Questions about NumberBurn
How numbers, calls, texts, burning and billing work, and where the limits are.
Getting started and availability
What is NumberBurn?
NumberBurn rents receive-only US phone numbers that you hand out and throw away. Calls to a number ring your own mobile, and texts show up in a web inbox, so there is no app to install. When you are done with a number you burn it in one tap.
How do I get started?
Pick a plan on the pricing page. The 7-day trial costs $1. You sign up, verify your own mobile by text, choose an area code and your number is assigned.
How do I get a number?
You pick a US area code from the supported list, and NumberBurn finds and assigns a number from the carrier inventory. You then confirm your own mobile, which is the phone that rings. See getting started.
Numbers and calls
What happens when someone calls my NumberBurn number?
The call rings your one confirmed mobile. The caller sees only the NumberBurn number. Your phone shows the NumberBurn number as the caller ID, so you can tell which burner is ringing.
How are forwarded minutes counted?
Only answered forwarded calls count, and each call is rounded up to whole minutes, so a 65 second call is 2 minutes. If your own carrier's voicemail picks up, that counts as answered time because the call connected. See calls and minutes.
What are the three modes a number can be in?
Forward rings your phone and delivers texts. Texts only delivers texts and never rings your phone, so it uses no minutes. Block turns away both calls and texts. You can change the mode any time and give each number a label such as "car dealer", with a count of calls it took in the last 30 days.
Can I call or text from a NumberBurn number?
No. Numbers are receive-only: there are no outbound calls and no outbound texts, and you cannot reply to a text from the inbox.
Texts and inbox
Where do my texts appear?
In a web inbox in your browser, each text tagged with the number that received it. There is no app. See receiving texts.
Can I receive pictures?
Yes, picture messages up to 5 MB are stored. Larger media is recorded as "could not store".
Is there a limit on how many texts a number can get?
Fair use is 500 texts per number per calendar month. Past that the number is flagged for review. Texts are not dropped and are not billed per message.
Burning and quarantine
What does burning a number do?
Forwarding stops at once and the number is retired, while the texts it already received stay visible in your inbox until they are 30 days old. A burn is permanent and cannot be undone. See burning a number.
What is quarantine?
A burned number is held out of circulation for 30 days before it returns to the carrier pool. After a number is released, its metadata is kept 90 days and then deleted.
Billing and trial
How does the trial work?
The trial lasts 7 days and costs $1, charged when you add your card at checkout. You get 1 number and up to 100 forwarded minutes for the whole trial, and there is one trial per person.
What costs extra beyond my plan?
Extra minutes, extra numbers, and burns past the first each UTC month. The pricing page lists every figure with worked examples.
How do I cancel?
Cancel any time with the ready-made cancel email on the Billing page; no reason is needed. Plans run to the end of the paid month. After a cancellation ends, or after repeated payment failure, all numbers are burned into quarantine. Your first paid month can be refunded if you ask within 7 days of paying it, and a person reviews every refund request. See billing and usage.
Limits and safety
Can I call 911 from a NumberBurn number?
No. A NumberBurn number cannot place any call, including to 911. Always use your own phone for emergencies. See limits and 911.
Does NumberBurn work outside the US?
No. Numbers are US numbers only, so NumberBurn is not a way to get a number in another country.
Will every bank or app accept a NumberBurn number?
No. Some banks and apps refuse virtual numbers, and a code sent to one may never arrive. Check the site's own rules before you rely on a NumberBurn number for something important.
Why is there one account per person and per mobile?
To keep numbers from being farmed. You confirm your real mobile by texting START and a 4 digit code from it. The code lasts 30 minutes and 5 wrong tries lock it. One person gets one account, and one mobile can back one account.
What is not allowed?
Fraud, ban evasion, harassment, illegal use, evading legal ID requirements, collecting verification codes at volume, reselling numbers and automated account creation can all close an account. Details are in the acceptable use policy.