By Sanjana Iyer · Product reviewer · 2026-09-04 · 6 min read
I review number apps for a living, so I get the same message from Ethiopian sellers over and over. Someone in Addis Ababa is running a small import business — clothes, electronics, coffee, spare parts — and dealing with suppliers in the US or the Gulf on WhatsApp. They want a US number for two honest reasons: it looks established to overseas clients, and it keeps their personal Ethiopian line out of every customer's phone. Fair goals. The problem is that almost every tutorial they find was written for someone sitting in Chicago, not Bole.
Let me be direct about what works and what doesn't, because I have tested these tools rather than just repeating their marketing.
This is the part that wastes people's data bundles. The well-known free number apps were built for users already inside North America, and they enforce that at sign-up.
People then try VPN tricks to fake a US location. Sometimes a number appears, but it can't reliably receive the WhatsApp OTP, or the account gets flagged and deleted weeks later — usually right after you've printed the number on your packaging. I don't recommend building a business on that.
To be fair to the paid options: Hushed and Vyke are real, working apps that plenty of people are happy with. But their numbers are generally limited to a short list of countries, they're app-based, and they weren't designed around the specific job of buying a US number from Ethiopia and reading a WhatsApp code in a browser. That's the gap I want to fill.
| G100 | Google Voice | TextNow | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works in Ethiopia? | Yes — sign up from anywhere | No — not available | No — US/Canada sign-up only |
| Price | $1.95/month, no contract | Free (but not reachable here) | Free (but not reachable here) |
| WhatsApp-ready? | Yes — number verifies on WhatsApp Business | N/A — no number to use | N/A — no number to use |
| Receive OTP? | Yes — SMS + voice code to your inbox | N/A — unreachable from Ethiopia | N/A — unreachable from Ethiopia |
The honest takeaway: a "free" number you can't reach costs you more than a working one that runs under $2 a month. Free is only cheap if it exists.
WhatsApp Business verification comes down to one thing — a number that can receive the OTP. Meta sends a code by SMS (or reads it out by voice call), and it has to land somewhere you can read it. Meta does the verifying; the number just has to catch the code. A G100 US or Canada number does exactly that from Ethiopia, no VPN games required.
Done. You now have WhatsApp Business on a real US number, and your Ethiopian line stays private.
One honest caveat — the kind I'd want a review to tell me: right now G100 numbers receive SMS and OTP codes, which is all WhatsApp verification needs. Sending your own outbound SMS from the number isn't switched on yet; that comes after US 10DLC registration clears. So for WhatsApp sign-up, receiving codes and making or taking calls, you're fully covered today. If plain outbound texting is a must-have for you, know that one piece is still on the way.
Once you're verified, don't leave the profile empty. Add your business name, a category, your logo, working hours in your clients' time zone, and a short greeting so a first-time message gets an instant reply even overnight. A US number paired with a complete, professional profile is what turns a cautious overseas buyer into one who sends payment without hesitation.
If you grow into a team sharing one number, or you want to broadcast to a customer list, G100 also offers the official WhatsApp Business Cloud API as a $10/month add-on. Start with the phone app and upgrade only when you genuinely need it — no reason to pay for scale you don't have yet.
Yes. Meta verifies any number that can receive the confirmation code. A G100 US or Canada number receives that SMS OTP (or a voice call) inside your G100 inbox, so you can complete verification from Addis Ababa or anywhere in Ethiopia. Meta handles the verification itself; the number only has to catch the code.
Google Voice is not available in Ethiopia, so you cannot get a number to start with. TextNow only allows sign-ups from the United States and Canada, so it blocks registration from an Ethiopian connection. Both are dead ends here, which is why people lose days chasing them.
Yes. Receiving SMS and OTP codes is exactly what G100 numbers do today. Meta's verification code lands in your G100 inbox, and if the SMS is slow you can use the "Call me" option so Meta reads the code out to the number instead.
A flat $1.95 per month per number, with no contract. You pay from a pay-as-you-go wallet in USD through Stripe. Calls are $0.03 per minute. An optional WhatsApp Business Cloud API add-on is $10 per month if you later need a shared team inbox and broadcasts.
No. G100 does not ask for KYC or documents to get a US, Canada or Puerto Rico number. You sign up, choose a number, fund your wallet and activate. That is the whole process.
Stop wrestling with apps that were never built for Ethiopia. Get a number that actually works at app.g100.us, and see the full breakdown on the pricing page.
Works from Addis Ababa, anywhere. No contract, no KYC. Receives your WhatsApp OTP straight to your inbox.
Get your number →