Phone carrier lookup
Find out which carrier a US or Canada phone number is on, whether it's a wireless, landline, or VoIP line, and where it's registered — free, from public numbering data covering nearly every area code.
What a carrier lookup tells you
Enter a US or Canadian number and you get three things from public numbering records — never the owner's name, address, or live location:
| Assigned carrier | The number block's original assignee |
|---|---|
| Line type | Wireless, or landline / VoIP |
| Rate center | The local exchange it's registered to |
Original vs current carrier. We show the carrier a block was originally assigned to. If the owner ported the number to another carrier, the current carrier can differ — a free block lookup can't see porting, and only a paid, real-time query can. We'd rather say so than oversell a free lookup as live.
Why line type matters
Whether a number is wireless, landline, or VoIP is often more useful than the carrier name itself:
- Spam and scam context — a large share of robocalls and spoofed calls come from VoIP numbers, which are cheap to get and easy to discard. A VoIP result on an unexpected call is a small yellow flag, though plenty of legitimate services use VoIP too.
- Business texting and SMS — messaging platforms treat wireless, landline, and VoIP numbers differently; texting a landline that can't receive SMS silently fails, so senders check line type before a campaign.
- Reaching a real person — a wireless line is more likely to reach someone directly than a landline or a routed VoIP number.
Caller ID can be spoofed and numbers can be ported, so treat line type as a signal, not proof. Check a specific number to learn more than the area code or line type alone.
How carrier lookup works
Every North American number breaks into an NPA-NXX — the 3-digit area code (NPA) plus the 3-digit prefix (NXX) — and often a 1,000-number block within it. Carriers apply for these blocks through the numbering system, and the allocations are published as public data. NANPA (the North American Numbering Plan Administrator) oversees area codes and prefixes; the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) tracks numbers that have been ported between carriers.
This tool matches your number to the carrier and line type recorded for its block, with coverage across nearly every active US and Canadian area code. Because it reads the original block allocation rather than a live network query, it's exact for numbers that haven't moved and a best guess for ported ones — all from the public NANPA data behind the rest of areacode.fyi, free and with no key.
Carriers by area code
See the carriers and wireless/landline mix for popular area codes: 212 · 213 · 312 · 305 · 404 · 415 · 713 · 646 · 718 · 832
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out what carrier a phone number uses?
Every US and Canadian number's NPA-NXX (area code + 3-digit prefix), and usually its 1,000-number block, is assigned to a specific carrier in public numbering records. Enter the number above and we match it to the carrier that block was assigned to, plus whether it's a wireless or landline/VoIP block and its rate center. No account or key needed.
Can I tell if a number is a cell phone or a landline?
Often, yes. Number blocks are tagged as wireless or landline/VoIP in the public assignment data, so we can show the likely line type. Porting and VoIP can blur it — a landline block ported to a mobile carrier, or a VoIP provider reselling wireline numbers, won't always reflect how the number is actually used today.
What is a VoIP number, and can this tool spot one?
A VoIP (Voice over IP) number places calls over the internet instead of a traditional phone line — the technology behind Google Voice, most app-based numbers, and many business phone systems. In the numbering data these often sit in landline-type blocks, so we label them landline/VoIP rather than guaranteeing which one. A large share of spam and spoofed calls come from VoIP because the numbers are cheap and easy to obtain.
Can I find out who owns a phone number?
No. This tool shows the carrier and line type assigned to a number's block, never the person or business behind it — no name, address, or live location. Public numbering data and caller ID simply can't identify a subscriber. If you're trying to place an unknown caller, a reverse phone lookup or our scam-call resources are a better starting point. This lookup is not a consumer report and must not be used for FCRA-covered decisions such as employment, tenant, or credit screening.
Why does the lookup sometimes show the wrong carrier?
Because we show the carrier a number's block was originally assigned to. If the owner ported (transferred) the number to a different carrier — very common when people switch providers but keep their number — the current carrier will differ from the assigned one. A block-based lookup can't see porting; only a live, paid HLR/LRN query reflects the number's current network.
Does carrier lookup work for Canadian numbers?
Yes. Canada shares the North American Numbering Plan with the US, so the same NPA-NXX block records cover Canadian area codes. Enter a Canadian number and you'll get the assigned carrier and line type the same way — coverage spans nearly every active US and Canadian area code.
Is this carrier lookup free?
Yes — this assigned-carrier lookup is free, needs no sign-up or API key, and uses public numbering data. Live, porting-accurate lookups from paid data providers charge per query; this tool trades that real-time precision for being free and instant.
Sourced from the official NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administrator) numbering database, current as of August 2, 2026. Refreshed monthly.