What happened to Skype Numbers?
Microsoft retired consumer Skype on 5 May 2025. A Skype Number was the part of Skype that let ordinary phones reach you: a real number in a country you chose, ringing inside the Skype app. It ended with Skype, and Skype Numbers could not be kept in the free Teams app that users were moved to.
Microsoft offered a window to port a Skype Number to another provider. That window has closed, so if the number was not ported, it is gone. What you need now is a new number, and a way to tell the people who used the old one.
If what you miss is calling ordinary phones (Skype Credit), that is a different gap — see the Skype alternative for calling phones.
How a TwinPhone number replaces a Skype Number
- Sign up with an email or a Google account. No card and no phone number are needed to sign up.
- Rent a US or Canadian number from $3.19/month. It is yours while the rental is paid and renews at the same price.
- Add calling credit from $10. Incoming calls are paid from this balance at $0.02/min, with a one-minute minimum.
- Keep TwinPhone open in a browser tab, or stay signed in to the iPhone app, and give the new number to the people who used to call your Skype Number.
Calls ring in the browser and in the iPhone app over Wi-Fi or mobile data, in whichever country you are. Missed calls are emailed to you, up to three a day. Texts from US and Canadian senders land in the Messages inbox.
Calling out from the same number
Like Skype, the number can be your caller ID when you call out: pick it in the dialer's "Call from" menu. Calls to US and Canadian phones cost $0.02/min; calls to the other 145+ countries are billed per minute at the rate the dialer shows before the call connects. There is no subscription for calling — the only monthly charge is the number.
Skype Number vs a TwinPhone number
| Skype Number (ended) | TwinPhone number | |
|---|---|---|
| Still available | No — ended with Skype in May 2025 | Yes |
| Countries | Many countries | US and Canada only |
| Where calls ring | The Skype app | A browser tab or the iPhone app |
| Cost to answer a call | Covered by the subscription | $0.02/min from your balance, one-minute minimum |
| Text messages | Varied by country | Receive only, from US and Canadian senders; cannot send |
| Keep or cancel | Subscription | Monthly rental, cancel anytime in your account |
Telling people about the new number
Because the old number cannot be moved, plan the switch: put the new number in your email signature and on any website or profile that showed the Skype Number, and message the people who call you most. Calls to a US or Canadian number cost the caller whatever their own carrier charges for that country — for someone in the US or Canada it is a domestic call.
