Upfront vs ongoing
How Much It Costs to Get a 1800 Number
Getting a 1800 number divides into two very different costs: what it takes to acquire one — nothing upfront on a standard plan — and what it costs to keep one — from $10 a month plus per-second call charges. Here is each, honestly.
- Nothing to pay upfront
- Plan from $10/month
- Call charges per second
Getting-started costs
Are there setup fees for a 1800 number?
On a standard number drawn from the availability pool, the cost starts at the plan — from $10 a month — with no separate connection fee quoted. Premium phonewords are the exception: their lease (and auction, for the strongest words) is part of acquiring the number itself.
What will I pay in the first month?
The plan fee plus whatever calls arrive, billed per second against per-minute rates. For most small businesses starting out, the first month lands close to the plan floor because call volume starts where your advertising starts.
Is it cheaper to get a 1300 number instead?
The plan pricing is the same from $10 a month; the formats differ in who pays for calls. On a 1300, callers contribute a local-style rate from fixed lines; on an 1800, you fund every call. The choice is a promise decision, not a price decision.
The cost of getting a 1800 number is really two costs wearing one question. Acquisition — the part "get" points at — is nearly free: search the pool, choose a standard number, connect on a plan. Continuation — the part most searches forget — is the ongoing commitment: the plan from $10 a month and every call you receive, billed per second. Splitting them makes the whole purchase checkable.
The acquisition cost
For a standard number, acquisition is three free-or-floor steps:
- Search the pool — free, no account: available numbers.
- Choose the number — standard patterns carry no premium. A phoneword does: word leases start at $40 a month on top of the plan, and the strongest patterns pass through auctions. That is a branding purchase, optional by definition.
- Connect and route — configuration on the plan, not a separate line item. Point the number at the phones you answer and it is live.
The only honest caveat: porting an existing 1800 from another carrier costs effort rather than fees, and the timeline depends on the losing carrier — the process is in how to get a 1300 number, which covers both formats.
The ongoing cost
This is where the real budget lives, and it is published:
- The plan — from $10 a month for a standard 1800.
- Call charges — every call received, per-second against per-minute rates. Volume-driven, forecastable from your enquiry rates; the table is on the pricing page.
- Optional add-ons — call tracking, IVR menus, recording — priced separately and worth adding one at a time.
The full ongoing picture, including what drives per-call spend, is in 1800 number cost, and the mechanics of why the owner pays at all are in how 1800 numbers work.
The decision, compressed
Upfront: nothing, unless you buy a word. Ongoing: the plan floor plus calls that scale with your own success. If that structure suits a free-to-caller promise for your customers, the format fundamentals are on 1800 numbers — and the search in step one is the same live pool, still free.
Start at the floor
Get your 1800 number
Search the live pool free, connect on a plan from $10 a month, publish the free-call line.