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TextNow has built its reputation on one promise: free phone service.
Download the app, grab a phone number, and start calling and texting for free.
For a lot of users, that pitch is hard to ignore.
But once you spend a few weeks actually using TextNow, a different picture emerges.
The free label is technically accurate in the narrowest sense. Past that narrow definition, the costs, limitations, and missing features tell a more complete story — one that TextNow doesn't put on its homepage.
Table of Contents
1. What the free flex plan actually gives you
2. Where the costs start adding up
3. iPlum: a better alternative to TextNow
4. TextNow vs iPlum: how they compare
5. The honest verdict on TextNow
What the free flex plan actually gives you
The Free Flex Plan is TextNow's base offering.
At $0 per month, it gives you unlimited calling and texting nationwide, plus 1GB of data reserved for a short list of essential apps — think Gmail, Google Maps, Uber, and Lyft.
That's it.
Full internet browsing? Not included. Streaming? Off the table. Social media on mobile data? No.
The Free Flex Plan is designed to cover the bare minimum, and it does exactly that.
To access anything beyond that short list of essential apps on mobile data, you need to pay. The free phone service TextNow advertises is accurate, but its scope is far more limited than most prospective users expect.
There's also the issue of ads.
TextNow funds the free plan through in-app ads. These ads appear regularly as you use the app. For personal use, that's a mild inconvenience.
But, for anyone using TextNow as a second phone number for work or client calls, ads in a communication tool create an unprofessional experience.
Where the costs start adding up
TextNow pricing follows a pay-as-you-go model once you move past the Free Flex Plan.
On paper, that looks flexible. In practice, however, the costs accumulate faster than you'd expect.
The SIM card fee
To use TextNow on a mobile network — and not just over Wi-Fi — you need a SIM card.
The TextNow SIM card costs $4.99 as a one-time purchase. Alternatively, iOS users can download a free eSIM directly through the TextNow app. Android users don't have that option yet.
If you order a physical SIM, you have to wait for it to arrive before you can connect to the T-Mobile network. For iOS users, the eSIM removes that inconvenience, but it's worth noting that the TextNow app still requires a download and account setup before any of this works.
Data passes
Once you activate your SIM card, you land on the Free Flex Plan by default. But accessing the full internet on mobile data means buying a pass priced as follows:
- Day Pass — $2.99 for 24 hours. Gives you 2GB of high-speed data, after which speeds slow down. No auto-renewal.
- Week Pass — $8.99 per week. Gives you 5GB of high-speed data before speeds drop. Auto-renews weekly unless you cancel.
- Unlimited monthly plan — $35.99 per month. Gives you 20GB of high-speed data, then continues at reduced speeds. Auto-renews monthly.
These are the only data plans TextNow offers. There's no middle ground between the bare-bones free tier and these paid options.
Now do the math.
A user who buys a Day Pass three times a week spends roughly $35–$40 per month — about the same as the Unlimited monthly plan. The Week Pass, auto-renewed across four weeks, costs $35.96 monthly. At that point, the "free" framing stops holding up.
The ad-free upgrade
Want to remove in-app ads? That costs an additional $9.99 per month. This fee is separate from any data plan you're already paying for.
A user on the Unlimited monthly plan who also removes ads pays $45.98 per month. Add the one-time SIM card fee, and the first month alone costs $50.97.
That's not a free phone service — that's a mid-range subscription with an unusually complicated fee structure.
Number lock-in fees
Some TextNow phone numbers — particularly premium or legacy numbers — carry a small fee to lock in permanently.
If you use a TextNow number for business contacts and want to guarantee you keep it, you may need to pay a weekly or annual lock-in fee. TextNow doesn't advertise this prominently, and the cost varies depending on the number.
Other TextNow shortcomings worth knowing
The pricing issues are only part of the problem.
TextNow has several functional limitations that make it a poor fit for anyone who needs reliable, professional phone service, including:
No family plans
TextNow doesn't offer family plans.
Each line needs its own separate account. If you want to put multiple lines under one plan — for a household or a small operation — TextNow can't do it. Every user manages their own account independently.
No HIPAA compliance
TextNow is not HIPAA-compliant.
Healthcare providers, therapists, medical administrators, and anyone handling protected health information cannot legally use TextNow for patient communication. There's no Business Associate Agreement available, no encrypted messaging, and no compliance framework of any kind.
No business features
TextNow was built for personal use.
It has no auto-attendant, no call recording, no voicemail transcription, no group texting, no broadcast messaging, no scheduled texts, and no text archiving.
Thus, a freelancer or small business owner who wants a second phone number with even basic professional features will find TextNow falls well short of those needs.
Inconsistent pricing
TextNow pricing varies by device, app store, and whether you're on a legacy plan. Two users on the same plan can end up paying different amounts.
That's a problem for anyone who needs to budget predictably.
Limited customer support
TextNow's only customer support channel is live chat through its support page or app.
There’s no phone support, email or dedicated account management. Therefore, if something goes wrong with your TextNow account or your calls, live chat is all you get.
Data deprioritization
TextNow uses the T-Mobile network, but as an MVNO, its users get deprioritized during network congestion. In busy urban areas, that means slower speeds at peak times — even on a paid unlimited data plan.
iPlum: a better alternative to TextNow
iPlum is a mobile-first phone system built for team management, security, and scale.
It gives professionals a dedicated second phone number with a full set of calling and texting features — and transparent, predictable pricing from the start.
Unlike TextNow, iPlum wasn't designed around a free-tier ad model. Instead, it was built for professionals who need a reliable, compliant phone service that works the way a business phone should.
iPlum's pricing plans
iPlum offers three plans, billed monthly or annually. That said, annual billing unlocks meaningful discounts as explained below.
Standard — $8.99/user/month
The Standard plan gives you a US or Canadian phone number with unlimited domestic calling and texting.
You also get a phone tree, voicemail, spam blocking, business hours configuration, auto-text reply, out-of-office settings, and a text signature — all from the iOS and Android app. A toll-free number is available for an additional $ 5 per month.
Annual billing drops the cost by 36%, making this one of the most affordable professional phone plans available.
Professional — $14.99/user/month
The Professional plan adds web calling and texting. You also get voicemail transcription, secure, encrypted texting, as well as group, broadcast, and scheduled texts. In addition, the plan includes text templates, text-to-email, business contacts, and 1 year of text archiving.
HIPAA compliance and a Business Associate Agreement are included at this tier — a critical feature for anyone in healthcare, therapy, or any regulated field.
Furthermore, clients get a free iPlum account to communicate with you securely.
Annual billing cuts the cost by 29%.
Enterprise — $25.99/user/month
The Enterprise plan is built for industries where compliance isn't optional — finance, insurance, healthcare, legal, sales, and support.
It adds call recording, recording consent announcements, and 10 years of recording and text archiving on top of everything in the Professional plan.
Annual billing reduces the cost by 16%.
Features included in every iPlum plan
Every iPlum subscription — at every tier — comes with the following features:
- Dual reliability calling (voice network or Wi-Fi/data)
- True caller ID
- Business hours setup
- Domestic calls and texts
- International calling and texting with global credits
- Multimedia messaging
- Phone tree and auto-attendant
- Call transfer
- Music on hold
- Cloud voicemail with email alerts
- Auto-reply text
- Do not disturb
- Number blocking
- BYOD compatibility
Global credits for international calling cost $20 for 2,000 credits. The REST API add-on costs $2 per month.
Here's how the two services compare on the dimensions that matter most to professionals and small business owners.
Pricing transparency
TextNow pricing includes a free base plan, optional data passes, an ad-free upgrade fee, SIM card costs, and potential number lock-in fees.
The total monthly cost depends on how often you need mobile data and whether you want an ad-free experience.
iPlum charges a fixed monthly or annual fee per user with no hidden fees or add-on surprises.
HIPAA compliance
TextNow offers no HIPAA compliance at any price point.
iPlum's Professional and Enterprise plans include full HIPAA compliance and a Business Associate Agreement — a legal requirement for healthcare communication.
Business features
TextNow does not offer call recording, voicemail transcription, audio transcription, group texting, scheduled texts, broadcast messaging, or text archiving.
iPlum's Professional plan covers all of these. The Enterprise plan adds call recording and 10 years of archiving for regulated industries.
Ads
TextNow's free plan shows in-app ads. Removing them costs $9.99/month in addition to your data plan. iPlum has no ads at any tier.
Customer support
TextNow offers live chat only. iPlum offers email support on the Standard plan, and live Zoom calls on the Professional and Enterprise plans.
Phone number options
TextNow gives you a free local phone number with area code selection. Keeping certain numbers requires a lock-in fee.
iPlum gives you a US or Canada number at every plan tier, with toll-free numbers available as an add-on. Phone numbers are yours as long as your subscription is active with no lock-in fees.
Wi-Fi and mobile data calling
Both services work over Wi-Fi.
iPlum, however, adds dual reliability — it allows you to switch between the voice network and Wi-Fi/data to maintain call quality. That said, TextNow's calling quality depends on your connection, with no fallback mechanism.
Multi-user access
TextNow does not offer multi-user or shared number features.
iPlum's Professional plan lets users share a number, which is useful for small operations where more than one person needs access to the same business line.
Here is a quick comparison table between the two:
The honest verdict on TextNow
TextNow works for what it is: a free app for casual personal use, a secondary phone number for low-stakes communication, or a short-term solution for someone who genuinely can't pay a phone bill right now.
The Free Flex Plan delivers on that specific promise.
The problem is the "free phone service" label that TextNow markets so heavily.
A user who needs reliable mobile data, an ad-free experience, and a permanent phone number will pay between $35 and $50 per month once all the add-ons are factored in.
At that price point, TextNow no longer competes on cost—and it still lacks the features professional users need.
For freelancers, healthcare providers, small business owners, or anyone who needs a second phone number that actually works like a business line, iPlum offers more at a lower total cost.
The Standard plan at $8.99/month gives you everything TextNow's paid tiers offer. You also get features that TextNow doesn't provide at any price.
The Professional plan adds HIPAA compliance, voicemail transcription, and encrypted texting for $14.99/month — less than TextNow's Unlimited plan alone.
Make no mistake, TextNow isn't a scam.
It's a free service with a narrow use case. Once you move past that use case, the costs and limitations make it the wrong choice — and iPlum is the right one.
Click the link below to get started with iPlum.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes and may not reflect the most current features or capabilities of the products or companies mentioned. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please refer to the official sources of each company.
