An apartment for rent in Huntsville or Madison draws calls from many strangers.
List it with a 256 number, take the calls on your own phone and burn the number once the lease is signed.
Local 256 numbers
Get a 256 phone number for Huntsville, Gadsden and Anniston.
Ask for 256 when you create a number on ExpressNumber, and the number you hand out reads as Huntsville and the towns around it. It rings the phone you already carry, and you burn it in one tap.
$0 todayLive in about a minute
This is how you get a 256 number.
- Start your 7 days free and open Create a number.
- Type 256 as the area code and give the number a name.
- Hand it out. Calls ring the phone you already carry, and texts land in your inbox.
- Burn it in one tap when you are done. Calls and texts to it stop at once.
9:41
Your numbers
Apartment for rent
(256) 555-0127
Forwarding
Used boat
(256) 555-0160
Texts only
Roofing quote
(256) 555-0115
Blocked
People ask for 256 when the search is in Huntsville, Decatur or Florence.
A used truck or a boat for sale near Decatur brings texts from buyers all week.
Post a 256 number with the photos, set it to Texts only and keep your own number off the ad.
A moving job or a roofing quote in Gadsden ends in follow-up calls.
Give each company its own 256 number. Block the ones you did not choose.
This is where a 256 number is from.
Area code 256 generally covers the northeastern portion of Alabama and serves communities such as Anniston, Florence, Gadsden and Huntsville, as the numbering administrator puts it. The 938 code is laid over the same area.
The administrator's rate center map also shows Madison, Decatur, Athens, Cullman, Scottsboro, Sheffield, Albertville and Fort Payne. Birmingham and Tuscaloosa kept 205.
Huntsville, Gadsden and Anniston, AL
Area code 256 and the codes around it, oldest first.
1947
205
Split from
1998
256
This code
2010
938
Shares the area
- Huntsville
- Madison
- Decatur
- Florence
- Gadsden
- Anniston
- Athens
- Cullman
- Scottsboro
- Sheffield
- Albertville
- Fort Payne
These are the facts about area code 256.
From the public records of the body that runs US phone numbering, read October 21, 2026.
- Place
- Huntsville, Gadsden and Anniston, Alabama
- In service since
- 1998
- Local calls are dialed with
- Ten digits
- Shares its area with
- 938 (2010)
- Split from
- 205 (1947)
256 was split from 205 and entered service on March 23, 1998. Birmingham and Tuscaloosa kept 205, and the northern part of the state took the new code.
The Alabama Public Service Commission approved an overlay on March 3, 2009. Dialing all ten digits for local calls became mandatory on June 5, 2010, and 938 was laid over 256, entering service on July 10, 2010.
Try it free for 7 days.
Then pick the plan that fits how many numbers you hand out.
Basic
7 days free$9.99/mo
- 5 numbers, one for each site, store or dealer
- 100 forwarded minutes a month
- Burn a number in one tap
- Extra numbers $1 a month each
Pro
7 days free$29.99/mo
- 100 numbers
- 1,000 forwarded minutes a month
- A number per vendor, client or listing
- Extra numbers 50¢ a month each
$0 today. Monthly plans, cancel any time.
People ask these questions about getting a 256 number.
More in the full FAQ.
Create a number in your dashboard, type 256 as the area code and give it a name, such as Apartment for rent. It is live in about a minute. You do not need to live in Alabama: calls ring the phone you already carry.
Yes, for taking calls and texts. A roofer, a tutor or a mover in Huntsville can put a 256 number on the flyer and the website, take the calls on their own phone and burn the number when the job is done.
Yes. The 256 area takes in Huntsville, Florence, Gadsden, Anniston, Decatur and Cullman. 938 numbers cover the same area.
No. Your numbers are receive-only: they take calls and texts, and they never make them. You answer calls on your own phone, and you cannot reply to a text from the inbox.
You get 7 days free and pay $0 today. After 7 days your plan starts: $9.99 a month for Basic or $29.99 a month for Pro. Cancel before then and you pay nothing.
More area codes
Every fact on this page comes from public numbering records.
The state, the dates and the related codes are rows of the North American Numbering Plan Administrator's area code database. The places are from its planning letters and the state’s own pages. Read October 21, 2026.
- North American Numbering Plan Administrator, area code database
- NANPA planning letter PL-389, April 28, 2009
- NANPA planning letter PL-110, February 3, 1998
- Alabama Public Service Commission, Alabama area codes map
- Alabama Public Service Commission, new dialing procedure in the 251 area code, March 31, 2021
Put 256 on a number you can burn.
Hand out a number you can burn. Keep the one your family calls.
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