Buy a number
Choose and purchase a local or toll-free number.
Open Phone Numbers → Buy a number.
Choose a country
Start with the country. Availability, price and regulatory requirements all differ by country, and some require documentation before a number can be issued — see Addresses & verification.
Local or toll-free
Local numbers carry an area code. They signal that you are nearby, which raises answer rates for consumer and trades businesses, and they are cheaper.
Toll-free numbers are free for the caller. They read as established and national, and are the convention for support lines in the US. They cost more, and in the US they have their own verification process before they can send messages.
Check the capabilities
Each number lists what it can do — voice, SMS, MMS. Not every number supports texting.
If you intend to text from the number, confirm SMS is listed before buying. Adding it afterwards is not possible; you would need a different number.
Search
Filter by area code to get a number in a specific city, or search for a pattern if you want something memorable. Memorable numbers matter for anything printed on a van or a billboard, and not at all for a number that only ever appears as a clickable link.
Buy it
Select the number and confirm. It is attached to your account immediately and billed monthly from that date.
If the country requires an address or documents, you are taken to supply them. The number is reserved while approval is pending.
Set it up
A new number does nothing useful until you configure it.
Who answers your calls — the destination. See Call forwarding & routing.
Caller ID — what recipients see when you call out. See Caller ID.
A label — name it for what it does. "Google Ads — Leeds" is useful in six months; "Number 3" is not.
Tracking source — attributes calls to a campaign or channel in your reporting.
Test it
Call it from your mobile. Confirm it rings the right destination, and that a record appears under Calls.
Costs
Numbers carry a monthly rental, separate from call and message charges. Usage rates vary by destination country.
See Usage & credits.
Releasing a number
You can release a number you no longer need, which stops the monthly charge.
Releasing is permanent. The number returns to the carrier's pool and you will almost certainly not get it back. Check it is not printed on anything or configured as a caller ID before releasing it.