Signing up for something shouldn't cost you your phone number. Once you give it away it is in a database, then in a breach, then on a list. receive-sms.app exists for the moment you just need a code: pick a public number, use it, read the SMS, move on.
Where the numbers come from
We don't operate phone lines. Several services publish temporary numbers and the messages they receive publicly; we collect those, clean them up, pull the verification code out of the text, and put the whole catalogue in one searchable place — currently 436 numbers across 24 countries, with 407,117 messages archived. New messages are picked up continuously, and a number's page updates itself while you watch it.
What this is not
These numbers are public and shared. Anyone can read what arrives, which is exactly why they cost nothing. They are for throwaway sign-ups and testing — never for banking, your main email, or any account you would be upset to lose. If you need a number that is only yours, that is a paid product, and we say so rather than pretending otherwise.
How it stays free
Advertising. Ads are labelled, kept out of the message list, and never dressed up as content. There is no account, no paywall and no upsell to read a code. What that means for your data is written out in the privacy policy.
Something wrong?
If a message here contains your personal information, we remove it — no argument, no form. Contact us and it goes to the front of the queue.