How Is TextNow Free?

We like to advertise our service around one important word: “free.” Now, some people may suspect that's some sort of marketing trick to get you to sign up before we start charging you one or two weeks down the road.

But it really just means free. No tricks. No catches.

Let us tell you how. 

How we keep it free

Just like some streaming services offer free service by including ads, so do we. We let the in-app ads cover the cost of your phone service so you don’t have to. You get unlimited talk & text, plus free data for select apps.

Important note: We don't require you to watch an ad before you can call or text. You'll simply see ads sprinkled into your list of calls or texts or in a banner format at top or bottom. You can stop and watch if you want to, or go straight to calling, texting, etc.

And before you say that unlimited talk & text is free everywhere, we’re sad to say that it’s not. Most carriers just bake the cost of unlimited talk & text service into their monthly plans. You may think you’re paying $50/month for unlimited data due to how carriers express their prices, but you’re actually paying for all of the service bundle. Even if you look for a talk & text only plan, you'll find they cost $8-$10 a month or more.

But we believe people deserve free access to phone service, which is why we made TextNow's basic plan free. Plus, it even includes free data for select apps.

What does TextNow's Free plan include?

The Free plan on TextNow aims to give you lots while charging you nothing. You get:

• A free local phone number, or bring your own number.
• Unlimited nationwide talk & text.
• Free international texts; international calls starting at $0.
• Data for select apps (iHeartRadio, email, maps, rideshare, finance) up to 1GB.

The costs 

Now, we’re not going to pretend that nothing on our service comes with a price tag. Let’s do a quick review of the things you can pay for if you choose to (but don’t have to). 

SIM card

You can start using our service over Wi-Fi immediately when you sign up and continue using it on Wi-Fi only for as long as you want. You still get to choose a local number, have access to calling and texting, and even get voicemail. 

If you want to use our Free plan off of Wi-Fi, you can access our nationwide 5G network by getting a SIM card. A physical SIM card has a one-time $3.99 cost or you can download a free eSIM for iOS and Android devices.

The SIM is necessary in order to connect your phone to our 5G network, but after getting the SIM you still get free service. The in-app ads continue to cover costs so you can access your phone number wherever you go, even when you can’t connect to Wi-Fi. 

Unlimited data

If you want more data beyone TextNow's Free plan or have times when you can't be on Wi-Fi, you can pay for a Data Pass. We made our passes flexible — buy a day, week, or month — and easy to add right from the TextNow app.

You have several price points to choose from, letting you get what you need and skip what you don't.

Unlimited Plan: Get everything in the Free plan, plus unlimited data (including for streaming media and gaming) and an ad-free experience. $2.99 for a day, $8.99 for a week, or buy a full month for $35.99.

Plus Plan: This level gives you unlimited data excluding media streaming and online gaming, plus an ad-free experience. $1.99 for a day, $4.99 for a week, or $18.99 for a full month.

Upgrades 

Even if you're sticking with the Free plan, you can pay a small fee to remove ads or get additional features like voicemail transcription, call forwarding, and more.

But wait, we also have TextNow Rewards — you can earn points just by using your TextNow service, and then use those points to get upgrades rather than shelling out cash.

One last thing ... Perks!

Remember how we mentioned that our ads pay for your service? Well, they do more than that. We also have a space where your favorite brands can offer discounts, promotions, and even free stuff. Just download the TextNow app and open the Perks tab to check out the latest offers!