We can’t go anywhere without our phone. It’s like our lifeline to the world: we use it to check our email, read the news, play games, and even make calls or send texts. But sometimes our budget is a little too tight for a monthly cell phone bill and unlimited text messaging plan. So what do you do when you’re suddenly having to watch every penny?
Well, don’t worry: there are plenty of amazing apps out there that allow you to call and text from your phone for free! Here are our absolute favorites.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Free Calling And Texting
- TextNow
As you’ll soon discover, many of the apps that offer free calling all share a significant caveat—you can only call people who also have the app installed. Often, you cannot make calls to regular landlines or cell phones.
TextNow is one of the exceptions. As long as you live in the US or Canada, you can make unlimited free phone calls to any phone number in either country. If you want to call international numbers, you will need to pay. You can, however, earn international calling credits by completing offers.
Other cool features include voicemail transcripts, caller ID, call forwarding, and your own free inbound number. TextNow is available on Android and iOS, as well as Windows and macOS.
Download: TextNow for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- Text Free
Text Free was created by Pinger, a company that’s been making free Wi-Fi calling apps for several years.
It’s similar to TextNow, but there are some important differences. Most notably, only Wi-Fi-based app-to-app calls and inbound calls are free. If you want to make outbound calls to a regular phone number, you will need to pay.
Luckily, you can earn minutes for free by watching videos and completing partner offers. If you prefer to pay, you can grab 100 outbound minutes for $1.99. You can use the minutes to call anywhere in the world.
You’ll also be able to choose a real US phone number that you can give to friends and family. The custom number selector lets you pick an area code, then add your preferred combination of characters.
The Text Free app is ad-supported and available on both Android and iOS.
Download: Text Free for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Using WhatsApp to make free calls has some obvious limitations. You can’t call landlines or cell phones; the app can only place calls to other people who have WhatsApp installed.
On the plus side, an increasing number of businesses—big and small—now maintain WhatsApp accounts. This means you might still be able to order a pizza from your favorite restaurant when you get some midnight hunger pangs.
Unlike TextNow and Text Free, WhatsApp also supports video calls and group calling.
The best part about WhatsApp, however, is its userbase. It is comfortably the most popular messaging app in the world, meaning there’s a very high chance that the person you want to contact also has an account.
Once again, WhatsApp is available on Android and iOS. You cannot place calls via the service’s web app.
Download: WhatsApp for Android | iOS (Free)
- Google Duo
Google Duo lets you make free Wi-Fi calls to other users on both the Android and iOS operating systems.
Other key features include support for group chats of up to 32 people, an in-call photo feature, voice-only calls, and a low light mode.
We especially like Google Duo’s Family Mode. It lets you doodle on video calls and transform your on-screen persona with masks, stickers, and more.
Download: Google Duo for Android | iOS (Free)
- Dingtone
Dingtone is another of the best free texting and calling apps. You can send unlimited free texts to other numbers (both locally in the US and internationally), and can call landlines for free via Wi-Fi.
The app is especially useful if you need a second number for business, or need a private number that’s separate from the one your friends have. You could even use the second number to pull pranks on your mates.
unlimited free call app
- TextNow
As you’ll soon discover, many of the apps that offer free calling all share a significant caveat—you can only call people who also have the app installed. Often, you cannot make calls to regular landlines or cell phones.
TextNow is one of the exceptions. As long as you live in the US or Canada, you can make unlimited free phone calls to any phone number in either country. If you want to call international numbers, you will need to pay. You can, however, earn international calling credits by completing offers.
Other cool features include voicemail transcripts, caller ID, call forwarding, and your own free inbound number. TextNow is available on Android and iOS, as well as Windows and macOS.
Download: TextNow for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- Text Free
Text Free was created by Pinger, a company that’s been making free Wi-Fi calling apps for several years.
It’s similar to TextNow, but there are some important differences. Most notably, only Wi-Fi-based app-to-app calls and inbound calls are free. If you want to make outbound calls to a regular phone number, you will need to pay.
Luckily, you can earn minutes for free by watching videos and completing partner offers. If you prefer to pay, you can grab 100 outbound minutes for $1.99. You can use the minutes to call anywhere in the world.
You’ll also be able to choose a real US phone number that you can give to friends and family. The custom number selector lets you pick an area code, then add your preferred combination of characters.
The Text Free app is ad-supported and available on both Android and iOS.
Download: Text Free for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Using WhatsApp to make free calls has some obvious limitations. You can’t call landlines or cell phones; the app can only place calls to other people who have WhatsApp installed.
On the plus side, an increasing number of businesses—big and small—now maintain WhatsApp accounts. This means you might still be able to order a pizza from your favorite restaurant when you get some midnight hunger pangs.
Unlike TextNow and Text Free, WhatsApp also supports video calls and group calling.
The best part about WhatsApp, however, is its userbase. It is comfortably the most popular messaging app in the world, meaning there’s a very high chance that the person you want to contact also has an account.
Once again, WhatsApp is available on Android and iOS. You cannot place calls via the service’s web app.
Download: WhatsApp for Android | iOS (Free)
- Google Duo
Google Duo lets you make free Wi-Fi calls to other users on both the Android and iOS operating systems.
Other key features include support for group chats of up to 32 people, an in-call photo feature, voice-only calls, and a low light mode.
We especially like Google Duo’s Family Mode. It lets you doodle on video calls and transform your on-screen persona with masks, stickers, and more.
Download: Google Duo for Android | iOS (Free)
- Dingtone
Dingtone is another of the best free texting and calling apps. You can send unlimited free texts to other numbers (both locally in the US and internationally), and can call landlines for free via Wi-Fi.
The app is especially useful if you need a second number for business, or need a private number that’s separate from the one your friends have. You could even use the second number to pull pranks on your mates.
Download: Dingtone for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- Talkatone
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talkatone
talkatone
Talkatone, which is available for both Android and iOS, provides you with a free US phone number that can use to send and receive texts, and place calls to most US-based numbers, including landlines.
You can use Talkatone to make calls via Wi-Fi or via cell data. Of course, the cell data will eat through your data allowance, but it will still avoid using available minutes if you are low.
The app works outside the US when you are traveling, but foreign phone numbers are blocked.
Download: Talkatone for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- Skype
Sure, Microsoft’s app doesn’t enjoy the same market dominance that it once did, but it’s still a big player in the world of free Wi-Fi calling apps and remains popular among business users.
Once again, calls to other Skype users are free. If you want to call landlines and cell phones, you will need to sign up for one of Skype’s payment plans. Numerous plans are available, each of which offers a different number of minutes and supported countries.
And remember, if you’re an Office 365 subscriber, you receive 60 minutes of free calls to any global number every month. Unfortunately, unused minutes do not accumulate between months.
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