NumboxChoose a service to verify with a temporary number
Pick the app you're signing up for, get a free temporary US phone number or a Canadian phone number, and read the SMS verification code online. No SIM, no signup — this page lists free numbers online for both countries, and all temporary numbers work the same way: open one, use it for one sign-up, and read the SMS online in the number's inbox.
Popular services people verify with temporary numbers
Tap a service to see how one of the free numbers on this page gets it through sign-up, from the first SMS to the account you land in. The numbers below work the same way for every service, so once you use one you can use the rest without starting over.
How SMS verification works
Almost every service that asks for a phone number runs the same short exchange behind the scenes. You enter a phone number in the sign-up field, the service sends a one-time SMS with a short code, and you type that code back into the app to prove the number is real and reachable. A temporary number sits on the receiving end of that exchange: instead of your own phone, the SMS lands in an inbox you open online, and you copy the code out from there.
Choosing from the numbers before you start
All the phone numbers on this page are free to use, so start by picking one from the list. The temporary numbers stay online only while they keep receiving, so check the phone numbers list before you start. Open the country page for the United States or Canada, get a temporary number online, and keep that page open while the service sends the code. If a service turns the number away, get another temporary number from the same list of numbers.
Requesting the code
On the service you're verifying, choose SMS as the delivery method rather than a voice call — shared numbers cannot take a call, only an SMS. Enter the phone number without the country code if the field already shows the country, then submit the sign-up form. The service queues the SMS to the phone number within moments; how long it takes to arrive from there depends on the sender, not on the number.
Reading the SMS online, free
Strict and relaxed services
Every service on this page draws on the same two lists of temporary numbers: US numbers and Canada numbers, all free to use and listed online. Get one, run your sign-up, and get the code online without leaving the page. Both sets of temporary numbers refresh through the day, so free numbers that stop receiving are swapped for fresh temporary ones.
Not every service treats phone numbers the same way before it sends an SMS. Some apps ask for a phone number that has not verified an account on them before, so temporary numbers that have already been used to sign in somewhere gets turned away, temporary or not. Other services check only that phone numbers can receive an SMS at all, and any working number — private or shared — gets the code without trouble. Most numbers on this page fall into that group.
Services that often ask for fresh numbers
- WhatsApp — checks the number against its own account history before it sends anything, so a number that has already registered an account there tends to get rejected.
- Telegram — runs a similar check at sign-up, which is why the same number can work one day and get turned away the next.
- Signal — verification tends to follow the same pattern as WhatsApp and Telegram, since all three build on the idea of one number, one account.
Services that typically accept shared numbers
Discord, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Uber and Airbnb generally verify a phone number the moment it can receive an SMS, without checking its account history first. Numbers from the grid above usually clear sign-up on these services without a second attempt, and you can use any free number from the country pages just as well.
What to do if the code doesn't arrive
A missing SMS almost always comes down to one of three things. Work through them in order.
Check the number and country
Confirm you entered the phone number and country the service expects — a digit out of place is the most common reason a verification code never lands on a free number.
Give it a minute, then retry
Some senders hold the SMS for a short delay before releasing it. If nothing arrives after a couple of minutes, request the code again from the service rather than reloading this page or switching numbers too soon.
Get another number
If the second attempt also comes back empty, the service is likely screening this particular number. Get another temporary number from the country page — the list keeps several free numbers online — or move to a private number if the service keeps rejecting shared ones.
What shared numbers will not do for verification
Temporary numbers here are built to receive one SMS, not to run an account. It cannot send a text or reply to one, and it will not take a voice call, so any service that offers to call the number instead of texting it needs a phone number of your own for that step. None of the free temporary numbers on this page are a substitute for your personal phone number.
And it will not stay tied to you afterward. Once you finish a sign-up, treat the phone number as spent: any SMS the service sends later — a login code, a password reset — lands in an inbox other people can open too. None of that makes shared numbers a poor choice for what they're for; it just means the job ends at the first SMS, not after it. Use a private number once an account needs to stay yours.