Twilio phone numbers

Q: What are options for business phone numbers?

10DLC phone numbers Application-to-person 10-digit long codes (A2P 10DLC) are numbers with a local prefix. These are traditional numbers like 415-555-6456 with a specific area code. But 10DLC numbers are registered to a business and sent over routes reserved for application-to-person messaging. Toll-free numbers 10-digit phone numbers with a standard prefix (like 833, 888, 800) that are voice and SMS-enabled. Toll-free numbers are familiar and recognizable ways for a customer to contact a business. Short codes These are 5-digit numbers or codes that can be numerical (56546) or correlate with a code like (VOICE). They can handle high-volume text and picture messages, but are more expensive than other number types. Alphanumeric Sender IDs This is a sender ID based on your company or brand name that you register. It can be used for one-way messaging at high volumes in certain countries. National numbers These are non-geographic phone numbers for a specific country. They aren’t tied to a local area code and they can be reached from anywhere within the country for the same rate.

Get instant access to phone numbers in 100+ countries. Twilio has global inventory, APIs, and software for you to engage your customers at scale anywhere in the world.

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UI of a Twilio phone numbers global inventory, APIs, and software for users to engage with their customers at scale anywhere in the world

Types of business phone numbers

Choose from Twilio’s extensive inventory of business phone numbers to reach customers.

10DLC

10-digit long codes (A2P 10DLC) are numbers with a local prefix and sent over dedicated business messaging routes.
Toll-free numbers

10-digit phone numbers with a standard prefix that are voice and SMS-enabled.
Short codes

5-digit recognizable numbers to send and receive high-volume text and picture messages.

Alphanumeric Sender IDs

A sender ID based on your company or brand name that is used for one-way messaging at high volumes in supported countries.
National numbers

Non-geographic phone numbers that are reachable from an entire country at the same price as a local phone call.

Choose the US phone number type that’s best for your use case

Each phone number type has different capabilities to engage customers in the most effective way.

Features	A2P 10DLC	Toll-Free	Short code
Number recognition	Local prefix	Branded number	Branded number
Message throughput range - Messages Per Second (MPS)	3-180 MPS (additional throughput based on TCR Trust Score)	3-150+ MPS	100+ MPS
Filtering for spam/content	Yes	Yes	Yes
MMS support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Voice support	Yes	Yes	No
Delivery receipts (DLRs)	Carrier	Handset	Handset
Stop opt-out	Managed by Twilio	Managed at network level	Managed by business
Provisioning time	2-7 days	2-7 days	6-7 weeks

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Features to manage your business phone numbers

Number hosting

Use the business phone numbers you already own to send and receive messages with Twilio’s communication APIs.
Number porting

Transfer your phone numbers from another provider quickly and easily—making the switch to Twilio is simple.
Messaging and Voice Insights

Analyze your voice and message performance, identify and debug issues, optimize delivery to engage your end users.

Number verification

Know that every Twilio Phone Number goes through extensive testing, including technical evaluation, capability testing, and traffic monitoring.
10DLC and Toll-free onboarding APIs

Register your 10DLC and toll-free phone numbers through our onboarding API and software to streamline the process.

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Compliance features for phone number management

Regulatory and compliance APIs

Keeping up with local regulatory requirements is a headache. Twilio makes it easy to manage those requirements for compliant global communications.

View docs

Trust Hub

Create a verified Business Profile and manage your phone number verification in one place to join our fully verified communications ecosystem.

Visit Trust Hub

Phone number lookup

Determine if a phone number is valid before you send messaging or voice traffic by identifying the line type as mobile, landline, VoIP, or temporary number.

Try Lookup

See global phone number regulations

How to get started with Twilio phone numbers

Get new numbers

Search for and instantly buy the numbers you need to reach customers. Filter based on location or number type to find exactly what you need from our extensive inventory.

Try our global phone numbers catalog

Porting in existing numbers

Port your existing numbers to Twilio through an online application or email—then we take care of the rest. For complex use cases, you can have a dedicated expert manage and execute your port-in.

See porting guidelines

Host your phone numbers

Enable SMS, Voice, and MMS with your existing phone numbers without changing your voice service.

Number hosting FAQs

Manage your phone number inventory

See active numbers in your accounts, transfer numbers within your account, check number activity and usage in the Console.

Best practices for phone number use

Manage your phone number inventory in Twilio

There’s strength in numbers

Power your communications with a recognized leader in CPaaS*.

4,800+

carrier connections

180+

countries reached

100%

verified 10DLC traffic

193B+

messages sent and received annually

More reasons to use Twilio

Start with a free trial. No credit card required.

Phone number pricing is combined with your product usage. Visit the pricing page to estimate the total cost of your use case.

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Phone numbers FAQs

You can get access to a business phone number in a few minutes with Twilio. Sign up for a free account if you don’t have one already. There’s no credit card required and your account is loaded with $15 in trial credits to get started.

In the Twilio Console, you can search and select a phone number you’d like based on area code or number type. Use your trial credits to buy the number. Just remember that you’ll need to complete a verification process (per regulatory requirements) before you can start sending messages or make calls from it.

If you already have business phone numbers, you can follow our guidance for porting in numbers to bring them over from another provider to Twilio.

See our porting guidelines

With Twilio, you can get started with a business phone number for free.

You will only be charged by usage for messaging or voice calls for your phone number. See a pricing overview here.

The verification process for 10DLC is an additional cost that includes one-time registration fees and recurring campaign fees.

10DLC phone numbers
Application-to-person 10-digit long codes (A2P 10DLC) are numbers with a local prefix. These are traditional numbers like 415-555-6456 with a specific area code. But 10DLC numbers are registered to a business and sent over routes reserved for application-to-person messaging.

Toll-free numbers
10-digit phone numbers with a standard prefix (like 833, 888, 800) that are voice and SMS-enabled. Toll-free numbers are familiar and recognizable ways for a customer to contact a business.

Short codes
These are 5-digit numbers or codes that can be numerical (56546) or correlate with a code like (VOICE). They can handle high-volume text and picture messages, but are more expensive than other number types.

Alphanumeric Sender IDs
This is a sender ID based on your company or brand name that you register. It can be used for one-way messaging at high volumes in certain countries.

National numbers
These are non-geographic phone numbers for a specific country. They aren’t tied to a local area code and they can be reached from anywhere within the country for the same rate.

You can get a toll-free number through Twilio by purchasing a toll-free phone number in the console.

Before you can send or receive messaging or voice traffic on your new toll-free number, you must go through a verification process. This validates who you are and what you’re sending to end-users.

Text +1 (855) 747-7626* (1-855-747-ROBO) with a US phone number to check if it is served from Twilio.

*Gartner®, Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service, Lisa Unden-Farboud, Manoj Bhatia, Pankil Sheth, Ajit Patankar, July 21, 2025