Can you use Telegram without a phone number? Fragment +888 numbers and 3 other options

So pick a number you can keep. Once you're in, a passkey can replace the SMS code at login.

Login codes show on Fragment once you connect your wallet.

• Cost: a Fragment +888 number costs over 2,500 GRAM at a fixed price. Auctions can start lower, but bidding sets the price.
• Pros: official Telegram support, no SIM card. An existing account can switch to an unused +888 number and keep its chats.
• Risks: a +888 number only logs in to Telegram, with no regular SMS or calls. In January 2025, the creator of a +888 rental service wrote on Telegram's bug-report site that some Fragment numbers were spam-blocked when bought.

Open the app in @DegenPhoneTonBot, connect your TON wallet, then roll and mint. When you need a code, tap Unlock (Activate) in My Numbers. This one-time step is free. Sign up in Telegram's phone app on Wi-Fi. The code arrives in your chat with @DegenPhoneTonBot.

• Cost: mint from 150 GRAM. A roll holds a random Fresh number for 15 minutes, and minting makes it your NFT.
• Pros: codes from WhatsApp, Revolut, Instagram, Amazon, PayPal, crypto exchanges and more. You can sell or send the number.
• Risks: best for a new account; details below.

The number gets SMS only, no calls yet. Calls may come later. Service is 2 years prepaid. For WhatsApp, as for Telegram, sign up in the official phone app on Wi-Fi. Unlock (Activate) turns a Fresh number Recycled, with no way back, and Recycled numbers usually resell for less. A Recycled number bought on Market may carry the previous owner's Telegram account, so buy Fresh. Lose the wallet and you lose the number, so keep your seed phrase safe.

That makes DegenPhone a cheap alternative to Fragment +888 numbers. DegenPhone service is 2 years prepaid, while Fragment lists no time limit. A +888 number only logs in to Telegram. A DegenPhone number also gets SMS codes from WhatsApp, Revolut, Instagram, Amazon, Meta (Facebook), PayPal and crypto exchanges.

• Cost: your carrier's price for a second SIM or prepaid plan, plus top-ups.
• Pros: a normal mobile number, with calls and SMS.
• Risks: GSMA counted 155 countries that required proof of identity for prepaid SIMs in January 2020, so the number is usually in your name. Stop paying, and you can lose the account.

Paid services such as 5sim show the code in your own order, not on a public page. But you can't reuse the number after the order, and services pass numbers on.

• Cost: free, or from about $0.10 a code. 5sim's page listed a best Telegram delivery rate of 58%: even on that route, fewer than 6 in 10 orders got a code.
• Pros: cheap and fast for a single code.
• Risks: whoever gets the number next can request a code. 2-Step Verification blocks their sign-in, but not account deletion. Telegram can't restore an account without its number.

• One code, for an account you won't keep: a paid SMS-activation number.
• Moving your account off your own number: a Fragment +888 number, which costs over 2,500 GRAM. It only logs in to Telegram.
• A new account, plus codes from WhatsApp, Revolut and other services: a DegenPhone number, mint from 150 GRAM. It's a real phone number for Telegram you can resell.
• Calls too: a second SIM.

See how DegenPhone works, step by step, which apps work with a DegenPhone number and what a DegenPhone number costs. Start at @DegenPhoneTonBot.

Only to your contacts, by default, says Telegram's FAQ. To hide it from them too, set "Who can see my phone number?" to Nobody under Settings → Privacy and Security → Phone Number. People who already saved your number still see it.

Yes, once the account exists. While you're logged in on one device, create a passkey in Settings → Privacy and Security → Passkeys. Telegram's FAQ says you can then log in with your device PIN, fingerprint or face scan instead of an SMS code.

Keep it for as long as you use the account. Telegram may send a login code to the number when you sign in on a new device. Its FAQ warns that without the number, you risk losing the account. Turn on 2-Step Verification too.

No. Telegram's FAQ says neither of you sees the other's number when someone finds you by username, unless your privacy settings allow it. Set "Who can see my phone number?" to Nobody to make sure. Usernames are public, so anyone can find you in search.

The buyer gets every SMS to the number, including Telegram login codes. Before you sell or send the NFT, move your account to a number you keep: open Settings, tap your number, then Change Number. 2-Step Verification is not enough: anyone with the login code can still delete the account, at once if the password is new. Safest: keep the NFT while you use the account.