Know your starting point
1800 Number: How to Get One
There are only two ways to get a 1800 number, and knowing which applies to you skips half the research: search the live pool for a new number, or port one you already hold. Both end at a plan from $10 a month with routing you control.
- Two paths, clearly split
- New numbers from $10/month
- Existing numbers port across
Getting questions
How do I get a new 1800 number?
Search the availability pool — free, no account — pick a number, connect on a plan from $10 a month, and set the routing destination. The whole path is online, and nothing is installed anywhere.
I already have a 1800 number — can I keep it?
Yes, usually. Existing 1800 numbers port between carriers, so callers notice nothing but the improvement. Start the port while the number is still active with the losing carrier, and schedule nothing else that day.
How fast can the number be live?
A standard number connects once the plan is in place — routing is configuration. A premium phoneword can take longer if it passes through an auction; porting timelines depend on the losing carrier.
Getting a 1800 number is a two-door process, and the doors never cross: businesses either search for a new number from the live pool, or bring an existing one across by porting. Deciding which door is yours takes one question — do you already hold the number you want? — and this page walks each path with its costs.
Path one: a new number
- Search the live pool. Every 1800 number connectable right now, with tier and lease prices — free, no account: available numbers.
- Choose the tier. Standard patterns from $10 a month; phonewords — word-spelling patterns — with premium leases from $40 a month, strongest words via auction. The trade-off is in 1800 vanity numbers.
- Connect and route. Pick the plan (the rate table is on the pricing page), point the number at the phones you answer, and publish. Routing is configuration — the behaviour once live is on the 1800 numbers product page.
Path one is complete in a single sitting, because the pool is a snapshot: check and connect together.
Path two: port an existing number
If a 1800 number is already in service with another carrier, porting keeps the digits and changes the carrier — callers notice nothing. The practical points: start the port while the number is active, expect the timeline to depend on the losing carrier, and schedule the cutover for a quiet hour. The porting steps and paperwork are the same family as the 1300 process, set out in how to get a 1300 number.
The costs, either path
The plan is the floor — $10 a month — and call charges are the variable: every call received bills per second against per-minute rates, because on the 1800 format the business funds the caller'"'"'s free call. Add-ons (tracking, IVR menus, recording) price separately and should each earn their keep. The full ongoing picture is in 1800 number cost.
The decision, compressed
New number or port, both doors lead to the same place: a national free-call line, routed to wherever you answer, from $10 a month. If the choice between the 1800 and 1300 formats is still open, settle it first — the comparison pages cover the promise each format makes.
Path one starts free
Search the live 1800 pool
See what is connectable today, priced upfront — the first step of either path is knowing the pool.