Vanity phone numbers are custom local or toll-free numbers that spell out a word or feature a memorable set of numbers. Catchy numbers, such as 800-Buy-Rugs or simple digits like 844-444-4444, have a higher recall rate and can lead to increased brand visibility. You can purchase these numbers from services offering a virtual phone number as a standalone service, but it is worth noting it is not always the best solution for your business.
In fact, we feel that most small business owners wouldn’t be well served by many of these service providers because they needlessly add on additional costs. Many small business voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) systems allow you to adopt a toll-free number with your choice of prefix, and come bundled with unlimited calling, text, and voicemail. As such, we encourage readers to first check and see if your existing service offers a vanity phone number as an add-on or consider upgrading to a fuller-featured service before purchasing a number.
Therefore, after evaluating the options, the six best vanity phone number providers are:
- RingCentral: Best overall all-in-one business phone service with toll-free or local vanity numbers
- Grasshopper: Ideal choice for companies needing a fast setup, and those not needing a full-featured phone system
- Phone.com: Excellent option for business owners looking for mix-and-match plans
- FreedomVoice: Great for small businesses wanting unlimited extensions
- eVoice: Suitable for companies requiring free professional voice greetings
- 800.com: Great for teams looking for the best selection of true 800 numbers
How We Evaluated Vanity Phone Number Providers
Before finding the right vanity phone number, you need a VoIP or virtual phone system that lets you choose a number combination. We reviewed providers offering a selection of vanity numbers and other must-have features, such as call management features and mobile applications.
With a score of 4.67 out of 5, RingCentral offers the best overall packages for business owners wanting a vanity number and advanced calling features. With its free trial, you can pick a new number and take RingCentral for a 30-day test run. However, if you are satisfied with your existing phone system or only want a phone number without the hassle of maintaining equipment Grasshopper is the next best overall option.
Learn more about our evaluation criteria by clicking on the tabs below:
30% of Overall Score
We examined all calling plans and compared how pricing differed between various package tiers. We also looked at the availability of free plans, discounts for annual packages, and the length of free trials.
20% of Overall Score
We considered plan features, such as an automated attendant, SMS messaging, voicemail, and conference calling during our evaluation. Plus, we reviewed mobile and desktop apps for ease of use and overall functionality.
20% of Overall Score
We considered free and fee-based features such as international calling, software integrations, voicemail transcription, and video calling. Additionally, we made sure all providers offered toll-free and vanity numbers.
30% of Overall Score
While evaluating the best vanity phone number services, we compared providers based on ease-of-use, popularity, features, and overall value.
RingCentral
PROS
- Smooth, modern user interface (UI)
- Robust feature set
- Intuitive mobile apps for iOS and Android
CONS
- Could be overkill for smaller teams
- Vanity phone numbers can be expensive
- Advanced features locked behind premium tiers of service
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.69 | OUT OF | 5 |
RingCentral is a VoIP small business phone system that gives you a choice of a local or toll-free number. Choose from an 888, 877, 866, 855, or 800 number or find a number in your area. Pricing starts at $19.99 per user, per month for two to 20 users. RingCentral’s intuitive mobile applications and enterprise-grade features make it easy to stay connected to your team and clients.
RingCentral Pricing*
- Essentials: $19.99 per user, per month for up to 20 users with unlimited domestic calling and texting, team messaging, and voicemail-to-text
- Standard: $24.99 per user, per month for your choice of business phone numbers in over 100 countries, video meetings, and unlimited audio conferencing
- Premium: $34.99 per user, per month with automatic call recording, real-time analytics, and hot desking
- Ultimate: $49.99 per user, per month with device status reports, unlimited storage, and device status alerts
*Pricing is based on an annual payment for two to 10 users, but you can add an unlimited amount of users on upper-tier plans and choose monthly packages as well.
RingCentral Features
- Call log reports: Get a complete record of all incoming and outgoing calls. Call logs include caller names, dialed extensions or phone numbers, call length, time, and date.
- Voicemail-to-text: Receive all voicemail messages in text form and read your messages using RingCentral apps on your cell phone or desktop.
- Call management: All RingCentral plans help you optimize your call routing by creating answering rules, sharing presence data, and forwarding calls.
Learn more about RingCentral by visiting our RingCentral reviews page.
Grasshopper
PROS
- Easy to use
- Fantastic value for money
- Great for small teams
CONS
- Vanity numbers limited
- Larger teams could need more functionality
- No free professional voice greeting
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
Grasshopper is one of the easiest VoIP calling services to set up and use, and so therefore got a rating of 4.22 out of 5. Its phone number tool lets you choose a custom toll-free vanity number. Or you can pick a local area code to generate a phone number automatically. Grasshopper offers 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888, and true 800 numbers. Plans start at $26 per month with an annual payment. If you need a simple business phone system that takes minutes to get up and running, Grasshopper is an excellent choice.
Grasshopper Pricing*
- Solo: $26 per month for one number and three extensions
- Partner: $44 per month for three numbers and six extensions
- Small Business: $80 per month for five numbers and unlimited extensions
*Pricing is based on yearly payment. Monthly plans are available for an added cost.
Grasshopper Features
- Simultaneous call handling: Add employee phone numbers to set up your call handling features quickly. Doing so means all incoming calls are automatically routed to the next available agent, so none of your callers gets a busy signal.
- Reporting options: Grasshopper gives you access to three different reports, including a usage report, detail report, and activity report. With the reports, you can learn about the types of calls you get, from voicemails to hangups. Or view the average call legion or which extensions get the most use.
- Desktop and mobile apps: With Grasshopper, you can download intuitive apps for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows devices. The applications receive high ratings, with a 4.7 out of 5 on Apple and 4.0 out of 5 on Google Play.
Find out more about Grasshopper by checking out our Grasshopper review page.
Phone.com
PROS
- Flexible plans available
- Low entry-level pricing
- Easy to set up multiple numbers at once
CONS
- Dated interface
- Limited plans could get expensive
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
Phone.com provides toll-free, local, vanity, and international phone numbers along with calling plans offering more than 50 features. It is unique because it provides mix-and-match plans, allowing you to put some employees on metered plans while others use unlimited services. After careful evaluation, Phone.com received a 4.16 out of 5 score. Pricing starts at $10.39 per user, per month with a yearly payment. If you want to add multiple phone numbers and get many employees hooked up to your phone system, Phone.com is a good option.
Phone.com Pricing*
- Basic: $10.39 per user, per month for 300 minutes, video conferencing for up to 10 participants, and 1,000 text segments with each segment equaling 160 characters
- Plus: $15.99 per user, per month for unlimited monthly minutes and text messages, video conferencing with up to 25 participants, and video recording
- Pro: $23.99 per user, per month for unlimited minutes and text messages, video conferencing with up to 100 participants, call analytics, and customer relationship management (CRM) integration
*Plan pricing based on annual payments, but monthly plans are available, as well as volume discounts.
Phone.com Features
- Click-to-call: Encourage website visitors to connect by clicking a button on your site instantly. With every click, your Phone.com makes an outgoing call to the visitor’s phone number.
- Dial-by-name directory: Put your auto-attendant to good use with an employee directory. Callers can enter the first or last name to get an extension. Or you can record your name for a personal touch.
- Text-to-greeting: Select a custom message, then pick from over 40 automated voice personalities to deliver a personalized message to callers.
FreedomVoice
PROS
- Unlimited extension support
- Great for larger teams
- Wide range of toll-free prefixes available
CONS
- Limited feature set
- Not as intuitive as competitors
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 3.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
FreedomVoice is a virtual phone service designed for small business use. It offers 800 or local numbers with your choice of area code or prefixes such as 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, and 833. With a rating of 3.47 out of 5, all of its plans come with unlimited SMS texting and a huge range of call management features. Pricing starts at $9.95 per month. If you want to add many team members without paying an expensive per-user price, FreedomVoice is a great pick.
FreedomVoice Pricing
- Start: $9.95 per month for 400 minutes and 3.9 cents per additional minute
- Edge: $19.95 per month for 1,200 minutes and 3.9 cents per extra minute
- Max: $29.95 per month for unlimited minutes
FreedomVoice Features
- Voicemail and fax options: Transcribe voicemails and send them as a text message or send voicemails and faxes to your email address.
- Unlimited extensions: All accounts come with 10 extensions, but you can easily add an unlimited number of extensions with voicemail and call forwarding.
- Call management: FreedomVoice includes call handling features, such as after-hours greetings, dial-by-name or company directories, smart number routing, ring groups, and call queues.
eVoice
PROS
- Live receptionist functionality
- Mobile apps come standard
- Affordable pricing
CONS
- Vanity number requests can take time
- Basic feature set
- Dated interface
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.44 | OUT OF | 5 |
eVoice is a virtual phone system offering a local or toll-free vanity number for your business. It has a 2.67 out of 5 rating. Subscribers can choose from 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, or 833 numbers. The company provides one plan with dozens of features, such as call routing, video conferencing, and call management features. It’s $14 per user, per month, or you can get a custom quote if you need more than 10 lines. Choose eVoice for free professional greetings recorded in a studio.
eVoice Pricing
Elite Monthly is eVoice’s calling plan that costs $14 per user, per month (or $12 per user, per month when billed annually). You can make unlimited calls, add unlimited users, and unlimited lines.
eVoice Features
- Call queuing: If no agents are available to take an incoming call, your call queue is a virtual waiting room. You can add hold music or special messages with a promotional message or list of upcoming events.
- Professional greetings: Personalize your auto-attendant with a studio-recorded greeting. Select from several professional audio styles in female or male voices in English, U.K. English, Spanish, Irish, Italian, or French Canadian.
- Voicemail-to-email: Automatically convert your voicemails into audio files sent to your email. This functionality lets you click on an inbox message on your cell phone or computer to hear your voicemail messages.
800.com
PROS
- Wide number selection
- Entire feature set available regardless of pricing plan
CONS
- Limited feature set
- Clunky interface
- Limited monthly minutes
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
| General Features | 3.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Advanced Features | 1.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
800.com provides toll-free numbers for locations in the U.S. and Canada. It has a total score of 2.41 out of 5 based on our evaluation. The website features a handy toll-free number picker, and you can choose from 800, 833, 855, 866, 877, 888, and 844 numbers. Unlike other VoIP providers, 800.com offers the same features on all plans, including an auto-attendant, call forwarding, and call recording. Pricing starts at $19 per month for one toll-free number and 1,000 minutes. With 800.com, you’ll find the best selection of toll-free numbers and simple plans.
800.com Pricing*
- Personal Yearly: $19 per month for one toll-free number and 1,000 minutes
- Unlimited Yearly: $49 per month for unlimited minutes and one toll-free number
- Pro Yearly: $199 per month for 5,000 minutes, unlimited seats, and five toll-free numbers
*Plans are based on annual payments, but month-to-month packages are available.
800.com Features
- Voicemail-to-email: All voicemails are saved as audio files and automatically sent to an email address. You can forward your emails to co-workers or use your email system to save and sort messages quickly.
- Call and fax reports: Sort through your calls by choosing a billing time frame or specific phone number. View outgoing calls to assess sales performance or inbound calls to see call frequency. With 800.com, you can download reports as a CSV file.
- Call recording: All 800.com plans come with call recording. Once recorded, you can categorize calls and save them on the 800.com platform or your device.
Bottom Line
Vanity phone numbers can boost brand awareness, help with lead generation, and increase your brand reputation. However, it’s essential to select a business phone system that offers the features you need along with a memorable vanity phone number. With RingCentral, you can pick a vanity number and take advantage of feature-rich calling plans.
Vanity phone numbers can boost brand awareness, help with lead generation, and increase your brand reputation. However, it’s essential to select a business phone system that offers the features you need along with a memorable vanity phone number. With RingCentral, you can pick a vanity number and take advantage of feature-rich calling plans.
Sean Li
Love your article,but are they selling the service or numbers? Do they allow me to port their vanity numbers to my own carrier? I found only RingBoost would do that, right?
E
I’m really enjoying your website. You provide a lot of great info.
e edward Robinson
Hey, thanks for the info;
What is your best recommendation for a # only situation; i already have a VOIP service, and just want a toll-free number to port over to them, than use my own voip and not the company of which i got the number from
Thank you
Paul Faust
There are both companies where you can find a number and then port it over to the carrier of your choice and certain vanity numbers and vanity number providers you can only license from. In the latter case you cannot port to your own VOIP provider. It really comes down to what kind of number you are looking for.
Paul
Marcus
Any suggestions on how to sell your phone number? I have NYC 917 number that ends in 5300 that Im interested in selling.
Jeremy Marsan
This is a grey area. You technically never own your phone number, so “selling it” isn’t exactly accurate. You are allowed to transfer your number to another individual, however, which essentially has the same effect as “selling.”
Most places that sell vanity numbers also buy, or allow vendors to “list” their numbers. You can get in touch with any of these sites and see which will offer the best rate.
Donald Goble
Hello Gavin,
Thought this article was extremely informative. I’ve been asked to look at the Vanity Telephone market itself and was curious as to whether you knew of a study that breaks down the market itself? Looking for some hard research numbers to pass along. Any resource you might have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Friends and I are looking at getting into this business. Thanks very much.
Best,
Donald Goble
Gavin Graham
Hi Donald,
I’m not aware of anything off hand, but I’ll take a look around and reply back if/when I find anything.
G
Steve
Hi Donald. What kind of research are you looking for? I’m interested in this field myself and would welcome any collaboration! Thanks… Steve.