Burner Review

Burner is a second phone number app for iPhone and Android from Ad Hoc Labs, Inc. You sign up, choose an area code and call and text from the new number without sharing your personal one. The point of the app is that numbers are disposable: when a listing is sold, a date is over or spam starts, you delete the number and create a new one. Conversations stay separate per number, and you can block calls, filter spam texts, mute notifications and set quiet hours for who can reach you and when.

Burner's App Store page says texting needs Wi-Fi or mobile data and calls use your existing phone service provider's minutes. Numbers are available in the US and Canada (not Puerto Rico). Burner does not support emergency (911) calls or SMS short codes, so it will not receive many automated verification texts. The Premium plan adds video messaging, AI voicemail transcription, a VPN for phone, Mac and Windows, personal-info removal requests and reverse number lookup.

Burner sells two subscriptions. Buying on the web is cheaper than through the app stores.

All subscriptions include spam blocking, auto-reply, muting and blocking, and picture messages. The App Store page offers a 3-day trial with limited usage; the web pricing page says trials are offered when available, without a length. Burner credits buy prepaid numbers instead of a subscription; the App Store lists credit packs from $1.99 (3 credits). There is no free plan. Cancel where you bought the subscription; iOS refunds go through Apple.

Prices checked on the vendor's pricing page on November 12, 2026. See Burner pricing.

What Burner lists on its pricing page and App Store page:

Burner suits people who want short-lived numbers: a marketplace listing, a rental, online dating or a one-off project, where deleting the number is the privacy feature. The annual web price, $47.99, is one of the lowest for a paid second line.

Pick something else if you need: UK numbers or prepaid plans that do not renew (Hushed); one long-term number on phone, tablet and desktop browser (Line2); calls on your carrier network with a number you keep (Sideline); or a free number with ads (TextNow). More options with prices: Burner alternatives.

Burner has 4.7 out of 5 from about 94K ratings on the App Store (read November 12, 2026). The negative reviews shown there in November 2026 describe a version where messages appeared blank after an update, picture messages that did not arrive, and slow email-only support, plus refund friction because App Store purchases are refunded by Apple, not Burner. Burner says it has been featured by TIME, The New York Times, WIRED and TechCrunch.