How TextNow Became the First $0 Phone Plan

TextNow, the only free phone service provider with unlimited talk & text, plus essential data, always had grand goals. When our CEO and co-founder, Derek Ting, first built the TextNow app in 2009, it was in response to the exorbitantly high rates for text messages at the time. When texting first came about, it was charged per text or per a set amount, making it easy to spend too much or not be able to communicate enough. As a college student, he didn’t have the means to pay for them. What he didn’t expect, though, was for the app he built to gain so much traction so quickly. He realized that expensive phone service was a universal problem, and he set out on a bigger mission – to make phone service free.  

What is TextNow?  

Over the last 16 years, the little app that was built in a college apartment is now a 200-person company with offices in Canada and San Francisco that services more than 8 million people monthly. What started as a free texting app now also has free international texting (to select countries), free calling, free international calling (to select countries), and free essential data.  

What is Free Essential Data?  

TextNow’s Free Essential Data is a data plan that allows you to access your TextNow app for unlimited calls & texts, as well as your essential apps, like email, maps, rideshare (Uber & Lyft) for $0/month, over a 5G network, nationwide.  

How do you get Free Essential Data?  

Unlike many traditional carriers, there are no qualifications, no credit checks, no temporary promotions, no wait-lists – anyone can get free phone service, anytime, for as long as they want. All you need is a TextNow SIM card (to connect you to the network, so you can use your apps without Wi-Fi) and a compatible phone.  

Once your SIM card is active, you can start using your essential apps (including TextNow!) whenever you’re without Wi-Fi, for as long as you want, without ever incurring a monthly bill – it’s essentially a $0 phone plan.   

What’s the catch with TextNow?  

You might be thinking that there is no such thing as free, that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Those are usually the right assumptions, but not in the case of TextNow. We truly believe in the mission to make phone service more accessible and more affordable, and the way we’re able to make that happen is through brand partnerships. We realized that if TV and music could evolve and become more accessible through an ad-supported model, then so could phone service. After all, that is more of a living standard need, so why shouldn’t it be as, if not more, accessible than your entertainment? 

 So how can we afford to give away this service for free? Well, we could have just put in ads and stopped there. But we didn't. We wanted to help people even more and so we kicked off TextNow Perks - a one-stop shop inside the app that lets brands reach out directly with discounts, promotions, or even free offers. Every week there are new updates so there is always something for someone, without any limits on how many offers you can redeem. 

But does Free Essential Data work?  

Still have reservations and questions? Don’t take our word for it, you can read what reviewers from Android Central, Tom’s Guide, or KTLA, to name a few, have to say.  

We’ve come a long way in 16 years, and still have a lot that we’re so excited to bring to you, so follow along here for more updates or check us out on our socials:  TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat.

If you have any questions or comments, send us a note at [email protected]!