Global route
Broadest catalogue
The most services and countries, with published price options. Best when you need something unusual.
- Live price per country and service
- Every service in the catalogue
- Early cancellation can be refused
GUIDE / VERIFICATION NUMBERS
Explore verification numbers
Verification numbers are the simplest product in the market and the easiest to misunderstand. This page explains what a number is, what happens to it, and why cancellation is more subtle than it looks.
What a verification number is
A short-lived reservation on a mobile number, for one service, for one attempt.
When you register for a service with a phone number, that service sends a message with a code. A verification-number product rents you the receiving end of that exchange: a number is reserved, the message arrives at it, you read the code, and the reservation ends.
Three consequences follow, and they explain almost every question we are asked. The number is not yours afterwards. The number is tied to one service, so it does not work for anything else. And the reservation has a lifetime, so the code is a thing you read in a specific window, not a thing you come back to later.
Every number route works this way. A page that hides it is selling a misunderstanding.
THE THREE THINGS THAT VARY BY ROUTE
- Catalogue size
- How many services and countries are available, and therefore how likely the right combination exists.
- Price structure
- Some routes publish price options and buckets, others publish a single price per service and country.
- Cancellation rules
- Whether cancellation can be refused early, and what happens when the code arrives first.
The order, step by step
What actually happens between choosing a service and seeing a code.
- Choose a service and a countryThe catalogue defines the valid combinations. A service offered in one country may not be offered in another.
- Choose a route optionWhere several options exist, each has its own published price. A routing strategy name is a selection method, not a guarantee of speed.
- Receive a quote and confirm itThe price covers the exact selection you made and has its own expiry. If the price changes, you confirm again. You are never charged more.
- The number is reservedA number is assigned and your wallet holds the price. The countdown starts from the time the site gives, not from your own clock.
- Wait for the codeThe countdown comes from the server response. A message arriving is shown as received, and the code is copied with a single action.
- Request another code, or cancelBoth appear only when the order allows them. A cancellation that arrives too early is refused and your order stays active.
- SettleCharge, hold and release are separate, visible facts. A cancellation request is not a release, and a release is not a cancellation.
Why cancellation is subtle
Three things can happen when you cancel, and only one of them is the outcome you wanted.
| Outcome | What actually happened | What you see | What happens to the charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | The route accepted the cancellation before any code arrived | The order is marked cancelled | Settlement is then checked and released |
| Already cancelled | The order had already reached a cancelled state | The same cancelled state, shown once | Settlement is then checked and released |
| Code already arrived | The message won the race against the cancellation | The code is shown, not a pending state | The order is a successful activation and is charged |
| Too early to cancel | The cancellation arrived in the first moments of the order | The order stays active, with the time cancellation opens | The order stays active and is charged if it completes |
| Uncertain | The final state could not be read | A reconciliation state | Nothing is released or re-charged until the state is known |
A timeout on its own is never treated as evidence of cancellation. The final state is read from the route first.
Choosing between the three routes
They differ in catalogue, pricing and cancellation. Choose on the one that matters to you.
Express route
Best-documented rules
A smaller catalogue with the clearest states and the most predictable cancellation.
- Smaller catalogue
- Cancellation rules published
- No voice-call verification
Premium route
Not open yet
A third route with its own catalogue and rules. It is not open for ordering yet.
- No orders taken yet
- No price shown yet
- Own catalogue, separate from the other two
A number is not an account
Numbers and accounts are different products with different risks, different lifecycles and different refund rules. A number that has delivered its code has done its job; an account that has been delivered may be restricted tomorrow. The account routes and the number routes are documented separately for that reason.