Free Business Phone Numbers: Best UK Free Trials and Low-Cost Options

Free business phone numbers in the UK are usually only “free” in one of three ways: as a short free trial, as an included number inside a low-cost virtual phone or VoIP plan, or as a freephone number that is free for your callers rather than your business.

For most UK businesses, there is not a genuinely free, business-grade phone number with unlimited ongoing use and no trade-offs. In practice, the choice is usually between a free trial with limits or a cheap paid setup that stays predictable once your call volumes increase.

This is increasingly important as the UK’s Big Switch Off draws closer. If your business still depends on an old landline, it makes sense to choose a number that can also support a digital replacement before January 2027 and for a long while after.

If you already know you need a more comprehensive phone setup, compare our best cheap VoIP providers and our best business VoIP providers, too.

What Is Actually Free With a Business Phone Number?

A free business phone number is not usually a permanently free phone line. In the UK, it normally means one of the following:

1. Free for a trial period

• You get seven, 14 or 30 days to test the number and basic features.
• This is useful if you want to check call quality, routing and ease of setup before committing.
• It is less useful if you are searching for a long-term zero-cost solution, because the monthly charge starts once the trial ends.

2. Free to receive calls, but not to make them

• Some providers let you receive inbound calls through an app or VoIP user at no cost.
• That does not mean outbound calls are included.
• If your team makes lots of outbound calls, a “free” number can become worse value than a cheap unlimited-calling VoIP plan.

3. Free for the caller, not for the business

• 0800 numbers can be a smart choice for customer service or lead generation.
• But they are only “free” from the caller’s perspective.
• Your provider will still charge your business monthly fees, inbound usage or both.

4. Included with a paid virtual number or VoIP plan

• This is the most common setup for UK SMEs.
• You pay a low monthly fee and your provider includes a local, national or sometimes freephone number inside that package.
• If you need a number that can still work after the Big Switch Off, this is often the more practical route.

Best Free Trial Business Phone Number Providers in the UK

1. My Business Number: Best 30-day free trial for simple call handling

My Business Number is the most convincing “free for now” option we found if you want a proper business-facing number without putting a card down upfront.

Its pricing page says the first 30 days are free, with no upfront costs and the ongoing package then costs £5 per month. That entry package includes your first geographic 01/02 number or 033 number.

What makes it useful is that the service feels more like a small virtual phone system than a simple forwarding number. The provider lists features such as:

• Voicemail to email
• Call whisper
• Call groups
• Call stacking
• Announcements and IVR-style menu

There are limitations, though:

• The free trial is inbound-only: The provider states that no outbound calling is provided during the trial.
• Extra features and users add cost: Many extras are listed at £1 per month, while some other items cost £2 per month.
• Porting your existing number costs more: My Business Number lists this at £20.

A useful wrinkle is that My Business Number’s first VoIP/SIP user is free for the first month and then costs £1 per month. That means the cheapest ongoing route is still not truly free, but it can stay very low if you mainly receive calls over the internet.

Best for: Start-ups, sole traders and small service businesses that want to test a business number fast and keep monthly costs tightly controlled.

Not suitable for: Teams that need outbound calling from day one or want a more established, fully featured cloud phone provider.

2. Number People: Best free trial for flexible, low-cost call forwarding

Number People is the strongest option here if you want more than one way to keep costs low.

Its pricing pages promote a 30-day free trial, no contract and no card details required. After that, you can choose the cheapest no-contract setup that matches how you actually answer calls:

• Call Forwarding plan (£3.50 per month)
  • A local or national phone number where you can send calls through to any landline or mobile number.
• VoIP plan (£4.50 per month)
  • A local or national phone number, you can make and receive calls through its VoIP app or a compatible device.
• Forwarding & VoIP plan (£6 per month)
  • A local or national phone number you can make, receive and forward calls with.

That flexibility is useful because many businesses do not need the same thing:

• If you simply want calls routed to a mobile or landline, the £3.50 forwarding plan is cheaper.
• If you want to receive and make calls through an app or compatible device, the £4.50 VoIP plan is more logical.
• If you need both, the £6 combined plan gives you that without forcing you into a much larger UCaaS contract.

Number People includes a 60-minute bundle with each number or VoIP user, which makes its entry pricing feel more practical than some trial-based rivals.

Each plan also comes with free features: Time-based call routing, customised call whisper to identify who is calling, call groups, and call blocking.

The main trade-offs are:

• It is only free for the trial period.
• Forwarding costs still matter: The provider highlights rates from £0.01.5 per minute to UK landlines and £0.07 per minute to mobiles on its site.
• Features can raise the real cost: Number People sells extra virtual-number features separately, with add-ons promoted from £1.50 per month (such as additional numbers/users, voicemail to email and call recording).
• Support is limited to office hours: The help page lists Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

One advantage over a simple “free number” offer is that Number People gives you a cleaner path from a basic trial into a longer-term paid setup. It also supports number porting, and its FAQ states that most numbers cost £20 to port in.

See its pricing, call bundles and number porting pages.

Best for: Very small businesses that want the choice between cheap call forwarding and cheap VoIP, rather than being pushed into a bigger phone platform immediately.

Not suitable for: Businesses that need 24/7 support or want unlimited calling built into the cheapest plan.

3. Voipfone: Best if you want a genuinely free incoming test number first

Voipfone is the closest example we found of a genuinely free incoming business number, but there is a catch: the free trial number is an 056 internet telephony number, not a standard local or national business number.

On its prices page, Voipfone says you can try the service for free without risk or commitment. Its number guide says new users receive a free incoming 056 number when they sign up.

That makes Voipfone relevant for this page because it is one of the few providers where a number really is free to start. But the limitation is obvious: an 056 number does not look as familiar or locally established as an 01, 02, 03 or 020 business number.

If you decide to stay with Voipfone and build a more normal setup, the provider says business customers can add:

• Telephone numbers from £3
• Telephone extensions from £2 per month

That means Voipfone is better treated as a low-risk test route than a perfect “free business number” answer.

The advantages are:

• A genuinely free incoming number to test with
• No risk-or-commitment positioning on the trial
• A modular, add-what-you-need pricing model if you continue

The drawbacks are:

• The free number type is unusual for mainstream business marketing
• You will still need to pay if you want a more standard UK business number and extensions
• It is not the simplest route for buyers who just want a normal local or national number immediately

See its prices and number guide.

Best for: Businesses that want to test an incoming business number with minimal risk before choosing a more conventional long-term setup.

Less suitable for: Businesses that want a familiar-looking 01, 02, 03 or 020 number from day one.

Best Low-Cost Business Phone Number Alternatives in the UK

If you have already decided that a trial or “free” number is too limited, these are the low-cost options that make more sense for long-term use (and are often cheaper when you consider the minute allowance restrictions and feature add-on costs associated with the above accounts).

Virtual Landline: Cheapest number-only alternative

Virtual Landline remains the cheapest, straightforward paid option for a business number. Its tariffs start at £4.50 per month for a Starter plan, with higher pricing for different number types and usage levels.

We tested it in our most recent VoIP platform assessments and found it to be a simple platform.

Its desktop app allows you to make contacts easily and call them, although that’s pretty much it (you can’t add any additional notes about contacts, use video calling or have nifty AI transcription or monitoring features, as some more expensive VoIP systems offer). Still, if calling is all you need it for, then it works perfectly well.

This is a better fit than a free trial if:

• You mainly want one professional business number
• You do not need a full multi-user VoIP platform yet
• You want something clearer and more stable than trial-based pricing

bOnline Starter: Best cheap option if you want a real VoIP line behind the number

bOnline Starter costs £7 per user, per month (+VAT), and includes a digital phone line and number, plus unlimited inbound calls and 100 outbound landline minutes. It also promotes a seven-day free trial with no card and no commitment. See its pricing.

We tested bOnline in our most recent VoIP assessments and found its system incredibly simple to use across its web app, mobile app and desktop app. Like Virtual Landline, there is a discrepancy in the amount of features available between the web-app and the desktop app, plus some features have add-on costs, which can add up fast.

Overall, we’d say it is the stronger buy if your number is part of a bigger goal:

• Moving away from a legacy line before the Big Switch Off
• Adding call handling features such as business hours, voicemail logic and queues
• Giving several people a cleaner way to answer calls

Google Voice Starter: Best if you already use Google Workspace

Google’s Voice Starter plan costs $10 per user, per month, and supports up to 10 users, but it is an add-on to Google Workspace rather than a standalone cheap number. Google says Starter includes voicemail transcription, call forwarding and calls to most European countries from within Europe. You can see this on Google’s Voice pricing page.

The catch is that you also need Workspace. Google’s UK Workspace pricing starts at £5.90 per user, per month on annual billing for Business Starter. However, if you know Google, that means it opens up to you using its whole suite of easy-to-use, business-ready tools, including AI smarts via platforms like Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet and Chat.

This is not the cheapest total-cost option, then, but it can still be a great value choice if your business already runs on Google tools (or you want to connect your calls into a business-ready workspace system for minimal cost).

How To Choose a Business Phone Number Before the Big Switch Off

Choose the number type first

• Local 01/02 numbers are best if you want to look rooted in one town or city.
• 03 numbers are better if you sell nationally and do not want to be tied to one region.
• 0800 numbers make sense when you want to remove the cost barrier for callers.

Work out whether you mainly receive or make calls

• If you mostly receive calls, a low-cost forwarding or inbound-focused setup can work well.
• If you also make a lot of outbound calls, check the minute limits carefully.
• A cheap “free-entry” number can become worse value than a paid unlimited plan once outbound use increases.

Check the real ongoing cost, not just the trial

• Look at monthly fees.
• Check forwarding rates and outbound bundles.
• Watch for VoIP user charges, porting fees and paid features such as recording or IVR.

Think beyond the first month

• If your current line still relies on old landline infrastructure, the trial should only be the start.
• The better question is whether the provider can still work once you need a proper digital phone setup before January 2027.

How We Chose the Best Free Business Phone Number Options

For this page, we looked for UK providers that met at least one of these tests:

• They offer a free trial with a business number
• They offer a genuinely free incoming number to test with
• They keep ongoing monthly costs low enough to be a realistic alternative once the free period ends

We prioritised:

• Clear public pricing
• UK number availability
• How much is included during the free period
• How quickly the real cost rises once you start using the service properly