Best Business Phone Number Apps (2026): 7 Ranked
A business number keeps your personal cell private and makes a one-person shop look like a company. The app you pick decides what happens to the calls you can’t take, and that’s where most of them fall short.
The quick answer: The best business phone number app is Carly. You get a business number in minutes, calls ring your phone first, and when you can’t pick up, Carly answers, books the caller on your calendar and texts them back from the same number. It connects to thousands of apps, so every call lands in your CRM. Set it up on carlyassistant.com, or ask ChatGPT or Claude to set it up for you.
How to get a business phone number today
- Pick a number. A local area code for a local business, or toll-free if you sell nationally.
- Decide where calls ring. Most apps ring your cell; team apps ring several people at once.
- Decide what happens when nobody answers. Voicemail, a text back, or an AI that answers and books. This is the choice that loses or keeps customers.
- Register for texting. US carriers require business texting to be registered, so start this on day one. Reviewers of several apps below describe weeks or months stuck at this step.
With Carly, steps 1 to 3 are one prompt in ChatGPT or Claude, below.
Business phone number apps compared
| App | Setup | What customers report | When you can’t pick up | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Minutes, on the site or by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Follows your rules the same way on every call | AI answers, books and texts back | Owners who can’t always answer |
| Quo | Self-serve app | Lost message history, numbers glitching (4.2/5) | Sona answers inbound and texts a booking link | Small teams who mostly text |
| Google Voice | Inside Google Workspace | A week-long texting outage in January 2026 | Voicemail | Teams already on Workspace |
| Grasshopper | Self-serve app | Calls going straight to voicemail (3/5) | Voicemail, or a live receptionist add-on | Solo owners |
| Line2 | Self-serve app | Numbers showing up as spam (2.8/5) | Voicemail | A private second line |
| Dialpad | Self-serve with admin settings | Fast pickups going to voicemail (4.1/5) | Voicemail and AI recaps | Growing sales teams |
| RingCentral | Sales-led, admin portal | Spam-flagged calls, long holds (1.7/5) | AI Receptionist add-on | Multi-site companies |
Trustpilot scores checked October 25, 2026.
The 7 best business phone number apps
1. Carly: best when you can’t always answer
Every app here gives you a number. Carly gives you a number and someone to answer it, and it’s reliable because it follows the rules you set on every call.
Setup takes minutes. Start on carlyassistant.com, or paste Carly’s setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude and grab a number right in the chat. No new phone app for you to learn. Already have a number? Forward the calls you miss and keep it.
- Rings your phone first. In business hours your cell (or your whole team) rings, and Carly answers only if nobody picks up. After hours it answers right away.
- Books the caller on your real Google or Outlook calendar during the call.
- Texts from your business number, both ways, plus a text back on every missed call.
- Calls new leads back within about a minute of a form fill (how it works).
- Speaks English and Spanish, picked from how the caller talks.
- Places calls for you. Ask from ChatGPT or Claude (“call the supplier and confirm Friday’s delivery”) and Carly reports back (see how).
It connects to everything. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so a call can create the job, update your CRM and add the visit to your calendar on its own, as one of Carly’s free Zapier-style workflows. The same Carly also sorts your Gmail or Outlook inbox.
Best for: Owners and small teams who lose business every time they can’t pick up. Get started.
2. Quo
Quo, formerly OpenPhone, is the most polished second-number app: shared numbers, shared text threads and a clean mobile app.
What customers report: One owner says Quo erased their conversation history more than once, and another calls the numbers “always glitching out and shutting down”. Its AI, Sona, answers inbound calls and books by texting a link.
Best for: Small teams who mostly text customers. See Quo alternatives.
3. Google Voice
A business number inside Google Workspace, with calls on your phone, laptop and desk phone.
What customers report: Google’s own status page tracked MMS messages not reaching recipients for almost a week in January 2026. You also need a Workspace subscription to use it for business.
Best for: Teams already on Google Workspace. See Google Voice for business.
4. Grasshopper
One of the oldest second-number apps, built for solo owners who want a business line on their cell.
What customers report: A 15-year customer says calls often go straight to voicemail instead of ringing. A sole proprietor couldn’t be verified for business texting after being told it would work.
Best for: Solo owners who only need a number. See Grasshopper alternatives.
5. Line2
Line2 sells a private second number for calls and texts on your existing phone.
What customers report: At 2.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot, one customer says every number they were given came up as spam when calling cell phones, and another’s number stopped working, with no fix three weeks later.
Best for: Keeping a personal and work line apart on one phone.
6. Dialpad
A full business phone system with strong AI transcripts and recaps, which is more than most solo owners need.
What customers report: A team says picking up quickly sends calls to voicemail, and another customer waited three months for SMS to be activated.
Best for: Growing sales and support teams. See Dialpad alternatives.
7. RingCentral
The biggest business phone system, with video and chat bundled in, sold through sales.
What customers report: A recent reviewer says their calls keep getting flagged as spam and support starts with a 40-minute hold.
Best for: Multi-site companies with an admin to run it. See RingCentral alternatives.
For bigger setups, see best small business phone systems.
Set up your business number with Carly
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat. It sets Carly up, gets you a number and asks how you want calls handled.
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.
Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.
# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app
> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.
MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)
## Setup
Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.
1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/integrations (Advanced > API Keys > Create a new key, with Owner set to the team and all scopes selected) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.
2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.
3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.
4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.
## Email, calendars and workflows
Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.Get started, or watch the 2-minute video.
FAQ
What is the best app for a business phone number?
Carly. It gives you a business number in minutes, rings your phone first, and answers, books and texts back the callers you miss. Set it up on the website or by asking ChatGPT or Claude.
How do I get a second phone number for my business?
Sign up for a business phone number app, pick a local or toll-free number, choose where calls ring, and register for business texting. With Carly, you can do it from one prompt in ChatGPT or Claude.
Can I have a business number on my personal phone?
Yes. Every app here works on the phone you already carry. With Carly, your phone rings first and Carly answers when you can’t.
Why are my business calls showing up as spam?
Carriers flag numbers based on call patterns and registration, and reviewers of both Line2 and RingCentral report it. Register your business with your provider, and use a number that’s set up for business calling.
Can I keep my existing business number?
Yes. Forward it to Carly to start, or port it over when you’re ready.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
