Decades ago, people changed their phone numbers all the time—if you had to move to a new town, you didn't get to keep your number. Now, you can take your first cell phone number with you for life, even keeping the area code on a new continent if you're willing to pay for it. That has downsides. Having another number associated with you for life, much like your Social Security number or driver's license number, means it's another easy thing for bad actors and Big Brother to use for tracking you. Especially since your mobile phone number is likely associated with just about every digital account you have.
The way to get around that is to never hand out your personal phone number, except to friends and family. There are a lot of good reasons for this. Perhaps you buy or sell items on Facebook Marketplace, manage an Airbnb listing, are hunting for a job, have a career that requires lots of phone calls, or you're online dating. Give all of them a burner number.
Typically, a burner is a no-contract, prepaid mobile phone, usually an ultra-cheap handset you buy in a store (with cash, for privacy), activate with a call or online, use for a while, then discard. The throwing away is the "burning" part, but tossing the phone/number is optional, as the owner can "top off" the minutes on a prepaid phone and keep using it. With a burner, you don't have to block a person (or stalker, shady marketer, or robo-caller) from your permanent phone. Nor do you need to get a new number. But the option is there, while your original phone number is intact.
For a second number, you can always get a prepaid SIM card on a cheap carrier if you want to go that route. It might even be handy if you have an extra phone around. Many new unlocked phones support eSIM standards where the SIM card that identifies you with the carrier is fully integrated and only changeable via remote software. But eSIM isn't much of an option for a burner-style number. And swapping physical SIM cards to change phone numbers is a pain, at best.
You probably already have a iPhone or Android smartphone that can't handle two numbers, so you don't want another handset. Thankfully, there are still many ways to get an extra, (possibly) temporary phone number that works with your smartphone (or even on your tablet). The numbers can even be used to send and receive texts with photos.
This isn't like using *67 or #31# before a call, which shows you as Blocked or Unknown. The services below make a point of displaying a temporary number when you call, so return calls can happen—until you want them to stop. If you just want the numbers to take calls, all the burner services feature things like voicemail and call forwarding.
There are some drawbacks to these burner apps and services. The biggest is that you typically can't use them to call 911 for help. Some build that limit into their terms of service—they don't want to get sued. Second, the companies behind some of these solutions have a very limited number of phone numbers to use. Research from 2014 found(Opens in a new window) that some companies recycle numbers quickly, meaning you could be on the receiving end of calls from people trying to reach someone who previously had your number.
If you can overlook all that and still need a secondary number, get ready to access some apps and services that will maintain your privacy by becoming the number you hand out when you aren't sure who to trust.
Burner
7-day trial with 20 minutes of talk and 60 texts.
Prepaid Burner numbers: $1.99 for 50 minutes of talk and 100 texts lasts 30 days, or extend with credits.
Unlimited texts, talk, and pictures: $4.99 per month or $47.88 per year.
Burner(Opens in a new window) grabbed the best name for this kind of product. Limited to US and Canadian numbers, the service offers limited-time access to certain digits. If your account or free trial lapses without an upgrade, so does the number. A premium subscription option provides up to three phone numbers with unlimited minutes and texts.
(It’s best to register a Burner subscription on the web(Opens in a new window) rather than the mobile apps, so Apple or Google don't become part of the transaction. Don't pay the Apple Tax(Opens in a new window).) It promises to be 100% ad-free, blocks spammers, and also supports picture messages.
When you make a call via Burner, it’s actually your smartphone calling Burner, which in turn places a relay call to the number you want to reach (so it is indeed eating into your talk plan minutes). The steps are spelled out as you go, so you're not confused. A PIN lock(Opens in a new window) keeps the app secure; it integrates with fingerprint or face scanners on your smartphone.