Buyers on a classifieds site call the burner number, not you.
Put it on the ad. Burn it when the item sells.
What is a burner phone
A burner phone is a phone you throw away, and a burner number does the same job without one.
A burner phone is a cheap prepaid phone you use for a while and then throw away. A burner number is a second phone number from an app or a service, so you get the same distance from your real number with no second device. ExpressNumber gives you burner numbers that ring the phone you already carry, with texts in a web inbox, and you burn each one in one tap.
$0 todayEvery fact about another company or a public body was read on its own page, linked at the foot of this page.
Here are the four common ways to get a burner, side by side.
Prices and facts read on each company's own pages in November 2026. ExpressNumber is first.
| Option | What it costs | Second device needed | Calls and texts out | Can it be traced | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$0 todayfor 7 days, then $9.99 a month for 5 numbers. | No. Calls ring the phone you already carry and texts land in a web inbox. | No. No. It takes calls and texts and never makes them. | Private from the people you give it to. Not from the law, the carrier or us. | Listings, dealers, quotes, dating and deliveries. | |
| EFFBurner guide | The phone, plus airtime paid for up front. No contract. | Yes. A whole second phone to carry and charge. | Yes. Yes, on its own number. | The phone has its own hardware ID, and carriers log which towers it connects to. | A short job where you must call out from a separate phone. |
| Burner FAQHushed pricing | Burner from $7.99 a month. Hushed from $6.99 a month. | No. They run in an app on the phone you already carry. | Yes. Yes. Both call and text out. | Burner says its numbers are not untraceable, because it complies with lawful requests. | Calling and texting out from a second number. |
| Personal useID check | $0for personal use, US only. | No. It works in an app or a browser, on a Google account. | Yes. Yes. The free plan includes unlimited domestic calls and texts. | Tied to your Google account. A new number needs a government ID check before it can send or receive calls and texts. | One free number that calls and texts out. |
Which one fits you
Pick the burner by what the number has to do.
You must call or text out from the number.
Use a prepaid phone or an app that calls out.Burner, Hushed or Google Voice.
You want to give a number out and answer on the phone you already carry.
Use ExpressNumber.Free for 7 days, $0 today.
You want each seller or dealer to get a number of its own.
Name each number, and burn the one that leaks.You see which name a call came to.
How does a burner phone work?
You buy a basic prepaid phone and some airtime, use it for the calls you do not want tied to your main number, and throw it away when the job is done.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes a burner phone as one that is not connected to your identity and is used for a limited number of calls or tasks, often a prepaid phone bought with cash.
The phone is still a real device on a real network. Burner's own guide says carriers log which towers a device connects to and when, and that with valid legal authority a carrier can use a phone's hardware IDs to help identify or locate it. A burner phone keeps your main number from the people you call. It does not hide the handset from the network.
It also costs you a second phone to buy, carry and charge, plus airtime paid up front. That is why burner now usually means a number from an app instead of a handset.
How does a burner number work?
A burner number is a real phone number that lives with a service instead of on a SIM card in a second phone. People call or text it, and the service delivers the call or text to you in an app or on the phone you already carry, so you hand the number out and keep your own.
Some apps, such as Burner and Hushed, let you call and text out from the number too. ExpressNumber only receives. Calls ring the US or Canada mobile you confirm by text, texts land in a web inbox, and the number never makes a call or sends a text.
Each ExpressNumber number gets a name, such as Car dealer or Marketplace. When the spam starts, the name tells you who passed your number on, and you burn that number alone. Burning is one tap and permanent. Forwarding stops at once, so calls and texts to that number stop reaching you. The number rests 30 days before it can go back into circulation, and your message history stays in your inbox.
The longer version of how the forwarding works is on the disposable phone number page.
The life of a burner number
A burner number is made, handed out and dropped.
Pick an area code.The number is live in about a minute.
Give it out.A listing, a dealer form, a date.
Spam starts.You see which name it came to.
Burn it.One tap. Forwarding stops at once.
The number rests 30 daysYour messages stay in your inbox
Are burner phones legal?
Yes. A prepaid phone or a second number is legal to own and use in the US, and the law goes after what you do with a phone, not the phone. Calling someone to threaten or harass them is a federal crime whichever phone you use.
ExpressNumber draws the same line. A number you control is like a second email address, and an account is closed for fraud, impersonation, harassment or getting around an identity check that exists by law.
These are the sources behind that answer.
Burner's own guide says a second number is legal and commonplace.
It adds that a second number should not be used for illegal purposes.
Burner blog: What is a burner phoneFederal law makes an anonymous call meant to threaten or harass a crime.
47 U.S.C. 223 covers a call made without disclosing your identity and with intent to abuse, threaten or harass a specific person. The penalty is a fine, up to two years in prison, or both.
Legal Information Institute (Cornell): 47 U.S.C. 223, obscene or harassing telephone callsIn 2015, an advisory committee to the FCC wrote that a prepaid phone bought in a store did not have to be registered.
The committee asked the FCC to explore registering prepaid phones to their buyers, so that a phone would be traceable to a person.
FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee: Advisory Recommendation 2015-9, pre-paid wireless devices
Can a burner number be traced?
Yes, the law, the carrier and the service can trace it, and the people you give the number to cannot. A burner number keeps your real number private from whoever you hand it to. It does not make you anonymous to anyone who can ask the carrier or the service for records.
Burner says the same in its FAQ. The people you contact see only the Burner number, and in its words, "Burner is a US company and complies with lawful requests, so a Burner number is not untraceable."
A burner phone is no different. A prepaid phone bought with cash is hard to tie to a name, but Burner's guide lists cell tower records, hardware ID tracking and IP address logs as the ways burner phones get identified.
On ExpressNumber, each number belongs to an account tied to your email and to the mobile you confirmed. None of it is hidden from the law, the carrier or us. What changes is who else gets your real number: the seller, the dealer, the stranger and every list they sell. The anonymous phone number page goes through it.
These are the sources behind that answer.
A provider must hand a subscriber's name, address and connection records to the government on an administrative subpoena.
The same list in 18 U.S.C. 2703 includes the length of service, the telephone or other subscriber number, and the means and source of payment.
Legal Information Institute (Cornell): 18 U.S.C. 2703, required disclosure of customer recordsAn app does not hide the hardware ID of the phone it runs on.
Burner's guide says its app does not hide or alter the IMEI of the mobile it runs on, and that app providers may be legally required to answer subpoenas and court orders.
Burner blog: Can a burner phone be traced
Who can see what
A burner number hides you from strangers, not from the law.
- The seller, the dealer or the stranger you gave it toSees only the burner number. Your real number stays private.
- The service that runs the numberKnows your account and handles every call and text that passes through.
- The carrier and the lawCan ask the carrier or the service for records of the number.
Is the Burner app safe?
Burner is a real app from a US company, Ad Hoc Labs, and it says it is ad-free and does not sell or share your personal information. It is safe in the way it promises, which is keeping your own number from the people you contact.
It is not anonymous, and it is not free: one number is $7.99 a month on its site.
Burner calls and texts out, which ExpressNumber does not, so it is the better pick when you need to call from the number. The side-by-side is on ExpressNumber against Burner.
Some sites and services refuse app-based and other virtual numbers, so keep your real number for your bank and anything you cannot afford to lose access to.
This is what Burner says about itself.
Burner says it is made by Ad Hoc Labs and does not sell or share personal information.
Its FAQ also calls Burner ad-free, and says new users can sign in with Apple or Google without a main cell phone number.
Burner: FAQBurner says a Burner number is not untraceable.
The FAQ says Burner adds a layer of privacy, not invisibility, and is not a tool for evading the law.
Burner: FAQOne number costs from $7.99 a month or $47.99 a year on Burner's site.
Buying through the App Store or Play Store costs more, from $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Eligible new users who sign up in the app can get a 3-day free trial.
Burner: FAQ
When is a burner number a better choice than a burner phone?
A burner number is the better choice when you want to give a number out and answer on the phone you already carry, as with listings, dealers, quotes, dating and deliveries. A burner phone or a calling app is the better choice when you must call or text out from the number.
Each dealer and quote form gets its own named number.
When the follow-up calls start, the name shows who passed yours on.
A date gets a number you can end.
Share it when you are ready to talk. Block or burn it if the chat goes nowhere.
A courier or a buyer collecting an item can call without learning your number.
It only has to work until the pickup is done.
A number on a flyer or a sign takes calls from everyone who passes.
Burn it when the sign comes down. Nothing else you use is touched.
To call or text out, use a prepaid phone or an app that calls out.
Burner, Hushed and Google Voice call and text out. ExpressNumber does not.
How do you get a burner number in about a minute?
Pick an area code, name the number, confirm your mobile with one text, and give the number out. An ExpressNumber number is live in about a minute, and the first 7 days are free with $0 today.
Pick an area code.
Your new US number is live in about a minute.
Name the number after where it goes.
Marketplace, Dating, Car dealer. When the spam starts, the name tells you who passed it on.
Confirm your mobile with one text.
It is where your calls ring, so it has to be a real mobile that answers. You confirm it once, with a text from that mobile to your new number, and ExpressNumber shows you exactly what to send.
Give it out and answer as usual.
Calls ring your real phone like any other call, and texts land in your inbox. Your own number stays private.
This is a burner number you can burn in one tap.
- Pick a US area code and the number is live in about a minute.
- Give each site, store or dealer its own number, and name it.
- Burn a number and calls and texts stop at once. It rests 30 days, and your messages stay in your inbox.
9:41
Your numbers
Marketplace
(415) 555-0142
Forwarding
Dating
(212) 555-0166
Texts only
Car dealer
(305) 555-0118
Blocked
Rentals
(646) 555-0187
Forwarding
Deliveries
(332) 555-0168
Forwarding
These are the questions people ask first.
A burner phone is a cheap prepaid phone you use for a short time and throw away. The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes one as a phone not connected to your identity, used for a limited number of calls or tasks.
A burner number is a real phone number from an app or a service that you hand out in place of your own and drop when you are done. Calls and texts to it reach you without a second device.
A burner phone is a separate device with its own prepaid plan. A burner number is only a number that works on the phone you already own. Both keep your main number from strangers, and neither is hidden from the law or the carrier.
Yes. A prepaid phone or a second number is legal to own and use in the US. Using any phone to threaten or harass someone is not, and 47 U.S.C. 223 makes an anonymous call meant to abuse, threaten or harass a specific person a federal crime.
Yes, the law, the carrier and the service can trace it, and the people you give the number to cannot. A provider must hand a subscriber's name, address and connection records to the government on an administrative subpoena.
Burner is made by Ad Hoc Labs, which says it is ad-free and does not sell or share your personal information. It keeps your number from the people you contact, and its FAQ says a Burner number is not untraceable. One number is $7.99 a month on its site.
Burner starts at $7.99 a month and Hushed at $6.99 a month, and both call and text out. Google Voice is $0 for personal use. ExpressNumber is free for 7 days with $0 today, then $9.99 a month for 5 numbers.
No. ExpressNumber numbers take calls and texts and never make them. You answer calls on your own phone and cannot reply to a text from the inbox. They cannot reach 911, so keep your real line for emergencies, and they are US numbers only.
There are more guides on the same question.
Every outside fact on this page comes from these pages.
Read November 4, 2026. Prices move: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
- Burner: FAQ
- Burner blog: What is a burner phone
- Burner blog: Can a burner phone be traced
- Burner blog: How to get a second phone number
- Hushed: pricing
- Google Voice Help: Google Voice for personal use
- Google Voice Help: identity checks for Google Voice users
- EFF Surveillance Self-Defense: burner phone
- Legal Information Institute (Cornell): 47 U.S.C. 223, obscene or harassing telephone calls
- Legal Information Institute (Cornell): 18 U.S.C. 2703, required disclosure of customer records
- FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee: Advisory Recommendation 2015-9, pre-paid wireless devices
Try it for a week. Judge it yourself.
Hand out a number you can burn. Keep the one your family calls.
Try it free for 7 days