“This used to be a decent app. but not anymore. The ads are ABSOLUTELY ridiculous and it makes the app unusable. You can't have a decent exchange through text without being bombarded with ads. I personally exit out of the ad and restart…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 1,187 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-06.
4.6 ★1,198,914 ratings
50M+Downloads
12+Age rating
230 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
TextFree is the first—and still the best—free phone number app. Join the hundreds of millions of people who use TextFree for free, unlimited calling and texting.
TextFree is easy to use and boasts a list of features you won’t get from other apps. Choose a local phone number with unlimited calling and texting. Send photos, videos, GIFs, audio messages, emojis, and PDFs. Custom ring and text tones make it easy to identify when your TextFree number is ringing, and custom wallpapers let you personalize your experience.
Need more features? Upgrade to TextFree Plus to remove ads and get unlimited access to verification codes for online accounts. You’ll also lock in your number so it won’t change or expire while you’re subscribed—unless you choose to change it yourself.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version v13.27 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version v13.27, updated 2026-09-24.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 13.25 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 13.27, updated 2026-10-02.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 13.25, scanned 2026-09-30.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
1–2 found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
10 or more found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 2
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Multiple ad networks bundled
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 11 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, BidMachine, Fyber / Digital Turbine Exchange and 7 more
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Raised by 41 distinct reviewers — 7.3% of the 559 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).
Context 1
Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.
Cheapest and priciest options are far apart
The disclosed in-app purchases span an unusually wide price range. Published as context: the cheapest and priciest items may be different kinds of product entirely, so the spread alone deducts nothing.
What we saw: In-app purchases run from USD 1.99 to USD 69.99 — a 35x spread across 10 items
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 1
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Reports that the ads misrepresent the app
Reviewers repeatedly report that the app is not what its advertising showed. We never see the ad creative itself, so nothing we collect can corroborate or refute this — it is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
What we saw: Misleading advertising: raised by 9 distinct reviewers (1.6% of 559 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“it's ok and good. It is Free to use. but the only issue is the ads are too much.”
“There are entirely WAY too many ads in this app starting WELL after installation, to the point where each click you make, an ad pops up. I'd be checking your server/platform for some form of malware or breach, unless you're intentionally…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version v13.27.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown10
Lowest$1.99
Highest$69.99
Text Free Plus Weekly$4.99
Text Free Plan Weekly$4.99
Text Free Plus Yearly$69.99
Text Free Plan$9.99
Remove Ads$2.99
Show 5 more purchases
Text Free Plus$9.99
100 minutes$1.99
400 minutes$9.99
1000 minutes$18.99
Voicemail to Text$2.99
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.