• TextNow

TextNow

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Overview

TextNow has a rating of 4.0 stars from 524 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with TextNow most frequently mention phone service, sim card, and second line. TextNow ranks 5th among Mobile Applications sites.

Proactively asks for customer feedback

This company responds to reviews on average within 3 days

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 88.3%
Positive
310
Neutral
11
Negative
30
24
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How would you rate TextNow?
Top Positive Review

“Need better reception for calls.”

Adelita V.
10/15/24

This app has been great need less day. When I need to use Text No, it opens right up for me. No problem. Reception could be hella better for voice calls... Other than that Text Now does the job and gets it done.

Top Critical Review

“Unsatisfied”

Clark L.
8/22/24

I paid for the card, it doesn't work, there is no free calling, and there is no available customer service for assistance. That's about it... Save for the fact that health insurance spammers can get through with perfect signal strength time after time even leaving default four-second vms. I'm not upset or anything, I didn't have high hopes about this from jump street, just saying.

Reviews (524)

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phone number (36)
Thumbnail of user andrewf919
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 9th, 2021
Verified purchase

This app is a complete scam. I live overseas and paid for a number for 1 year. I used it a few times and then my account was locked. I emailed support and what I received is below. As you can see, they wont explain how you violated the terms, nor will they reopen your account. BS SCAM!

"Hi,

Thank you for reaching out to TextNow.

It appears that our system has disabled your account, as we detected activity that violates our Terms of Use: https://www.textnow.com/terms

We are unable to see or disclose the specific violation. If you read the Terms of Use mentioned above, it should give you a good idea about what kind of behaviour may have caused this to happen, as well as how to avoid it in the future.

We are unable to re-enable this account under any circumstances.

Regards,
TextNow Abuse Team"

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Thumbnail of user neilr225
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 9th, 2022

Don't need major carriers anymore! You can overrides locked sim cards that force you to buy monthly plans. Good connections and easy set-up! Finally free from contracts, minutes used, and sales offers. Forget about Tracfone - they are dishonest and advertise:"no monthly plans, no contracts and no surprises" - THEY LIE! All the major carriers will charge fees for monthly plans. My phone from Tracfone sim card was locked, but TextNow set me up with a phone number and everything I need for FREE! Best service for escaping all the scam carriers. Emancipated from Tracfone and their false advertising. Amen.

Tip for consumers:
Tell the truth

Products used:
TextNow

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user sl620
1 review
5 helpful votes
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May 29th, 2021

I have 0 chance of ever coming across this company online or registering for this company's service. However these days I have been receiving spam emails from them at a really high frequency, which makes me question their professionalism and also care for potential customers. The email is even upsetting and you cant even unsubscribe from their suspicious mailing list. It says you are going to lose your phone number soon - WHO DOES THAT? Definitely not what a responsible company would do.

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Thumbnail of user evat194
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 17th, 2024
Verified purchase

Everything good.nothing an I'm happy with my comment

Thumbnail of user mc1386
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 16th, 2024
Verified purchase

May Cater all your needs also and can work as primary number

Thumbnail of user hebertl5
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 5th, 2024
Verified purchase

Aussi c'est sure que la gratuité est apprécié mais comme le wifi n'est pas toujours disponible alors c'est le seul point à amiliorer

Thumbnail of user pollyv19
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 16th, 2024
Verified purchase

Very good to keep contact with other far away from home.

Thumbnail of user joed1914
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 15th, 2024
Verified purchase

Calls and text messages from great. No, never problems

Thumbnail of user lawrenceb1029
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 15th, 2024
Verified purchase

Excellent sounds. Can't tell it from cell phone out here in country. City maybe different

Thumbnail of user jasonp59
1 review
6 helpful votes
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November 9th, 2015

BEWARE: Service uses the Sprint network. Calls hardly ever connect, and when they do there's a good 2 to 3 second delay between talking and the other person hearing you. I have tried calling using Wi-fi and on mobile data, neither way works. I have checked the coverage map for my area and it is listed as "good" coverage, I'd hate to see fair or poor service. $19/mo is too much for such lousy service. If you're looking to save some money, you'd be better off getting pay as you go service elsewhere.

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Value
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Quality
Thumbnail of user robertc5848
1 review
4 helpful votes
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July 20th, 2022

Overseas support leads to garbage support/service. A rep wanted me to restart my phone while I was on chat, don't know what geniuses they hire but that is ridiculous in itself. I used to love this app but it has really gone down the drain.

Tip for consumers:
Don’t use this service.

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Value
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Thumbnail of user sisleys1
1 review
4 helpful votes
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March 24th, 2022

I would rate minus if there is an option. I needed two phone numbers that were easy to memorize and fortunately they let you do that. So I kept refreshing to pick a good number since it's allowed by their website and that's still fine till this step. And then I started another account to pick the second number, that's when the problem happened, it kept saying error and they disabled both of the accounts and CS agent refused to answer why did they close accounts permanently. All these made my sim purchase become useless. Stay away from such a company.

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Value
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Thumbnail of user paulv429
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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December 24th, 2023

I tried to connect to my account today using a VPN connection for safety purposes. I found out the hard way that TextNow no longer allows VPN connections as my account was disabled when I tried to connect and I received a message stating that I had violated their terms of service. I filed an appeal and received a message stating: "We are unable to re-enable this account under any circumstances" (see attached copy of message). This comes two weeks after I paid them for locking my number (they assign a phone number to you if you pay them $4.99 per year). They have made no attempt to refund my money, which I thinkt that they should do since they are not providing the service that I paid for.

Products used:
Phone and texting app.

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Value
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Thumbnail of user jasong1972
Jason G. – TextNow Rep

Hi Paul! Where in-app purchases are handled by Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store - we would appreciate contacting their support directly to request a refund. We’re sorry you are having trouble with signing in as well and please do write to us at community@textnow.com for further assistance.

Thumbnail of user thoguths
1 review
5 helpful votes
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December 8th, 2017

The guy who answers the phone asked me every question at least 6 times, like he is half deaf or something and then he says oh well you will have to give me all of your information again because I do not see it in there, so I was like are you serious his best response was unacceptable. He was a total moron the only best thing about this conversation is that he said he would cancel my service and refund my money. Do not use them, I ordered service 6 days ago, the money came out immediately but still, no service

Thumbnail of user kj102
1 review
5 helpful votes
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January 3rd, 2019

Doubly charged and contact through their chat window. Keep saying that I should reach out the bank. The agent named Aaron simply closed the window on his end. Horrible customer service. Don't use this, you will be stressful.

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Update on 6/29/2020: I got a referral credit of $50. But they took it away without any notice. I chatted (again) with Aaron G. He was not aware of his company's system. He then closed the chat on his end and now there is no customer service available. What an autocratic company! Don't waste your time and money for this non-sense customer service.

Thumbnail of user angelf60
1 review
3 helpful votes
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February 22nd, 2019

Textnow has No Phone support and the only way to get in contact with someone who has zero knowledge of anything is through chat on certain days and hours.

They have horrible customer support, please dont bother with their service.

Thumbnail of user lacreshal
1 review
6 helpful votes
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July 2nd, 2019

Dont even waste your time with this app, I used it daily for business and it would change my number or say it expired due to inactivity, such a crock. Not to mention I didn't receive half the texts or calls people were claiming to send

Thumbnail of user sheilaj368
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 11th, 2024
Verified purchase

Just a few problems getting calls all said not much of a talker thanks

Thumbnail of user wesm20
1 review
5 helpful votes
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May 3rd, 2017

My phone headphone jack recently quit working, so I contacted Textnow, and they said to send it back, and that it would be free. They sent me a label and I sent it out on Monday, and already, two days later, I received it back, fixed. Also, everything else about the company is amazing, especially their high quality service at such a low price. Thank you so much Textnow!

Thumbnail of user joshs651
0 reviews
6 helpful votes
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January 24th, 2022

Don't use this app for anything you want to keep - they may suspend your account for no reason at any time with no explanation and no way to get the account or the data back. Actually encourages people to use it only for bad purposes since it can't be taken seriously.

Tip for consumers:
Don't trust it

Products used:
Mobile app, website, windows app, verification number

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user hammackseif
1 review
8 helpful votes
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June 30th, 2023

I was foolish enough to order a Sim card to take advantage of their so-called free cell phone calling and texting service. After activating the Sim, I was unable to receive calls or make outbound calls. Their only customer service provided is via chat by a service somewhere in India. The individual on the other side of the chat with me was never able to understand that my problem was with the cell phone and Sim card-based service not the app. No matter how many ways I explained it this individual did not get it and actually disconnected with me abruptly to get rid of. It's five dollars and some frustration lost but the lesson is avoid this business like the plague…..

Thumbnail of user jasong1972
Jason G. – TextNow Rep

Hi Seif, thanks for your review and we're sorry to hear that you're having issues calling and texting from your TextNow app without WiFi connected. I've sent you a private message to assist further!

Thumbnail of user lalal51
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 11th, 2023

Messages won't be stored last 3 months. I was talking to people over a year but all those conversations are deleted. Even if I log onto my account from a desktop, it's still gone.

I can't send or receive calls or send and receive texts from my most frequent contact.

Text messages show up in my notifications but when I go to click on the message it's gone. It could never be retrieved.

Service
Value
Shipping
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Quality
Thumbnail of user jens158
1 review
8 helpful votes
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March 25th, 2019

I used the free TextNow app for several months to try it out. After which I used that phone number for Google and everything else that required two-factor authentication. I then arranged for premium TextNow account access and still got hit with ads. They told me they were sending me a SIM card which I paid for separately and never got. Weeks go by as I'm waiting for this and the next thing I know my phone number has been changed. Now I can't get into any of my accounts and I can't get my phone number back. They took my money and I can't get a refund. Now I can't even access customer service because they don't exist. This company is a ghost and the whole thing is a sham. God knows what they're doing with our private information? How convenient for them to change things when they have what they want and there's nothing you can do about it...

Thumbnail of user gwmccartney
1 review
3 helpful votes
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April 16th, 2023

What a nightmare. So I deleted a google email address. Then I discovered after that it was used to login to textnow. An oversight. Simple to fix right? Think again. Textnow has my name, my credit card but are simply too lazy or perhaps too mean to assist me. So no access to my number. And they are scheduled to charge me on July 13 to lock in my number. The one I cannot access. Be very careful with this company. I made a mistake doing business with them. Don't make this mistake. There are legit businesses on the net. This is not one of them.

Products used:
Phone number, voicemail, text service.

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user andrewg2177
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 12th, 2024
Verified purchase

I had no issues with Text Now. They are a good company.

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From the business

TextNow is on a mission to make phone service free, easy, and accessible to all by providing users with a free phone number, and unlimited calling and texting on the nation’s largest 5G network in the US and on WiFi. Founded in 2009, TextNow is the largest provider of free mobile phone service in the US, supported by advertising. We have offices in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Waterloo, Ontario and our app has been downloaded more than 250 million times globally. Our phone service helps more than 8 million people connect freely every month. For more information visit
https://www.textnow.com/

Company Representative

Thumbnail of user jasong1972
Jason G.
Typically responds within 3 days

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