If you have ever wished your phone had a second number — one for clients, one for family — the any call app idea sounds perfect. Download it, get a number, call cheap. In reality, these second-number and internet-calling apps are a mixed bag: genuinely useful for some people, a money trap for others, and at the center of a weird myth that they can earn you cash. This review sorts all of that out honestly.
The button above points to TextNow, a long-running second-number app on the official Play Store with over 100 million downloads — I’m naming it so you have one real, verifiable example to judge everything in this review against.
What a second-number app actually does
Strip away the marketing and the concept is simple. The app gives you a second phone number that lives inside software instead of a SIM card. Calls to that number ring through the app over your Wi-Fi or mobile data. You call out from that number the same way. Your personal Jazz, Telenor, Zong, or Ufone number stays private.
Who actually needs this? More people than you’d think. A freelancer on Fiverr who doesn’t want clients calling her personal number at midnight. A Daraz or Facebook Marketplace seller who posts his number publicly and regrets it within a week. Someone applying for jobs who wants a “professional” line on the CV. A student signing up for ten websites that all demand phone verification. If any of that sounds familiar, a second number isn’t a luxury — it’s basic boundary-setting. And if you only ever call family and close friends, you don’t need one at all. Your SIM plus WhatsApp already does the job.
Features that are actually worth something
Not every calling app delivers the same toolkit. Here is what separates a genuinely useful one from a dressed-up dialer.
A real, working second number
The core feature. You pick a number, people can call and text it, and it behaves like a normal line. Test this on day one: have a friend call your new number and confirm it rings. Some apps hand out numbers that only receive texts, or numbers that stop working after the “trial” quietly expires. If the number can’t take a plain incoming call from a Pakistani mobile, the app has failed its one job.
Voicemail that doesn’t waste your time
Decent apps include visual voicemail, and the better ones transcribe the message to text. That matters more than it sounds. Listening to a two-minute voicemail costs you data and patience; reading a transcript takes ten seconds. If you use the second number for work, this is the feature you’ll miss most when it’s absent.
Wi-Fi calling and honest international rates
Calling over Wi-Fi is where these apps earn their keep — especially when you’re roaming. A Pakistani in Dubai or Saudi Arabia paying Telenor or Jazz roaming rates for a five-minute call home will feel the difference instantly. The catch: international rates vary wildly between apps. One app charges pennies per minute to Pakistan, another charges ten times that. Check the per-minute rate to Pakistan before you top up credit, because topped-up credit is usually non-refundable.
If your main interest is just getting an extra line running on a single-SIM situation, it’s worth reading how people run a second phone number on one Android — the same logic applies whether you use a calling app or another method.
The pricing talk nobody gives you
Here is where calling apps get slippery, and where most bad reviews come from.
Almost every app advertises itself as free. What “free” usually means: free app-to-app calls (you call someone who also installed the same app), and sometimes a free number for receiving. Calling real mobile or landline numbers — the thing you probably downloaded it for — almost always costs money, either as pay-per-minute credit or a weekly/monthly subscription.
The trial trap works like this. You install, you get three or seven days “free,” and the app asks for your payment details up front “for verification.” You forget. Day eight arrives, and Rs. 1,500 or $4.99 leaves your account for a subscription you barely used. This isn’t unique to calling apps, but calling apps are repeat offenders. Two rules protect you: never start a trial with a payment method attached unless you set a phone reminder to cancel two days before it ends, and assume any price shown in dollars will feel worse in rupees.
Auto-renewal is the second trap. Some apps renew weekly — a weekly charge looks small until you multiply it by four. Before subscribing, open the Play Store listing, scroll to the subscription terms, and read the billing period. Weekly billing on a calling app is almost never worth it for a Pakistani user when WhatsApp calls are free.
Can it make you money? The short answer is no
Let’s kill this myth properly, because it’s the reason the competitor article this review responds to exists at all. No calling app pays you. Not for installing it, not for making calls, not for referring friends in any amount that matters.
The confusion comes from two places. First, some apps give you free calling credit for inviting friends — that’s a discount on their service, not income. Second, and more dangerously, scammers repackage ordinary calling apps with promises like “earn Rs. 5,000 daily just by receiving calls” or “get paid per minute.” The pattern is always the same: you pay a “registration fee” or “activation charge” through Easypaisa or JazzCash, and then the earnings never arrive. Sometimes they ask you to forward OTP codes, which means your number gets used for fraud.
The rule is blunt and has no exceptions: money flows from you to the calling app, never the other way. If anyone tells you otherwise — a YouTube video, a WhatsApp forward, a Facebook ad — they are either mistaken or running a scam. There are real ways to earn online in Pakistan, but a second-number app is a phone bill, not a paycheck.
Picking one without regrets
If you’ve decided a second number is worth it, choose carefully. This checklist takes five minutes and saves most headaches.
- Permissions: contacts and microphone access are legitimate — the app can’t function without them. Be suspicious if it also demands SMS access, location, camera, or device administrator rights with no clear reason.
- Reviews, sorted by recent: ignore the five-star wall. Read the one- and two-star reviews from the last month. If twenty people say “charged me after the trial,” believe them.
- The Pakistan test: check the per-minute rate to Pakistan and whether the app’s numbers can receive verification SMS from Pakistani banks and services. Many virtual numbers get blocked by banks — test with a non-critical service first.
- Who’s behind it: a company with a real website, a support email that answers, and years on the Play Store beats a no-name app uploaded three months ago with 10,000 downloads.
- Cancel path: before paying anything, confirm you know how to cancel — Play Store > profile > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions. If cancellation requires emailing support, walk away.
One more practical note: if part of why you want call features is keeping records of important conversations, look into tools built for that job instead — for example, apps that record WhatsApp calls handle a different need than a second number does, and mixing the two up leads to buying the wrong app.
Verdict: install it or skip it?
Install one if: you need a public-facing number separate from your personal SIM — freelancing, online selling, job hunting, or signing up for services without handing out your real number. Used this way, a second-number app is cheap privacy, and that’s genuinely valuable.
Skip it if: you just want cheaper calls to family. WhatsApp, IMO, and your regular call package already cover that for free or nearly free. Also skip it if you’re hoping to earn money from it — that hope is exactly what the scammers are selling.
The honest summary: a second-number calling app is a tool, not a deal and not an income stream. Pick a reputable one, read the subscription terms like a contract (because it is one), test the number on day one, and cancel trials before they bill you. Do that, and the app does exactly what it promises. Skip those steps, and you’ll join the one-star reviewers warning everyone else.
Can the Any Call app really pay me money?
No. A calling app sells you a phone service — calls, texts, a second number. It pays nothing to its users. Any post or ad claiming an ‘any call’ app sends cash to your JazzCash or Easypaisa is a scam setup. The money flow goes one way: from you to the app.
Is there a free way to call Pakistani numbers?
Not usually. Most free tiers give you app-to-app calls and maybe a US number, but calling real mobile numbers in Pakistan normally needs credit or a subscription. The free calling you see in screenshots is almost always between two people using the same app.
Why do some calling apps say ‘free’ but still charge me?
It depends on the app. Some free second-number apps (TextNow is one example) are supported by ads, which is why they’re free. Others give you a short free trial and then charge weekly. Always read the subscription terms before the trial ends.
A calling app asked for my contacts. Is that safe?
Contacts and microphone access are normal — the app literally cannot place calls without them. Get worried if a calling app also wants your SMS inbox, camera, location, or device admin rights with no clear reason.
I only have one SIM. Do I need a second number?
If you need a public number for work that isn’t your personal number, a second-number app is the cheapest fix. If you only call family at home, you don’t need one — your SIM and WhatsApp already cover that.
How do I cancel a free trial before it charges me?
Cancel through the Play Store: open Play Store > tap your profile > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions, pick the app, and cancel. Do it before the trial ends, or the first charge goes through automatically.
