Please be sure to see the updates section at the end of this article. Last updated April 13, 2023 after I was able to test them finally on a trip to the U.S..

VoIP (Voice over IP) services let you make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages over devices connected to the Internet, even without a cellular connection.

Benefits

These services are of great use for people, like me, who live overseas. VoIP enables you to have a U.S. phone number, make and receive calls with that number, and send and receive texts, almost like you had a cell phone in the U.S.

Even for people living in the U.S it could be useful in various situations.

Calling over wi-fi – While most people probably have unlimited talk and text contracts, some don’t. In that case, having a way to make phone calls just over wi-fi can be useful.

Using non-phone devices for texts and calling – A VoIP app also allows your non-phone device (tablet, iPod) to make phone calls and send text independently of your phone.

Burner phone numbers – This isn’t something I see doing, but some people might want to use an extra VoIP number as a “burner” phone. For example, you might want to use a phone number when using Craigslist ads, and then not have to worry about receiving calls or texts after your transaction is done. Or with dating apps.

For non-domestic travel – When traveling overseas (if you do that again) a VoIP number also comes in handy by making use of local cellular and wi-fi connections to make calls.

If you can’t use your phone – Also, if your actual phone breaks and you need to make calls on an iPad, for example, (which happened with my sister the other day when her iPhone broke) it could give you a vital means of making and receiving phone calls. 

Extra features – In addition, some of these services have extra features, such as creating transcriptions of voice messages. That might be more convenient than the standard voicemail on your actual phone.

Drawbacks – Short Number Support and ID Verification

Note that VoIP services are not registered cell phone numbers with a regular cell phone provider. Some third party services & apps have strict verification polices and will only send verification codes to registered cell phone numbers. Such verifications do not work with Skype-in numbers for example. Apparently WhatsApp & Facebook Messenger can only be set up with a phone number registered with a cellphone provider, so you can’t use a VoIP number for that. 

Note that some verifications might still not work depending if the service checks to see if your number is VoIP and have a policy against sending text to those accounts. 

There are also cautions about not being able to make emergency phone calls with such services, though I’ve never tried it.

Some VoIP Services I’ve Tried

Google Voice is a popular service I have not tried. I have not described it here because I have never been able to set it up. Perhaps because I live overseas. And you must have a working U.S. cell phone for messages to get forwarded to, so it is less useful than the other apps mentioned here in that regard.

These are the ones I’ve actually used:

Skype-in Number (a feature of Skype, owned by Microsoft)

• Cost: There is no free level to make calls to phone (except see Office 365 benefits below.) A phone number in the area code of your choice costs about $30/year, and it’s another $30/year for unlimited US and Canada calling. So it’s $60/year total. I’ve used it for years now so I can have a U.S. number for family and friends to reach me at easily.
• Texting: Incoming texts are free. Sending texts cost $0.12 per 160 characters though. 
• Short number / ID verification support: Not supported. Microsoft Support says they recognize this is in demand, but it’s not available yet. The type of SMS the Skype app receives through US Skype numbers are limited to personal mobile numbers located in US or Canada. Third-party apps and bank verifications are not yet recognized. 
• Voicemail:  Included, but you can’t customize your greeting (you could in the past, but they dropped that feature). This has actually confused several people, wondering if they got the right number or not, because the default voice is a British-sounding woman asking you to leave a message.
• Voicemail transcriptions: No.
• Ad free: There are no ads in the Skype apps.
• Burner phone: Skype does not let you change your Skype-in number during your subscription period. You must cancel your number and purchase a new one.
• Supported devices: Skype works on the most devices, including an iPhone, iPad,  Mac, Android, and PC. This is the only service I’ve tried with a full-fledged app for Macs and PCs. That is often convenient when working on your computer.
• Office365 subscriber benefits: If you are an Office 365 subscriber you get 60 minutes/month of free phone calling to many countries in addition to whatever other plan you’ve subscribed to. A random number will appear if you haven’t set up a Skype Caller ID or if you don’t have a Skype number.
• Support: It exists but is often difficult to reach. When you do reach them you need to go through a verification process. But often you cannot reach them directly via chat. My suggestion is that if you need to reach Skype support via chat and get a quick response select “billing issues” as your topic. With everything else you get put off, sent to the community, etc.
• Payment caution: Skype itself, even though it is owned by Microsoft, is incorporated in Europe and billed in Europe. So if you pay for your subscription with a credit card and the card does not wave foreign transaction fees, you will be dinged for that! One way to avoid that is to use PayPal to pay for your subscription.

Pinger/TextFree 

Note: Pinger and TextFree are functionally basically the same, and you have the same credentials and text/call records. See https://pinger.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037475111-What-s-the-difference-between-the-Pinger-app-and-TextFree-app- for info on their history. I had been using TextFree but switched to Pinger today just because it sounds nicer. All my messages and voicemails were still there.

Note: Pinger is more difficult to use on the iPad than either Skype or Talkatone because the dialer only displays in portrait mode. If you have your iPad connected to keyboard, in landscape mode, then the dialer appears sideways. Pinger support has told me they have no plans to fix that problem. Apparently they used to have an iPad-only app, but gave that up, so Pinger on the iPad is technically no longer supported.

• Cost: There is no charge to create a phone number in the area code of your choice. Free level: You can send and receive texts and, receive calls, and call toll-free U.S. numbers (e.g. 800 numbers). A free account’s number will disappear if not used for 30 days. Pinger Pro: For $4.99/month you get a non-expiring number, eliminate ads, and can make unlimited outgoing calls to the U.S., Canada, China, India, Mexico, and Singapore, and you can change your number once a day. This comes to about $60/year, the same as Skype, but is a better choice if you are talking a lot to one of the supported countries outside the U.S. As an alternative to subscribing, you can also buy inexpensive minutes (100 minutes for $1.99). The free account comes with 60 minutes of calling so you can test it out.
• Texting: There is free text in and out. I’ve been using it for a few years just for texting so I could have a U.S. texting number. 
• Short number / ID verification support: The Pro subscription includes support for short numbers and ID verification. I subscribed and tested it with one of my U.S. credit card companies, which had failed to get through to my Skype number, and it worked. This also means I can use texts to that bank’s short number to check balances and things. That’s very convenient, and might be the feature that makes Pinger a great choice for someone living overseas, as long as you have a paid subscription.
• Voicemail: Voicemail is included, and you can set a custom greeting, which makes it superior to Skype-in.
• Voicemail transcriptions: Voicemail transcription is included as a free service. Note that transcriptions require a paid “Plus” subscription with Talkatone, and is not available with Skype. It seems to work quite well.
• Ad free: Yes, included with the Pro subscription.
• Burner phone: With the Pro subscription you can change your phone number once every 24 hours.
• Supported devices: Pinger works with apps on iPhones, iPads and Android devices. You can also use it via the web, but just for text messages and to listen to voicemail – not to make calls. Still, that can be handy. It seems to work well.
• Support: Support is rather slow, to be honest. And I’ve never once gotten a support response via “help” in the app. They do eventually respond when going through Zendesk though.

Talkatone

I discovered this one when trying to help my sister, whose iPhone broke. It has advantages if your main goal is simply having a free number that works over wi-fi to make and receive calls. However Pinger starts you off with 60 free minutes, so in an emergency that will work as well.

• Cost: It’s more confusing than Pinger because different features require separate subscriptions. In addition to Free (making and receiving unlimited text and also U.S. and Canada phone calls), there are 3 subscriptions available: (1) Plus – $3.99/month (voicemail transcriptions, non-expiring number, forwarding calls to another U.S. or Canada number) (2) Unlimited International – $12.99/month (extra foreign countries you can call), and (3) Premium – $1.99/month (no ads). What stands out about Talkatone’s service is that you can make and receive unlimited calls  (U.S. and Canada only) without a subscription. That compares favorably to Skype-in and Pinger in that regard. It’s certainly a go-to if you need to make a free call from a device via wi-fi in an emergency. Pinger does start you off with 60 free minutes though. It’s hard to compare costs because the features all have separate subscriptions.
• Texting:  Free to send and receive texts. 
• Short number / ID verification support: As with Pinger, a paid Talkatone subscription includes support for short numbers and ID verification. I have the lowest-cost subscription (ad-free, $1.99/month) and ID verification works from all my banks, credit cards, and the IRS as well. One difference in short-number support with Pinger, however, is that Talkatone does not support sending messages to short-codes, while Pinger does. I’m not sure how important that is.
• Voicemail. Voicemail is included, with a customizable greeting.
• Voicemail transcriptions: Transcriptions are only available with the $3.99/month Plus subscription, unlike Pinger, where they are free.
• Ad free: Requires the separate $1.99/month Premium subscription.
• Burner phone: One time included, then it’s $0.99 per change after that, regardless of subscription level. With Pinger, it is included with the Pro subscription.
• Supported devices: Talkatone works on iPhone, iPads, iPods, and Android devices. But not on Macs or PCs.
• Support: Support responds to inquiries, but not on weekends, and it takes them a long time to get back to you.

Pinger (Text Free) vs Talkatone – which is better? It depends.

Pinger’s full-feature Pro pricing at $4.99/month is a bit better than Talkatone if you want to be ad-free, because Talkatone’s subscriptions are separate, not inclusive. For example, if you subscribe to Talkatone’s “Plus” level at $3.99/month you still see ads unless you also subscribe to their separate ad-free level for another $1.99/month. We’re talking about a difference of $0.99/month for all the features.

However, even with Talkatone’s low-cost ad-free subscription you still get unlimited calling and also ID verification from short-codes.

With both Pinger’s Pro at $4.99/month and Talkatone’s Plus at $3.99/month your number is reserved for you and won’t disappear. Without those subscriptions you need to be sure to use the service at least once every 30 days to avoid losing your number.

With Pinger’s Pro plan you get unlimited calling to the U.S., Canada and a few other countries, no ads, short code and ID verification support, outgoing text to short numbers, nice quality voicemail, voicemail transcriptions, and a phone burner feature. Customer support is very slow to respond though. With Talkatone’s Plus plan it’s similar, though the free calls are limited to the U.S. and Canada and the phone burner feature isn’t free.

Both Pinger and Talkatone’s ID verification from short-codes work (banks, credit cards, the IRS), however only Pinger lets you text to short-codes. Talkatone does not support that.

I renewed my Skype-in subscriptions this year again but may make a transition to just Talkatone or Pinger after that because of the shortcode and ID verification support, customizable voicemail, and voicemail transcriptions.

If ID verification and short numbers is not a concern, then even without a paid subscription, Talkatone does give you free outgoing calls, so there is that to keep in mind if you want a service with completely free calling, don’t mind the ads, don’t need short number or ID verification, and don’t need voicemail transcriptions.

Both Pinger and Talkatone support ID verification from short-codes with a paid subscription. Pinger/Textfree is $4.99/month. I have subscribed to Pinger and tested with one of my U.S. credit card companies that couldn’t send to my Skype-in number and it worked. PayPal, IRS and other major sites are supported as well. 

Talkatone, with a subscription (even the lowest cost Premium $1.99/month ad-free subscription) also supports short numbers and ID verification. It worked with my banks, credit cards, and the IRS. However, unlike Pinger, you cannot send a text message to a short number. If that is important to you then Pinger is the better choice.

And if a full computer desktop app for making calls is needed, having a Skype-in number and calling subscription might be worth it. If you also have Office 365 you might as well take advantage of the international calling minutes if you need them.

Voice quality is much better with Talkatone when on speaker or using earbuds. With Pinger it’s basically impossible to use that way. I hope Pinger fixes that problem – I’ve been back and forth with them multiple times about it. If voice calls are important to you, and you would like to make them hands-free, then Talkatone is really your only choice between the two.

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Update 4/18/2021:

I’ve been having some trouble with Pinger lately. In particular, people on the other end can barely hear me if I’m using my earplugs or speaker. This does not happen with my regular cell phone service or with Talkatone. Pinger has verified this as a bug and is looking at it.

Pinger also doesn’t work well on an iPad in a keyboard case because they gave up on their iPad app and it only works in portrait mode. Talkatone doesn’t have this problem.

Pinger’s desktop app is also limited in functionality.

On the other hand, Talkatone’s plans are very difficult to figure out (which include verification codes and short number support, for example?) and their support is very hard to reach.

I’m also testing TextNow, which seems to have all the features, but is twice as expensive as the others if you want the very important support (for me) verification codes and short number support.

Update 6/4/2021:

I did finally get a clarification of the subscriptions needed for verification codes and short number support from Talktatone. Even the least expensive $1.99/month subscription (just gets rid of ads) supports those, so I gave it a try and successfully received verification codes from two of my U.S. credit card companies.

Support is basically very slow to respond for both Pinger and Talkatone.

The advantages of Talkatone is that (1) the sound volume is much better (like a different world better) than Pinger/Text Free when using earplugs or on speaker phone. Pinger is basically unusable that way, but that’s the way you normally would use your phone if you need hands free or are outside. Talktatone sounds loud enough and clear with either earplugs or on speakerphone. I tested this with three different people so far, and it’s 100% reproducible.

Reason (2) is Pinger dropped their iPad support so you need to use the iPhone app in portrait mode only on the iPad, which is awkward if you are using the keyboard case. Talkatone has a proper iPad app. Also, notifications seem to be more obvious and work better with Talkatone.

Currently I’m subscribed to both Pinger and Talkatone, but may drop my paid Pinger subscription because of these usability issues.

Update 6/9/2021:

I still have my Pinger subscription, but may drop it because of usability issues described above. I’m mainly using Talkatone, and I have a subscription (the ad free $1.99/month plan) which means I can receive ID verifications from short-codes, including my banks, credit cards, and the IRS.

But I can’t send text messages to short-codes. I get a “bad message” error if I try. Talkatone Support finally responded and wrote, “Talkatone does not support text messages to short-codes.”

I wonder how important do think text messages to short-codes are as long as you can reliably receive verification codes, which I can? I’ve never had to in the past, though Pinger is able to do that.

Update 4/13/2023

After 4 years I was finally able to take a trip to the U.S.. from Japan again! I immediately ran into a brick wall with TextNow while at the airport trying to call Budget Rental Car. TextNow will not work properly over cellular connections unless you are using a TextNow SIM card. I had one because I bought one and had an Android phone on the side that I use for testing. But my main phone is an iPhone and I want to be able to use it to make and receive phone calls in the U.S. My carrier is Softbank in Japan, and Softbank users get unlimited voice and data while in the U.S., both domestically and back and forth with Japan. That’s convenient. But because the number shows as a Japan phone number, which would be confusing when making and receiving calls in the U.S. it’s preferable to use a VoIP app on your iPhone.

Unfortunately my paid subscription with TextNow, with the cool 314 (St. Louis) number I bought and ported in, simply won’t work in the U.S.. except over wi-fi. So I returned to Talkatone, where I also have a cool 617 (Boston) number. It works perfectly for almost everything:

Voice quality is good, even hands-free using the speaker or earbuds. With a subscription ID verification from short numbers works with most places.  They have a proper iPad app. The chat and call history is great.

Things that are specifically better than TextNow include:

• Can make calls over cellular lines using my Japan iPhone with アメリカ放題 from Softbank. With TextNow it doesn’t work.
• Text messaging is better. There are bugs with the TextNow iPhone version (e.g. cut off line when you start dictating). Talkatone works better with iPhones.
• The synch with iOS is better with Talkatone. There are bugs with TextNow syncing with iOS devices and you often don’t get everything.
• Call quality seems clearly better with Talkatone.
• For voicemails, they also send them to you by email so you can listen on any device you check email with.

So I’m back with Talkatone for now.