We've all seen criminal types using burner phones on shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad. And most of us have secretly wanted to throw a phone away or break it in half at the end of a conversation.

Unless you have reason to believe the NSA or FBI is interested in you, it's probably not something you need. However, there are all sorts of non-criminal reasons to have a second phone number. While you may want to get a physical burner phone for emergencies, you could also just get a fake burner app on your existing phone.

Why Use a Burner App?

In case you're not sure why you'd want a burner phone app (or you don't even know what a burner phone is or can do), here are some tips:

  • Online dating is more popular than ever, but it does carry certain risks, particularly for women. Using a temporary number app provides a valuable extra layer of privacy.
  • When buying or selling something on Craigslist or placing an ad anywhere, a disposable number means you don't have to deal with calls once your business is done.
  • If you're job hunting, you may be expecting a lot of calls from unknown numbers. It's good to know that these are related to your job search before you answer.
  • It's easier to tell if a call is a phone scam when only a few people know your fake phone number and the app has a good caller ID, too.
  • Perhaps you're moving to a different area or even a different country. In such cases, you might want to pick up a local number before you move.
  • If your job requires you to be on call or you run your own business, you'll want a dedicated number that you know to answer professionally and can ignore when you're off the clock, without having to carry two phones.
  • If someone is monitoring your calls and texts (like an abusive parent or partner), you can reach out for help using a temporary phone number they don't have access to, thanks to the app.

Whatever the reason you need a fake second number, keep browsing actual burner phones and the safest smartphones for privacy and security, while making the most of burner apps that can help. Here are some of the best temporary phone number apps around.

1. Burner

Burner certainly has the best name, and it's one of the best and most straightforward fake phone number apps available—as long as you live in the US or Canada.

It provides a VOIP phone number (with a local area code) that you can use for calls, text messages, and voicemail. The app gives you control over who can call you, and when you're done with a number, you can just burn it at the press of a button.

You can connect Burner to apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Slack, and SoundCloud to share or store items. In addition, this app might appeal to online daters thanks to its Ghostbot feature. This can give automatic non-committal replies to certain contacts.

Burner gives you a seven-day trial to test its full capabilities. After that, you can sign up for a premium subscription that gives you a permanent number with unlimited usage instead of a one-off fake phone number.

Download: Burner for Android | iOS (Free trial, subscription available)

2. Hushed

Hushed is much like Burner, but it has numbers for over 300 area codes in the US, Canada, UK, and Puerto Rico. It's the perfect app for multiple burner numbers, whatever your reasons for needing a fake phone number.

The app uses VOIP, so it won't eat into your minutes, but it will use your data allowance if you're not on a Wi-Fi connection. If needed, you can set it up to route calls through your own carrier.

It's free to use for three days, but only with selected numbers. After that, it costs $4.99 per month for one or up to three numbers with unlimited calls and texts. There are two other payment options depending on your prepaid or pay-as-you-go needs.

Numbers from countries other than the US and Canada are charged at different rates (from $2.99 to $34.99 per month) and get a set bundle of minutes, texts, and pictures, depending on the plan.

Download: Hushed for Android | iOS (Free trial, subscription available)

3. CoverMe

CoverMe puts an emphasis on privacy. As well as hiding your number, it allows you to make what it calls "military-grade encrypted phone calls" and store sensitive documents in its "impenetrable" private vault. If spam callers can use fake local numbers, you can go the extra mile to protect yourself.

Many of CoverMe's features, such as encryption of calls and texts and self-destructing messages, will only work if the other party also has the app. However, the app can still be useful for anyone wanting an extra layer of privacy.

It has temporary phone numbers from the US, Canada, UK, Belgium, Australia, and more. This is a burner phone number app that's completely free to download in addition to offering a three-day free trial of its premium package.

If you want more call, text, and security features on your plan, you need to pay for the right package to suit your needs, starting from $7.99 per month. After the trial, a premium account, the best temp phone number offer on the CoverMe app, costs an annual subscription of $29.99.

Download: CoverMe for Android (Free, subscription available)

4. Line2

Line2 is a business-oriented app that offers a second number on your existing phone and a host of other features such as call forwarding, auto-answering with pre-recorded messages, voicemail transcriptions, and even toll-free numbers.

You can even add multiple lines for different departments to your account as your business grows. It's especially suitable for individuals who want to keep their work and personal numbers separate.

It works as a temporary number but is really geared toward professionals who want a permanent second number. With the available Line2 desktop and mobile apps, you can make calls and send texts from a Mac or PC as well.

There's no free trial, so you need to subscribe. But you do get a 30-day money-back guarantee in case this temporary phone number app doesn't meet your expectations.

Download: Line2 for Android | iOS ($15.99 per month)

5. Sideline

Second Number Features on Sideline App

Sideline's standard plan allows unlimited calls and text messages, porting numbers to and from other services, optional VOIP calling, and more. You can also choose to use your own carrier or Wi-Fi for calls.

The pricing depends on whether you're a casual or professional user. There is a seven-day free trial, after which you pay a monthly subscription based on your plan.

In addition to the standard temp number features, you can get premium perks such as group messaging, separate caller ID, international calls for enterprise accounts, and custom signatures.

This really is a great fake phone number app for your business, so you can communicate with people all over the world and even organize your contacts for networking success.

Download: Sideline for Android | iOS (Free trial, subscription available)

These Burner Apps Get the Fake Phone Number Job Done

All the apps in this list will give you a second number to use as a burner phone, but they're each tweaked for a slightly different market. Which you use is largely up to personal preference and what you need the number for.

And if you want to keep your costs down while also getting a temporary phone number, you can also look into the many Android and iOS apps available that enable you to make free calls from a US number.