By Tom Bradley · Reviews · 2026-09-04 · 9 min read
I've spent the last few weeks signing up for cheap US business numbers the way a real small-business owner would — from a laptop, with a credit card, sometimes from the wrong country on purpose. Most "best US number" lists rank the same five apps and never mention the one thing that trips up half the people reading them: you can't always sign up from where you live.
So I judged every option on three things that actually matter in 2026: how cheap it really is, whether the number is WhatsApp-ready, and — the deal-breaker most reviews skip — whether someone in India, Nigeria or Pakistan can get one at all. Here's how they stacked up, ranked.
Verdict: the only pick on this list that's cheap, WhatsApp-ready, and available worldwide — which is exactly the combination most people are hunting for and rarely find.
G100 is a US-registered app that hands you a dedicated US or Canada number for a flat $1.95/month. No annual lock-in, no contract, billing is pay-as-you-go in USD through Stripe (UPI works if you're in India). Calls run $0.03/min, and the number receives SMS and OTP codes — which is the part that makes WhatsApp verification work. If you want the full official WhatsApp Business Cloud API with a shared inbox and broadcasts, that's an optional $10/month add-on. Everything runs in the browser and a mobile app.
The bit that earned it the top spot: you can buy from anywhere, there's no KYC wall, and the number is genuinely WhatsApp-ready. I registered WhatsApp Business on a G100 number without living in the US — something Google Voice and TextNow simply won't let you do.
Verdict: hard to beat for free, provided you can pass the front door.
Google Voice gives you a free US number tied to your Google account, and it's rock-solid for calls and texts. If you live in the US, this is probably where you should start — I'd be lying if I said a paid number beats free for a solo user with a US address.
The catch is the front door itself. Google Voice is set up as a US-only service. From India, Nigeria, Pakistan or most of Africa, you can't create one — the number just isn't offered to you, and workarounds are fragile. For a lot of my readers that ends the conversation before it starts.
Verdict: free and fine for casual use, if you're inside North America.
TextNow hands out free US and Canada numbers supported by ads, and it's been around long enough to be dependable for basic calls and texts. As a throwaway or a light second line, it does the job without asking for a card.
Same wall as Google Voice, though: sign-up is North America only. You can't register from outside the US or Canada, so it drops off the list entirely for an international audience.
Verdict: a solid paid pick when the whole point is not giving out your real number.
Hushed leans into the privacy and burner use case — US, Canada and UK numbers on paid plans, built for people who want a disposable line for classifieds, dating, or short-term projects. It's not trying to be your permanent business identity, and it doesn't pretend to be.
Verdict: a tidy app-based second line if you want more country choices than most.
Vyke offers app-based second numbers across a wider country spread — US, UK, France, Canada, Netherlands and Poland — on paid plans. If you want to keep work and personal separate on one phone and you like the idea of picking from several countries, it's worth a look.
You'll also see people recommend buying a raw number from a carrier or a platform like Twilio. These exist and can be cheap per number, but they're built for developers — you're wiring up your own calling and messaging, not opening an app and sending a text. If you're not technical, skip them. I'm not quoting prices here because they depend entirely on how you configure things, and I'd rather not make a number up.
| Provider | Price | WhatsApp-ready? | Available outside US? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G100 | $1.95/mo flat + pay-as-you-go | Yes | Yes — buy from anywhere | Global users & WhatsApp Business |
| Google Voice | Free | Region-locked at signup | No — US-only to set up | People already in the US |
| TextNow | Free | Region-locked at signup | No — North America only | Free casual/burner line |
| Hushed | Paid plans | Varies by number type | Varies | Privacy / burner numbers |
| Vyke | Paid plans | Varies by number type | Varies | Simple second-number app |
It comes down to where you are. In the US and just want a free line? Start with Google Voice, fall back to TextNow. Chasing privacy for a short project? Hushed. Want a clean second number with country options? Vyke.
But if you're outside the US, or WhatsApp Business is the whole reason you're doing this, the shortlist collapses fast — most of these lock you out at signup or aren't WhatsApp-ready. That's why G100 tops the list for that use case: cheap, WhatsApp-ready, and you can actually buy it. Just go in knowing outbound SMS isn't live there yet, so if mass texting is your core need, look elsewhere.
If you're in the US, Google Voice and TextNow are free — that's the floor. If you're outside the US and need to actually complete signup, G100 is the cheapest paid option that's available worldwide, at a flat $1.95/month with pay-as-you-go calls on top.
Google Voice and TextNow won't let you sign up from those countries. G100 will — you can buy a WhatsApp-ready US or Canada number from anywhere, with no KYC, paying in USD through Stripe (or UPI if you're in India).
G100's US and Canada numbers receive the SMS or voice code Meta sends, so WhatsApp Business verifies on them. Google Voice and TextNow are region-locked at signup, and burner-style apps vary by number type — whatever you pick, test that the number receives the code before you build on it.
Not yet. On G100 today you can receive SMS and OTP codes, make and take calls, and run WhatsApp Business. Outbound SMS sending isn't live at the time of writing, so if bulk texting is your main job, choose a provider built for that instead.
Flat $1.95/mo, no contract, buy from any country. Calls & WhatsApp Business in one app.
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