Smartphones are great for many things, but making phone calls isn’t always one of them. The sound quality can be poor, and you might find yourself having to put up with a lot of background noise.
Fortunately, there are some good apps out there that can help you make free phone calls. Some of these apps also allow users to make video calls, meaning you can see the person you’re talking to – ideal if you have family members who live far away. Here’s a list of the best apps for free phone calls.
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Best Apps For Free Phone Calls
- Talkatone: The Best Free Calling App
talkatone
Talkatone has been around for a while and is one of the most well-known free US calling apps on this list. It’s gone through a lot of changes over the years, but now it offers unlimited free calls and texts to any number within the US and Canada. You can also buy credits to make international calls; those rates vary.
It’s packed full of features such as custom voicemail greetings, passcode protection (so no one else can access the app), and call blocking.
Talkatone handles the basics with ease, and the one-time $10 purchase to remove banner ads is inexpensive compared to some of the subscription models in this list. Its interface is straightforward, modern, and a breeze to navigate.
Ultimately, this free phone number app is a good place to start if you want to try calling the US or Canada for free and aren’t really sure what options are available.
Download: Talkatone for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- TextNow: The Top Free Phone Number App for Calling and Texting
TextNow lets you call the US for free, as well as call Canada for free, but with a slightly different design and much more customization. The app has a menu that slides in from the left side, and you can change the theme’s colors to match your needs.
It even lets you sync your texts with your computer; this is a huge bonus when compared to the other apps on this list.
TextNow used to operate on a subscription model: you had to pay $3 per month to retain your number and access features like voicemail and call forwarding. Today, that’s not the case. It is a free number app that lets you make free calls within the United States without restrictions. You can remove the ads if you’re willing to pay.
TextNow also lets you call internationally, though you will need to either complete in-app surveys or buy minutes to do this.
Download: TextNow for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- FreeTone/TextMe Up/Text Me: Make Free Phone Calls to the US and Canada
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FreeTone, TextMe Up, and Text Me are all the same free phone number app with different color schemes. FreeTone is a seafoam greenish-blue, TextMe Up is light blue, and Text Me is nearly royal blue. They all provide a free phone number for calling and texting, and they all offer a free phone number app for Android
If you download FreeTone and make an account, you’re given a number. If you then download TextMe Up, you’ll automatically be signed in with the same number. They’re all made by the same company, TextMe. We’re not sure why it chose to make three separate apps.
Whichever app you end up downloading, they all work well. Calls and texts to the US and Canada are free, but you can purchase credits to call internationally (or earn credits by watching sponsored videos). There’s also a web messenger that you can log into on any device using the built-in QR code scanner.
Its ads are more integrated than the easily ignored banner ads of other apps, which is sneaky. It feels like the ads are too mixed in with the content. It costs $2 a month to remove them.
Download: FreeTone for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Download: TextMe Up for Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
Download: Text Me for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- textPlus: A Solid International Calling App
textPlus offers free texts and free inbound calls, but not free outbound calls. Outbound calls within the US cost around $0.02 per minute, or you can watch videos to get free credits if you’d prefer.
The interface is separated into five tabs. The first tab provides your balance and lets you earn credits. Oddly, the second seems to closely replicate the first. The other three are your texts, calls, contacts, and settings. In the settings, you can easily change your number for a new one in any US area code.
Without free outbound calls to the US and Canada, we can’t see many reasons to choose textPlus over any of the previous options unless they have cheaper calling rates to a particular country you need to call frequently.
Download: textPlus for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
- Dingtone
For a long time, Dingtone looked dated, which was a shame. The app has some unique features but the interface turned people away. Thankfully, a redesign has remedied those problems. Today, it sports a sleek Material Design interface that’s easy to use and navigate.
And what about those unique features? We particularly like Callback; Dingtone can ring you and the other person then connect your calls, thus reducing fees. The app also supports adding a second and third number to your other devices. You can have one number for your phone, another for your tablet, and so on.
As you would expect, you can also set up voicemail, call forwarding, and call blocking. To make international calls to landlines and cell phones in more than 200 countries, you can earn free credits by watching videos.
Unfortunately, calling prices are obscured by the fact that Dingtine doesn’t charge by cents per minute, but instead by credits per minute. This can make it really easy to overspend.
Lastly, while the other apps only give you access to US numbers, Dingtone can provide you with a number in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. As such, for non-US residents, it’s a solid choice.
Best free wifi calling 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.
Conclusion
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