Top 8 Vanity Phone Number Providers in 2024 (Ultimate Guide)
Vanity phone numbers are custom-made local or toll-free phone numbers that either spell out a word or are otherwise memorable in some way. If you can remember the phone numbers of businesses from popular advertisements, chances are high that they are vanity phone numbers.
These phone numbers are not just memorable because of the catchy tunes to which they are sung. They also use catchy numbers such as 800-Get-Cars or easy-to-remember digits such as 1-800-555-5555. They are not only easier to recall but also lead to greater brand visibility.
You can get vanity phone numbers either as a standalone service or from services that offer virtual phone numbers.
In this guide, we’ll discover the 8 best providers of vanity phone numbers, give you guidelines on how to choose the best service for your business, and answer a few frequently asked questions along the way.
Best Vanity Phone Number Providers
1. RingCentral
Best Overall Provider of Vanity Phone Numbers.
RingCentral is an office phone system that lets users add toll-free local and vanity phone numbers from over 200 area codes. Users can add additional numbers from the admin panel, set up extensions and call-forwarding rules, and manage number porting.
The system also offers an auto-receptionist feature, shared lines, and automatic voicemail transcription. It comes with a robust feature set for advanced call management that includes agent presence status, call screening, call flipping, and call parking. And you also get well-designed mobile apps for both Android and iOS.
The call log reports give you a complete record of all incoming and outgoing calls. These call logs include details such as caller names, call length, date and time, dialed extensions, and so on.
With the voicemail-to-text feature, you can opt to receive all voicemails in text and read the messages on your desktop or mobile phone. The call management features also help you to optimize your call routing by sharing presence data, forwarding calls, and creating answering rules.
Pricing
RingCentral is priced based on the number of users. There are four plans that range in price from $19.99/user/month to $49.99/user/month.
Within each service plan, users get a set number of toll-free minutes, with the option to purchase more minutes as necessary. The vanity phone numbers come with a one-time setup charge of $30 and each number costs $4.99/month.
Pros
- Comprehensive feature set
- Sleek, intuitive user interface
- Great mobile apps for both iOS and Android
Cons
- Could be excessive for small teams
- Vanity phone numbers are expensive
- You have to pay for advanced features
2. Grasshopper
Best Vanity Phone Number Provider for Quick Setup.
Grasshopper is specifically designed to allow small businesses to be available to customers 24/7 without having to be “on-call” at all times. It is one of the easiest vanity phone number services to set up.
Features like access to both a live Ruby Receptionist agent and virtual auto attendants, as well as automated instant message responses for missed calls, help ensure that there will always be someone on hand to respond to your customers.
Grasshopper also allows you to port your existing vanity phone number for free. Users can search available vanity numbers with the 877, 1800, 866, 855, 888, 833, and 844 prefixes with the number lookup tool.
Its phone number tool lets you choose a custom vanity number that is toll-free. If you prefer, you can pick a local area code and have the system generate a number automatically.
One way in which Grasshopper is especially unique is that you get unlimited business text messaging when you sign up for a Grasshopper phone number. You get voicemail-to-text transcription, and you can have the transcripts emailed to multiple people if necessary.
To set up your call handling features quickly, add employee phone numbers. By doing this, all incoming calls get routed automatically to the next available agent. This means that your callers never get a busy signal.
Grasshoppers also offer three different reports that can help you analyze and discover the type of calls you get (from voicemails to hangups), average call legion, or which extensions are most often used. These reports include a usage report, an activity report, and a detail report.
Finally, you get mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows devices.
Pricing
Grasshopper offers plans that range in price from $26/month (for a single user) to $80/month (for five users and unlimited extensions), billed annually.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Great value for money
- A fantastic option for smaller teams
Cons
- Offers limited vanity numbers
- No professional voice greeting
- Does not offer enough functionality for larger teams
3. Phone.com
Best Vanity Phone Number Provider for Mix & Match Plans.
Phone.com is a business communication platform that provides local, international, vanity, and toll-free phone numbers with calling plans and over 50 features. It is unique in that it allows you to mix-and-match plans. So, you can put some employees on an unlimited plan and others on a metered plan.
Phone.com helps you encourage website visitors to connect with you by embedding a click-to-call button on your website. When a visitor clicks the button. Phone.com makes an outgoing call to the visitor’s phone.
There’s also a dial-by-name directory that allows callers to enter your employees’ first or last name to get an extension to reach them. Or you can choose to add a personal touch by recording your name.
The text-to-greeting function lets you select a custom message, then choose from over 40 automated voice personalities to deliver the message to your callers.
Phone.com issues frequent and regular software and feature updates. It provides 24/7 tech support, works with several carriers, and uses several POPs to offer the highest call quality possible.
Users can create dialing rules from the browser-based control panel. The platform supports audio conferences with up to 500 participants and supports selective automatic call recording.
Pricing
Phone.com is available in three pricing plans that range in price from $10.39/user/month to $23.99/user/month. The base plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros
- Plans are very flexible
- Entry-level pricing is low
- Setting up multiple numbers at once is easy
Cons
- The interface is old-fashioned
- The limited plans can be expensive
4. eVoice
Best Vanity Phone Number Provider for Free Voice Greetings.
eVoice is a virtual phone system that offers local and toll-free vanity 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888 phone numbers for your business.
Users get over 30 features with this service, including call routing, advanced calling rules, call management, and video conferencing.
You also get free professional greetings recorded in a studio. You can choose from a variety of professional audio styles with male or female voices in English (US or UK), Spanish, Italian, Irish, or French Canadian.
Companies who aren’t yet sure whether or not they need a vanity phone number will find the 30-day money back guarantee helpful. This guarantee allows you to create your first vanity phone number for free and test out all its features before committing fully.
Users can also create their own internet phone numbers. So, you can have multiple business numbers in several area codes, all with the same eVoice account.
With internet phone numbers, you can have dedicated phone numbers for each department or customer service, just like established companies have. So, you won’t have to give out your private phone number. No matter what device you make calls from, eVoice will only show your business phone number.
eVoice is compatible with any phone and has iOS and Android apps. You get the option to port toll-free numbers to and from the system if needed.
There’s also the recently-debuted eVoice Meet, which is a fully encrypted, download-free video conferencing software. It is currently available for free.
Pricing
eVoice’s plans start at $14/month for one user, which comes with 30,000 minutes. All plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee.
Pros
- Mobile apps available
- Pricing is affordable
- Live receptionist functionality available
Cons
- Requests for vanity phone numbers can take time
- The feature set is basic
- The interface is dated
5. AVOXI
Best Vanity Phone Number Provider for Mid- to Large-scale Companies.
AVOXI is a virtual business phone number service that offers toll-free vanity numbers, non-geographic numbers, local numbers, and UIFN (Universal International Freephone Numbers) in over 170 countries.
Popular phone number prefix include 800, 833, 844, 855, 866,877, and 888 numbers. AVOXI also provides DID numbers.
AVOXI is a great fit for any medium-sized or large enterprise looking for a virtual phone number solution that also offers a robust feature set. Even if VoIP telephony isn’t your major communication channel, you will still find this solution useful. Even companies with a global presence will find it useful.
AVOXI also offers a complete contact center platform. This makes it a great option for companies that need more advanced inbound/outbound calling features like CRM integrations, custom dispositions, and more. You get a free trial of the contact center platform when you buy a virtual phone number.
In addition to creating new vanity numbers, you can also port in your existing ones from other systems. There are no setup fees and AVOXI does not require users to sign up to long-term contracts.
Each AVOXI plan includes more than 20 VoIP caller features such as call logging, a virtual audio attendant, and voicemail-to-email.
Other features include SMS text messaging, hold music, unlimited storage, custom greetings, ACD and IVR, customizable ring rules, round-robin and time-based call routing, customer caller ID, global audio conferencing, and so on.
Pricing
AVOXI comes in two plans: AVOXI Contact, which costs $19.99/user per month, and AVOXI Enterprise, which is priced at $39.99/user/month.
Pros
- Fair, kind, and competent customer support team
- Stable and easy to use
Cons
- No calls from mobile
6. FreedomVoice
Best Virtual Phone Number Provider for Small Businesses That Need Unlimited Extensions.
Designed for small businesses, FreedomVoice offers 800 or local numbers with area codes or prefixes like 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888. All plans come with unlimited SMS and a vast range of call management features.
With FreedomVoice, you don’t have to invest in expensive equipment; the platform is designed to be operated and managed directly from your smartphone. So, you get a mobile app that allows you to track the usage of your business lines.
One area in which this platform stands out is extensions. All accounts come standard with 10 extensions. But adding unlimited extensions with voicemail and call forwarding is easy.
You also get a virtual attendant, as well as voicemail and fax options. You can have voicemails transcribed and sent as text messages or emails. Faxes can also be sent to your email address.
The call management features include after-hours greetings, call routing, dial-by-name or company directories, ring groups, and call queues.
Pricing
FreedomVoice is priced based on the number of minutes you need per month. The plans start at 400 minutes per month which you can get for $9.95/month. Beyond that, you can pay $19.95/month for 1200 minutes and $29.95 for unlimited minutes. Extra minutes cost 3.9 cents/minute.
Pros
- Supports unlimited extensions
- Ideal for larger teams
- Wide range of prefixes available
Cons
- The feature set is limited
- UI intuitiveness can be improved
7. 800.com
Vanity Phone Number Provider with the Best Selection of True 800 Numbers.
800.com primarily provides toll-free numbers for businesses in the US and Canada, but it also boasts a few basic calling features. With the handy toll-free number picker on the website, you can choose from 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888 numbers.
All 800.com plans come with the same features such as an auto-attendant, call recording, call forwarding, caller ID, blocking, call notes, simultaneous ringing, sequential ringing, and call notifications.
Users can also port in existing vanity phone numbers from other providers. The platform offers voicemail transcriptions, sending them to your email or via SMS text message. Calls can be forwarded directly to users’ smartphones.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $19/month (billed annually) for one toll-free number and 1000 minutes and goes all the way up to $199/month for 5000 minutes, unlimited seats, and five toll-free numbers. Beyond the set number of minutes, extra minutes attract an overcharge fee.
For each vanity number, there’s a one-time setup fee of $35 while additional toll-free or local numbers attract a one-time setup fee of $25.
Pros
- Wide selection of numbers
- All pricing plans come with all features
Cons
- The feature set is limited
- Interface is clunky
- Monthly minutes are limited
8. Voxbone
A Remarkable Vanity Phone Number Provider with Great Global Coverage and Exceptional Service.
Voxbone is a cloud communications solution that provides businesses of all sizes with toll-free, local, national, and mobile phone numbers and a bunch of calling features. It has a global network covering 60 countries and lets you connect with customers in four continents with an ever-increasing number of area codes.
Its global coverage means that even without the internet, you can connect with customers and audiences, as well as expand your business into new locations without being hindered by communication gaps.
With Voxbone, adding new international and local numbers is instant. You purchase numbers effortlessly from the platform and you’re instantly ready to start accepting calls. You can also port your existing numbers to Voxbone.
Voxbone owns its numbers and global infrastructure. This is great news because it means that you can get the best return on your investment since it provides top-notch services on par with carriers, minus the hassle of complex carrier contracts.
Despite its global coverage, Voxbone still ensures complete compliance across jurisdictions where they offer SMS services. This makes it easy to communicate via text without having to worry about getting entangled in legal problems due to compliance issues.
Furthermore, you receive updates whenever a message recipient opens your message. The platform lets you send notifications to update customers with order confirmations, deliveries, arrivals, and billing.
Voxbone comes with a powerful speech analytics tool that can recognize and analyze messages in as many as 60 languages. The application can analyze the moods and tones of your callers and agents. Armed with this information, you can devise better approaches to dealing with customers.
Pricing
Pricing for Voxbone is quote-based.
Pros
- Excellent coverage in several countries
- Excellent service
- Easy integration to third-party systems
Cons
- Not available in regions like South-East Asia.
What to Look For in Toll-Free Service Providers
Asides from providing you with a toll-free number, a toll-free service provider can also offer advanced calling features and other support services that your business may need to grow. In this regard, a toll-free service provider can be seen as a business partner.
Beyond price, there are several other factors to consider when trying to choose a provider. If you don’t know what to look for in a toll-free provider, this part of the guide will help you make the right choice.
1. Number Availability
The recent surge in the popularity of toll-free numbers has made number availability a problem — especially when it comes to good numbers. The best providers should be able to offer you a wide range of choices so that you can find the best number for your business.
A good number will be:
- a vanity number that represents the key product of your business or service
- a number with a pattern or repetitive numbers
- something with several zeros
Numbers like these are the easiest to remember. Vanity numbers are also the easiest to brand (think 1 800 – FLOWERS). You’ll also want a provider that can offer a wide variety of international numbers so that they can accommodate you as you grow and expand.
2. Pricing
Your budget is another important consideration to make. Plans vary as widely as providers. Some may offer a lower monthly rate but you’ll likely be sacrificing some functionality for such low prices. Others may charge higher ongoing rates but offer cheaper calling plans.
At the end of the day, your budget will determine what your options are.
3. Features and Functionality
Having a toll-free number isn’t all that you need to grow your business. You’ll also need some advanced calling features such as call forwarding, call routing, and so on.
Most providers offer a suite of tools and features with your number. As with price, the features offered vary from provider to provider. But at the very least, you’ll want call forwarding, time-of-day routing, Interactive Voice Response, call recording, voicemail-to-email, and fax-to-email.
It is helpful to make a list of the features you need before you begin your search for a provider. Beyond these standard features, you may have to pay more for additional features.
4. Customer Service
No one hopes to have problems with their toll-free number. But just in case you run into any trouble, you’ll want to be sure that you can reach a knowledgeable and helpful customer service representative that can help resolve your issues quickly.
This is why it is important to consider customer support when choosing a toll-free service provider. To get an idea of what kind of customer service to expect from providers, you can look up reviews of the providers online.
There are several websites online that compare such services and they can give you some insight into what you can expect from each provider.
There are several factors to consider in your search for the best toll-free service provider for your business. But if you take the time to do your research, you will make the best choice in the end.
How We Determined the Top Vanity Phone Number Providers
For the criteria we used to develop this list, we took the following factors into consideration:
1. Pricing
The average price for the most popular plans of most providers’ offerings hovers around $20.00. So, to evaluate providers on this criteria, we simply asked, “how close is the price of the most popular plan to this average of $20.00?”
We also considered all calling plans and compared the prices of the package tiers to one another. We looked at discounts for annual billing, the availability of free trials, and free-trial lengths if they were available.
2. Number Control and Security
The best providers give users complete ownership of the numbers they purchase. We gave top marks to providers that allow users to port their numbers to and from other providers.
Additionally, we prefer providers that offer strong security and protection against port-out scamming, which is where a criminal takes control of your phone number by transferring it to their own carrier.
3. Number Availability
Providers that offer local, long-distance, and international numbers with all available prefixes are best as they present the best opportunity for growth without having to switch providers.
4. User Experience
We preferred providers with a well-designed, intuitive user interface and glowing, positive reviews, indicating high overall user satisfaction.
5. Feature Set
The basic features such as an automated attendant, voicemail, conference calling, and SMS messaging, are a must-have. Mobile and desktop apps are also important for improved overall functionality and ease of use.
Advanced features are also important. We considered free and paid features such as third-party integrations, international calling, video calling, and voicemail transcriptions.
Why Vanity 800 Numbers Still Matter in 2021
Vanity numbers are now much more prevalent and accessible than they used to be. So, you may be wondering, will getting one for your company still help you to stand out today?
You may feel that customers may see an incoming call from an 800 number and decline it, thinking it’s spam. You may also believe that customers just dial businesses from apps like Yelp and Google My Business these days anyways.
Besides, who needs to call a toll-free number when everyone gets unlimited local and long-distance calls on their phone plans these days?
These concerns are valid, but there are still a few reasons why your business will need a vanity phone number.
Improve Consumer Trust and Make Your Business Look More Legitimate
Since most businesses these days have one, customers may wonder why you don’t, and some may even take it to mean that you’re a fly-by-night operation out to dupe them of their hard-earned money.
Great for Marketing
Remember how easy it was to remember vanity numbers from popular commercials? Chances are that your customers will also remember your number in the same way.
Even without a catchy jingle, it will be much easier for customers to remember one or two words than a string of numbers.
Boost Customer Service and Agent Productivity
Moreover, vanity phone numbers often come with ancillary features that boost customer service and agent productivity. They allow you to keep your personal phone number private, work with any type of office phone or smartphone (which means that they do not require you to purchase expensive hardware), and allow your employees to work from anywhere.
Vanity Phone Number FAQ
A vanity phone number is a custom-made local or toll-free phone number that either spells out a word or is otherwise memorable in some way.
These phone numbers are memorable because they use catchy numbers such as 800-Get-Cars or easy-to-remember digits such as 1-800-555-5555. They are easier to recall and lead to greater brand visibility.
You can usually get a free trial for vanity numbers from most providers. Afterward, you can subscribe to a paid plan to continue using it.
Getting a custom 800 phone number is no longer the preserve of large companies. You can pick a vanity phone number in almost every toll-free prefix (800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, and 888).
In 1993, the FCC instituted phone number portability. This means that toll-free phone numbers are owned exclusively by the company that uses the number, not the service provider.
Prior to this, companies were tethered to their phone company and switching providers would mean serious disruptions to their business.
Now, your number can follow you wherever you go as you can transfer — or port — numbers from one carrier to another without losing all the equity you’ve built over the years of using your 1-800 number. It is a simple process that can be completed without any interruption to your service.
Once you’ve chosen your vanity phone number and are ready to activate it, activation is usually very quick. In most cases, your new vanity phone number will be ready to use within two hours of placing the order.
In fact, sometimes, your number might be ready to go in a matter of seconds. Choosing the right number is the hardest part of getting a vanity phone number.
You can set up several numbers to connect callers to the same phone line. You can also route callers through menu options using extensions. And you can have unique numbers for each product line or department.
Number brokering, as this practice is often called, is forbidden by the FCC. So, the answer is no, you can’t buy or sell an existing vanity number. You should avoid anyone who tries to sell one to you, too.