While, many times, we intend to have certain pieces of our information public, we may not want certain people to have our phone number to protect our privacy. Fortunately, there are quite a few options to help us communicate without sharing our phone numbers with those on the receiving end. Here’s how to text or call people anonymously.

Use Hushed, Burner or Google Voice

Oftentimes you’ll need to have a conversation with someone you aren’t familiar with. You may want to use a different number than the one you usually use, but you obviously don’t want to carry around multiple phones. The solution? Get a second phone number (temporarily or permanently) with these apps.

Our Recommendations

Use Hushed or Burner. Burner and Hushed are great tools that work for many different uses. From online dating to selling items online, these apps are perfect for anyone who wants to keep themselves anonymous.

Burner does have a monthly fee of $4.99, but it comes with great support and a solid app that was rated one of the top 50 apps from Time Magazine. You can choose a number from a list of options after entering the area code that you’d like to use. Hushed is similar to Burner, however it costs half as much.

Another good choice is Google Voice. Google Voice allows you to create a number for calling, texting and receiving voicemails. One of the major benefits of Google Voice is that the service allows for use across multiple devices and platforms. Google Voice is backed by consistent updates, and it features syncing tools for those who use a lot of other Google services. Best of all, Google Voice is free. It’s not the most anonymous choice as it does tie into your Google account, but it is a great help for those who need a quick and reliable second number.

Use OpenTextingOnline

A common way of communicating anonymously is through websites that offer texting. Some of these sites require you to create an account, so choose the best site for you based on how much anonymity you need.

Our Recommendations

When focusing on privacy, you want to make sure that the site you’re using won’t sell your information. The only website that makes that promise front and center is OpenTextingOnline.

Just choose the country you are looking to send the text to, enter the phone number of the recipient, your email address (if you want to receive replies), then what you want to say, and you’re off to the races.

If you are looking to have a back and forth conversation, but still not give up your real phone number, consider Hushed instead.