ID and an address in France. A German local number isn’t available to individuals at all — only to businesses, with an address in that number’s area.

The reverse case is the one the provider pages ignore: you live abroad and want a US number that family, a bank or a landlord back home can call. Google Voice needs you in the US with a US mobile number, and TextNow only works inside North America, so the free routes are mostly out. That leaves a business system, or a number that rings in your browser — ChromePing’s US and Canada numbers activate instantly with no ID upload. And if you’re here because your Skype Number died: Microsoft retired Skype in May 2025, and the last Skype Number subscriptions ended in May 2026 with no way left to port the number out. You’ll need a new one; here’s what replaces the rest of Skype.

Common mistakes when getting a virtual number

Putting a virtual number on your bank or email recovery. It may work on the day and fail the day you’re locked out — after a provider reclaims an idle number, or when a service starts rejecting VoIP lines. Keep account recovery on a carrier number.
Choosing on price before checking texts. The cheapest number in the world is worthless if the job needed SMS and it’s voice only. Ours included.
Letting a free number go quiet. Free numbers are recycled when they sit unused, and the next owner inherits every call and message meant for you.
Running the balance to zero.Prepaid numbers lapse when a renewal can’t be paid, and the same number may not come back. Ours gives a 3-day grace window, then releases it.
Treating it as an emergency line.Internet calling services handle emergency calls differently from a mobile, if they handle them at all — check before you rely on one. Ours can’t call emergency services. Keep a real phone for that.

Which one should you get?

Need codes, WhatsApp or bank alerts?A second carrier line on an eSIM. Not a virtual number at all, and that’s the point.
In the US, already on a US mobile, and want a free second number? A free number app — and use it often enough that it isn’t reclaimed.
Running a team or a business line?A business phone system. The per-user price buys routing, voicemail and shared inboxes you’ll actually use.
Living abroad and want family to reach you on a US or Canada number, on your laptop? A browser number. Here’s how a number that rings in your browser works, limits included — or pick one now.