Phone validation · Free phone validation API
Free tier
Free phone validation API, with the carrier included.
What free covers
100 checks a month. Every field.
Free covers a prototype and a small signup form. You outgrow it when the check runs on every OTP send.
Get your free API keyNo credit card required.
Check one number now.
No key needed. 5 free checks a day. Start with + and the country code.
Or try
Carrier on the free key
Line type, original carrier and SMS destination risk come back on a free key. US numbers also get the current carrier and the port flag.
A tier, not a trial
The free plan has no card on file and no end date. The 100 checks reset each billing period.
Same endpoint as paid
The free key calls POST /phone/validation like every paid key. When you upgrade, the quota changes and your code stays the same.
Which phone number lookup APIs have a free tier?
Free requests, card policy and the fields each free tier returns. Trueguard first, then the providers developers compare it with.
| Provider | Free requests | Card needed | Line type on free | Carrier on free | Risk signal on free | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trueguard | 100 a month | No | Yes, with fixed and non-fixed VoIP | Yes. US numbers add current carrier and port flag | Disposable history, SMS destination risk | $49.99 a month for 20,000 |
| Twilio Lookup | Formatting and validation free per request | No for the 30 day trial | Paid, $0.008 per request | Paid package | SMS pumping risk free in North America only | Pay per request, no minimum |
| Abstract API | 100 requests | No | Yes | Yes | Risk fields listed on the free plan | $17 a month, billed yearly, for 5,000 a month |
| Veriphone | 1,000 credits a month | No | Yes | Yes. Current carrier costs 10 credits | None | $12.99 a month for 10,000 |
| Numverify | 100 a month | Not published | Yes | Yes | None | $14.99 a month for 5,000 |
| IPQS | 1,000 a month, 35 a day | Not published | In the API, free plan scope not published | In the API, free plan scope not published | Fraud score in the API, free plan scope not published | $139.99 a month for 5,000 |
| Telnyx Number Lookup | $5 trial credit, once | No for the trial | Paid per query | Paid per query | None | From $0.0015 a query |
Free tiers and prices last checked: 2 November 2026, from each provider's public pricing page and docs. Vonage Number Insight is not listed because Vonage shuts it down on 4 February 2027.
Veriphone gives the most free volume: 1,000 credits a month with line type and carrier, and no risk signal. Abstract and Trueguard both put carrier and risk fields on a free tier of 100 requests. Above the free tier, Trueguard costs $2.50 per 1,000 checks on the Standard plan, and Abstract's Starter plan, billed yearly, costs $3.40 per 1,000.
Twilio's free lookup is real: formatting and validation cost nothing per request. Line type is a separate package at $0.008 per request, and the carrier is another package. If you need a free carrier lookup API, pick a provider that puts the carrier on its free tier.
How many phone numbers can you validate for free?
5 checks a day in the browser, 100 a month on a free API key, 20,000 a month on the $49.99 Standard plan.
Trueguard gives you 5 phone checks a day in the browser and 100 checks a month on a free API key. The checker on the phone validation page needs no account and no key, on a rolling 24 hour window. A free Trueguard account gives you the 100 monthly checks on the phone validation API, with no card, and the allowance resets each billing period. Both free tiers return the full response, so free limits the volume and keeps every field. Above the free tier, the Standard plan costs $49.99 a month for 20,000 checks, and each check after 20,000 costs $0.0025.
In the browser: 5 a day
Free API key: 100 a month
Paid: 20,000 for $49.99
Every API request counts against the quota, also numbers that come back invalid. Checks in the browser do not use your API quota. For the paid plans side by side, see the phone validation API pricing.
What one free check returns.
The full response from a free key, for a San Francisco number. No field is held back for paying accounts.
This number is a non-fixed VoIP line. Its range belongs to Lumen, and the number moved to Twilio, so isPorted is true and carrierType is cpaasVirtual. That is the kind of number one person can buy many of in a few minutes. A format check calls it valid. The line and carrier fields show what it is.
currentCarrier, isPorted and complaints90d come from US data, so they are null for numbers outside +1. Every field and enum value is in the phone validation API documentation.
{
"phone": "+14159929960",
"rawPhone": "+14159929960",
"validity": {
"isValid": true,
"isPossible": true,
"reason": null
},
"format": {
"e164": "+14159929960",
"international": "+1 415 992 9960",
"national": "(415) 992-9960"
},
"location": {
"countryCode": "US",
"countryName": "United States",
"callingCode": "1",
"region": "CA",
"city": "San Francisco",
"timezones": [
"America/Los_Angeles"
]
},
"line": {
"type": "voip",
"voipType": "nonFixed",
"smsCapable": true,
"originalCarrier": "Lumen",
"currentCarrier": "Twilio",
"isPorted": true,
"carrierType": "cpaasVirtual",
"mcc": null,
"mnc": null
},
"risk": {
"status": "safe",
"isDisposable": false,
"previouslyDisposable": false,
"isAbuseDetected": null,
"smsDestinationRisk": "low",
"complaints90d": null
}
}Free tier versus the paid plan.
Free covers 5 browser checks a day and 100 API checks a month. Standard covers 20,000 a month for $49.99. The response is the same on both.
Is the free check less accurate?
No. The free key runs the same lookup against the same numbering and carrier data as the paid plan. A paid plan buys more checks a month.
Where does the free tier stop?
At about three checks a day. That covers a prototype, an internal tool or a small B2B form. An OTP flow on a consumer app uses 100 checks in the first days of the month.
What can a phone validation API not tell you?
If someone answers the number. Trueguard reads numbering and carrier data and does not contact the mobile network. A valid number belongs to a real range for its country.
Your first free request.
Create an account, copy the key, send one POST. The same call in curl, Node.js and Python, with no SDK to install.
curl -X POST https://api.trueguard.io/v2/phone/validation \
-H "X-API-KEY: $YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"phone":"+14159929960"}'Questions about the free phone validation API.
Anything missing? Contact support or read the documentation.
Is there a free phone validation API?
Yes. A free Trueguard account includes 100 phone validations a month on the API, with no credit card. The free key calls the same endpoint as the paid plan and returns the same response, including line type, carrier, porting, disposable history and SMS destination risk.
Is there a free phone number lookup API that returns the carrier?
Yes. A free Trueguard key returns line.originalCarrier, the operator that holds the number range, and line.currentCarrier and line.isPorted for US numbers. The carrier fields are on the free tier, not in a paid add-on.
How many phone numbers can I validate for free?
5 numbers a day in the checker on the phone validation page, with no account. 100 a month on a free Trueguard API key, with no card. Above 100 a month, the Standard plan is $49.99 a month for 20,000 checks, then $0.0025 per check.
When does the free quota reset?
The 5 checks in the browser run on a rolling 24 hour window. The 100 API checks on a free Trueguard account reset each billing period.
What happens when I hit the free limit?
The Trueguard API returns HTTP 429 until the quota resets. Treat a 429 as no answer, not as a bad number. Let the signup through with a flag and alert yourself, so a real user is not blocked because your own quota ran out.
Does the free tier tell me if a number is in service?
No, and the paid plan does not either. Trueguard does not do an HLR lookup and does not contact the mobile network. A valid result means the number matches the numbering plan of its country and belongs to a real range. It does not mean that someone answers it.
Is 100 checks a month enough?
100 checks a month covers about three phone signups a day. That is enough for a prototype, an internal tool or a low-volume B2B form. An OTP flow on a consumer app goes past 100 in the first days of the month.
Do I need a credit card for the free phone validation API?
No. You create a Trueguard account, copy the API key from the dashboard and send a request. The free tier has no trial end date, so nothing starts to charge when you stop using it.
100 free checks a month, every field.
A free Trueguard account includes 100 phone checks a month with no card. The Standard plan is $49.99 a month for 20,000 checks, on the same endpoint with the same response.
Get your free API keyNo credit card required.
